For a single person in a small apartment, my electricity bill is really high. I can't figure it out. I do what I can to conserve electricity. I have electric heat so I know that is a factor but it doesn't account for all of it. I don't know how much electricity my computer uses, it's running alot, but still...
I'm wondering how much my bill is hot water because I have a big old claw foot tub that I love to soak in. This is the beast.

This apartment building was built in the late 1920's, so the wiring is probably old. Would that make a difference? Does anyone know?




I got a call yesterday from the director of the play I had auditioned for this year . I had auditioned in Febuary, but then called the director the day after auditioning & told her that, because of everything else I'm involved in I couldn't possibly follow through with the commitment & asked that they take my name off the list. A move I'd regretted ever since because I really did want to be in the play this summer.

To make the story short....I'm Back in!

I'd already committed to putting together the program for this year so I know the name of the character & a little about the role I'll be playing, but I haven't even looked at the script. (I hope there is NO singing parts) The cast has been rehearsing for 2 mths. already so I'll have to play catch-up. But, I'm not going to dwell on that!

More later....

(Well, at least I won't be talking about newspapers all the time. :)

One more thing....I have an art project I'm working on with some of the local kids.My idea is to take the space on my apartment building (above) & build a large advertisement for the theatre which is right across the street. We are going to start small by plastering up a couple of hundred simple posters in this style...Actually, it has to be simple, cheap & it has to be able to be washed off. But imagine the possibilities...

Kudos to my Blog Buddies

Last night I spent a good hour perusing random blog sites. Oh my gosh! How boring. I don't know how Blogger chooses to post random sites, but I've never seen so many blogs about "My Darling Snot Nosed Brat" or "Buy My Shitty Thingy I made with a Ribbon & a Button"
There were a couple of sites with some good artwork & I also enjoyed some of the photography. I left comments at 3 of those sites. As a whole, I found no one as cool as my own blogging community.

Since I'm now a single person without much responsibility except for making a living supporting myself, I have a lot of free time to invest into my job & my interests. It was a good move for me to leave the Janitorial business & go into the Newspaper business. I'm not a good business woman, & trying to make it as a private contractor in the janitorial business meant a dedication to making money by seriously working at it. Yuck! I'm just not geared that way. Someone like quantum flux with his capitalistic Ayn Rand idealism would be much better at that. Fortunately, it looks as if he's focusing on making scientific inroads as apposed to purely capitalistic ones.

Speaking of making inroads...Good news in the realm of secular humanism here. at the infidels site.

I got this video from Breakerslion site

Religion - watch more funny videos

(OK, so I still feel a need to needle the religious. You know if they hadn't messed with my head so much when I was a kid I'd probably be a lot more tolerant toward them. Who knows?)

There are sites that I feel a kinship to, but some times there is no way to reciprocate in kind, so I don't comment at them much. Here are a couple of those witty sites that I'm especially fond of ....prozacville & frodology. They are both great & I love them, but how many times can you say LOL if you aren't good w/the witty repartee?

A fairly new blog to the "community" that I frequent is ranch chimp. He's always good for a conversation, about anything... I appreciate that level of enthusiasm & friendliness.

Of course, there is also slippery Phil. I have to admit sometimes I don't know what the heck he is talking about.

The rest of you know who you are...& the best way to to get a link is to comment on my site, frequently.

An Update on My Brother in Thailand

After I wrote the post here about my brother in Thailand & sent him $2,000 of my own money via the State Dept., he decided again he didn't want to come home. Not only that he was upset because he couldn't personally access the money I sent (it was strictly stipulated the money I sent was to pay for bills he acquired in the Hospital. Any left over money going toward a ticket home.) What he did do... was send all his church friends an E-mail telling them God told him to stay in Thailand He told them how bad the living conditions were there, that he was supporting his wife & her whole family, (I found out through the State dept. that he's not even married)etc...& why they should send him money. He also told them his sister (me) was an Atheist & it would be better not to send any money to him through me.
He got our Mother to set up a donation account at her local bank so his religious friends could send their donations there. So my mom collects the checks sent by whomever my brother solicits w/his God talk & funnels it to him via Western Union Thailand. Slick, huh?

Chocolate Covered Ants

A really awesome origami!


I found a recipe for the classifieds this week. "Chocolate Covered Ants". It's a bit cliche I admit, but what intrigued me was the part about dressing each ant out with a small very sharp knife blade...


Struggling-US-towns-print-their-own-currency Infidel sent me this link a few days ago & I am very intrigued by it. I'm trying to figure out how to make it work. Right now I've got so many irons in the fire I can't concentrate on developing the concept to fit my town but the idea is germinating in my head at least.

Today I interviewed the local ministerial association who were ending a 4 day campaign "We've Got something Good to Say" on the community building steps. The president of the ministerial association said with all the doom and gloom around with the recession and everything else they wanted to bring about positive conversation. I said I thought a positive message was good & would be glad to report that the ministerial association was thinking positive and trying to uplift every ones spirits. He informed me the positive message was about accepting Christ as your savior, period.

That was where we had a dividing of the minds. There is no way I'm printing that.

As a matter of fact, if i could I'd respond to that statement in print, but I can't. That is the unfortunate thing about working for the newspaper. My editor says you've got to build a wall between your personal life and what you report to the public.

How To Boil Water

I hope I didn't screw up. This week when I put the classified ads in, I had a hole that needed filling so I thought I'd find a recipe or something to take up the space (which is an acceptable practice). Low & behold I found a recipe on How to Boil Water. I have to say I found it very humorous, for one thing right under the heading it says, It really doesn't matter if you watch the pot ... but turn away if it makes you feel better. That cracked me up & then the recipe goes into pedantic detail on finding a pot big enough to hold water etc... I thought putting it in there would be a fun way to tweak the subscribers & my editor. My editor doesn't seem to worry about how I fill space because she trusts me, consequently she hasn't seen it. I just hope everybody gets the joke. You would not believe the lack of humor some folks exhibit. The funny thing is the proof reader went over my pages & never said a word about it...


I've also started a personals column. Right now it's pretty boring. Anyone have any ideas?

I've had a couple of these these pictures in my camera for about a mth. now I can upload them to my computer


"Peace Rally" in Salem, OR. at the capitol building, during the last legislative session. This was part of the agenda of a trip I made to Salem with ROP (Rural Organizing Project) in March. After the Peace Rally, which was organized because of Oregon House Bill (HB) 2556, Oregon House Resolutuion (HR)4, & Oregon Senate Resolution (SR) 1, all measures having to do with keeping the Oregon National Guard in Oregon & the march through downtown Salem, we went to the Capitol building to lobby Representatives & Senators. Will this bill & resolutions pass? My impression...very doubtful.


"Our Lady of Perpetual Retrieval"...By Holly Newton. Another one of my friend Holly Newtons Dog Saint Paintings.

A sample of "Byzantine Icon" style art ... photographed at Willamette University, Salem, OR. I enjoyed this take on Byzantine Icon style art hanging in one of the buildings on the campus. I forgot to write down the name of the artist. :(


My brand new computer is up & running with Windows Vista. I like the program so far. My old computer was getting so cluttered with this & that & kept messing up until it finally became a problem. I decided to start over with a clean slate.

Speaking of resolutions, I've resolved to be more organized this time with my computer files, pictures, etc...

My computer at home has been down for a while. The hard drive has given up the ghost. A good excuse to upgrade. Hopefully, I'll have the new computer I ordered up & running by the end of the week. In the meantime I'm using the computer at work. Thankfully, my "work" is just around the corner, about a block from my apartment. Speaking of work, my son lost his job yesterday. He's had the same job for 4 1/2 years right after he got out of high school. He went in for his annual promotion & got laid off instead. They are hiring someone to take his place at the beginning pay rate. He's devastated. It's a small family owned company & he feels totally betrayed by his bosses. It really broke my heart because it's his first rejection. People that talk like salvation is just around the corner either have a job NOT affected by the economy or their heads are up their asses.

Smellivision

I've been learning some interesting things by working in the newspaper business. Did you realize different newspapers smell different? A lady called today to commend us on the smell of our newspaper & complain about the stench of one of the other local rags. I was stymied! My editor who really does wants me to learn the business threw a bunch of publications on my desk & said smell the bouquet. WoW! The quality of paper & ink do make a difference. The offending ink stained pulp not only smelled offensive, but the print was smeared. What's interesting to me is all these things are physical...tactile. how does this compute to the computer screen? smellivision