Woke up to find myself up a pound despite all the running and hunger I went through yesterday, so fuck it. Why kill my knees for nothing? Besides, I’m piling on water like crazy, I’m bloated to hell and back, and my titties feel like they’re about to explode, not that I’d personally mind it if they did. Yeah, some days I really hate being a woman. Today’s one of those days that serves as a reminder as far as just which gender God favors.

Anyway, work is still going well for Tom and they seem to have plenty of it to be done. They’ve even hired more people. I’m getting less worried about them letting him go anytime soon, but still not too hopeful of them hiring him on since temps are more common these days than regular workers. Everybody wants temps so they don’t have to pay them for holidays and give them insurance. :( Oh, well. I haven’t been insured in 8 years, so what’s 20 more? One of the best things about being uninsured is that I won’t know it in time to try to save my ass if I got cancer. Therefore I’d get to exit this crazy world a little sooner than most. Sounds funny and crazy, but it’s true, LOL.

I am eating another granola bar even though I shouldn’t, but like I pointed out in the last paragraph, every negative has its positive. The best thing about being fat is that you don’t have to worry about getting fat if you’re already there. With a 29” waist at just under 5’, I’d say I’m there. :)

I still may set up my own site sometime, but I realized that if I do I may not get as much traffic there because most people who are looking to read other people’s journals/blogs go specifically to journal/blog sites, not some privately-owned site that just one person runs. I guess I’ll stick around a little longer now that they’ve got their shit together here at least somewhat until they go and fuck it up again. I’ll set my old journal private again, but keep backing it up. I keep forgetting to do it every day anyway and usually do it every 10 days since that’s about all I can fit into an entry.

Maliheh’s such a disorganized slob with a shitty memory that she’s paying a fortune to have someone come and organize her shit today, LOL. And she hates doing laundry so much she’s been known to buy underwear at Walmart to get out of having to do it, LMAO! I didn’t know an admitted bitch like her could be so funny. She needs a wife! She asked how many loads of laundry it would take to do my clothes (just my clothes). As I told her, before my folks sent all the clothes they sent I could carry them in both arms. I told her I’d shoot pics of my drawers and closet, minus Tom’s shit of course, so she can get a sense of what it’s like to be organized. As I told her, if I haven’t worn it in a while or it’s too big/small, I usually Goodwill it.

She said she’s got a picture of her and Karen Carpenter from the 80s before she died of anorexia. I told her I want to see it and she said that when she finds it, she’ll share it.

OSU finally identified themselves as a woman named Christine. In my last entry I said I would love to “meet” some of my regulars who come around just about every day but who have never left any comments.

Today I got a message from Christine who said she was one of my regular readers who has not previously engaged in commenting and has been following my blog for approximately a year after discovering it on MD. She said she appreciates my humor, honesty, and the opportunity to peek into a life distinct from her own. Additionally, she's of a similar age and finds it intriguing to read about the experiences and perspectives of women in her age group and considers it more captivating than the fixation on teenagers prevalent in culture. She feels a sense of connection and relatability with the content, she told me.

So I guess if she’s my age and usually bookmarking in from OSU she’s some sort of teacher or staffer there as opposed to a student.

My knees felt like they were on fire after running like the devil was chasing me for 25 minutes. Tomorrow it will be half an hour. The numbers on the scale are making up for the pain, though. :)

Today I will be doing some cleaning and then I’ll try to get over my writer’s block. I should do some language studying, too.

Other than nearly choking to death this morning and taking a nap to screw up my schedule, I’m having an ok day. The melatonin supplements usually only hold my schedule for a week or two at the most, but I think I’ll still probably crash in the early evening as planned. I still feel kind of groggy. I wasn’t even going to do an entry today.

Alison’s comment about the guy living above her vacuuming every day got me thinking about the times either just myself or both Tom and I lived in apartments, duplexes and motels, and I am so, so glad those days are just a nasty memory! We got one extreme after another, mostly college kids and freeloaders. If vacuuming was all we’d gotten, we’d have had it easy, but we heard everything! Our neighbors practically let us know it every time they farted. We met in April of 1993 when Tom bought his house from one of his brothers after he moved into his new wife’s house. I joined Tom in September of that year thinking it might be nice to have a child with him within a year or two. Six years later we moved out of there with me hating kids after what they put us through while we were there! Yeah, first it was Mormons, then it was a black C-8 family and finally a Mexican C-8 family before the welfare bums drove us out of there. Yeah, God picked out the perfect neighbors for us, and it was their behavior I had a problem with. Not their color or anything else, just so I make that clear up front.

Kids will be kids. We were all kids at one point, so I understand. But I also don’t understand. Kids of today – and even a decade ago – aren’t what the kids of 30 years ago were. Most of us were taught manners, respect and discipline 30 years ago, but it seems that’s become a thing of the past. Why is it a fact that when old trends return for a while, they’re either bad ones or ones that are neither good nor bad?

Either way, this is why I remain forever determined to buy a place (if we ever do get that luxury) either out in the country or in a retirement community. People simply cannot control their dogs and they cannot control their kids, and so the only way to escape it is to remove ourselves from the mainstream altogether. We may still get some barking from a distance, but oh how nice it is to escape the car stereos, the 5-hour basketball games within arm’s reach of the wall of our place, the footsteps, the TVs, the doors slamming, and so much more!

The dogs went crazy from 4pm onward yesterday when Jesse took off as he usually does on Friday nights. I just didn’t expect him to take off 3 hours earlier than usual.

The only dream I remember having was one where I was marveling at the fact that we were suddenly living in a roomy, modern house. Until I heard all the chaos just outside. I looked out the side window dismayed to see tons of barking dogs just a few feet away and tons of screaming kids just a few feet away on the other side of the house.

Played around with Andy on Formspring and Twitter, spoke to Maliheh last night (she has turned out to be one damn good buddy), and Nane’s on Facebook right now. So I guess I might get some new wall decorations over the weekend. :)

I guess this wraps up this boring entry. Sorry I don’t have anything more and exciting to say. Guess I’ll edit my last book and work on my current one.

Later…

Aw, Nane got offline without contacting me. But the weekend isn’t over yet, so we’ll see.

Maliheh mostly told me about how she’s been cleaning her place, walking every day, hoping it doesn’t snow, and having trouble falling asleep. She was so sweet at one point, telling me she’ll try to be a good friend, she’s there to talk to, and she understands my desire to escape this little trailer and wished that herself for two years. But she certainly doesn’t miss sleeping in her cold, cramped truck and having the cops tell her to move when she had no place to move to.

Doesn’t look like my “sniffies” have been sent yet. I ordered 100 perfume oil samples from my favorite smelly site, but according to my account, they’re still working on it.

I added my maiden name on Facebook. When I first set up the account they didn’t have a place for maiden names. I wanted it included in my name in case anyone decided to look me up who knew me before I left the East and got married, but these days I don’t give a shit who may be looking for me.

Last night as I was falling asleep I was thinking of all those who have encouraged me to go for my dreams throughout the years. And while I know they meant well, I don’t think some people realize that not all of us have the blessing of simply picking what we’re good at and what we want to do and then simply “going for it.” Some of us are simply trapped by fate in a sense, and can only do so much because of our circumstances. It’s sort of like a paraplegic dreaming of becoming an Olympic runner. The thing that sucks with me is that it seems to be life’s simplest things that are often out of reach for me, and this really bothers me. It bothers me because it makes me feel all the more singled out and picked on. Even though I’m far from the only one who had an abusive mother, for example (though it still has a way of making me feel “punished”), most people don’t have such fucked up melatonin levels that they can’t even keep a damn schedule. I try to tell myself that things could be worse. And they could be. But sometimes they’re bad enough. But yeah, there are worse sleep disorders than mine, some of which can even be deadly. If your melatonin levels are that off you can fall asleep in a second without warning no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Tom worked with a guy in Oregon whose mother had this problem. Her doctor gave her a medication assuring her that it’d keep her from falling asleep while driving, yet she fell asleep behind the wheel anyway and her car went off the road, killing her instantly.

So yeah, some people have it worse than me. But that’s not the point. The point is that I totally believe without a doubt that I was given the type of sleep curse I have and my driving phobia to hold me back in life. Especially the sleep curse. I feel like I was put on earth to be an asset to others. It’s like I do a better job of making others profit than myself. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for those I care about. If it’s within my means, I would do it and I wouldn’t expect anything in return. But I’m as selfish as I am generous and as indifferent as I am compassionate. If I don’t know you, I don’t give a shit if you’re having a rough day, and no, I don’t want to help you or give to you in any way. If that makes me a bitch or a bad person, then so be it.

Back to my point about not being able to simply “go for it.” I would love to be able to find something I enjoy doing online where I don’t have to worry about schedules and transportation that wouldn’t pay slave wages like MT. I’m just as willing and capable as anyone else of working just as hard. But something up there has been sure to place me in a position where opportunity simply can’t knock. Not on my door anyway.

Right or wrong, my old attitude used to be that some money was better than none, and that may be so in desperate cases, but we’re not desperate right now, and so now I want to be paid fairly for my time and work or else I won’t bother at all.

I dreamt I spoke on the phone with Dad and that my rat grew wings and could fly. It’s a good thing that one can’t be a premonition, LOL, cuz I swear I’d cut those wings off so fast! He gets around and into shit just fine without them.

Jesse came down yesterday at 3:30 to blanket the pipes since it’s been freezing at night. I was surprised when he took off yesterday afternoon for a while and the dogs remained quiet. But not surprisingly, he took off today, probably to his parents’ house, and took the peace with him. I don’t know if the dogs went off for long. I didn’t want to know, so I slammed the sound machines on.

Tom decided to light the pilot on the main heater. Even though the blower’s still not working, the pilot will help give off extra heat and doesn’t take up much propane.

Anyway, I guess Jesse’s trying to retire instead of going on disability. I’m just glad we no longer have to deal with the 5am - 9am barking sprees anymore. Thank God for bad backs!

I swapped messages with Maliheh, who isn’t doing anything today, but a little cleaning and walking. Otherwise, she’s just going to pig out and relax.

She confirmed that she is an only child, saying that this might be the reason she’s selfish.

I had to laugh when she said she went camping twice and both times there was a tornado. So we both hate tornadoes.

I’m feeling the opposite with her as I once felt with Marie. I wish I would hear from her more often, even though I hear from her every day. It also kinda sucks that the feeling’s not mutual. But since I’m still the only one flirting, I’d say she’s still not attracted to me.

Said hello to Nane in a PM, who hasn’t appeared to have been on Facebook all week.

I’m so pissed at this site and all its damn tech issues! Just when I thought they’d gotten the problem with changing background pictures squared away, it’s back with a vengeance. I had to reset it with one of their boring designs, so if you see some lame shit like this for a background, I didn’t lose my sense of creativity. I just couldn’t change the fucking thing.

All the problems are making me think of leaving, but that’s just the problem right there; all sites have problems, so where could I go? It seems that every single site I’ve ever used has changed things around periodically. Why can’t anything ever stay the same???

Tom said that when he has more time and gets a permanent job (hopefully where he’s working now), he’ll set up a site for us. I’ll miss having such a detailed tracker, but I really look forward to being my own boss and never changing anything unless I want it changed!

I have to laugh at how some people have been better at figuring me out than I myself have been. Maliheh’s pretty sure I’m starting menopause while Cindy’s pretty sure I love Maliheh. Well, I’m not so sure about Cindy’s theory, but love is never a bad thing so why should I worry if there is a touch of love beaming from me across the country and over to someone I envied the hell out of yesterday for having near 80º temps while I froze my ass off in the rain. I guess anybody worthy of a 19-year crush deserves at least a little love for hanging onto my heart for that long. Yeah, she’s one tough lady, LOL.

She said she’s not visiting her relatives in the Midwest this year for the holidays because she doesn’t want to get near snow again if she can help it. She said she told them that if they die in the winter, don’t look for her to attend their funerals. See, I’m a bitch, she added, and I told her she was actually sweet and kind compared to me, who refuses to attend her parents’ funerals for the 3 basic reasons I explained (because I’d only beat the shit out of anyone that started shit with me, my being there couldn’t bring them back, and I can mourn them from here just as easily as I could there).

The weather has been terrible here, but I’m so glad I’m not in K-Falls now. Yeah, the Klammers are at -2º now, LOL. Yesterday there was tons of rain, wind and fog until late morning. Then the sun finally came out and the wind settled down. We were supposed to get down into the 20s last night but only made it to 32º, not that that’s still not bad enough. The mice didn’t like it. Yeah, I think we have a mouse in here, so I set up the traps under the sink. This cold just sucks, though, and I might add Maliheh’s state to the list after all.

Last night I dreamt that I let the rat run around loose in some huge building somewhere. When I didn’t see him for a while I began to panic, even though rats always find their way back to their owners and don’t get “lost” like other rodents would. This is the second dream of this nature I’ve had of him, so like Tom said, it’s just warnings not to let him outside, even though he’s been oddly fascinated by the idea of it. It’s kind of funny, though, how he goes to the door like a dog begging to be let out. I open the door just a crack so he can sniff the outdoors, but not wide enough for him to slip out, even though he wouldn’t go anywhere and would be ok so long as I was with him to keep dogs, cats, raccoons and skunks away. Ever since he waited on the porch for us while we bombed and then in the car with us when we got back, he’s been wanting to go outside.

That damn rat sure raised some hell yesterday! He jumped on the shelf and I told him to get down. He decided to ignore me and so I went to pull him off. While I was pulling him off he pulled one of my Indian dolls off and broke her thumb. So while I was looking for this bitch’s thumb to glue back on, he swipes my cotton candy lip gloss. If I didn’t love him so much he’d have gotten his way with going outside, only I wouldn’t be around to guard him against the enemies!

This is the quietest winter we’ve ever had at this place. I knew the dogs would no longer bark non-stop from 5am - 9am like they used to when Jesse worked, but I expected them to at least bark every time he went out somewhere, yet they don’t other than on Friday nights. It’s a sign of the “end.” Meaning that we’ll be leaving soon. Yeah, I don’t get it, but I’ve lived in enough places to have noticed a strange pattern. Things seem to be at their quietest when we first move somewhere as well as right before we leave. But it makes no sense for us to leave what’s probably the cheapest place in the area if we’re just going to buy a house in less than two years.

Ok, I’m off to work on my story and looking forward to the long weekend with Tom, my ratty, and sugary treats my waistline definitely doesn’t need, as well as lots of thoughts (both explicit and not) of someone very special. :)

Ever want to beat the shit out of someone? I mean just totally beat the shit out of someone and rip them apart limb by limb? Yesterday was boring, though I kept busy. At one point, however, I was just doing whatever when all of a sudden this intense anger came over me and I suddenly had the urge to kill. It was the weirdest thing. I wasn’t angry about anything in particular. In fact, I wasn’t even angry at all. I just wanted to kick some ass, but not just anyone’s ass. Not an innocent being who never did anything to me and certainly not someone I care about. No, I wanted it to be some sick asshole that would really deserve a good beating. But my strange desire to attack and torture passed as quickly as it came.

It’s raining like crazy out there and no doubt snowing up in the mountains where Tom works. He said it was weird how it instantly changed on his way to work yesterday. He was driving along wet roads when all of a sudden there was 6” of snow.

They say I either go at something obsessively or I don’t bother at all. For the most part, this is true, and while some may say that’s not exactly a great way to go, it’s that obsessiveness that got me where I am today with the languages. But I still feel like I’ve got a long way to go and I probably always will feel that way no matter how much I learn because I’m just like that at times. I was doing journal entries in Spanish and Italian at Lang-8, but then I’d either forget to do them there or would be too busy so I ended up slacking off for a while. Maybe I should get back into it.

Yesterday was a dead day online. I didn’t hear from anyone. Not Maliheh, Nane, Alison or Kim, though Dieter was a little rude to me. Yeah, that’s another strange thing I don’t get. We were talking about living in Europe vs. the USA, and he was saying how he loved living in the middle of Germany because he was close to so many countries. I was saying that since California’s practically the size of all of Europe, I didn’t have the kind of variety he’s got, but there was certainly a wide range of climates around here. That’s when he went off on me for no apparent reason saying we “Americans” forget that we came from those “little countries in Europe,” and he would not indulge in that any further.

Like I said, kinda rude if you ask me. I almost dropped him, but then I just didn’t bother to do anything. I’m certainly not going to mention it to Nane and risk pitting them against each other should she agree he was rude. Besides, she has nothing to do with it anyway.

We’ve got a couple of wet days in store for us, then it’ll warm up and get sunny, at which time Jesse will no doubt be out making a racket of some kind.

Hopefully, I’ll get some work done today if the rat can leave me alone long enough. The freedom junkie just loves to be out running around and climbing all over me when he’s not off exploring and getting into things by himself. Rats are supposed to be nocturnal, but he copies my schedule and is up when I’m up. Most of the rats I’ve had do this. He’s jugando in the living room now.

I’d decided that even though money doesn’t mean what it once meant to me, I’m going to make $3 a day on MT Monday - Friday. That way if I ever do want something, I’ve got $100 a month to spend and that’s not counting savings. Our savings is going to take forever to build up, though, when things like car insurance creep up on us, but oh well. I’ve pretty much figured for a while now that having a few grand in savings is just a dream, no matter how much we make.

Although they didn’t say they’d hire him on, Tom’s boss said she told the temp agency he works for that they’re really happy with the job he’s doing. This is nice, but it doesn’t mean much without being hired on and given proper benefits. It’s like with me and my writing. All the people in the world can tell me I’m good, but it’s not the same as actually being paid for my time and work. That’s why I gave up on Helium, though I still can’t seem to lose my stars, LOL.

We went to the IHOP yesterday morning. He got bacon, eggs and pancakes and I got steak, eggs and pancakes. The steak was a bit tough and the waitress a bit loud, but otherwise it was very good.

Andy came out and told me he was the one asking the weird questions on Formspring and would keep a good variety coming. I figured it was him, but hopefully I won’t get 30 questions a day. I’m too busy for that! And when the economy picks up a little more I’ll be even busier when I go back to sweeping and psyching out the wins!

I received a surprising amount of attention and wall decorations from Nane yesterday, LOL. Back when she was in Turkey and wrote on her wall, I thought she was saying her flight home was canceled when she was really saying her balloon flight was canceled due to rain. So as a joke, I sent her a balloon heart for her to “fly” back home in next time she’s down there, hahaha.

She gave me her email address to send her a copy of my story when it’s done after I reminded her that I can’t send much at a time on FB. She said she didn’t know what to make of the first part of chapter 1 because it was a conversation and asked what it was about. I explained it to her in a PM while she got herself another glass of wine, but yeah, the first part of the chapter was all dialogue. So I’ll send her the story in its entirety once I’m done proofreading it in about a month.

I laughed at how she said to “kick the rat’s ass” when I mentioned him getting into things. And how she was in the mood to “cancel” some people on FB and said that 6 people had to go. I’m glad I wasn’t one of the ones she axed, LOL. I guess she wasn’t too happy with someone who put a silly love-you-forever video on her page.

I had to laugh at her confusion too, between the time differences and my schedule. She asked, “Girl, don’t you ever sleep?” We chatted twice, once at the start of my day and once at the end. She said she herself was a real night owl, even though she can’t afford it since the boss man was waiting for her in the morning.

I told her that thanks to her I could now recognize Greek and Turkish writing, and she said she read somewhere that she was a Greek God in a previous life which must explain her affinities to the Mediterranean and that someday she’ll be buried there.

She said her first vacation was to Florida when she was 19 and she loved it.

Besides “good looking” and “gorgeous” and “hottie,” I called her a Greek Goddess on my way out for the night. She laughed and smiled at that one.

Today I put a musical heart on her wall and said I enjoyed our chat yesterday, though she hasn’t been on FB yet that I know of today. She spends most of her time there late at night and right now it’s only after 6pm in Germany.

I wondered if she came into my blog at 7am her time this morning, late last night my time. She asked what kinds of contests I used to win and I told her about OLS. I also sent her the blog entry link containing all my wins. Ironically enough, that entry was accessed yesterday, but the hit I got that I suspect accessed it had no city, state or country info. Tom said that if she’s using a unique browser or device, the tracker may not be able to make sense of it. Yet when I traced the IP# it said it was in Texas, so I don’t know what to think.

It looks like Dieter recently viewed my blog based on the fact that I got a Germany hit from FB, he never appears to be online on FB unlike Nane, and the hit was up in northern Germany by Denmark. Nane, I believe, is in southern Germany, just outside of Munich heading towards Austria and Italy.

I’ve also got a regular in Kansas now that’s got me bookmarked. Wonder if they know Maliheh?

My “plea” for my regulars to step forward and say something (like my OSU fan) failed to do me any good. I figured it would, but I thought I’d try anyway.

The dogs just “bumped” into the bedroom, something I hope they don’t make a habit of, thus risking waking me up.

Maliheh went to a bar to attend a gathering for the guitarist friend of hers that recently died, and she said that may’ve accounted for why she was in such a bitchy mood. She was glad she went but didn’t want to at the same time. She said it was hard seeing the guy’s wife, his friends, and hopes there won’t be many more of those things to attend.

I wish I could be around to be of support to those I care about who are far away. I mean in person. Not just online or by phone. I wish I could be there to hold them when they’re down and smile with them when they’re up. I love being a wife to Tom, but I sometimes wish I could be one to someone else as well if that makes any sense. Ah, the impossible dreams and desires we often possess! But some things just weren’t meant to be, like it or not, and so the best I can hope for is for our electronic bond to continue growing and maybe – just maybe – a future visit someday.

I know some people prefer to be left alone when they’re down, but I still wish I could be more available than I can be from a distance if ever I was needed or wanted, if that too, makes any sense. And then there’s the what-might-have-been game I still play at times. Could things have worked out then or now? It’s still hard to imagine they could have, LOL, only because we’re so different and I would think that no matter how hard I tried to keep the peace she’d be bitching at me for just about everything and anything. I can see her maybe putting up with my not driving, but my funky sleep schedule? I doubt there’s more than a handful of people that could deal with that, although I once had a dream where she was telling someone she liked the idea of it because then she got to have more space to get more things done during those times when I wasn’t around to distract her train of thought as much. But that was just a dream and reality is still reality.

I dreamt we moved. We’d been on the road for quite a while, but don’t know where we were heading.

Nane surprised me with a couple of wall decorations on FB the other day. The same dream catcher I once sent her, and a colorful Fantasie Herz (fantasy heart).

Although no one’s abused the shoutbox, I decided to turn it off simply because I don’t need it. If someone wants to leave me a comment, they have enough other places they can leave them.

Wow, Maliheh’s up late tonight. When I got up at 10pm I saw she hadn’t hit my blog at all or left any messages, but I know she said she was to be busy. But then she came in at 3:30 her time.

I sent a message but didn’t hear back from her, so she probably either just woke up for a while or was just going to bed.

I’m looking forward to a weekend of fun, relaxation, and no housecleaning or cooking. Just a couple of loads of laundry and that’s it. I’ll probably do some writing and language studying, though, cuz that’s what I do. Today I’ll be pigging out, tomorrow it’s IHOP day, then next it’s back to dieting and exercising. I just may have to run indoors because we’re having a wet spell again.

I heard Jesse on that dreaded ATV yesterday morning, but he didn’t get noisy or anything like that. I’m wondering if maybe he’s just bringing outgoing mail or something down to the box by the main road.

Although it’s Friday night, the dogs are quiet. Maybe he didn’t go into Sacramento.

I’ve noticed for a while now that I have some regulars who have followed this blog consistently for a while yet have never left comments. I’d love for some of them to step out of the shadows and speak up for once. I’m just curious as to who they are, how they found my blog, and what it is about it that keeps them coming back.

Yesterday I got a message from a Helium staff member complimenting my articles and saying how good they were for a newer member. Then today my writing score shot up again and I’m back to having two stars, even though I haven’t been writing articles because I’m sick of getting just pennies for them. But I gotta admit it’s funny as hell that I remain starred without even trying while so many complain they can’t get stars, they have their articles deleted, and even their accounts shut down.

When I updated my status as I usually do when I first get up, I checked my stats and saw that I had just missed Maliheh. Since it was after midnight where she is I figured she’d gone to bed and so I wasn’t going to bother checking for messages. It’s a good thing I did 15 minutes later as there was a message from her she sent after checking again not long after I updated my status. So she was obviously looking to see if I’d get up before she crashed. :)

No fair! The 5-cast says it’s going to be in the 70s where she is, but we’re going to drop to the 50s, then the 40s, and get rained on. Definitely not what would come to mind when I’d think of California.

She said she’s still feeling tired but managed to get out for her daily half-hour walk. She said she hates running and would rather stand at the end of a runway and let a 747 fly up her ass, LOL. Love that one!

She asked what I thought of the X-rays at airports and the pat-downs, saying Al-Qaeda gets a good laugh out of it every time they hear about another unhappy flier. “You probably won’t talk to me after this,” she said, “but I say profile and stereotype away.”

I told her I not only agreed, but they should keep the crazy mother-fucking extremists outa this country who weren’t born here.

“I like the way you think,” she said, LOL, and that the subject would make a great article. She said Germany just told them to learn their language and become a Christian or get the fuck out of their country. They’re also bringing the IQ down over there.

She may’ve lived in more states than I have. In the message I sent for her to have for when she wakes up, I asked what order of states she lived in and at what ages. I know she lived in Hawaii for a while, but it was too costly and they hate whites, so she couldn’t stay there. She doesn’t know if she’ll be in NC all her life but knows she won’t go where there’s cold, snow, earthquakes or tornadoes.

She asked what the desert was like and said she wouldn’t mind finding a state with no state tax.

Where MyOpera was posting to Twitter but not to FB, now it’s posting to FB but not to Twitter. rolls eyes Whatever.

Someone stumbled across this blog by searching for “pet tapeworm,” LOL, from when I said how nice it’d be to get a tapeworm to help eat my weight off.

I’m pissed at Helium because I’m not only getting pennies for thousands of words, but they extended one of the Marketplace articles till the 20th. Now I rank 12 of 21, so I’m really getting my ass beat good. I hope the other one stays closed, though I don’t see how I stand a chance there either. So it’s ok that I’ll eventually lose my star because I don’t want to work for nothing.

I taught the rat how to climb my leg for treats like Tinkerbell and Blondie used to do. He’s so cute!

I’ve had a tough time trying to motivate myself to do any Turk work (at least it pays more than Helium even though it too, is slave wages) and I realize that the reason isn’t just because we’re not desperate now. It’s also because money just doesn’t mean to me what it used to. Don’t get me wrong, I still love money and would be thrilled to have a ton of it. It’s just that after going through what I went through years ago – and getting sick of a bunch of space-hogging dolls I’m sick of dusting – it tends to change one’s outlook on things. It’s just not the huge priority and obsession it used to be for me.

Hello, ladies and germs.

The submission deadline has ended and now I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Still getting some rather interesting questions on Formspring and still pretty sure most are from Andy.

Didn’t hear from Maliheh yesterday, but she was in my blog once. The day before she said she had an upset stomach and a low-grade fever. Hopefully, she isn’t too sick and will be better soon.

I both do and don’t like some of the new changes on MyOpera. I hate change in general and I just wish they’d leave a good thing alone. If I didn’t like MyOpera the way it was I wouldn’t be there. At least they got the picture-uploading problem taken care of. It was taking forever to load pictures and backgrounds.

The countdown they added is ok too, but even though my account is set to PT, it had already dropped a day when I got up and checked at 7pm.

I don’t like how they grouped things that used to be laid out and within easy access, and I don’t like how you have to hover over the friend and inbox icons with your mouse to see if anything new has come in. Before, a number would appear at the top of the screen.

I sent Nane the first part of chapter 1, but as I told her, it’s not completely edited yet and cannot be sent on Facebook if she decides she wants to read the whole thing. FB just doesn’t allow for long messages. I told her that if she’s uncomfortable sharing her email, fine, I can send it a chapter at a time on LM, but it’ll take 25 messages to do it.

Swapped messages with Maliheh. :) She’s consistent but not obsessive like Marie was, and I like that. She’s smart and interesting, too.

We only swapped a few messages because she had an upset stomach, but she wanted to say she hoped my day went well and she liked what I wrote. Awww. :)))

I told her I got a direct hit from Greensboro and asked if she knew anyone there. She said no, and that she hated it there. The town sucked and the people sucked, but wouldn’t you know she found the world’s best damn salsa there right before she moved.

Andy said he’s getting a kick out of my Formspring answers, some of which are goofy as hell when I don’t know the answer to something like why the US never took up the metric system.

I asked Nane if she wanted to read my last book once it’s edited, and she replied by saying she likes to read, no, she loves to read. But what exactly am I asking her to do?

sighs Is her English not as good as I thought it was? Or am I just so focused on other languages that I’m lacking in my own?

I’m now in the running with two articles, each paying $56 if either of them is selected for publication, which doesn’t look good. One currently ranks 3/16, the other 8/17. I still have a few articles in the #1 spot. They really love the rats and crushes, LOL.

I gotta laugh when I hear some people complain that they write and write and write, but they still can’t earn a star. And I basically quit writing except for these special assignments that actually pay what they’re worth (if I’m selected), yet I’m still “starred.” LOL

taps head thoughtfully Do I or don’t I put certain southern states on the “list?” Yes, no, I don’t know, maybe so. Hmm… I like the idea of being safe from hurricanes yet closer to the beach. I’ve been two or more hours inland for over 18 years now! I also like the idea of being closer to those I care about, but I do like being where it’s drier. The only time it’s not dry here is when it’s actually raining.

I’ve lived long enough to know that a lot can happen in 588 days, which is how much longer we’ve got to go to cash in on his pension and hopefully get to pick a state and where we’re going to settle down in it, so it’s way too soon to go making any decisions. And like I said before, if he’s making a lot of money we’ll want to stay here which would also be ok since this isn’t MA or OR and we don’t have hard winters here. If we’re back to being broke, then we couldn’t go anywhere anyway, so heading east or even down to the CA or NV desert would be out of the question. I don’t know yet what state it will be, but it will definitely be either a rural or a senior community that we end up in. I can’t stand the chaos of the mainstream – barking galore, loud stereos, rowdy kids…

Why am I gaining weight again, and why is it so damn hard to keep it off? Am I not running enough? Eating too much? But I swear I’ve been eating a reasonable amount! I guess “reasonable” just doesn’t matter when you, like most Americans, are naturally fat. And a natural fatty I am. The only time I could stay thin without trying was on and off as a kid and throughout my 20s. I do, however, get carried away on some days. I’m only human. But why is it that not dieting for most people simply means that they don’t lose weight while not dieting for me means I gain weight? I’d be 500 pounds by the time I hit 50 if I had 1500-2000 calories every single day, even if I kept running.

Opposites attract. Or do they? Most people don’t seem to think so, but I think they do, even if that “opposite” I may be attracted to isn’t attracted to me in return. I personally find it boring if someone is too similar to me. It’s like buying two collectible dolls that are exactly the same. They can be nice, but isn’t one enough? Being opposites keeps things interesting and allows us to learn about new ways of thinking and doing things. We can learn about places we’ve never been to and activities we’ve never done. Sure you want to have some things in common, and that’s ok. Believe me when I say I’m glad Tom doesn’t smoke either!

But most people want duplicates because they are often uncomfortable with the unknown and so they prefer to have what’s familiar to them and that’s ok, too. Me, I just like the fascination of learning new things from those who are different than me and have had different experiences.

I didn’t realize this till now, but it turns out that even though no one can read anyone else’s article, they’re still ranking the ones up for publication. When I saw I was #5 out of 14 I sighed and said to myself, “Is #5 really the best you can do?” With 4 of them ahead of me, it’s not likely mine will be chosen.

Made some smashed potatoes as I sometimes call mashed potatoes. They were great once I got the amount of garlic salt just right.

The rat was so funny when I was preparing dinner the other day. He tends to hang out in whatever room I’m in, and so he did a fine job of keeping underfoot when I was in the kitchen, eagerly catching any crumbs I may’ve dropped. He’d stand on the top of my foot and hug my leg as if that’d get him any treats any faster, LOL.

My hair seems to have shot out of my head another inch practically overnight. When it starts getting below the waist is when I really start feeling the weight of it and it becomes a real pain in the ass. Who knows, maybe I’ll hack it to my shoulders before I can sit on it yet again.

Molly’s finally getting sick of me. She used to come to my blog an average of 15-30 times a day, but today it was twice, yesterday none.

Got a new fan that’s got me bookmarked in Dublin, OH. I checked and it’s just 11 miles away from Columbus where my OSU fan is. Wonder if it’s the same person.

Maliheh and I swapped messages. It’s kind of going to suck when I start sleeping later, but oh well. We’ll catch each other when we catch each other. I’m just amazed at how accepting she is for what once seemed like such a cold, insensitive bitch. She hasn’t even questioned my screwy schedule.

She’s really into TV, unlike me, but it’s nice that she has something she enjoys. Especially since it doesn’t seem like she has much else going for her at the moment other than her teaching job.

I had a really funny thought. I know it’s a crazy, crazy thought to think, but I can’t help it. back when things were heated up with Marie and I and I began to think there was a real possibility of us eventually meeting and getting it on, I remember thinking to myself how hard I’d have laughed had someone told me that the next person I’d have sex with might be her. But imagine how much harder I’d have laughed if someone else had stepped in and said, “No, it won’t. It won’t be Marie D. It will be Maliheh B.” Not saying it ever will be for real. Just something funny to think about.

I still flirt with her even though she doesn’t flirt back. She must not mind, though. :) She did answer when I asked her if she had a certain type of appearance she preferred in a woman and she said no.

Now she says it’s Barnes & Noble that publishes unpublished authors, and that I might not make much at first, but that in time I will.

I let everyone know that I will no longer be discussing Maliheh in my blog. Not what we talk about, not my dreams, not my thoughts, nothing. Just that we talked or something vague like that. There will no longer be any details. After all, a journal is supposed to be about my life, and even if you may be part of my life, your life should still be up to you to decide whether or not you want to share it.

I’m actually thinking of stopping public journaling. It was fun for a while, but now I’m not so sure. Whenever I think I’ve got it clear as far as what’s ok and what’s not, I find out I was wrong and someone gets mad or disappointed. Well, the last thing I want to do is upset anyone! I really have to wonder what’s wrong with me at times. I used to live for getting on people’s nerves, yet now it seems I upset them without even trying, that’s how good I apparently got at it. I will think about it for a day or two and then make my decision.

Maliheh said she’s not mad at me and she knows I wasn’t deliberately trying to upset her, but she’s disappointed with my talking about her so much. Even if it’s nothing personal and is something as trivial as how she’s got to rake her yard, whose business is it? She commented on how I said I found out what she did for work, but couldn’t say. Why say I found out in the first place?

I’m sorry I disappointed her, but there is some good in this as well and that’s that now I no longer have to worry about upsetting her and wondering if I edited enough of what I wrote about her before posting it online since I will no longer be posting anything.

I woke up hot at 2pm because we’re having a warm spell. That would’ve been fine if I’d been smart enough to remember to leave my window cracked and the fucking fan on. I just have to be on nights now. :( I’ll have to remember to pop the lower rod out and lift the light blocker so I can open the back window before bed as we’ll be around 70º all week. I forgot to write about that, but yesterday we got the light-blocking kit for the back window. It does a great job and it’s so easy to take in and out, too. Wish I’d had it years ago. I just hope that with weather like this, whatever racket Jesse makes won’t wake me up!

I also had a dream my purse and rat were missing.

Speaking of rats, Nane posts a lot of music videos on her wall and she left a message attached to one of them saying my rat would love this one which I almost missed because I’m hardly on FB anymore. The only reason I went in was that I got an alert that Mitch posted to my wall. The video was shot in an old, rundown and abandoned building, though this rat would love to explore anywhere and everywhere.

Shortly after I got up we did the 3 scratch tickets we got and ALL of them lost. :(

At least I had a good run.

I answered the 60 Formspring questions I still think are from Andy, and soon Maliheh and I will have our nightly chat which can only be discussed in my offline journal.

Later…

Chatted with Maliheh. She was telling me she heard that Kendall, who makes an electronic reader that you can read books on, also publishes stories and they pay the authors, too. But according to my research, they only publish educational stuff. I doubt they’d find “Nadirah” tossing “Joni” on the bed and giving her a night to remember very educational. I’ll keep looking, though.

I was even brave enough to tell her Tom and I don’t sleep together. Yeah, that’s something that’s not in my blog and very few people know. I guess I don’t bare my soul as much as some people might think I do.

She helped with a couple of the Formspring questions, too.

She said she’s going to sleep in, even though she can’t sleep in till 2pm like she used to.

I “liked” the video Nane posted, left a comment, then sent a message asking if she’d like to read my book when it’s done. I told her not to hesitate to say no if she’s not interested or too busy, and that I won’t think she’s mad at me, LOL.

Ah, I really have the best of both worlds – a great hubby and a great cyber girl. I sometimes wish she was more tangible and less cyber, but cyber’s better than wondering about her as I did for 19 years.

We swapped a few messages which was so nice, and the more I get to know her, the more I admire her. We talked about our likes and dislikes and things like that. When I mentioned her being the star of my blog she said something about her 15 minutes of fame coming to an end. I read this part of her message a few times and tried to read between the lines. Is she really saying she thinks her fame will come to an end, or that she’d like it to? But then I remembered just how outspoken she is and how she doesn’t hold back. Really, she’s not afraid to tell it like it is, LOL. And she didn’t tell me to put a lid on it or anything like that. Even so, I will still be careful what I say and start keeping most of the dreams to myself. I have so damn many anyway, not that I’m complaining, LOL. I love every dirty little minute of them.

I know some people think she likes me too, but if she does, she hasn’t said anything and so I have to automatically assume she just likes me as a friend. Hey, I guess I’m just interesting at times, LOL, with my not knowing that Wally World was Walmart. Yeah, she and Tom got to laugh at that one, but that’s ok. I kinda got to laugh at her when she didn’t know what LMAO meant. :)

She cracked me up by saying she ran out of ass wipe, and hey, what’s a girl to do? Drip dry? She didn’t think so! And so she went to Wally World and said the whole town must’ve been there, LOL. Poor girl. She swears as much as I do, too.

We talked about the weather here and where she is, and it got me thinking. Not only does it suck that we probably won’t ever see each other again, but sometimes I wish some of my friends (or someone that was a little more of a friend at times) lived close by. Not just for obvious reasons like hanging out together every now and then, but so that one could be there for the other when times got rough. Had Andy, Paula, Jessie or some of my cyber friends been in Sacramento those hours we were homeless, I’m sure they’d have let us borrow a corner of their living room floor and given us something to eat. Then again, I didn’t have any cyber friends back then. This was in the fall of 2007 and I didn’t start “meeting” people online till the summer of 2008.

I teased Maliheh about being stuck with me because it would’ve been all over for us by now. Yeah, Tom went and looked and we would’ve just received our last check next week had he still not been able to get a job. Yeah, we were coming down off of tier 4. That damn number I hate so much. Then I’d have gotten a lobster and we’d have gone to a casino, gambled it off, and left it to fate. If we walked out penniless, we’d have come back and ended it since I never could make it on the streets, and he would never leave me alone to die on my own in that particular case. If I became terminally ill, that’d be different. So I wouldn’t be editing my story, my rat would have to go live with someone who may not love him enough, and once again Maliheh and I would be history had things not worked out. It’s almost scary to think about how many things could’ve gone wrong along the way that could’ve prevented us from making it. Funny, as they say, there’s a reason for everything.

And so the would-be dead woman lives on to say she really wishes at times that she didn’t have ADHD. Things are taking me so much longer than they should because I can’t stay focused and so I end up wasting time because I jump from task to task. Yeah, I live a challenging life at times. But medication is a definite no-no even if I were insured. Not with all the side effects they bring, some permanent like the tardive dyskinesia I’ve got to live with for the rest of my life that the quack shrinks didn’t tell me about until it was too late.

Maliheh’s got what I thought she said was 11 magnolias in her yard, but what are actually 11 trees with 3 being magnolias in it when I went and re-read the message, and so she has to go out raking leaves tomorrow and do some housecleaning, too. I said I was sorry I couldn’t help and that I would engage in a leaf fight with her if I could, LOL. Yeah, I’d be naughty and really get my boss going! She must have a good-sized yard for all those trees. I hope she’s in a house and not a duplex, for her sake. I told her about the nightmare we went through in the Oregon duplex. When you can’t even get any peace living next to one single old lady, where can you get it from?

Let’s see… what else? She too, hates religion and the people in the Middle East cuz of the way they treat their women. She hates how the humidity there makes her hair so curly, so out comes the straightening iron when it does. I thought she had naturally straight hair.

She usually walks briskly for 35 minutes a day except for when it’s really hot and humid, and she once worked the cornfields in the Midwest to get money for clothes for the new school year. Did she come from a poor family or something? The pictures I once saw of where she lives suggests she doesn’t have much money.

She used to love to tan by the lake but didn’t swim because she doesn’t really like the water.

I wonder if she even lived in Hawaii because she mentioned the natives hating outsiders which made it rough, whatever that meant.

Once again I can’t help but wonder about the jinx-writing thing. I’ve deliberately tried to jinx-write things into happening, like how I once had a character get rich. But it seems I can’t make life imitate art. It just happens by accident, even if “Nadirah” doesn’t quite see “Joni” the way she sees her. It’s weird, though. Just weird.

I’m so glad the boss said I could keep the prank in the story now that I’ve changed the name, year and location. Yeah, with one click I changed her name 1066 times. Changing the prank would’ve been a HUGE job since it’s so much a part of the story. As I told her, it’s reality turned bullshit.

Because she hates the cold and snow, she doesn’t miss Sunderland and Amherst, but she misses the clubs and dancing, saying the 90s had great dance music. But one thing we do agree on is that the 70s had the best music!

She mentioned chatting (I assume she means with our webcams) and this idea both excites and embarrasses me. Of course I’d love to see her and hear her voice. But then she gets to see how fat, old and ugly I look these days with my dorky little pink glasses. Can’t see shit without them, though. I’m two-toned too, LOL, since my hair is dark blond on top and light brown on the bottom. But I’m never going to be young and skinny again or have good vision, so what the hell.

Tom will have to help me set things up for chatting. Other than chatroulette.com, I’ve never done this before, and that site only allowed people to see each other, not talk to each other. You still had to type to each other. But I’m not sure exactly what it is she’s talking about, so I’ll wait till I hear back from her.

I really do love our chats, though my schedule will eventually roll forward and I’ll be asleep at the times we’ve chatted so far. Guess we’ll just have to chat at other times or wait till I’m awake at those hours again. At least our schedules won’t always clash.

Got over 30 questions on Formspring today and I still think they’re from Andy. They’re written like he would write them, though saner than usual. They were interesting, but I didn’t know how to answer some of them like what requirements does it take to be a mortician? So I just made up goofy answers.

Tom and I had loads of fun playing with the rat, who seems to love to try to lick the lotion off my legs after I apply it. He’s been biting more when he gets playful, but it’s ok because he doesn’t hurt us. If he does start getting rough we tell him to ease up and he does. He’s such a sweetie. A troublemaker, but a sweetie. He was out for hours exploring and climbing all over us.

Fortunately, there have been no more bees in here since we bombed. The rat was out at the time, and so I’m sure I had to be the only one in the world to mace a bee while trying not to step on a rat, LOL.

I’ve thought about it and decided what to do as far as Helium goes. Spending hours of work for pennies isn’t my thing. So instead of doing articles, I may do the ones Marketplace Approved Writers are eligible to do whenever they happen to have any available I can do. And that’s only if I get selected for publication with my first one. Remember, I’m up against the best of the best. If they all come and kick my ass, I’m not exactly going to feel like getting up and trying to kick theirs back.

I’m just one of those who isn’t meant to make much money. The sleep curse alone tells me that. I totally believe without a doubt that it was put on me, along with the driving phobia, to help hold me back in life. It was just a miracle that I got someone like Tom who accepts me as I am. Most relationships are so much about what you can contribute to them financially and materially. So what if you might love them as they are, be a good listener, and make the person laugh when they’re down? And so what if you might be a good housekeeper and good at supporting them emotionally? It’s all about making money these days, and hey, I love money, too. I just don’t put it above and beyond love, good health and happiness.

Well, I may not make the amount of money the average person makes, but if only I could get insured, get to a sleep clinic, have them diagnose it (wacky melatonin levels are supposed to be easy to diagnose), then get my disability benefits reinstated! It may only be a few hundred a month, but I feel I am rightfully entitled to those benefits. I know I am.

In another week or so I’ll start trying to aim my schedule for that evil 4th in case Tom and I want to go anywhere that day. Even if we don’t, I know my folks will call that day and if no one answers all day, they’ll worry. They’ll constantly be checking the news for anything about NorCal being rocked with a giant earthquake, even though we’re not on any faults.

Let’s see… in Realityland, my parents sent a $25 IHOP GF, Tom’s fine, the rat had fun clothes hamper diving, I talked with Maliheh, I might have “influenced” Alison to feel and sleep better, and then I ate too much. Not at the IHOP as we have yet to go. Just wish I could make my southern hottie feel better too, but she’s further away, and I’m new at this long-distance influencing thing if Aly wasn’t just a coincidence. Time will tell.

In Storyland, Alison was kind enough to suggest some really good Arabian names, both of which Maliheh likes, and we’ve decided to go with Nadirah. She’s not Arabian, BTW, just her name is. Aly and I both love unique names. No Marys, Kathys, Sarahs or Karens allowed in my books! Anyway, I will slowly comb through the manuscript, not just for errors, but to make the changes my boss wants made. Then someday when Tom and I have our own website, I just might put some of my stories up for sale there.

Tom had his jeans lying on the futon and the rat tried to pick his pocket. Tinkerbell managed to get his wallet out, but not Tinkerboy. Not yet anyway. I was drawing Figure 8’s on the floor and he was chasing my hand, as usual, and climbing all over me. Made a real rats’ nest of my hair too, LOL. He’s a klepto, so I’m careful where I leave things. When we lived in Oregon we were going to walk to the store. Tinkerbell was asleep in the closet and we agreed she’d be ok there since the store was close and we’d be back in a few minutes. But then when I went to get the list which I had thrown on top of my shoes by the door so I wouldn’t forget it, it was gone. The little devil had dragged it into her cage before heading off for her closet nap.

Haven’t heard from Mitch or Dorian in ages. Wonder what’s up with them?

Maliheh and I talked about music. Tom was a trombonist in the Air Force, so they’re more the musician type than I ever was. Words, foreign and not, are more my thing. And when I am involved in music it’s either to sing or just listen to it. I told her I could picture us laughing and teasing each other, me with her spelling and grammar and her with my lousy guitar timing and math abilities. She said she’d never laugh at the timing thing but has to try not to laugh when some of her guitar students sing off-key, as mean as she knows it is. That’s when I told her I could never be a language teacher in person. I’d never be able to keep a straight face listening to some of these people learning English. But by just listening to sound files on a computer, I can laugh all I want. And I do. :)

She had to pay $130 for a new car battery and doesn’t even want to get in her car and go anywhere tomorrow for fear of something not being right.

You can say anything you want to the people there so long as you say “bless their hearts” afterward, so she learned.

She also would never want to own a place again after owning two trailers because then she has to pay for anything that breaks. That’s definitely the worst thing about owning, but at least you can do what you want when you want to do it and not have to worry about pesky landlords that may want to do shit when you’re sleeping.

She also told me what she has for breakfast which was kinda funny, after saying we have a bit in common after I said I can’t eat much after I first get up. She mixes OJ, a banana and a raw egg in her Magic Bullet. A raw egg, LOL? That can’t be good for her cholesterol levels. I just may try it someday, though, even if that’s got to be something like a 300-calorie breakfast, and even that would be too much too close to whenever I got up. My coffee’s just 35.

In What-if-land, it’s like I said before where I have mixed emotions about things. I have no regrets about leaving the East and meeting Tom. I like my life overall, though it isn’t perfect any more than anyone else’s.

But what if? What if things had been different when I first met Maliheh? What if I hadn’t been such an ass? What if I’d been a little better looking? What if we made it big together singing in a band? LOL, I’d have loved the money, but I’d have hated the traveling, all the people I’d have to deal with, and the fame. I live like a hermit for a reason and it’s not because I don’t drive and can be a strange, eccentric and unique little bitch.

She really is one tough and talented lady, and the more I get to know her the more I’m surprised by having more in common with her than I’d have guessed. Sure, we’re different in some ways. She can at least keep a damn schedule, she can drive, and I doubt she’s crazy enough to have a mannequin standing in the corner of the room, LOL. I meant it when I told her I was a one-of-a-kind! But unlike Marie, she herself is anything but crazy. No wonder she probably doesn’t like me in that way. You know the rules – if it’s crazy, it likes me. If it’s sane, it doesn’t.

I’m also surprised by how many things I guess wrong about her. I’m usually pretty good with people, but I’m getting more wrong with her than I am right, LOL.

It’s strange thinking that when she was last in L.A. (if I’ve got my times straight), I was right under her nose in Arizona, though it was about to become more like under her chin when we dropped down from Phoenix to Maricopa, not far above the Mexican border.

They’ve been Formspringing me to death again, LOL, with nearly 50 questions. I’m still trying to guess who it could be, though most do seem like questions Andy would ask and more his thing than anyone else I know. It’s fun trying to guess who it is, but not frustrating. So whoever you are, if you’re reading this journal (and I think you are) you need not step forward and identify yourself unless you want to. Most of them came in at what would have been around 9pm in Germany, but they just don’t seem like they’d come from Nane. Andy would ask something like, “Do you think cow farts are bad for the environment?” along with most of the questions, but who in the world would ask me how I got so damn good-looking, LOL? I studied the questions, the spelling, the grammar and the overall writing style and I’m still leaning toward Andy. What’s weird, though, is that he’s never hit me with so many questions at once. I first got 29 questions. Then while I was answering them, I got hit with 13 more. That’s the second time a batch came in while I was answering questions. I just don’t get how they all came in at once. They can only submit one question at a time.

I’m listening to KD Lang right now. I like some of her songs and she has a beautiful voice. How can a woman who looks so manly sound so womanly, LOL?

I was surprised (yeah, that woman is full of them) with a message from my favorite lady. Didn’t expect it cuz I thought she was busy today. She told me what she does for work. Yup, she’s a music teacher.

She also told me the other reason she was worried about my story being posted as it was. Duh! I really am stupid at times! Why didn’t I think of that one myself? Yeah, it’s about the world’s close-minded bigots. Even without her last name, her first name is unique. It’s kind of sad. Not just for obvious reasons, but if she ever met Miss Right (if she hasn’t already), she would probably be afraid to marry her no matter how much she may want to just so she wouldn’t have to worry about the shit that went with it.

I’m sure that had I been totally straight I’d still be ok with gays. What the hell would I care about who others slept with? Sometimes I just wish I didn’t have this nearly 20-year-old crush because it’s pointless, but it’s also loads of fun at the same time. :)

Some of you know that I had a thing for one of the guards in the jail I was in a decade ago and that they had a thing for me, too. She practically had to spell it out for me that she liked me, though, because I’m always afraid to assume things that may not be true. As you also know, I’ve done that before, and so I try not to make the same mistake and let my wishful thinking get me carried away into thinking or believing what isn’t true. My point? Well, I know this isn’t the case, but at first I was worried that the only reason Maliheh was being nice to me was that she felt it was the only way to ensure that I kept on respecting her request not to publish the book with her name in it. But now I know better, and just for the record, I prefer to run and hide from those I may not get along with unlike 20 years ago when I preferred to get even. The shit for neighbors we had in Phoenix was a different story. I wanted to ignore them, but at just a few feet away, they wouldn’t let me.

It seems I misunderstood her, though. I thought she only wanted the name, year and state changed only if I were to post it online or try to sell it, but that if it just sat there in Word doing nothing, it didn’t matter. But she expressed a desire for it to be changed either way and said she’d hate to see me “waste my talent,” blushes with flattery and that I should try to sell it when it’s done. That goes to prove that no, the idea of me profiting from it was not a concern like some had thought it might be. She wants me to make money doing what I love. The problem is it just isn’t that easy no matter how good you may be because there’s just so much competition out there. Why, I’m not sure, for as I told her, most people hate to write and aren’t very good at it. But I do enjoy it, it’s in my blood, it’s who I am, and so I can’t stop whether or not I get paid. All I can do is keep improving any way I can and make sure my spelling and grammar are right on and that it flows well. If it doesn’t read smoothly and you gotta re-read a sentence of mine more than once just to get it (assuming you aren’t incredibly stupid), then I didn’t do a good job as a writer.

She read my running article, too. :) And again I am both surprised and flattered. :) I just didn’t think she’d be interested. I hope these entries aren’t too long or too boring for her.

Going back to her unique name, I wonder if I should start omitting my dreams of her. She hasn’t asked me to, but it’s something to think about.

I’m gonna let her pick out her new name for the story when she gets a chance. She said Malika (I’m still trying to keep her Arabian as we not only need more books with lezzy leads but also with more Arab/Jew couples to help promote tolerance there, too) is not exotic enough. I don’t like Nada which is also a Spanish word for the word nothing. I really don’t think she’d like to be called nothing any more than her real name. Nashita is a definite no-no. I doubt she’d want any “shit” in her name either.

She’s almost an inch taller than me – woot! She’s 4’ 11½”. I usually like ladies to have dark hair, dark eyes, and be taller and heavier. Hey, three outa four ain’t bad! The number on the scale could be changed, but with Twix candy bars and fried chicken running around out there in this world, it ain’t gonna change much. I must seem like a real blimp in comparison, muscular or not. :(

She’s just amazing appearance-wise. It all goes to hell for most of us when we hit 30 (for me it was 32). What made her such a fluke of nature and so damn privileged? I wonder.

Today I had the runs twice and more palpitations. Strangely enough, though, my heart settled down after I talked with Tom and had some decaf coffee. Oh, can’t forget the bad news she had for me and that’s that I may have perimenopause based on my heart palpitations. She said it takes years to go through and so do the hot flashes, vertigo and shit like that. She could have a point, though I haven’t had any hot flashes or vertigo. She said vertigo got really scary for her when she was driving.

Why can’t I just turn 65 instead of 45? Then I could be past menopause, older than Tom (since women live longer and he’s 8 years older) and eligible for Medicare. And hey, if I’m not all that great-looking now, why not get even uglier, LOL?

If she’s right, though, and someone had told me a year or so ago when this first started that she of all people would be the one to diagnose me, so to speak, I’d have laughed my ass off so hard, LMAO! I told Tom what she said and asked if he thought she was right and he said she very well could be from what he read about it. I’m the right age. I also asked if he thought God hated women. He said he didn’t know about that. I sure feel like something sure seems to hate us!

Ok, that’s it for now. Now I’m off and editing, wishing my arms were long enough to reach out and hug my GF.