Bloggerstock: Before there were blogs

Yo! It's time for Bloggerstock again. And seeing as I hardly made an attempt to write this month, here is a guest post, so the my blog doesn't feel like I'm too busy for it... so enjoy Bloggerstock once again! You can catch me for the next two days on Nyx's Blog for two different blogrings. And be sure to at least go today and wish Nyx a happy birthday :D 

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Before there were blogs I wrote in a diary. I've got a few hanging out on shelf. But I have to say the most tattered and loved of my half empty diaries was definitely my first. A pink The Babysitter's Club Diary. It only seems fitting that my chosen entry come from that diary. I picked a great entry that covers a variety of life topics that some how still ring all too true today... however i think it was the near impossible to read silver gel pen that caught my eye.

Monday July 20^th 1998 (age: 11)

Me and Grandpa were looking at this copying store for stickers. They didn’t have any but I found this pen. I didn’t have enough. It was $1.99 I only had $1.39. I asked him if he would lend me 70 cents. So he paid for all of it. I told him I would pay him back. He said: “in work, not cash”. Mom said it was nice. I want her to pay me my $5.00 So I can get a gold one.

Later me & mom & marcy & wendy went to this fabric wearhouse. We spent 44$ total. 8$ in patterns and the rest was net and hook & eye tape. We saved 389.00 it would have been over $400.00 if the store hadn’t been on sale the patterns were 25 cents and 5 cents each. The net and hook & eye tape was 35 cents a yard. We made a deal.

A couple of weeks ago we got 2 pairs of 5$ jeans at different places.

Grandma is about to drive everybody crazy with her breakfast tomorrow at 9.00 and she thinks if they get up at 7:00 she won’t have enough time to get ready. AND she keeps getting mad at Robyn and Steven. Every time Robyn grunts, grandma takes it personally. It just bugs everybody and grandma asked my mom if steven went and played with his friends everyday. Mom told her no, and then mom tried to explain how he feels and she (grandma) said something in the tone of voice like o poor Steve. That just ticked mom off.

Ruth

Ann


There is so little about this entry that has changed. I gladly have in the past asked my grandfather for money, until he passed away a few months ago, and the last thing I asked him for wasn't 2 bucks for an awesome silver gel pen (probably my first, too). He helped to fund my study abroad trip to London. I cherish every cent he gave me, especially for that trip, because that was an amazing trip, but the time i spent paying it back, "in work not cash" before I left for London was also more than I probably deserved. I got the chance to spend some time with him and my grandma before his dementia took over the most wonderful parts of him and took him from this life. He was a theatre man, and ultimately he's to blame for the "wonderful" career path I've chosen. Thanks ;).
Also-- I probably got that gold pen from Grandpa, but still want my 5 bucks from Mom...

As for the fabric shopping trip where we saved like 90%-- pretty awesome stuff. Only now it's probably just me and mom, as we don't do much shopping with Marcy any more, and wendy gets (obnoxiously) bored at almost any store. And now we would be spending that 400-800 dollars. but still saving 90%. As those were the starting of my mom's fairly successful career in costume making for Clytie Adams School of Ballet. Whom she still lovingly works for, and so do I on many occasions.

Sweet deal on jeans--nothing more to say.

As for my grandma still driving everyone crazy.... that entry could practically be verbatim from a conversation yesterday. except that my grandma would NEVER get up that early.

It's been a pretty hilarious trip to read back on all my old diaries. I have to say that reading the elementary school and jr. high school diaries was way more pleasant than reading the high school diaries full of angst, annoyance and boys--Seriously, the only decent entry was about 9-11 and I just wasn't in the mood for that.

Ruth Jones

www.ruthajones.com/blog

Bloggerstock: Stop the World!

Hey guys! So, it's Bloggerstock time, again. This month's theme was "Stop World, I want to get on/off!". I'm writing over at Cerebral Lunchbox. So be sure to stop by over there. Here is one of my bloggy friends, Bobby. Hope you enjoy!

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Hello readers.  Today Bloggerstock is about stopping the world.  I actually have 2 moments when I wanted the world to stop completely but not get on or off.  Both of these moments occurred at the end of last year.  Let get started, shall we?

The first moment came when my sister had her second wedding in Fells Point in Baltimore.  It may come as a shock to you, but I hardly go into the city of Baltimore.  Last time I was there was during a field trip in high school (11 plus years ago) to an Orioles baseball game.    I had intentions to just skip the wedding and go around the harbor and the neighborhood to sight see.  I know that may sound mean but come on - this wedding was taking place at a small bar filled with 50 people.  It got cramped pretty quickly.  Plan was to watch the ceremony, then skip out on the reception.  Why sit around when I could have walked about the city?  Unfortunately, Mother Nature was not on my side.  When I got closer to the location, a light rain started to fall.  I prayed that it would let up soon.  Nope.  Once the wedding started, the rain really started to fall, and didn’t stop til four hours later.  Really put a damper on my plans.  As I was sitting at the wedding looking outside the window, I wanted the world to stop.  Let me go explore the city then come back and then resume my life.

Second moment is a rather sad one.  Two weeks before Christmas, my grandmother (mom’s side) had trouble breathing.  She was a heavy smoker.  She was taken to the hospital to get checked out, and had to stay for a few days.  Then her doctor cleared her to go home.  I was excited because I would go up to see her during Christmas.  But shortly before Christmas came, she passed away.  I felt awful that I never got the chance to go see her when she got back from the hospital.  I wanted the world to stop.  If I had the option, I would rewind time and just spend some moments with her.  She was an awesome grandmother.  I miss her very much.

Those are my 2 moments of wanting to stop the world.  Thank you for reading.  Thanks to Lily for hosting my blog.  Be sure to check out my blog at BooyaBobby.  The talented Dapper Daisy will be posting her Bloggerstock.  Again Thanks for reading.  :)

Bloggerstock: What Inspires you?

Hey guys! It's time for Bloggerstock, again. Where someone writes for me and I write for someone else. This month's topic is "What inspires you". Be sure to read about who inspires me on Kris's blog Because or Why Not. And now Riley from Wayfaring Warrior will tell us what inspires her. Enjoy!

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What Inspires me? Competition. Revenge. Fear.

It’s not the most mature response, but what rouses me from my bed at 04:45AM to go to the gym is the thought of ex-friends, lovers, and frenemies seeing my perfect six-pack and crooning with jealousy.

All humans want to be somebody. They want to be someone good. We want.

Somewhere between wanting and becoming is a long line of excuses that we might pick up, distractions that lead us astray, and feel forlorn that we’ll never get our goals. That’s when competition, revenge and fear take hold.

I compete. I’m afraid of not measuring up. So I work hard. I sublimate my insecurities by measuring myself against others. Can someone run a mile thirty seconds faster than me? I must catch them! Then the next guy, and the guy after that, and the guy after that.

Like most people, I feel like I have been wronged in one way or another. I seek revenge by being better (it goes right along with competitiveness). They say that living well is the best revenge? Well, I do just that.

I once had an NCO tell me that I had no idea what I was doing, that I wasn’t going to be an officer, and that no one would ever put me in charge of soldiers. He called me “Parade Pretty”, and “Princess”. I should have punched him in the face. Later on, in the small world that we call the Army, I passed him in a parking lot.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” he said as he rendered a salute.

“Good afternoon, sergeant,” I responded back, walking past him into the building.

I don’t know for sure, but I think he looked back, realizing who I was, doing a double-take and miss-step when he walked into the curb.

You salute the rank, not necessarily the person, but it was pretty sweet all the same. I won’t go after him. I’ll certainly never be anything than professional and fair to him… but in that, there’s a sweet taste of vengeance as well.

Lastly, I use fear as an inspiration. I don’t fear heights, crowds, or loud noises. There are no devils, or monsters in the closet, or shadows in the night. I fear failure. I’m afraid of not doing well, of not performing. I’m afraid of that slippery slope – hey, if you skip this morning’s run, what’ll keep you from skipping two? Or three? What will keep you from slipping from running entirely and become one of those people that just don’t exercise anymore, using time, age, work, and laziness as an excuse.

Is that the fate I want for myself? No.

Is it wrong that use such negative emotions as a source of inspiration? Maybe.

Deep down, I have more than just these three things pushing me towards my goals, but those won’t yank you out of bed before the break of dawn. It won’t push you that extra mile.

Different things inspire us. These are mine.

Thank you Lily, for hosting my post on Bloggerstock! When you get the chance, please take a look at Shelly’s post on my blog While you're at it, go check out Shelly's Blog too!

Bloggerstock: Spooky!

So it's that time again... where my blog gets hijacked for Bloggerstock! This month Brandie from The Muffin's Blog is taking over my blog. 

My post will be over at Nicole's Blog. I think you'll like it. 

And also, sign up for Bloggerstock. 

Enjoy, and have a happy Halloween!

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So I just recently joined  Brandie and I'm a Blog alcoholic! I am also Obsessed with Carving Halloween Pumpkins and May expand to Watermelons this Summer!

So I went Shopping for the right Pumpkins and I got extremely aggressive with my carving this year...I added Photo Carvings and Also Had a Pervy Pumpkin  carved for Ms Sara Swears a lots Pumpkin Contest...
Normally Id buy a pumpkin carving kit and patterns from the Walmart or Halloween Store...pick the hardest from their book and go to town! However after a morning Coffee and tutorial session on YouTube I decided Ill carve Photos this year... Cuz really How hard can it Be!? HA! Well it was hard and after 9 Hours my back was killing me! I also learned how to Roast Pumpkin Seeds and quite Frankly Im wondering Why I had to wait 41 years for thouse toasty tastey pieces of Heaven! So Enjoy! Give me Feed Back...I have One more to carve...For the Hunka...He wants a Death Star Pumpkin...Ugh! Star Wars! Really?

Placing my Photo on the Pumpkin

This one Damn Near Killed me Looks Pretty Good though!

Looks Better Lit!

Not so Pervy Pumpkin

 Thanks For Checking it out Hope You Have a Happy Halloween!

XO Muffin!

30DOT: Day 13

First things first... I'm part of a group of people who are writing on a blog... and we're all losing weight together. Read our journey here: Blogging Blobs

Also, Sunday is Bloggerstock and Halloween! So naturally, Bloggerstock's theme is Halloween related! So be prepared to read a bunch of scary stories.

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30 Days of Truth: A Band or Artist that has gotten you through some tough times (write a letter).

Luckily, I'm good at writing fake letters that may or may not get read by their intended audience. Here goes:

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Dear Scooter Ward, Sam McCandles, other members of Cold and rotating members of Cold, 

Cold was the first rock/grunge band I had heard since Nirvana. And to be honest, I never really cared for Nirvana like most other people did, and Kurt Cobain was not my hero. I first heard your Year of the Spider album in my brother's mini van on my way to school. And thought to myself ... I can see myself listening to this on my own. But I never really did. 

Then one day, out of nowhere. I got side swiped by teenage angst. I hated everything, everyone, I hated the sun, the moon, and XYZ. Except music. I went to my first official concert when I was sixteen. My brother had tickets to your concert at the Metro, here in Chicago on May 25, 2003. 

Ticket stub from my first Cold
 concert in 2003.
It's also autographed by
Scooter Ward.

I remember going into the venue not knowing what to expect. It was my first rock show and had no idea what would happen. My brother, Frank, did not want me to be in the ground level, because he thought that with all the people moshing and jumping around that I would get trampled. I remember only knowing the songs from Year of the Spider and one or two from Thirteen Ways to Bleed on Stage. I remember feeling accomplished because I called your bluff... you began playing the intro to Stupid Girl ... but then went into Goodbye Cruel World.

After the concert, Scooter and all the other band members were outside. Frank and I went over to Scooter and told Scooter it was my first show. Scooter wrapped his arms around me. And immediately knew that you guys cared about your fans. I felt like a little kid after the hug, I told Frank, Did you see that?! He hugged me! He hugged me! And for some reason, I started crying.

It wasn't until I was in college that your songs meant much more to me. After my first semester of sophomore year, I was required to withdraw, basically, I was sucking at school, and I had to take time off to reevaluate whether I wanted to be a student at that school or not. When I told my dad, he went apeshit. He made me feel like I wasn't trying, when I was. I really was. He made it seem like I was taking school as a joke, which again, I wasn't. 

The whole year I took off from expensive college, everything bad that could happen, happened. My grandmother got sick and had to have an operation, I lost friends, etc, etc. It was not a fun time for me. At all. 

I started hanging out with my brother again, because he was one of the few people who didn't make me feel like a failure. He was the only one who knew how hard it really was for me being three hours away from home, not being able to come home all the time like some of my friends could, not making the grades, not being able to stay on top of everything like I used to. 

We were in the car one day going to the mall, I decided to listen to Cold. And the song Wasted Years came on. I immediately started to cry. This song, could pretty much explain how I went from the depressed mess I was to the slightly less sad/mad at the world/myself person I am now. The lines from the chorus that really spoke to me were:

It's not hard to fail, It's not easy to win 

These lines, I felt, were exactly how I was feeling. Exactly how everyone around me was making me feel. It wasn't easy to get a C in that class... it wasn't hard to not go to class when it was 40 below 0, and you lived off campus. It wasn't easy being the person everyone always knew... but it wasn't hard to become the person they were making you feel that you were. I ended up getting those lines tattooed, because it's a reminder to me that I can do things I want to do, that I can accomplish things I set my mind to, although there are others that make me feel like I can't. 

I have never felt this way when hearing any other band. Even while writing this, I get a little emotional. I took out all my Cold cd's, my autographed poster from a concert you guys had in Champaign, IL that I wasn't able to attend,  but I got a phone call from Frank and talked to you guys for a while and could only remember one of the members of the band saying "hope you can make it next time". Sadly, I haven't been able to attend any of your recent shows. All the shows in Chicago, or even in the rest of Illinois or the ones close by in Indiana and Wisconsin have been impossible for me to get to. Then there was one you did in Appleton, WI ... and I wanted to go so bad. I was in Appleton too. But the show was the day before I was to go up to Appleton. 

Cold will always be one of my favorite bands. Whether you guys are touring and making new music or if you guys decide that making music is no longer for you. Cold has gotten me through the hardest times in my life. And I am forever indebted. 

Sincerely,

Lily A. 

Thirty Days of Truth (1) Something you hate about yourself. (2)Something you love about yourself. (3) Something you have to forgive yourself for. (4) Something you have to forgive someone for. (5) Something you hope to do in your life. (6) Something you hope you never have to do. (7) Someone who has made your life worth living for. (8) Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit. (9) Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted. (10) Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know. (11) Something people seem to compliment you the most on. (12) Something you never get compliments on. (13) A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.) (14) A hero that has let you down. (letter) (15) Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it. (16) Someone or something you definitely could live without. (17) A book you’ve read that changed your views on something. (18) Your views on gay marriage. (19) What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics? (20)views on drugs and alcohol. (21) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do? (22) Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life. (23) Something you wish you had done in your life. (24) Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter) (25) The reason you believe you’re still alive today. (26) Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why? (27) What’s the best thing going for you right now? (28) What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do? (29) Something you hope to change about yourself. And why. (30) A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself .

Scary Stories I

So it's October, and well, at the end of the month is the best holiday ever Halloween (also my friend Katie's birthday)! 

In the spirit of Halloween and all that is spooky, I decided I would share with you guys some scary stories: real, made up, semi-real. Also a very special scary story for this month's Bloggerstock, which you'll have to wait for patiently, or impatiently. Whichever you prefer.  

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My house is really haunted. People never believe me and I don't know why. The only person that ever believed me was my friend Rocio. And I think she only believed me because we decided that we should play the Quija board in my living room and ask the ghosts in my house what time it was. First things first, there are no clocks in my living room. And I have the worst internal clock ever. One time, I thought it was 5 am, turned out it was only 11 pm. We asked the board/spirits what time it was and it told us the time. We had to go to the kitchen to verify. 

The scariest thing that has ever happened to me was a not so long ago. I was having a hard time sleeping in my room. It was either too hot, or my bed just did not feel right. I thought that if I slept on the couch, I'd feel better. I grabbed my pillow and my blanket and headed to the living room. 

I fell asleep almost immediately. 

I began having this weird, very vivid dream that I was driving. Near my house is a long stretch boulevard that cuts through the entire city of Chicago. It's pretty neat because it cuts through most of the big parks. It's kind of cool too that it's the fastest way to get from one extreme of the city to the other. It's a very winding road. 

I was dreaming that I was driving Piggy's new car (at the time). For some odd reason, he let me drive without a license, and told me to be careful. I was driving on the boulevard and I saw a kid walking across the street. I assumed he was going to school or leaving school (on each side there is a school). I began to slow down as to not hit the kid. 

Apparently, instead of stepping on the brake, I stepped on the gas. I hit the poor kid with the car. I didn't know what to do so I just kept driving, but at each turn, I kept hitting the same kid. And at each turn, he kept getting bloodier. 

Some how or other, I managed to get off of the boulevard and onto the grid-like system streets that define the city. I was making it home when the kid was at the corner in front of my house ... 

I don't remember the rest of the dream. 

For some weird reason, I woke up in the middle of the night. I sleep facing down. I was slowly turning so that I could see the living room. And as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw the kid I kept hitting with the car in my dream sitting on the floor! Right next to the couch I was sleeping on! 

I quickly turned back around to face the wall and began telling myself that nothing was there. I didn't even think to look again. I was too scared. I had never felt that scared in my life.

In the morning, I told my mom. She looked at me as if I were crazy. She asked me if I had gone out drinking the night before, because sometimes I have weird dreams like that if I go to sleep drunk. I didn't. And then she told me that one time she was home alone, Piggy and I were at our dad's for the weekend and her husband was visiting his sister in North Carolina, when she saw something similar. 

She told me that she fell asleep in the living room while watching television. Out of nowhere, much like I did, she woke up. At first she didn't notice anything and she started to fall back asleep when she heard someone walking in the living room. She thought that it might be our landlords' cat walking upstairs in the attic, so she brushed it off. 

But then she heard giggling. And that scared her. She sat up on the couch and saw a little boy sitting in front of our television set with a bag over his head. Maybe it was the same kid, who knows. It's definetly scary being alone here sometimes. And even when you're not alone, scary things happen and other people who are here didn't hear or see anything. We moved into this house when I was about nine years old. And the scary hasn't stopped since. 

Bloggerstock: Do Over!

I like doing introductions. They're kind of fun. So this month, I decided to do a bloggerstock post. So you sign up, and then everyone who signs up gets the same prompt. You write for someone's blog and someone else writes for yours.

I'm lucky to have a Bloggerstock founder guest post on my blog. Check out more of Alex Weisman's writing here: http://icewolf08.com.  Alex is a really awesome guy. I've had the pleasure of chatting with him on 20sb on many occasions. I hope you enjoy his post.

I know you might be sad that you don't get to read something I wrote today. But you're in luck! I also wrote a post.  Read my guest blog here: http://michaelvenske.com/blog/

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t is that crazy time again, Bloggerstock!  I am coming to you from IceWolf's Ramblings and odds are this will turn into one of my very traditional rambles.  This month's topic is "Do-Overs," a topic that I really didn't know how to approach.  One of the first things that this topic reminded me of is a couple of "Futurama" episodes when they have the "What-if machine."  It was a machine where you could ask what-if questions and it would show you what could have been.  Seemingly the only "time travel device" that didn't create any paradox.  Ok, so I am a sci-fi/tech geek. 

I think the biggest problem I have with do-overs is that I like where I am today.  I am happily employed, I have a great relationship with my girlfriend, I am happy where I am living, life is pretty good.  Therefore, the sci-fi nerd in me would worry about the things that I might do over changing what I have currently.  I suppose I could end up just as happy if I changed things that I had done in the past, but maybe not in the same place as I am today.  Maybe it is a fear of the unknown, I don't know.

Then, when i started to think about things that I might want to do over, the things that ended up at the top of my list seemed to center around relationships.  One in particular that I think was probably doomed from the start.  I think that if I had the chance to do that again I would probably just not get into that relationship.  It lead to too much unhappiness and affected more people than just myself and her.  Being free of that may have drastically changed my social life in college, quite possibly for the better.  Now, don't get me wrong, we are still friends, but I think that it is better this way.  We were never in the same place at the same time and our lives were always set on different paths.

Beyond that, I can't really put a finger on any decisions that I regret or things that I would change.  I mean, I would love to change things like the car wreck that I was in this summer.  I would love to have not wrecked my parent's truck.  This seems fairly minor and far from life-changing.  It certainly was one of those things that right after it happened I kept saying to myself: "if only I could have done that differently." On the other hand, it just seems to minor to worry about.  It wasn't like I totaled the BMW!

I feel like changing the minute things may actually have the most impact on life.  The little things always seem to add up faster than the big things.  I suppose though, that if you only got one do-over it would be pointless to waste it on something small.  If I was going to change something that I had done though, I would want it to be something with predictable results.  I would have a hard time picking something to change if I couldn't have some idea of how I would end up now.  On the other hand, if by taking your do-over you didn't remember how things had been, maybe it wouldn't be so bad as there would be no basis for comparison.  Maybe I just spend to much time over thinking such things.

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Enjoying bloggerstock?  You can read other posts by other participants by visiting IceWolf's RamblingsIceWolf's Ramblings, or by visiting the bloggerstock website.  If you want to participate in future events, you can find information at: http://bloggerstock.net

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Did you like what you just read? Do you think you can do something like this too? Want to participate next month? Sign up here: http://blogerstock.net