I make $6.50 an hour. Am I poor?

I finally found an article on MSN worth sharing. Click on the link for the whole article. Having made this same journey myself it is amazing to look around at all the people that are better off than you and realize that in a lot of ways thier comfy lives keep them from seeing what is really important. I know I for one am REALLY tired of hearing people with more than enough of everything WHINE and bitch about how awful it is and how this and that and the other thing are so terrible. When in fact they are blessed and just don't see it.

I make $6.50 an hour. Am I poor?
Here's how I slipped from the middle class into near poverty, and what I'm doing about it.
By Karen Datko

As a single professional woman, for years I sat securely among the lower rungs of the middle class.

Now I've fallen off the ladder.

In a matter of months, I went from a comfortable life with decent pay and health insurance to a $6.50-an-hour job with no insurance, no furniture and just enough resources to keep the wolf from the door.

I no longer buy anything unless it's absolutely essential. I spend $40 at the supermarket and make it last for more than two weeks. I never turn down a free meal. I've learned to graciously accept money, furniture, elk meat and encouragement from worried friends.

I am no longer proud.

I have no romantic notions about being poor. I'm not nobler than others, and I'm not a victim. But I am one minor medical emergency away from welfare.

Simply put, I'm in survival mode.

Finally, now we know!

A geneticist, a philosopher and a chicken farmer say they have found the answer to a great evolutionary puzzle.
The experts looked at the evidence in the long-standing debate over which came first - the chicken or the egg - and opted for the egg.

Professor John Brookfield, a genetics expert from Nottingham University, said the first chicken must have started out as an embryo in an egg.

This means the organism in the eggshell would have the same DNA as the chicken.

He explained that the reason was due to the fact that genetic material does not change during an animal's life.

Professor Brookfield said: "The first living thing which we could say unequivocally was a member of the species would be this first egg, so I would conclude that the egg came first."

Arkansas

My friend Twitch recently spent Xmas in Little Rock, Arkansas. Here's how it went in his words:

"things to do on xmas night in little rock?

i mean seriously, they dont even sell beer in the stores on xmas?

Jesus made water into wine man.... wine!

not that i want to get absolutly shit hammered but gawd donna, i wanna have a beer after dealing with family for the last 48 hours.

thanks

and merry xmas.

tw

Part 2:

ok.... so i finally found a bar open in little rock!

do these holy rollers in this town NOT understand Jesus made water into wine???

its ok he is down with it... let it go repressed people.

midtown... little rock's version of printers.

oh yeah, im down!


see you there.

ho ho ho~

tw

Well as you can see Twitch has rediscovered the 'Dry' part of the south. The part where they have absolutely inane, insane laws/rules governing the sale of or even prohibiting the sale of Alcohol.

I lived in Arkansas for a bit as a child. (Yeah if you know me you are probably asking yourself HOLY HELL woman is there any place you haven't lived?) Remember this was way back before seat belt reform, drunk driving laws, and all that good stuff. Besides my family was originally from Montana. None of those nifty things really apply to people from Montana anyway. Heh.

Well here is the rest of the story and also happens to be my reply to Twitch:

Haha well at least it isn't a dry county there. When I was a kid we lived in Magnolia Arkansas for a bit and whenever the parental units needed a drink (pretty much every night :D ) we were all loaded up in the station wagon and driven to the nearest wet county that had an open bar or liquor store or dude named Jim Bob that was having a bar-B-Q with free beer.

Anyway that really wasn't the issue, that was all fine and good. I LIKED the station wagon. And going to Jim Bob's was always fun.

But driving home with drunk parental units... Yeah that was HELL. I remember this one night my dad was swerving all over the road causing the tire noise to sound like

"(Way Down Upon the) Swanee River"

Well that's what the Parental Unit's were saying and then they of course had to sing.....

Way down upon de Swanee ribber,

Far, far away,
Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,
Dere's wha de old folks stay.
All up and down de whole creation
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation
And for de old folks at home.

I think that's the only part of the 3 verses of the song they could remember.

Um well anyway what I'm saying is there is something seriously wrong with Arkansas Dude!

Peace!

~me

Yay for childhood memories!

Merry Christmas from (near) Memphis :)

Coldplay ~God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

Lyrics:
Where do we go, nobody knows
I've got a say, I'm on my way down
God give me style and give me grace
God put a smile upon my face

Where do we go to draw the line?
I've got a say, I wasted all your time, honey honey
Where do I go to fall from grace?
God put a smile upon your face, yeah

And ah, when you work it out I'm worse than you
Yeah, when you work it out I wanted to
And ah, when you work out where to draw the line
Your guess is as good as mine

Where do we go, nobody knows
Don't ever say you're on your way down when
God gave you style and gave you grace
God put a smile upon your face

And ah, when you work it out I'm worse than you
Yeah, when you work it out I want it too
And ah, when you work out where to draw the line
Your guess is as good as mine
It's as good as mine
It's as good as mine
It's as good as mine
As good as mine
As good as mine
As good as mine
As good as mine

Where do we go, nobody knows
Don't ever say you're on your way down when
God gave you style and gave you grace
And put a smile upon your face

Back road Memphis Tennessee 

Hehe :) 

Happy Kids :)  

Sun & the dark side of the Moon by Cameron 

Horse by Cameron 

Flowers by Cameron 

Happy snail by Cameron 

Collage of Cameron's artwork from the Kidzart show :) 

Donald Rumsfeld in action

You Are 62% Peaceful

You are a very peaceful person. All is good in your world, no matter what's going on. Occasionally you let your problems get to you, but you generally remain upbeat. Your inner strength is inspirational - much more so than you may realize.

How Peaceful Are You?

a recent postsecret.com entry that amused me.

:)

You Are Dancer

Carefree and fun, you always find reasons to do a happy dance. Why You're Naughty: That dark stint you had as Santa's private dancer. Why You're Nice: You're friendly. Very friendly.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Your Movie Buff Quotient: 68%

You are a total movie buff. Classics, blockbusters, indie favorites... you've seen most of them. Your friends know to come to you whenever they need a few good DVD rental suggestions.

Are You a Movie Buff?

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are. While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

You Are 88% Open Minded

You are so open minded that your brain may have fallen out! Well, not really. But you may be confused on where you stand. You don't have a judgemental bone in your body, and you're very accepting. You enjoy the best of every life philosophy, even if you sometimes contradict yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

Haha my brain did not fall out!....

'Beer goggles' effect explained

Scientists believe they have worked out a formula to calculate how "beer goggles" affect a drinker's vision.

An = number of units of alcohol consumed
S = smokiness of the room (graded from 0-10, where 0 clear air; 10 extremely smoky)
L = luminance of 'person of interest' (candelas per square metre; typically 1 pitch black; 150 as seen in normal room lighting)
Vo = Snellen visual acuity (6/6 normal; 6/12 just meets driving standard)
d = distance from 'person of interest' (metres; 0.5 to 3 metres)

"For example, someone with normal vision, who has consumed five pints of beer and views a person 1.5 metres away in a fairly smoky and poorly lit room, will score 55, which means they would suffer from a moderate beer goggle effect

The research was commissioned by eyecare firm Bausch & Lomb PureVision.

A poll showed that 68% of people had regretted giving their phone number to someone to whom they later realised they were not attracted.

A formula rating of less than one means no effect. Between one and 50 the person you would normally find unattractive appears less "visually offensive".

Non-appealing people become suddenly attractive between 51 and 100. At more than 100, someone not considered attractive looks like a super model.


Haha um did we really need an equation for this?

[A] final comfort that is small, but not cold: The heart is the only broken instrument that works. ~T.E. Kalem

God is closest to those with broken hearts. ~Jewish Saying

Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go. ~Author Unknown

I thought when love for you died, I should die.
It's dead. Alone, most strangely, I live on.
~Rupert Brooke


When love is lost, do not bow your head in sadness; instead keep your head up high and gaze into heaven for that is where your broken heart has been sent to heal. ~Author Unknown

Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it's better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together. ~Author Unknown

If we must part forever,
Give me but one kind word to think upon,
And please myself with, while my heart's breaking.
~Thomas Otway


Bad as I like ye, it's worse without ye. ~Irish Proverb

Ask me why I keep on loving you when it's clear that you don't feel the same way for me... the problem is that as much as I can't force you to love me, I can't force myself to stop loving you. ~Author Unknown

I never knew until that moment how bad it could hurt to lose something you never really had. ~From the television show The Wonder Years

Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love. ~Charlie Brown


I prithee send me back my heart,
Since I cannot have thine;
For if from yours you will not part,
Why, then, shouldst thou have mine?
~John Suckling

Let no one who loves be unhappy... even love unreturned has its rainbow. ~James Matthew Barrie


As soon as forever is through, I'll be over you. ~Toto

Yes, I will go. I would rather grieve over your absence than over you. ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

Visual Play on Words

~ There are over 70 different artists represented in the picture.

Here are a few of them:

Green Day
Smashing Pumpkins
Gorillaz
Alice in Chains
Queen
Scissor Sisters
the Rolling Stones
guns and roses
Nine Inch Nails
The Eels
matchbox 20
Black Flag
Alice In Chains
The Eagles
Blind Melon
The Pixies
Led Zeppelin
White Zombie
White Snake
Radiohead
U2
Deep Purple
Iron Maiden
Cowboy Junkies
B52s
The Killers
Madonna
Lemonhead
Korn
Garbage

Click on the headline for a "spoiler" page if you want to see more answers. You might have to scroll down to see the picture and answers.

The man who wasn't there

As I was walking up the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish, I wish he'd stay away.