Influential Foofaraw

God Stole My Wallet

2010-12-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

The last couple of years have been very trying for me to say the least. I was laid off and I still haven’t found suitable employment. And by suitable I mean I’ve applied to Target, Petsmart, Temp Agencies, everything and anything I might be qualified for. It goes without saying that I'm qualified for any of those jobs that I would have previously thought beneath me. Not that I’m a snob but I have a substantial amount of education and experience. I was an Advertising Copywriter. I do a little freelance but that is very scarce. I’m signed with a temp agency to substitute teach, another to be a banquet server, and another for any administration-type work.

Besides the unemployment, my husband and I survived burst pipes, costly broken vehicles, and a cat that almost died. I wanted to put the cat to sleep. Sorry but I did. I was coerced by my husband and child to revive him. I gave him daily IV’s for a couple months. He’s okay now but very frail. It cost us over $2,000 to keep him alive. Facing substantial debt, the economy tanked. My husband took work in El Paso for months on end. My friend was falling apart. I was falling apart. Then BAM I got a brutal announcement from my husband that he wanted a divorce.

Let me first say I’m not complaining, I’m explaining. I have however, done a lot of complaining and mostly in messy, ridiculous, crazy, inappropriate posts on Facebook and texting my soon-to-be ex. All the while I desperately hid my difficulties from my sweet little girl; asking for help with her when I needed it. It’s been a year since the awakening of the divorce. It was an awakening to just how much I drank to numb myself from the world around me. It also solidified the knowledge that my husband and I had been living in purgatory for years, most of the marriage in fact. We never communicated very well. I have PTSD and I’m terrified most of the time. That’s not an excuse. It’s a reality. We were doomed from day one. We do have a beautiful vibrant 9 year old girl and she is the best thing that came from our marriage. The dance we had developed was a combination of rage, depression, non-sex, workaholism, alcoholism, drugs and more creating a steamy pile of shit. We both contributed and we both developed ways to cope with each other. Yet through it all we really love each other. It’s not a new story but sometimes love just isn’t enough. We don’t like each other very much.

So this last year I have been an emotional mess to say the least. I went to different therapists until I couldn’t afford it anymore. I paid for a psychiatrist even though I couldn’t afford her fees but I also couldn’t afford not to get help. After some trial and error and literally psychotic days we came upon a lovely cocktail that works. I was crazy with pain, confusion, suicidal thoughts and all the while doing my best to hide it from my daughter. Finally I pulled up my boot straps and moved into a cute little apartment with my daughter. I got into a program at the local community college to become a Medical Assistant. I’m busting my butt and doing really well. All A’s except this last block I got a B in Anatomy and Physiology. I missed the A by .5%. Seriously 89.5%. I applied for ACCHS – government health insurance and food stamps. My soon-to-be ex has been extremely financially supportive; he’s still paying the mortgage on the house and paying my daughter’s and my rent. He’s also paying for gas and odds and ends as they come along.

Then little miracles started to happen, I found therapy for free. My soon-to-be ex provided me with money to buy gifts for the holidays. Retail therapy is incredibly healing when you are buying gifts for people you love. I took my daughter to see and she asked him for a wolf and he told her “Santa can’t give wild animals.” So I adopted one for her from wolfhaven.org. I was beginning to feel less stressed; less in pain; more accepting. I had made it through Christmas complete with letting my daughter meet my soon-to-be ex’s girlfriend. I realized I was quite lucky. Although I had been shamelessly betrayed by a beloved friend I remembered why she was beloved to me. She is a sweet, beautiful loving girl. Of course I still secretly hate her guts, but when it comes to my child, I know the ex-friend will be good to her.

Then I had a total breakdown just a few days ago. I raged against the soon-to-be ex. I sobbed (not in the presence of my child.) I drank. I wrote a ranting incomprehensible email and sent to all my family and posted it on Facebook. I didn’t remember writing the letter. My daughter was watching TV while I had been typing away. She was oblivious to the blind rage I had succumbed to. I woke and deleted the FB post. I wrote a letter apologizing to everyone and explained that I had had a blip; a relapse; I effed up. I had therapy that day so I wallowed in my shame and self-hatred as I confessed to my therapist and later to women I have therapy group with. I felt better.

Later I went to Target to buy cat litter on my Christmas gift card. Yay. Meanwhile I called unemployment because they had cut off my benefits and I had to talk to a person to get them reinstated. I had been trying to get through on the phone for two and a half weeks. I got through…estimated wait time approximately 3 hrs. I wasn’t going to hang up. I had my phone on speaker phone. Besides the cat litter I bought a new pillow for myself. I was paying and the phone kept distracting me not knowing if a person had answered or another recorded message was playing. I left my wallet on the counter. I went to the car and when I reached into my bag and realized the wallet wasn’t there. I rushed back in and the checker was gone. I went to customer service to see if it had been turned in. No. I went to security and they reviewed the surveillance tape. Sure enough a guy behind me bought something for 98 cents with cash and nonchalantly swiped my wallet. Panicked, I called the police; called my soon-to-be ex to make sure my daughter was safe. She had been with him and his parents all day and was due to arrive at my house soon. They hadn’t left yet. Good, okay. I called all the credit cards. My checking account had been drained. The bank assured me they will refund the money but this won’t happen until sometime next week. I called my soon-to-be-ex in-laws and asked if my daughter could spend the night. Unemployment came on the line soon after and we went through the infuriating steps to reinstate my benefits. Benefits restored. I was delirious with relief, fear and anger.

The next day I went about putting my life back together. Literally replacing everything I had in the wallet. I went to DES to report my stolen cards and reapplied for everything again. While I waited in the line for an hour and half, I read Anne Lamott’s Grace Eventually. I went to two banks to get temporary ATM cards. As I pulled into the DMV to replace my driver’s license I had an epiphany. After everything; all of it; the whole damn mess I realized that God had stolen my wallet. Somehow the act of replacing everything I realized that it was unbelievably freeing. I was free of my old life. I have to replace, renew and fight to let go. I think I’m on my way.

Footnote 1: My daughter had therapy that day. My soon-to-be-ex in-laws took her for me. Her therapist called me later to say that she seems to be happier and not as stressed. She seems to be coming through and accepting the changes.

Footnote 2: All the soon-to-be-ex stuff is because we haven’t filed. I started to complete the paperwork today. I will be divorced in 2011.

today me what?

2010-11-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, I had an exchange with someone on facebook today.
I think he misunderstood everything I said.
That is the normal response to my musings, thoughts, hopes, pains, worries, general freakouts.
No one gets me.
Do you feel that way?
It's extremely disconcerting to be misunderstood.
Over and over and over again.
I come across as selfish.
I don't get it?
Seriously.
I'm just expressing myself.
Why is that selfish?
Why can't you express yourself?
I'm not in it to hurt anyone else.
I'm not trying to fuck with you.
I fuck with myself.
That's how my brain works.
No one gets me.
If you think you do
I will either come to bore you or
Exasperate you because I will accomplish more than the average bear
While hating every inch of myself.
Why?
It bothers you. It bores you.
You try to live it and I will give you props
Shit I'll give you props for being alive.
Why does my reality garner rejection?
It's constant.
I know I should figure this out
I have been trying to seek guidance in this dilemma.
I honestly don't get it and that's is why you will hate me without
Understanding that I need help.
Not advice but feedback
Not criticism but concrete explanation of what I have done.
I don't see what I've done, been, tried, cried as heinous
yet you do.
Don't say "you're selfish" Don't say "you are impossible." I'm not either but confused. My brain doesn't work that way. It can't (apparently) comprehend your analysis.
Your frustration is met with mine.

A LETTER TO THE PARANORMAL PEOPLE

2010-04-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

Hello, I'm a little apprehensive about contacting you but this really is strange.

I'm currently in the process of getting a divorce. My husband moved out.

Last week I heard footsteps in the kitchen. Very clearly. I thought it was my husband.

I was in bed and decided to wait in bed until he was gone. I didn't want to talk

to him. I heard the footsteps approx. 30 mins. later. I was getting annoyed.

Our front door has a very distinct noise and I was waiting for that sound. Finally I got up

and he wasn't here. I called his work and asked him why he had been at home. He said he hadn't

been at home all day, he had been at work all day. I blew it off to dreaming.

Then today the same footsteps came from the kitchen. I knew it wasn't him because

the gait wasn't his. The first time the gait wasn't his either but

I wasn't thinking about it the first time.

Everynight when my daughter and I go to bed we hear the exact same sound

overhead. It could be an animal in the rafters or the house settling but it is distinctly the same

every night.

Ever since we moved here I've seen shadows move out of the corner of my eye -

someone looming. Not often. The house was built in 1953.

Sincerely Tammy Strnatka

Please return my correspondence via email

Have a great day!

http://www.tucsonparanormal.com/

Tapestry

2010-04-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

It all started about three days into my pregnancy. Being a bit of a partier I was depressed about not being able to drink anymore. Pathetic but it had only been 3 days. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I have a degree in art but painting didn’t appeal to me at the time. I was lying face down on my bed when it came to me. I saw it. This tapestry of broken records. It even has Carol King’s Tapestry on it along with Willie Nelson, Linda Rondstadt, E.L.O., Kenny Loggins and many others. I found the records at thrift stores.

The concept is about how much music plays a part in our lives. Old music I listened to as a kid. Records have become somewhat obsolete. The memories. The ‘broken record’ of memories that go through our minds over and over. Waxing nostalgic. It’s not just visual. It’s how our lives fit together. How important and painstaking so many deeds are.

I broke the records which represents heartbreak. It was painful to break them. Really painful! I hand drilled every hole. I sewed each piece with wax cotton thread. It was my catharsis before I took on a new life as a mom. I was a musician. Music was my soul. My new baby meant more. I sang to her so much as a baby she won’t listen to me sing anymore.

It’s been sitting in the closet for 9 years.
It took a year to make by hand.

Sticks

2010-04-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today is Easter.
The Easter bunny was a hit.
I got up to greet my late (as in tardy not dead) soon-to-be-ex-husband to pickup our daughter for Easter festivities at Gramma and Granpa’s.
When they left I cried.
I got in my car and drove to Madera Canyon to pick up sticks.
Seriously. I’m picking up sticks to make biodegradable public art.
I drove the wrong way for about an hour before I realized I was heading back to Tucson.
There were rows and rows of pecan trees.
They’d all been shorn and stacks of glorious sticks lay by the side of the road just beyond
a barbed wire fence.
When I was younger I would have ignored the fence and taken as many sticks as I wanted.
It felt wrong, being Easter and all.
I finally made it to the gateway of Madera and the Sheriff was turning people back.
Too full.
I asked to use the restroom and was allowed to park in the lower lot.
There in front of me were piles of sticks.
Mesquite sticks
Beautiful sticks.
I took as many as I could muster. I say muster because I haven’t been eating much.
I tend to feel like I’m going to pass out.
An older man that I thought was a forest ranger was watching me.
I said “Are you the ranger?”
He said “Oh, no, no I’m just out enjoying the day.”
I said “I thought I might be in trouble.”
“I’m not collecting kindling. I’m working on an art project.”
He said “Oh, what kind?” (For some reason old people say Oh? a lot.)
I said “I’m building structures out of wood and twine. All biodegradable.
I want to build big structures out in nature or in a busy part of downtown and just leave them there.
I don’t know why I just feel compelled to do it.”
He thought that was right dandy. He’s a retired architect and his late wife (not tardy) was apparently quite the artist. He helped me load my car with my pile of wood and sticks. I should have photographed him.
I was nervous.
Stupid brain.
We exchange numbers and addresses. He didn’t have any need for email.
I pondered how to send him pictures without email for quite a while when lo and behold I realized I could mail prints to him.
We both had a good laugh about that one.
He invited me to Easter dinner but I declined. It probably would have been interesting but I was anxious to get building.
On the way out I saw a beautiful hawk.
It was sitting by the side of the rode.
I pulled over to photograph it just as it took off.
It disappeared. It was gone. Just silence.
I turned on the radio and Little Bird by the eels came on the radio. It was beautiful. And just having seen a hawk disappear. Oh I don’t know – I’m a line drawer. Here’s another one. I stopped at McDonalds’ for a soda. It was $1.07. That’s all I had in my wallet - $1.07.
Then Lou Reed started singing Jesus on the radio.
“Jesus, help me find my proper place
Jesus, help me find my proper place
Help me in my weakness
'Cos I'm falling out of grace
Jesus
Jesus”
It’s a Velvet Underground song.
It’s a new recording with 5 Guys or something like that.
I’ve been pretty lost lately.
Everything was speaking to me.
But I couldn’t speak to me.
I wanted to build my structure – art - thingy.
I couldn’t figure out where.
I drove all over downtown, by El Tiradito a shrine to a murderer (where I was married incidentally). I was going to ask a friend if I could build it outside her coffee shop, but she wasn’t there.
By this time I had to go to the bathroom again.
I drove home deflated but I waited to get home to pee.
I signed back onto facebook.
I hang my head in shame but I have deleted most all my old friends.
The urgency to build the art thing was prodding me like some weird electrical impulse. I drove to Reid Park. There were three million Mexicans barbecuing for Easter there.
Nothing felt right.
I made myself stop and eat some sushi.
If I’m going to eat it might as well be worth it.
I came home and unloaded the large pieces of wood.
The trunk is totally full of sticks.
I will find a place to build it.
I will find a place of my own.

Influential Foofaraw: Forgiveness

2010-04-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Influential Foofaraw: Forgiveness

Forgiveness

2010-04-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

You appear to be the bigger person
Extending an olive branch
Let bygones be bygones
The bruises have healed
We can be friends
We can move one
But the truth is your deed will never allow you to be the bigger person.
You will always be a whore whether I forgive you or not.
Yes we can move on
But you are not my friend.

Day One Therapy Assignment

2010-03-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

THERAPIST: List what character traits, behaviors and beliefs/interpretations discussed in BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER DEMYSTIFIED that fit you.

Poorly regulated emotions
Impulsivity
Impaired perception and reasoning
Markedly disturb relationships
Anxiety
Chronic feelings of emptiness
Impulsive behavior that harms me
Suicidal ideation
Self-mutilating
Disassociative symptoms
Depersonalization
Unstable self-image or sense of self
Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
Feelings of inferiority
Negative therapeutic reactions
Environmental risk factors
Early separation or loss
Trauma
Ineffective parenting
Poor emotional control
Emotional lability
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Mood disorders
Substance use Disorders
Anorexia
Depression
Sleep disorders
Low energy
Low self-esteem
Poor concentration or difficulty making decisions
Feelings of hopelessness
Panic disorders
Partially Narcissistic
Histrionic
Dependent
Paranoia

THERAPIST: List what character traits, behaviors and beliefs/interpretations discussed in BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER DEMYSTIFIED that don’t fit you.

Hyperactive
Inappropriate intense anger or difficulty controlling anger
Parasuicidal acts
Factitious illness
Hallucinations
Magical thinking
Psychic rigidity
Projection
Bi-polar
Bulimia
ADHD
Inattention
Schizoid
Schizotypal
Antisocial
True Narcissism
OCD

war torn apocalypse

2010-03-23T13:40:00.001-07:00

I’m sitting in a war torn apocalypse contemplating the consequences of trying to escape. Shall I remain in its painful comfort or enter the imaginary world of light where bad things are just bad dreams and the rest of life is candy, cakes and ice cream.

Open Letter to Mr. Mercedes Guy

2010-03-08T14:46:00.001-08:00

Tammy Allen Strnatka
Tucson, AZ 85711

Monday March 8, 2010

Mr. Mercedes Guy

Please let me thank you for your follow-up call to tell me the position of Service Cashier had been filled. I’m not sure if my resume reflected that I was over-qualified or under-qualified. Either way I sure would have liked to have had the opportunity to talk to you. I have experience in many other professions: Salesperson, Cashier, Manager of a Gallery, Manager of a bar. Not many people are solely represented by their resume. This is a very difficult time with the unemployment rate at 10% in Tucson. I was laid off from a job that focused on retail advertising. Loyalty is word that comes to mind. As an owner of a Mercedes I’m a dedicated fan. Working for a Mercedes dealership would be ideal. Next time please give someone the opportunity to speak with you. You may have hired within. In any case, I would have been an asset, and a loyal team member.

Sincerely,

Tammy Strnatka

Brilliant Shell

2010-03-07T15:33:00.001-08:00

People ask “If you could do anything, anything at all, what would you do?” Now how loaded a question is that? One must have the means to do what they want. One must know what one wants. My knee-jerk response? Travel the world alone hopefully with enough cash to stay some place with a bed and a bath. First off I have child. I cannot abandon her. Dream gone. End of story. (I would have said with my family, husband and daughter but that is in dissolve.)
Second response: learn to play guitar better and sing but not alone, with help. Money? Third response: write with some formal instruction.
Fourth teach: anything art, music, English, to smile, to not take it so seriously - like I do (take it too seriously). To let it happen. Have fun, learn what you need. Learn a good trade that pays well; then do what you want in between. Don’t get married. Fight for what you believe in. Freedom, healthcare, mutual respect and love.
If I could do anything? It’s such a non question. When I think about doing anything I have to do, I shrink. I react like a child with no instructions even though I know how.
What do you want to do? Anything? It’s a silly question. I want to be odd like Warhol and change the face art. I want to say the truth without being punished. I want others to say the truth without being punished.
What’s a job? A piece of shit thing you do to make money to survive. Sometimes you luck into one you like. Some people are paid exorbitant amounts of money for the most obscenely menial task. Wage distribution in this world is worthy of chronic vomiting. That’s not hyperbole! A maid can take home more than a man who was worked 14 hours in a field picking cotton. She $25 an hour, he $25 a day. It’s fucking ridiculous. Money isn’t the wage it’s the game. I hate the game. Worse I hate the game of life itself. What’s it worth? Without being a teacher or a mentor or doing some form of helping another individual it’s pointless.
I hope I’m helping my daughter. I’ve taken’ a bit of a break lately. Not completely, but I’m not feeling like have much to give. What do you give when you have nothing? No one understands how I got here. One minute I’m attending PTA meetings, working fulltime and singing on the weekends. Nothing could be better. Of course I can’t forget the alcohol that contributes to it all. Life’s a party. Little things tear me down along the way. They strip me of my humanity. I become a shell. A brilliant shell. One that performs all the tasks required. One that knows what is right and wrong. One that knows how to advance oneself. One that knows how to encourage others. One that knows to say “you’re right, I’m wrong, I’m sorry” “Oh how silly of me your way is better” “I can’t imagine why I thought to do it that way.” “No, no you’re right.” Suddenly there’s no one there, just a stepford thing. A brilliant shell, because it knows how. It knows the way it’s done what to follow what to say. However, the person I was inside is dead and now I’m plotting my mortal death. I quit drinking. My energy is slipping. My old self who was clearly wrong has become fragile. I see a psychiatrist – meds galore. I see a therapist. People notice I’m needy and shy away. Some make fun of me. Some ignore me. Some come to my aid. (Thank you). Hollow eyed and struggling to do this on my own. I will either die or come back. I cannot say.

suicide

2010-03-07T15:31:00.001-08:00

"Suicide is not chosen; it happens
when pain exceeds
resources for coping with pain."

Existence

2010-02-27T15:17:00.000-08:00

I DON'T EXIST!

Bad Taste

2010-02-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

It's not like I have breast cancer, it's just suicidal ideation.

Marriage

2010-02-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Like a used car salesman he said "I do"
She didn't know what hit her 'til his fist withdrew.

SEND ZOE TO PARADISE

2009-02-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Nervous Breakdown’s very own Zoe Brock and her boyfriend, Ron Kurti, are competing to win The Best Job in the World. They wanna go live on an island off the Great Barrier Reef for six months, all expenses paid—but in order to do it, they need your votes.

This takes two seconds. And I can’t resist the opportunity to help a pair of fine young lovers as they attempt to pursue their immaculate dream.

For further details CLICK ON THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG

DUPED BY A SOCIOPATH

2008-12-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

DUPED BY A SOCIOPATH
Category: Life

Brad Listi's

Hyper-Caffeinated Self-Interview 1
Tuesday, December 9, 2008

prompted this search.

I've made confessions here.

Detailed my woeful past.

I found an article about the priest that molested me when I was in treatment for depression and suicidal ideation:

Phony cleric arrested in thefts from churches

BY HEATHER URQUIDES
Arizona Daily Star
TUCSON, Ariz. - Michael Dongarra was just a few minutes late for morning prayers Thursday when FBI agents and local police arrested him at a small Massachusetts abbey. But he was almost a year overdue for his Pima County Superior Court date. Dongarra was wanted in Oro Valley for stealing religious artifacts from churches and filing bogus insurance claims. He was convicted in absentia of multiple theft and fraud charges about six months ago, said Oro Valley police Lt. Becky Mendez. Authorities arrived to find the monks in morning prayer and asked a janitor if they knew which one was Dongarra. At that exact moment a man came strolling down the hall, late, said Avery Mann, a spokesman for ....America's Most Wanted.'' It was Dongarra. A Pennsylvania priest had tipped off authorities to his location after seeing Saturday's segment of the TV show, which featured Dongarra. The Rev. Nicholas Morcone, abbot of the Glastonbury Abbey, said he and the other monks were shocked to learn that Dongarra, who had been studying to become a monk, posed as a priest while stealing religious artifacts from at least three California churches and one in Tucson. ....It's going to take a little while to accept,'' he said. Morcone described Dongarra, believed to be 51, as a hard-working man who arrived at the Benedictine monastery in April with the intent of joining the group. He was well-read, intelligent and personable, Morcone said. Morcone had no way of knowing that Dongarra had skipped bail and failed to show up for a court date in November 1996. Dongarra ate three meals a day with the 12 monks and attended prayer services, Morcone said. He lived in a small room in a house reserved for monk candidates on the abbey grounds. His meager quarters contrasted sharply with the rented house he left in Oro Valley. ....It looked like a museum,'' said Detective Bud Novak of the Oro Valley Police Department. ....He had all kinds of fancy-looking things. He had an actual altar set up in one of his rooms.'' Novak first went to Dongarra's Oro Valley home on Sept. 11, 1994, after Dongarra claimed that religious items had been stolen from his house. Novak became suspicious when Dongarra filed a second burglary report on Dec. 25, 1995. He called the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which keeps tabs on all insurance claims in the United States, and found that Dongarra had reported some of the same items stolen in 1993 in Kansas City, he said. After talking to church officials in California, detectives recalled seeing some of the churches' missing pieces in Dongarra's house when they responded to his burglary calls. They discovered most of the ....stolen'' items belonged to the California churches, including a 19th century German Gothic altar adornment valued at $36,000, a tabernacle, candelabra and sanctuary candles, Novak said. Novak said Dongarra had been moving from church to church to steal items. ....Every time his past would catch up with him, he'd have to move to another church,'' Novak said. Oro Valley police arrested Dongarra in April 1996. In all, more than $100,000 worth of religious artifacts were recovered from his home, including two paintings on his living room wall that had been reported stolen from St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church. Dongarra was convicted about six months ago, said Lt. Mendez. His parents, who live in New York, posted his $40,000 bond. Most of that was returned after they wrote to the court saying it was their life savings, said Cindi Ryan, an assistant state attorney general. At one time, Dongarra was a priest at St. Jude's Anglican Church, but officials there removed his priest status after they discovered he had been convicted in 1983 of Medicaid fraud in Massachusetts, Novak said. ....There's no question in my mind that he was definitely a fake,'' said Robert Wilkes, a priest at St. Jude's. Before his 1996 arrest, Dongarra was working on plans to start his own church, called St. Thomas More Guild, Novak said. He planned to use a $450,000 home that he was building near Silverbell and Sweetwater roads for services, Novak recalled. Novak said Dongarra was living off money from his insurance fraud - ....until we stepped into his life and ruined it all.''
©1996-7 Mercury Center.

I honestly believe that he behaved so irrationally and got caught because of me. He was fired from the hospital and went missing until his capture in the above story.

Here's another article:

Fake priest gets 21-year prison term

By The Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Michael Dongarra was a man of many faces: doctor of psychology, head of an alcohol and drug treatment center, Anglican priest and husband.
But authorities say Dongarra, 51, is a con artist who cloaked himself in a clergyman's robe as he stole religious artifacts from churches and bilked insurance companies with false claims.
Judge John E. Davis of Pima County Superior Court on Friday ordered Dongarra to prison for 21 years.
A Pima County jury convicted the Harvard-educated psychologist in May 1997 of two fraud charges, two theft charges and one charge of attempted fraud.
The counts related to bilking about $100,000 from insurance companies and stealing religious items from two California churches.
But Dongarra wasn't around to hear the jury's verdict. He had fled Tucson in November 1996, the same day he was supposed to enter a plea bargain that would have resulted in a five-year prison sentence.
Massachusetts authorities arrested him a year later posing as an Anglican priest at a monastery in Hingham, Mass., after he was featured on the television program "America's Most Wanted." He was extradited to Tucson in January.
Another jury convicted Dongarra -- also in absentia -- on two separate fraud charges related to insurance scams in August 1997. His sentencing on those counts is scheduled for May 28. Dongarra declined to make a statement in court.
Church officials removed Dongarra from his position at St. Jude's Anglican Church in May 1995 after they discovered he had been convicted in 1983 of Medicaid fraud in Massachusetts.
Dongarra, who had supervised psychologists at four nursing homes in Massachusetts, billed Medicaid for more than $70,000 of work never performed, authorities said.
Dongarra received a suspended sentence and five years' probation for the fraud.
He later became the head of an alcohol and drug treatment center in Falmouth, Mass., and met his wife about that time. Dongarra was married for a year before his wife discovered he had lied about his criminal past.
Oro Valley police arrested Dongarra in April 1996 after an investigation that was prompted by Dongarra's filing of several phony insurance claims on religious items he said were stolen from his house.
When police served a search warrant on the house, they described Dongarra's home as looking like a museum filled with ornate religious items.
Dongarra had taken a $36,000 gold German Gothic altar adornment, along with artwork from the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Burlingame, Calif., near San Francisco. He also stole a tabernacle, large candlesticks, chalices and other religious items from St. Elizabeth's Church in San Jose, Calif. .. --> ===== Place Photo caption ** above ** this Line ===== -->.. --> ===== Start of navigation table ===== -->

And Another:

Catholic World News (CWN)
Feature Stories

Priest-Imposter Arrested At Massachusetts Abbey (Subscribe to RSS Feed)

Nov. 21, 1997

HINGHAM, Massachusetts (CWN) - The FBI arrested an Arizona man who had posed as priest and stolen more than $1 million from churches nationwide at a Benedictine abbey in Massachusetts on Thursday.

Michael Dongarra, 51, had stayed at the small Glastonbury Abbey since April when he joined the community of 11 monks. Dongarra had allegedly posed as an Anglican priest in the past, using his assumed position to steal more $1 million over 12 years through theft and fraud. He was arrested in Oro Valley, Arizona in April 1996, but fled before his trial, according to a police spokesman. He was tried in absentia on some of the charges and was found guilty. He will be held in Hingham pending extradition to Arizona.

Father Nicholas Morcone, abbot at Glastonbury, said Dongarra passed the normal screening process for men wanting to join their community and came with all the necessary recommendations. Dongarra was profiled on the Fox network television show "America's Most Wanted" last Sunday, and a Pennsylvania priest called the show to report Dongarra's whereabouts. Father Morcone said that unfortunately none of the monks watch "America's Most Wanted."

And another:

Fake priest also duped Massachusetts Medicaid

By The Associated Press
BOSTON -- A man arrested last week after faking his way into a Hingham monastery to escape the law also put one over on the Massachusetts Medicaid system.
Prosecutors say that while supervising psychologists assigned to nursing homes in 1983, Michael Dongarra personally billed the state for $70,000 in services he never performed. Some of the patients were dead at the time he said he treated them.
"He made up bogus progress notes for patients who were dead," said Mark Muldoon of the state attorney general's office. "He put stuff in there like 'functioning at an optimal level,' and the guy had been dead for months.
"In another case, he described 'a shy and retiring gentlemen.' Well, the guy was shy and retiring because he was 6 feet under. And in another note, he wrote, 'she seems more at peace now.' Well I guess death will do that for you," Muldoon told a Boston newspaper.
Muldoon said Dongarra also billed the state for 36-hour work days.
He was convicted in Suffolk Superior Court and sentenced to five years probation. The state also revoked his license to practice psychology.
Dongarra, 51, is being held at the Plymouth House of Correction pending extradition to Arizona, where he was found guilty in absentia of stealing $90,000 worth of religious artifacts from several churches while posing as a priest.
He faces between three and 12½ years in prison on various charges.
Dongarra fled Arizona on Nov. 6, 1996, the same day he agreed to a plea bargain that would have resulted in four to five years in prison. Authorities there said he amassed more than $1 million from insurance fraud and theft.
He moved to the Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham in April as a candidate for the Benedictine order. The abbey's monks were stunned when FBI agents showed up Thursday morning to arrest Dongarra.
Muldoon, who prosecuted Dongarra in 1983 for the Medicaid fraud, said he remembers him as a bright man who blatantly defrauded the state with 1,500 phony insurance claims.
He said Dongarra supervised psychologists from Coastal Counseling in Hingham who had been assigned to four area nursing homes.
Muldoon said Dongarra's fraud caused the state Medicaid system to reprogram its computers to prevent billing for deceased clients.
"What he did was so blatant, just unbelievably blatant," said Muldoon. "This was one of the worst cases we've ever seen."
The FBI's trail to Glastonbury Abbey began when a Pennsylvania clergyman vacationing in Florida watched Dongarra's case recently on the television program "America's Most Wanted" and recognized him as a onetime applicant to his order. .. --> ===== Place Photo caption ** above ** this Line ===== -->.. --> ===== Start of navigation table ===== -->

So I wasn't the only one duped by him. There's more to the story but I don't think it's ever been told.

Thanks for reading.

PLEASE MAKE A DONATION IN HONOR OF SARAH PALIN

2008-09-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

PLEASE MAKE A DONATION IN HONOR OF SARAH PALIN
Category: News and Politics

Dear Friends:

We may have thought we wanted a woman on a national political ticket, but the joke has really been on us, hasn't it? Are you as sick in your stomach as I am at the thought of Sarah Palin as Vice President of the United States?

Since Palin gave her speech accepting the Republican nomination for the Vice Presidency, Barack Obama's campaign has raised over $10 million dollars. Some of you may already be supporting the Obama campaign financially; others of you may still be a little honked off over the primaries. None of you, however, can be happy with Palin's selection, especially on her positions on women's issues. So, if you feel you can't support the Obama campaign financially, may I suggest the following fiendish alternative?

Make a donation to Planned Parenthood -- in Sarah Palin's name. A Planned Parenthood donation is tax deductible, whereas a political donation isn't. And here's the good part: when you make a donation to PP in her name, they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor!
Here's the link to the 'honorary gifts' page at Planned Parenthood's website:
https://secure.ga0.org/02/pp10000_inhonor

You'll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send the "in Sarah Palin's honor" card. I suggest you use the address for the McCain campaign headquarters, which is:

McCain for President
1235 S. Clark Street
1st Floor
Arlington, VA 22202

Feel free to send this along to all your women friends as well as your men friends and urge them to do the same!

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

NamaObama

PALINDROMEMORDNILAP AND MORE REPUBLICAN NONSENSE

2008-08-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

PALINDROMEMORDNILAP AND MORE REPUBLICAN NONSENSE
Current mood: argumentative
Category: News and Politics

I want to understand, sort of.

Why would a woman vote for a woman just because she's a woman?

"Whoa, wait a minute you say. I thought you chose Hillary over Obama earlier in the election. Didn't you do that because she's a woman?"

For the record NO, that is not why I supported Hillary, it was a bonus but I wanted her for many reasons, especially healthcare.

So the McCain thinks he can trick women into voting for a pro-life, pro-gun, pro-drilling, anti-polar bear Podunk mayor of a small town and only two year governor of the most remote and corrupt state in the union?

I'm sorry but this is a new low.

My stomach is churning and burning with anger.

Obama was not my original choice and I must admit that Biden smacks of cheese ball politics but they're my guys now.

No matter what.

How can people want four more years of Bush?

How can they vote in an elderly war veteran and a gun toting chick with no experience?

What if McCain kicks it?

Can you really see Sarah Palin matching wits with Putin? or any foreign leader for that matter?

Can you see her representing this country as President of the United States?

Dear God, I pray that Obama wins and stops the overt fear and insanity.

NAMAOBAMA!

Fourth of July

2007-07-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

Last night was perfect. The best thing was that the simulcast of music and such that the fireworks were choreographed to had a very liberal slant. There were probably 3-4 thousand people. There was the obligatory - Born in the USA along with other rock and classical music interspersed with the voice of Martin Luther King, JFK, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. No GW at all!!!! It was bold and quite enjoyable for me.

How were your WORKS?

Love from Me

Tucson Homeless Woman Murdered

2007-06-13T10:41:00.001-07:00

Famous Tucson Homeless woman murdered

read more | digg story

So weird, I turned on the TV this morning to the news. I NEVER have time to do this. I had 5 mins. so I flipped on the TV. The only story I saw was about a famous homeless woman named Sunshine from downtown Tucson was murdered.

I get to work, pull up Brad's blog and it's about homeless people.

http://www.myspace.com/attentiondeficitdisorderb

I used to be a daytime bartender at a bar that was across the street from the downtown bus station. I new most of the homeless men and woman that drank. Most of them were Vietnam vets and totally Effed up. They couldn't work if they wanted too. Most of them were very polite until they got too drunk and I would kindly tell them it was time to go. They usually complied amicably, but sometimes they got beligerent. But none of them were dangerous or vicious. I miss them.

The woman that was murdered was a Native American woman that served in Vietnam.

I suspect we will be seeing a lot of homeless people as a result of Iraq too. Our government sucks when it comes to caring for it's Veterans.

Next time you see a homeless person consider that he or she may have been royally screwed by Uncle Sam.

Thanks for feeding that guy Brad! Super kudos to you. Plus we can't give all our money to every homeless person that comes along but doing a little every once in a while makes the world a better place.

NEW AMERICAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM BY 2012

2007-05-16T13:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.seiu.org/
SEIU Partnership with Fortune 500 Companies, Labor and Civic Leaders to Spur Effort to Fix Health Care in America

Washington, DC – Standing with the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and national labor and civic leaders, SEIU today helped launch a historic, new cooperative effort with the goal of fundamentally changing the nation’s broken health care system.

The founding members of the new partnership, which was announced at a Washington, DC, news conference, are SEIU and Wal-Mart, the largest health care union and the largest corporation in North America, respectively; AT&T; Intel; Kelly Services, Inc.; Communications Workers of America; the Center for American Progress; the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy; and the Committee for Economic Development.

Halleluiah!!!

It’s a start, I guess. I’m of course extremely skeptical. We all know it can be done. It’s getting everyone to agree on a plan. It is scandalous that this hasn’t been solved long ago. People are hanging on to the notion that employers are the ones that must shoulder the burden of health care.

“It is time to admit that the employer based health care is dead,” Stern said. “We can’t keep tinkering, hoping that incremental change will fix our broken health care system. We need fundamental change, and it is going to take new thinking, leadership, new partnerships, some risk taking, and compromising to make it happen. But that is what we all owe our country.”

And our children.

“More broadly, we believe it is a national imperative to mount a major effort to slow the growth of health costs even while expanding access, improving quality and assuring continued innovation. All evidence suggests this is possible; it is time to unleash the creativity of American business, labor unions, the nonprofit sector, government and health care workers to make it happen.”

“it is time to unleash the creativity of American…”

Good old American ingenuity, that’s what we need! Does it still exist? Is anything motivated by anything but greed? Are we just too tired of screaming?

Unions have both positive and negative connotations but joining together is the only way we are going to make any change in this country. To me it’s a cry for civil war with an emphasis on civility ala MLK.

Organize your community. Go to rallies.

I'm going to pick the same P/C/M/E time of day where the whole nation stands outside and yells at the top of their lungs. “We believe in affordable health care!” over and over for 15 minutes simultaneously.

Can I get a viral rally to make this happen?
Will you do it!
Will you help me?

Just imagine it! What will it sound like? Bigger and better than any one town that wins the Superbowl with everyone shouting in the streets.

I pick Memorial Day, Monday, May 28. 2pm PT/MT 3pm CT & 4pm ET. Stop your BBQ's!
Say a prayer for our brave fallen soldiers!
and start shouting!!!!!!

“We believe in affordable health care!” “We believe in affordable health care!” “We believe in affordable health care!” “We believe in affordable health care!” “We believe in affordable health care!”

Are you with me?

Spread the word!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COMMON SENSE PRINCIPLES FOR ACHIEVING A
NEW AMERICAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM BY 2012

*We believe every person in America must have quality, affordable health insurance coverage.

*We believe individuals have a responsibility to maintain and protect their health.

*We believe that America must dramatically improve the value it receives for every health care dollar.

*We believe that businesses, governments, and individuals all should contribute to managing and financing a new American health care system.

ME?

2007-05-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

My Personality


Neuroticism	49
Extraversion	72
Openness To Experience	91
Agreeableness	5
Conscientiousness	7

You are sociable, outgoing, energetic, and lively. You prefer to be around people much of the time. Stressful and frustrating situations can be upsetting to you, but you are generally able to get over these feelings and cope with these situations. Novelty, variety, and change spice up your life and make you a curious, imaginative, and creative person. People see you as tough, critical, and uncompromising and you have less concern with others' needs than with your own. You like to live for the moment and do what feels good now. Your work tends to be careless and disorganized.

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report

Find the best myspace layouts or build a custom layout.

Old Poems or Lyrics I found in a drawer

2007-05-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

NUMBER 1

Why would God be one of us?

A slob on a bus?

They say He sent His sonAmong us

With schizophrenic charisma

Chemically unbalanced living proof

of the power of mental illness

He conquered the world

with a message of love

connecting God to man

A reason to look above

One man's mind

One man's life

Don't look awayfrom the man on the bus

talking to himself

He could be Jesus

talking to his daddy.

NUMBER 2

I wonder if Jesus was gay

His best friend was a whore

No one loved him more than Paul

12 men bent over for his goal

Judas was just jealous

and wanted to expose

Paul's obsession

For the good of all.

NUMBER 3
The moon has many phases

none more magnificent than full

Golden, white and blue

Colors only heaven

can do

I am looking up

to a sky blue

black and true

My heart wants an answer

just like all of us do

You see I'm watching you

I see you changed

everything I knew

in phases.

I have no clue when I wrote those?

Baptism

2007-04-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

When my little girl was about two weeks old, I was washing her in the kitchen sink cuz she was so tiny I thought I'd lose her in the baby bath tub. I put some water on her head and said a little prayer: God, Buddha, spirit, Jesus, the energy that unites us, please watch over my baby. Let her grow up happy and strong. Let her believe what she wants to believe, even if I don't agree. I love her. Amen

Talk

2007-04-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

Talk to people. It’s good for you and it’s good for them. They may look at you like your nuts but who cares. Chances are you’ll never see them again. Talk to your waitress. Talk to the checkout girl. Talk to the person in line with you where ever you are. Here’s why… When you talk to people you break down barriers. You conquer your own fears. Talk to people. Smile. Stop treating strangers like strangers. If you happen to start up a conversation with a crazy person, act crazy too. It’s fun. If some one seems grumpy, sympathize with that person. Be generous, with your conversation. Let people vent. Sympathize. Let’s diffuse this volatile world by talking. Sympathize. People need sympathy. People need to be heard. Talk face to face. Smile. Sympathize. We all have our ups and downs. Tell someone who you are. Ask questions. Talk to people. Smile. Sympathize.

Scrub my mind

2007-04-20T15:19:00.001-07:00

I'm no superman.

Ramblings on VA Tech

2007-04-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

Usually these things affect me profoundly. I feel numb this time. That is scary in itself… that I am not feeling any of this. If I can tune out. Anyone can. I'm a true bleeding heart. Someone who believes in peace. Taking care of others. Taking care of animals. Loving each other. Sure there are people I dislike, opinions I dislike, but that's freedom. I don't want to kill anyone. I felt shame and sadness towards the human race when Sadam was hung. He was a filthy motherfucker. Hanging? So now some South Korean has defiled a school, a nation, humanity. I suppose isolation can cause one to feel separate from everything especially if your in the middle of a campus of imbeciles and scholars. They don't notice you. They have no time for you. I have experienced deep dark depression. A sense of complete worthlessness in my very soul. The only one I chose to punish was myself. After all, I must be the one that's wrong. I must be the shit on the shoes of those that can't see me. Fortunately, I don't feel so hopeless anymore. I see others for who they are and they see me for who I am and in ways I will never know. I only have to look at my daughter and feel the rush of reality slap me with a snap that stings all my senses awake. Totally awesome responsibility. Outrageous demand to which I refuse to buckle. And yet I do. I fail miserably sometimes. Senseless murder, suicide. Who's to be held accountable? People will wax themselves into a messy build-up. A school, a town, a nation, the world killing everyday. Everyday killing. Too bad we're not all Amish. What heroes they are. And then there's our President. He and his buddies are the real murderers. Manipulating everything in there way. That's a lot of blood Mr. President. What's a little more on your own soil? And the NRA. What a bunch of heartless meat puppets. Fuck them for making me numb. I still love, I still believe, I will not give up, even though I have before. I cannot give up. Numb or not, my child needs me.

In Case I forgot... Guns are evil. Guns will talk to you and tell you to kill.

Just Because

2007-04-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

At a loss for now.

Kurt Vonnegut

2007-04-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

IM Conversation with Dan

2007-04-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

Tammy & Isobelle says:
We are having a Blade/Matrix theme day at work today.
Tammy & Isobelle says:
I'm Trinity
Daniel says:
I won't ask why.
Tammy & Isobelle says:
It's a funny story!
Tammy & Isobelle says:
ask me ask me
Daniel says:
OK
Tammy & Isobelle says:
OK what?
Daniel says:
OK, I'm asking why
Tammy & Isobelle says:
The girl at the front desk lives in an apartment complex
Tammy & Isobelle says:
she was at the pool last weeked
Tammy & Isobelle says:
she had seen this guy around the complex for a while
Tammy & Isobelle says:
tall dark and handsome but always dressed in black
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He approached her at the pool
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He introduced himself as Blade
Tammy & Isobelle says:
It was 90 degrees outside and he was wearing all black sort of military/law enforcement style
Tammy & Isobelle says:
They talked for a while
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He asked her to come over later to his pad
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She said okay
Tammy & Isobelle says:
Mr. Tall dark and handsome in black official gear is a bald black man
Tammy & Isobelle says:
the girl is an adorable curvaceous red head NY jewish girl
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She goes over to his house.
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He has a 70's tweed couch and a maroon crushed velvet chair
Tammy & Isobelle says:
a 13" TV with a scarf laid over it
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He's 39
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She's 40
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He has a pile of VCR tapes in one corner
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He asks her if she would like to watch the 2006 BET awards that he taped
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She says sure
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He offers her a drink
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He brings her a paper cup with the Gatorade logo and name on it
Tammy & Isobelle says:
It's tap water
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He says do you mind if I turn out the lights?
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She's like um I guess so
Tammy & Isobelle says:
It's totally dark
Tammy & Isobelle says:
she asks him to at least turn on the kitchen light to a some light to the room
Tammy & Isobelle says:
the 2006 BET awards are on the 13" tv
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She decides she needs to go
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He walks her to the door and leans in for a hug
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She's like okay a hug is fine
Tammy & Isobelle says:
Then he tries to kiss her with his mouth fully open
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She backed away and said no
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He said call me when you get home so I know you're safe.
Tammy & Isobelle says:
He didn't offer to walk her home
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She called him and said thank you and goodnight
Tammy & Isobelle says:
The next day her called her three times.
Tammy & Isobelle says:
She didn't answer
Tammy & Isobelle says:
the last call he said
Tammy & Isobelle says:
I love you.
Tammy & Isobelle says:
So now we are all obsessed with Blade and making fun of her and Blade
Daniel says:
That's a truly awful story. But funny
Tammy & Isobelle says:
and true
Tammy & Isobelle says:
what are you doing?

You have just sent a nudge.

Daniel says:
At home today with Dylan
Tammy & Isobelle says:
hello?
Daniel says:
Sorry. I was chasing him around for a while (in an attempt to keep him out of trouble), and now we're having lunch.
Tammy & Isobelle says:
mmmmm weenies?
Daniel says:
PB&J
Tammy & Isobelle says:
ah
Daniel says:
not for me, though
Tammy & Isobelle says:
what's his favorite thing to say these days?
Daniel says:
"Ladies and gentlemen: Krokus!"
Tammy & Isobelle says:
no way!
Daniel says:
We got him to say that for a while
Daniel says:
Now he sings, "Breaking the log! Breaking the log!" He's sure "log" is the right word
Tammy & Isobelle says:
Bad boy bad boy whatcha gonna doo
Daniel says:
The Krokus thing actually happened somewhat naturally. We had been reading him "The Runaway Bunny," and every time we got to the crocus part, he would say "Crocus!" in a metal-style voice
Tammy & Isobelle says:
rock on
Daniel says:
I should get going. Adios, Trinity
Tammy & Isobelle says:
Later Daniel
Daniel says:
I need to go watch the BET awards
Daniel says:
on VHS
Tammy & Isobelle says:
yeah you do
Daniel says:
We all do, really
Tammy & Isobelle says:
yes we do

T-Ball, Books, Letters, Oil and Water

2007-04-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

I finished Brad Listi's book last night. I was thinking all day about writing a letter to a friend; I wanted to set some things straight. I sat down outside to finally finish the last few pages of this great book I'd been reading while my daughter and her friend hit tennis balls off a T into a big net that our neighbor had. It was dusk.

I had a beer. The last few pages turned out to be a letter. A letter to the parents of an ex-girlfriend that had committed suicide. My best friend committed suicide. I found him on my couch sitting up-right as if he were watching TV. He was dead. I read the letter in the book. It was nice and I think parents would appreciate a letter like that. I decided not to write to my friend that I'd been thinking about though, because there really wasn't anything to set straight. We are like oil and water. We just don't mix. Do you have any friends you would like to love but you just keep getting rubbed the wrong way? I just want to wring her neck all the time. Yet I still love her.

Tell me about it.

2007-04-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.herestobeer.com/

Why am I here?

2007-03-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

Why am I here? Am I blogger? Am I a marketing blogger? What’s my blog name mean?

Well I am a writer, or at least I fancy myself as one. I write advertising copy by day and everything else when I can.

I wanted to be a blogger so I started blogging.

I found a fantastic blog called Mpdailyfix. I was hooked. Smart people doing what I do to some extent and I felt a connection. I have nowhere near the credentials as most or all of the contributors to this blog but I likey!

David Armano - I think - I could be wrong - but I seem to remember him writing a blog about being influential. God! Influential! Dreamy. Then a co-worker showed me the definition to foofaraw. Silly word. Sort of the definition of silly. So to be influential foofaraw sounded exquisite to me.

can I write?

Dunno

Cheers all

Why are you here?

Bitch Attacked by Bees and Dies. YEA!

2007-03-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

One day I was standing in line for music class. We were lined up against the front wall where the chalkboard was. Someone kept playing with the chalk behind their back making that clinking noise chalk sticks make. My first grade teacher turned around and told me to stop it. I said it wasn't me. And it wasn't me. I don't know who it was. A couple seconds later the clinking began again. Getting very annoyed my teacher turned around again and yelled, "STOP IT!" I meekly replied, "It's not me." The clinking began again. My teacher turned around and slapped me across the face with her full flat hand. I don't remember if I cried but I'm sure I did. She marched the class to the music room and left me behind to write "I will not play with chalk." as many times as I could on the chalkboard. I never told a soul. Two months later my teacher was attacked by bees and died. To this day, I'm glad she was attacked. Years later I told my mom the story; she was livid. She was so mad at the teacher, and so sad I didn't tell her, and as happy as I was that that fat old bitch was attacked.

You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine - true story

2007-03-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

True Story

I woke up this mornin' and you were gone
then I noticed you'd never been home
I called your cell phone to no avail
I called your receptionist, she said you weren't there
Now I'm getting worried cuz it's not like you
to miss a day of work let alone not to phone
So I called your sister, she said that you're in jail

CHORUS:
(4 part male harmony ala Oak Ridge Boys)
You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine.
You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine.
You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine.
You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine.
(Then I come in a warblin')
So Darlin' where's the money coming from this time?

You called later that mornin' with a traumatic tale
They put you in a cell with 60 men from hell.
The judge shook his head and couldn't believe
those Oro Valley coppers arrested you
for a silly ol' misdemeanor, and no more
You forked out the money that we really don't have
You cursed Oro Valley as you began to leave.

CHORUS:
(4 part male harmony ala Oak Ridge Boys with me warbling along)

You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine.
You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine.
You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine.
You got arrested for not paying your road rage fine.
(Then I come in a warblin')
So Darlin' where's the money coming from this time?

Ideal Bite and Nazi Enviromentalists

2007-03-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hey there! I just found this cool free tip service for all things 'light green' - you know, things that are easy to do and add up to positive changes. You should totally sign up!

http://www.idealbite.com/

JOE

2007-03-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

The chair has been knocked out.

I'm floating in a most of peculiar way.

I feel lost and out of sorts.

When will you visit me again?

I miss you.

You made me laugh

harder and louder than anyone

you're gone

dead

I feel disconected

I've noticed your absence

It feels like I'm not real

death does that

makes the living feel unreal

sureal

well dear friend

We'd surely be drinking if you were here

so cheers

I miss you.

Here's to the crazy ones.

2007-03-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

- from Jack Kerouac's book On the Road

THENERVOUSBREAKDOWN.COM - Read It!

2007-03-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

THENERVOUSBREAKDOWN.COM

I just had to have it!

GE Desalination Green Disguise and Clorox Plays with Poop

2007-03-13T11:15:00.002-07:00

GE advertises how wonderful and green they are because they engage in ravishing our oceans for water...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUSS4tj1Kus

Abstract Enormous amounts of seawater are desalted everyday worldwide. The total world production of fresh water from the sea is about 2621 mgd (9.92 million m3 day-1 1985 figures). Desalting processes are normally associated with the rejection of high concentration waste brine from the plant itself or from the pretreatment units as well as during the cleaning period. In thermal processes, mainly multistage flash (MSF) thermal pollution occurs. These pollutants increase the seawater temperature, salinity, water current and turbidity. They also harm the marine environment, causing fish to migrate while enhancing the presence of algae, nematods and tiny molluscus. Sometimes micro-elements and toxic materials appear in the discharged brine. - Ibrahim S. Al-Mutaz - Chemical Eng. Dept., College of Eng., King Saud University

So I thought I would write to them and ask them point blank... "What is the desalination process you engage in doing to the ecosystem of the site from which you've extracted the water and then flushed the by-products back into that same site?"

Tammy,
Thank you for contacting GE Infrastructure Water & Process Technologies.
Your inquiry will be routed to the appropriate sales or product support person who will contact
you and answer your question or resolve your problem.
Please do not reply to sender as this email address is unmonitored.
If your problem is urgent, please contact one of our global customer support centers via phone.
Our locations and phone numbers can be found via this link:
http://www.gewater.com/who_we_are/our_locations/index.jsp
Thank You
GE Infrastructure
Water & Process Technologies
Customer Support

Stay tuned to see if I get a response.

On another front, apparently Clorox wants to scare us into using it's products because children play with poop in the toilet and don't wash their hands. nice.

I couldn't find the commercial... But seriously, it show kids whispering to each other and one kid says "I play with my poop in the toilet" Where's this kids parents?

It's just over-the-top manipulative. I'll buy generic bleach from now on.

Tammy Friday, Mother's Day My Mom

2007-03-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

My keyboard doesn't type every letter. Sometimes if I type really fast it eliminates letters.

It is really annoying.

Today is Friday

Today I am starting Tammy Friday.

I have many things I am passionate about.

Sometimes I don't know I am passionate about something until I get into it.

Today I wrote a lot of Mother's Day copy.

I'm a mother.

I didn't know I would be so passionate as a mother.

Tomorrow is my mother's 80th birthday

That is a serious accomplishment;

especially if you are my mother.

She raised two girls as an artist.

She raised two girls as an artist in the 60's, & 70's

She is amazing!

Her art is not New York, Paris or any other "cutting edge" school of art.

Her art is beautiful.

She is beautiful.

She has been featured in countless articles and books.

She is one of the most respected artists of her genre and generation.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, these are some of her paintings.

If you google Mary DeLoyht Arendt you will find her.

http://www.p-a-p-a.com/ArtistPage.asp?varID=9

LESS update

2007-03-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

Ben:

"Hi Tammy,
I could tell from a glance at your site that you and I were simpatico and agree more than we disagree.

Buy (LESS) is generating a ton of interest, much of it international. Mercifully, the attention is directed where it ought to be, which is on the issue of transparency and reform within the greater cause-related marketing industry. We really do want to help improve the model.

Happy to answer any questions you might have. And thank you for keeping an open mind and your willingness to overlooking the many ways in which I rubbed you wrong.
Best, Ben Davis"

Me:

"I certainly appreciate you taking the time to write to me. I can get pretty passionate about certain issues. I also appreciate your efforts to improve cause related marketing and for bringing charitable giving into the forefront of current news.

Good luck! And try not to piss anyone off. :-)

Have a great day!"

In international news. . .

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features/article2342789.ece

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2007/03/shopping_and_donating_are_diff.html

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23388118-details/Bono

http://www.u2france.com/spip.php?article10160

http://www.pr-inside.com/bono-s-red-campaign-slams-financial-assessment-r61086.htm

LESS vs RED

2007-03-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Ann Handley at MarketingProfs Daily fix: http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2007/03/rediculess.html

A super conversation was generated. I chimed in a few times and I felt that Ben Davis of LESS sounded a bit condescending and I think the message of LESS could be better expressed in a "Less" mean-spirited way.

Mr. Davis took the time to write to me:

"Hi Tammy, So sorry to turn you off. Let me know if there’s any way I can win you back. I don’t really want BUY LESS be the issue. I’m much happier with the outward focus that Adage.com took. No one should care about BUY LESS. Everyone should care a bit about cause-related marketing, and making it more transparent. Best,--Ben Daviswords pictures ideas"

This was my response:

Ben, Thank you for writing to me.

I still have a problem with the LESS message. It comes across as mean-spirited, and that dilutes what the message actually is; holding cause related marketing to highly transparent standards.

My feeling is, if a company is going to sell a product, advertise it, market it, whore it, whatever and then give some percentage of the sale of that product to charity then so be it. RED is not a charity, it is a campaign, and if the companies who've joined the campaign spend massive amounts on advertising and give a small percentage to the cause. So be it.

I agree transparency needs to be monitored. I can see how a company could say it has a pro-cause philosophy, gain respect and make more sales and not actually give anything to a cause. That's fraud.

I also think companies calling themselves "green" should be held accountable too. I despise the de-salination advertisement by GE. What impact does this have on the oceans' habitats, etc. It feels icky and not green at all!

I digress. Transparency. Accountability. Good.

Fraud. Bad.

Many others have written about this debate and someday I will know how to imbed these links but for now here's a few other stories and POV's.

http://www.buylesscrap.org/

http://www.joinred.com/

http://www.note-to-cmo.blogspot.com/

http://www.chaosscenario.com/main/2007/03/red_isnt_well_i.html
http://adage.com/article?article_id=115287

Scarlett

2007-03-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

Your tears salt my bitter wine.

ideas

2007-03-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of great ideas but I lack the vocabulary

and sense to make them pliable

I mean viable

tee hee

Writing is easy. Jazz is . . .Which speaks to you?

2007-03-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

"Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead."

- Gene Fowler -

"Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time." - Ornette Coleman -

Which of these statements speaks to you more? why? How are they similar?

Connections & Dreams

2007-03-01T10:16:00.000-08:00

While having lunch on Thursday, the discussion turned to Austin, TX. A co-worker’s son lives there and she was talking about what a neat town it is. I agreed and began thinking of one trip I had made to SXSW, an annual music conference in Austin. I had flight benefits with American Airlines and I flew standby to Dallas hoping to get on a flight to Austin. If you didn’t know about the events occurring in Austin you might have thought there was a large group of people going to funeral by the sea of black clad passengers waiting to board their flight. Music people always wear a lot of black, whether they are A&R, Press, Agents or actual musicians. I shivered for a moment at the thought of this flight full of music types. Don’t musicians and promoters typically die in plane crashes?
As the last passengers boarded the plane my name was called and I had scored a seat on the flight. The plane was a DC10, in fact it was one of the last DC10’s that was scheduled to retire the following month. Again a shiver ran through my spine. How far is Austin from Dallas anyway? A DC10 for a short hop of a flight. I white knuckled it and when it was time to land, I swear to God, we came out of the sky with a huge thud on the runway. Scared me to death!
I hooked up with some friends from Tucson playing at Liberty Lunch and secured ground travel for the trip back home. It was a VW bus. Slowest damn VW bus ever! I was stuck in a bus with 5 stinky musician guys talking about taking a dump and other lovely topics but I made it home.

Flash back to reality.

I ‘m tucking my daughter into bed. I remember how an old roommate used to tuck me into bed and turn on Sarah Mclaughlin to sooth my desperately depressed heart and lull me to sleep. Very sweet.

Later I’m sitting watching LOST and there’s this whole VW bus scene. Weird! I was just thinking about an old VW bus today. The final scene, in chimes Sarah singing “In the Arms of an Angel” Ooh. more weirdness.

That night I had a very vivid dream. My mother wanted me to meet an artist. I invited one friend along to join me. I entered this tiny white house nestled between huge foothills mansions. Inside a little old black lady was smoking a cigar. My mom stood silently in the corner. Three little black girls were there too, about 12, 8 and 6 years old. They were smoking cigars too. The cigar smoke was thick and smelled like nothing I had ever smelled. It smelled like heaven.
My friend called me on the cell phone. I went outside to take the call.
The woman warned me not to go, but I was already out the door. I told my friend how to get to the house.
I noticed large pieces of cardboard painted in a primitive Mondrian style. My friend ran up to me, she was followed by 6 or 7 other women. I said I had only invited her and the house was really small and I didn’t think it was appropriate to bring anyone else. She began to berate the woman’s artwork and my clothing. It was all catty and high school-like. The other women laughed and beckoned my friend to follow them. They wanted to go out on the town.

I said “Whatever! You superficial freak!”

I went back inside and the lady sat in the kitchen arguing with the 12 year old about somethig in the bathroom. Then she smiled at me. I smiled and felt warm and perfectly content. The smell, the smell was amazing. I closed my eyes.

Then I woke up.

When God has road rage He conjures up a tornado to wipe out a trailer park

2007-02-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

I went to the store for some charcoal. Not just any charcoal. I am over the top brand loyal to Wild Oats charcoal. I bought three bags. Allow me to digress. I pulled into the parking lot and I saw a man get into his minivan in a super close parking space. I stopped, thinking he would pull out so I could park there. Now mind you I’m not a parking freak. I will park wherever there is a space and I'll gladly walk my ass off for the implied, delusional exercise. Yet I felt that at this moment I could wait for this gentleman to get situated and back out. Well apparently getting situated took longer than humanly usual. So I began to drive forward to find an alternate parking space at which time he put on his reverse lights. Being happy with his decision and my patience I chose to back up to accommodate his choice to leave. Hoping again for his prime parking location. Yet as I did so he returned to park and sat again. I honked like any self respecting human that had wasted an inordinate amount time waiting for this guy and his parking space. Then I drove past him in pursuit of suitable alternate parking. Being a parking lot that had been recently re-paved my tires squealed a bit. I chose a new spot with no injuries or problems at all. I walked towards the store with my charcoal aim in mind and was accosted by a very small man.

"Was that you squealing in the parking lot?" he said.

"Yes it was an annoying moment." I replied.

Then he said "that is road rage, my friend."

"excuse me?" I asked.

He said "next time you will get a ticket."

I replied, "there was absolutely no one in danger and it was just a frustrating moment."

He said "your attitude will get you in trouble."

Getting even more annoyed, I said "you’re the one with a bad attitude."

He had a smug look that I wanted to wipe clean off his face. Road Rage? How about some stupid guy sticking his nose into something he clearly has no business doing!!! I was so much more angry because of him, than the ‘shit I’ll park somewhere else incident.’ While I was shopping I had all kinds of scenarios going through my head. I hoped he would say one more thing to me so I could say "Back off Napoleon!!’

Arrested Development

2007-02-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

The resonsibility for Britney lies in the hands of people that made her. She's a little girl and she will always be a little girl until she can live her life as herself and not as the image she has been created to be. It's called arrested development. We're asking a woman that probably has the mentality of a 15 year old to behave like an adult. This behavior only demonstrates that she can no longer live the way she has been and she's about to take a profound step towards becoming an adult.

deeply intolerant nature

2007-02-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

"my manager was one of those ultra-nice imbeciles whose perpetual smile belied a deeply intolerant nature."

Brad Listi

Thin Slicing

2007-02-19T15:41:00.000-08:00

Mike Wagner at http://www.ownyourbrand.com/ started a thin slicing meme. My understanding of thin slicing is how you measure you who’s, what’s and where’s. How do size someone up, something up and someplace up in 5 distinct ways.

I'll I start with someone.

When I meet someone new I generally give them the benefit of the doubt that they're okay or nice. However, I am a chronic stereo-typer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype

1. What stereo-type do they fit into? This isn't done in any cruel or prejudice fashion, it's just easier to get a take on their general fit into a given social group. Like hippie, yuppie, etc. but sliced thinner than those categories. Things that go into this category are, can you tell what political affiliation they have or not? Religion or not? Clothing style and demeanor? nice shoes, cheap shoes, thrift store clothes, new clothes - Wal Mart or designer.

2. Eye contact. Can you look me in the eye? If not why? Abuse? Fear? Shifty? Rude?

3. Tone. Friendly? Easy going? Rude?

4. Interest. Overly self focused? Overly focused on me? Why is this person asking all the questions? Why is this person answering my questions? How much information? Too much information?

5. Smile. Smiles can have all kinds of meanings. Smirks, Smarmy, Genuine, Fake, Eye roll, etc.

So 1. is just a point of reference. 2. confidence vs rude. 3. accessibility 4. awareness 5. sincerity.

Irony vs. Coincidence

2007-02-17T20:45:00.000-08:00

What's the difference?

Izzyism

2007-02-13T17:32:00.000-08:00

Today she said "there must be a billion telephone poles and lines."

I said "you're probably right, if you're talking the whole world."

She said "No, I know what it is...

It's one step away from infinity."

Have a great day!

chandon rose

2007-02-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

Bunch of Pricks

2007-02-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

“If you surrender to the wind, you can ride it."

2007-02-12T09:53:00.000-08:00

"If you surrender to the wind, you can ride it."

Toni Morrison

I pray to God now and then. I'm usually surprised by the response I get. I'm not sure if I believe in God but my prayers usually get answered even if it's a big fat "NO."

The last time I prayed in earnest was the weekend of my 6 year old daughter's birthday. I rented a jumping castle and all I wanted was beautiful weather.

So I prayed please let it be beautiful all weekend until the party started.

I have to say my mom is a devout Christian and she was praying for the same thing. So I think my prayers get priority when she joins in.

The party started at 1pm on Sunday. It was cold but dry outside. That was cool because kids in a jumping castle are definitely not cold after jumping for a while.

The weather held for about 2 and half hours. Then it began to pour.

Everyone left and all in all the party was very successful.

Then the amazing thing happened. It began to snow.
We live in Tucson, AZ in the desert so this was pretty magical.

There was enough snow for my husband, my daughter and I to have snow ball fight and build a small snowman and its pet snow cat.

I have to say the weather was beautiful.

2007-02-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.japanmarketingnews.com/2006/11/japanonly_produ.html

http://macksimpson.com/adverb/2006/11/28/a-nut-crushing-update/

Enjoy!

America will stand outside and yell at the top of their lungs. “We believe in affordable health care!” over and over for 15 minutes simultaneously.

2007-02-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

8 wishes

2007-02-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

http://8wishes.blogspot.com/

What’s the Chain of Command, damn it!!

2007-02-02T15:09:00.000-08:00

Update: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2007-02-05T193735Z_01_N05427094_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-BOSTON.xml

Okay yesterday’s huge terror scare in Boston. So I’m a day late. But this story has been nagging at me since I first read the news. There are several ways to interpret this incident and some are quite contradictory.

First glance…How Stupid! How could Turner allow such a plan to even be carried out? It’s post 911 for crymanny-sake!

Okay back up…two YOUNG art school grads with obvious leanings toward a ridiculous if not rude sense of humor are hired by a third party guerrilla marketing firm to promote the release of a film version of TBS' "Adult Swim" program, Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They come up with a plan to hide little homemade light-boxes, with the character Err sporting a raised middle finger, in Boston; New York City; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Who approved this idea? Did someone from Turner Broadcasting approve this plan? Does Interference, Inc. approve its own campaigns on behalf of the client? Where is the chain of command?

Next… the boxes are made and hid in various places in the cities aforementioned. They have been in place for approximately 2-3 weeks depending on the location.

Apparently, some cities found the boxes and confiscated them with little fuss and wrote it off as a public art piece, a hoax, or some even knew what their intent was…to promote a movie.

Then on Wednesday all hell breaks loose in Boston. Not only did it scare the good people of Boston but also a good part of the nation. To top it off Turner doesn’t issue a statement until 5pm.

The artists are arrested and released on bail.

They could be criminally prosecuted for executing a marketing campaign they were hired to do. They could even take the fall for footing a bill to repay Boston and other cities for all the repercussions of panic and removal.

Again…What is the chain of command?

So here’s my take on this thing;

First, did Boston officials over-react – well sorry folks but there’s no cut and dry answer.

Yes! They assumed the worse and caused mass hysteria over some little light boxes.

No! They assumed the worst and were prepared to face the possibility of an all out terrorist attack.

Could they have not assumed the worst? Not the guys on the frontline. Again…where is the chain of command here? Why didn’t someone try to figure out what was going on by hitting the internet? Keeping in contact with news stations? Getting some answers that were readily available and then communicating this to the frontline in a timely manner to diffuse the situation and call off the alert.

The fact is Boston’s emergency officials did what they did and God bless them for being prepared for the worst even if they didn’t have to be. It’s a $500,000 learning experience that the city would never have commissioned to test the procedures they have in place.
Let’s hope they learn from it. Do you hear me chain of command?! Were you still reading storybooks to children in the library instead of getting answers immediately?

Turner? What’s up with that? No response for a good nine hours? What’s the chain of command?

Interference, Inc. same questions.

Guys? (Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens) Crazy art school guys! Come on. You knew this was a shock and awe approach and you knew it would scare some people, maybe not as many as it ultimately did but you knew. Hiding them in bridges, in subway stations, public buildings – it’s quite clear there was a bit of dark humor brewing here. I’m not saying you’re guilty of a crime just because you thought it was a clever idea and because Turner? Interference? gave you the go ahead. It couldn’t be that bad right? In some ways yes and some ways no. It’s hard for me to believe that there wasn’t an underlying joke or statement about the escalated level of fear in this country.

Ah – (Here Lewis if you read this); here is the age issue; the generation gap. Anybody under the age of 30 with any inclination towards the element of cool and hip doesn’t seem to think this is a big deal. In fact they think it’s just plain ass-backward the way the “Authorities” have handled this. - "It's so not threatening -- it's a Lite-Brite," – Says twenty-two-year-old Todd Venderlin, a design student at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Just search the blogs about this issue and see how many young people think it’s ridiculous. Condolences are pouring in on Peter Berdovsky’s and Sean Stevens’ My Space pages.

This is suspicious in many ways – Turner? – Interference? – Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens? It worked!!! You got buzz!!! You did your job!! But at what cost?

The whole thing was irresponsible, irreverent, slightly sinister and childish. So there’s my little slap on the hand. Was it really all in good fun? Over all I think it stinks.

Oh yeah!!! When did it become acceptable to flip people off in a very public marketing ploy?

I'm fantastic in bed

2007-01-31T15:16:00.000-08:00

I'm guessing this is an oldy...

But It's my first time...

Marketing Explained

The buzz word in today's business world is MARKETING. However, people often ask for a simple explanation of "Marketing."

_Well, here it is: _

1. You're a woman and you see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Direct Marketing.

2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. One of your friends goes up to him and, pointing at you, says, "She's fantastic in bed."
That's Advertising.

3. You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and get his telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Telemarketing.

4. You see a guy at a party; you straighten your dress. You walk up to him and pour him a drink. You say, "May I?" and reach up to straighten his tie, brushing your breast lightly against h is arm, and then say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Public Relations.

5. You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks up to you and says, "I hear you're fantastic in bed."
That's Brand Recognition.

6. You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He fancies you, but you talk him into going home with your friend.
That's a Sales Rep.

7. Your friend can't satisfy him so he calls you.
That's Tech Support.

8. You're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be handsome men in all these houses you're passing; so you climb onto the roof of one situated towards the center and shout at the top of your lungs, "I'm fantastic in bed!"
That's Junk Mail.

Powerpoint, great name. lousy results

2007-01-29T11:05:00.000-08:00

Nine times out of ten the presentation results of Powerpoint are lousy because the user doesn't follow any rules and has no idea what a presentation should look like. I worked for a major airline on a secret presentation about the restructuring of the ground labor force. It took three years for me to convince management not to put every word of the presentation on the slides and the need to use compelling graphics and pictures. Needless to say in three years we went through a lot of versions. I'm quite proud of the end result. I'd show it to you but I can't (I signed confidentiality papers.) Although over a 100,000 airline employees did see it.

Seth Godin has written a great list of rules for Powerpoint users. Check it out. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/

Did I Ever Tell You My Fantasy?

2007-01-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

Birthdays Abound! Happy Birthday to me & to Spare Change.

Did I ever tell you my fantasy?

When I'm good and wrinkled with tuffs of white cotton candy hair I want to have a penthouse on top of an international airport. I will come down to the gates in an evening gown, a boa and marabou slippers to talk to all the international travelers. I will tell them stories of when I visited India, Africa, Peru, China, Russia, etc. Because I will have traveled the world 10 times over by then. I will be the famous crazy old lady at the airport.

Come visit anytime!!!

Spare Change: Happy Blogiversary, Baby...

2007-01-24T15:24:00.000-08:00

Writing is like showering . . .
if you don't do it everyday,
you're going to stink.
- adapted from the
"Naked Brother's Band"

I've learned that I must write everyday, get edited everyday, edit myself everyday, read everyday and write some more . . . everyday!

Check this out!

http://www.beyondmadisonavenue.com/

2007-01-23T16:07:00.000-08:00

What's so Magical About It?

Saturday I lit a candle to

El Nino de Atocha and prayed for this petition: God, please let the weather be nice on Sunday for Isobelle’s 6th birthday party. Then I began the tedious process of cleaning the house as much as I could before Sunday at 1 pm. Oh yes, I also had to make a Jiggly Puff Pinata. Jiggly Puff is a Pokemon that has the special ability of singing its opponents to sleep and then it takes great enjoyment in writing all over its slumbering victims. Isobelle is obsessed with Pokemon.

Sunday morning I awoke to a partly cloudy, chilly but nice day. Kevin was cooking two dishes for the adults to enjoy at the party while the kids ran around screaming and ignoring the sliced turkey and cheese, rolls and snacks I set out for them. He made a to-die-for roasted red pepper and cream cheese dip that was kept warm in the crock-pot and a Southwest chicken and rice dish that was mighty tasty.

I had to run out to the store to get a rope for the piñata, beer for the adults and ice. In the ten minutes it took to gather these things the temperature dropped about ten degrees and it was clear that it was snowing like mad in the mountains. Not a good sign.

The jumping castle arrived along with extra tables and chairs. The castle was hysterical. It was a giant Spiderman themed monstrosity with a jumping area and a slide. Heaven for kids. Isobelle was out riding her new birthday bicycle from her Grandma and Grandpa with her friend Laurel. They saw the jumping castle delivery truck and came running in the house and out the back door straight into the castle. So much for having a bath before the party.

Kevin was cooking away while Diana (grandma) was icing cupcakes. She had also made a chocolate castle cake with powder sugar sprinkled on it that looked ominously like snow.
The kids and parents began to arrive. The kids were in and out of the house and in and out of the jumping castle for about two hours while the parents chatted and ate. I think there were a total of 16 kids but I lost track. The weather was holding out so far.

Time for the Jiggly Puff pinata.

I walked through the house and outside in the backyard yelling “Pinata!” and everyone came running to our dilapidating swing set where we hung Jiggly Puff. I had to draw a line in the dirt to keep the little devils behind so they wouldn’t get whacked by the kid that was swinging at the piñata. We don’t do the blindfold thing. Too scary! So all the kids had a crack at the thing but it wasn’t budging. Some of the boys tried to poke holes in it, but I said that was cheating and yelled “No poking the Pokemon!” Finally we enlisted Izzy’s teacher’s 13 year old daughter Bridjette, to break it open. It fell off the string but it still remained intact. Before everyone lunged for it I swooped in grabbed it, ripped open the bottom and showered the kids with candy.

Time for cake.

The kids at Izzy’s school sing “Happy birthday to you, cha cha cha…” and so on. It’s really cute. Everyone had a piece of cake and a cupcake.

With all the kids running on a full sugar high they ventured back out to the jumping castle. Unfortunately it began to rain.

Time to open presents.

I sat with Izzy trying to write down all the gifts for thank you notes. It felt like I was sitting in the middle of a beehive. The kids were swarming around Izzy and I trying to get as close as possible to see the gifts and to make sure everyone knew which gift was from whom. Of course Izzy raked it in with tons of Pokemon stuff, crafts and more. It’s almost shameful.

Little by little they began to leave. I painted Pokemon characters on the faces of the remaining few. Finally only three girls remained.

Time for a beer.

Suddenly, someone yelled “It’s snowing!” Which is crazy because we live in Tucson, Arizona in the desert. . . it almost never snows. But sure enough flakes were coming down. The girls threw on their coats and ran outside to try to eat snow flakes. So cool! Pretty soon they were all freezing so we put them in a warm bath. Rub a dub dub, three girls in a tub giggling with glee.

The last guests departed. It was pouring snow!

Kevin and Izzy were throwing snowballs at each other and I took pictures. It was glorious! Then we made a snowman, and a snowcat.

I looked up at the falling snowflakes and thanked God for such a magical day and for my wonderful family.

More pictures to come...

2007-01-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

Me and Izzy

I've been relatively safe with my posts. Now I am at home, alone, wondering about life and my place in it. I feel I have a lot to offer the world yet I keep fallng short of expectations. The problem with this is my expectations seem to be lower than everyone elses or are they higher? I am happy being me and doing the best I think I can. Could I do better? Maybe. But would I be happy? Happier? I'm not sure. I have a good life. I am a mother. Am I a good mother? I try harder at that than anything else. But am I a good mother? Yes, I think so. I am not perfect. No, I will never be perfect at anything. I am not the pristine fabulous mother I have projected myself to be as in rants and confessions. She is my life. I do my best. Please understand, I am trying.

2007-01-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

More Fabulous Reading

1 - Seth's Blog -
2 - Creating Passionate Users -
3 - Gaping Void -
4 - Duct Tape Marketing -
5 - Marketing Shift -
6 - Daily Fix - (my personal fave)
7- Converstations -
8 - Coolzor -
9 - The Viral Garden -
10 - New School of Network Marketing -
11 - Logic + Emotion -
12 - What's Next -
13 - Drew's Marketing Minute -
14 - Jaffe Juice -
15 - Brand Autopsy -
16 - Diva Marketing -
17 - Marketing Headhunter -
18 - Marketing Nirvana -
19 - Make Marketing History -
20 - Pro Hip-Hip - Hip-Hop Marketing -
21 - Church of the Customer -
22 - Experience Curve -
23 - Beyond Madison Avenue -
24 - Spare Change -
25 - Emergence Marketing -

2007-01-18T12:44:00.000-08:00

foofaraw \FOO-fuh-raw\, noun:1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration.2. A fuss over a matter of little importance. A somber, muted descending motif opens and closes the work, which is brief but effective. It provided much needed relief from the fanfares and foofaraw in which brass-going composers so often indulge.-- Philip Kennicott, "Brass Spectacular is a Spectacle of Special Sound", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 17, 1997 After working in the news business for a number of years, I've become a bit cynical about mass-media coverage of events like the Y2K foofaraw.-- Roy Clancy, "Ready for Y2K...", Calgary Sun, December 15, 1999 Making the Times best-seller list, or a movie, or all that other foofaraw is not necessarily proof of [a novel's] lasting significance.-- Roger K. Miller, "Peyton Place' was remarkably good bad novel", Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 29, 1996 Foofaraw is perhaps from Spanish fanfarrón, "a braggart." Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for foofaraw

2007-01-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.spencerfinch.com/om/

It’s been a long time since I’ve discovered something that truly inspired me. When I look at Spencer Finch’s work I feel like a kid in art school again. I was obsessed with Jasper Johns, Mark Rothko, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and many more of similar ilks. What Finch does with lighting, drawing and sculpture has a familiar thread. There’s humor but it’s still powerful and life changing.

A colleague at work sent me this link and she absolutely made my day. I love some of the critic’s comments on the Information page.

“As Finch is fascinated with the interaction of the physiological and the psychological aspects of perception, the way our inner world casts a veil over the outer, it makes sense that he would travel thousands of miles to make a work that explored the tiniest details of his hotel room.

excerpt from Charles LaBelle, Frieze pp. 66-69, May 2003”

or especially this one. . .

"He is unafraid to inhabit the paradox that art exists in the play between language and perception. What many artists and theorists find unbearable, literally, the ‘speaking against itself’ implied in para-doxa, is for Finch less something to escape than the very condition necessary for his art practice.
excerpt from Saul Anton, Artforum, pp. 124-127, April 2001"

I find that paradox irresistible! Escape? Embrace!

Don’t miss. . .

Sky (Over Roswell, NM, 5/5/00, dusk) 2000, 48" x 76", rhinestones and acrylic on aluminum panel; shape is based on the artist's field of vision.

It’s so dreamy!

And . . .

Avalanche (K2) 1998, 48" x 76", glass mosaic and acrylic on wood.

Exquisite!

Sky (Over Coney Island, November 26th, 2004, 12:47pm. Southwest view over the Cyclone.) 2004, balloons, helium and string. Installation at Miami Beach. Violet balloons inflated inside cobalt balloons to precisely match the color of the sky over Coney Island.

Brilliant!

Times Square Boogie Woogie (02/10/06 8pm) 2006, 4'x4', fluorescent lights, filters. Detail view. This piece replicates the artificial light in Times Square at night.

I’m mad with creative energy now!

Which current artists inspire you?

2007-01-17T16:21:00.001-08:00

Technorati Profile

2007-01-17T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hello world. Here I come. I'm going to do this and I am starting today. So stay tuned for the musings of Influential Foofaraw