If you wish to be added, email me, but try to have a good reason :)

The list was pruned, not necessarily because some people were asshats (some were, though), but because perhaps I wasn't sure if some of them really wanted to read what I had to say. No insult was intended. If you were removed by mistake, let me know.

I can't say I currently have a bully, but in high school almost the entire school might have qualified. I was nerdy, overweight, and way too smart for my own good. It was because of this that I was picked on and ridiculed by almost everyone in my class.

If I had to pick one specific bully, it would likely be the football player who decided to grab my ass to amuse his friends and make sexual remarks that were unwarranted as I walked past. I actually was distraught enough I went to the school counselor to just talk about my feelings. This led to the school deputy going into class and yanking him out and across the street to the police station to discuss the gravity of what he had done, along with a threat that he could lose his scholarships. He didn't pull that again, at least.

Tags: writer's block

Since some of you mouthbreathers are apparently also illiterate, let me make this clear in a way that you might actually comprehend:



Did that get the point across? Does using your own language help?

(Those of you who aren't complete morons who do this, please disregard.)

I removed some people. It was people I added a while back who never added me back and since most of them were posting friends locked stuff I couldn't see anyway, there wasn't much point.

If you feel it was a mistake, add me as a friend and I'll add you back. No worries.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, dativesingular.

http://www.notoagebanding.org/

Apparently, there is a proposal going around to put an age-guidance figure on children's books. While it means well, this is an poorly conceived plan, and would be detrimental to the development of reading skills.

Authors such as Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, and Terry Pratchet are against this proposal, and I feel the arguments of this group are sound. Children are easily influenced, and might feel intimidated by a book with a higher "level." Similarly, they may feel embarassed if they are reading at a lower "level". Parents might also hold a child back by holding too closely to such labels.

I started reading at the age of 2. My mother noticed this when we were sitting in the car outside a convenience store and I looked up and read a poster which stated "beer" (yes, ladies and gentlemen, the first word I read independently was "beer"). Mom thought it might be a fluke and put things in front of me and asked me to read them... and I did. Thus began my love of reading.

By the age of 5, I was reading on a 5th grade level. It wasn't much longer before I was reading my mom's books, and both of my parents' old college textbooks. My parents, determined to get me outdoors, would push me out of the house during the summer only to find me later curled up in a shady spot of the complex where we lived and reading a book. I remember a warm summer day of being 13 and sitting under a tree reading The Diary of Anne Frank and having an older boy come over to me and tell me that when I was reading, I was one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen.

If you looked in the backpack I carry to work every day, you'd find at least one book... sometimes more. Public transportation leaves a lot of time for reading. Sometimes, I'll confess, I'll sneak off to the ladies room at work to read more. I'm not ashamed to say that I will often lose myself in a good book.

This story might not be true if the proposal had become reality before I started reading so many years ago.

All children are unique. They read at different levels and enjoy different types of books, and there's nothing WRONG with that. We should encourage them to read anything! Whether it's Where The Wild Things Are or The Hobbit, a book is a very powerful thing. It still captures the imagination and sparks creativity, no matter how easy or difficult the words are to understand.

Take a moment to sign up for No on Age Banding.

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

- Emily Dickinson

( More behind here... )

EDIT: Unlocked so reannon can show people how mean I am. :)

Please be advised that AISO, a webhosting company, is made up of filthy spammers.

They assumed because I stated in the Dreamhost status blog that I was disappointed in the downtime, I was in the market for a new host. Then, they LOOKED UP MY DOMAIN VIA WHOIS and spammed me at that email address.

They have now ensured I will never give them a cent, and that I will now let everyone know that they are spammers who use unsolicited emails to try to drum up their business.

Sad thing is, the fact they are 100% solar (apparently) would have made me seriously consider them... IF I were in the market for a new host.

Sorry, spammers. You've screwed yourself on this one.

i'm feeling: annoyed

DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA!

LJ has issued an apology in regards to the mass suspension of accounts, and I'm not going to go into that. They see that how they handled the situation was inappropriate, and I agree that it was handled poorly.

However, I would like to remind people that they do not have "freedom of speech" on a server owned by a private business. I'm not necessarily directing this towards people on my friends list, but it's something I needed to just say because it's been frustrating me seeing some of the comments about "OMG FREEDOM OF SPEECH! I'M BEING OPPRESSED AND MY RIGHTS ARE BEING VIOLATED!" There are some people on LJ who seem to really think they have the right to say what they want.

Don't have any illusions that you have "freedom of speech" on LiveJournal, or any other site on the internet. As long as you are using a service provided by a business, you're bound by their rules and whims.

You can dislike it. You can go elsewhere, but do so with the right justification, not while hiding behind a false pretense of your rights being violated.

</rant>

Sooo good. The lamb fell off the bone it was so tender, and the risotto had just the right about of bite to it. It was creamy and delicious.

It started as just two shanks, but noukon and laurelf came over so we ran to the store and got 2 more. Lauren helped make the risotto :)

( Want to know how? )

I should have known we can't have nice things.

Someone's impersonating me on the PvPopolis wiki going around saying not-so-nice-crap in people's wiki articles as "Kageneko". Meanwhile, I'm "KageNeko", which is what I've always been there. I've always had the upper case N and have no reason to change that. Oh how I just LOVE (read: don't love) the case sensitive crap on there.

Of course, they've succeeding in starting a nasty little war there which led to people attacking me in my own article and it subsequently getting locked. Go figure.

Whatever. I'm almost tired of giving a shit.

i'm feeling: annoyed