I found a fun, online makeover tool at ivillage. Check out my before and after pictures. Funny! I did several different looks, but this one is my favorite.
 |  |
| Before | After |
Monday, May 24, 2004
Friday, May 21, 2004
| Age Project | |
 | I posted this picture on the ageproject web site, where people view pictures at random and try to guess the age of the person in the picture. Out of 569 guesses, my average age is 26. I guess that's not bad for a 30 year old. |
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
A Few Of My Favorite Things...
Music
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens... ahem. I love discussing music with people I meet. My tastes in music vary quite a bit. I like jazz (not the elevator kind), Celtic, some Middle Eastern and Indian, new age, classic rock, alternative (mostly older stuff), and even some really hard stuff now and then. Some of my top favorites are The Beatles (absolute #1), Loreena McKennitt, U2, Tori Amos, The Cult, Sisters Of Mercy, Peter Gabriel, and Sarah McLachlan.
I don't listen to much new stuff, although two of my favorite songs right now are Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and Hoobastank's "The Reason". How can a band with such a dumb name come up with such a nice song like "The Reason"? Anyway, my dad always said the music I listened to all sounded the same when I was a teenager, and now I know what he was talking about. I can't tell these so-called "punk rock" bands apart. I didn't think that would ever happen to me. I'm not sure if I'm just getting older and out of touch or if they really do sound alike.
I love to make lists (something I definitely inherited from my mom), so I'll attempt to list my top 10 favorite songs of all time here.
Laura's Top Ten Favorite Songs Of All Time (in no particular order)
1. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2
2. "Let It Be" by The Beatles
3. "Samain Night" by Loreena McKennitt
4. "Head Over Heels" by Tears For Fears
5. "Imagine" by John Lennon
6. "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel
7. "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" by The Police
8. "In God's Country" by U2
9. "Winter" by Tori Amos
10. "Nights in White Satin" by Moody Blues
I have a funny story about number 10, which I will not iterate here. All I need to say is "knights in white satin" and that should be enough.
Movies
Who doesn't love a good movie? My favorite type of movie is a period film, even if the period is fictional, as in the case of "The Lord of the Rings". I especially love the first LOTR movie. I would love to live in Middle Earth... if only it really did exist. I've often thought about which place I would prefer to reside in if I were an elf: Lothlorien or Rivendell. I think I would choose Lothlorien because it is more mysterious. Everyone there seems to be blonde though... I might not fit in.
Another favorite movie of mine is "Gladiator". I love the fight scenes, music, and the story. I saw "Troy" recently, which was very good, but the actor who played Patroclus was just terrible. Some parts of the movie reminded me of "Gladiator", especially the music, which was also done by James Horner. He does great work with Lisa Gerrard's haunting vocals, but it seems like he does the same thing over and over.
Books
I used to be an avid reader, but in the world of the Internet and Nintendo, I don't read nearly as much as I'd like to. My favorite reading material is fiction. I highly enjoy Anne Rice books and the Harry Potter series, both of which my friend Leslie got me into. My husband got me to read "Dune", but I have not finished the series. I also need to finish "The Lord of the Rings" series. So many books, so little time. I do seem to make plenty of time for video games though... my next category.
Video Games
When I was growing up, my dad had video games placed in several stores around the county. I would go with him to collect, and he'd rack up a bunch of credits for me so that I would have something to do while he counted quarters. My favorite game was PacMan... remember how excited everyone was when Ms. PacMan came out, but it was just PacMan with a bow on his head? I also used to play Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda on the first Nintendo. I was so proud of myself when I saved the princess on ONE MAN without warping! Wow, I really was a geek (was??). These days, I do own a joystick that has PacMan on it for the sake of nostalgia, but I play more advanced games now.
My husband and I highly enjoy Baldur's Gate. We just solved Baldur's Gate 2 for the X-box. I really love Gauntlet for the GameCube. It's a great stress reliever to run around and kill stuff. It's not very challenging, but I tend to like games that are just fun without the aggravation of doing it over and over. I have a goal of getting every single character (even the secret ones) to level 99. I think I'm halfway there.
I solved Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and now I am working on Sorcerer's Stone. One game that I still load up occasionally is Animal Crossing, which is really for kids, but it's fun anyway. I livened it up by making the animals use profane catch phrases. The game is in "real time" and the time of day and seasons change depending on the time you have set on your GameCube. I played it for about a year, so I pretty much got to see every holiday and special feature in the game.
Miscellaneous
I probably could write a whole section on each of these, but I don't want to bore people to death. Oh wait, no one reads my blog anyway!
Animal: Cat
Colors: Green and Purple
Season: Autumn
Beer: New Castle
Wine: Oliver Soft Red (it's an Indiana thing)
Non-alcoholic drinks: Coffee and Diet Coke
Food: I'll save this one for its own posting. :)
So those are a few of my favorite things.
Music
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens... ahem. I love discussing music with people I meet. My tastes in music vary quite a bit. I like jazz (not the elevator kind), Celtic, some Middle Eastern and Indian, new age, classic rock, alternative (mostly older stuff), and even some really hard stuff now and then. Some of my top favorites are The Beatles (absolute #1), Loreena McKennitt, U2, Tori Amos, The Cult, Sisters Of Mercy, Peter Gabriel, and Sarah McLachlan.
I don't listen to much new stuff, although two of my favorite songs right now are Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and Hoobastank's "The Reason". How can a band with such a dumb name come up with such a nice song like "The Reason"? Anyway, my dad always said the music I listened to all sounded the same when I was a teenager, and now I know what he was talking about. I can't tell these so-called "punk rock" bands apart. I didn't think that would ever happen to me. I'm not sure if I'm just getting older and out of touch or if they really do sound alike.
I love to make lists (something I definitely inherited from my mom), so I'll attempt to list my top 10 favorite songs of all time here.
Laura's Top Ten Favorite Songs Of All Time (in no particular order)
1. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2
2. "Let It Be" by The Beatles
3. "Samain Night" by Loreena McKennitt
4. "Head Over Heels" by Tears For Fears
5. "Imagine" by John Lennon
6. "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel
7. "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" by The Police
8. "In God's Country" by U2
9. "Winter" by Tori Amos
10. "Nights in White Satin" by Moody Blues
I have a funny story about number 10, which I will not iterate here. All I need to say is "knights in white satin" and that should be enough.
Movies
Who doesn't love a good movie? My favorite type of movie is a period film, even if the period is fictional, as in the case of "The Lord of the Rings". I especially love the first LOTR movie. I would love to live in Middle Earth... if only it really did exist. I've often thought about which place I would prefer to reside in if I were an elf: Lothlorien or Rivendell. I think I would choose Lothlorien because it is more mysterious. Everyone there seems to be blonde though... I might not fit in.
Another favorite movie of mine is "Gladiator". I love the fight scenes, music, and the story. I saw "Troy" recently, which was very good, but the actor who played Patroclus was just terrible. Some parts of the movie reminded me of "Gladiator", especially the music, which was also done by James Horner. He does great work with Lisa Gerrard's haunting vocals, but it seems like he does the same thing over and over.
Books
I used to be an avid reader, but in the world of the Internet and Nintendo, I don't read nearly as much as I'd like to. My favorite reading material is fiction. I highly enjoy Anne Rice books and the Harry Potter series, both of which my friend Leslie got me into. My husband got me to read "Dune", but I have not finished the series. I also need to finish "The Lord of the Rings" series. So many books, so little time. I do seem to make plenty of time for video games though... my next category.
Video Games
When I was growing up, my dad had video games placed in several stores around the county. I would go with him to collect, and he'd rack up a bunch of credits for me so that I would have something to do while he counted quarters. My favorite game was PacMan... remember how excited everyone was when Ms. PacMan came out, but it was just PacMan with a bow on his head? I also used to play Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda on the first Nintendo. I was so proud of myself when I saved the princess on ONE MAN without warping! Wow, I really was a geek (was??). These days, I do own a joystick that has PacMan on it for the sake of nostalgia, but I play more advanced games now.
My husband and I highly enjoy Baldur's Gate. We just solved Baldur's Gate 2 for the X-box. I really love Gauntlet for the GameCube. It's a great stress reliever to run around and kill stuff. It's not very challenging, but I tend to like games that are just fun without the aggravation of doing it over and over. I have a goal of getting every single character (even the secret ones) to level 99. I think I'm halfway there.
I solved Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and now I am working on Sorcerer's Stone. One game that I still load up occasionally is Animal Crossing, which is really for kids, but it's fun anyway. I livened it up by making the animals use profane catch phrases. The game is in "real time" and the time of day and seasons change depending on the time you have set on your GameCube. I played it for about a year, so I pretty much got to see every holiday and special feature in the game.
Miscellaneous
I probably could write a whole section on each of these, but I don't want to bore people to death. Oh wait, no one reads my blog anyway!
Animal: Cat
Colors: Green and Purple
Season: Autumn
Beer: New Castle
Wine: Oliver Soft Red (it's an Indiana thing)
Non-alcoholic drinks: Coffee and Diet Coke
Food: I'll save this one for its own posting. :)
So those are a few of my favorite things.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
I Lost My Best Friend
Shortly after I wrote the post below about my beloved Rishi, I took him to the vet for a routine teeth cleaning, and I found out that he had a squamous cell carcinoma in his mouth (cancer). It was completely unexpected, and needless to say, I was heartbroken. After hearing the options for treatment from the vet, I elected not to put my cat through the stress of radiation therapy, especially after I researched the results and they were not very encouraging. Instead, the vet recommended a chemo drug that we could apply transdermally. It was not going to make the tumor go away (unless a miracle occurred), but it might slow the progression of the tumor and enhance the quality of his life.
He was able to eat soft food for awhile. I paid as much attention to him as I could during this time. Fortunately, spring had begun, and he was able to explore the backyard, something he loved to do. When he appeared to be in pain, my husband and I would give him pain medicine. The disease caused him to drool, so I tried to keep him cleaned up by combing him and wiping him down with a wet wash cloth. After a couple of weeks like this, he began to get more and more blood in his drool. I could tell the tumor was getting worse. He appeared to be in pain more often.
Rishi had a ritual that he did almost every night. He would wait for me to get in bed, and then he'd lie on my chest and purr while I petted him. If I stopped petting, he would stick his paw on my cheek or chin, almost like he was petting me. One night, before the situation took a turn for the worse, he was on my chest and started purring loudly, putting his paw on my face, and giving me the hardest cat kisses he had ever done (cat kiss = when they rub their face on you). I can't even count how many times he cat kissed me. It made me really happy. When I look back now, it might of been his way of saying "Thank you" and "It's almost time for me to go".
Shortly after that night, he began hiding in various places in the house. He hid under the bathroom sink, behind the couch, and he especially wanted to hide outside when we let him out in the back yard. He was having trouble eating soft food, and within a day's time, he stopped eating all together. I tried everything I could think of... tuna juice, baby food, cream of chicken soup, but he just could not eat it. On the third day of not eating, the tumor seemed to have stopped him from being able to drink. He was hiding all of the time, and he was obviously in pain. I could not bear to see him like that, and he seemed to be telling me through his actions that he was ready. My husband called the vet, who was gracious enough to drive to our house to help Rishi go to the other side. Rishi passed away April 30 at 6:30 PM. It was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do.
Nothing could have prepared me for how quickly this disease would progress. In just over a month from the diagnosis, I lost my best friend. Rishi was with me for over 10 years, which is a third of my life. He brought me so much happiness and unconditional love during those years. I miss him terribly. I know he's with me in spirit, and some day, when it's my time to go back to the other side, I know he'll be there waiting to give me a big, wet cat kiss.
Shortly after I wrote the post below about my beloved Rishi, I took him to the vet for a routine teeth cleaning, and I found out that he had a squamous cell carcinoma in his mouth (cancer). It was completely unexpected, and needless to say, I was heartbroken. After hearing the options for treatment from the vet, I elected not to put my cat through the stress of radiation therapy, especially after I researched the results and they were not very encouraging. Instead, the vet recommended a chemo drug that we could apply transdermally. It was not going to make the tumor go away (unless a miracle occurred), but it might slow the progression of the tumor and enhance the quality of his life.
He was able to eat soft food for awhile. I paid as much attention to him as I could during this time. Fortunately, spring had begun, and he was able to explore the backyard, something he loved to do. When he appeared to be in pain, my husband and I would give him pain medicine. The disease caused him to drool, so I tried to keep him cleaned up by combing him and wiping him down with a wet wash cloth. After a couple of weeks like this, he began to get more and more blood in his drool. I could tell the tumor was getting worse. He appeared to be in pain more often.
Rishi had a ritual that he did almost every night. He would wait for me to get in bed, and then he'd lie on my chest and purr while I petted him. If I stopped petting, he would stick his paw on my cheek or chin, almost like he was petting me. One night, before the situation took a turn for the worse, he was on my chest and started purring loudly, putting his paw on my face, and giving me the hardest cat kisses he had ever done (cat kiss = when they rub their face on you). I can't even count how many times he cat kissed me. It made me really happy. When I look back now, it might of been his way of saying "Thank you" and "It's almost time for me to go".
Shortly after that night, he began hiding in various places in the house. He hid under the bathroom sink, behind the couch, and he especially wanted to hide outside when we let him out in the back yard. He was having trouble eating soft food, and within a day's time, he stopped eating all together. I tried everything I could think of... tuna juice, baby food, cream of chicken soup, but he just could not eat it. On the third day of not eating, the tumor seemed to have stopped him from being able to drink. He was hiding all of the time, and he was obviously in pain. I could not bear to see him like that, and he seemed to be telling me through his actions that he was ready. My husband called the vet, who was gracious enough to drive to our house to help Rishi go to the other side. Rishi passed away April 30 at 6:30 PM. It was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do.
Nothing could have prepared me for how quickly this disease would progress. In just over a month from the diagnosis, I lost my best friend. Rishi was with me for over 10 years, which is a third of my life. He brought me so much happiness and unconditional love during those years. I miss him terribly. I know he's with me in spirit, and some day, when it's my time to go back to the other side, I know he'll be there waiting to give me a big, wet cat kiss.
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