Yearly Archive: 2008

Danger, Will Robinson!

I just received a new kind of attack in my email.  It purports to be from PayPal, and states that they have found a problem in my account.  I “need” to download their “Safe tool” to correct the problem.

I know most of you don’t know what a keylogger is, but this is likely to be one.  Every time you enter anything, it transmits every keystroke to the person who has this bit of malware on your system.  If you buy anything online, they have your credit card number.

Some “Safe tool”, huh?

If you get something like this, forward the email to spoof@paypal.com (or if it’s “from” eBay, spoof@ebay.com), and then delete the puppy from your email.

Hugs,
Me

I was beginning to wonder if I had an invitation anywhere to Thanksgiving Dinner, when Lady Rhiannon called yesterday.  It will be great being with my Family.  Diana is going to come pick me up around 3 or 4 pm.

What has happened in each of the past 10 years is that nobody invited me until virtually the last minute, and then I get 3 or 4 invitations.  I always accept the first one… it’s much easier to say, “No, thanks, I already have an invitation” than it is to call someone back and explain why I’m changing my mind.  Even so, this would be my first choice.

I’ve been working my butt off for Eternal Press.  I not only have to keep up with current projects, but we have gotten the ability to go to print with any and all of our books, which means I have to go back and get ISBNs for everything we ever published.  On top of that, we were an Australian company prior to May of 2008, and Australia did not issue ISBN numbers for short stories, so I have to go get ISBNs (Canadian) for those ebooks prior to getting print ISBNs of the same stories.

At this time, I have (a) all the Aussie short stories’ ebook ISBNs, (b) all the Aussie short stories’ print ISBNs, (c) all the books we THOUGHT we were going to print with a few months ago converted over, (d) all the new books, both print and ebook ISBNs, from October through next February.  I still have to get print ISBNs for our shorter books from May through September (we only had planned to go to print with our larger books), and print ISBNs for our larger books prior to May (all the short stories are done, as stated above).

I have been having some setbacks in my mental health, but usually just need a little reboot to get back… I won’t mention my rebooting method except in private.  I did much better the past few days, but getting the Eternal Press databased caught up with the results of all the work just mentioned has brought back some small symptom… I may have to go reboot again, and can’t do that until tomorrow.  Some of the setbacks might be attributed to the 5th Anniversary (earlier this month) of the last time I took psychiatric medications… or maybe another birthday coming up… or maybe just the change in seasons…

Hugs,
Me

The Right to Laugh Party Humanifesto

The Right-To-Laugh Party Humanifesto

We believe that every human has the right to laugh, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness unless of course happiness is a warm gun, in which case some restrictions may apply.

We have the right and duty to laugh at our leaders, particularly those times when their actions are either seriously foolish or foolishly serious. We have the right to help them laugh with each other and at themselves, and if they are incapable of doing that, we have the right to laugh them out of power.

We have the right to laugh at the obscene foolishness of spending so much of our precious livelihood on weapons of deadlihood, and at the utter absurdity of doing the same things that haven’t worked in the past and expecting them to work now and in the future.

We propose creating the office of Supreme Court Jester to encourage citizens to use the light of laughter to illuminate the shadow, especially in those poorly lit corridors of power.

We seek to extend this Right to Laugh all across the globe, especially places where things just aren’t funny.

We propose that the United Nations and all levels of government begin each session with the Hokey Pokey. You put your whole self in – that is commitment. You pull your whole self out – that is detachment. You turn yourself around – and that is transformation and that’s what it s all about.

We believe the problem is serious. But the solution is humorous. It’s a scientific fact. The best way to overcome gravity is with levity. So all those who want to take a vow of levity please rise! Put your hand on your jocular vein, and recite the Right to Laugh Pledge: All for fun and fun for all.

Congratulations! You have now joined farces with the Pro-Laugh movement to raise the laugh force and increase the laugh expectancy on this amazing planet.

May we all wake up laughing, and leave laughter in our wake. For surely, the Farce is with us!

Declared and Absurdified by

Swami Beyondananda

OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER

Although we are enthusiastically pro-laugh, we are pro-choice as well. We respect each and every individual s right to not laugh. If you want to be miserable, go right ahead. Whatever makes you happy.

All for
fun
and fun
for all!

One big party, everyone is invited.

The beast is dying, but it’s not dead yet

The following is my opinion.  It is not a judgment on any individual.

The election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States is not, as some would have it, the end of racism in our country.  We all hope it is the death knell, but dying organisms stink a lot until you bury them.

America has never dealt with its inherent racism.  It merely stitched the wound closed without treating it, leaving it to fester.  This election opened the wound — hopefully to clean it out and let it heal — but the deep infection is exposed, and it smells awful.  It is up to each of us to pray for the healing, rather than reseal the wound in its untreated condition.

For the first time, I have REAL hope, instead of merely wishes, that we can heal America.  If we can do that, think of what we can do for the rest of the world.  If we do not, I would rather refrain from thinking about what we will do TO the rest of the world.

I am reminded of something I learned while working in wastewater treatment in my youth.  Most treatment ponds tend to attract vegetation and other life.  Since the vegetation tends to grow roots through the sealing layer of the pond, they present a problem, in that the contents of the pond could infiltrate the local groundwater.  So for years, people in the business of wastewater treatment would poison these plants.  What they discovered was that dying plants suck up many times more oxygen than living ones, and most times the whole pond and all the life in it died from not having enough oxygen in the water to breathe.  A dead treatment pond provides no treatment, it just sits there smelling like something died (which it did).  Some states finally passed laws prohibiting this practice… others did not.

If there was ever a time for not only thinking outside the box but destroying the whole damned box, this is it.

I ask for your prayers for everyone.  Whenever any one person is not equal, there is no equality.  And there is SO MUCH we could do together.

I hope I’m preaching to the choir.  And I further hope the choir takes the word out into the world.

Hugs,
Me

I walked past my fish’s bowl on Thursday, and it seemed kinda brownish… since I had just changed it on Tuesday, it seemed odd… found him decomposing on the bottom of the bowl, don’t have a clue why he wasn’t floating.  Waaaah, I loved that fish. 

Well, today I called the two closest pet stores to me, and they both had bettas.  I went to the closest one, thinking that if they didn’t have one I liked I could catch the bus to the next one… but they did, I have a beautiful new betta buddy named Rainbow.  He doesn’t have any red to speak of, kinda rare in a betta, but he has lots of blue and yellow and (first time I’ve seen this in a betta) GREEN!.

Hugs,
Me

I have new items posted to my store, Moss’ Malas .  I hope I can sell some of these wonderful items and add more stock — eventually this store is intended to fund Pathways Foundation, which will help people in need on all lightworking paths.

I’ve continued to feel isolated of sorts.  In my studies, in my friendships, in my activities I feel as though I’m the only one here so often.  Not all the time, but my type of bipolar tends towards depression.  It’s not too bad, but it’s there.  I have made two new friends on the internet recently, but that tends to enhance, not diminish, this feeling, as there is no chance of actual meetings and physical closeness.  Ah well, I’ll get over it, through it, or past it one way or another.

Hugs,
Me

I have spent a wonderful weekend housesitting (and dog- and cat-sitting) at SerpentStone House.  This weekend is/was SerpentStone Samhain at Dragon Hills, and I don’t go to Georgia… Rhiannon., knowing this, offered to pay me for housesitting and taking care of the animals.  They have all been sweeties (to me, not always to each other).  It has been a blast; I’ve done some spiritual stuff, more knitting, and even played my guitar a little and worked on writing a new filk song.

Edited to add:  I’m home now, and getting back into my usual routine.  It’s good to be home, but it was so lovely to be there.  The original SerpentStone Circle is out in the back yard, and I took advantage of my access to it.  There was a crystal cluster in the middle of the altar, which apparently had been used as a stick incense holder, and it was almost covered in moss… wonder why I liked that, LOL.

Mike took care of my place, and did some work on the Asheville Homeless Network receipts, which have been piling up for years with nobody even looking at them.

 

Hugs,

Me

Another Senseless Survey

My friends rope me into these things, LOL

 

1. Were you named after anyone?  Nope, my older brother got all the family names
2. When was the last time you cried?  about a month ago
3. Do you like your handwriting?  Nope.  They waived a required course in Junior High for me to take typing…
4. What is your favorite lunch meat?  sliced turkey
5. Do you have kids?  Yup!  Two.  Boy & girl, both 33
6. If you were another person would you be friends with you?  You bet, the realization of this put me on the path to my recovery
7. Do you use sarcasm a lot?  Naw, me?  Not a chance.
8. Do you still have your tonsils? yup, probably the oldest man alive with tonsils… they used to yank them out at the slightest provocation, and I never gave them one
9. Would you bungee jump?  Nope.  Couldn’t pay me enough to try it.
10. What is your favorite cereal?  I’m a simple guy, corn flakes are fine
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?  Depends which shoes I’m wearing, can’t untie velcro
12. Do you think you are strong?  Oh yeah.  I doubt many peope could have lived through my life
13. What is your favorite ice cream?  Basking-Robbins Pralines N Cream
14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their eyes
15. Red or pink?  GREEN
16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself?  My tendency to complain about things (working on it)
17. Who do you miss the most?  Maeve
18. Do you want everyone to send this back to you?  no difference
19. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Duluth Trading Co. blue jeans, black shoes
20. What was the last thing you ate? I just had 3 fried eggs for breakfast, am drinking my morning coffee
21. What are you listening to right now?  Blue Indian by Widespread Panic, don’t think I’ve heard this before… I just steal a bunch of music on the Internet and get around to listening to it sooner or later
22. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?  Green
23. Favorite smells?  Carnations, lavender
24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?  Mike Paglia, who is house-sitting at my house while I’m house-sitting at SerpentStone Houe
25. Do you like the person who sent this to you stole this from? Wish I knew her better, but she’s in my second level of online friends (not one of the ones I talk to all the time, but among those I pa attention to)
26. Favorite sports to watch?  NFL, but I like most sports… don’t watch anything “religiously”, NFL comes the closest
27. Hair color?  medium brown (never a selection option on those websites, ya know? they want either dark or light brown…)
28. Eye color?  Blue, almost baby blue but it’s a tad darker than it was when I was a kid
29. Do you wear contacts?  Nope, my eyes are too dry… they turn into corn flakes in no time
30. Favorite food?  I have 3 recipes, can pick any of them… that’s right, can ponly cook 3 things, LOL
31. Scary movies or happy endings?  I won’t watch scary movies… but I cry too much over happy endings, as I never get one of my own and the people in the movies are LOTS worse than I’ll ever be
32. Last movie you watched? Serenity
33. What color shirt are you wearing?  white printed tee
34. Summer or winter?  Winter.  You can always put more clothes on, but there’s a limit to how much you can take off.
35. Hugs or kisses?  HugsRUs
36. Favorite dessert?  don’t usually eat dessert
37. Hot or cold beverages? no preference
38. Favorite room in your house?  living room I guess…
39. What book are you reading now?  Autobiography of a Yogi and the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda for me; I’m reading the last Fuzzy Planter book to my friend Frankie on the phone at night
40. What is on your mousepad?  I have a trackball, don’t need a mousepad
41. What did you watch on TV last night? Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow
42. Favorite sound? applause
43. Rolling Stones or Beatles?  neither, I have much better taste than that (this rolling Moss gathers no Stones)
44. What is the farthest you have been from home?  Define “home”.  I’ve never been outside of North America though.
45. Do you have a special talent?  I have many, none of them exceptional but all of them special
46. Where were you born?  St. Mary’s Hospital, Long Beach, CA
47. Least favorite household chore? picking up
48. Most precious object on your computer desk?  My precious objects are around the room, no room on my computer desk
49. A special possession?  My 130+ hippos and baby doll
50. How many e-mail addies do you have? I lost count.  7 I check, probably forgot about lots more, and that doesn’t count all my website email addys (which I forward to one f my 2 main email addys)

Moss’ Malas Open for Business

Most of you know I’m really squeamish about getting into sales, and I only do this sort of thing either when my back is against the wall or when I have something to offer that I really think is needed.  The current effort is more of the latter.

I have begun to sell malas (meditation beads).  The majority of them are the typical 108 mala beads plus the meru, or “home bead”, and they are used in various Eastern chants, whether Buddhist, Hindu, or Sufi.  The malas I am selling are handcrafted in India, properly constructed and blessed there by people who know what they are doing.  I have sold or given to my friends many of these malas, and now want to make them more available.  The proceeds from all sales will go toward (1) increasing stock, and (2) Pathways Foundation, which was established 3 years ago to help people in all “lightworking” paths who are in financial trouble… and which has been languishing as an empty fund ever since.

To look at what is presently in stock, visit http://mossmalas.ecrater.com (you can also get there by going to http://pathwayssanctuary.org and clicking on the link on the Menu or on the Links page).  eCrater only lets me post what is in my hands.  I have placed two orders recently which will increase stock, mostly in terms of variety, and I have a 6-page catalog of what is currently available to me (although availability can vary somewhat).  If you don’t see what you like, please ask for my catalog and I’ll email it to you.  (All my malas are made of beads and seeds available in the Chennai district of India, so please don’t ask me for things such as redwood or other beads that would not be available.)

I hope you visit my site — just visiting will increase my listing and get me more visitors, hence more sales.  Thanks for letting me profane my blog with money talk.

Hugs,
Me

I continue to read aloud, on the phone, almost nightly to my dear friend Frankie, who lives about 40 miles away but can’t afford to get to town much.  We just started the 7th and final book of the famous Fuzzy Planter series, “Fuzzy Planter and the Deadly Halitosis”.  (Yes, people, those are puns.  I am a much-vaunted Master of Pun Fu.)  (For those who are curious about the earlier titles, they are:  “Fuzzy Planter and the Horrible Scones”, “Fuzzy Planter and the Secret Chambermaid”, “Fuzzy Planter and the Poisoner of Zyban”, “Fuzzy Planter’s Goblin Gets Fired”, “Fuzzy Planter and the Side Order of Phoenix Fries”, and “Fuzzy Planter and the Half-Assed Quince”… or is that “Half-Developed Prints”?)

We have found a “missing” Callahan’s book (Spider Robinson) which will likely be read next.  I want to try Frankie out on the “Complete Enchanter” series, begun by Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague deCamp and continued much more recently by L. Sprague deCamp, Christopher Stasheff, and others.  There is a 5th book, soon out in paperback, of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, that we will definitely get to.  And we keep hoping that Glen Cook will write a 12th book in his Garrett, P.I. series.  We have also enjoyed the Nightside series, and there are more stories yet to come in that one.  I can only estimate that I have read Frankie at least 40 books over the past 2 years or so.  There are some writers I love that don’t “do it” for Frankie, I run a few chapters or stories by her and then let her decide whether to continue, and we either continue or move on.  She admits that she never would have picked up the books I read to her, but enjoys it immensely.

At any rate, many who know and love me (admittedly not that many) are aware that I love to read aloud.  I don’t care what age group a book is written for, so long as it is written well.  I’m not all that good about it, and have been turned away by people recruiting readers for blind people, but nearly all of those whom I have read to believe those recruiters to be wrong, and besides, I just flat enjoy it so to heck with them.

Hugs,
Me