Ellipsis Word Of The Week... Covfefe

 

"Can't you see that I am only advising you to beg yourself to not be so dumb."

~Petronus

The Satyricon

On the night of May 31st, 2017, the whole world came together and shared a single point of wonder. We were all wondering, what the actual fuck, did Trump mean when he Tweeted, Covfefe? We never did get an actual explanation about what happened that night, and what it regarded, but I watched it happen real time and let me tell you, there were some very interesting ideas about what it could have meant. Everything from it was the nuclear codes, to his form of swearing, but substituting the word COVFEFE for the word, FUCK. In any case, the word remained on Trump's Twitter account for hours with no explanation. But here is what the White House had to say later in the day...

It apparently shocked everyone. No Shit! It was one of the first overt signs that Donald Trump was beginning to lose whatever was left of his mental faculties! Since that time there has been a flood of evidence that he is incapable of being a full and effective president, as demonstrated daily, with his obsession with vanity projects. But boy howdy, that night and the following day sure was a ride, and as it just might have been the beginning of what brought us to where we are now. Sky high gas prices, sky high daily living prices, and folks thrown off the medical coverage. Not to mention the current Iran war, started with no clear end in sight, and Trump eyeing another war with Cuba. Before he left office the first time, Trump suggested drinking disinfectant might cure Covid-19, you'd think that would have been enough for folks to see that his lights had now dimmed, but no, so all these years later we have that fond memory and a million more like it to keep us warm until the next night of Covfefe.

While Covfefe is not an official word in the Merriam-Webster or Oxford dictionaries, I thought the holiday was still worth a mention this week. Covfefe made quite the impression on culture, banking speculation, and even it's own legislation with the Covfefe ACT. While the it never became law, I think there is merit in revisiting the idea! I hope one day Covfefe will be an official word, so it can join a long list of the silly, archaic, political words, in the official word graveyard. On the other hand, there's a lot that can be learned from that word, so maybe we should be listening closer to the nonsensical. Hey, why not, Words With Friends, sees some value in it! 

New York Times

"Who can figure out the true meaning of 'Covfefe'??? Enjoy"

~Donald J. Trump

May 31st, 2017

Prick!

 

“I know many of you are hurting.

 It happens every year. It's called the anniversary effect.” 

~Richie Norton 

 

I care so much about this, that I thought my Twitter anniversary happened sometime in in February! Calling it an "X anniversary" is stupid and nonsensical! I never joined X, it thrust upon us. I am so much happier on Threads! So why am I blogging about this, well, sigh, I got nothing else. I am just... ugh.

 

 Fuck Elon Musk! 

 

 

Goodbye, Farewell, Auf Weidersein To You... ROT IN HELL!

 

 “...the Nation would have no recourse to deter a President from inciting his supporters during a State of the Union address to kill opposing lawmakers—thereby hamstringing any impeachment proceeding—to ensure that he remains in office unlawfully..."

 

~Court filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals

 for the District of Columbia Circuit

 12/30/2023

 

This morning, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith filed an 82 page request with a D.C. appeals court asking them to reject Trump's assertion of presidential immunity. That quote above pretty much sums up his argument. How fucking scary is the prospect of something like that actually happening? The court is scheduled to return it's verdict on his request on January 9th. Hope, at least the way I am looking at it, is hanging by a thread. We could lose the country I grew up in. Humans tend to not learn from history. Sometimes I wonder why it is even taught in school. Wait... is it still taught in schools? If you follow the news at all, I guess it depends on where you live what history is. You know what they say, history is written by the winners. In America's current state that might have never been more true. 

 

I wish Trump would just stop hurting everyone. I will never have a day in the remainder of my life where his name won't be mentioned somewhere. God I miss the 1970's. It was the last decade before Trump became a household word. Now not only do we have Trump, but we also have his grubby little minions, like Alex Jones, who was recently allowed back on X. A platform I plan to move on from very soon. New Year's Eve to be exact. I was supposed to pull the plug last year, and I ended up staying out of laziness. SHAME ON ME! No more. NO MORE. I am done. I just hope my pals come with me, it's lonely starting over, and besides the good folks I know are better than X. There is better out there for all of us. I will be on Threads, Facebook and IG. Hey, Xander Berkeley just followed me the other day, and I will find some new folks I wouldn't have met otherwise. But nothing will replace my Twitter pals.

 All is not lost.

 We are all better than X. 

 

Fuck Elon Musk

 "Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too.

 They live inside us, and sometimes they win.

~Stephen King

 

I have complained about the childish ghoul, Elon Musk, before and now I will complain yet again, because every single time I think he has hit rock bottom with his abusive nonsense, he slips deeper into the abyss of evil. Just in the last few days, since Thanksgiving anyway, he has taken a trip to Israel, to clean up his reputation for having propagated antisemitism. Because to an anti-Semite all one needs to do, after insulting all Jews everywhere, is to utter the words, "how could you come to think I am an anti-Semite, some of my best friends are Jews." And his most recent, as of Tuesday anyway, was bring back Pizzagate from the dead. A conspiracy that was buried deep into the damp cold earth almost a decade ago. 

I had set last December 31st as my exit from Twitter, now X, but laziness or complacency has kept me in place. Starting all over is a daunting thought. Sigh. There are so many folks still supporting my photography, and who have been very kind to me, so leaving is difficult. But, I have to admit, Threads is extremely similar, and Facebook is a lot nicer too, so maybe it really is time to just go this time. Oh brother. Or should I say, OH BOTHER. It had only taken Trump a little over a year to evenly divide America over Twitter, and Elon Musk a little over a year to destroy Twitter completely. Demonic entities are fast workers.

I will see my, Autumn Leaf Of The Day, project to the end. It only has a little less than a month to go, so why not complete it? I should leave the day after I post my last leaf, but December 31st seems like the right time go. Time for whoever wants to see the leaves be able to drop by for a last look, and time for me to let folks know where to find me if they want to. I will rebuild. I will jump in with the photography community. I will do what I did with Twitter... not look for the number of followers, and let each day play out the way it will. When Treat was alive, he encouraged we of like minds to stay and fight back against Musk's nonsense. Treat was worth doing that for, but now that he is gone there isn't a lot to hold onto. Xander is has moved on. Margo has moved on. Susan has moved on. Karen has moved on.

 

 It's time for me to move on as well. 

 

Why the HELL isn't there a support group for this kind of shit?

Note: The graphic isn't mine, it was the graphic Keith Olbermann added to his profile when he announced yesterday that he too would be leaving X. He suggested that we all add it to our profiles, but I am not sure it's my style. I am mulling it over.

Because, Of Course.

 

“That wasn't any act of God. That was an act of pure human fuckery.”
 

― Stephen King,

  The Stand

 

Elon Musk wants Trump's attention so much, I am actually embarrassed for him! Ever sense he took ownership of Twitter he has been actively ruining it. He has lost money. He hasn't paid his bills. Hasn't paid some techs he fired at the beginning of the year. Rebranded Twitter X, I still haven't figured that move out yet! He put a giant X on the Twitter building, without permission from the city of San Francisco. He refused to turn over Trump's DMs to the DOJ and was fined $300,00 for his efforts to block them. I could go on but why?

 

Musk has already deleted that post and has one of his engineers speaking with the community to try and have a summit! So who knows? Fucker. The joke is really on him. It's a requirement that to feature a social media app in the Apple Store and Google Play, it has to have a block feature for security reasons. Foolish man. If it is carried out I still have the choice of riding it out like I have all along, or pulling the plug. I am sure what I will do. Complacency seems to be my friend. After all there is the Mute button.

 

"The muting is better, anyway. More like burying them alive."

 

~Michael McKean

Twitter 8/18/23

 

 

 

 

Relevance In Autumn/Longing For Winter

"Autumn is the greatest reminder: It reminds us how dreamlike beauties our earh has and it reminds us how all these beautiful dreams can easily vanish!"

~Mehmet Murat ildan

I suppose anything can suddenly vanish. It's happened to everyone. Look what the folks of the town of Paradise went through. They had their homes and businesses in one moment, and it was all gone the next. In the span of a day... or in some cases, only an hour or two. I am lucky to have friends, and I even have the pleasure of making the occasional stranger on Twitter laugh or think, the later tends to be more difficult. Just kidding. That's pretty nice, but will there always be a Twitter to provide a window to the world? Even if it's my decision?

 I am tired. I am lonely in a crowd and Autumn isn't going to last nearly long enough. Sigh. I am beginning to slip into going through the motions of life. I get up. Take care of things. Read a little while. Watch Nicole Wallace. Wander Twitter. Visit whoever pops up. Get ready for Alan. Help prep dinner, unless my Fibromyalgia is flaring. Watch a couple movies with Alan. Edit the days photos. Blog here. Go back on Twitter. Visit some accounts that don't make my head explode late at night. Karen. Joe. Margo. Treat Williams. He seems like a nice man. There is a lot to like about Twitter. But lets face it, Twitter is stressful. Twitter isn't the same because of Donald Trump, and mostly I find myself waiting for Trump to get us all killed by tweet. I wait to die either of embarrassment, or just plain die. So, why am I there?

I don't know. I mean it's been nice finding out Treat Williams is a nice guy, he's only ALWAYS been my favorite actor. Go figure.  Who knew there were nice guys anymore, but let's face it, would he notice if I went missing? Nah. I am one tiny peep, in an international sea of peeping music. Shrug. I just don't know where my peep, peep, peep fits in anywhere. Does it have a specific place? Or am I just one more ridiculous whiny chirp? WHINNNNNNE, Yes, I'm whining, but it's my blog and that's why I began blogging, to clear the head noise as my old friend Penny used to call it. Clearing head noise. I don't know, maybe I am just heading into the darkness of my second favorite season I crave, after the bright leaf singing of autumn. Leaves can be loud, if you listen too long. That's a definite possibility.

Okay. All done. Back to life on Twitter. My head is clear of noise.

I think.

Leaves fall. All autumn leaves must fall.

#61 Leaf Of The Day

November 22nd 2019

Sacramento, California

Nikon

~Mood: Lonely/Quiet/Unsure

~Me   :)

Political Wishes, Hopes, And Dreams In The Age Of Trump

"If your're going to kick authority in the teeth,

 you might as we use two feet."

~Keith Richards

Keith Richards In His Own Words 

Okay, so, as I type this I am sitting in Twitter jail. Or is it, sent to my room? No jail. Definitely Jail. Or as my friend Izzy calls it. Twitmo. At first I was pretty angry that some sniveling fucking pearl clutcher decided that of all the left leaning accounts telling off California Congressman Kevin McCarthy, mine was the most offensive one, but truth is, who knows how many the melting little snowflake reported? It's not like Republicans have any backbone what so ever. But the one thing I will never be able to understand about that lot it, why don't they understand just how much of a moral victory they hand folks like me, when they get us put in Twitter jail?

 Personally, I hope it was McCarthy himself that reported me, because that would mean I got to him! Right now! While he is defending the abusive and dangerous rhetoric of a man clearly on the last legs of any sanity he might have possessed! Wouldn't that be delightfully rich? In actuality, it really doesn't matter because here I sit, all because I made a metaphorical joke about how he is punching himself in the face with his support of Trump. A man who will never show him the same loyalty, that he is showing Trump. As for Twitter, I knew that they could limit free speech on their playground, it's their private property after all, I recognize that, but who knew they could limit hopes and wishes? 

The only possible harm, in my little joke would occur, if McCarthy decided to ACTUALLY punch himself in the face! If he's stupid enough to do that, is that really my fault? But okay, I will go forward on Twitter knowing the only hopes and wishes I am allowed on Twitter, is to see a handsome prince carry off a princess on a unicorn. While the President Of The United States continues to post this...

Lies. Profanity. A blatant disregard for how anything in the world works, including the political systems of other countries, as well as our own. A thinly coded call for civil war, and more. But I can't hope Kevin McCarthy doesn't stop supporting Trump, because, I admit it, it is amusing watching, asshole after asshole, think they will be the one to, experience and enjoy, Trump's gratitude and loyalty. 

Yeah, ask Vice President Mike Pence about that right now.

There is no Autumn Leaf Of The Day in this post, but there will be one in my next post, which will be about a much nicer subject, the #PhotoByRequest project! This week, it's all about the Public Art! 

Look for that post in about an hour!

Again? So Soon? 16 Years!

"If you chase anything in life, chase the things that get you excited about living. Chase the things that give you hope happiness and a glimpse of a better life. Chase the things that make you want to be a better person. Chase the things that inspire you think, create and live joyfully. Chase the things that reinforce in your soul that you can make a difference. Chase the things that make you want to transform your soul from selfish to selfless. When you chase that kind of storm, you are chasing rainbows."

~Shannon L. Alder

16 years. That's how old this blog is! 16 years! Wow, that's a long time to stick with a project on the Internet. Sometimes I wonder why I do it? I know, I know, to display my photographs. Yes, true, I do love posting them, and the feedback has always meant a lot to me. I became a much better, amateur photographer, because of that help, but is there anything more? This type of blogging, after all, died a quiet death a long time ago, with the invention of platforms like Twitter. Even social media sites like Facebook allow for mostly conversation and spreading fake news, but not so much long-form rants, raves and other generalized opinion spouting.

But here I am. My last blog post reached 9 folks apparently, but I have every confidence that in the Fall, when I begin the leaf project, things will pick up. But is it still worth my time to devote so much verbiage to this blog, or should I rely on Twitter for that? Twitter does help me clear the daily spider webs Trump spins, but some days it seems like more than I can deal with. Especially when my Fibromyalgia is acting up. Oh well, I think I contemplate this every year, and every year I shrug and move on, not giving it another thought, until yet another anniversary comes around. I suppose I am living in a HELL cycle. LOL. Anyway, isn't life one big HELL cycle? At least I enjoy mine! Mostly. 

Moving on, lets discuss what I've been up to that last 6 months or so. Baking! I have done a lot of baking! It has been good for me to get into the kitchen and try out new recipes that I never had taken the time to try. Cookies. Cake. Fudge. Turnovers. Pie crusts. You name it, I've given it a go! One of my absolute favorite recipes is for Focaccia. Yummy. I like making Focaccia bread, which is a lot like the one I grew up eating on special occasions. Lucca's made it, and I loved it. Very simple. Pizza sauce, on pillow soft bread, brushed with olive oil, then topped with cheeses, fresh herbs, and a little garlic. Yum. I took photos of all of my creations, and I have them below, and to my surprise they turned out kinda nice. One of the nicest comments I got for those photos, was someone calling them porn! I laughed and then owned the fact that this is as close to porn worthy as I will ever be at this point in life! That's life! Right?

 Anyway, enough chatting, onto the porn, but first, the quote I chose for this post says it all. Whatever I do, I need to commit to it fully, and if I find I can't, for whatever reason, it's better to end things on a positive note and move on. This blog should inspire me, and luckily I can say, it still does. As frustrated as I am right at this moment, autumn is coming, and I will be okay when I see the first of the leaves, and drink in the amazing air of my favorite mountain counties. Life right now is all about staying focused, with my eyes on the prize. Baking helps that goal, so baking I do.

1. Chocolate Chip Brownie
2. Cinnamon Roll
3. Lemon Snowball Cookie
4. Maple Roll
5. Cheese Focaccia Pizza Bread
6. Chocolate Mint Fudge
7. Christian Dior's Apricot Mousse 
8. Banana Fritters

And that is what I have been up to. I will be posting more often as we move closer to the first day of autumn. Look for me on Tuesday and Thursdays. I have another fun thing to share, about what I've been up to, but you will have to comeback on Tuesday to find out what it is!

( evil laugh )

~Mood: Happy
~Me

From The Truly Ridiculous To The Truly Macabre

"On a creep scale from

 Hello Kitty to Cthulhu, I award it a Freddy Krueger"

~Granuaile MacTiernan

The last few days have been sufficiently, macabre. I haven't bothered to write about current events in ages, mostly because current events no longer take place in the quaint old fashioned way of bits, bites, and booms that tended to randomly occur over days, weeks, or months. Instead, we now have hourly events of bytes booms and bangs, thanks in no small part to Twitter, and the charmingly loose senile orange toddler with nuclear devices as his only friends... no not the biscuit or football... but rather his damn mouth and Twitter fingers, Donald John Trump. 

That's right. The woman who bitched. Pissed. Moaned. Groaned. Spit, and generally lost her shit about every move made by George W. Bush, finally gave up. Trump broke me. I decided to let history keep track of life in the political world, because I simply couldn't keep up with whatever shocking misstep, intellectual fart, or social fuck-up he produced, let alone follow the endless line of cabinet miscreant slam dancing, he demanded be choreographed in the White House, and sometimes near the White House, at any given moment, on any given day. Enough! I had some depression to nurture! It's not like Bush made me any younger. And as for Obama... he made me lazy. Life was reasonably boring, quiet and non-eventful with him as president.

But enough of the reminiscing, and onto the macabre event that sent me back to blogging, if only for this post. History will remember the name, Jeffrey Epstein, like it has remembered the names of so many other notorious evil spirits of the past. History will unite him forever with other convicted pedophiles, and for what he was most recently charged with, human trafficking of under-aged girls. History will remember that he apparently provided many powerful men with these girls, which will forever unite those men with him. You are the company you keep! 

Prime Ministers. Kings. Presidents. Governors. And Donald Trump kept close company with Epstein. Many men visited Epstein's private island and flew in his airplane and private helicopter. He owned an apartment in Trump Tower, and partied often with Donald Trump. Does that act alone prove guilt of pedophilia? Does it mean any man on the list engaged in anything illegal? No, but I assume absolute proof, one way or the other, will be provided beyond a doubt one day. As the women come forward, and point directly at these men, it will all be laid bare, for all to see, but when it does, it will have to be without Jeffrey Epstein, because he was found unresponsive in his cell last Saturday morning, and later declared dead.

At the moment it's being called an apparent suicide. But there are folks on both sides of the political aisle, who want it to be murder so bad they can taste the dead body in their mouths. Conspiracy theories abound! Hillary must have done it! COUNT THE CLINTON MURDER VICTIMS! A.G. BARR DID IT TO SAVE TRUMP! "Jeffrey was scared, so he killed himself." "The guards hated pedophiles, so they did it." Twitter, was all atwitter, Sunday night, with the possibilities. Not much consideration given to his victims and what comes next for them, however, just one macabre theory after another about a dead man, with pictures of his lifeless, slightly cyanotic body lying on a gurney in a hospital in Manhattan, to provide proof that something happened on the second Saturday in August, In The Year Of Our Lord, 2019.

I'll keep you posted, unless history gets to it first!

~Mood: Quiet
~Me

The PVS Of AOL

"I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lined in and loved and where all your yesteryear's are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better our because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance."

~Beryl Markham

West With The Night 

Get ready to laugh. And believe me, it's okay if you do. You see, I just pulled the plug on my old AOL account. That's right. As of today... 2019... I pulled the plug. Why it took so long to unsubscribe from AOL, an ISP that's been in a metaphoric persistent vegetative state since I officially left AOL Journals in protest, in 2005, I don't know.  I know I am a procrastinator. I am also hopelessly sentimental. Both those things could be the reason. Or maybe I am just lazy. Shrug. Maybe it's all of the above. I don't know.

The AOL post that you see above was technically my last post, and I only did that one because a few of the AOL blog authors that remained after the big banner ad scandal, asked some of we originals to comeback for a limited reunion, and I didn't have the heart to not participate. AOL had recently decided to do away with the journals community altogether, so it with this last post, that I finally let go of the first blog/journals community I had belonged to and I never looked back.

I didn't really miss that blogging platform, after I got acquainted with Blogger. It was roughly the same, but it contained a lot more choices for customization. It wasn't long before I was on my way. It was a new beginning, which in retrospect I think I needed. I made some good friends on AOL and fortunalety they ended up on Blogger too, and I was able to continue a couple projects that we had started in the other community. The Round Robin photo chalenge was the most near and dear to my heart. I enjoyed it very much, but after a whileI just ran out of steam. It ran its course.

But I digress. AOL went through more than one change, as it found itself floundering with almost no idea who or what it wanted to be. It closed all the featured that made it user and community friendsly, right around the time it figured out that it made more money as an internet billboard. Ad revenue replaced customer loyalty. Eventually, it went completely free for members, and that was fine, if you didn't mind putting up with ads everywhere on the service. And I didn't. It was free to keep everything in place, so no big deal.

Well, last year things changed again, and now it costs $4.99 a month for access to basic features. I paid the cost for a few months, and then finally decided, let go. I would still have the email accounts, although I am in the process of moving those screen names to GMAIL. When that task is completed, who knows, maybe I will simply pretend it never existed to begin with. When I close a door, I like for the door to remain shut, and as I grow older, I am finding it to be the best policy for lots of stuff.

Never look back. Just keep walking toward the sun. And I think I kinda love making this change right now, what with spring being about new beginnings and all. There is a proper symmetry to it.

That time I came home from a day of photography, to find Dylan had got on my desk and typed HELP into the AOL search, about a dozen times. I guess it was the cat version of yelling... STRANGER DANGER! 

Mood: Happy
~Me 

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot #105: Nostalgia

"Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson. You find the present tense, but the past perfect."

-Owens Lee Pomeroy













EMPS #105: Nostalgia NOW CLOSED!
Let's take a look back in time this week folks! Show me the old fashioned and nostalgic! Old stoves, old refrigerators. If you have an avocado green tank water heater, it will do nicely for this challenge! I want to see the truly old. The older the better! I want to see not just old but truly NOSTALGIC!

Extra Credit: Share what your item means to you! How was it in it's hey day? Was the item passed on to you be a previous generation, or did you purchase it because of it's NOSTALGIC quality? Tell us everything!

**PLEASE READ**
This Monday Photo Shoot assignment closes next Sunday evening at 9:00 PM ET. Please submit your entries by that time by uploading your photo to your blog, journal or website, and then comeback here with the link that goes back to your entry. The link you leave must be to an entry which is specific to this week's assignment. A general link to your site will not work, and HYPERLINKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. Also, please include a link in your entry to this photos shoot assignment so that other folks can find us and participate with us. The more the merrier... right? ;)

Linking List for EMPS #104: Photographer's Choice 08/23/10


1. Freda

2. Greg

3. Jama

4. Jr, Cline

5. Karen



I will post the list of this week's participants right here, next week, in my "Gone Fishing" entry.

Okay folks, as you know this is our last Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot of the year! I will be back on Monday, January 3rd, 2011! Be good while I am away. I will be checking on things here and there, and dropping by with a greeting for you during the holidays, so don't forget to check in here once in a while... ok? Okie doke... See you back here on Monday, January 3rd, 2011!

-Carly :)

Don't forget, if you miss me, you can always find me on TWITTER or drop me an email at...

Onidnemonet@aol.com


:)

Weekend Assignment #303: To Tweet Or Not To Tweet

From For Ellipsis

"If computers get too powerful we will organize them into committees. That will do them in." -Unknown


Weekend Assignment #303: Do you tweet, why or why not?

Extra Credit:If you use Twitter, how many people follow you? How many do you follow?

-Karen, author of the blog, Outpost Mavarin

To Tweet Or Not To Tweet... Good Question.

Ok, I admit it. When I first heard about Twitter I had to wonder what the big deal was. Ok, so you can find out in real time that "Henry" in Boise, has just milked his cow. Or maybe you could find out within a matter of seconds that "Simone" in Fairbanks has just finished her breakfast, but really, why would I care? Ok, it did intrigue me that someone famous could share their day, I mean that would be pretty glamorous right? I mean, it's going straight to the source, without all those pesky tabloids to make it all up, or airbrush the heck out of it. So, ok, I could see that as fun. Hmmm, I thought, maybe there was something to it.

So, one day last summer, in a fit of absolute boredom, I decided to check things out on Twitter. I created an account and took a look around. I found a couple friends, such as Karen, had an account, so I "followed" her. Then I found a couple other folks that I knew and I "followed" them, and then, just for fun, looked around to see who else was on Twitter. Anderson Cooper... cool! Regis and Kelly... cool! Oooh... maybe there are Soap Opera stars on here!

Yep. I found a couple soap stars. I am currently following a left leaning diva, and a right leaning diva, and to my profound surprise, enjoying both sides very much. I even had an small interaction with the left leaning diva, which was really pleasant, because she actually asked my opinion on something to do with the state we both reside in. She asked... my... opinion. It was nice to feel of value for a moment to someone I have admired for so many years. Just nice. You know? It was like standing in line at the grocery store, or at Starbuck's, except better, because should I turn around while in line at either of those two places, and see a soap diva, I don't think I would be likely to speak my mind. Believe it or not, I am basically a shy girl, but I do try to overcome it. Every time I step out on the ledge, and the ledge doesn't come crashing to the earth, means I have grown a little bit.

So I guess what I am saying is, what began as an experiment has become yet another way to reach out and experience life. Like being on the Internet in general. People are just people, but we humans do tend to put up lots of walls. I know about walls, but allowing myself new experiences proves my insecurities wrong, and that feels good. Does that make sense?

So to answer your question Karen, YES. I TWEET.

Extra Credit: I follow 151 and I have 41 followers.

:)

-Carly

That's Me... Over There

From For Ellipsis

"It's not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory."

-W. Edwards Deming

Forgive me, I am feel introspective today.

I am a silly girl... well... woman. LOL. I haven't been a "girl" for a while now... but anyway... I live for autumn, yet I resist change at all cost! LOL. It's so strange, autumn is all about change. It exists to teach us that change is not only inevitable, but something that shouldn't be feared or resisted because change brings renewed growth if you just have a little patience. I bubble with excitement each September as the leaves on the trees transition from shades of healthy green, to the earthy reds, yellows, deep purples and browns, yet I rarely allow myself to think too long about what it all really means. Change.

It seems that everything changes too fast. But then again, is there any other way to move on but one day, no, one minute at a time? Time. Something else I will never understand. One day I am petting Elvis and putting his little chef's hat on him as we write up the menu for Thanksgiving dinner, and the next I am missing him to the point I am sobbing... and he has already been gone over a year! I miss him. I miss his little habits. I miss his insisting that there should only be 4 plastic bottles per recycle bag. I miss his kisses first thing in the morning, and I miss his whiskers, which he would rub on my knees as I sat typing at the computer. That was change I could have done without, and yet I love my two little boys Dylan and Hendrix so deeply, I wonder how I ever lived without them. Does that make sense?

I have had other changes in my life recently, changes which are a little less profound. I am probably the last person on the Internet to finally get a Twitter account. LOL. Yes, I am now a TWIT. LOL. I don't know... I guess I shy away from new things on the net because I don't really want to be found by folks I would rather not know any more. Does that sound mean? It's not that I hold any bad feelings, it's just that why reopen doors that aren't good for you?

I signed up for Facebook earlier this year, and it's kind of fun, but again I tend to keep myself in a small space by not adding every single person who asks me to. I don't know why, I am just not comfortable with adding the whole universe to my list of "friends." I was pleasantly surprised to get some invitations from some of my buddies from the old AOL days. Hi again Vince, Robbie and Amy. :) You guys always make me smile. But when I went to hit the "find friends" feature one day, someones profile came up that I haven't spoken to in at least 3 years... and it was difficult.

It's not that we parted company on bad terms, we didn't, we just didn't part as friends. Sigh. Sometimes there is a strange sort of limbo in relationships, and yes, it gets to me sometimes. I had forgotten this person was even in my Internet address book, and then POP there they were. I could have sent an invitation to be a friend on Facebook but why? 3 years seems like a long time, too long methinks. After all, I did the best I could to deal with the change presented to me at the time, and did a really good job of adapting, so why go back? Still, it's November and I always think about Mr. November when the leaves change.

Enough said.

Sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing as Internet Claustrophobia? I really like keeping my Internet life small, and yet I LOVE getting comments and seeing that my "Followers" list is up to 41! LOL. It's not a lot of folks, but I am happy to see each one that's there. I even get excited when I see "anonymous" has been by. Hi Anonymous! LOL. I sometimes click on the "next blog" feature and visit new folks just to say hello, that's how I met Suzanne, and yet I shy away from really getting to know people. I have some really strong walls built, and I can't help but wonder... why? When you add it all up it doesn't really equal claustrophobia, but it does have name, I am just not sure what it is.

Is it because it's easier to be lonely in a crowd? Is it because I don't want to get close to too many people because ultimately change will happen? I still miss my friend Pam. She died too young. So did my friend Frank. They were there when I really needed a friend, and now they are gone. I think about both of them during the holidays, and I miss them, but I am glad I got the chance to be on the path with them, if only for a little while. Sometimes I wish I could get an IM from Frank just one more time, asking to borrow some peanut butter. LOL. That guy!

At least I can see the next really big change coming. In today's news I read about AOL cutting back it's entire workforce by 1/3. That's big! I wonder how much longer it will even be in business? I haven't been a paying AOL customer for over 6 months, but I still log into it every morning because I prefer the way it looks to my current ISP Comcast. AOL always did have a nice look about it, but looks just aren't enough, so I finally made the big move, years later then I should have, and yet I have kept my email account, and still use it as my main contact information. LOL. Sing it with my now...

You put your left foot in,
you pull your left foot out,
you put your left foot in and you shake it all about.
You do the hokey poky and you turn yourself around,
that's what it's all about.

LOL.

One day AOL will be gone too.

Stuff happens.

Change happens.

But for now...

I am over here and here and here... and I am doing fine.

AOL Offers Buyouts To 2,500 A Third Of It's Workforce.

-Carly

"The View From Mt Tamalpias"
Mt Tamalpais, Marin County, California