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Wednesday, April 30, 2003

It's a Group Thing LIV

Today's "It's a Group Thing" term is:

A Bored of Trustees

For those of you who missed what this is all about, each week I will feature a term for groups of things from An Exaltation of Larks: The Ultimate Edition by James Lipton. I found the book really interesting and wanted to share it with everyone.

.: 58 words at 09:41 PM in It's a Group Thing :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Reasons For Love #25

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love. Please keep in mind that this does not have to be a romantic relationship. It can be about a parent, a sibling, a friend, a co-worker, your kid, your dog, whatever.

Stop in here to join the notify list, see who else has left their reasons, and to be added to the blogroll. Also, feel free to save the button below to your server and link it to http://www.neuroticfishbowl.com/reasons.html



I thought I'd keep the Bloggy Love In alive a little bit longer, so I love Kristine because...

  • She's always ready to lend a hand to help people out as evidenced by all her posts at the Movable Type Forums
  • She always has a kind word to share with someone in need
  • She's a fabulous designer
  • She's so scripty smart and able to come up with an answer to something that's been bugging you for days just like that
  • She's silly and girly and always makes me giggle

.: 252 words at 09:29 PM in Reasons For Love :: Link :: Pings (4) :: All the Voices Say... (6) :.

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Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Another Nap

Yet another nap for me this afternoon after I got home. I've just been so tired ever since I started taking the Paxil. I go back to the doctor next week to discuss how the medicine's working for me and I'm definitely going to mention how exhausted I feel. At least I haven't been feeling as nauseous these last few days.

.: 61 words at 10:28 PM in Daily Ramblings :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (9) :.

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Monday, April 28, 2003

Tired and Blah

I'm still feeling pretty tired and blah today, I'm guessing from the one-two punch of Aunt Flow and the Paxil. It was all I could do today to keep my eyes open, so I'm headed back to the couch to relax a little longer. Sorry for all the boring, whiny posts lately!

.: 52 words at 10:05 PM in Daily Ramblings :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (5) :.

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Sunday, April 27, 2003

Easter Picnic

We're off to Steven's mother's church to celebrate Greek Orthodox Easter. Everyone have a great Sunday and I'll see you when I get back!

.: 24 words at 11:37 AM in Daily Ramblings :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Saturday, April 26, 2003

Project Blog Pays Off

Earlier this year Rannie posted about Project Blog. I went to the site to see what it's about and decided to sign up.

Yesterday I got an e-mail from them saying that one of their clients, Nokia, noted how I use photography on my site and would like to send me a Nokia 3650 - a cell phone with a built-in digital camera along with other features like a calendar and contact manger, wireless web browsing, and more. It comes with two months service through T-Mobile and at the end of the test period, I get to keep the phone.

Needless to say, I am completely psyched about this. They're shipping the phone early next week, so I'll even have it in time to take it with me to Vegas. Many thanks to Rannie for the link in the first place.

.: 142 words at 03:44 PM in Participation :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (9) :.

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About Last Night....

I was going to come home yesterday and spread the love, but I called my mother to see what they were up to. She said they were going to go eat dinner with Russell (my brother) and his girlfriend. Now, my dad isn't one for going places, but I went ahead and suggested they join us at Chinese Cafe (about an hour from where they live). Much to my surprise, my dad was all for it.

We met them at the restaurant and stuffed ourselves on delicious Chinese food. We got home about 9:30 and did something very rare for us - went to bed. I don't think we've been asleep that early ever.

Needless to say, I didn't get to spread a lot of love, but I plan on doing that today and maybe a bit tomorrow. Hope everyone had as nice a Friday as I did!

.: 149 words at 03:16 PM in Fish Tales :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (3) :.

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Friday, April 25, 2003

Happy Birthday, Kristine!

Today is that wonderful, amazing, Scripty Goddess-like girl Kristine's birthday.

I hope you have an incredible day, sweetie, filled with lots of love, presents, and chocolate.

.: 27 words at 12:52 PM in Linky Love :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (3) :.

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Thursday, April 24, 2003

Getting the Love

Okay, ignore me. I had no idea what I was doing on this post with that plugin. However, my comments have become filled with Bloggy Loving, which I plan on going and spreading later today (and probably tomorrow) when I get a chance.

So go spread some love and tell people why you love them!

.: 56 words at 11:31 PM in Geeky Things :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (18) :.

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Thanks To Everyone

I'm still not feeling well (headachy and a bit nauseous; once again, not sure if it's the Paxil, the PMS, or both), but I wanted to take a minute and thank everyone that's left a comment here or sent me an e-mail in the past week.

I am so grateful and so touched by the amount of positive thoughts and love that has been sent to me. A lot of the time lately I've been feeling very cut off from the world, but I see that that is definitely not the case.

I really want to thank all of you for your kindness. Never would I have expected so many people to raise their hand and say, "I'm here if you need me."

I'm going to try and send out e-mails to everyone soon, but Greek Orthodox Easter is this weekend (Steven's mother is Greek Orthodox), so we're going to be pretty busy and I don't know how much time I'll have online. Just know that you have all made me feel very special and I so appreciate it.

.: 179 words at 10:22 PM in Fish Tales :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (5) :.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Worst Headache Ever

I've got a terrible, terrible headache right now. You know the kind that makes you feel sick to your stomach and like your head is going to explode? Yeah, that's how I feel right now. I'm not sure if it's the Paxil, PMS, or both, but it sucks.

In other news, I have something that I'd really like to happen, so cross your fingers for me and wish me luck.

.: 70 words at 06:11 PM in Daily Ramblings :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (16) :.

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Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Burn It Info on its Way!

I just finished sending out all the group information for Burn It - The Spring Edition, so watch your inbox for it. Thirty-eight people signed up, so I just may make this a seasonal thing.

If you signed up and didn't get your info, e-mail me and I'll look into it. Happy burning!

.: 53 words at 10:17 PM in Burn It :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (8) :.

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I May Never Go Back

I got a wild hair and decided to try and design a site from the thoughts in my head for the boarding place that I'm taking Bella to next month. While doing this I decided to see what all the fuss was about and try out some brushes in PhotoShop. After figuring out how to use them, I must say I'm hooked! Who would have know it was so easy to create such fabulous looks! I may never go back to designing without them!

My thanks to That Tart for being my inspiration to see what they could do. She has some fabulous new skins up, so go check them out if you haven't already.

.: 115 words at 09:46 PM in Fish Tales :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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Monday, April 21, 2003

Last Day to Burn It

Just a reminder, but today is the last day to sign up for Burn It - The Spring Edition. So far we already have over thirty participants, so get your information in and join us. In case you missed it the first time around, here's the info again.


I've noticed how a pervasive theme out in the blogosphere right now is how everyone is enjoying the weather, putting down their sunroof, windows, or convertible top, and blasting their music while they drive. I've always loved having good driving music, so inspired by some spring weather and Alison's CD Swap, I've decided to do one of my own: Burn It - The Spring Edition.


The Theme:
Music that makes you want to roll down your windows/open your sunroof/put down your convertible top and sing along at the top of your lungs. It's spring time and I want music that makes you feel good. It doesn't haven't to be a happy song, but it does have to be great music to drive to.


Here's how it works:
After the signup period, people will be put into groups of 4. You will then receive an e-mail from me telling you the names and addresses of the people in your group. You burn 4 identical CDs. Keep one for yourself and send the other three to the other people in your group. You should then receive three new CDs from the other three people in your group.


The rules:
- You should have a blog. I would like this to be a fun way to connect people in the blogosphere. If you don't, go over to Diaryland or Blogspot and start one for free.
- If you're not going to follow through and make your CDs, please don't bother signing up. It would be a shame if one or two people ruined this for their group.
- You must live in the US or Canada. If there's a intrest in this in other areas, I may do a swap at some point down the road that includes other countries, but since this is the first swap, I'm going to limit it to the areas where I know most of you guys live.
- If you live in the US, you should be willing to ship to Canada. If you live in Canada, you should be willing to ship to the US. The postage is a teeny bit more, but nothing that's going to break the bank.
- Remember that most people can't play mp3s in their car, so make sure they're something that will play in a standard car stereo. I tend to use cda or wav files.


Guidlines on creating your CDs:
- Include a track listing. If someone like an artist, they might want to buy more music by them. Let us know who it is.
- Fill up the CD as much as you can. There's 80 minutes on a blank CD. Don't half-ass it and make a 30 minute CD.
- You should definitely use a jewel case when sending your CDs to protect it during mailing. You can get them cheap anywhere.
- I know a lot of people are graphically inclined, so feel free to make your CD a work of art.
- Don't be afraid to put on "cheesy" music. If you like it, others probably will too.
- Don't be afraid to put on music that no one has ever heard before either. Billboard or MTV may never have known this music, but you did, so that's what counts.


If you've gotten this far and you still want to sign up, send an e-mail (change the AT to an @ in my e-mail address) to me and make sure you reference the swap in the subject line. You must include the following information:

- Your name
- Mailing address
- Your blog URL

Signups will continue through Monday, April 21st. By Thursday, April 24th, I will send e-mails to everyone letting you know who is in your group. You should have all of your CDs burned and in the mail NO LATER THAN Monday, May 12th. This gives you at least a full two weeks to create and ship CDs to your three group partners.

Please spread the word! More people equals more music! Just be sure to link to this URL, because eventually this entry will cycle off the main page.

If you have any other questions, you can e-mail or leave a comment.

Special thanks goes out to Alison for both the inspiration and allowing me to use most of her rules and guidelines.

.: 771 words at 10:48 AM in Burn It :: Link :: Pings (6) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Sunday, April 20, 2003

Life Changing Decisions

This week I made a decision that I think is going to change my life - hopefully for the better.

For the past several months, I've been in the grasp of the deepest depression, worse than anything I've ever experienced in the last seven years or so. I cry all the time, I sleep a lot, I'm comfort eating like crazy, and I feel constantly like my life is about to spin even further out of my control. I have no energy, yet I'm restless. Nothing holds my attention and I can't avoid black feelings that things will never improve and only get worse. My life has become a bleak, desolate, very lonely wasteland.

A few months ago I went to the doctor for something unrelated and he suggested I go on Paxil. I told him I'd think about it, but I didn't really consider it too strongly.

This past month has been so bad, however, that I've spoken to several people in my family, Steven, and my friends and I've decided that I need help and I've made the decision to start taking it.

I know where most of my stress is coming from (think dooce. E-mail me if you want details) and it's out of my hands to do much about it, which only leads to me feeling worse.

I'm hoping that taking Paxil will help me begin to get things back into a bearable state. Any good thoughts, well wishes, or the like that you can send my way will be very much appreciated.

.: 257 words at 08:12 PM in Fish Tales :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (22) :.

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Monthly Comment Leaders

If you look in the sidebar, you'll see a new section under comment leaders that shows the people with the most comments this month. You can now lead for the month and for totals on the site, so leave me lots of comments. I found the script at Scripty Goddess (of course) and you can get it here if you want to add it to your site.

.: 67 words at 07:35 PM in Geeky Things :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (4) :.

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Saturday, April 19, 2003

Happy Birthday, Shawn!

Today is Shawn's birthday. She broke her little toe yesterday, so go over there and give her some birthday lovin' to make her feel better. Happy birthday, Shawn!

.: 28 words at 03:22 PM in Linky Love :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Friday, April 18, 2003

Adding Some Zen

I loved the Daily Zen template that Eka offered up at Miz Dos Graphics, so with a little tweaking it is now skin seventeen here at The Neurotic Fishbowl. You can test it out here.

.: 37 words at 07:14 PM in Skinning the Fish :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (3) :.

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The Real Thing

Remember Honda Accord commercial I blogged about last week?

I was positive that it had to be done in cgi because I didn't think it would be possible to do something like that in real life. Turns out I was wrong. It took 606 takes, but everything you see was completely real. Absolutely amazing.

.: 55 words at 11:28 AM in Entertainment Value :: Link :: Pings (1) :: All the Voices Say... (7) :.

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Thursday, April 17, 2003

Nap Time

You know how you're just going to lay down for just a minute, only close your eyes for just a few seconds? Two and half hours later, my minute is finally up.

.: 32 words at 08:39 PM in Daily Ramblings :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (8) :.

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Wednesday, April 16, 2003

Reasons For Love #24

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love. Please keep in mind that this does not have to be a romantic relationship. It can be about a parent, a sibling, a friend, a co-worker, your kid, your dog, whatever.

Stop in here to join the notify list, see who else has left their reasons, and to be added to the blogroll. Also, feel free to save the button below to your server and link it to http://www.neuroticfishbowl.com/reasons.html



I love Steven because...

  • He's just as excited as I am about the poker tournament show on the Travel Channel
  • We can talk poker strategy for hours
  • We have a fish that is really sick and Steven feeds him by hand since he can't swim
  • He's sweeter on the cat than he thinks is manly to admit, but I can tell
  • He did some researching and found me a great deal on tires (hate to spend the money on them, but need them badly)

.: 248 words at 09:55 PM in Reasons For Love :: Link :: Pings (2) :: All the Voices Say... (4) :.

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It's a Group Thing LIII

Since there is a war going on, I thought today's "It's a Group Thing" term would deal with it. Therefore, today's term is:

A Mess of Privates

For those of you who missed what this is all about, each week I will feature a term for groups of things from An Exaltation of Larks: The Ultimate Edition by James Lipton. I found the book really interesting and wanted to share it with everyone.

.: 74 words at 09:48 PM in It's a Group Thing :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Animal Wallpapers

Cat or dog lover? Check out Page-a-Day's cat and dog wallpapers. I particularly like the big flully Himalayan cat.

.: 20 words at 09:22 PM in Geeky Things :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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Repeating Comments

I meant to post this the other day, but it totally slipped my mind. Thanks to Scripty Goddess, I found a very MT simple hack that will prevent multiple comments from being posted. Get it here.

.: 38 words at 12:00 AM in Geeky Things :: Link :: Pings (1) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2003

New Editions to the Fishbowl

I got a wild hair and went fish shopping at lunch today. I drove down to the big fish store, but they didn't have anything that I was really interested. I swung by the PetSmart literally across the street from work and they had two beautiful orandas - a blue one (think silverish colored) and a black one with bronze hints. They were kind of expensive ($25 a piece), but since they're around three inches long including the tail, it wasn't a bad price.

I talked Steven into going over there with me after he went to the gym to get one of them. I was set on the black one, but the more I looked at the blue one, the prettier he seemed. Since we're down to just a few fish and only one in the fifty-five gallon tank, I splurged and bought both of them.

We also picked up a new (fake) plant and a large plastic ornament, about a foot high, that looks like gnarled roots. I really like the character that it hads to the tank.

Needless to say, I am quite the happy fish girl right now.

.: 193 words at 11:58 PM in Fish Tales :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (4) :.

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Junior Varsity?

Steven's back here watching Fox News and one of the reporters just said, I shit you not, that Israel was part of the "junior varsity Axis of Evil." The junior varsity? Man, Israel must be so crushed! You know their mother would have been so proud if they had made varsity and gotten a letter! How sad for them!

.: 59 words at 11:35 PM in Notable News :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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Monday, April 14, 2003

Not Much To Say

It's been a crap day for multiple reasons, so I'm not going to post anything. Feel free to cheer me up by joining Burn It - The Spring Edition or buying me a present. Yes, it's a pathetic plea for love, but it's been a really shitty week and it's only Monday.

.: 53 words at 09:12 PM in Daily Ramblings :: Link :: Pings (1) :: Al