Monday, July 28, 2008

ModestNeeds.org - now you've heard of it...

So I was reading an article about how this all started, and thought WHAT A GREAT IDEA, and love to tell everyone about a great idea...a teacher living on $33k started his own website to help people out who had small financial needs that were one-time only type of things. In 2002 he opened his idea to others and now has a not for profit. For every dollar donated, it is matched by the Herb Albert Foundation, which has contributed $1.4MILLION so far. So if you want to feel like you are directly helping another human being, you can use this site to pick or make a general donation. FAUBULOUS! You can read the entire article in FORBES AUGUST 11, 2008 edition. I was surprised to see such an article written in this magazine, since it is so in favor of capitalism and against socailism but I guess they admired the entrepreurial spirit of the enterprise. I love stories that celebrate the power of one - one person can make a difference!
http://www.modestneeds.org/

Friday, July 25, 2008

Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island 2009 Calendar Photo Contest - Road Trip Anyone?

Presented by Friends of the Island Parks
We are creating a 2009 calendar that will feature images of Caladesi and Honeymoon islands. We will also include special information, dates, and cool nature information throughout the calendar days. The calendar will have a front cover photo, and inside a photo for Dec 2008 and 13 photos for Jan. through Dec. 2009 plus Jan 2010. This calendar will be sold at the Rotary Centennial Nature Center, Cafe' Honeymoon and 'on line' @Islandparks.org so this is a chance to get your work out to many people who visit the island. Proceeds will go directly to support the nature center. Thank you!

Questions? Send email to: info@islandparks.org

Rules:

  1. Fourteen photos will be selected as winners and used for each of the monthly pictures (12/08 through 01/10). Winners will receive a copy of the calendar and individual recognition.
  2. One of the monthly winners will also be selected for the calendar cover page.
  3. All photos must be digital, landscape in orientation, and of sufficient resolution to be printed clearly on an 11 x 8.5” page. Images with borders, panoramas, watermarks, text labels, suggestive or controversial material will not be accepted.
  4. All photos must capture images only from Honeymoon or Caladesi Island State Parks.
  5. An independent panel of judges will select the winning photos and their decisions will be final. The judging panel and their immediate families are not eligible to enter the contest.
  6. The contest begins at 12:01 a.m. on August 17th, 2008 and ends at 11:59 p.m. on September 30th, 2008. Winners will be announced before October 13th, 2009.
  7. There is no limit to the number of entries, but each must be submitted separately. An entrant may win more than once. No professional photographers, please.
  8. Submission of the photo and entry form is your guarantee that you are the author and copyright holder. Entrants agree to permit publication and use of their photos in Friends’ promotional and educational materials, and will receive no monetary compensation.
*you must submit online: http://www.islandparks.org/photocontest/index.htm

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Sick Day for HOBO

hobo  This is my third Boston Terrier.  He was a rescue, and I figured he already had a name but since he wouldn't tell me what it was I'd have to think up something else to call him.  And what do you call a lone traveling man on the roadway?  So that's how he came to be called Hobo.  He is large for his breed, so we also call him Biggie Smalls, and we sing to him "Big-Biggie-Biggie, can'chu see?"

The kennel found him while we were in Germany and they were dog sitting our Gretchen and Ingrid.  When we came back the owner was extraordinarily chatty about her events the day before, all while walking us back and ending in front of this fella's crate.

Now, I know a sales job when I hear one and I must say I never dreamed of this one.  The 2 girls barely got along and I couldn't imagine adding a third to that near lethal mix, but I must admit it was a true blessing, because the trio gets along great.

Today Hobs was just not wanting to eat.  He was looking sweetly as ever at me, and wagging the entire lower half of his body, but not wanting his kibble.  I took it to the kitchen and made him special breakfast, only to have it come up (not on the tile of course but one of the few area rugs available to barf on) around lunch time.  Poor guy!  Send some love his way today.

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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Don't Touch Yourself, let us help you...

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don't touch yourself 

 

My Mother In Law sent these hilarious examples of signs translated from Chinese to  English in preparation for the Olympic throngs. 

Apparently there is an entire website devoted to capturing these!

ho enter

 

 

Guess which door I'd pick? ----->

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Friends of the Island Parks - Honeymoon Island

Taking any photos? We are privileged to have Mr. Robert Lafollette, a well-known professional photographer, who will conduct a brief nature photography workshop. Robert will share a few of his "secrets" and display some incredibly beautiful examples of his talent.  Join us at the Nature Center at 7pm tonight! 

Coming in September... our popular Wine Tasting evening at the Nature Center. Stay tuned. Remember that all upcoming Friends' meetings, events and news items are posted on our Website www.islandparks.org

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Monday, July 21, 2008

Why People Hate Smokers

cigs  Doesn't every auto manufacturer's vehicle include an ashtray?  I think it is only the rental car companies who have stopped including them as standard equipment, so why then is it necessary to toss each flaming butt to the ground wherever they happen to be at the moment?  Probably because they cannot stand the ash flying around the interior of their autos.  Pollute your lungs and the environment.  Ever kiss a smoker?  YUK.

Havta see what Anna might say, I just found out she is a member of the MOD squad (Merchants of Death, Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms - from the hilarious movie "Thank You For Smoking".

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Sunday, July 20, 2008

TMJ School of Photography

I am so enthusiastic about finally doing something I've wanted to do for a long time, take a photography class.  Theresa Marie is teaching 2 courses over 3 months at Ruban Rouge.  She is signing up for the next class now, call the shop if interested.

photogclass 002 The first week we learned about aperture, how to soften the background so it is not in sharp focus:

 

focal point flower and focal points for different perspective:

 

This week we learned how to use light to get ACTION SHOTS!

action

Saturday, July 19, 2008

TRUE QUOTES

Ever hear of TQ's?  Things that in context sound really funny when repeated out of context.  Here are some for laughs:

'When you are going for the money shot'  (TMJ in photography class, and no she is not X rated and could not figure out why Anna and I thought our Hubbys would have been interested in today's class!  Today's class was full of goodies, like the toddler opening her gift of 'furry berriers')

Overheard at the CROP last week:

Did you know Queen Latifah is a lesbian?                                                                        

Yes, I knew that - she drives a truck.

Uh, I drive a truck....

Well, how big is it?

(Who knew size mattered when it came to lesbians?)

Swap & Crop

On Wedensday nite I headed to a favorite place: Ruban Rouge.  I brought 6 cards that looked like this: bee happy

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I left with cards that looked like this:flowerhi  tgiv

 

 

bird

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday I spent the entire day re-watching season one of NIP/TUCK.  It's been a LONG time since I have wasted a day on TV and I must say I REALLY ENJOYED IT.  My big outing was to the mailbox that day.  Nothing too interesting to blog about.

Friday was quite busy.  PILATES in the morning, followed by a trip to the Post Office to mail off EBAY items sold and GET THEM OUT OF MY HOUSE....amazing thing, there is a buyer for anything somewhere.  Tried to get some work done but my FIOS was not so fast.  Home maintenance with the Gerry my pest controller and a trip to the second house at Highland Lakes, where we are trying to get a tenant.  Pulled some weeds, checked that all is well then off to the Clubhouse to find our postcard Ad was removed.  NO WONDER NO ONE IS CALLING!  Into the office to pick up some paperwork, home to the dogs, then off to the CROP. 

The CROP ROOM is a few doors down from the SHOP in the same plaza. Also in the plaza between the CROP and the SHOP there is a bar named 'BJ's' which can give you an idea as to the clientele who frequent it by the name alone.  Here in FL our smoking ban applies to businesses based on the amount of food served - so establishments that are primarily focused on your liquid nourishment are excluded.  I don't know if BJ's permits smoking inside or not, as there are always stragglers out front puffing and jabbering on their cell phones.  On this particular nite, I was stopped enroute from the crop to the shop by a youngster of the male persuasion who is out front having a drag.  He says: Hey, you should come in here.  There are no women in here and you look like a REAL WOMAN. 

The way he emphasized this was not like "AY CHIWaWa, you look like REAL WOMAN", but more like "Your adam's apple looks small enough to tell me that although you could pass for a DRAG QUEEN I can see that you are a REAL WOMAN."

I said:  Yes, I am indeed a REAL WOMAN.  So it's a real sausage party in there?   He proceeded to offer to buy me a drink:  Wouldn't you like a glass of wine?     - FATALITY- ( I drink Bourbon) -FINISH HIM!          

I assured him that there is Wine O' Plenty available at the CROP and he took it like a REAL MAN:  "OK, maybe some other time, give me a HIGH FIVE".

Oh these minor leaguers!  I do feel badly, as I understand their motivation.  They want to say "HELLO" but all that is going thru their brain when they look at you and  think about saying "HELLO" is "SAYSOMETHING, SAYSOMETHING, SAYSOMETHING"  and out comes something other than 'Hello' (which would have worked much better -try it for a change if you want to move off the farm team). 

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

HOT HOTTIE ALERT - Christian Bale

christian_bale_in_american_psycho

     I really admire his body of work - SERIOUSLY!  You have probably seen this dude in a bunch of things and not even known it was him, he is such a great actor that he is a chameleon and becomes the role - totally convincing. 

You might recognize him as Bruce Wayne, aka BATMAN.  He as interviewed on the TODAY show this week and gave the most in-depth character analysis into the mind of BATMAN that I was in awe... I mean who has ever delved that far into the psyche of a comic book character before?

YOWZA!  Body and the mind to match it...

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

RAVE! of the day - Naughty Codes!

 CLICK HERE TO BE NAUGHTY!

Scent of a Woman Well, it is Monday and time to be hard at work for most of us earning that dollar. iIf you are an ONLINE SHOPPER, this is THE SITE FOR YOU!

There are similar sites but I never needed to use them because Naughty Codes has always had the best deal.

Before any online purchase I check out Naughty Codes and VOILA!  Free Shipping, or a % off what I was already going to buy anyway, thank you very much.  Now, I know you are doing your best to help our "sagging economy" - start shopping

Monday, July 14, 2008

SA-SA-SATURDAY NITE with Sweetheart Sue

pool party 

The initial plan was to see each other on Saturday, spending a mid-afternoon chat  poolside with Joe and SWEETHEART Sue. 

 

She has the magical ability to morph into a Mermaid.

sweetheart Sue If you saw the movie Splash, you might recall that Darryl Hannah needed to water her tail, but for SWEETHEART the liquid of choice is WINE! 

Well, her metamorphosis occurred the day before, so we ended up spending the evening catching up over a homemade pizza baked on my new stone.  (The VIP's crust came out better than my first attempt.  Maybe he will have to make all the Pizza from now on!) 

Sunday, July 13, 2008

RAVE! OF THE DAY - NIECY

Ms. Niecy Nash I have a girl crush on Ms. Niecy Nash!  This Diva brings the GLAM!  She is a curvaceous momma with a spicy attitude and a tender loving heart. 

You can watch her on STYLE/CleanHouse, RENO 911, or you may have seen her in a movie, she is ALL THAT.    Link for more photos and a video:

Niecy Nash Dot Com

http://video.aol.com/partner/hulu/clean-house-the-crying-game/ZzHq_NkMN_nnY8ReIri18AOVMIkvb5Xg

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

Rave of the Day: Theresa Marie Jasper

TheresaMarieJasper-LifeCaptured

When I find something GOOD i just love to share it. 

That used to happen 'old school', which for someone my age meant emailing a select group of contacts about my FAVE!  and perhaps gifiting an even selecter group (Yes, I know selecter is not a word, get usta it, this is a blog - a form of self expression - not a dictionary!) the product/service.

The I had the 'Aha' moment that Oprah is always talking about - why not just start the blog to share all my FAVES with a wider audience???  Yes, there is a full realization that the audience reading this blog may well be SMALLER than my email contacts list, but what the hay.

Theresa is a self-described LIFE ARTIST, and I am all about the ART.  I met her thru the Rouge (Ruban Rouge, another FAVE!, see my BLOG LIST) where i am a SELF-PROCLAIMED AMBASSADOR, just love it SO. 

So Theresa is a photographer who uses natural light and outdoor settings to capture the spirit of her subjects, though she also does fantabulous events - check out her work and you will wanna have her take a pictire or or for you soon!

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Everybody's Doing It

Blogging that is...or were you thinking of something else?

NEIL, who also trains with Stephanie Reilly (currently of AMA Fitness but only for a limited time - more on that later) on Fridays advised me to "Get into trouble" this weekend and despite my best efforts, starting the blog is the best I could do (so far, the weekend is just beginning!).

Another man in my life, the VIP (my husband that is) tells me my gift to the world is giving unsolicited advice (except he doesn't use the word 'gift' when he is describing it. I figured what better place to do my sharing, ranting and raving than right here? I do love a good rant BUT I MAY HAVE TO CONTAIN MYSELF or I might alienate my few friends and family members who are probably my only readers!

So, stay tuned and see what kind of trouble I might get myself into next.