Thursday Thirteen Things You Should Know About Product Labels (#21)

The source of my green educational Thursday Thirteen this week is Crissy Trask’s It’s Easy Being Green.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Biodegradable: The Federal Trade Commission defines “biodegradable” as a substance that has been scientifically proven to break down entirely and return to nature within a reasonably short time after disposal. However, because most detergents and soluble chemicals degrade in wastewater systems, they don’t always completely break down into eco-friendly substances. Read the label carefully to make certain the product is made up of nontoxic, renewable ingredients.
2. Cage Free: While this label guarantees that chickens weren’t raised in cages, it doesn’t guarantee they spent any part of their lives outside.
3. Free Farmed: This label is administered by the American Humane Association and testifies that dairy cows, chickens, cattle, and hogs are raised humanely and under healthy living conditions.
4. Free Range Chicken: Legally, this label only requires that poultry producers allow their poultry access to the outdoors for an unspecified amount of time each day — ie. leave the door open. It does not guarantee that the chicken ever made it outside.
5. GMO Free: Genetically Modified Organisms or, rather, genetically modified plants are the product of scientific genetic manipulation involving introducing unnatural but supposedly “desirable” gene characteristics into plants — ie. animal traits into tomatoes. Some scientists are worried such manipulation could ruin the ecosystem and contaminate the food supply.
6. Green: This hasn’t been defined in standard manufacturing terms. Call the manufacturer and ask them what they mean by it.
7. Natural: Except where beef or chicken processing is concerned, this term is meaningless in legal terms. To qualify for beef or poultry processing, the USDA requires that there be no artificial ingredients and no food coloring.
8. Nontoxic: “Toxic” means poisonous. Chemicals that are Persistent, Bioaccumaltive, and Toxic (PBTs) do not readily break down in the environment and accumulate in the tissues of animals and humans.
9. Organic: Food and fiber grown or produced in accordance of the National Organic Standards Act without toxic pesticides and fertilizers, synthetic hormones, antibiotics, sewage sludge, GMOs, or irradiation.
10. Pesticide Free: There’s no standard definition for this. This label could mean the grower didn’t use pesticides in growing the produce or that there was no detectable pesticide residue when tested. You’d have the grower to be sure.
11. Recyclable: A recyclable material or product is one that, after its useful life, can be manufactured into another useful material or product, therby keeping it out of the waste stream.
12. Recycled Paper: If the three chasing arrows on your product are white on a black background, it means the paper is made from 100% recycled content. However,if the arrows are black on a white background, it is made up of recycled and virgin fiber and the manufacturer is required to note what percentage comes from the recycled fiber. But, wait…there’s more…you also have to consider the source of the recycled content. Paper made from wood shavings from a lumber mill, labeled industrial waste, can be labeled recycled, but buying this type does nothing to help support consumer recycling programs. Look for paper marked “PCC” or “PCW”, which stands for post-consumer content or post-consumer waste, respectively.
13. Sustainable Fishery: A sustainable fishery (a species or stock of fish) is one that has not been depleted or harvested in ways that harm the ocean ecosystem.

Tags: green living, recycle, biodegradable, animal rights, organic, humane, waste, Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, memes

Thursday Thirteen Vanity Plates I Took Pictures Of This Week (#20)

Today’s Thursday Thirteen is brought to you by the letters W, I, and G, and the numbers 5 and 23.

I found these all in less than seven days. I swear, New Englanders have the most Vanity Plates per square mile.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. This guy is just “CREWZN.”
   
2. I can only imagine this person is a self-styled “gangsta”. Though, in a Mazda? Probably not very credible.
   
3. This must be a mother.
   
4. I’ve been debating on if this person meant to spell “no duh” or they have no dad. Either way, it’s very sad.
   
5. Obviously this person is clinging onto Boston’s glory. (You know they say that Maine is like Massachusetts’ retarded step-cousin, right? We have no teams of our own but we always seem to glob onto Mass’ victories.
   
6. Blue Heaven or Haven?
   
7. This was sitting next to the above car.
   
8. Awwwwwww…as if college didn’t cost enough… (By the way, the MSU Mom really drives this SUV.)
   
9. Here’s a two-fer. This car has been sitting in the parking garage for six months. People have written in the dust, as you can see. Obviously someone cared about it at one time…enough to get a vanity plate. I’m even betting the guy is tall, kind of pale, maybe a little bald.
   
   
10. Apparently, the cost of college is worth a “W”.
    
11. I don’t think this person is sticking around.
    
12. And this one ain’t from around here.
    
13. At least this one has the right idea about living life every day.
    

Tags: vanity plates, photo blogging, thursday thirteen, meme, bloghopping, license plates, automobiles, cars, parking lot, parking garage, Maine, New England

Prepare To Drop The Delurking Device — It’s National Delurking Week

Thanks to Buttercup, I discovered it’s National Delurking Week. Who knew? And who comes up with these things and when? Inquiring minds want to know, you know.

Anyway!

So what is it? Apparently, it’s the week when all the lurkers out there are finally supposed to own up to the fact that they visit blogs — you know, come out of the virtual blog closet, so to speak. The idea is that if you read a blog and have never actually commented, you’re supposed to leave a comment and let the blogger know that you are a reader of their thoughts. I don’t know what happens to you if you don’t. Maybe the Internet god frown on you and disrupt your Internet or do naughty things to your computer if you don’t. *shrug*

So if you are a lurker here, I’d love if you’d leave a little comment and let me know you are there! Maybe a first name or a nickname or a porn name from the porn name generator and the city/state/country where you live? How you got here? How long you’ve been coming here?

(graphic found at A Gracious Home)

Tags: National Delurking Week, bloghopping, commenting

Monday’s A Bitch: 01/08/2007

Random Joy

1. After a long day, I like to kick back with…? HGtv, my afghan, and my animals.
2. Do you know anyone “famous”/who is the “most famous” person you’ve ever met? I’ve met lots of famous people at sci-fi conventions — actors, writers, and artists. Most seem to be more down to earth at them. Laurell K. Hamilton, Jewell Staite, Ruth Thompson and Timothy Zahn come to mind. Didn’t care for Anne McCaffrey or Claudia Christian at all.
3. What is your favourite piece of classical music? - Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring

More

Tags: Monday\'s a Bitch, meme, bloghopping

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Thursday Thirteen Things I Wonder About (#19)

My mind works in strange and mysterious ways…

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. How often do other people change out the underwear in their underwear drawer? I mean, so they schedule a regular amount of time? Twice a year maybe to go through and throw out all the ratty old underwear they wouldn’t wear on vacation or on a date or in front of their cats and replace them?
2. Speaking of underwear, am I the only one who’s ever bought new underwear just so I didn’t have to wash clothes? Or whole new outfits even? Or a couple of days-worth of clothes?
3. What do other people think about during their commute to work? Do they just space out and not remember how they got to work? Do they think about the AIDs issue in Africa, last night’s Daily Show, what they’re going to make for dinner? Am I the only one who has whole imaginary conversations and arguments with myself that I might have with other people that just piss me off further when I’m already pissed off or help convince me more that I’m right about something?…What?
4. Do other people worry that they might look up and find someone staring in their window at them, especially at night? Every night? Even on the second story? Or driving in their car? Especially when looking in the rear view mirror?
5. Why can’t someone invent a spray that discourages my puppy from poo-pooing on my rug? They make stuff to clean it up. They make stuff to “neutralize” the smell. Can’t they make something that makes him sniff that spot and think “naughty!”?
6. Why can’t all my pets learn to use the toilet like me? Is it really that difficult? I mean, they’re always watching me, studying me when I use it. Surely by now they’ve figured it out.
7. Why do people think South Park is funny? Seriously. I just don’t get it.
8. Why don’t Target or WAL-Mart carry white floating shelves? Do people really only decorate in dark colors anymore? Don’t the people who order stock for them watch HGtv or TLC at all?
9. Was my old apartment building filled with mold like my crazy old neighbor claimed and was it making me sick? I have to say that I’ve had a reduction in headaches since I moved into the house. Though before I moved into the apartment, I suffered from chronic migraines for 20+ years. However, the fibromyalgia did become a problem while I was in the apartment and it’s been better too. Granted, I’ve been eating my strict pseudo-vegetarian diet and doing aquatic physical therapy. It’s hard to tell. But the mildew problem on my furniture and in my kitchen is gone now that I’m in the house. (The allergist said I wasn’t allergic.)
10. If my mom isn’t coming for my gall bladder surgery, who is going to drive me to and from and take care of me and is it wrong to be annoyed at my grandmother for taking up my mother’s time? My grandmother isn’t actually physically ill, but she is bipolar. She has to be watched because she won’t take her meds or eat like she should because she’s decided she doesn’t want to and she didn’t like the nursing home she was in. She demanded that my parents take her with them from Ohio to New Mexico for a visit after Thanksgiving and she shows no signs of wanting to go home. My dad shows no signs of wanting to take care of his own mother so it falls on my mom. So, now that I have surgery scheduled in February, I don’t have my mommy to take care of me and I’m a little disappointed. Does that sound too selfish?
11. Has TNT been showing a 3rd season of The Closer and I’ve missed it? I think I missed this season of Monk too. They don’t seem to be showing them regularly. When will there be a new season of Eureka? There are simply too many shows I like now. It’s too much to keep up with and they’re all on at odd times and their seasons are all weird and even the DVR is getting confused.
12. Has anyone else noticed that Amazon’s Prime shipping is not worth the price anymore? Very few things are covered as “free shipping” and very few things are included in their “expedited” 2-day shipping either. I almost always am paying added shipping costs even on some books and for standard shipping, some things aren’t shipping for weeks, even two of the books I ordered (that I don’t have time to read). Since I usually buy $100-worth of stuff at a time, I don’t understand why I never qualify for free anything. Why am I paying for this extra service?
13. Do people only come here to read the Thursday Thirteen? My uncle told me that one of those news channels said that most blogs have only one reader. Am I posting to myself the rest of the week?

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, meme, bloghopping, WAL-Mart, Target, the puppy, South Park, underwear, The Closer, Monk, Eureka, T.V., Amazon.com, mold, mildew, fibromyalgia, migraines

Thursday Thirteen Things I’d Like To Do In 2007 (#18)

So this is the time of year when everyone is doing New Year’s Resolutions. I prefer not to do “Resolutions” because they’re generally broken and joked about by the middle of January and forgotten by President’s Day. Then, next January, they’ll be resolved again.

So, instead, I usually try to use the time to reflect and think about the things I’d like to work on in my life, changes, improvements, and so on. I don’t make myself any impossible promises though. I know my limits and I know physics. There’s no way I can lose 60 lbs in 2 months, for example; nor is it likely that I’ll be getting up at 5am any time soon to exercise 3 times a week.

Anyway, here is my list of things I would like to do in 2007, no promises, but I’m working on it. More

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, meme, New Years Resolutions, gardening, knitting, debt, weight, health, writing, Green Living, housekeeping, dysfunctional family

Pet Peeve #2,314: Deleting Disagreable Comments

It’s enough that the world is filling up with Princesses, Divas, and self-involved Assholes, but why even bother having a blog and inviting people to comment if you’re going to delete all of the comments that disagree with you? If you’re going to do that, could you at least put some sort of warning or disclaimer that only worshipers at your altar should spend time and risk carpal tunnel responding to your every thought, whine, or tribulation?

Tags: pet peeve, bloghopping

Thursday Thirteen Favorite Christmas Decorations (#17)

(I apologize if some of the pictures are a little dark. I tried to use natural light because the flash washed them out. I’m much better at taking landscape photographs.)

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

#1 & #2:
Tigger and The School House Rock “I’m Just A Bill” ornaments.
(It even plays part of the song!)

#3 & #4:
Scooby Doo (entangled in lights) and Spiderman (delivering presents) ornaments.

More

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, blog meme, Christmas, decorations, ornaments

Thursday Thirteen Things That Have Gone Wrong Today (#16)

Today is a Murphy’s Thursday Thirteen.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. I overslept.
2. I forgot to take my morning medicines.
3. I was out of both fruit and granola when I went to make breakfast.
4. When I got in the car to drive to work, I realized I was out of gas.
5. When I got to the gas station, I realized I had no purse.
6. When I got home to get the purse, I sideswiped my side view mirror on my garage.
7. I picked up regular instead of Diet Pepsi at the gas station.
8. When I finally got near work, traffic was backed up 1½ blocks in front of my parking garage.
9. My stomach is very upset.
10. I’m trying to not get a migraine.
11. My fibromyalgia pain is up today.
12. I was going to write a TT about things I actually don’t mind having in common with my family but my website was down.
13. And I couldn’t think of thirteen things I have in common with my family.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, bloghopping

Pet Peeve #3,129: Restrictive Comments

I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to read an interesting blog entry and want to comment or join in an on-going comment discussion only to find that you can only comment if you have a Blogger, Google, or Yahoo 360° account. (The worst ones are even more obscure or require registration with the website.)

The absolute last thing I want to do is sign up yet another account where I’m going to have to remember yet another sign-on name and password — because likely my usual sign-on has already been taken and it’s not a good idea to re-use a password at more than one site.

To be clear, I already have to remember the sign-on and password for at the very least one email account, my online bank account, my work and/or school computer, each of my credit cards online banking accounts, some of my utility bill accounts who still refuse to send electronic bills to my bank but allow me to pay online through their own website, my own blog(s), and so on. So, if I encounter a blog which requires me to register to comment, I’m highly unlikely to do so…and I’m highly unlikely to go back no matter how good the writing is, because ultimately, I want to participate and connect.  If I want to just read opinions, I can read the newspaper or the A-list bloggers.
I think it’s ridiculous of a blogger to think that their readers are only Blogger readers or only Google readers or only Yahoo 360° readers. This is particularly naive if the blogger is participating in memes, webrings, and other means of connectivity to bring readers to their websites.

The worst type of offenders to me are those participating in memes specifically with the intention of increasing readership and commenting on their site. To me, if you are going to restrict such comment participation to only one type of readership, you shouldn’t be participating in such an open meme.

Tags: pet peeves, bloghopping, meme, commenting, registration

Thursday Thirteen Famous Movies I’ve Happily Never Seen (#15)

Feel free to try to convince me to change my mind.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Gone With The Wind — Though I did read the book. I absolutely couldn’t stand Scarlett or Ashley. I did love Rhett Butler, of course, the rogue. Still, I’m not sitting through a technocolor movie of the story.
2. Pulp Fiction — Gratuitous violence. Well, I think that’s what it is. That’s what it seems to be from the descriptions I’ve garnered from my male friends who’ve seen it and the commercials. It just seems to glorify violence and after seeing Natural Born Killers in the theater, I can’t stomach that kind of glorification anymore. More

   Tags: Thursday Thirteen, meme, bloghopping, movies

   14 comments See also in My Life, Books, Music, Movies, & T.V., Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, Thursday Thirteen, Memes

Thursday Thirteen Geeky Buttons (#14)

I’m a geek. O.K. I’m a roleplaying geek. Many of my friends are roleplaying geeks. About 15 years ago, we were on this kick where we’d keep track of the really off-the-wall things we said, usually during roleplaying games. Sometimes, the quote was something we overheard somewhere else and repeated because it “sounded” like something we’d say — you know something “geeky cool”. Then if the quotable was worthy enough, I’d have it made into a button at the next sci-fi convention I made it too.

As I was packing to move into my house, I rediscovered my stash of buttons and couldn’t help wandering down memory lane. I’ve picked out thirteen of my favorites to share here and I’ve decided that sometimes they’re funnier without the background story, but feel free to ask — though I’m not entirely sure my memory is up to recalling all of the details of way back in the day.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Lately, I’ve been packing a helicopter with my underwear.
2. Thwarting Evil is a good thing!
3. Remember, unless it’s confirmed by God, it’s probably a joke.
4. It’s hard to look innocent when you’re holding a loaded crossbow.
5. Now we have to break in another dwarf!
6. Warning: Amnesiac Gullible Pyrokinetic Pyrophobic Witch
7. Why do I always have to jump out the helicopter?
8. It started with the orange juice…
9. I don’t like being dead. It’s quite annoying.
10. Another common area bites the dust.
11. Be quiet! I’m plotting!
12. Who’s Roleplaying?
13. Which Unreality are we in now?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Thanks to Denise for the Pug graphic!

Tags: bloghopping, meme, Thursday Thirteen, geek, roleplaying, buttons

Thursday Thirteen Things To Worry About (#13)

I’m a worry-wart. I worry about all kinds of things and I can’t turn it off. I worry about whether or not my cats hate me. I worry about whether or not my co-workers are talking about me. I worry about whether or not the world is going to blow up today or if my house is going to burn down or if my headache means I’m getting a brain tumor.

I’m in therapy. At least I’m trying to get a grip, but it turns out that there are a lot of people who worry about a lot of things out there. Some things are worried about far more than they need to be and some things aren’t worried about enough. That’s what this week’s theme is.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Don’t worry so much about getting a brain tumor. Apparently there’s less than a 1% chance that you’ll develop a cancer originating in your brain. If you must worry about cancer, worry about lung cancer; it’s the leading cancer killer of women. (Check out cancer.gov)
2. Don’t worry so much about being in a plane crash. As big a deal as I make of it here, the fact is that as few as 18 people died for every 41.7 million who flew on U.S. air carriers last year. The truth is that most people’s fear of flying stems from a fear of lack of control (like mine). The odds of you dying in an automobile accident are one in 237 over your lifetime, compared with one in 1.25 million over your lifetime for a commercial plane crash, according to the National Safety Council in Itasca, Illinois.
3. Don’t worry so much about having a miscarriage. One out of five pregnancies that is confirmed in a doctor’s office ends in miscarriage. Most miscarriages occur because of chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus and not because of something the mother ate, drank, or did.
4. Don’t worry so much about having bad breath. Only about one in seven people suffers from chronic halitosis. You wouldn’t know it from the gum, mint and breath freshener advertisers. Apparently the advertisers are winning because up to 1/3rd of the patients who see their doctor about chronic bad breath don’t have it.
5. Worry a little about being in a car crash. Motor vehicle accidents are the number-one cause of accidental death for women and the number-one killer of women under the age of 35. (whew! Just missed me!) Each year, 40,000 Americans die on the road. In fact, fear of vehicular death is unbelievably low in this country because Americans are familiar with cars and think they’re “in control” — so “in control” that one in five Americans still don’t wear a seat belt.
6. Worry a little about becoming disabled. One third of all Americans between 35 and 65 will become disabled for more than 90 days, according to the American Council of Life Insurers in Washington, D.C. A 20-year-old worker’s chances of becoming disabled are approximately twice as great as her chances of dying before retirement age, yet only 28 percent participate in group long-term benefits. (My mother was surprised to learn that I always carry both short-term and long-term insurance in case something happens to my hands or arms. Can’t imagine what a programmer would do without them.)
7. Worry a little about getting breast cancer. One in 13 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer (one in eight if their mom or sister has the disease). It is the second-leading cause of cancer death in U.S. women, after lung cancer. But 94% of new cases of breast cancer are in women age 40 or older. My grandmother and great-grandmother both had breast cancer. I’m not waiting for my mother. If breast cancer runs in your family, find a doctor who will begin regular mammograms as early as 30 or 35. (To learn more, go to BreastCancer.org)
8. Worry a little about contracting diabetes. Diabetes is the fifth deadliest disease in America. The death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent since 1987, due to the rise in type 2, the kind traditionally developed later in life — only more and more kids are getting it now. It’s also the leading cause of blindness, amputation and dialysis, and increases a person’s risk for heart disease.
9. Worry a little about going blind. An estimated one in 200 Americans is legally blind. Sixty-seven percent of blind Americans are female, mostly because women live longer, but other factors, such as genetics, sex hormones, and lifestyle differences, may put women at increased risk.
10. Be very afraid of getting skin cancer. Cancer of the skin is the most common cancer. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer, including nonmelanoma cancers, which are more common and rarely fatal, and melanoma, which accounts for the majority of skin cancer deaths. The rate of nonmelanoma cancers, including basal cell and squamous cell varieties, has nearly tripled in women under 40 in the past 30 years.
11. Be very afraid of contracting an STD. Your lifetime chance of getting an STD is greater than one in two. How scary is that? Made me cross my legs when I read it.
12. Be very afraid of having a heart attack. Two in five women will die from heart disease. And women are less likely to make a big deal about it while it’s happening.
13. Be very afraid of being in a fire. You have a one in 1,179 chance of dying in a fire from exposure to smoke or flames. Fires in homes caused 82% of fire deaths in 2004. Less than 1/4th of households have a tested escape plan, and almost a third think they’d have at least 6 minutes to escape. Most likely you’d only have two or three minutes. (For more information, go to NFPA.org) This one is particularly timely for me as I prepare to move into my first home with thoughts of my friend’s housefire on my mind. You can bet your wet-willies I’ll be making extra certain to fire-proof the house.

Source: Self, August, 2006.


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants Thanks to Denise for the Pug graphic!

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, meme, bloghopping, risks, accidents, health, cancer, fear, interesting trivia

19 comments See also in Interesting Trivia, Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, Thursday Thirteen, Memes

Thursday Thirteen Things Most People Don’t Know About Me (#12)

I moved to Maine 2 1/2 years ago, leaving my old life behind.  Most people up here and most people online don’t know many of these things from the first 33 years of my life…

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. I was a Stand-up comic in New Orleans for about 2 years after college.  I loved it at first, but it’s very hard to be a clean comic and the guy who booked our shows kept booking us into the sleaziest of places.
2. I lost 55 lbs in 2002.  I’ve gained it back since moving, but I was well-known in certain circles in New Orleans as being the Queen of Nutrition and was a role model, something I was proud of but also there was a lot of pressure with it.
3. I’ve written two novels.  One I wrote in high school and one I wrote last year for NaNoWriMo.  Believe it or not but the latter is the better of the two.  The high school one was really bad sci-fi.  Last year’s was semi-autobiographical.  No one will ever see either again.
4. I haven’t been on a date since the beginning of 2003.  Possibly why my mother thinks I’m a lesbian.
5. I am still good friends with my last three serious boyfriends.  Like help move a body good friends.  Though, I think only one of them might actually ask.
6. I was once mugged on a first date.  We were in the driveway of a police officer’s home.  The mugger told us not to call the police.  We were standing next to the patrol car.
7. He’s the only one I considered marrying.
8. I have seen and talked to ghosts, but I don’t believe in extra-terrestrials.  However, Signs scares the shit out of me every time I watch it.
9. I was sent home from Vacation Bible School for wearing a skirt to short.  I was the art teacher.
10. I also got girls banned from the Church choir my senior year because I “danced” while singing.
11. I was on the Student Council for the Baptist Student Center in college.  I know this comes as a surprise to those who know I have trouble with the Church.  Believe it or not, I did try to work with the system for many years before my Faith in God suggested I should stop upsetting the natives with my questions.
12. I sold Pampered Chef products — and despite having quite the comic personality for it, I hated hunting down friends and family with a catalog and calculator to beg them to buy stuff.  However, I have quite the enviable kitchen collection of stoneware and pots and pans.
13. After I lost my job 12 days before Christmas 2003 in New Orleans, I took a job in Maine in April 2004 and moved 1700 miles away from everyone and everything I’d known my entire life of 33 years.  Some people have told my I was courageous.  At the time I considered it desperate.  Today, I consider myself lucky.  It’s clear to me that God knew it was time for me make a change and that I wasn’t going to do it on my own.  He knew I would never have mentally survived Hurricane Katrina and that as a Healthcare IT worker I would have been in the midst of it per my job’s requirements.  Everything might not be perfect, but it could be worse; that much I’m aware.

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, meme, bloghopping

Thursday Thirteen Discombobulated Worries This Week (#11)

My brain is way too scattered and full of anxiety to focus on one particular nifty topic this week. So, now you get to see the really true discombobulated, highly anxious me.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. What if the sale on the little red house falls through and I don’t get it?
2. What if the sale on the little red house doesn’t fall through and I do get it and it turns into a money pit?
3. What if those nice flippers are taking advantage of me because I’m a naive first time buyer and I don’t know what I’m doing?
4. What if my dog is depressed? He’s been lethargic and hasn’t been eating at home, but the doggie daycare folks say he’s hyper and playful there. Maybe he just hates me.

More

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, meme, bloghopping, anxiety, home buying, acid reflux, IgAN, autoimmune kidney disease, discombobulated, the puppy

14 comments See also in My Life, Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, Wellness, Discombobulated, Anxiety/Depression, The Puppy, Acid Reflux/Gastro B.S., Thursday Thirteen, Memes, Little Red House, IgA Nephropathy

Friday Five First Sentences Challenge– 10/27/06

Here we go again.

1. There was no way in hell she was going to the opera.
2. Three hundred years had passed since the banishment of the War God and now the cracks in the world were truly starting to show.
3. Shaina had made up her mind; she was definitely, probably going with decaf this morning.
4. Bill was going to kill his brother.
5. Taylor watched in horror as the crack slowly crawled across her windshield, forking in the middle and branching out like two great arms in some desperate plea.

Now it’s your turn…

Tags: Friday Five 1rst sentences, writing, fiction, meme, bloghopping

Thursday Thirteen House Hunting Ponderings (#10)

This week’s post obviously is the result of my recent house hunt wanderings. Clearly I have my own opinions and sense of style. None of my comments are meant to insult so please take this post in the spirit of the Thursday Thirteen meme — an opportunity to get to know each other…here’s me. Feel free to comment and opinion right back. I’d like to get to know you too.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Seriously. $500K is a bit too much to be asking if you have the pinkest bathroom ever and a Space Shuttle mural in the living room.

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Tags: Thursday Thirteen, meme, bloghopping, house hunting

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Guilty Or Not Guilty

got this from kay who borrowed from Teena who borrowed from Izzy who stole it from Holly

1. Dated outside your race? Guilty
2. Singing in the shower? Guilty
3. Spit in someone’s drink? Not Guilty
4. Played with Barbies? Guilty
5. Made someone cry? Guilty
6. Opened your Christmas presents early? Guilty but only after I moved out on my own
7. Lied to a friend? Guilty but only to spare their feelings
8. Watched and cried while watching a soap opera? Not Guilty…I’ve never cried
9. Played a computer game for more than 5 hours? Guilty
10. Ran through the sprinklers naked? Not Guilty…I’ve always been a prude.
11. Ate food that fell on the floor? Guilty … Three second rule

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Tags: guilty or not guilty, meme, bloghopping, blogs

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Thursday Thirteen Neat Things I Wish Someone Would Buy Me (#9)

This week’s list(posted early due to my medical stay) is stuff I’ve found that I think is really cool but I just can’t justify buying for myself (and I don’t play the lotto), but seeing as I’m single and live alone, there’s not really anyone around here but the animals to hint at that I want it other than my parents and, well, let’s just not go into the whole online-wishlist-ordering-online-fiasco thing…

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Birding Company Maine Bay Window feeder — Can you imagine what fun my cats and my dog would have with this little beauty? I just think it would be better than television.
2. Knit Lite Knitting Needles — Knitting needles that light up in the dark. How cool is that? I mean, I have a problem with lighting because it tends to trigger headaches with me — something that not all doctors get (it’s like my face gets flushed on the side that the light is coming from and then if I stay that way to long, a headache with develop and if I don’t treat it, a migraine, etc.). If I had these, I could keep knitting even after I’ve had to turn the lamp off maybe.

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Tags: Thursday Thirteen, meme, bloghopping, shopping, wishlist, Amazon

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Ideas About Getting More Commenters

I’ve been trying to figure out how to get the people who come here to comment more often on posts — you know, have more open dialogs, etc. So, when I come across this sort of post on one of my regular reads, I’m intrigued. However, for me, she was preaching to the choir, but I thought I’d like to pass along her tips edited with my own opinions. I’m hoping you fellow readers and passerby will add your own suggestions and thoughts to the comment section. (ah-ha!) Mind you, I’m basically going by why or why not I leave comments on other blogs.

Ideas About Getting More Commenters:

1. Eliminate anything on your blog that might send new arrivals immediately toward the “back” button, such as:
• Music or video that starts playing automatically. Not only is it not work safe, but some of us already have our own life soundtracks playing; perhaps we’d like a choice before having yours blaring over ours.
• Any sort of automatic file download will be assumed to be a virus. Again, don’t share without asking first.
• Requiring a special plugin to play your files; I’m tired of having to click through messages asking me if it’s o.k. to download this or that plugin just to see what’s on someone’s blog. I like gadgets at home, but I don’t want them forced on my blog surfing experience.
• Text that’s hard to read. If your font is too small or in a glaring color combo with the background, don’t expect people to risk eyestrain to read your posts. Those red or neon colors on black may be nifty -looking designs for all of two seconds but if you want anyone to stick around and read your content longer than that, you might consider something that doesn’t trigger a migraine. I prefer light colored backgrounds for where the content is myself and if you must have a black background, then go with a white text, but even that gets hard to read after a while. “Also, if some people’s fonts sizes seem too big, but yours looks just right, you might have your screen resolution too low; if so, the other blogs are fine, and yours has too small of a font size.”
2. Make sure the general public is actually able to comment on your site.
• If your blog only allows registered users to comment, most folks can’t post there and few people will take the time to register just to post a comment or two, which means they won’t be back to check on the responses either; to increase comments, move to a more visitor-friendly site, put in Haloscan or some other flavor of commenting that doesn’t require registration. If your blog is somewhere that allows for anonymous commenting, such as Blogger, and you’ve turned that feature off to reduce the likelihood of trolls and spam, why not turn it back on and see what the ratio is of increased comments to “bad” ones? This is a biggie for me; It irritates me to no end when I come to a site that requires a Blogger or Google sign-on just to leave a comment. There are more bloggers out there than just on Blogger and Google, folks and we’re not all bad people. And, it’s particularly irritating when the blog is in a meme and asking for comments and “link backs”.
• If you’ve got cutting-edge code, be aware that some of that stuff only works on newish PC’s with recent versions of Windows and browsers; potential commenters on Macs, or with older computers, operating systems or browsers, or browsers other than the major ones, might not be able to get your links and scroll bars to work (the latter being very important if you have a postage-stamp-sized embedded window with your posts in it)… if you want to be sure that everyone can comment, either test your site on a wide range of machine and browser combos or just stick to tried and true, if less glamorous, template designs.
3. Post content that people will want to comment on. “If you’re posting about how many eggs you had for breakfast, the only person who’ll comment is your mom warning you about your cholesterol level; to affect folks enough to engender in them the urge to respond to you, your posts should be funny, emotional, controversial, insightful, sexual, or about famous people.” I guess I need to work on that. Note to self: no more posts about egg-eating.
4. Treat anyone who does comment with courtesy. The bulk of your comments should be from repeat visitors, but people won’t come back if they don’t feel like they connected with you in a positive way, which means that you should:
• Welcome 1st-time commenters. (I need to work on that too.)
• Respond to every non-trivial comment that’s posted. If all someone says in reaction to your post is something like “Me too,” she probably doesn’t expect you to reply, but most folks comment because they want to be part of a dialogue, and if you deny them that there’s plenty of other blogs they can go to where they can feel more involved. This is a major complaint of mine on other blogs. I often feel that my comments go unnoticed by regular commenters so that some blogs feel cliquish. It’s important to make everyone feel welcome and included.
• Even if there’s an intense debate going on, as long as a commenter hasn’t stooped to name-calling or personal remarks you need to remain polite when you address or refer to him; also, resist the temptation to argue with someone who’s posted a reason for disagreeing with you without asking you questions to prompt you to rebut him… there’s no chance you’ll change his mind, and it just looks like you’re being a bully.
5. Keep control of your comment areas. If you let trolls, or people who can’t discuss issues without getting nasty, run rampant, no sane person will want to bother posting a thoughtful comment, much less become a regular commenter; unless all you want are a few belligerent types spewing on each of your posts, delete comments from and if possible ban trolls in a timely fashion, and threaten to do the same to those who get too heated if they refuse to abide by your request that they keep it civil.

I think the reminder Omni gives that’s most important about blogging and seeking comments is this:

In general, though, the most important thing about comments is that you don’t get so hung up on them that you lose sight of what makes your blog special; YOU, and your unique perspectiv