Archive for January, 2008


No Pictures

Filed under: Uncategorized by Mary Diamond — Leave a comment
01/31/2008

I have decided that the bulk of my personal fun money from the tax return is going to go towards a digital SLR. I’ve been researching, and it’s probably going to be the Canon Rebel 400D. There are some decently priced packages on Ebay, that include one lens, and I’d like to try for either a decent macro or a competitively priced zoom lens as well.

Photography has always been a hobby of mine. In high school I toyed around with the idea of doing it professionally, but my experiences with high school publications, being head photographer of the newspaper and a staffer on the yearbook, really turned me off to the idea.

Now I realize that it’s just plain stupid to let politics and other people’s drama take away something that I love. My father was photographer, learning how to use a darkroom in the Air Force, and he always took great pride in my pictures. I took great pride in them too, when they were good.

I really want to start focusing on what I’m good at, those things that fill me with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when I do them well, and trying to get recognition for them. Eventually, I would love to find a way to earn money doing that. Isn’t that technically the secret of life? Finding a way to do what you love, and by doing so make a living? My god, to be at the reins for a change -living my life for myself and my family- and not feel like some sort of burden on society… That would be heaven.

On that note -I think I’ll start a photographic portfolio. I have negatives from high school, digital photos all over my computers, and actual pictures laying around the house that go back to my first attempts as a child.

Soon.

Tags: , , , ,
Comment

World of Warcraft

Filed under: 1 by Mary Diamond — 2 Comments
01/29/2008

My husband is obsessed with the game. We both play, and I can’t say that I wouldn’t play it for hours at a time if there weren’t any screaming kids, chewing puppies, or sentient messes around the house that needed tending to.

Still, though. Sometimes I get a little jealous of the game. Then again, I am pretty spoiled as far as certain kinds of attention go… *ahem*.

I’ll stop there.

I know I wanted to say something profound… I just didn’t quite get to it.

Tags: , ,
Comment

Bah… the weather

Filed under: Uncategorized by Mary Diamond — Leave a comment
01/29/2008

So this morning when I took the dog out it had to be 40 degrees. The snow was melting rapidly, most of the grass was showing through it, and the dog actually sat down and sniffed the air instead of lifting her paws away from the frozen ground.

When Bastian got of the bus, later this afternoon, tiny little balls of ice were showering down. It’s frigid and I can literally hear the wind gusting against the house in every room. I’m a little concerned that we’ll feel the wind hitting us directly when Mike and I go to bed because that’s the only room left in the house that doesn’t have plastic over the windows.

…so do I go out and karaoke anyway? I’ve been sick for a few days, and I’ll be lucky to even have a voice.

In honor of the weather, and the fact that my camera is still not functional, here is a picture of Sebastian’s first snowman.

We built it in DeKalb, around 2004 or so. About two hours after we finished it and took this picture, some asshole driver swerved five feet onto the lawn just to knock it down with their car.

Tags: , ,
Comment

SCAM!

Filed under: Uncategorized by Mary Diamond — 3 Comments
01/29/2008

Okay, so I finally got one of those crazy foreign spam letters asking me to participate in some unbelievable money deals which will gift me with tons of cash just for transferring funds through my bank account. PLEASE feel free to flame this guy’s “private” email with letters of indignation. The letter follows:

Hello.

This letter may come to you as a surprise due to the fact that we have not yet met. I have to say that I have no intentions of causing you any pains so i decided to contact you through this medium.

As you read this, I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, because, I believe everyone will die someday. My name is Aziz Hamid, a merchant in Dubai, in the U.A.E. I have been diagnosed with prostate and esophageal Cancer that was discovered very late due to my laxity in caring for my health. It has defiled all form of medicine and right now, I have only about a few months to live according to medical experts.

I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared for anyone not even myself but my business. Though I am very rich, I was never generous, I was always hostile to people and only focus on my business as that was the only thing I cared for. But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world. I believe if i have a second chance to come to this world I would live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that I know my time is near, I have willed and given most of my properties and assets to my immediate and extended family members and as well as a few close friends and Schools in the UAE. I have decided to give alms to charity organizations, as I want this to be one of the last good deeds I do on earth. So far, I have distributed money to some charity organizations in the U.A.E, England and Ireland. Now that my health has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this my self any more. I once asked members of my family to close one of my accounts and donate the money, which I have there to charity organization in Bulgaria, they refused and kept the money to themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contended with what I have left for them. The last of my money which is the huge cash that I deposit in a bank in England Uk.

I want you to help me collect this deposit and dispatched it to charity organizations and let them know that it is I Aziz Hamid that is making this generous donation.

I am writing this from my laptop computer in my hospital bed in England where I wait for my time to come. If you are interested to help me i will give you more information about this like the amount that i deposited in the bank and Contact of the bank so you can contact them. I will also send you pictures of my self when in the hospital.

Note that you will take 20% out of the funds and give 80% to the charity organizations. I pray that God uses you to support and assist me with good heart God be with you.

If you can help respond back to me on my private email: azizhamid12@strompost.com

Aziz Hamid

Search News | Search the Web
Tags: ,
Comment

Thumper Martin the Third

Filed under: 1 by Mary Diamond — 1 Comment
01/28/2008

I grew up with a cat. We were just cat people, and my mother had always responded with disdain at any mention of a dog. Still, this old girl lived to be nearly 18, and eventually just ran away to spare us the inconvenience of mourning her. Maybe she’s still kickin’ somewhere…

She was a sourpuss, and would occasionally allow me to stroke her back once or twice before she started growling under her breath. Still… I miss her. She was much more refined than this nasty mutt we now love.
Comment

Ave, Ave, Satanas!!!

Filed under: Uncategorized by Mary Diamond — Leave a comment
01/28/2008

Ok, so I’m not a satanist… but as of this very moment my blog has had 666 unique hits.

I just thought that was interesting. Hope nobody’s offended ;)

So yesterday I set out to start posting a photo every day, and already I’ve hit a hitch. See, I thought about it and what the site I referenced really says is that you should take a photo every day, to document that day in your blog. Well, my digital camera has just decided that it’s tired of life. So now our tax return money is going to have to buy me that digital SLR I’ve been drooling over for several years now. In the meantime, I’ll just have to post pictures that I took in the past, but that somehow relate to the current day.

Zelda got a new collar. You can’t see it here, because this is an old picture… but it’s pink with heart-shaped rhinestones all the way around it. Yep, she’s our princess.

…more to come..

Tags: , , ,
Comment

Date Night

Filed under: Uncategorized by Mary Diamond — Leave a comment
01/27/2008

Mike and I finally had a date night. He asked his parents to watch both kids for us Saturday evening, and they of course took them to church on Sunday.

So, long story short, I got to sleep in. Getting up this morning, bleary eyed and sore from laying in bed longer than I have in months, I thought it had to be at least 1:00 pm. It was 10:30.

We took the evening to dine at the recently finished, brand-spankin’-new Thai Hut. See, they opened their first store in an old Long John Silvers building in the industrial part of town and gained a spectacular reputation despite the shabby location. Finally, they’ve opened another location in the bustling commercial area on the east side and the new place is swank! They even have the booths like downtown Chicago places, with flat seating cubes covered in cushions. Each booth along the walls is surrounded by carved wooden beams that create a separate area just for you, and there are small steps up to the bench seats where you can take off your shoes before contorting into the big wooden box around the table. It was an experience.

God, I was in Pad Thai heaven. It’s even better the next day. Anybody reading, if you’re ever a few hours north of Chicago and want the best Thai food you’ve ever tasted, go to the Thai Hut -either location.

Cute anecdote: as we were walking into the restaurant, all dolled up and with no kids in tow, Mike realized that there was a penny in his shoe because our 5 year old enjoys playing with his shoes and leaving “presents” in them.

On that note, I think I will start doing the 365 photos theme with my journal. Here’s my first entry: Sebastian was playing with Mike’s work boots and the Wolverine Doll (action figure?) that he got from his good friends Crystal and Gary, when he said “Mom, look what I did!”

wolverine in boots

Tags: , , , , ,
Comment

Protected: Stiff Dicks and Airplanes

Filed under: 1 by Mary Diamond — Enter your password to view comments.
01/25/2008

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:


Comment

Doldrums: ETA …right now.

Filed under: 1 by Mary Diamond — 1 Comment
01/25/2008

I am looking around and realizing again that I’ve hit rock bottom. For days now I’ve been sulking. My hair needs a shampoo & deep conditioning treatment, my dishes are piled on the stove, and no matter how many times I pick up the pieces, our dog finds something else to shred and chew up.

Of course, everything that gets me down is caused by something or someone else. My husband has banned squeaky toys, and threw away all the ones laying around the house -so now the dog is chewing up my pens and nearly destroyed the wedding favors we had stuffed last week. Both of my boys are sick, and I’m now feeling nasty in the head and tummy. I smell.

Mike seems to be taking a lot of the blame for whatever it is that has me down. Throughout the day I have all these tasks to do, and I keep thinking about how he never does them and then I begin to feel like I’m getting an unfair amount of responsibility for running the house. At the same time, he’s making more of an effort to help out than ever before. Is it too little too late? Am I bound and determined to get angry at him every time I feel put out?

There are just so many things I want to start, or finish. The transcription job I am/was trying for is still unfinished, and I haven’t touched it in a week. Ideas have actually been coming to me for some time regarding the novel I’d love to sit down and finish, and there are several rooms in the house that I have partially taken apart so I can re-arrange and organize them. Unfortunately, with a 5 year old and a sick 7 month old, and a 1 year old puppy that needs training badly, and finances that just keep slipping further into the hole -I’m not able to spend the time I have on anything long enough to complete it.

There are friends I haven’t called since before Christmas, and projects we swore we’d work on that are just about to fall between the cracks once again.

We said we were going to make an effort to practice every full moon this year. Tuesday came and went, and though I began to collect materials for a working that I had/have in mind… the temple is one of those rooms that’s in a shambles at the moment. I will probably end up making a space in the corner, sitting down by myself, and working on a visualization to complete the spell I had in mind.

Journaling hasn’t even been going along as planned. I’d like to keep better track of my dreams, and I’d like to try (once again) to get into a steady rhythm as far as magical journaling goes. I don’t remember if I even journaled Charlie’s Wiccaning ceremony this past summer.

As far as Drama goes, I’m putting some serious thought into just changing my entire myspace profile to basically explain that I’m not using MySpace for anything but a messaging service -since my cell phone has been shut off since December, and MySpace blogs are pretty much a waste of time.

I smell, and it’s way past my bedtime.

Tags: , ,
Comment

Sicko

Filed under: Kids by Mary Diamond — 2 Comments
01/24/2008

No, not the movie silly. I haven’t actually seen it.

Both the kids have been fighting with nasty head colds this week. I feel like a bad parent because Sebastian has missed several days of school -but I just don’t have the heart to send him when he looks so miserable. He’s only run a fever one day so far, but the general stuffiness and hoarseness in his nose and throat are enough for me.

Charlie’s been doing these evacuating sneezes where his little baby nose shoots out strings of mucus and I have to get to him and wipe it before he either eats it or rubs it all over his face with the back of his little hand.

Then, today, I start feeling raspy in the lungs and completely out of energy. I haven’t done the dishes in days, and today was going to be the day… but once Mike came home and took the kids off my hands I actually just went to bed. At like 6:30.

Ugh. Hopefully we’ll pull out of it soon. I just hope Mike doesn’t catch it, because he’s a giant to take care of when he doesn’t feel well.

Tags: , , ,
Comment