Earth Day 2009

**From Yahoo!** (click link for full article)



Do Your Part!
Earth Day Resolutions For Everyone
Not that long ago, saving the environment was reserved for people willing to chain themselves to a tree. Thankfully, society’s mindset is changing as we come to terms with the fact that if we don’t preserve our precious planet today, our children may not be able to enjoy it tomorrow

With Earth Day right around the corner, we urge you to make a belated New Year’s resolution: a Pledge to our Planet.

Your pledge doesn’t necessarily have to be one that noticeably affects your daily routine. It can be as simple as using cloth bags at the grocery store, but if each of us changes just one of our poor habits, together we can have an astounding impact on the health of the planet.

We’ve provided some cool green suggestions below to help kick-start your eco-friendly living:

Earth Hour 2009



Come on Toronto, surely we can find something to do in the dark for an hour!!

How to Participate:
Everyone can participate in Earth Hour! And it’s as simple as flicking off a switch –literally. You can participate by yourself or with family, friends and just a few candles. Or check out what’s happening in your own community. There are many cities, community groups, restaurants and bars that participate or host Earth Hour events.

Here are some simple tips to make Earth Hour a success:

Turn off all non-essential lights on Saturday, March 28 at 8:30 pm.
Encourage family, friends and local businesses to participate.

Sign-up.


FWB vs Booty Call



Correctly applied terminology is one of the cornerstones of a good relationship. So in the interest of better communication for more beneficial relationships, I offer the following clarification between Friends With Benefits (FWB) and Booty Calls.



A booty call is someone with whom you have little else in common but sex. You don't call them unless you have an itch to scratch, you don't buy them thoughtful gifts and you don't consider them a friend. You simply "fuck" them whenever you get the urge.



A FWB however, is the exact opposite. They are someone you generally like, in or out of the bedroom. They are someone with whom you can talk with, listen to, laugh with and do all those other great things friends are for.
It is not always easy to keep on the same page, and that is one of the pitfalls of a FWB relationship, as often times jealousy can rear its ugly head.
For more on the subject, click on the link above.

Rejection, some can't deal with it like a grown up.



It never fails to surprise me and to amuse me thereafter, just how some people are unable to deal with rejection at all. They will say anything to try and get with me, promise things they can't possibly deliver, pretend to be what I am looking for when clearly they are unsuitable, and when they set off my radar and I try to politely tell them "No", they keep trying and trying to coax me.
Take this prize of a human being - Scott (to view his pic on someone else's blog, click link above).
He was one of the many CL respondents from last year. He was, like the other 99% rejected because he was immature and nasty even from the emails. He went ahead and added me to his MSN, even though I did nothing to encourage him and even asked him at one point to delete me. So anyways, he kept sending me pics of him - like somehow that would be enough of an enticement (what a loser), and still I wouldn't bother.



He kept begging for one chance for me to get to know him better, but I wouldn't bite.
Life went on, I found my boys and they have kept me busy and contented.
Then I make the mistake of logging into my MSN the other day and there pops up Scott with yet another pathetic attempt at getting with me. I tell him in no uncertain terms "I am not into you". Ask nicely again for him to delete me, I am not interested and don't have the time to bother with him. He won't budge, so I log off and shortly thereafter one of my boys drops by for a sleep-over ;) and I once again forget about Scott the Desperate.



Then this morning, I log into MSN again and there pops up an offline message, him calling me names, and finally the veneer comes off and the Scott I knew was underneath the whole time finally makes an appearance.
What an emotional retard!! No wonder he has to go to such lengths to bolster his delicate ego!



There is no time in this life to bother with unsuitable people. I don't doubt my finely tuned radar any longer. How many times do you guys have to prove me right before I trust my instincts?
I know who is right for me. I know who feels right when they are in my arms. I trust my senses because they always prove to be right in the long run.
Grow up Scott and the rest of you CL rejects. Or don't bother women of taste and class, go after the insecure whinny demanding younger bitches that make you feel like a man in comparison. You can't handle a real woman, and they can't tolerate your emotional retardation. Why should we bother when there are so many young, smart, hotties that know how to talk to a woman, treat her right and make us giddy with sexual chemistry?

Barbie turns 50!!




Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara at play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattel's directors.

During a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth Handler came across a German toy doll called Bild Lilli.[1] The adult-figured Lilli doll was exactly what Handler had in mind, so she purchased three of them. She gave one to her daughter and took the others back to Mattel. The Lilli doll was based on a popular character appearing in a comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Die Bild-Zeitung. Lilli was a working girl who knew what she wanted and was not above using men to get it. The Lilli doll was first sold in Germany in 1955, and although it was initially sold to adults, it became popular with children who enjoyed dressing her up in outfits that were available separately.

Upon her return to the United States, Handler reworked the design of the doll (with help from engineer Jack Ryan) and the doll was given a new name, Barbie, after Handler's daughter Barbara. The doll made its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. This date is also used as Barbie's official birthday. Mattel acquired the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and production of Lilli was stopped. The first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail, and was available as either a blonde or brunette. The doll was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model," with her clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production.

Ruth Handler believed that it was important for Barbie to have an adult appearance, and early market research showed that some parents were unhappy about the doll's chest, which had distinct breasts. Barbie's appearance has been changed many times, most notably in 1971 when the doll's eyes were adjusted to look forwards rather than having the demure sideways glance of the original model.

Barbie was one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on television advertising, which has been copied widely by other toys. It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second.[2]

The standard range of Barbie dolls and related accessories are manufactured to approximately , which is also known as playscale.[3] Barbie products include not only the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a huge range of Barbie branded goods such as books, fashion items and video games. Barbie has appeared in a series of animated films and makes a brief guest appearance in the 1999 film Toy Story 2.

Almost uniquely for a toy fashion doll, Barbie has become a cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare in the toy world. In 1974 a section of Times Square in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week, while in 1985 the artist Andy Warhol created a painting of Barbie.[4][5] Biography
Barbara Millicent Roberts

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, her parents' names are given as George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie has been said to attend Willows High School and Manhattan International High School in New York City, based on the real-life Stuyvesant High School. She has an on-off romantic relationship with her beau Ken (Ken Carson), who first appeared in 1961. Like Barbie, Ken shares his name with one of Ruth Handler's children. A news release from Mattel in February 2004 announced that Barbie and Ken had decided to split up, but in February 2006 they were back together again.[6][7]

Barbie has had over forty pets including cats and dogs, horses, a panda, a lion cub, and a zebra. She has owned a wide range of vehicles, including pink convertibles, trailers and jeeps. She also holds a pilot's license, and operates commercial airliners in addition to serving as a flight attendant. Barbie's careers are designed to show that women can take on a variety of roles in life, and the doll has been sold with a wide range of titles including Miss Astronaut Barbie (1965), Doctor Barbie (1988) and Nascar Barbie (1998).[8]

Mattel has created a range of companions for Barbie, including Hispanic Teresa, African American Christie and Steven (Christie's boyfriend). For more details, see the List of Barbie's friends and family.

Maxine tells it like it is.

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.
I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.
They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But
broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.
So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever,
but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART



Menopause tips

This is a specially formulated diet designed to help WOMEN cope with the stress that builds during the day

BREAKFAST
1 Grapefruit
1 slice Wholemeal toast
1 cup skimmed milk

LUNCH
1 small portion lean, steamed chicken with a cup of spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 biscuit

AFTERNOON TEA
The rest of the biscuits from the packet
1 tub of Hagen Daz ice cream with chocolate topping

DINNER
4 bottles of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size Supreme pizza
3 chocolate bars

LATE NIGHT SNACK
1 whole cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

REMEMBER :
'stressed' spelled backwards is 'desserts'

A brief history of the colour Purple



A brief history of purple (work in progress)
Purple is a precious colour associated with regal luxury because whilst fairly abundant in nature purple was for many milennia a difficult colour to produce in paint or dye.
The first purple pigment was Tyrian purple, a dyestuff produced by the Phonecians in the city of Tyre. This was around 2000 years ago, i think (will check - futher info welcomed). Tyre was the great port of Phonecia, (modern Lebanon) a trading nation with outposts all across the known world. Tyrian purple was produced from the shells of the concholepas mollusk "Chanque," and a thier purple pigment was a highly prized export. The dye gave a rich and deep purple that was highly prized, and highly priced.
In medieval times, purple was a colour reserved for the powerful and wealthy - kings, queens and bishops wore a lot of purple, whilst commoners had to make do with mucky grey and poo brown. Purple pigment was still made from Mollusc shells, and mixing purple paint required the artist or dyer to obtain vermillion (red) and ultramarine (blue) - which were also rare and very expensive.
So purple was reserved for the powerful, with only blue and gold paint valued more highly, (these were the traditional dominant colours of the madonna's robe, and the golden holy halos. the bystanding kings wore purple, as do monarchs and senior religious figures today.)
It wasn't until 1856 that purple dye was synthesised, and could be cheaply produced. William Henry Perkins was trying to synthesise quinine, (a medicine for malaria) and accidentally produced the first chemical pigment. It happened to be purple, because purple is the bestest colour.
At just 19 years old, Perkins left the Royal College of Chemistry to commercialise his invention, and developed the new industry of synthetic dyes (he went on to develop colours other than purple). He and other UK entrepeneurs initially dominated the market, but by the 1870s chemical syestuffs were being produced and sold in greater numbers by German companies.
Edwardian fashions of the period were often in dull colours and blacks. Queen Victoria's long mourning put Britain into a gloomy darkness, and revolution, pollution and opression were reflected in the decades long trend for black.
But the new artificial pigments were gaining ground, and by the 1920s fashion designers like Paul Poiret (influenced by the bright costumes of the Russian Ballet) were introducing vivid colour into ladies fashions. Mass production and the growth of ready made fashions, along with cheap synthetic dyes meant that purple clothing was finally becoming available to all. Sadly, during the 1930s dusty grey sackcloth and ashes dominated the fashion scene, followed by khaki uniforms in the early forties.
During the sixties, purple was a very groovy colour and "purple haze" a popular state of mind. In the seventies, purple and green swirls were considered a delightful furnishing fabric. Prince was probably the most prominant purple person in the 1980s, and purple and silver were all over millenium shop windows.
Purple is a very bright and jolly colour, with a tonal range from lilac to mauve, indigo to magenta, and hundreds of shades in between. Clint Boon, the excellent hammond organist, ex of the inspiral carpets, sings "problem with the world today, not enough purple too much grey" and who can disagree with an organist with a pudding bowl haircut and purple cordorouy flares?

Obituary from The London Times



Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged wit h sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth a nd Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Definitions, must we always pigeon hole?




Well, for lack of a better term, one must revert to Greek and so, I am polyamorous. A new phase in life, and most curious to see how it all shapes up. It has been a long, sometimes hard road the last year, and now settling into a nice routine of having a wide variety of friends of all kinds to satisfy my many needs and wants. Always thought it was a bit unreasonable to expect one person to be all things to you. If you happen to truly find such a person, kudos toyou, appreciate them. As for me, I think I will keep spreading the hugs around. No need to hoard them.

Contentment



Not sure if the pictures are a bit much or overstating it, but really, can you overstate contentment? Not likely I say.



Just having such an amazing time with my boys, G, J, and Z, as well as my cuddle group friends.



So what if I am dead broke and living on a tight budget? There is nothing that money can buy me that I don't already have.

Thank you boys, you make Auntie Barb ludicrously happy.

**Schmooches**

Videos

Had to upload them somewhere since YouTube was taking too long.
Post-taping of "The Hour" with your boyfriend and mine, George Stromboulopoulos.
Sri Lanka genocide protest, University Avenue.

Actual Molson Canadian commercial

First time with a pro...



cuddle party facilitator. What were you thinking? ;)
Yesterday I attended a cuddle party thrown by someone else and it was a great experience. While we have a cuddle group of our own on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=13170529966) it was still interesting to attend a party thrown by a professional facilitator.
Got to meet some great new people, not sure if I would ever see them again or if they might join our group, but overall it was a very positive, rewarding experience. It give me a couple of possible ideas for our group's cuddle party, but to be honest, the members seem to be happy with the way things are being run currently, so I am rather undecided between maintaining the status quo and doing a little something to liven things up.
Nonetheless, there can't be enough cuddling as far as I am concerned, so hope the word about cuddle parties spreads and of course, the more the merrier.

Perspective gained















I SALUTE THIS GIRL!!!

Oxford and Cambridge have now decided to remove the words CAN'T and IMPOSSIBLE from their dictionary.

Jessica Cox, 25, a girl born without arms, stands inside an aircraft. The girl from Tucson, Arizona got the Sport Pilot certificate lately and
became the first pilot licensed to fly using only her feet.
Jessica Cox of Tucson was born without arms, but that has only stopped her from doing one thing: using the word "can't."
Her latest flight into the seemingly impossible is becoming the first pilot licensed to fly using only her feet.
With one foot manning the controls and the other delicately guiding the steering column, Cox, 25, soared to achieve a Sport Pilot certificate. Her certificate qualifies her to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet.
"She's a good pilot. She's rock solid," said Parrish Traweek, 42, the flying instructor at San Manuel's Ray Blair Airport.
Parrish Traweek runs PC Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Services and has trained many pilots, some of whom didn't come close to Cox's abilities.

"When she came up here driving a car," Traweek recalled, "I knew she'd have no problem flying a plane."
Doctors never learned why she was born without arms, but she figured out early on that she didn't want to use prosthetic devices.

Deconstructing....reconstructing...life is a never-ending Do-It-Yourself Project



So the process continues with renewed focus, greater clarity of the desired result and renewed hope. It might be the turning of the calendar to a new year, or simply the need to move forward and despite both personal and global dire financial straits, I am hopeful looking forward. It might simply be the fact that I know that sometimes in order to build something better, you need to deconstruct what exists. Something like the picture here, maybe it's that the old structure is outdated or outmoded and even though you've tried your very valiant best to keep it up, finally you have to step back, re-evaluate the big picture and if it doesn't match what you see in your mind's eye, you just have to suck it up and start again.

With regards to the global picture, well, I can't worry about something I can have no affect on, so I don't even bother trying. Yes, it does worry me on how it might affect me on a personal level, losing my job now would be the last straw for this camel's back. That is why I am so grateful of having the position I do, it's not perfect and there are no guarantees in life, but it's as close as I will ever be to a "safe" job. So that is one less worry, but on a deeper level, being broke and living on a tight budget for at least this year, is something that will take some adjusting. I have done it before and under tighter and more stressful circumstances, so I know how, it's just that no one likes to be poor, me among them. Mind you, I am not high spending, high maintenance type of gal anyways, but well, I do like my creature comforts and ease of cash flow. Oh well, that's the least of my concerns to be frank, money has always been just a means to and end for me.
Reconstructing a personal life, now that's a much bigger goal.

First step, start with the end result in mind. To use the picture of the house again to illustrate this, kind of like the finished "artist's depiction" of a construction project. Working backwards, getting down to the architectural plans, the "how" of it all. So, I have been seriously pondering what I want my life to look like, what I want it to include and not include, where the boundaries are and how firm they are set. Yeah, big heady stuff to be sure. Again, it's not like I had much of a choice and could go on coasting as I had been doing for the last year, merely coping and dealing with everything life was throwing at me. I have to start by playing a more active role in the construction of my life and stop merely reacting to events. More proactive and less reactive. Or as the kids say "it's time to get real with myself".

So, what do I want my life to look, feel, sound, smell, be like? Well, this is where it gets interesting, to say the least. I have discovered, sometimes through painful life experiences, that one must be careful what they wish for, because once you put it out into the ether, the universe will respond, just not always the way one might have expected. So, perhaps for here, I will keep it to the general overview and not mess with the universe too much.




First off, I would like to declare myself a bachelor(ete) that is not the same as "never", because that is a long time, but until I find someone that is truly my equal in spirit, I see no other reason to get married. If being engaged to my ex-g/f taught me anything, its that you can't row the boat by yourself, not for long anyways. So, like George Clooney said, until that time comes, I am single.
In this same vain, and should any of my friends, or Friends With Benefits who might be reading this, you know I adore you and cherish the time we spend together, so please don't look at my need for Independence as a reflection on you in any negative way.
To anyone who I might have come across during my summer on CL or wherever else and you found this blog, please understand that there are only so many hours in a day and I wish it could have worked out, but I am done with the searching process and now working on nurturing and deepening the relationships that have formed.

So, there is also work, volunteer work, recreation, and other areas of my life that I need to focus on, not to mention the constant issue of finances and you can see that I really have my plate full. Which is good, not complaining mind you, just observing the blessing of having such a rich and full life in so many ways. The most precious thing of all being the freedom that I have, especially living in a country like Canada, with opportunities galore. Where being female, or bi or an immigrant or whatever is not an obstacle to fulfilling my dreams and aspirations. As well as having resources available to me in health care, business and recreation to utilize, often for free or a minimal user fee, this is nothing to sneeze at.
While I am not into making new year's resolutions, some future habits that I would like to possess though, include: being more appreciate to those that are good to me, telling them as well as showing them. People also need to hear it as well as see that you appreciate them and so, focus less on those that don't or didn't measure up and be more centered on those that did/do.
I will never be a lover of money, but I need to be more creative in my spending or not spending. Finding non-monetary ways to get what I might want or need. It's too easy a habit I formed to spend my way out of situations. You can't always spend your way out of things. I am also not getting any younger, and I will need money to live on when the old back is too old and tired to work, so, taking advantage of money saving opportunities the government is offering is one way to ensure my financial future.
But, I have rambled on long enough for one entry. As I work out more details I will put them down here, I am not much for keeping journals and such, but I guess you could say that's what this is.
Be safe in your travels and may 2009 be your year for abundance in all good things in life.