Beware gap when boarding

Minding the gap

The idea of photographing my feet for this week's self portrait partly inspired by my neighbour Sarah's portrait of her feet from last week.  Also finding it hard to take interesting photos on Thursday mornings when I always follow the same route to work.  As you can see from the second picture, the gap between train platform and train door is quite pronounced.  It is the same on most Sydney train stations. 

I nearly lost my son down this gap once (at Circular Quay station) but fortunately I was holding onto his hand pretty tightly and managed to catch him in time and hoik him up again. 

Have heard of other people not being so fortunate though.

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Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)

Stephenie Meyer

So I just finished it and I totally did not hate it. Very sad to see the end but also happy with the end that was. I am going to attempt to express my opinions of the book without spoiling Nielle, Alison or anyone else. So I loved the beginning. Book 1 had two bigs in it for me that just made me warm and tingly inside. The amount of Edward is also why I will have to go ahead and say that it is probably my favorite part of the 3 books in the book. I did not hate Book 2 which is Jacob's book and I am a little surprised because I didn't know that I had it in me to not hate him. There are 2 things that happen in this part that drive me nuts. One has to do with a name that makes me want to puke and the other is Bella in general. But there is nothing to do about it, it has been the nature of the beast that she drive me nuts in the saga and this just means her character is true to form. There is not enough Edward in this part and that makes me sad. Oh and the last page of Book 2 also makes me want to chunder. For godsakes it's a plot point but not one that I can get behind. Belle mentioned that mormon connection with a word that applies to this page and it starts with P and ends with -phile. And Book 3. Still not enough Edward. Even when he is there it is less the Edward I know and love. I needed less of the main event and more of Bella and Edward. I do appreciate that S. Meyer went in a direction that I could totally get into and follow. It's really hard to say all this without talking about specifics and details. Very hard. That being said I will drop names of people I loved that won't spoil anything. The usual suspects... I loved the Cullens. I didn't mind Charlie. I FUCKING loved Seth. I really liked Tanya and Kate, Carmen and Eleazar. Thought Zafrina, Benjamin, Stefan, Vladimir, Alec, Jane, Demetri, Felix, Garrett and Alistair were all very interesting to be introduced to. I didn't mind Book 3 Bella. By far the least annoying of Bella in any of the books. I don't think that this book is my favorite out of the saga, but it trumps New Moon. I think that I'll give it a week and read it again.

Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12)

Today Acheron came out and D took me to get it this evening. It is hardcover and huge--just when I was coming off of reading the epic tale of Bella and Edward too. I have to read it by Friday so that I can tell Sherri what I think of it at the book signing. I am so torn because Acheron is not one of my favorite characters so it being his book sort of ways on me. Like this will be a chore. But Sherri said, at Comic Con, that this book has everyone in it because Ash is such a central character. I'm looking for Urian, Valerius and Tabitha, Kyrian and Amanda, Wren and Maggie, Fang and Aimee, Alexion and Danger and Sin and Kat. Oh and Jaden, Simone and Xypher. I can only hope that all of them will make it into the book. I think Wren will definitely be in Fang and Aimee's book but I don't know about Acheron's. So I'm thinking of giving myself a break tonight and reading a Jill Shalvis book I bought and starting Acheron tomorrow. I may even take it with me to the Stephanie Meyer signing on Thursday night. There is so much going on in the next few days I am a little scared that I won't get to finish it in time. Compound that with the fact that I'm only minimally jazzed about it. *sigh*

Vampire Kisses

The other day at the release party for Breaking Dawn I bought a bunch of books that I clearly don't need... A couple Sarah Dessen books, The Vampire Diaries and Vampire Kisses. Does anyone see an overall theme to this post? Do I read books other than vampire books? I definitely do, it just really doesn't seem so lately. HAHA and thinking about it right now, I bought two more Sookie Stackhouse books tonight too. I am not a weird vampire lover. I feel really weird about all these books now but anyway. I haven't started on any of them yet because I also have a kajillion Harlequin Blaze books to read and they go into the bathtub better than bigger books. Very few of them are about vampires. 2 that I have read so far, but the majority is not. So take that my growing reputation as a lover of the bump in the night. *sigh* That sounds dirty now. I feel like I'm giving the wrong impression all over the place.

Riding the Storm

Okay here is something nonvampire related. I just read these three books by Sydney Croft and they were paranormal military romances. Very down and dirty. Not at all what I expected. I thought they would be more like Stephanie Tyler's other Navy SEAL stuff but it wasn't even a little like it. I am so out to lunch on whether or not I liked these books that I couldn't even BookMooch them. I set them aside to ruminate on keeping them or not. They are just so raw and the character situations are just out there... but I do suspect that I will read the next book Taming the Fire when it comes out next year. I did like the character Remy a whole lot and I loved Wyatt. I think the jury will let me know my opinion on everything later. Maybe it's better that way. Sometimes I get attached to books for the wrong reasons.

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I got a new phone last night! But don't worry - if that's even possible - it's still a Sidekick :) I upgraded to the newest one, simply called "Sidekick" - it's also being referred to as "Sidekick 2008". I heard about it awhile ago and didn't think much of it because my Sidekick was still working fine. I'm generally not the kind of person to drop perfectly working tech for newer tech simply because it's newer. However, that was before I saw it and found out that it would be only half of what I paid for my Sidekick 3. So I just did it - and I'm really glad that I did.

New & Improved Features (over my Sidekick 3)

• It's thinner, not as wide/tall, and so therefore lighter
• The screen resolution & brightness is better
• I can choose font sizes
• It has a built in alarm clock (silly, I know - why didn't they ALL have this?!)
• I can now retrieve my Yahoo mail without paying for Yahoo Plus
• I can separate my email by accounts, so I have a tab for Tmail, Yahoo & Gmail
• I can receive picture messaging now! Before, people had to send them to my email address
• My web browser has a "mini page" which allows me to scroll to the bottom of a page quickly
• Built in camera has been bumped up from 1.3mp to 2mp! Slightly better pictures :P
• I can now record video!
• I can change (and create custom designs for) the hard outer shell - while before I had to buy sticker-like skins
  

This is the ACTUAL color of my shell, just can't tell in the pictures.

The only bad news - and I suppose everyone deals with this when they get a new phone - is that I've lost all my applications & ringtones. A positive thing in disguise as I hadn't bought anything new in awhile as I thought, "I've got plenty".

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A recent study suggests that radiation from cellphones may cause cancer; what, if any, cellphone usage precautions will you take in light of this information?
Submitted by Tim.

Duh. Everyone knows cellphones cause cancer. Ignoring that simple fact is like folks in the 1940s saying that smoking was good for you.
   Therefore, I have never carried one. OK, let me rephrase that: I carry one when I travel. I never have it in my trouser pocket and whenever possible, I leave it behind or put it in a laptop bag. It is for my use to get around expensive hotel calling. It is not a toy or a gadget which one plays with. It is a tool, pure and simple.
   Before August 2006 I never carried one at all—but then Telstra put a 75¢ surcharge on calls made with their calling card. I was courting someone then who used one so it was there to aid the cause of romance.
   The consequence is that Telstra lost a lot of business from me because of that surcharge.
   The number of men I have heard of, or know, who have had testicular cancer has skyrocketed since cells became mainstream.
   When I was on Good Morning I used to say that I would not carry a cellphone because I did not want my testicles to be irradiated. I would still like to have kids some day and a cellphone is not helpful.

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Okay, so about a year ago I was very excited about plans my mamma and I had made to travel to Europe together and visit a bunch of places and people and I wrote all about how it was going to happen and I put the time-off request in at my job and all that jazz - way, way in advance.

Then it was canceled.

Something to do with my mother shattering her left tibia, my uncle dying, my brother's attempted suicide, a second degree sunburn and a horrible bicycling accident...details, details. (B"H we've made it through and although slightly scarred have come out the other side of these things!)

Now, I have to admit to some laziness on my part because I LEAVE ON SUNDAY FOR EUROPE and I haven't said a bloody peep about it on my blog!

I really have no excuse.

Well, other than the fact: the days I have the most time to be online are the days I'm not supposed to be online - i.e. Shabbat and other holidays of the same nature. (Mon & Tues. were the celebration of Shavuot - when the Jews received the Torah at Mt. Sinai after our Exodus from Egypt).

I even experimented with not using electricity on those two days and I have to say - I rather enjoyed it...in fact, I think I'll keep it up. (I might still answer the phone...we'll see).

Right, so here's the deal-io:

I fly out Sunday morning at 6:30am and - after a miniscule layover in SLC - land in NEW YORK CITY - yes, I know, how cool am I? Although I won't have time to explore that day - I should have a whole day in NYC on the way back though.

From JFK I will fly to London, England where I will have an 8ish hour layover before catching a flight to:

Budapest, Hungary! Woohoo! The sole purpose of this trip is supposedly for my dear, dear friend Karat's wedding - but I'm fitting in as much as I can while I'm over there.

Then I will be going to Cluj, Romania with another dear, dear friend of mine and will spend a few days scampering about with her and having a blast before we go back to Budapest for the wedding - although it's actually going to take place an hour outside of Budapest - but who's really keeping track?

From there, we'll go back to Cluj for a few short days then I will catch a bus to:

Vienna, Austria!!! Again with the WooHoo-iness. I cann't express how excited I am. You wouldn't get it from all the CAPS LOCK - it would just look like I was cursing at you in German...maybe. Schnell! (that's not a cuss word either - fyi)

From Vienna I will catch a flight to Hamburg, Germany and have roughly a day there before I fly to: *drum roll please*

DUBLIN, IRELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope. Not excited. At all.

I'M GOING TO FREAKIN' IRELAND, PEOPLE!!!! I've always Always, ALWAYS! wanted to go there! And now it's happening. 3 whole days in Ireland.

WOO! HOO! *gagcoughwheeze* ...I yelled it too loudly...

 I know to some 3 days is a pittance, but sing with me people! Sing! 3 whole days. That's 62 hours! (did I do that math right? I doubt it - but I don't care to actually think about it...it will just make my brain hurt).

After those glorious days (L-rd willing they will be glorious) I will be flying back to London, England and have a full day and a half to skedaddle around and have fun - hopefully getting the chance to take a semi-long train ride to Stonehenge, but we shall see. I want to make it happen.

And determination usually works for me.

So, it should probably happen.

Then I fly home. THREE WEEKS IN EUROPE!

*sighs dramatically*

I know the streets there aren't paved in gold...more like urine, but really, it's still Europe and I still get to go. All by myself, too, so what stories I shall have to tell later! (Hopefully none that include death and/or life threatening situations. I have enough of those here - the toe is much better, btw).

I was supposed to go to Switzerland, too, but that's ain't happening anymore. And for the record. IT SUCKS. I was truly looking forward to meeting someone there...and now I won't be. But, all I have to say to that is this: If the L-rd wants me to meet this person (and I believe He does) then it will happen. In Hashem's timing, not mine and all I have to do is trust the L-rd's Heart. So - that said:

Bummer dude. I really wanted to see the Alps. Among other things and people and stuff. * shrugs * The L-rd knew this was going to happen even if for me it came out of left field and socked me in the head. Very hard. (good news is after being a crying mess for 12 hours I've been able to suck it up...so, y'know, it gets better. "Time is a great healer...or so they tell me..." - Persuasion - Jane Austen (or you can go with John Lennon's version: "Time wounds all heals." hehehe - I'm particularly fond of that one...but then, I like John Lennon - and for the record that isn't directed at anyone - it's just a witty one liner I felt like adding). :D

So - 3 days and I AM GONE, People! Just like that! To all of those wonderful places I named already and I AM EXCITED.

That is all.

...now I just need to get my MP3 player to work. Long flights require music. End of story.

   Actually, no, that isn't the end:

Praise the L-rd for His wonderful provision exactly when I need it! And for this trip and all the wonderful things I know will happen while I'm away! B"H!  

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Pop corn et téléphone, ça marche en France !

Vive le portable !!!!!!!

WHO CAN EXPLAIN ?????

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The Sound Of Arrows - Danger

The Sound Of Arrows

A couple of months ago I saw an announcement that my favorite record label, Labrador Records, had signed a new band called The Sound Of Arrows. Since I love just about every band on their roster, I was quite excited about this. At the time, Labrador released an mp3 for the track called "Danger!", which I immediately put into heavy rotation in my playlist.

A few weeks ago the debut release from The Sound Of Arrows was finally made available. They are touting this as an E.P. but it's basically the title track, "Danger!", plus two b-sides, four remixes, and "intro" and "outro" tracks. I'm normally not a fan of remixes, but the ones on this E.P. are not too shabby. Also, the b-sides, "A Very Sad Song" and "Winding Roads" are really quite good.

The Sound Of Arrows is a duo comprised of two Swedish lads, Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand, who now live in Stockholm. Together they have differing backgrounds: house music and classical. I think a bit of each comes across in their music. In Labrador's original press release they said "The Sound of Arrows treat their own songs like remixes and will present their releases almost like mixtapes. Their approach to music bare some similarity to Saint Etienne around 'Foxbase Alpha' or The Avalanches, but they never end up sounding like either." I can't wait to get their full-length album, which is due out later this year.

 May 29, 2008 4:50 AM  Randy my♥posts thesoundofarrows.com myspace

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Another dog is killed by "stray voltage" in NYC in one of a series of incidents in which several dogs - and one person - have been killed or injured around Con Ed light poles. New York dog owners should beware, and the rest of us might want to avoid lampposts as well, wherever we are, just to be cautious. 

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New studies show earthquake danger could be greater than earlier predictions
Category: News and Politics

New studies show earthquake danger could be greater than earlier predictions

Posted by The Oregonian April 24, 2008 05:44AM

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If you heard there was a weapon proven to prevent most crimes (including picking a dangerous partner) before it happened, would you run out and buy it?

World-renowned security expert Gavin de Becker says this weapon exists, but you already have it. He calls it "the gift of fear."

The story of a woman named Kelly begins with a simple warning sign. A man offers to help carry her groceries into her apartment — and instantly, Kelly doesn't like the sound of his voice. Kelly goes against her gut and lets him help her — and in doing so, she lets a rapist into her home.

"We get a signal prior to violence," Gavin says. "There are pre-incident indicators. Things that happen before violence occurs."

Gavin says that unlike any other living creature, humans will sense danger, yet still walk right into it.

"You're in a hallway waiting for an elevator late at night. The elevator door opens, and there's a guy inside, and he makes you afraid. You don't know why, you don't know what it is. And many women will stand there and look at that guy and say, 'Oh, I don't want to think like that. I don't want to be the kind of person who lets the door close in his face. I've got to be nice. I don't want him to think I'm not nice.'

And so human beings will get into a steel soundproof chamber with someone they're afraid of, and there's not another animal in nature that would even consider it."

Gavin says that "eerie feelings" is exactly what he wants people to pay attention to. "We're trying to analyze the warning signs," he says. "And what I really want to teach today and forever is the feeling of the warning sign. All the other stuff is our explanation for the feeling. Why it was this, why it was that. The feeling itself IS the warning sign."

How the Gift of Fear Can Save Your Life

(click on link below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYnFbHNvhkM

One night in late August, I was completely asleep. And I heard my name shouted: “Dorothy!” So I was laying down right here, facing my TV. I turned to my left shoulder and I saw a knife about this big. I could see the reflection of my TV in the blade…

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