Just Another Day With Me

Photography Links...

This morning my Oklahoma page was "retweeted" by a cool photography blog: 

http://glazemoo.blogspot.com/ 

 

And the other photography page that I read is: 

http://www.lightstalking.com/

and: 

http://digitalphotobuzz.com/

I post On:

http://www.myshutterspace.com/profile/JoyFranklin

The Secrets of the Crystal Crotch

According to Vajazzling.com   Vajazzling: The act of applying glitter and jewels to a woman's nether regions for aesthetic purposes. I ran across this  Great Blog About Vajazzling last night and was further creeped out.  Now, I hadn't thought of Vajazzling much lately, but I had heard of it, hadn't given it much thought.  I was folding laundry and halfway watching one of those "stupid people from New Jersey shows" a couple of weeks ago, and there was a little princess going on a first date and she had to go get "Vajazzled."  I, not being the type to let any stranger with a jar of wax come near my unmentionable region -was a little floored that this is a topic on television, much less that people in any great amount of numbers are doing it.  There must be some cultural obsession among certain circles of ladies about having your hair done, and not the hair on your head.   

 Personally, the thought of a manicurist touching my hands creeps me out, so you know that I would never consider the secret pleasures that await from having my unmentionables glammed up like a bejeweled handbag from 1976.  

Part of me is laughing at these women, who not only will go pay money to have strangers pour hot wax on their private area and strip it off, but then to know they are following it up with crystals slathered in glue.  I hate to be a country hick but it doesn't interest me whatsoever.   *It sounds itchy too.  

In a way this obsession with hairlessness seems childish, and creepy.  It almost has the feel of wanting to look like a child.  It is disturbing.   Not that I'm on the pro-granola crunching team of women saying don't shave your pits  or legs, not at all.  I just feel that women in our society are under so much pressure to be pretty that we have taken it to a whole new level.  What will they find to do next.  

What will culture find to market to women next?  There is already a select group that only feel that they can be happy from carrying around $500 purses and driving the best cars.  Television networks have show after show devoted to telling women they aren't good enough.  Look at the "keeping up with the Joneses" attitudes on the "Real Housewives" shows.  We have shows telling women they are too fat and must lose weight to be pretty.  There are shows about fashion and how not to dress.  So much time, money and energy promoted to  help women tear each other down or making each other look ridiculous .  We are our own worst enemy.  It doesn't help that we also have the "Frenemy" atmosphere.  

I am not sure what this new "trend" says about the males in our society, or whether they like or dislike shiny sparklies glued on their ladies,  I would guess to say they probably don't care as long as they have access to it.  So ladies, if you want to create a new industry of crotch decorators (hey in this economy maybe it IS a good thing) go ahead.  But just maybe you should just take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself is it really that important to look like a discoball down below?  

You probably know more about me than you'd like to know now, especially about the fact that the only thing that sparkles on me is my diamond rings.   So ladies, just say no to the crystal crotch (or at least keep it a secret, I've already found too many pictures on the web).  I hate to tell you this but its not pretty.  Sorry.     

Disturbing Obama Quote

"With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation," Obama said.

Really? I suddenly feel superior to the President... in a tiny little technical way. He is judging what he does not understand...  

Now, Obama....  maybe an iPod or an Xbox would help you quit smoking? Just a thought.   

We Feel Fine

http://www.wefeelfine.org/wefeelfine_mac.html <--very cool website....  wouldn't let me view it on my phone this morning... guess I should go to work now.   This was linked to my blog this morning.  

RAW(r)

I have been studying my digital photography book, tonight I practiced metering, manual white balance and shooting in RAW... we will see if I'm smart enough for this difficult of a task.....photos to come..maybe, if I can get my viewer to load the raw files.... ...  

I also found an albino Indian Paintbrush...so it was a white paintbrush, I reckon.   I launched my Oklahoma project...or my excuse to drive around the state see landmarks take pictures and eat on my weekends.   A potential excuse to write an American History grant.... ah just more to do....   

Yeah....

My "Garmin" - Old School

Home...  had a great day at Red Rock Canyon in Hinton Oklahoma.   More pics to come!  I had to show my Mom my pics and let Grace on the computer at my house so I'm going to post some un-processed shots. Here is "my Garmin"  it gets me where I'm going and doesn't talk back.   I really like this kind of technology. 

Ultimate Consumerism and TMI Shares

Blippy.  T.M.I, Sharing Details is the Point.  Is this not the whole purpose of social networking, sharing many pointless details.  Is this not the entire purpose for blogging? Sharing details, articles, music, photos and interests from your lives.  People are in an uproar about privacy and information being gathered and used for marketing.  But, is that not what the whole concept of supply and demand is about?  Retailers just get an edge on what is in demand so they can continue to meet said demand.  Well until a socialist agenda has us in line for toilet paper after we discover we can't afford to pay for healthcare and we get a VAT and consumer spending creeps to a halt.      

Four Square; this is one that I really don't like.  I don't like geo-location sharing websites, I think they are a little creepy.  I also don't like the idea that stupid teenage girls may link them up to their Facebook and their scary little stalkers will, indeed know "Every Breath They Take" .  I do use a Tracks app on my phone for running statistics but I keep everything private.  I do let my family know that I use it and its always running when I'm running for safety issues. 

Skimble; track and share sporting activities... this one is new for me. Dopplr.com  So we have half the country terrified of the sheer amount of details and information shares, and the other half embracing it.   I share a lot, on my blog, here about my life- about my purchases.  I share too much on Facebook but as it is the  novelty is wearing off and I'm spending less and less time on FB.  For the most part who really cares?  Most of the people who flip out paranoid over this kind of thing are people that I want to tell that no one really, seriously cares.   But as it is people your world isn't as private as you wish,  but for the most part you are a number, data and people don't care.   Thats right, people don't really care about you and what you bought on Amazon-  so get over yourself.   Thats my advice.   I hate to be the bearer of bad news.   Your family and close circle of friends care, but those strangers who harvest data, you are a number and a hit you might be a trend.  But, seriously, please listen to me.... you are data, not a person...you are an IP address number.   You are a person ..hopefully what you say and do really doesn't matter. 

One risk I didn't talk about was identity theft, which is scary. Identity mix-ups which my husband has suffered having lived in a town with another person of the same name.   But, I always say that no one would really want to steal my identity - having a distinct lack of credit.   

 Now I know school districts (like Fort Worth ISD) are Monitoring teaches Facebook accounts (via word of mouth from another teacher).  I wonder when teachers will have civil-liberties like the rest of the world?   Its living dangerously to be a person out in the world and a teacher too, as we are auto-bots controlled by our districts, un-opinionated and criticized if we dare speak out like a human being might.  This is one reason, I would like out of the profession, I'm too opinionated.  

The trending tech news story of the week is Facebook taking over the world.  The Facebook like button being added to numerous sites (I shall see if I possess the technical ability to link myself up to this dandy new tool).  Here is a good website about Social Hacking...The Harmony Guy.com.  My nerdy side embraces the love of data.  My logical side (albeit a small one) loves the idea of knowing where my web traffic comes from, just for the purposes of elimination.   I also wonder why so much of my traffic comes from the liberal west and east coasts when I'm a "conservative/libertarian Mid-Westerner- errr Great Plains...errr..Southerner...errr Oklahoman."  I'm adding a song to this post  - 

The ultimate stalker song "Every Breath You Take" by The Police....  thank you Sting for your beautiful ballad of obsessive love; this kind of goes hand in hand with today's tech topic...But, it is time for this Diva to do the dishes, her makeup and get ready to go out for a young man's 12th birthday.  

Nebraska, Montana and Idaho

Three states I've never had a visitor from this month... also Tennessee...  and South Dakota.   Wow, so I count the states and the hits from them.   So I realize that population demographics probably has to do with my lack of visitors from these states, but I want every state green.  I feel lacking without that one 0:00 second visit from Montana in the last 30 days, besides I've never been to Montana, I'm cheated out of the Montana experience. Obviously, Montana is cheated out of experiencing me (as I type this I am thinking someone will keyword Montana and will surf on here giving me what I need).  Oh hail google.    I am a nerd.

 I'm up realizing the reality of having all my kids in the house.  My daughter is in the bath using all the hot water already (which also means I can't do dishes- I need two hot water heaters).   My youngest woke me up at 8:30 asking when did he get to play the Xbox.  

So the sun is shining (that is good), the wind is blowing (that sucks...well it blows -but you know what I mean), my stomach is only slightly yuck, Now,  no one is going anywhere, I refuse to have any drama today, because I can't take it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

List of to do around the house is long, with cleaning and dishes, such an exciting Sunday. Well I've had enough excitement for this week.  I want boring. I'm going to make an amazing cake today and post pictures and the recipe,  it is my favorite cake of all cakes... its delish.... very, very rich, very unhealthy.  Sourcream Fudge Tort. I also have a ham and a rack of ribs... so what to have for dinner....  Ham sounds good to me right now.  But, I'm hungry at the moment.  Just up to check my web stats and my analytics and all those things that nerdy people do. 

So the top headline of the day is "Town Planning Luddite Anniversary" Luddite Anniversary, interesting bit of history for you.  Oh and the rules of reading yahoo news, always read the odd news first, then followed by business, health, headlines and science, if your head isn't full enough or you aren't angry yet, then you go read politics.   I save the opinion pieces for the NYTimes, Washington Post and WSJ; all while listening to Fox News in the background.  But now I also read the hit and run blog on Reason.com.   All while switching back to Mafia Wars on Facebook.  And starting the laundry, which now I have all my daughters stuff to wash (makes me happy though).  

Ode to the Creeper, Lurker..or Dear Reader

First here she comes with the definitions: 

Voyeur: A person who derives sexual gratification from observing the naked bodies or sexual acts of others, especially from a secret vantage point.  (nasty, nasty people..they need to buy a magazine or something and hopefully they aren't reading here). I got so many blog hits from this I had to remove it from the title, thinking there are a lot of creeps out there.... LOL!  

Creeper: Someone who views your profile (multiple times) without saying anything.

Lurker   A lurker is someone that follows the forum but doesn’t post.

Dear Readers: 

So, I've developed a decent little following on my little ole' blog about little ole' me.  Always fascinating to see where people come from.  I've decided since I have plenty of strangers reading this, why continue to worry about friends and family.  A few of my friends do read this, and thats cool and a few of my friends have their own blogs or pages, and thats even more cool.   But, in the world of self centered composition there is another world of people who just surf in or just like to read about another day with me.   

I admit I'm a lurker, because reading someone else's life makes you feel like you have no right to comment, as you don't know them.  Its like reading a book, you might connect deeply and adore the author, but you don't "know" them.  In fact there are very few people who really "know me" and even fewer of them actually read my writing.  I spend more time reading memoir type books and watching reality TV. 

Blogging is like reality TV, sometimes you are going to watch and think "Damn, this is just like my life" or this person is me in another body...   and then sometimes you are going to read and think "Damn, this person is F***G crazy."  I wonder what the prevailing thought is on my blog here.  I have another blog that to some degree is from 2008 and into 09.  But last April I went and deleted them.  Thankfully Blogger has the "Regret" option where they don't reach permanent death for 45 days. I've actually had trouble finding blogs that my Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder can relate to.  I'm too all over the place in my thoughts, jumping from music, memories, politics, photography, family and cooking.   

I wonder how those folks  who do the "focus" blogs manage it.  I can handle a photo only blog, I have one.  I rarely update it though, as I have photography on this page.  I thought about political blogging, but those folks are intense, cut throat - cut you down type people who would have a great time correcting my occasionally imperfect grammar.   I have my opinions and have strong opinions. 

Its like my teenagers (students) who complain of people "creeping" on their Facebook page, those people who aren't their friends yet are fascinated by them.  Its funny when I get hits to my blog via Facebook from people who aren't my friends and I wonder what the hell they are doing on my page to begin with and who are they, they aren't on my friends list.  Which is why I'm no longer linking up to Facebook (plus my great sibling and mother phobia).   I prefer the world of strangers and lurkers but I prefer to call them readers.  It kind of makes my day to get a comment though!  But I'm satisfied with getting hits.   I wonder what kind of people read my blog.  I can see the regional demographics and international demographics but I cannot see the sex.  So I don't know if my readers are male or female or of what age group.  

Its voyeuristic (in a non-sexual voyeuristic way) I looked up the definition tonight and decided that I am not a voyeur (we are misusing this term now in regards to reality TV). watching others and reading about their lives, I've found the blogosphere, I don't know if I'm comfortable there.  I am not sure if I need to know so much about strangers.  But, it is an interesting world out there, this group of us who are comfortable enough in our own skin to say what we think, when we think, and how we think,  This group of people who don't care what others think and will write regardless of the risk to employment or persecution.   A group of people who might be as crazy as I am but I respect them more than those who fear to say what they think.  I respect them more than those who will sit and read and absorb who I am and never say a word to me because of whatever reasons.  Who prefer to sit and read about others rather than to write about themselves.  

I've noticed that there are only about 25% or so of my Facebook people update, and most of those are online friends that I've had for nearing ten years.   I've found that, its silly and there is a group of people who lurk, and mock.  It pisses me off, because I think, how dare you insult what someone else has to say.  You have no right to sit and mock the mediocrities or TMI of others lives, when you sit all smug and superior refusing to post about yourself. People who are so self important that they think that their lives, emotions and privacy are superior to those of others, they piss me off.  How dare those people who think they are so much better yet will sit and read and take in others lives selfishly (oh and they think you are friends perhaps).   That is not friendship.  That is using.   You know all about them... yet you refuse to give of yourself.   So, I'm minimizing my impact on this world.   I will continue to be myself.  The people who love me read about me here.   

So event the word "Voyeur" conjures up creepy aging men doing inappropriate things as they look at photos of women on the web (yes, ewwwww gross you say) but it is true.   So, I tend to think of my female readers as mere harmless lurkers, and my unknown male readers as voyeurs while, I have an occasional creeper or two.  Now, to categorize even further, if they comment they are a "dear reader."  I love my readers. 

I guess this world is made up of introverts and extroverts.  I have always been the one looking inside myself for the answers, it seems when I look to others to find happiness or look to others to find answers I end up losing myself.   So leave me a comment if you read this, so you fall into the reader category, unless its flaming or a troll like comment,  it will be published. 

muah... muah.. kiss.. kiss xoxo... Love my readers.... even if they are creepers and lurkers.  

Joy 

Goodbye Facebook

Its been almost a year since my year of hell began.  I am removing all personal information from Facebook and going to try to break the addiction, and I'm staying here on my blog.  *my new home* my solitude.   My blog.  Ha....   Facebook has caused me nothing but trouble.   I don't really need it.  I'm fine without myspace I deleted that last year and began to really write on a blog.  I regret losing two years worth of my blogging life.   

But,  I am,  my stomach has been hurting again...  I took some antacids kind of helped...had a milk shake, I think I'll try to avoid pop for a while.  I haven't been healthy lately.   I need to get happy and healthy  again.   I need to get myself happy.   I've also decided that I can purge my life of pictures of these people I keep looking and seeing them when I'm in the computer.  I certainly need those out of my life too.  If a picture is worth a thousand words deleting them is losing a piece of the memory of knowing them.  I think it will be worthwhile.   But that may take a couple of days.   

Its hard, I guess because March is almost over, and its been a year since I made a fool of myself for no reason.  I've made a fool of myself twice for people who were absolutely not worth any emotions and feelings I felt for them.   I stood up for someone else who I thought was a friend, actually her and another friend.  I watched her walk by me in the hall and ignore me.  I was worth all her time in December she was my "pal"  but I'm nothing now. I watch where I work having tons compliments from students about my hair yet I walk into the office filled with such cold people and  hear nothing,I'm nothing at my job.  It is not a friendly atmosphere.    I'm sick of throwaway people.  Friendships that are conditional are not friendships. I've had a lifetime of conditional people.  I don't need or want people like that.    

Love is not conditional.   No matter  how awful I have felt regarding people who have hurt me I still love them.   I can forgive,  I still can forgive and forget. I'm working on forgetting at home, I'm still hurting it comes and goes and waves, If I think about it I can get just as angry and hurt again but then I'm ok.  I'm still working on forgiving in my own house.  I think I could forgive just about anyone; I wish the people around me would help with that too, I cant help who I am or how I choose to live or if my choices are right are wrong but I feel like they are right for the time and I need respect and support in my decisions.  

But if I stay off of stupid Facebook (except for my stupid game)....I wont' work on keeping connections minus those close friends I have.  I don't want to know people.  I don't want to let them into my life.   If they find this and read it that is fine but I will no longer link it up to my blog.