Here's Looking at You, Kids ...

Sixty-five years ago today there were several significant events taking place in Southern California ...

"Casablanca", starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, won the Oscar for "Best Picture" at the 16th Annual Academy Awards. The movie also took home the prize for Best Director (Michael Curtiz) and Best Screenplay. Even though Humphrey Bogart was nominated as Best Actor for his portrayal of Rick - a cynical but good-hearted American who runs a café in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II, the award went to Paul Lukas for his role in "Watch on the Rhine" (a movie I've got to say I've never heard of!). Bogart eventually went on to win an Oscar for his role "The African Queen" playing opposite the legendary Katherine Hepburn but it took until the 20th of March 1952 for that to happen.

By that time, the other significant event to happen in Southern California on March 2nd, 1944 had already turned eight years old and was probably soaking up knowledge, good books, and imaginative radio shows like a proverbial sponge - all things that would eventually lead to her 40-year career as a writer/editor. With a self-proclaimed "insatiable curiosity combined with a love of travel, a voracious appetite for books, and a compulsion to pursue historical trivia", she's also the writer of one of the best blogs (in my own humble opinion) out there!

Please join me in wishing a very happy birthday or - as the Scottish say it - Co`latha breith sona dhuibh! to Jamie of Duward Discussion as she celebrates the 65th anniversary of her date of birth.

Jamie, may your Haggis plate always be empty and your whiskey glass always be full! You're truly a classic and will only get better with time!


Speaking of classics, in Texas there are another couple of ladies celebrating their birthdays today, too. Mighty Mom of My Wonderful Life and her darling daughter, Sugars, are 34 and 2 respectively sharing their March 2nd birthday. Rumor has it the girls like pink so in their honor I present to them a pink birthday cake and many happy returns of the day!

Happy birthday to Jamie, Sarah, and Sugars - may you all have a year filled with blessings and happiness!

Tagged by the Queen of Coffee!

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So there I was, minding my own business just innocently blogging away when - BAM! - without warning I get hit upside the blog with a tag from across the ocean by Sanni of Coffe2Go. D'oh! I never saw that one coming!

The meme that she tagged me with, "My Desktop Free View", was started by iRonnie at I Set No Corner with the idea that

"Most people spend a considerable amount of time in customizing or in finding a desktop wallpaper that suits their taste. Sadly, our computers often remains… personal. Why don’t we brag to the world our good-find wallpapers and let them have a peek to our personality via our desktops?

On the other hand, aren’t you curious on how does your favorite bloggers’ desktop look like? Don’t you want to find out how organized, or disorganized :D, they are?"

Interesting concept for a meme - I like it! Actually, I had seen the same meme over at Asara's Mental Meanderings and thought about picking it up from her (she didn't tag anyone in particular being the gracious blog-hostess that she is!) as it looked like fun but first I had to figure out how to do a print-screen on my trusty Dell laptop. With some instructions from Asara, I was able to figure it out and good thing, too what with that tag from Sanni coming out of the blue like that! I think Sanni really enjoys tagging people, she's so good at it! And how can you say no when she's just so darned cute??

So, without further ado - here you have it - the desktop on my laptop ...

Look familiar? Yep, being the proud mama that I am, l like to keep some of Amanda's artwork on my laptop so I decided that the vinegar-fry-eating-Pegausus-with-rainbow from my Wordless Wednesday a few weeks ago was perfect! Actually, this one looks a bit different as Amanda made some revisions to it. As a matter of fact, if you really like this one - it's available on t-shirts and a few other items at Artistic Intoxication, Amanda's on-line CafePress store! Sorry, couldn't resist the shameless plug!

Meanwhile, back at the meme, there are some desktops that I am most curious about so I'm going to tag a few people with this one myself! The instructions on how to do this follow below and it's really not hard, especially if you get technical guidance from an expert! I tag the following folks:

Ed of The Pisstakers
Morgen of It's a Blog Eat Blog World, etc.
Jamie of Duward Discussion
Sarge Charlie of Sarge Charlie
Mimi of Mimi Writes

Once you've picked up the "tag" gauntlet and posted a picture of your own desktop, don't forget to add your link to the bottom of the list! I added Asara to my list because I saw the meme at her blog first and I'm sure Sanni wouldn't mind in the least! Now, go ... read the directions and let's see what you've got!

My Desktop Free View Instruction:

A. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun.
You can do a screen capture by:
[1] Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key).
[2] Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V).
[3] If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.

B. Post the picture in your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop just below it if you want. You can explain why you preferred such look or why is it full of icons. Things like that.
C. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.
D. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.

List of those who participated in the tag:

iRonnie
skippyheart
thesserie
domlawrenceosb
sasha-says
maiylah’s snippets
My Memoirs
Asara
Coffee 2 go
Are We There Yet??

The Breakout Blogger Award

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Recently my most favorite inkblot in the entire universe celebrated his first blogiversary and, true gentleman that he is, he gave out the gifts rather than receiving them. The one and only Bobbarama came up with not one but two new blogging awards that are sure to be coveted by any and all bloggers throughout the Blogosphere.

The first is the "Best Kept Secret" award which goes to "a blogger with great style and wit and warmth who hasn’t been discovered yet." It's a lovely award and Bob awarded the first of the awards to five very deserving bloggers who I'm sure won't stay a secret for very long ...

• The Kat House ~~ I love her Sunday Samplings links to other bloggers with great posts.
• A Nice Place in the Sun ~~ Be sure to check out her fun Tuesday’s Question feature.
• Idle Minutes ~~ Don draws a stunning illustration for every post. Fantastic.
• Pyreflies over Zanarkand ~~ Great fun … great photos … great blogger.
• The Frog Bog ~~ Stock tips with a humorous spin … and so much more
  

The second award is "The Break Out Blogger Award" which, as Bob puts it, "casts a spotlight on bloggers who are just beginning to draw lotsa attention — the equivalent of a song with a bullet on Billboard’s Top 100 chart. Lotsa good posts. Lotsa good buzz. These bloggers are going places in a hurry." Again, Bob chose five outstanding recipients for this most cool award ...

• Christy’s Coffee Break ~~ Every blogger’s best friend. Reviews, poetry, awards, links.
• Polliwog’s Pond ~~ Warm, witty posts about life on an island and on the ‘Net. Fun stuff.
• Ordinary Folk ~~ A mini-empire in the making. A comic alien, blog reviews, great art.
• The Pisstakers ~~ Amusing, satirical posts on tech and news articles. Lotsa laughs.
• Mimi Writes ~~ The Queen of Memes and the Home of the Peace Globes.

I am familiar with the last four on the list and will have to make the acquaintance of the first as if Bob gave her an award, she's got to be good! I know the others are all excellent bloggers and if they aren't part of your daily read, they should be. By the by, it was Mike of Ordinary Folk who designed the awards for Bob and didn't he just do the best job ever?

One of my favorite bloggers is a recipient of one of those very first "Breakout Blogger Awards" and he, in turn, was more than nice enough to award one to me. Ed, of The Pisstakers, has been a staple in my Google Reader for as long as I've had a feed reader. Ed not only brings you the best in humor and techy news throughout the Blogosphere but he hosts the MyBlogLog Sunday feature that not only gets you a mini-review as a permanent part of his extensive archives but also gets you a lovely link back to a PR5 blog. For those of you who worry about your numbers, that's a major feather in your blogging cap! I have been lucky enough to be captured in a screen-shot of his sidebar while visiting on Sunday mornings more times than I can count.

Ed's choices for the "Breakout Blogger Award" were the following:

• The one and only Lord Likely, a true gentleman and scholar and complete and utter bastard, currently terrorizing 19th century USA with his tongue in cheek and Lord Palmerston in hand.
• The one and only Linda of Are We There yet? a bloggerette major, safe driver and killer singer whose birthdays appear to have all come nearly at once.
• The one and only TechIT Easy, whose leader, Jeremy Fain, has occupied France under the guise of Microsoft. He is stealthily enlisting a stunning international line-up of tech bloggers par excellence and to cap it all, he even has a sense of humor too.
• The one and only I Eat Snowman Poop who never ceases to amaze me with her turns of phrase and whacky humor
• The one and only Wolf Bernz who worked through being scammed and finally produced a video upload site with plenty of potential for great things.

Trust me when I tell you that I am tickled pink and beyond honored to have received this award from a man whose wit and intelligence I truly admire. To have been included in the second round of receiving one of these spiffy new awards is something that I am just completely and totally thrilled about. Bet you never could've guessed that, could you??

Okay, all humble acceptance speeches aside, it's now my turn to give this award to several other bloggers that I feel are deserving. It's a tough call because there are so very many good blogs that I read on a regular basis and they are all breakouts in their own right but the instructions say to "give the award to three to five of my Breakout Bloggers" and, for once, I'm going to follow the rules! Go figure!

Without further ado, I now present to you my choices for the "Breakout Blogger Award":

• Duward Discussion: Jamie has become like the sister I never had; a gal who enjoys history and Broadway shows. Her intelligence shines through in every single post she writes and she is always able to make me laugh at the times I really need it. If you're looking for quality posts and a quality blog, look no further - you have arrived!
  
• Alien in a Foreign Field and Whitterer on Autism: How she does it I don't know but Maddie manages to write two fantastic blogs while keeping up with her two autistic sons and one very patient and understanding daughter all while trying to maintain her sanity while spending way too much time in a dentist's chair! The word "admiration" fails to come even close! Stop by either or both of her two blogs and you'll see what I mean.
  
• Wading Through My Stream of Consciousness: Katherine is one of my newest daily reads and I have come to truly love the depth and feeling with which she writes. On her sidebar under the title "What You Need to Know", Katherine states "I try to always be a good person....I may not always be a nice person....but I always try to be a good person." You can't ask for much better than that!

I hope if you have the time you'll check out these three fantastic ladies and come to enjoy their blogs as much as I do. Jamie, Maddie, and Katherine - it's a pleasure to be on the same awards page as the three of you and now if you'll be so kind as to head over to the Awards Page at Bobbrama's for the instructions and code it would be greatly appreciated!

Once again a big thank you to Ed, I truly am honored!

A veritable cornucopia of stuff!

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I apologize in advance for the length of this post but there are a bunch of things I've been meaning to get to and just haven't had the chance due to the fact that I write too much about other stuff most of the time! Because of that, I am throwing a veritable cornucopia of stuff at you with this post!

First out of the horn, The Erstwhile Librarian is one of my favorite stops while blog-reading as Joan is just one of the nicest ladies out there and I really enjoy the look and feel of her blog. Recently Joan, retired librarian enjoying life and all it has to offer, awarded me with two awards that have recently been making their way around the Blogosphere -


These awards are part of a series of five blogger awards that were developed by Christy Z. of Writer's Reviews which can be found here. In addition to these two awards Christy has also developed The Inspriational Blogger Award, The Courageous Blogger Award, and The Charity Blogger Award.

I am quite flattered that Joan felt I was qualified to receive both of these honors but I'm not so sure about that myself! The Thoughtful Blogger is "for those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous."

Whereas I do try to make visitors feel at home here on my blog there are probably those who might differ when it comes to me always taking others feelings into consideration before speaking out - though I do try to be kind and courteous most times, I know I can sometimes be a bit outspoken and passionate about those things that matter to me. It's part of who I am and I can't apologize for that.

The Creative Blogger goes to "those who bring unique and creative elements to their blogs. For those who incorporate art, music, creative writing, photo's, and other beautiful visual effects into their website. For those who put a unique spin on things and come up with new ideas. This award is for the artsy, the funky, the inventor, and even the rebel. This award is for those creative individuals who stand out from the crowd."

I do try to be as creative as possible even though I am not an artistic person, that particular talent goes to Amanda! But I'd like to think that I attempt to throw some creativity in here once in awhile and Joan apparently thinks so also which means that I am going to take my award and say 'thank you'!

One of the best parts of being given these awards is that I now have the chance to pass the honor on to other people and an even better part is that I don't have to make it simply the award I was given but can choose from any of the five available. To that end, I am presenting the following bloggers with the following awards:

Sarge Charlie

For those bloggers who inspire others through their words and actions. With a positive attitude, and an uplifting spirit these bloggers make the blogosphere a better place, and encourage others to do the same. This award is for bloggers who rise up to set an example but continue to reach out and support others.

Whitterer on Autism - Drown River Drivel - Sgt Dub
- Airhead 55

For those bloggers who are battling or have battled with physical and mental illness, those who are survivors of abuse, poverty, or who have overcome other challenges in life. Those who serve in the military or work/volunteer in dangerous situations in order to provide a service or to help others. This award is for the strong, the brave, and the courageous.

Duward Discussion

"For those who bring unique and creative elements to their blogs. For those who incorporate art, music, creative writing, photo's, and other beautiful visual effects into their website. For those who put a unique spin on things and come up with new ideas. This award is for the artsy, the funky, the inventor, and even the rebel. This award is for those creative individuals who stand out from the crowd."

Ladies and gentlemen, you are more than worthy of these awards and I am happy to present them to you. For those of my readers who are not familiar with the above blogs and their authors, I urge you to go read a bit of them and you'll see why I've chosen them. Hopefully you will admire them as much as I do!

Okay next out of the horn - the announcement of the upcoming blog carnival at Blog Village where yours truly as submitted a post from last July. The carnival is being hosted by Texas RV Travel Blog beginning on Monday, July 30th and can be found here. Stop on by for what is sure to be some great reading!

Tumbling out next is a shout-out to my friend Ed over at The Pisstakers who is finally back up and running after having some hard-drive problems. Get your minds out of the gutter people - it was his computer!
Just a reminder that Ed takes a screenshot of the last 10 MyBlogLog bloggers to visit his blog every Sunday morning sometime around 10 a.m. or so and if the lucky 10 also leave a comment with a link to the best post of the week on their own blog, they will receive a "slightly witty mini review". It's a great way to get a little linky love (I told you his hard-drive was fixed, didn't I?!) as well as toot your own horn a little bit about what you think was your best post of the week. I submitted my post What America Means to Me as mine and Ed graciously gave me 5 stars for it! I was psyched, to say the least! Stop on by, tell Ed I said "hey", and browse a bit - he's got some good stuff over there!

Finally last out of the horn - but never least - is a promo for my friend Mo's upcoming blog talk radio show tomorrow night with special guest - Her Majesty Mimi, Queen of Memes! The Mo Show will be talking about memes, memes, and more memes tomorrow evening and I hope you'll be there as we learn about proper meme etiquette, the punishments available for those not responding to a meme tag, and just about everything else you ever did or didn't want to know about those pesky little things that make their way around the Blogosphere faster than rumors of Lindsay and Britney! Listen in, call in, or IM in and if you're lucky you'll be able to find out what Dixie had for dinner, too!


There are probably a couple more things kicking around in that cornucopia but I think for now you've had about all you can handle for one post! Not just that but the truth be told, my fingers need a rest, too!

Everyone have a great Tuesday and thanks for stopping by!

The 5 Question Interview Meme

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A long, long time ago on a blog far, far away (or at least several webpages over!), Jamie at Duward Discussion did a meme with five interview questions asked of her by Mo of It's A Blog Eat Blog World. Her answers were fantastic and it seemed like a lot of fun so I volunteered for Jamie to ask me five questions of her own choosing.

Jamie sent me off her five questions and I have sat here and looked at them since the 23rd of April trying to think of the best way to answer them. I was actually rather surprised that I didn't fire off a response right away but it has obviously taken me awhile to compose my responses. Jamie did say that she hoped it was easier for me than it was for her but obviously that hasn't been the case! I think, though, that I have finally managed to answer these to the best of my ability so without further ado, I present to you The 5 Question Interview Meme:

Question #1: Who is YOUR favorite Anime character and why?

My favorite anime character would have to be Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes from the series Full Metal Alchemist. As to the why; Hughes is a family man who is very devoted to his wife Gracia and is completely and totally besotted with his daughter Elysia. He comically shoves pictures of her into other people's faces much to their annoyance but this goofy action is more or less a cover for the serious and depressing nature of his work in the Investigations Division.

His undying love for his wife is what ultimately ends up killing Maes when Envy, one of the evil characters of the series, transforms himself into Gracia during a fight and Maes hesitates just long enough for Envy to fatally shoot him through his arm and into his chest.

Incurable romantic that I am, I can see the power of love in Maes' character and that's why he is my very favorite. Plus, as far as animated characters go he's not too hard on the eyes!



Question #2: What was the absolute worst call you have ever had to dispatch and how did you come to terms with it?

In November of 2001 I was working as a police/fire dispatcher at the Norwich Police Department when we received a call for a structure fire on Lake Street. I dutifully sent out the Fire Department and began the ritual of fire dispatch, which is a lot like being a parrot as you constantly repeat back what is being reported from the scene. When crews arrived on-scene, the house was engulfed in flames and it was then that I learned that four children were trapped on the second floor.

None of them made it out alive and when it was radioed back to me that there were four fatalities, my heart dropped to my feet and it was all I could do to not break into tears right then. At the end of my shift I was given a very big hug by the police officer that I had been working the desk with and then I went home to reflect on how helpless we as dispatchers sometimes are no matter how quickly we get help to the scene or how well trained those people are.

I opted to seek counseling through the Employee Assistance Program and was able to talk out my feelings of frustration and inadequacy - something that I think all dispatchers feel from time to time as oftentimes it seems that all we can do is send the right help and hope it goes well from there. We may not be physically on-scene fighting the flames with everyone else or providing hands-on medical care to a patient but trust me - we're there.


Question #3: If there was one place you could never see again, which one would make you miss the most?

Lake Tahoe in California. When you are leaving the Tahoe Basin via Route 50 heading towards Sacramento, there is a road that you can take that makes a hairpin turn to a spot overlooking the lake. From there you can see the whole vista spread out before you just as the pioneers might have seen it and, if it's at night, it seems that all you have to do is reach out your hand and you could pull the stars down from the sky. It's breathtaking.


Question #4: What song (piece of music) always makes you smile when it surprises you in an unexpected place such as the supermarket.

"White Flag" by Dido always makes me smile when I hear it unexpectedly as it became "my" song when it first came out in 2003. I had managed to get my heart rather severely broken and had doubts that I would survive the agony of it all (ah, the melodrama!) and this song seemed to sum it all up nicely. It would come on at the oddest times and now when I hear it, having obviously survived said broken heart, I always smile and shake my head while remembering that time really does seem to heal all wounds. Most of the time!


Question #5: Design your calendar. What image would you put on each month that would represent your hopes for a year from that date; i.e. May on the calendar would be a wish for May of the following year.

I hate to punk out on this one but I cannot for the life of me come up with a decent answer for this and I'm afraid that it is the one question that held up this entire interview! It's hard for me to project out what I want for the next year to come other than health, a little bit of financial breathing room, and reasonable happiness. Jamie, I hope I didn't disappoint you too much by not being able to answer this one properly but - honestly - I am stumped!


And now it's your turn - if you'd like me to interview you just follow the instructions below and I'll send you five questions of your own to mull over and agonize about!

1. Leave a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions (if I don't have your email address, you can email me instead, just click on the mailbox on my sidebar). I will pick the questions that I think are applicable to you.
3. You then update your blog with your answers to the questions.
4. You include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you then ask them five questions.

You never know - this could be fun and it's a great way to have others get to know you a little better!