Robyn pointed out last that February sucked for a lot of people, and she’s even taking submissions to show how you are escorting February out the door. For me personally, February wasn’t a bad month. I can’t even begin to tell you just how much I love my new job, which I started (officially) in February. That said, I have to point out GeekGrrl’s addition to all of this - tell us and show us how you are having a Marvelous March!

I am all about looking at things from the positive perspective, so I’ll be working on this tomorrow or Sunday.

Speaking of positive things - get your groove on and head on over to Michele’s to help raise money for Operation Troop Trax! She’s taking up a collection and using the funds to buy used CDs to send to the troops overseas. Get the rest of the details here.

As if Bush isn’t having enough problems with the UN these days, could you imagine if he had to meet with Secretary-General Clinton? Just the thought of it makes me laugh. Loud. Over and over, in that manic sort of way… [via My Irony]

I’ve finally figured out why I can’t handle watching CNN normally. You have the person talking on the top half of the screen, then you have blurbs of news (some of which are quite amusing) along with the weather and the sports scores. It’s just too much to take in. Do I look at the person talking, or do I look at the blurbs that I want to read? I tend to be pulled in to the blurbs, and then I don’t hear what the news anchor says because I was focused on reading - thank goodness for Tivo! I keep rewinding it so I can catch something I miss.

Random bits from CNN tonight:
:: Bush’s Support Dropping: CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll: 1st time below 50%. (*cough*About time*cough*)
:: Baptist State Government? Alabama Governor Riley & staff have weekly Bible studies at his office. (And what if you’re not Baptist? Huh?)
:: Fewer Billionaires - Forbes list shrinks for 3rd yr in a row mostly due to stocks.
:: Anti-War Vote: AFL-CIO labor union passed resolution against Bush on Iraq. (This amuses me, but … it’s not like they are the government. I mean, they aren’t, right? They don’t really have control, do they?)
:: Pope & Dalai Lama Human Shields? A Deepak Chopra proposal to stop war. (Right. Ok. I just don’t see this being a viable option.)
:: Never Too Old? 80-yr-old Brit WWII vet got called up to report for duty in Iraq. (Well, at least he has experience?)
:: Threat Level Downgraded: Airports told to suspend random vehicle searches. (I wonder if Mike has changed his blog background yet?)
:: ‘Half Drunk’ Yankees pitcher Wells on his condition during 1998 perfect game.
:: 1,776 Feet: World’s tallest building design for WTC site recalls US independence. (More info here.)

Speaking of television, I finally recorded the episode of The Weakest Link with Ernie on it! I’ve only recorded the show daily since last fall when I first heard he was going to be on TV! I didn’t think it was ever going to happen, and then I was afraid that it was deleted accidentally. Not the case though - the time has finally arrived! Edited: I was amused by the look on Ernie’s face when he missed a question (the Good Shepherd was Jesus Christ, not Jacob…) so I had to take a screen capture the old-fashioned way - with my camera! Click on the image for the larger version.

Like a flood the memories come back to me. My heart goes out to Kim right now, as I have walked in her exact shoes, almost 13 years ago. They removed my right ovary in 1990, and I have the lovely vertical scar she references to show off for it. I was fortunate because I didn’t have cancer (although there were pre-malignant cells in the mass) and I was still able to have a child - Jason was born in 1992. But words can’t even express how terrifying that period between the initial diagnosis and the surgery were, waiting for more answers.

I want to say something profound and wise, but I just don’t have the words. So I will just encourage everyone - men and women - to go get your exams annually, and if you think there is something wrong, fight until you get an answer. Don’t give up - you know your body better than anyone else.

Kim, I will be sending lots of positive thoughts and good karma your way.

Oh no! My beloved Mister Rogers died today at age 74. I *loved* Mister Rogers when I was little - I liked to sing along with his songs, watch the adventures of the trips he would take us on, and like Bran, I even liked to watch him feed the fish. He was a great asset to children’s TV programs out there, and he will be missed.

It’s such a good feeling to know you’re alive.
It’s such a happy feeling: You’re growing inside.
And when you wake up ready to say,
“I think I’ll make a snappy new day.”
It’s such a good feeling, a very good feeling.
The feeling you know that
I’ll be back when the day is new
And I’ll have more ideas for you.
And you’ll have things you’ll want to talk about.
I will too.
It’s such a good feeling, a very good feeling.
The feeling you know that we’re friends.

[lyrics snagged from Stacey]

See, I knew there was something fishy with that whole “Jesus was a Vegetarian” thing - because really, Vegans are Modern Day Witches! It’s all right there in a Sermon by Brother Harry Hardwick at the Landover Baptist site.

Please note: Landover Baptist is a parody site. I do not really believe Vegans are witches. I just found the article quite funny considering my post the other day. That is all.

Can’t keep that red, orange, yellow, blue, green scale of alert levels straight? Maybe the Homeland Insecurity Scare Bear Index would work better for you!

Haven’t taken the time to keep up with Blogwhore II, the Revenge of the Blogwhore? Well now you can get the Cliff Notes version courtesy of Philo, appropriately named Whores Gone Wild: Blogwhore 2. Come on, you know you want the scoop… [via Solonor, but don’t tell Philo I didn’t read it on his blog first!]

If you haven’t heard already, Google bought Pyra Labs, the creators of Blogger. With a little less fanfare, it seems that Microsoft is testing the blogging-tool waters, and that same article goes on to say that AOL is building blogging tools and MSN is considering the same. Interesting, very interesting. I can’t help but wonder how all of this is going to change the blog world, but I imagine it will be for the best. Today if you tell people that you have a blog they give you a sort of puzzled look, wondering if that’s some sort of new disease or something. In the future, maybe blogs will be as common as e-mail addresses? [via Weblogs Compendium]

Speaking of blogs, there is a new PHP blogging tool on the block - BC Journal. (I wonder if the site is being hit hard, I can’t get it to load now. Hmm…) [also via Weblogs Compendium]

Gothic Miss Manners gives some wonderful tips for blog writers and readers. [via Meredith]

Driving down I-45, I spotted a billboard out of the corner of my eye. “Jesus was a Vegetarian.” What? Say what? Huh? It was enough to make me look again and read the fine print, “Show your support for all of God’s creatures - follow Him.” Maybe I missed the news flash, but I don’t remember anything in the Bible ever stating that Jesus was a vegetarian. He was Jewish so he didn’t eat pork, but a vegetarian? Hmmm…

Yes, this new campaign has been brought to a billboard near you courtesy of PETA. You can check it out for yourself at JesusVeg.com.

“Blessed are the merciful. Go Vegetarian.” Now I’ve seen it all…

I was thinking of Dawn earlier, for no reason in particular. Maybe because I realized last week that I must trim down my blogroll - I can’t find the sites I want to read when I have time among the sites I just don’t have time to read anymore. Or the fact that I came across the photo earlier that I took with Jay - who lead me to Dawn - when he was here in Houston last fall. Either way, she had a quote on her site that hit me hard.

“Do what delights you, and you can be sure that others will appreciate what you have done.”

So often we do what we think everyone else wants us to do, whether it delights us or not. But the reality is that I’m simply not online as much as I was just a month ago even. In many ways, that’s not a bad thing. In other ways, it is leading me to make changes around here - forcing me to change many things in a way. My life is changing around me. From a new return to an old career that I am absolutely in love with to a renewed strong interest in photography again. My life seems to be going full circle, and it’s all I can do to hang on and enjoy the ride.

I look through my recent posts, and some days seem like nothing more than “I updated this other site.” Maybe that’s not a bad thing though. You’ll find me over here or over there a lot more. Of course there is always this (with over 200 clients) or that (with over 800 photographs) to keep me on my toes too.

Big Pink Cookie isn’t going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong. It is going to change, and shift, and grow though … just like me. I’m going to do what delights me. I am sure you will appreciate what I have done.

I am so thrilled! Thanks to a comment that Dawn left on her site for Ste, I’ve discovered that there is a Lens Adapter for the Canon G2, allowing you to use 49mm filters with the camera! I already have a 49mm Polarizing filter for my Minolta X-370 SLR, so I could use it on both cameras! Ah, someday…

It’s been a day full of movies - “Misery”, “Save the Last Dance”, “Down to Earth”, Deathtrap, and I think now I’ll watch “One Hour Photo” while I enjoy the perks of digital photography and add photographs to Pixelog. Maybe I’ll even try out some of the tricks for tweaking photos that Ste pointed out here - how to “fake” a lomo-like quality and how to cross-process your snapshots.

Normally I just laugh at infomercials. The pot with the strainer lid? I would probably scald my arms trying to use it. Darren’s Dance Grooves? I would never go for it. But the Chef Wizard? I was *this close* (pinchy finger gesture) to picking up the phone and ordering it.

P.T. Barnum was right - I guess there really is a sucker born every minute. Have you ever bought anything from the TV infomercials?

First Mike tried to turn on Cartoon Network, but it only took me 3 seconds to comment on how that needed to go. Then we watched “Iron Chef”, which was fine. But when it was over there wasn’t a lot to choose from. He tried “South Park”, which got the same reaction as Cartoon Network. Then it was “Blazing Saddles” which had this gross fart scene - and I just had to turn it. He handed me the Tivo remote, and I changed it to Robocop. I mean, if I’m going to watch bad TV, at least it can be good, right? Know what I discovered? The asshole doctor on ER, Romano, is one of the crooks in Robocop! Isn’t it amusing when you see people that are more famous today in the roles they aren’t known for? He was also in “Fame”, so now I’m going to have to watch that again just to find him in the film!

Edited: Eww! I forgot! Paul McClane’s character in Robocop is the one whose skin melts off. He has the same look on his face as he did when Romano’s arm was cut off by the helicopter in ER. Ewwww…