How to Sleep

1. Get really tired.
2. Go to bed.
3. Close eyes
4. Stop thinking

That's it. That's all I've got. I think I'll go try it now.

Hi Mom!

My mom might come by so I thought I'd tidy up a little. Put up a picture of my demolished kitchen in progress.

My Yahoo

I like MyYahoo. igoogle doesn't do it for me.

in reference to: My Yahoo! (view on Google Sidewiki)

Nothing is Still Happening - But Faster

8rtub2e6xk - Don't ask.

Nothing is Happening Here - Just Move Along

Things actually are a bit hectic for me right now but I don't really feel like talking about it. I'm excited and sad and happy and confused all at the same time so until those feelings all settle down, we're all going to just have to be quiet for a while.

Today, I'm grateful for time. Without time, we'd just have everything all happening at once which would definitely be way too hectic.

Let's all be grateful for the sea and hope it's around for a long while to come

270 Days of Grace - A bit short of a year, I'm afraid

Okay, I'm not full of grace. I wish I was but sometimes I just have a tough time being happy and/or thankful about stuff. It's a considerable trial to my husband - let me tell you. But this week, I've had some nice experiences with friends and friends of friends and would-be friends and hopefully, will be friends so I'd just like to say that I'm thankful for friends.

.... and guinea pigs who introduce you to friends.

And friends who introduce you to guinea pigs - yes, Bruce, I'm talking to you. And husbands - you know who you are too.

And Rocky and Bullwinkle.

And Harry Potter - and Wii Video Games.

Okay, I guess I'm pretty happy :-)

Mrs. Madoff Needs Your Help

I love spam - especially when it's a little interesting like when some member of the royal family of Burkina Faso wants me to help them out with a little banking problem or when I win the lottery overseas (I'm really lucky overseas). I never respond to spam but I do collect it. At present I've accumulated over 400 examples of these e-mail scams (probably a better way to put it than spam - spam is really so uncreative). This week, I received what I think is possibly my favorite ever. It's hard to imagine how this could be beat and I'm even wondering if it isn't some kind of joke. Anyway, it's very funny so I thought I'd share this with any random readers that might pass by:

Dear Friend,

I am Mrs.Ruth Madoff, wife of bernard madoff

I am actually going through some kind of difficult time with my family right now, as my husband is at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City.My husband Sentencing is scheduled for June 16, 2009 and he is likely to face a maximum sentence of 150 years in prison and $170 billion in restitution, so there is need for me to move out alot of my personal funds and peronal belongings around the world , particularly from outside america, but i need somebody to trust now, because i cannot receive funds here in america right now.I would need your help in acquiring some properties and keeping some large cash amount for me. but first i would prefer to chat with you either on yahoo chat or Skype. if you are not comfortable with yahoo then write me ,so we can communicate via email.


This is very urgent, i would have to entrust a large amount of money into your hands and some personal valueables. But this would have to be very confidential, just between me and you, because the press are afetr me and my husband name all over the headlines, because of his Wall street business.

Anyway ,don't be scared about the risk, it is a very safe deal.



Yours Sincerely

Mrs. Ruth Alpern Madoff

Ocean Foam

Ocean Foam
Originally uploaded by MarjoryM

Today, I'm grateful for the ocean. It calms us even when it's furious.

It's great to be Right

This weekend I was right. It doesn't happen very often. Sometimes, I have trouble being convincing and this means that when I try to explain to a client that they really need to change their website, I get overridden by "other" more convincing experts. This weekend, I discovered that not only was I right, those other experts were so wrong. I like being right. That's all. Continue your normal programming.

Boycott Stupid Journalists

My husband is a huge fan of MSNBC. He watches it practically all day long. However, he is no longer allowed to watch it in my presence because I am sick to death of that stupid clip of Rick Santelli having a temper tantrum. The truly sad part is that by doing that, he revealed not only a profound level of irresponsibility as a journalist but also a complete ignorance of the foreclosure situation in the United States. He assumes that everybody who is having trouble meeting their mortgage obligations was necessarily greedy. He doesn't understand that mortgage brokers and the companies that employed them preyed on these people - telling them they were stupid not to use the equity in their house to improve their investment - selling them mortgages that they couldn't afford and/or didn't need and why? For the fees. (And if you're wondering how I know this, I used to work at one of these agencies and I actually asked an underwriter about it because I - a mere clerk - couldn't understand how they could be approving those mortgages - they even looked bad to me).

The mortgage companies and bankers got rich from making the mortgages and then dumped them on investors. And now, when we need to stabilize the housing market (and hopefully, by extension help stabilize the general economy) by helping people stay in their homes and stopping more foreclosures from taking house prices down even more, Rick Santelli's out to sabotage it.

Rick Santelli and the rest of those bozos at MSNBC who pretend to be "market analysts" have completely lost all credibility to me. Most of them sound like complete idiots most of the time. I guess I should be happy to have it confirmed.

Next Day of Grace

Okay, I'm not very good at this regular posting thing but I think everyone has to agree (all two .... one? of you) that I've improved immensely over this time last year. Today, I'm happy that I know so many interesting and funny people. Have I told you how happy I am that you are all here?

Plant with seeds

Plant with seeds
Originally uploaded by MarjoryM

This plant wtih floating seeds is found at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton. I'm not sure what kind of plant it is. Ideas?

Bad Weekend for Productivity

This weekend I was attacked from within. Yes. It's true. My sinuses attacked. This caused me to slink away to the spare room and watch TV all weekend - including all night instead of sleeping. While I was lying there attempting to nod off, I saw one of my all time favorite movies: Any Given Sunday - with Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Ann Margaret, Dennis Quaid and Al Pacino. We're getting into the heart of the football season now and miracle of miracles, the Miami Dolphins are first in their division! Dave and I already signed up to go to the playoff game so we're really hoping there will be one.

Any Given Sunday is set in Miami and features the imaginary football team - the Miami Sharks. Unfortunately, the Miami Sharks don't get to go to the playoffs - let's hope that wasn't some kind of harbinger of the future.

Empire of the Sun is another movie that was so great but you hardly ever hear anybody talk about it. Christian Bales was fantastic in that movie - the scene where he sings the Welsh lullaby on the roof as the Japanese planes are flying over is amazing.

Anyway, this morning I went out and got some heavy-duty sinus medicine and I seem to be back on track so tonight, I'm going to try something new - sleeping. To anyone who might read this - Good night and see you in the movies.

Not Exactly Graceful

Majel Roddenberry died. Now, I feel a little old and kind of sad. I loved Star Trek. I loved it right from the beginning. In fact, I adored my dad but this was possibly the first thing we really and truly disagreed on. He hated Star Trek. I loved it. I loved Captain Kirk, I loved Ohura, I loved Mr. Spock and I loved Nurse Chapel. I'm happy that I could enjoy those great little weekly morality plays and I'm sorry that Nurse Chapel is gone.

Finally - an exercise I can do in my sleep

There is a God! I can exercise in my sleep. My husband will have to stop complaining about my snoring now. Today, I'm thankful for that.

Days and Days and Days of Grace

1. I'm thankful for old friends who still like you even after they've gotten to know you pretty well.
2. Working on a project that totally engrosses me and comes out alright in the end makes me very very happy.
3. Making new friends and watching them become old friends is even better.

(Schmutzie is right. This is nice)

Sunrise at the Beach in Boca Raton

Sunrise at the Beach in Boca Raton
Originally uploaded by MarjoryM

I took this photo one morning while I was on a walk. It is a silhouette of the trees against the rising sun with the waves rolling in on the beach. It's taken from the road across from Spanish River Park. I like it. Morning seems to be the best light for pictures in the park.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Going to the Library

Maybe my favorite thing to do that's just for me is to go to the library and find a new author to read. When I was younger, I seemed to have more time and would go and spend hours hanging around reading magazines, looking through the card catalog and just browsing through the stacks. Today, I meant to go to the library at lunch but then I forgot. I left work late - around 6:30 and I was thinking of going straight home but then ... hey, why not? I took a little bit of time for myself and went to the library. They don't have card catalogues anymore and I did really a very small amount of browsing but I'm still thankful for the library. Thanks to all you hard-working librarians who stay late so people like me can still go to the library at 6:30 at night. Yes - that's you oh faithful Boca Raton Public Library workers. Thanks for completing my day.