I Want This!!!-Sony VAIO VGC-V617G Desktop PC

DH (Aaron) and I were in Office Depot today, and I saw this incredible computer that gave me the female equivelant of a woody. It's called the Sony VAIO VGC-V617G Desktop PC. It's a cross between a home entertainment center, and a gaming quality PC. It is so beautiful. The hardrive is integrated into the high def screen. The keyboard and mouse are wireless, and the keyboard has a shield that folds over it to "hide" it from view. The speakers are integrated. It has practically no cords, and has terrific specs:

Windows XP Home Edition

3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor 540 with 800 MHz front-side bus and 1 MB L2 cache

Integrated 17-inch LCD, 200 GB hard drive, 512 MB RAM (1 GB maximum),

Dual-layer DVD+/-RW burner

Four USB 2.0, two Firewire, one VGA, one headphone, one microphone, one PCMCIA, composite video, S-Video, Memory Stick reader

Built-in 10/100 Ethernet; 56K (V.90) modem, 54-Mbps wireless LAN (802.11b/g)

With rebates, you can get it for about $1600

Update on My Palm Life Drive

PDA Heaven-Update on My Palm Life Drive

Now that I’ve had a chance to use the Life Drive for a while, I feel that I can comment on it a bit more, and guess what? I STILL love it!!! The Palm LD is everything I thought it would be and more.

Not only does it work well as a PDA, but I got a chance to surf the net with it. I was sitting in church (can you believe that a woman who got her dildo stolen goes to church?) and decided to see if they had a wireless network. I just tapped on the network icon, and it came right up. I was able to browse with Blazer instantly. I put the screen on landscape view for a wider display. It was pretty fast; although I did have a soft reset both times I used my wireless. These are the only two times that I have had a soft reset.

I also loaded a Bible program and Shark Cache on to it. The Bible is pretty self-explanatory. Sharke Cache is the program that helps programs load faster in LD. You see, LD has a lag. When you hit an icon, it can take up to two seconds to get into your program. That has been a bit annoying. With Shark Cache, you can put 4mb worth of programs into cache. The come up instantly when you tap them. It cost me $10.00. I don’t know if I’ve posted a link to it before, but here is where you can find Shark Cache:

Download Shark Cache


I haven’t loaded much 3rd party software onto it, but I am planning to add Handy Shopper next. Handy Shopper is a really cool list program. You can supposedly do a lot with it. I signed up for a Handy List Yahoo group where they teach you all the cool things you can do with this program. And, you can download pre-made lists. Right now, I use the very cool notepad for any list I make. You make notes in your own handwriting. It is quick and easy, and not as messy as a real notepad.

I got a Bluetooth keyboard too (did I mention this in my initial review?) It’s really cool. It is about the size of a medium sized book. It unfolds and you use it to put text into the Docs to go program on the Life drive. Set-up was pretty simple. It doesn’t always connect on the first try. But, I do always get it connected within a minute or two. I have used it to type up blog entries while I watch my d/c kids. Then, I upload them into word on my computer and publish through Word, or cut and paste through the Blogger web site. As soon as we get broadband around here, I’m going to get a Bluetooth module to connect my PDA wirelessly to the internet at home. I can publish directly from my PDA.

There is also an update that is supposed to fix some of the flaws of the LD. I haven’t run the update yet, but plan on it soon.

Download LD Update

I also haven’t had much of a chance to upload music to it, but will soon, as I plan to hook it up to my car stereo so I can listen to what I want in the car. I did upload a Bent( Bent's Website)
CD onto it and it plays very well. When you try to open another program while playing music, you will sometimes get a quick skip. but, other than that, the music playback has been flawless so far.

Basically, I will admit that the LD is a bit wonky. It has it's workable flaws. They are easy to accept since my home pc is really no different. I get error reports from Internet Explorer all of the time, and my computer occasionally resets for no good reason. So, if you are used to computers, and want cutting edge technology, then the quirks of the LD shouldn't be a big deal. You get used to them, kind of like with your significant other. You may even embrace them one day.

See My Previous Palm Life Drive Review

Weird Confession Time- Someone Stole My Dildo!

I’m not much of a sex toy person. Probably finding dildos in my parents room as a child freaked me out so much that I was traumatized for life or something. Or, maybe my husband is so good in bed, that I just don’t need them. Who knows. Anyway, the one time I got the nerve to actually buy one, it ended up getting stolen. It was a blue, nubby, jelly dildo. It was rather small, but it did the job. Anyway, shortly after we got it, we bought our first house. We packed everything up and about ten different people helped us move. I realized when I unpacked my side table box, that someone had untaped the box and stolen my dildo. Who the hell would want a used dildo? Is one of my husband’s friends holed up somewhere smelling it? Or did my husband hide it out of jealousy? What if it was my mother-in-law, or my mother? Ewwww.

Okay, I'll give you one more weird dildo story. My mom's step nephew was nosing around my parent's house in August and found my mom's stash of playthings. Let me tell you, that I KNOW what their stuff looks like b/c I have nosed around many times myself. They have HUGE rubber dongs with veins and everything. They are very explicit sex toys and I'm sure quite shocking for a seven year-old to find. My step nephew went and whispered something to my step grandma and her mouth hit the floor. She is very prim. We're not sure that she's ever seen a rubber phallus in person before. She told my grandpa. He started laughing. He's a perv from way back when, so nothing shocks him.

Goofy E-mail

Okay, I'm going to share one of "those" e-mails. It's goofy, but kinda cute.

Today is International Very Good Looking, Damn Smart Woman's Day, so please send this message to someone you think fits this description. Please do not send it back to me as I have already received it from a Very Good Looking, Damn Smart Woman!

And remember this motto to live by: Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" Have a wonderful day !

Girl Talk- Sea Sponge Tampons (More Alternative Menstrual Products)

Girl Talk- More Alternative Menstrual Products

Sea Sponge Tampons

Didn’t know there were SO many alternative menstrual products huh? Today’s alternative product is the sea sponge. It’s an alternative to tampons. Basically, they are small, natural sea sponges (sea sponges grow on the bottom of the sea floor) that you insert into the vagina with your fingers. They act to absorb the flow just as a tampon would. The main differences are that it has no applicator, they are free of chemicals, and you reuse them (for 6-8 cycles.)

Since natural sea sponges are rough and scratchy when dry, you moisten them before inserting (unless you like scratchy rough things in your hoo-hoo.) You can cut them down to a size that is comfortable for you. After a maximum of three hours, you can take it out with your fingers, or sew a piece of dental floss to it to make it easier to remove. You can supposedly just wash it out and reuse it, but I did find a source that said that they should be boiled for 5-10 minutes between uses because harmful bacteria can stay inside of them. I, personally, would clean them well, then saturate them with water, microwave it for 5 minutes, then let it sit until cool. You can put a piece of Glad Press and Seal on the floor of the microwave if you are squeamish about putting the sea sponge in direct contact with the microwave. There are other ways to sanitize the sponge. I won’t list them all here. Anyway, I have never actually used these things. I haven't heard as much buzz about them as I have the Diva and Instead cups either. I just wanted to put them out there as an alternative.

Sources for Sea Sponge Tampons:

Luna Pads Sea Sponge Tampons

Goddess Within Sea Sponges

Links to My Other Alternative Menstrual Articles:

The Diva Cup and The Keeper Mestrual Cups

Instead Disposable Soft Cups

Writer's Notebook- "Jimmy"

I'm pulling an oldie out of my Writer's Notebook today. This piece is about my father-in-law.

-------------------------
"Jimmy"

Now, he is defined by his eccentricities. His pockets are filled with tiny crystals, each with it's own purpose and function, "I don't want to leave my body while I'm driving."

Then, there's the chicken shit bald cure, "I can attest with 100% confidence that rubbing chicken shit on a bald head cure will cure baldness."

He has one get-rich-quick scheme after another, "My stock plan calls for me to make a minimum of two million dollars when the orgasmatron(AKA Slightest Touch) goes public."

He extends the most interesting invitations, "Live-in-lover is holding a seance with some ladies on Friday. You really should come. A friend of ours channels the universe. She'll being doing it on Saturday. Would you like to come hear the wisdom of the universe on Saturday at seven?"

Then, there is the father he once was. He was a young man when he married her, maybe nineteen. He gladly took a bride with a child who was a product of way-less-than-love. As far as he was concerned, that little girl was HIS. He even gave her his last name.

They were happy, really happy. She was a small town girl from a big family. He was the same. He loved to fish, play the banjo in a bluegrass band, drink beer and be a dad. She loved to cook and keep a lovely home. The couple had two more children together, a boy and a girl. They went on family trips and remodeled their house. They had good times, the best times, mostly happy memories. Both talk of their happiness. So, what happened?

At this point the story becomes foggy because his explanation changes with the tides. First, he says, "We grew apart." Next, he says, " She was holding me back from becoming the person I wanted to be." Then, he says, " A new spirit entered my body sending the old one away." That's the explanation that sounds right. A new "spirit" entered his body and she lived in Arlington, Texas. Why else would a man leave his wonderful wife and three children to move to Arlington, Texas of all places? There was nothing for him there except for maybe the new lady friend "spirit" of his.

IN the grand scheme of things, why he left isn't important. What does matter is that he left. He left three children with no father and no clue. His only son was six, maybe seven years old at the time. That kid adored his dad. He didn't care why his father left. All he really knew is that his beloved father walked out the door forever. He left the boy to deal with a long string of white trash boyfriends who came into his house and tried to play dad- mean dad, cruel dad, not his dad. Finally, when the boy turned twelve, mom settled on one-- a twenty-one-year-old boy closer in age to his new step-son than his new wife. There isn't much to say about that marriage except that after all of these years, it is still hanging by a frayed, brittle, miserable thread.

Sometimes, he still fells like that seven-year-old-boy, filled with all of those raw feelings of daddy leaving. He will never understand why men abandon their families, or why society allows it to happen. But, he knows for sure that no matter what, it will never happen to him.

Girl Talk- The Diva Cup (More Alternative Menstrual Products)

Sorry guys, more girl stuff today. Here’s a link to keep you entertained:

For the guys who don’t want smut:

http://wackyuses.com/

For those who don’t mind a little (non-nudity) smut:

http://ctoe.bolt.com/


More Feminine Hy-jinx- Alternative Menstrual Products

The Diva Cup and The Keeper

I have not personally tried either of these products, but have heard about them. Ladies all over the net sing their praises. Both of them are menstrual cups designed to replace tampons. The Diva Cup is pictured above.

What is a menstrual cup you ask? A menstrual cup is designed to be inserted into the vagina during a woman’s menstrual cycle to catch the flow. They generally hold about an ounce of fluid. The average woman has a flow of about 3-4 ounces over the course of her entire period. Menstrual cups are reusable. When you wish to empty it, you pull it out gently (while on the toilet), empty the contents, and wash with hot soapy water. Since you can wear them all day, you don’t have to mess with cleaning it at work or while out and about. If you feel it needs to be cleaned while you are out, you can follow the procedure for removal and wipe it out well with toilet paper, then just wash it out when you get home. Most women who wear them say that you can wear them for quite a while with no leaks or odors.

These two products are different from the Instead Soft Cup in that they are worn lower in the vaginal canal. They are to be worn more like a tampon, rather than over the cervix ( the Instead fits over the cervix.) This supposedly works better for women with tipped uteruses. They are smaller than the Instead and are reusable. These are popular with “greenie’s.”

While The Keeper and Diva cup look a lot alike, The Keeper is rubber and The Diva Cup is Silicon. Here are the websites. I find that The Diva Cup site is more user friendly, and it has GREAT Q&A’s for those of you who want to learn more.

http://www.divacup.com/

http://www.keeper.com/

I would love to be able to provide a bevy of reviews, but Epinions doesn’t have them on this product. The websites have testimonials, but those aren’t unbiased. Here are a few reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009QW8CS/002-6331674-9406421?v=glance

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009JUPNO/002-6331674-9406421?v=glance

Links to My Other Articles on Alternative Menstrual ProductsSea Sponge Articles

Instead Disposable Menstrual Cups

Girl Talk- My Favorite Girly Websites

I wanted to share a couple of my favorite Diva websites for the ladies. The first is "All About My Vagina" and tells you ANYTHING you could ever want to know about the female nether regions. This is NOT a smut site, but if you are offended by vaginas, then skip it. The second is Pee On a Stick.com and is a pregnancy test site. It is for obsessors only. It gives great info on how they work and has tons of pg test photos. I discovered it when I was trying to get pregnant.


http://myvag.net/sitemap/#aboutmap

http://www.peeonastick.com/

Yes, I'm a Redheaded Diva Part II

Research by Clairol shows that 30 percent of women ages 18 to 34 who color their hair are choosing either auburn or strawberry blonde.

Percentages of redheads in different countries range from single digits to a fraction of 1 per cent -- a recent estimate for France is 0.03 per cent of people. (A 1977 estimate for North America is 4 per cent.)

Redheads generally are more numerous in northern latitudes, but also turn up among Hungarians, Egyptians, Israelis and certain Nigerian tribes.

Redheads have the thickest hair, but have the smallest number of strands.

Redheads don't turn grey. Red hair turned sandy, then white. I can verify this b/c my aunt, g-ma, and great g-ma experienced this.

Most sources I found say that read heads account for , at most, 5% of the population.

Red heads need 20% more anesthesia on average than other patients http://www.drkoop.com/newsdetail/93/509658.html

According to the Dr. Koop article, they have a LOWER tolerance for pain.

Research has shown that redheads tend to have skin that is more sensitive to the sun and may have as much as five times the risk of melanoma, a skin cancer. http://www.derm.med.ed.ac.uk/06_teaching/redhairgen.htm

Link to Part I of Yes, I'm a Redheaded Diva

Girl Talk- Instead Soft Cups (Alternative Menstrual Products)

Alternative Menstrual Product Review-Instead Soft Cups

Yes, That’s right, I’m talking about feminine menstrual protection. So guys, get out while you can.

Many women have no clue that there are several alternatives to mainstream menstrual products (tampons and pads.) I was sort of grossed out (as most people are) when I first learned about alternative products. But, after learning about what they could do for the environment and/or my body I was convinced to at least try a few.

Instead Soft Cups- The first product I tried is called “Instead.” This isn’t a more environmentally friendly product, just an alternative to tampons. These are disposable, small, soft plastic cups that fit over the cervix, much like a diaphragm. They catch the fluid. You remove them, wrap them in TP and dispose of them in the garbage. The Instead Soft Cups catch phrase is “The freedom of your period without the hassle of strings or wings!”

http://www.softcup.com/

Here are the advantages of the soft cup:


It holds at least twice as much menstrual fluid as a tampon. You can wear them for up to 12 hours.

Absolutely no reported incidence of Toxic Shock Syndrome in over 10 years!

Made entirely of hypoallergenic, non-toxic, non-irritating, non-absorbent materials that have been used for more than 20 years in the health care profession. Cleared by the FDA, it has undergone extensive laboratory and human clinical testing. And, the INSTEAD® Softcup® has NO LATEX

Wearing INSTEAD® Softcup® during your period, you and your partner can enjoy "clean sex"and he won't even feel it's there! (Note: the INSTEAD® Softcup® is NOT a contraceptive!)

I purchased mine at Target. And while it is a neat concept, they didn’t work for me. I can’t wear tampons, so I have no clue why I thought I could wear something like this. I could feel it and it bugged me. I tried MANY times to wear these and could not get used to them. .I have a retroverted uterus- http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2313.html - so that may have something to do with it. Many people sing the praises of the cup and have great luck with them. You can even read reviews on epinions-

Instead Soft Cup Reviews

Links to My other Articles on Alternative Feminine Products
Sea Sponge Tampons

The Diva Cup and Keeper Menstrual Cups

What Ever Happened toThe Cast of Annie, The Movie?

What Ever Happened to- The cast of the 80’s musical Annie?

We just bought the musical Annie for my three-year-old (she loves it.) It was one of my favorite movies growing up. I’m sure it had something to do with the fact that I had red hair. I even used the song “Maybe” for my SUCCESSFUL audition into The Dallas Girl’s Chorus. I’m sure they heard a million Annie songs that day.
I think I was just as excited to see the movie as my daughter was. I sung a long and really enjoyed it. I couldn’t help but to wonder what happened to the cast. I ended up doing a little Googling (of course.) I’m not covering all of the cast members at this point. I may add more later.

Albert Finney (Daddy Oliver Warbucks)- One of the more famous cast members (and successful.) He has done about 35 movies since Annie. He mostly does dramatic roles.

Carol Burnett (Miss Hannigan)- Carol Burnett, of The Carol Burnett Show fame is, again, another very successful cast member whose roots lie in comedy. . She has had about 20 projects since Annie. If I’m not mistaken, she has had a very successful plastic surgery as well.

Anne Reinking (Grace Farrell)- We really can’t measure her success by the number of movies whe’s done, as her roots lie in dance and choreography. She has had quite a few projects, including the recent “Mad Hot Ballroom.” She won a Tony award in 1997 for her choreography in the revival of the Broadway musical “Chicago.”

Aileen Quinn (Annie)- When Aileen was cast as Annie, she was working in the Broadway Musical as an orphan understudy. She was a swing orphan, meaning she knew all of the parts and could perform any of them as needed. She was onstage 67 times in the production.
Annie was her big movie role. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for :
Actress In A Leading Role - Musical Or Comedy
New Star Of The Year- Annie
Aileen went to college after high school and has been acting on stage since. She has been in many successful shows including “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” Aileen has done voices in a couple of movies, including “Charmkins,” and “The Frog Prince” as well. Apparently she is filming a movie called “30” , but apparently, her love lies in the stage.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470190/

Geoffrey Holder (Punjab)- Geoffrey has had the most varied career of all of the actors as far as I can tell. Like Reinhold, he started as a dancer. .He was a successful painter and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Painting. Later, he directed The Wiz on Broadway and won a Tony award for that stint.

Later, he did the narrator’s voice for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” 2005. He did a voice for the children’s TV series “Bear in the Big Blue House.” He’s done a few other movies and continues to paint.
DH wondered if he was gay. After four pages of Google I gave up looking.

Amanda/Mandy Peterson (dancer)- I also couldn’t help but notice that the chick from “Can’t Buy me Love” with Patrick Dempsey played an orphan in the movie. She was just a generic orphan, but I was curious about her too. Apparently, “Can’t Buy Me Love” was her one big movie (If you want to call it big.) She has done a few TV movies and appearances since then. She doesn’t seem to have done anything since 1995.
Right now, I can’t find exactly what has happened to her. Here are two rumors I found though-

"Amanda is currently happily married and residing in the beautiful Napa Valley with her husband, David Hartley and their son Jonathon and daughter Katie."

"Unfortunately Amanda's life isn't as glamorous as it used to be. She has an 18 month old daughter who was removed from her custody briefly a year ago due to Amanda breastfeeding her while she was doing drugs. Her ex-boyfriend, the baby's dad, was arrested for domestic violence against her. She also has a mental illness diagnosis. She had a lot going for her, but couldn't keep up with the lifestyle.”

Rosanne Sorrintino (Pepper)- Rosanne played the o-so-saucy Pepper. Rosanne apparently played Annie one of the productions when she was 12. It doesn’t appear that she’s done anything since. I can’t find what happened to her.