If you don't like it, yell at the hosts!

It's kinda . . . kinda . . . screwy.

What is it about, exactly?

What is what about?

The true meaningless of screwing.

not sure, but: paranoia is sitting back and watching the forces at play without noticing that you're the one pulling the strings...

or the screws, for that matter...

This might be too profound for me; I'm still trying to figure out that military statement.

but, Autumn, preservation of Thailand's security, stability and independence will be critical for the maintenance of peace and the security of U.S. interests in the Southeast Asian region.

That's exactly what I mean!

then why didn't you say so?

I was yelling too hard in the background for her to hear you...

(the peanut gallery has stepped up the madness)

Peanut gallery or whatever, somebody needs to raise a fuss whenever the phrase,"important to our national interests," is used. Otherwise, one day we will wake up and find ourselves in another war like the Vietnam war.

That's the problem with Switzerland....except that they won't...

They Won't what?

Find themselves in a war...

Well at least you don't have to worry about your children going off to war and coming back in body bags.

No, all I'm saying is that it will probably take a war to make these people realize how good they have it - they are a spoilt, ungrateful and feelingless people.

They weren't involved in the last several, what makes you think that they'll be in on the next one?

Oh, I have not illusions - they won't. The only thing that could possibly provoke the Swiss into declaring war, is a doorknob inspection of other countries.....they hate anything that isn't polished.

God help us all if they ever end up ruling the world.

Riette, it sounds to me like you are a little down on the people around you. Are you homesick? Is living in Switzerland starting to get to you? Are somewhat small things becoming a pain? Or, are my perceptions way off?

By the way, when I spoke of the people around you, I did not mean your family.

Don't worry, I didn't think that - after all, they're not Swiss! I've always hated living in Switzerland, I've always found the people cold and cruel (which is probably inevitable coming from a third world country where people have no money, and no worries), and I am chronically homesick. But my husband is a Musicologist, which, together with what I do, is probably the most unpractical professional combination of two people imagineable! We're both desperate to get out to Australia, but it's so hard! My husband is English, and so I'm not sure if he's really keen to g t out, or whether he tries to keep me happy, and I'm not sure how he'd cope in more 'primitive' surroundings. This causes trouble for us, because as much as I love him, I cannot spend the rest of my life so comfy and pretty - it's just not in my blood - and at the same time, and for the same reasons, I cannot expect of him to follow my travelling passions. So I just don't know what the future holds for us. He is not keen on the idea of my doing volunteer work in the developing world, but it is somethin I feel I MUST do, and MUST share with my children; the responsibility of coming from that world is not something I take lightly, and he can't understand why. I guess it's not a rational enough sort of thing for a man to understand. So, I'm not sure where we're going - I guess I'll just have to wait and see; I have promised him that when the time comes, I'll limit myself to 3 months a year for as long as the children are in the house, because I would hate for them not to see him; they're very much i love with him, and we'll see how it goes from there. Why am I telling you all this??

Why not?

I understand what you are saying, you feel such a bond with developing nations. There is so much to do, and you want to be a part of taking care of the problems You feel that much of the world has turned their back on the situation and you don't want to do that and you don't want your children to do that either. It makes lots of sense considering your background and your passion for life.

Riette, I told you before that you could talk to me about anything that is bothering you, or when you are feeling down, or just want to talk. And I'm not the only one. I'm sure that any of us would be more than glad to talk things out with you. So, to answer your question about why you are telling this to me: Because I'm here and I care. And so does everyone else here.

I know, and it is very kind - I just didn't want you to think I'm complaining over my husband. I'm not, I love him. It is just that we have great differences at times, and that I'm not always quite sure how to compromise without compromising too much. Something I find very hard is the way people here go on about the poor developing world, and how horrible it is that people are being sent up in space while people are dying out there. They go on about it, mumbling and grumbling, but won't even send SFr. 5- as donations when the begging letters arrive in their postboxes. My husband says a hundred franks here or there won't make the slightest difference to their situation. And that is what I find difficult. He is incredibly kind, but I feel he (like most other Europeans) has had it too easy all his life. He grew up comfortably in England, studied in Oxford, Cambridge, Munich, Z�rich, had a doctoral degree by the time he was 23, has been earning a big wage eversince then. So, while he loves Africa for oliday making, while he's only too keen to give a few sents to street kids there, he cannot even imagine doing more than that. He honestly cannot imagine WHY I would want to 'waste my youth' working in those circumstances when I could be earning my own degrees; he dreams of my working at his side lecturing, and writing books. While these are great and noble aspirations, it would be no achievement for me at all. And that's where our biggest difference lies. We have these vastly different perceptions o achievement and Life's worth. I don't think it's a 'fault' on either our parts - merely a difference, which at times, seems too great to bridge. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining - I just never know how to talk about what I feel without offending people. It's not my intention.

First off, when something is bothering you, unload it here. Don't worry about what you sound like. Communicating is what is important. Be blunt if necessary. Don't hide behind semantics. I promise not to get offended. Besides, you don't complain overly much. You need to do what is right for you. When you figure that out. talk to him about it. But, only do this after your mind is made up. When he sees that your mind is made up, he'll be different about it, then he will be, when he thinks he has a chance to change your mind. This is just the way men are. We are kind of hardheaded until things come right down to an impasse.

yep, then we give in to those women who are important to us, and let them have their way...

Hmm, that gives me a certain advantage, doesn't it? Very good to know, thank you, you two! I have made up my mind, but since I have to wait until the kids are big enough, I guess it doesn't feel real to him as it does to me. I find it strange that people don't take one seriously when you make plans for the long-term - they always think it's just dreaming. Then, when the long-term passes, and you do the thing you always knew you would do, they are shocked and say, but you never seemed serious about it! I wonder why that is.

more people live for the moment than plan for the future

It won't seem real to him until you put a date to it, and start making preparations. Up until then, He'll think that he either has, or will, talk you out of it.

Also, keep mentioning it to him, not so often so that you are nagging, but often enough that he never gets comfortable with the illusion that you've forgotten completely. This is important, because, if you don't talk about it for years and then, spring it on him, fully formed, you'll blindside him. He may then react in a way he doesn't really intend to, and that could cause unnecessary hard feelings between you.

can someone please help with the text???? like, make it bolder/larger, or something, pleeeeeezzzeee!

Can someone put a more read-through-able wallpaper up so we can see what we are reading, please?!

It's gorgeous, but a little confusing. Can we do something about the text instead of the paper??

Ree, Just start the very beginning of the message (before you type any words) with brackets with b inside of them. At the end you use the same brackets with /b inside to close the HTML tag command.

I love this wallpaper - I was the one who found it and encouraged its use. I was just afraid it was getting in the way of reading the posts. Posters of Screwed, embolden your words!!!

And Make em bigger too!

or just way different!

Just spare us the blinking ones. That would be worse than the wallpaper!

But the blue looks good, no?!

*giggle*

Blue looked great when I put all those Penn State scores all over the place last Saturday... Twas the night before Y2K, And all through the nation, We'd soon see the bug that, Caused such a sensation. The chips were replaced, In computers with care, In hopes that ol' Bugsy, Wouldn't stop there. While some folks could think, They were snug in their beds, Others had visions, Of dread in their heads. And Ma with her PC, And I with my Mac, Had just logged on the Net, And kicked back with a snack. When over the server, There arose such a clatter, I called Mister Gates, To see what was the matter. But he was away, So I flew like a flash, Off to my bank, To withdraw all my cash. Then word of the shortage, Caused such a demand, That the money was gone, And the streets were all jammed. When what with my wandering eyes, Should I see on my screen, But Millennium Bugsy, This must be a dream!. The Hack of all hackers, Was looking so smug, I knew that it must be, The Y2K bug! His image downloaded, In no time at all, He whistled and shouted, "Let all systems fall!" "Go Intel! Go Gateway! Now HP! Big Blue! Everything Compac, And Pentium too! All processors big, All processors small, Crash away! Crash away! Crash away all!" All the controls, That make the planes fly, And the microwaves for, The signals they rely. All through the system, To me, and to you, The predictions they made, Would soon all come true. And then came a twinkling, As midnight drew near, All over the globe, In each hemisphere. As I drew in my breath, And was turning around, Out through the modem, He came with a bound. He was covered with fur, With six legs outspread, Two beady eyes, And a chip on his head. With a sack full of virii, Flung on his back, He looked like a hacker, Just waiting to hack. His eyes - how they twinkled! His dimples - how merry! As midnight approached, Though Things soon became scary. His droll little mouth was, Drawn up in a sneer, While he sat like a kid, Waiting out the new year. Two little antenna, Stuck out of his head, (Improved his reception, from what I've heard said.) He had a broad face, and a round little belly, But with six dirty socks, His feet were quite smelly. He was chubby and plump, Perpetually grinning, And I laughed when I saw him, Though my hard drive stopped spinning. A wink of his eye, And a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know, A new feeling of dread. He spoke not a word, But went straight to his work, He changed all the clocks, Then turned with a jerk. With a twitch of his nose, And a quick little wink, All things electronic, Soon went on the blink. He zoomed from my system, To the next folks on line, He caused such a disruption, Could this be a sign? Then I heard him exclaim, With a loud, hearty glee, 'This has been fun, I'll see you next century!'"

Oops! Wrong place to put that...but hey, it is screwed!

Let's see ...

YES YES YES!!!

GOOD GOOD GOOD!!!

Now how do I do that colour thing that Stace-face does?

well... use your <>'s again and inside put: font color=red and then do another set of <>'s with a /font inside... obviously if you don't want red... use another color! There are of course specific color numbers that you can use within quotes to get the EXACT color you want but... I like the easy way!

here's the same thing in bold so you can read it better well... use your <>'s again and inside put: font color=red and then do another set of <>'s with a /font inside... obviously if you don't want red... use another color! There are of course specific color numbers that you can use within quotes to get the EXACT color you want but... I like the easy way!

LET THERE BE GREEN!

'font colour=red' DO IT! '/font'

HO HEY!!! I didn't even notice! IT WORKED! COOOOOOOLLLL!!

And again: COOL! BLUE BABY!

Think I should try yellow?

You could just tell us you did and let us puzzle through the wallpaper maze wondering what you were telling us...*grin* and you be giggling in the bushes at us

Blow it out your ear!!!

that was supposed to be in Yellow and therefore not readable. Hmmmm....Ree, try and see what happens when you do it!

Okay, wait. I'D LIKE TO SHAG A GERMAN SHEPERD EVERY THURSDAY OR SO

HA! If you can figure that out, my deepest, dirtiest secret will be out in the open!

(Whazzat - the guy or his dog? They come in those two flavors, but only one smell...)

Oh? I wouldn't know - I've only done it with the dog so far ....

(...and here I thought dogs were Man's best friend...! ...but I have read stories and seen pictures. Hmmmm....Don't know about the flavors, though)

Oh, you have seen PICTURES! *Blush* Tell us more...

Not a chance...I thought if I wrote this in regular type font no one would be able to read it...hmmm...perhaps I should have written it in Yellow!!!... Alexander, you are far too young to know about these things!!!

...or rather, don't. Might hurt male self-consciousness unnecessarily, besides, it's just distasteful. RIETTE! I MUST call you to order! As soon as I find that recipe, that dog is roast!

...sorry to have offended you so deeply, Alexander. I shall refrain from being anywhere near screwed in future lest I do more damage. I am tired, you want to talk to Ree, and I am interfering. I know nothing about animals and people - do not even like dogs...good bye!

You guys don't have to be angry with each other, because it wasn't anything like a recipe anyway. It read: I love to shag german sheperds every Thursday or so... See? I'm far better at being offensive than either of you! ha-ha!

Marcia, my tropical flower, I am not offended a bit. I just took up the cue from Riette, but then, reconsidered that I'd actually rather see a dog barbecued (and I DO have a recipe somewhere! Published in Der Spiegel, late Seventies) than abused. Perhaps that's just because dog roast is something I'd perhaps participate in, who knows? Anyhow, that's why I called her to order (as if that'd EVER work). And my Response 68 was the continuation of my Response 66. You sneaked in, and I hadn't even seen that post until now. I'm sorry you felt I were upset about something you said. I'm not, not at all. (BTW, about the only canine I like is our Wolf - I'm cat-people.) RIETTE! SEE what happened! AND YOU SAID IT AGAIN! I'll go look for my DARNED recipe, then that dog IS roast! Which will (a) be yet another thrilling experience in a life not lacking from thrilling experiences lately, and (b) the end of it.-

Don't roast the dog!!! 'Cos that would leave me with at least 2 weird choices: (a) to date you, since the dog will be in you, (b) to date other animals!! No, NO! You're not an animal, really!

OOPS! Looks like a big misunderstanding! Communication Breakdown? Ask "Dr." Isabel! - I should know about communication problems between people - seems to be the story of my life! Y'all behave, ok?!

Interfrugal conversations, I call 'em.... You?

Thanks for your sweet comment. My heart is a lot less heavy now. I misunderstood (in my black misery this morning-after-the-tournament)your post, and misplaced posts happen all the time. I appreciate the time you took to explain your comments. You are a dear as I always knew you were. *hugs* And, you are a cat person, too, along with our absent friend and me. BTW, the filipino culture things dog is especially choice food. I can get you a real recipe if you would like!!!

thanks alex!!*smoooooch* isabel, tell us more about communication....it's so hard, sometimes, to hear the lilt in one's voice while typing away at the keyboard! ree, i got only as far as shag, the rest blended in too well for this wolfie's eyes. marcia, please don't post the dog food recipe, i would have to eat some grass and go out in the backyard to barf *grin* i am a dog loving wolfie, cats like me, though....can't figure that one out.

I shall not ruin anyone appetite or sensitivities by posting such a recipe. As for why cats and dogs love you - we all do...cannot be helped! You are just plain ole lovable *hugs*

ha-ha! No, if I have to chose between dogs and cats, I'd choose guinea-pigs. I've still got all four, Tanky-Wanky, Flipsy, La-La and Poo, and they are the most affectionate little sweety pies on earth! And don't any of you even THINK about suggesting a recipe!

Never mind...my best friend growing up had them and they would call us in the morning to feed them. Soooo Soft...and big black eyes...Don't mention them in the same post with edible human stuff!

Hmmm - just edibly cute. And they smell so nice. I love cuddling and smooching them with my nose. I'm allowed to admit that here, because of the nature of the conference. am I not?

Hey! Cat-People! Guinea-Pig-Owners! Dog-Lovers (*grin*)! I've got two cats that live with me, and a third baby-kitten-intruder from the neighbourhood, that's visiting every day to eat up all the catfood. If you all like animals,not only stuffed and cooked, why is there no animal/pet conf? I'm new here and i don't know 'nuffin', but couldn't this be fun? Just think about all the pictures we could post! See my cat sleeping, look how she plays with a mousy, see her sitting in the garden, climb up a tree,eat her meal, licking her tummy.... And all the funny topics! "What did my cat eat today" "The Cat Gallery" "Cooking for Cats" "My cats favourite music" "Cats philosophy" "Look what the cat dragged in" Mmmh, sometimes I exaggerate... Oh, and Riette, this will work with guinea-pigs, too! ...and dogs, and horses, and...

YEAH! That's cool! And you could be host of the animal conference!

Yeah! And it'd be ANIMALKINGDOM !

But, are you not part of the AnimalKingdom?! BTW, Good Morning Alexander Dear!

Good Evening!

*sigh* ...Yes! How was today? We are just getting started on it (just after 8AM)...I hope it was a happy day for you. Must finish your second letter and get it back to you. (Now, if we all used cooridnated universal time...we still would not know whether it was morning or night for other posters whose locals we did not know...)

if we're talking new conferences, can i host an animal one, huh? can i? huh, huh, huh????

Hey, thanks very much!...but a little Kitty-Corner would be totally satisfying... and maybe a "Canine-Corner" for Wolf? Marcia: "Other posters whose locals we do not know..." If You're talking to me: It's about 20:30 Middle-European Time and getting dark outside. Oh, and it's raining a bit.

Oh, Wolf! Hi to You! Took me so long to write my first posting, so You just "sneaked" between me and Marcia. I would be glad to have a little Kitty-Topic on Your Animal-Kingdom- Conference!

i don't think she was just talking about you, isabel...i'm not even sure what her and john's time is, or alex. i'm cst so right now it's 1337 (and for non 24 hour clockers, that's 1:37PM) oh, and it's cloudy and muggy. i would be happy to host an animal conference with appropriate topics. terry, let me know....

Yes, Yes, Yes!

0830 here in Sunny Hawaii...and, Wolf...The conference has to be yours. Too perfect *lol* and we will all help!

is it monday there, marcia? see, cuz it's tuesday in new zealand, so's i was just wonderin'....

Like I said once before, we are the last place on earth, just about, to get "today" so it is Monday. December 31st (Y2K) all of our computers will still be functioning long after the rest of the world has BIOS'd out...or so the story goes. John and I will be talking to each other !

�Visciously taking pictures of my guinea piggies.� Think I'll call my topic, 'Wanky and friends'

There you go! (I did not know Guinnea pigs were into Wanky activity!)Wolf keeps begging the powers ^up there^ for a furry conference...

I would be great fun having a furry conference! Actually that guinea pig's name was originally Tinky Winky - named by my teletubby mad kids - but Elza can't pronounce it right, and keeps calling her Tanky Wanky. And Po she calls Poo. And now I've adopted it too - the vulgar connotation is purely incidental. My language is absolutely ridden with baby pronunciations - quite bizarre stuff!

Not bizarre at all, unless we are all guilty of this behavior (in which case it might be termed "normal?!") There are still terms I use which are so much more descriptive than the ususal ones which were borrowed from a creative child.

i had a guinea pig too. her name was charlotte. she would wait for kisses from my big dog. i gave her a bath, she caught a cold, we took her to the vet, gave her shots of vitamin c via a syringe in her mouth and i still lost her. i cried. never thought i could become attached to a rodent! gp's are much different from gerbils. they actually want to have something to do with their owners whereas gerbils and hamsters are always looking for ways to escape! charlotte was all white with a little whirl on her orehead. never did like the looks of the ones that were whirled all over. but the day charlotte died, i had her out of her cage on the living room floor and she kept crawling to find solace between my legs and the floor. loved to hear her squeak when she knew we were home or getting out of bed. what a sweetie! terry, hurry up! *grin*

oh, and speaking of kiddie terms, i still call those bows and ribbons that go in your hair "pretties" thanks to my daughter. in fact, when i'm talking with adults, i have to force myself to use the correct term!

Yup!

Ha! I know! My kids call ribbons 'flowers'! You're right about guinea pigs though, Wolf. Not only do they love dogs, but they really like their owners as well - not like hamsters at all. Bunnies are like that too. I had a little black bunny who was potty trained, so I never kept her in a cage, and she followed me absolutely EVERYWHERE - in the evenings we would sit and watch the tennis together! She died of a tumor just 2 weeks after Isa was born, and I was upside down for weeks. I would like t get another bunny, but now I'm afraid of growing too attached again - the guinea pigs are bad enough. I adore them so much. When I lived on my grandfather's farm as a kid, pets were a BIG thing. When I was ten I had about 50 guinea pigs - sometimes less, sometimes more, 3 dogs, 10 cats, an orphan porcupine, a meercat that I found with a severed right front paw one day, some exotic birds in a cage the size of a tennis court, and an orphan kudu baby. It was amazing, and amazingly hard work! I always t ought I'd become a vet. Pity it didn't work out that way - would've been so much more useful than painting.

ouch about the bunny Ree... Woo woo another topic... what's it called for us telnetters!?!?!

oops... sorry 'bout the little text... here it is again... ouch about the bunny Ree... Woo woo another topic... what's it called for us telnetters!?!?!

We don't know yet, Stacey. Wolf is trying to get Terry to give us a furry conference, so we can rave about our pets - but we're raving already, so I doubt it'll be necessary!

I can't wait any longer! I'm getting impatient! Think of all the funny cat-fotos I have! At my place everything's upside down, because of the intruder-baby-cat! My cat doesn't like him very much and allways spits at him, the second, my tom-cat, fears him and always leaves the house, when the intruder comes. This morning, I woke up because "something" was biting into my toes, I opened my eyes and the intruder-kitten was sitting in my bed - purring and biting my hand off...

"Intruder Kitttttten From Outer Space" - please tell us more in Paranormal! STACEY! I STILL haven't seen a pic of your Alien Tracking Device in the Abductions topic there... PLUS there's some research around your office to do Re: Salty Pumpkin Recipes... *Impatiently tapping the floor*

So, has any progress been made in the Conf-matter?

And how about Stace's pics?

I have emailed Stacey twice that I had put her problem picture on my spring hard drive space and sent her the url to post it. I have heard nothing back from her about it, and she has not posted the picture. I shall soon delete it if I do not hear further so it does not use up space that something else might need (do not know just how these things work.)

There's a pic of Stacey floating around? Do we get to see it?

I have it on my space at access.spring.net...I could send it to you...or I could post it for her, but I think that would be a little overbearing...she has the URL for it...suggestions?! It is viewable at http://access.spring.net/~critter/Stacey's%20pix/festivalcropped%20-%20stace.jpg

You mean THIS one?

It's COOL, Stacey? When/where was that taken? Brandon is not ugly either...

OOPS! I meant: it's COOL STacey!!

yeah... I like that T capitalized too Ree-head! *grin* The picture was from a fair last year here in Colorado We were trying on hats at a hat vendor booth... yeah... I think he's pretty 'not ugly' too!

Hey, their were a lot of other pix in that directory too! And Autumn Moore looks like Mariel Hemingway, what a bevy of babes we have here!

You're RIGHT, Terry! THAT's who she reminded me of! But taller and thinner than Mariel Hemingway.

Lots of pictures in that file - and just about every one posted somewhere on the Spring...or waiting for me to post them in appropriate topics.

Cool! Bring 'em on!