Over 16,530,391 people are on fubar.
What are you waiting for?
Wow.. Can you believe it? I've been a member on here a little over two years already! Time really goes by quickly! In that time I've commented on lots of pages, uploaded a bunch of pictures, shared some recipies as well as some HTML tips and tricks (they're in my Stash - check it out!) and have made some really great friends along the way!
This week, I'm hoping someone will give me a "Big Pimpin" gift from the Gift Shop! Don't worry.. No money required - it's all Fubar points. You can get to the Gift Shop here http://fubar.com/giftshop.php#gtab9 and then just click the "Big Pimpin Gifts" tab. I'd love any of them but here are some of my personal favorites:
Hope one of you can make it happen.. As soon as you do, I'll be eligible for Level 21! I'd love to see that happen this week!! Thanks so much to everyone for all the help in getting me to Level 20 over the past two years - and here's hoping for a fun two more!
Witchcraft
As night hath stars, more rare than ships
In ocean, faint from pole to pole,
So all the wonder of her lips
Hints her innavigable soul.
Such lights she gives as guide my bark;
But I am swallowed in the swell
Of her heart's ocean, sagely dark,
That holds my heaven and holds my hell.
In her I live, a mote minute
Dancing a moment in the sun:
In her I die, a sterile shoot
Of nightshade in oblivion.
In her my self dissolves, a grain
Of salt cast careless in the sea;
My passion purifies my pain
To peace past personality.
Love of my life, God grant the years
Confirm the chrism - rose to rood!
Anointing loves, asperging tears
In sanctifying solitude!
Man is so infinitely small
In all these stars, determinate.
Maker and moulder of them all,
Man is so infinitely great!
| At The Gates Of Silent Memory - Performed by Fields of the Nephilim | |
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| yes today life that I knew so sick of all the people a blind moon over to the window where the night has become elizium for the sleepless souls and our days to come you stand with dalila may be I'll just pass-away or may be I'll stay but I feel alive with you and I feel some kind of heaven when I feel deep inside her I feel some kind of heaven hear me give me some kind of heaven come in from the cold I'll owe you my heart be my shelter and refuge for the night love of my life pour your light on the faith I can feel make it real in her sleep |
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It was a year ago this week I joined Fubar ~ no intent to meet anyone in person, but it's wonderful to make online friendships and lasting connections with some really great people across the country and around the globe. These online networking sites sure do wonders to shrink the Great Expanse to a more manageable size.
I want to thank everyone ~ EVERYONE ~ who's been a part of my year-long journey. First I want to thank my Fubar FAMILY. Not just a bunch of names for the rankings, because I don't care if I'm level 4 or 400 here. It's all about the quality of people, and THESE people have contributed much more than just virtual drinks. Some have fantastic profiles, or great music, or always know the right thing to say on an otherwise mediocre day. They've been welcoming and inspirational and each one of them deserves thanks beyond words.
My Fubar FRIENDS have been a phenomenal bunch as well. For certainly without them, I wouldn't keep coming back. Look in my photos and spend an hour exploring my Stash. All that stuff in there? Yeah ~ that's for you. Keep the drinks and comments coming, they say money doesn't buy happiness but who needs money anyway, with friends like you?
I think I've almost lost track of Fubar FANS! But those are some great people who's made the trip over to my page at one point or another. Looked around and saw enough to know there was something here, they liked. So keep making that trip.. I'll be here!
And to everyone else who's just popped in to check out the music, look at something they saw on the scroller or just out of simple curiosity? THANK YOU! I know my page is several levels deep... So stick around, look around and come back around again! There's plenty in the Blog, stuff in the Stash and plenty of Pics to pique your interest, and I always appreciate the comments and suggestions, the thumbs up on my posts and the points on my page!
Thanks to EVERYONE for making my first year in Fubar memorable!
Maintaining a good, wholesome relationship can be difficult. The question of how to best understand something as complex as human relationships has long occupied the minds of our greatest poets and philosophers and until now, this quandary has largely gone unanswered. However, like most deep questions, the answer can be described in a simple analogy -- psychology has now determined that the secret to forming a lasting relationship is like baking the perfect loaf of bread.
If you find this comparison odd you have probably never enjoyed the sensual pleasure of baking -- of mixing the ingredients and kneading the dough, of forming the loaf, of seeing the bread rise slowly with the yeast, of the warm smell as it bakes to perfection.
Sadly, too many people settle for store bought, mass produced bread. Tragically, even more settle for equally unappetizing relationships. You deserve better on both counts! Bread requires flour, yeast, salt, etc. What does your lasting relationship require?
First and foremost a healthy relationship requires enthusiasm. Relationships are about growing and exploring. Your partner should be someone who embraces life and you enthusiastically! A thriving relationship is one in which both partners continue to explore the world -- and each other. No one is interested in a stale loaf.
Attractiveness -- yes, it is shallow. No, you don't have to look like a model to be loved. However, your partner must see something special in you. Would you want to bake bread with flour contaminated with dirt and bits of bugs? Of course not. Don't underestimate the natural beauty of a clean face and good grooming. By all means, highlight your qualities but remember, your true partner will want to know you.
Successful relationships also rely on the ability to speak and listen. No relationship can succeed over time without first-rate communication skills. Good, bad or indifferent, feelings and concerns have to be shared in an open and accepting way. If you feel that you and your partner can discuss anything -- your needs, hopes, desires, opinions then you are well on your way to relationship success.
What does it really mean to have good communication skills? The key here is honesty. Without honesty, what are you communicating? Nothing of lasting worth, that's certain. And don't just speak. Listen. Listen actively to your partner, hear what he or she has to say! Partners have to trust what you tell them and they have to know you believe what they say. Lying can foul a relationship faster than a rotten egg.
The difference between a successful, loving relationship and a successful business partnership often comes down to one essential ingredient -- affection. Business partners need not show affection for the partnership to be successful but loving partners sure better! In a successful loving relationship, each partner must care for one another, physically and emotionally. You must put your partner's needs first.
While there are often things that partners respectfully disagree about, a healthy relationship relies on compatibility. Your long-term partner must be compatible with you. It does not matter how strong you are with the seven other ingredients, you and your partner must be well-suited for each other. This does not mean you have to be two peas in a pod. You can have very different views and hobbies, but you needs must mesh.
The largest portion of compatibility is intelligence. We all want to be challenged from time to time. We want to be the best person we can be. It takes intelligence to revel in the intelligence of your partner. There is no "window dressing" in successful relationships -- both partners are wholly engaged and needed.
The final ingredient tends to grow with age and experience. It is a biggie -- Acceptance. Acceptance does not necessarily mean agreement, compliance, or submission Often it is very different. Anyone can accept someone they agree with. Only a loving partner can accept the views of someone they disagree with. Acceptance requires respect and consideration. Now, your partner may hold one or two views that you will never agree with them upon, but if you can recognize and tolerate some differences your relationship will mature.
Without all of these eight ingredients a relationship will become flat and tasteless. If you sense that you or your partner is running a little low on one or another of these ingredients, talk about it sooner rather than later. These differences do not go away by ignoring them. Like making bread, a relationship also takes thoughtfulness, timing, and hard work. Consider the ideas presented in this recipe and enjoy the earthy delight of needing -- and kneading -- a wonderful relationship, and having one!
Copyright © 2004 Andrew N. Williams
Here's one of those opportunities for the Fubar community to show how much they care. Nothing to do but have a compassionate heart ~ and it doesn't cost but a couple minutes of your time.
Could you please take a moment and leave some kind words or say a little prayer for Mz Iowa who's having a very difficult week?
Visit her Fubar Page Thanks so much! It truly means a lot!
The most amazing images of virtual worlds are now downloadable as wallpapers for your mobile.
Koinup is delighted to announce the launch of 3D Wallpapers, the mobile app that brings the most amazing virtual worlds screenshots and avatar art collections directly to your Nokia mobile.
The app will be soon released on the Ovi Store, the Nokia Mobile Application Store.
All Second Life members can enter the hall of fame and get their images featured in the app. Join the contests and if you will be picked, your images will be included as wallpapers in the application.
All the info: http://www.koinup.com/3d-wallpapers
To many, rather than the Brady Bunch version of happy pilgrims sitting around with their Native friends eating corn cobs, Thanksgiving represents oppression, greed, and cultural annihilation. For people of Native American ancestry, it's often considered a day of mourning.
Your family wants to have a big Thanksgiving celebration, but you don't want to participate. You object to this holiday as a protest of the treatment of Native Americans by my white ancestors. How can you survive Turkey Day and still hold true to your Pagan ideals?
You have a couple of options. The first, obviously, is not to attend the family dinner at all, but stay home instead, perhaps holding a silent ritual of your own in honor of those who suffered under the guise of settlement.
However for many families, the holidays are the only times they get a chance to be together. It's entirely possible that you're going to hurt some feelings if you choose not to go, particularly if you've always gone in the past. No one wants Granny to cry because you decided this was the year you weren't coming to dinner with her. After all, it's not her fault that you find Thanksgiving objectionable.
That means that you'll need to find some sort of compromise. Is there a way you can spend the day with your family, but still remain faithful to your own sense of ethics? Could you, perhaps, attend the gathering, but maybe instead of eating a plate full of turkey and mashed potatoes, sit with an empty plate in silent protest?
Another option would be to focus not on the Pilgrims/Indians aspect of the holiday but instead on the abundance and blessings of the earth. Although typically Pagans see the Mabon season as a time of thanksgiving, there's certainly no reason you can't be thankful for having a table full of food and a family who loves you - even if they don't understand what the heck you're talking about. Many Native American cultures had celebrations that honored the end of the harvest, so maybe you could find a way to incorporate that into your celebration, and educate your family a little at the same time.
Finally, if your family says any kind of blessing prior to eating, ask if you can offer the blessing this year. Say something from your heart, expressing your gratitude for what you have, and speaking out in honor of those who were oppressed and destroyed in the name of manifest destiny. If you put some thought into it, you can find a way to hold true to your own beliefs while educating your family at the same time.
For anyone who's interested in reading an excellent book on what really happened at Thanksgiving, I recommend picking up a copy of 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O'Neill Grace. It's a well-researched and beautifully photographed account of the Wampanoag side of the events leading up to the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth.
There have been several threads started recently about how to stimulate Second Life growth and economy. Many ideas have accurately demonstrated that the overall economy in Second Life has a strong basis in real-estate. True enough, real estate IS what most of those servers are about.
Premium account holders are able to use up to 512sqm of mainland, with no tier charge. Understandably, in the early days of Second Life, this could represent quite a bit of space. Second Life has grown exponentially since those early days, but look at how much empty space there is in so many of the Mainland regions today. Vast open spaces of barren land, abandoned land and sliced-and-diced parcels for sale all across the grid.
It's only wishful thinking that something could be done to clean it all up, so my questions today aren't about logistics or arguing about how to re-assemble all the broken pieces. It's not about pointing fingers at who or what the real problem is or even how to solve it.
But here's what I want to talk about:
Private estates are mostly "themed" regions. There's an overall landscape, a climate and a theme, to prevent the cluttered and random look that plagues much of mainland. Since there's room enough for absolutely every theme imaginable on the mainland, and without getting into a raging debate about how people's artistic expression is subjective, should more (not all.. just more) mainland regions adopt "general" themes, similar to private estates, which residents should generally abide by to live there? Should these themed mainland regions have a loose covenant to preserve an overall look-and-feel to the place and prevent what's happened to other loosely-themed mainland regions?
And with that in mind, I would like to hear from other premium-account members. Since virtually nothing can be accomplished on the speck of land 512sqm is, imagine for a minute if your land bonus were increased to 4096sqm, again with no tier? What would you create? Would you do something just for yourself? Would you create an area to improve the landscape of mainland? More parks and forest while keeping your personal stuff in the sky? Something futuristic? Historical? Fantasy? Re-create a real-world location? Would you make a space for fun - or profit? What would you do with a large blank canvas like that?
Is 4096sqm a realistic land size based on the number of premium members and the amount of unused space on the mainland grid? Do you think such an increase in the size of land available would draw new people to become premium account holders? Could there be unintentional consequences, like hurting private estate owners who generally cater to the "Free" account holders? Do you think adopting the "themed" regions and implementing a loose-fitting covenant in those areas would encourage more people to locate land they liked and create more and better content in the spaces available?
Lots of questions.. Lots of ideas. Pick what you like most and run with it.
A sore throat is an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the lower pharynx, tonsils or soft palate. Common symptoms include pain when swallowing, sometimes accompanied by a burning sensation or dryness and tightness in the throat. Mouth-breathing, alleries and pollen can cause sore throats, but catching a cold is the most common reasons why sore throats develop, although they may also be a sign or symptom of another disease.
I think it's important to have available the tools and skills to treat many common problems. Not everything warrants a trip to the doctor, but at the same time, not everything needs to simply be ignored. I believe the more natually one can cure and treat ailments, the better the outcome. Natural remedies often work the best, with almost never a negative side-effect. Of course I recognize that not everyone has access to things like hyssop, licorice root, myrrh, marshmallow root, pomegranate or slippery elm bark, so one needs to be able to work creatively and effectively with what one has. Here I've gathered some of the best recipes that make use of commonly-available ingredients - things anyone could find in a local suermarket or health-food store.
Salt. This is an age-old recipe. Mix a teaspoon or two of salt in eight ounces of very warm water. Gargle the whole mixture several times a day. This will increase the blood supply to the area by washing away mucus and dilating capillaries, thereby enabling better circulation of infection-fighting antibodies.
Lemon. Another timeless remedy, simply add the juice of one lemon and one teaspoon of salt to one cup of rather warm water. Gargle three times a day for one minute.
Apple Cider Vinegar. One of the best remedies to use to get rid of a sore throat is to gargle with apple cider vinegar. Be sure to use the PURE vinegar - the kind with the "mother" in it. You'll recognize it readily by the dark flakes floating around in it. It's not contaminated.. That's THE vinegar you want to buy! It's acidity should kill most oral bacteria quickly. Mix a tablespoon (or more) in a 6-8oz glass of water. Take a sip, swish it around, and gargle with it. Spit it out. Then, continue to gargle, swallowing afterward, until it's all gone. This treatment is known to cure a streptococcic sore throat within 24 hours.
The acid in ACV is very helpful in soothing and minimizing a sore throat. Just be sure to rinse your mouth with water afterward to prevent the acid from eroding the enamel on your teeth!
Honey. To soothe a sore throat, mix ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar and ¼ cup of pure clover honey. Take one tablespoon every 3-4 hours, or as needed, for pain relief.
Thyme. Thyme has antiseptic properties, and can easily be made into a tea. Lightly crush five fresh or dried leaves. Place these in a cup and fill with boiled water, cooled to just below the boiling point. Cover this and let it infuse for five minutes. Remove the leaves and use as a gargle or as a drink.
Grapefruit Seed Extract. This is a powerful all-around antimicrobial product and is an excellent disinfectant and antiseptic. Add five drops to a glass of water to create a soothing gargle.
Cayenne Pepper. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to 1 cup of boiling water; stir well and gargle while mixture is very warm. This brings more circulation to the area and helps draw away the infection. For a more creative recipe you can also add 2 tsp Echinacea, 1/2 tsp garlic bulb, and 1 tsp peppermint leaves to the cayenne.
Ginger. Peel the skin from a small ginger root, and slice the root into into coins and place them into a small pot of water, and bring to a boil. The tea should become a straw or tan color. To it, add three tablespoons of pure clover honey to sweeten. Sip the hot tea slowly. After sipping, gently clear your throat. The tea will cause a tingle in the throat. This particular tea is also very effective at restoring your voice after a cold.
Please note that using these recipes is not considered dabbling in the occult. It doesn't make you a witch or a pagan, and despite the fact that the main ingredients weren't crafted in the sterile laboratories of one of the major pharmaceutical companies, they actually work. And they're safe and healthy for you.
Good luck with these.. I wish you well!
Crow has brought the message
to the children of the sun
for the return of the buffalo
and for a better day to come
You can kill my body
You can damn my soul
for not believing in your god
and some world down below
You don't stand a chance
against my prayers
You don't stand a chance
against my love
