Happy Fourth of July, here is a video to amuse you!  Wouldn't this have been something to witness?

Most recent icon dump: Clicky!

For those unfamiliar with these, I know someone that makes and collects icons. She gets them from livejournal, greatestjournal, insanejournal, deadjournal...you get the idea. She doesn't keep track of who made them and as a lot of them are from other sites that info might be hard to use anyway.

All that matters to this post is she lets me select among her dumps and pick the ones I want to post to my weird community.

Been doing this a few years now.

Crediting is tricky. Usually just have them credit that community unless they find out who actually made whatever icon they wanted to take. Feel free to do the same.

About 3 of you know why it is HILARIOUS that Barry Manilow was at the 4th celebration downtown.

LAUGH WITH ME YOU GUYS. THAT WAS EPIC.

Also how much do I love EVERYONE knowing Copa? I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Oh my god this was so amazing. XD

It can be said that I always keep my traditions close to me...

...but I think I overloaded it.

http://www.cleoag.ru/2007/03/15/papervision3d-livejournalcom-friends/

Maybe you'll have better luck.

through kortirion

My Empire Film DNA

I'll probably want to change a few of these after I have a chance to think about it,,,,

A book on Ted Bundy, and yep folks, it's co-written by THE Tim Wilson.

Happy July 4th!!!

If someone says "Hey Ya'll Watch This" run!!!

Someone has been stripping my Klingon.

No, you get no explanation. It means EXACTLY what it says.

You know what's going to suck?

TODAY.

My crappy neighbors who have no concern for neighborhood noise levels (they are known for untrained barking dogs, domestic disputes, numerous drunken parties on weeknights, loud music ALL THE TIME, etc.) have already started setting off fireworks.

1. Fireworks are illegal in my city (unless you are Disneyland).
2. IT IS NOT YET 3PM. WE HAVE FIVE MORE HOURS OF BROAD DAYLIGHT. WHAT IS THE POINT OF BLOWING SPARKLY SHIT UP IF YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE IT? WAIT UNTIL IT IS NIGHT, DICKHOLES.

I am pretty much 100% sure that they are going to have another obnoxious party tonight, and, though I have a giant assignment due Monday, I am procrastinating until Sunday morning, because I KNOW all those assholes will be hungover, asleep and QUIET all day/night tomorrow.

Ugh. I wish I was not so easily annoyed.

Instead of being productive today, I am playing Xenosaga and drinking.

Meh, it's a holiday, I guess. I don't feel bad about it. I WISH IT WAS A NON-EXPLOSIVE HOLIDAY THOUGH. D:

Happy 4th ya'll! Just saw a parade, havin a B&J's shake, goin to a movie and fireworks later!

Title: I Declare!
Author: tjeff
Fandom: US of A
Pairing: Life/Liberty/Pursuit of Happiness
Spoilers: War for Independence
Word Count: 1,332
Summary: When government is the problem, what's a fledgling nation to do?

Author’s Note: Written for my bbs in the King George Challenge, prompt Oh No, Not Again. XD Argument kink. Warning for potential treasonous content. Don't like? Don't read!

Shout out to my betas (Especially BFF's Johnny Adams, Benji, and HANCOCK!!) Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. U GUYZ R <3!

DON'T HATE! R&R plz, and I'll make moar!

* * *

( IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 )

LOL Talking to vretallin about amusement parks made me remember Action Park. Anyone else have fond childhood memories of it? Somewhere I have pictures of friends and their injuries - many of us were injured on a church youth group outing there... and we all went back!

WHAT kind of people make decisions to deride ANYONE using their handicapped child????

Palin says there should be more Trigs in the world... so here's a completely OFFENSIVE picture from the HUFFINGTON POST (see url). WARNING.

The "joking" article was pulled after being posted (The article, entitled "Palin Will Run In '12 on More Retardation Platform" was written by Huffington Post writer Erik Sean Nelson), but still I ask again: WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DO THESE THINGS?

I can link to the article text as well, but I don't want to promote what it said.

I just... I cannot fathom. I cannot.

Is it acceptable because the target is a conservative? Because it's someone you don't agree with? Because the rest of your peers make fun of her? Because you just don't goddamn like her?

I'm over a cliff on this one. Please, someone, defend this. I'm waiting.

What are your thoughts about the media circus surrounding his death?
The media doesn't learn shit about respecting privacy.....
Never has , never will...
Whatever gets them ratings, they'll go for, even if it means putting their baby mama on a street corner in Vegas for $2 in a tutu
Although he's been somewhat a focus in the media at some point or another for whatever reason, this particular occasion is just...ridiculous...and their hypocritical sentiment is mind boggling.


IS there something wrong with wanting to pore through his private info now that it's available?

Yes, it's cheap.....it's like watching hyenas pick at a lions corpse.



Do you think Jackson should be remembered as a genius, or as a troubled soul?

Honestly?...Both...Because that's what he was.....a Genius, and a troubled man....Not by his own fault, but he was a good person too...one shouldn't eclipse the other.....


Other thoughts on all of this hype?

From my earliest memory, I can recall my mother at some point or another playing a Jackson 5 song, or coaxing me to sing along, or dance to a song...
Later on, I got spooked by Thriller, then obsessed with it...tried my best to learn it (hey, it was the fucking 80s, we did NOT have internet!!)..been following the guy a lot, was a lil crushed when the accusations occurred, always had a bit of hope they werent true
(And yesterday I'm told the boy that was "bought" stepped forward and said they werent).
I keep listening to news, watching the hype...
I see Joe's face..wish someone would punch the shit out of it Live....
Janet hardly talks at all..and Jermaine sings like a canary....
And I really wonder if those kids are in good hands with his mother, if she's shacking up with Joe.....
Tuesday's going to be a Royal fucking mess....
I really don't think people will Listen to what they said....No Tickie No Come...lol....
And watch it be like one of those concerts...
strange fainters and shit....
The hype will eventually die down and the Media will wolfishly hunt some other fresh meat.

Happy Independence Day, y'all! (For all the non-Americans reading out there, happy July 4!) And to celebrate the 233rd anniversary of our great country, what better was is there, I ask you, than...


MUPPETS!



Everyone enjoy and be safe!

Hey markwulfgar, wishing you a happy birthday. *hug* Hope it's a good one. :)

Graceful and Green as a Stem
for the challenge green at tolkien_weekly
All of Arda belongs to the Professor. I am just a traveller.


( Graceful and Green as a Stem )

Chris is sick, so we are planing to do our annual sing-along-to-1776 over the phone later today.

I finally had the chance to re-listen to and review the CD of the Evening with the Angels seminar that I attended about two months ago.

That doesn't sound right. It makes it seem like some impersonal meeting in an auditorium filled with people. It wasn't. It was a very informal get-together, with angel cookies, even, in the cozy living room of a friend of a friend. This woman, Karen, had a near-death experience following the birth of her son in 1977, and claims to have experienced visions of angels, and brings the wisdom she received back to Earth to share with others.

I am completely convinced of the veracity of her statements.

I know what you're thinking. I don't care. Going to this seminar was a life-changing experience for me.

It brought into sharp relief, sharp focus, some things I have done in my life that I feel shame and regret for now, but it also made me realize that I don't have to be bound by that shame and regret. I can forgive myself. I can forgive others - because just as surely as I have committed these grievous harms against others, I have had others commit them against me.

We're not meant to live with regret, shame, and sorrow. We are meant to live with love. If I am not acting as an instrument of love, I am not doing my job here on Earth.

I have been going around and around the concept of forgiveness for a long time now, wondering if it's presumptuous to forgive someone who might not think they need forgiving or who has never asked to be forgiven. I understand what it's really about now. Forgiveness isn't about others. It's about me. It's about allowing myself the freedom to move past my hurts and into light, and love.

Karen spoke about the greatest harm we can do to others, and that is trying to control the minds of other people, with our opinions or our thoughts. Altering the life of another person is the deepest level of karma, and the greatest offense we can commit against another. As I have been guilty of this offense, so others have been guilty of turning it back and committing it against me.

I am working, really, really trying hard, to catch myself when I start to think negative thoughts against others. I'm not perfect. This will be an ongoing process throughout my life. But I can only believe that the awareness is half the battle - and I AM aware, always. Any thought away from love creates disharmony, isn't that true? And isn't it, as Karen says, also true that the worst pain you can create in another, and the worst pain you can feel from another, is when you attack their soul? Cutting them down, saying terrible things, attacking people through the medium of the spoken or written word. Negative energy destroys us, and walking away from love is never a pretty thing.

If we choose our friends and family, the things that happen to us, the people who surround us... then why would we ever choose to hurt them?

Because we are not perfect. But we can become aware, as I've said. We can learn from our past mistakes. We don't have to keep making them. We can choose to be better people. We can forgive ourselves, and others. If there is anyone reading this whom I have hurt in the past, please know that I am truly, deeply sorry. What we think is what we will become - something I've believed for a long time now. Karen's message simply reinforced that in me. Thoughts become reality - if we think we can't, we never will.

But what if we all chose to believe that we can?

I am choosing, every day, to believe that I can. To believe that I am, not just in the process of becoming a better person, but that I am already a better person.

She has a mantra that she shared with us, that I have been reciting every day. I don't always remember to say it first thing in the morning, but I'm working on that, too. The mantra is simple, but effective:

I am love, I am joy, I am peace.

It is amazingly effective, especially when you realize that really, that's all there is to life. Change is but a thought away - why not make it this one - this one, positive thought?

She also spoke of being able to send love to anyone, anywhere, at any time. I have been vigilant in sending my love to people I care about - and even to some of those people that I don't particularly care for, because I try to be aware of how my thoughts and actions affect others. It really is true - whatever you do, do in love.

But this is so, so difficult. It's remarkably easy to be able to type these things up. It's another matter entirely to try to rearrange the entire focus of your life around these concepts. I struggle with it every day, but in that struggle lies the awareness of the goal, and I can't ask myself for anything less.

It's time to bring love back into our lives. As the old hymn said so beautifully, 'Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me'.

It's time to begin. I wonder, who will join me?

The house has extra locks and bolts and people watching, which is kind of creepy when you think about it. It is awaiting the removal of popcorn ceilings and new paint on every wall. A refurbished kitchen, new appliances, new countertop... and as long as the contractor cleans up his mess, and my newly planted backyard doesn't die, it's all good.

I still have nightmares about the crackling fire in the kitchen ceiling. It wakes me up with a start in the wee hours, and I scare the dog, sound asleep on the floor next to the bed.

I think about how it could have happened at any time, with the poor remodeling job done in that ceiling. I could have been at a hockey game in San Jose. It could have burst into flames when I was back East meeting with the boss. It could have killed as all as we slept in the middle of the night.

I appreciate so much the well wishes I have gotten from friends, from people all over the country.

And I am not, after all, surprised by those people I have NOT heard from at all. Disgusted, maybe, but not surprised.

Y'all are not rid of me yet.

--BratGirl--