Whiteblaze

Wonderful that you got to go to Japan! It is still on my list of places I really wish to visit! Note: Please forgive the double posting. I forgot to add my quoted response in the first post.

I didn't post originally, but in retrospect I did do one thing that was my goal and that was gain experience in my area of work and do travel contract work. I almost gave up that goal because I at first struggled at my first job right out of school. I later got a the hang of things in another area and became seasoned at it even. As for the next eight years. I must say something about turning 30 gives you some perspective. lol Not so much predictions, but things I hope will come to be or am aiming for: I want to transition to a different field of work as my current area does not provide the work-life balance I desire. I want to slow down and take time to enjoy life more. Give time to things I haven't been able to do because of lack of said work-life balance. I would call these personal growth and exploration activities such as dance classes or piano lessons. Also get my finances in better order to finish paying off student loans. I want to do international travel as that had not been enough of a priority apparently. I want to attend the concerts of artists I love who I have not seen yet like Daft Punk (They have only toured every ten years. >_<). I still live in my family home and I finally feel more than ready to have my own space so that is definitely happening. As for marriage it would be awesome if it is the right person and for the right reason. I have always had this feeling of wanting to be a mother since I was young. Will have to see in the years to come if that is what I want. I think I still do, but I have some things I'd like to do before settling down with that kind of life long commitment. Mainly just enjoy life without children a little longer. ^_^

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='Ace'][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]That's probably a common occurrence. Most vaccinations work by infecting you with a dumbed down version of whatever they're supposed to prevent, which harasses your immune system into making antibiotics in preparation for when the real thing hits. [/QUOTE][/FONT] I kind of left out a few other things that have been going on with me and understated what I did mention here, but you're certainly right about my immune system's harassment. They often say the benefit outways the risk, well, I say to them I'd rather just get sick with the flu than go through what I'm going through now.[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='Kenso'][COLOR=SeaGreen][SIZE=1][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Or at least for a year or two before everyone forgets about it. The hyped-up media crap about this annoys me. Needless to say, I'm not worried. Of course, the only time I've ever had the flu was the one time I got a frickin' flu shot, and that's about the only time I've been really sick, so I figure I'm good for this one, even if I am in AZ.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] I had begun to think that flu shots aren't as great as they are made out to be. Twice I have gotten a flu shot; in Fall 2008 and the year before. Now while I do have seasonal allergies I have had the strangest allergic reactions ever since I had that first flu shot. Swelling in my right hand causing pain similar to carpal tunnel syndrome, a swooshing sound in my right ear that lasted 4 or 5 months last year than finally went away. Not to mention the lymph nodes on the upper right portion of my body have been acting strange. I am considering these to be allergic reactions because the only thing that has any effect on them is Benadryl and I only found this out 3 weeks ago. Both times the flu shot was given in my right arm. So I've decided, no more flu shots for me. I would also like to point out that the person in that photo could do one simple thing to be on the cautious side: wear their glasses. Hanging them on your shirt collar is just not as useful. I'm assuming no contacts are in use.[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='Lunox'][font=trebuchet ms] [YOUTUBE="this"]Nn5jlrxcpkI[/YOUTUBE][/font][/QUOTE] This clip never gets old. But yeah some of the best comedy has some truth to it which is where the humor really comes in.[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Wait...so every time you were GOING to be disrespectful your parents could sense this magically and stopped you with the power of? Kryptonite? The moon? Psychic powers? Fire? Bricks? Sharp words and a 'time out' only work so far. A spanking for a child is not child abuse according to state laws in the United States. Getting smacked across the mouth for being cheeky is intentional harm to a child and qualifies as child abuse. But a spanking given for [b]open defiance[/b] is on a different order altogether. I've seen children raised who were not spanked who turned out fine. I've seen others that should have been spanked who weren't who have since then grown up into world's most immature idiotic gormless selfish jerks. And then there's me, who was spanked while growing up excessively, but has still managed somehow to be a relatively productive member of society. Spare me your moralizing because I highly doubt you're a parent and have ever been the ONLY one to have to mete out punishment to a child. I've been in a single parent position before and know how stressful it is. Yelling at a child is as much of a harm as a smack across the rear. You'll forget the spanking in time and it won't hurt, but a verbal punishment can do lasting damage or be forgotten seconds later. A spanking isn't the first thing a parent normally jumps to when it's time for punishment. It's the last thing.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] It would never get to that point because I would not say anything disrespectful in the first place because I knew what would happen if I did. My parents tolerated very little when it came to disrespect. I'm trying to moralize anything to anybody. I'm expressing my view and really there was a misunderstanding. I do not think spanking is child abuse. I was spanked as a child. BUT. When a child is "spanked" and winds up with bruises, scars, large whelps, sore limbs, can't sit down etc... then yes I would say that was abuse even though there are parents who do this and still call it a simple spanking (not talking about my parents). Lastly I'll say that the way people teach and discipline their children is a choice that they make. I'm not going pass judgment on someone else and their child, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own opinion. For example, when I was in high school one of my teachers was telling us about how he disciplines his children. He spanked his children. He told us that when he's about to spank his kids they would wet their pants in fear. He said that if he hears from his wife that their kids were misbehaving somewhere then he would get home that night from work, wake them up from sleep and let them have it. My opinion is that's crossing the line if a child is so scared of a spanking that they actually wet themselves (that right there shows they are affected emotionally/psychologically). In fact when he told us this story he even sounded proud about how he disciplined his kids. I am not a parent, but I am still formulating in my mind right now the things I certainly want to do with my children when the time comes and things I certainly do not want to do. [quote name='ChibiHorsewoman'][color=#9933ff][font=monotype corsiva][size=4]Excuse me? Ok Super Nanny what do you propose I do? Before I get started on punishing my daughter let me first say that as a whole she's a very nice and polite little girl. Just like Knuckle's Girl's children she will go up and give someone a hug. She's gotten into the habit of trying to help out whomever she sees may be in need of her assistance and introduces herself by shaking hands. She helps with chores and will try to fold her laundry. However she is four years old and likes to test limits that have been set. Most of the time she gets sent to the naughty chair for four minutes for a time out- that doesn't always work out too well since she tries to get up repeatedly and every once in a while she does get a spanking. Just a swat on the butt. Not to inflict pain- that's what's classified as abuse (I went through abuse training through my job in geriatric care about two weeks ago so please save your preaching for someone else) but just to emphasize the fact that she's on punishment. I have also swatted her hands, but that was because she was about to try to touch either a pot on the stove or the flames from said stove (we have a gas stove) for the fourth time after telling her no three times and my only other option would've been to allow her to hurt herself. So tell me which one would you rather I allow to happen?[/color][/font][/size][/QUOTE] I wasn?t saying that you shouldn't stop your child from getting burned by a hot pot. Simply giving a swat is not the spanking that I am talking about, so no, that's not inflicting hurt/ harm intentionally. I was talking about when someone spanks a child with a belt or something where it does hurt. I'm just saying that a person can't spank a child with a belt (which hurts) and the person say they were not intentionally hurting/harming the child. I understand now from your explanation what your discipline approach is; where there's no spanking involved and other methods are utilized. I would prefer to teach and discipline my children that way, but on the other hand I tend to agree with people who think that spanking is necessary.[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"]I think there is a clear difference between a child who simply doesn't know any better and a child who is simply being disrespectful. And then there's the child who just doesn't care because at the end of the day they get away with it. Very little children tend not to know any better because they are usually still being taught what they should and should not do. I will give benifit of the doubt to a child who doesn't understand that what they did or said it wrong/rude. I lend a lot of behavior to "Oh she/he is only however many years olde, but at a certain age any child is accountable for their actions and it's clear that they are just being smart/disrespectful/etc... A basic truth about children's behavior is that they will not only continue to do something, but take it to the next level an beyond if allowed. I was never disrespectful to my parents because not only was I taught, but I was never allowed to. If I ever said or did something they did not like, they did the teaching and disciplining right then and there!!! They didn't wait until I was already 12 or 13 years old and start acting appalled at my 'mouthing off' or 'talking back' or any other disrespectful behavior as some parents make the mistake of doing. In fact at that age it's far too late. You have to start when the child is young with teaching to be respectful and all this manners stuff. It also depends on your culture because there are some cultures who generally expect and value respect from children in a different way on another level so that plays a part in things too. [quote name='ChibiHorsewoman'][color=#9933ff][font=monotype corsiva][size=4]If you don't do it to intentionally harm a child it's not abuse. My parents spanked me, hells my mom once smacked me so hard across the face for mouthing off to her I thought my head was going to fall off. Kids today have no idea how lucky they are. They need to stop acting so damn cheeky. [/color][/font][/size][/QUOTE] The act of spanking a child IS intentionally harming/hurting them. If you are not wanting to harm/hurt a child than you should not spank them as that is harming them. I have never gotten to the point of mouthing off to either of my parents because I taught from an early age not to talk back or anything like that because if I had my head would have fallen off. But you see it never got to that![/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"]Now I'm not saying that swine flu is not dangerous as people already know that you can die from it, but I think the media has blown this up way too much. First off, under certain circumstances you can also die from the regular human influenza, pneumonia, and even the common cold. Being that I reside in Houston, Texas and go to school in the Texas Medical Center, does raise reason to be a little more cautious, but there's no need to start getting all paranoid which I haven't seen yet, thank goodness. Though I do find it odd how I have not been sick the entire school year yet as I speak I am sick and trying to get over some cold or other. Although two elementary schools have closed in the area due to confirmed cases, my younger brother's highschool may be closing later this week, and in church last Sunday a little boy stated his younger brother was home sick with swine flu, people aren't getting all panicked or anything. I personally would be more concerned if a child came down sick simply because of a lack of a developed immune system. The news and other media to me are just giving people a reason to be paranoid. All you need to due is take care of yourself and if you get sick go see your doctor about treatment. That's all there is to it.[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='Lrb'] [FONT=Tahoma][COLOR=dimgray]I've also got a notepad which I've been using a lot for various reasons. I've found its just extremely useful to have a [B]notepad[/B] handy at all times. I've been drawing in it, writing lyrics, writing stories, ideas for threads, not to mention little details I need to remember and *ahem* phone numbers.[/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Tahoma][COLOR=dimgray]So, whats in [I]your[/I] pants? :smirk:[/COLOR][/FONT] [FONT=Tahoma][COLOR=dimgray][RIGHT][SIZE=1]gogosexualinnuendos[/SIZE][/RIGHT] [/COLOR][/FONT][/quote] An entire notepad?! O_O [quote name='SaiyanPrincessX'][SIZE=1]Ten cents. Literally. The thing that really sucks about girl pants is that the manufactors think girls never use pockets or somehting, so you could usually only fit [I]maybe[/I] half your hand in them![/SIZE][/quote] I thought I was the only one who had that complaint. 'Bout the only thing I put in pants pockets are my keys and my cell phone if there's no where else to put it. What I tend to carry with me won't fit into my pockets comfortably id not at all and depending on what it was and how it was positioned would start to mess with the circulation in my legs and being that circulation is very important I put my stuff elsewhere. Such as jacket/hoodie pockets!!! Now the pockets on these garments tend to be rather roomy so I can fit my rainbow-fence wristlet which holds all sorts of cards: debit, the one and only credit card I have, various store savings cards, my State of Texas ID card because yes I am 21 and do not own a driver's license. I also carry my health insurance card in case there is an emergency. Along with my wrislet I usually have my orange plaid coin purse that holds any cash I may have. I like having them separate because money is germy and I don't like it touching my cards. Lastly, I try to always carry some hand sanitizer. My school ID which must be visible and my Metro Q-card I use often because I have no car so I put them both in one of those hard plastic ID cases and clip the thing to my pocket. Oh and I always have to have some lip balm or chapstick or soemthing on me because I have what I will call high maintanence lips that need frequent moisturizing. And that's about it.[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='Lunox'] I don't really aspire to go out in a blaze of glory, I just want a happy life of doing something I love and surrounding myself with family and friends. I don't know if I'd want to die peacefully alone or surrounded, but I definitely want to die peacefully. lol I don't see the huge deal of dying of old age. If I marry and have kids, I'd want to see my kids grow up and marry and have kids of their own, and then die. I'd like that, as corny as that sounds.[/QUOTE] I don't see death so much of a thing of fate, yet I do kind of see it like this: when it's your time to go, it's your time to go and there's no changing that. I wouldn't want to know when or how I would die because I again I don't see death as being a thing of fate, in that manner anyway. Even if I did see it as fate, I'm not interested in knowing, like Aaryanna Mom said, I'd rather just live and enjoy life without worrying about something like that. When I was younger the mention of death made me very afraid. I would go in phases every now and then getting scared all over again (not terrified, but just in a having it on the mind sort of way) and then feeling at peace with the idea and forgetting about it again. Now I just feel like I'm not afraid of death itself since it is inevitable and every dies at some point. What I am afraid of is dying before I experience being a mother and raising and nurturing children of my own. It's one of my life's aspirations, very much at the top. So Lunox, don't think what you said sounds too corny. ^_^[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"]You went to the same school for the past ten years? Hmm, was it a private school or something? (Sorry, I'm just curious) I think you'll be just fine. When people say they are not social I've found that's really ot the case or mean something else when they say that. People (that don't know me) describe me as being quiet, but I say I just don't run my mouth as much as some people do. I do talk and talk a lot too, but I also tend to (well, in the past) talk the least when I am around new people in new situations. This I found was not such a good thing to do though I never did it on purpose. A friend told me something one day that really told me soemthing about myself. I can be shy at times and as I said before I get really quiet and really don't say much unless asked a question. She also told me difference between now and when we first met as she said I am much more open to talking thatn I was then. I'm saying all this because I've noticed that by the time I warm up to people and everything most other people have made friends and don't feel the need to reach out any more like they do at the beginning of school. As long as you do things like talk to others and keep a conversation going with someone you just met you'll be just fine, Darren. You can do that can't you? ^_^ It took me longer than most people to realize the importance of conversation when you first meet people. It lets people get to know you a little bit and decide whether they like you or not. Just to get an impression of you. If you are speaking very little in a classroom full of people (like I'd do on the first day of school back in highschool, but then I already had friends from middle school and such) then they aren't able to see what you're like. I don't know what you mean by you're in no way social at all (maybe you can tell me what you mean by that?), but if you just don't do the whole not talking very much thing, you'll be fine. Also, making friends is just something that happens naturally. I would suggest not pushing it too much. Personally most if not all of my friends befriended me more or less. I've almost NEVER gone out of my way or put any effort into making friends and I always wind up with the best of people. People who like me for who I am, want to be around me, and people that I like. As far as your concern about meeting people, well, you're certainly going to meet people. You just hope to meet people that you like and vice versa. Try joining an organizaton of interest, or going to a place of interest on campus so that way you'll run into people that share your interest. There's always your classes! That's a nice opportunity, I mean people who immediate have a link with you. You can ask someone a question about class or talk about an upcoming assignment just to start a conversation or something. Lastly I would say the first few weeks of the semester is the best time to more easily befriend a person because after that people have established some friendships and will be busy doing their thing and won;t go too much out of the way to befriend others. Remember though that you'll have more acquaintances than friends and some of them will become a friend too so keep that in mind. And you will befriend people throughout your four years, but probably more those first two years. I think you'll be just fine. Making friends, it's not something that you forget. ^_~[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"]I concur, Lunox. I would go as far as to say that she seems to be the least interesting, personality wise etc. [SPOILER]I was glad to see her finally deal with her anger/hurt of losing her mom. Plus, the whole antagonizing Zuko thing was getting old. Tonight's episode was a nice break considering all that's about to go down. I rather enjoyed it, of course. Now, there are a few things I'm wondering about that have been hinted at: They always tie things in so I'm wondering what Uncle Iroh's been up to since his escape and what Sokka will do with that tile he received? Is Jet really dead? Does the fact that Zuko's mom was mearly banished supposed to be of significance other than, "Hey, she might be alive!"? And if she's alive where has she been all this time? It be really cool, but I kind of don't see how there will be time for some how coming across her with this being the finale and all. Also, what greater evil is Azula capable of at this point?[/FONT][/SPOILER]

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='Phenom'][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]My GOODNESS! I did not know this series was that good. Now I've seen a couple of episodes here and there, but they never really hit me the way these 3 episodes did. And the action didn't stand out at the time. It was good then too, but narrow-minded-ness.. (You know how that goes :)) I was lost. Still lost so to speak because I don't know where the fire guy (sorry, I don't know names) came from, and he had a bald head. (with a ponytail.. or something) I know him and the main bald boy were enemies, and that's it. In these episodes that just went off, they're working together..... The animation and fight sequences are gorgeous. (Nice and fluid) Most of this stuff is as good, if not better than majority of the anime that's been airing on television. Character design.. I learn to live with it. (They're not bad, but I've seen better looking people) I like how the fire guy looks though. (is that Ruffio from Hook?) I would love to be able to catch this from the very beginning so I could see how everything got started. I tend to watch a lot of American cartoons that has action in them, or at the very least, give them a chance (although, I tend to bypass a lot of cartoons with the quirky designs), and they (cartoons) shouldn't be taken too lightly. If more cartoons like this were to be created, I'd probably give up on watching anime completely :p [/COLOR][/QUOTE] Hmm, if you like you could just buy the DVD's which will cost you a bit or you could try catching the reruns on Nick., although they never show them i in order. Then there's that unmentionable method, which I will not mention. XD I'm eventually going to buy the series at some point, but that won't be for a good while since I'll have to wait a while. It wouldd be nice to get the whole thing in one great big delicious box set! But yeah you really should watch it from the beginning because you'll get so much more out of it. I couldn't see myself watching the last 10 episodes of a show like Avatar and enjoy it the way someone who's watched it from day one would. With that I must say that I can't wait for tonight's episode!!!! The preview for it has had me giddy all day![/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='Raiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"] .....sorry, too much sugar there. Yes, with the notable exception of the boots, this costume is 100% hand sewn, put together, stained with blood and tears, etc.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] No wonder it looks so nice. Usually people's costume material looks so cheap and cheesy it's ridiculous. I'm happy to see some people take costume making seriously. I love your expressions and poses in both pics. : )[/FONT]

[FONT="Arial"][quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]No need to worry about that. It's easy for us to move something if needed. ^_~In all honesty, about the only real difference I noticed was that the time you have for doing fun things is a lot less on account of the responsibilities you take on as an adult. The trick, for me that is, to staying happy has always been to make sure I don't lose sight of having fun. The only thing that has made life horrible, other than genuine bad times, is not setting aside time for doing things that I enjoy. I've found that even something as simple as having time to read a book I like is enough to keep me happy. So no, it's not as horrible as people like to make out because you have a limited ability to control it. The saying that life is what you make of it really is true because it's oh so easy to see all the negative things and overlook all the simple yet positive things that you enjoy. Keep an attitude of finding things you like along side the being responsible side and you'll do fine. [/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Ah, now that's the best advice right there. ^_^ Finally, someone came along with the right amount of life experience. Giving advice from experience is a little hard when you're just a few steps ahead of someone.[/FONT]