Missa

Well, while my older family members, including my parents, surpass me in life experience... I would say that I am more educated and tech saavy. Most of my older family members never had the opportunity to go to college, everyone in my generation has. My older cousin is in college now, to get his BA. I completed two years of technical school, and my younger cousin went to technical school too, though he dropped out. (It just wasn't for him, or so he says. Maybe one day he will go back.) As for technology...Of course we know more than they do. We've grown up around computers, cell phones, and a myraid of other gadgets. This is where more responsibility comes in. In my household, I am the person everyone runs to when they can't get the computer, DVD player, VCR, or cell phone to work. However, none of this really bothers me. They've learned a lot since the dawn of technology, and I don't have to deal with possessed DVD players very often. ^^

Where is my shower? Gee, I don't know. *Checks in pockets, then looks under the couch...* Erm...Nope...Oh well :P It will come home eventually... Anyway, I can't draw pictures in the shower...I don't have a glass door :( Instead a have an ugly shower curtain. (I did not decorate my bathroom.) It's purple and green, and is all flowery and ****. Actually, the evil spiders, for some strange reason, like my shower. But that's okay, it saves me the task of having to lure them in there. (Did I mention how incredibly lazy I am?) In the morning, I like to turn that sucker on and drown the ugly little *******. Mwahahaa! Feel the wrath of my unholy rage! Ahem...Yeah...Weird mood O.o

Mmm...I admit that I often discriminate...when it comes to age. Older men are fine, even if they are significantly older. But younger men...I generally tend to shy away. I suppose it's because...most of the guys that I have met who are younger, tend to still party...a lot. That's just fine, but I feel like I've all ready moved past that faze in my life. They'd probably still want to go to bars and clubs, and I've all ready had enough. At the same time, I realize this isn't true of ALL younger men. But I can't help it... I do have a thing about sun signs and the zodiac. It's not that I won't date someone who is considered incompatible with my sun sign, but when I find out a birthday, I look up the coresponding sign in my astrology books. Silly, I know. While there are some similiarities, I think it's just ridiculous to say that your birthday determines who you are. Or blood type for that matter...

I consider myself to be a very patient person. However, when I do finally get angry...Watch out. I can't remember ever saying something really cruel to someone that I cared about. When I get angry, I just tend to be brutally honest. (Normally, I will try to be as gentle as possible when telling the truth. When I get mean, I forget what gentle is.) Reading this post caused me to think about my ex-boyfriend and the last time that I talked to him. We broke up, and hadn't even seen each other in a long time. We agreed to be friends, so he still called me quite a bit. At first it was cool, but eventually...Every single time he called, he would want to talk about getting back together. Besides the fact that I didn't want to date him again, I began to get frustrated because I felt like he was trying to use me. I knew he didn't really want a relationship, and judging from his behavior, he didn't really want a friend either. The straw that broke the camel's back...I happened to be moving, among other things. Because I had been so busy, I basicly forgot to turn my cellphone on for several days. (For me this is normal. I hate the phone with a passion. Everyone who knows me at all knows this about me and has to deal with it.) Anyway, he had been calling me, and since my phone was turned off, he got mad. While I can understand that, the slew of nasty messages was a little inappropriate. He was acting like he owned me or something. I finally remembered to turn my cellphone on and called him back. I intended to work it out but set him straight...But he wouldn't take my call. Instead he sent me another nasty text message. I erupted like Mt. Vesuvius. I told him that I had a perfectly good reason for not calling him, but that I wasn't going to bother explaining since I was sure he didn't really care about what I had to say. And then...[I]Don't call me again.[/I] It might not sound bad, but it was...He called me back in record time and repented. I calmed down, but I had finally told the truth and I stuck to my guns. He wasn't interested in a relationship, and he wasn't interested in being friends. We needed to move on. Sorry... Despite all that, I felt horrible about the whole altercation for days. I really did care about him, I really did want to be his friend, I just couldn't take the romantic drama anymore. But then I got over it :P

[QUOTE]Plus we have to view this point from every angle and one angle is the economic angle. Everyone seems to think that having to put people to death would cost so much more than just "locking them up." The problem is we have to pay for every single inmate that is in jail. We (the tax payers) have to pay for the toilet paper they use, and the food they eat. We have to pay for their facilities, and every year that number gets larger for every person that continues to stay there. The death penalty actually saves us money in the long run, because instead of a person being there from the age of 22-68 (random ages) they are there from 22-23. The end.[/QUOTE] Two things... 1) No one is executed quickly. The felon must be given the opportunity to appeal, just in case the judge or jury made a mistake, and they are in fact innocent. Because of this, most people on death row aren't executed, they die of other causes before they even see their execution date. In some states, while they may serve the death penalty as a sentence, they very rarely ever carry it out. For example: California. Scott Peterson was sentenced to death, but the media has all ready speculated that he will never be punished, simply because it's California. So basicly, whether or not the death penalty exists, you're still paying for them to spend the rest of their long lives in prison. 2) The reason the death penalty may cost more...Remember what I just said about appeals? Retrials? Do you know how much those cost? A lawyer alone? Millions...And guess what, that guy on death row isn't paying for it. (How would he, with the money he earns from making license plates?) It's all about the taxpayers. Let's look at Scott Peterson again...After that whole fiasco, residents are paying extra taxes, somewhere in the millions. (Sorry, I forgot the exact number.) Just to pay for the tab that Mr.Peterson ran up.

My childhood dream: to be an animator. Didn't persue it. Why? Well, while I wanted to be an animator, I could never force myself to take it too seriously. I should have drawn every day, I should have taken more art classes...But I didn't. I have too many hobbies to devote a significant amount of time to just one, every day. Plus, I have a short attention span. I pay attention for a while, then I lose interest, I put it down, and then pick it up back later. I didn't take many art classes because I was homeschooled through most of middle school and high school. And my parents simply didn't have the money to pay for extra curricular activities. When I started college, I took Drawing I, and that was it. Mainly because the school was small and didn't offer more than that. And money was still an issue... There was also the fact that I grew up being told that their was no career in the art field. I'd end up a starving artist or something like that. Now, since I'm an adult, things like good pay, benefits, job security, and expanding fields is...pretty darn important. Instead of becoming an animator, I'm now pursuing a career in the medical field. The last reason...Well, I don't live in Japan. And I would have been willing to work for Disney, if Walt was still alive. But since he died, American animation just hasn't been the same. The magic is gone. Now, the television industry only produces animated crap...There are a few exceptions, but as a whole, I am thoroughly disappointed. (Which probably has a lot to do with why I am an anime fan. Had to get my cartoon fix somewhere else, right? Either that or grow up...Erm...) And so...Drawing has become a hobby. Something that I do sometimes, just for fun. I consider myself a mere amatuer...

[QUOTE]Orginally Posted by [B]Baron Samedi [/B] Under the circumstances, I firmly believe that Oscar should be forced to move out of his trashbin and into a proper home, so that children are not influenced to become homeless people. And Bert and Ernie should get their own apartments, because we don't want to encourage any possibility of homosexuality.[/QUOTE] ...Laughs...I award Baron Samedi five points for making me laugh today :P This is just ridiculous. Yes, television probably does influence children...to a certain degree. However, if a child eats cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, (or between every meal) let's stop pointing the finger and blaming the poor Cookie Monster. We all know the truth. It is the parent(s) fault. It is the parent(s) job to make sure that their children have a healthy diet. It is the parent(s) job to just say, "No," when the kiddies stick their hands in the cookie jar. Besides, if it wasn't the parent(s) fault, who the h*ll is buying all this junk food and sticking it in the pantries of America? Dragon Warrior summed it up nicely. "Parent for once." I can just picture it now...Thirty years from now,I'll be a grandmother...Sitting in my rocking chair and telling my grandchildren about the "good old days." I can hear it now... "Back in my day, he was called the Cookie Monster. And the Cookie Monster ate cookies dagnabit!"

[QUOTE]Originally Posted by [B]Retribution[/B] I think that when people say there's not a single thing they'd want to change, they're either not thinking hard enough, or lying. But that's just an opinion. Yes, they make you who you are today, but your life might be better than it is now if you could change the past.[/QUOTE] Once upon a time, I suffered from clinical depression. I cried myself to sleep, I wished that I would die...etc. Eventually I realized that if I was depressed, it was my own fault. Sure, my family was/is disfunctional. Sure, I suffered from extreme isolation. So what? I had forgotten that I had a family that loved me, despite all their faults. I was isolated, but isolation had taught me a lot things about myself and given me time to think outside the box. It all boiled down to the fact that, I might not be able to control other people, but I could control myself. I could control how I felt, and I could choose the life that I wanted to live. I gradually stopped wallowing in self-pity and self-loathing. I started to thank the higher power for everything that I had, and I started to love myself. And now, life is good. I wouldn't change the past. I may have suffered, but suffering was necessary. I learned a valuable lesson, one that a lot of people around me haven't quite figured out yet. Could I have learned this lesson another way, a easier way? Probably not. Think about all the times that someone has given you good advice and you've ignored it. You didn't ignore it because you're stupid, you ignored it because you WANTED to make your own mistakes. Maybe because we seem to learn best from our own experience. Experience is valuable, though sometimes not appreciated. Even if you could remember your mistakes and still change them, would that lesson still be as valuable? No one can really say, the idea is very abstract...But I would assume that if you could remember, but did not suffer, your experience would become just something that you told yourself. So, would you make the same mistake again? I think, perhaps...If I had never been depressed before, would I be as happy as I am now? [QUOTE]Originally Posted by [B]Lunai[/B] I think that when people say they wouldn't change anything, it isn't because they are being lazy or slow thinkers - more likely it is that the risk of their lives being not better but worse, or just much too different, than it already is doesn't weigh out against the possible pros for altering your own past.[/QUOTE] Lazy? Slow? I don't think so. My life might be better if I did, or worse, or very different, I agree. It's not that I don't want to change it because it might require too much effort, thought, or risk. I don't want to change it because I value all of the experiences that I've had, good and bad. And I have learned how to be happy, I've learned how to love myself. I don't think I could be if I had never truly allowed myself to play the victim. I'd probably just become more self-absorbed and delusional.

[QUOTE]Originally Posted by [B]Adahn[/B] I am (hopefully obviously) not a girl, but I feel compelled to reply. From a non-sexual perspective, everyone wants to love someone for who they are, and be loved for who they are. When you start asking for advice on how to attract other people, you're no longer treating the object of your affection as an individual, but as one of many, whose individuality isn't as important to you as winning this person's affections through artificial (impersonal) means. If you truly want a relationship, you will be yourself and do not what is expedient, but what is true to your character. If you enter into a relationship sweeping someone off their feet, you'll either have to keep up the ruse of being the dashing young individual you are, or come clean and hope the other person finds your efforts endearing rather than manipulative. [/QUOTE] Well, I'm a girl, and I think that you are on the right track. All I really want is someone who is interested in knowing me, my goob qualities, my bad qualities, my dreams and aspirations, my beliefs and values...etc. I want someone who can accept me for who I am, appreciate me for being that person, and not try to change me or imply that I need to be changed. And I want someone who is willing to open up to me and share with me who they are, so that I can accept them, appreciate them, and truly love them, whether I always understand them or not. I don't think you need to do anything to really attract a girl besides be yourself and give her your attention. Neither of those are very big things. Being yourself might be hard if you're shy and unconfident, but in that case...stop focusing on you and start focusing on her. If you are constantly worrying about how you act and what you say around her, you're not really focusing on her at all. And if you really like a girl, I would think that paying attention to her wouldn't be so hard. I might be a girl, and just not understand guys, but I know that when I am interested in someone, I want to give them my attention.

Stealing is stealing. I've heard some argue that it's okay to download music from the internet, because the artist is filthy rich and their not. While that may be true, the artist still earned that money. I know that if I was I'd want my money, [B]all of it.[/B] [I]I worked for it gosh darnit.[/I] Hey, wouldn't you?

Well, what can you say, really? It's very sad, and the world will miss him. (Even us non-believers...) While I do not consider myself to be a Christian, I do believe in God and in Heaven. I believe that the pope will soon be in a better place, free from suffering...

April Fool's Day is not a big holiday where I am from either. I've never been the victim of a prank, not have I ever conceived a prank. Until today... There is a local radio station, and like most radio stations, they don't take themselves too seriously. (Thank God.) I was listening to a program today when two of the DJ's announced that they were engaged. I thought this was odd because I had never noticed anything abnormal about their interactions. However, that's just what I heard on the radio, and I don't tend to be very observant when it comes to stuff I hear while I'm driving. I thought for a few minutes, "Gee that's really nice. They seem like nice people and I bet they have a lot of common..." Then I remembered that today was April Fool's Day. And who would announce their engagement on April Fool's Day? Even if they were serious, which I know their not, it would be an invitation to not be taken seriously.

Oh yeah...I forgot.Strawberry. Ice. Cream. I developed an addiction to strawberry milkshakes when I was a teenager and living with my parents. My mom and I used to drive to McDonald's at night to get our milkshake fix. Later it turned into an obsession with strawberries. Whenever someone bought strawberries, they would all disappear in record time :P Now I buy pints of Haagen-Dazs whenever I am either celebrating, or having a bad day. It always manages to cheer me up :)

Well, I think that we've all agreed that it depends upon the motives of the person and the situation that they are in. People who commit suicide, or threaten to commit suicide, merely for attention or to hurt other people are obviously being selfish in my own opinion. But a person who has suffered so much, and simply can't think of a better option...I don't think so. I think we can all imagine what that must be like and understand the motivation behind the act. I am really sorry that you have suffered so much abuse from the people who were supposed to love you the most in this world. I am grateful that someone recognized your cry for help and provided you with the help and understanding that you needed. I do not think that your actions were selfish in the least, but I am glad that you did not go through with it. And I wish you the very best ;) Adieu.

Nicknames...Hmm... Well, my name is Melissa. For some reason, when I was very young, my family started calling me "Missa," I guess for short. No one calls me that very often anymore, except for my mother and my best friend. (My best friend heard my mom call me that and has used that nickname ever since.) I used to be called "Goldy-Locks," "Casper," and "Powder," when I was in junior high. (Because I have blonde hair and very, very fair skin.) Again, no one uses any of those very often anymore, except for my best friend. Her dad started calling me Powder when I was a kid, and for her, the name stuck. Now that I think about it, the only person who calls me by any nicknames, is my best friend. She has created a whole slew of them, including "Missa Walker, Texas Ranger," for obvious reasons. But I'm not as creative as she is...My only nickname for her is "Be-ach."

[QUOTE]Originally Posted by [B]Elfpirate[/B] It is commonly referred to as the "Old Hag Syndrome" because the majority of people that experience it have described an old, scary hag-like creature that sits on their chest, keeping them from moving (and often from breathing). It sits there and stares or smiles at the person.[/QUOTE] So that's what it's called, eh? I had something similiar to that happen to me once. I apparently "woke up" I remember seeing my bedroom from where I was laying. The only thing in view was the edge of the bed and the wall. I remember trying to move my head to look around, only I couldn't, because someone was holding my head with their hands so that I would keep staring at the wall. While I was looking at the wall, still trying to move my head, I saw a hand (no body, just a hand) writing something on the wall. I tried to read the writing, but couldn't because it was written in a different language. Then the writing disappeared and I could move my head again. After that I sat up and got out of bed. It was really weird, but I don't remember being frightened.

I've posted this question on my site, but I don't think that anyone ever reads my blog. Oh well. LOL. My co-workers and I were recently discussing a current event, and the conversation drifted to the death penalty. My opinion is that the death penalty is little more than revenge...But, I won't say why I think that unless my explaination is called for. Anyway, I wanted to know what YOU think of the death penalty. Is it right? Is it wrong? [B]And why do you think so...[/B]

I concede, and bow to your ability to dream weird dreams. I don't think I've ever dreamt that someone just combusted right in front of me O.o

I am sorry, but I currently hold the record for weird dreams :P There was the time I dreamt that I woke up from a coma to discover that I was nine months pregnant, the time that I dreamt my best friend was trying to kill me and I was saved by a water dragon...Then there was the strange dream about one of my ex-boyfriends, I dreamt that he had undergone a sex change operation and I saw him/her while flying to Vegas with an older man. I've dreamt that I was present at the cruxifiction of Jesus Christ, once I sprouted wings, and I've flown over Mount Everest several times. My most recent weird dream is sort of a re-ocurring dream. It takes place in somewhere in Europe, about five or six centuries ago, during a war. I'm living in a small, fairly poor village, when my hunsband-to-be tells me that he's leaving to fight in the war. He tells me that he will come back to me, even though we both know that he probably won't return alive. He leaves, and neither of us lives for very long after that. I have a vision of him, on a ship, during a brutal storm. I don't see him die, but I have the notion, during the dream, that the ship either sank, or he fell overboard and drowned. After that my village is attacked by raiders, and the last thing that I remember is being dragged through a forest by my hair, probably to my death... The second dream that I had involved the same man from the aformentioned dream, but it took place here, in present day. We are standing in a room, I'm holding his hand while my other hand is placed over his heart. I remember hearing his heart beating, and being concerned because it was beating so fast. Strange O.o

I would have to agree with James. This is not a case of good vs. evil. The problem is that two different parties have two very different ideas of what is humane behavior. Her parents think it is inhumane to let their daughter die, while her husband thinks it is inhumane to let her live in such a state. Neither party is right or wrong, they [B]both[/B] have very [I]valid[/I] arguements.

When I was a child, Barbie was my favorite toy. You should have seen the collection I had. I had over thirty different dolls, at least three outfits for all of them, and my parents actually built my Barbie a house. (Complete with carpet and tiled floors.) Barbie had two cars, a doctor's office, and music equipment. I spent most of my days acting out what I thought was the "perfect life." I never really paid attention to the way Barbie looked, or whether she was uber-independent and career focused. She was merely a tool to act out the misguided dreams and ideals presented to me by other women. I am proposing that if little girls suffer from the "I want to be Barbie" syndrome, it's not Barbie that's really at fault. It's the ideas of perfection presented to her by whoever gave her that Barbie doll, and then allowed her to act them out. I grew up being told that pretty was important and that if I wanted to be happy I would get married and have children. At one point I blamed Barbie for my bad body image, then the media, and then the female members of my family. I ultimately realized that insecurity came from trying to live up to the expectations of others, by making them my own. So, I stopped trying to live up to the expectations of everyone else. I started trying to think for myself. What was important to me? What were the qualities that I wanted to have? I found out that being pretty, being successful, or having a family doesn't matter at all in my opinion. What mattered to me was being able to look in the mirror and say to myself, I am accepting, I am loving, I am forgiving, and I am happy. Now that I can do that, I realize that I am not pretty. I am beautiful. And what was that corny old saying, "You'll never be beautiful if you try to be pretty?" I would also like to state that I agree with what AzureWolf said... [QUOTE]I've always noticed how girls are more willing to conform to things than boys. When you see little kids play, girls are always try to live out ideal lives or some type of drama, but boys always have wacky, far-out adventures with their toys. Think about it: Barbie versus Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles![/QUOTE] That is so true. But I thank God that, in this day in age, it is much easier for us girls to figure out that conforming is...Well, stupid.

My deepest sympathies Elfpirate. That is really terrible, and I am very, very sorry :( I wanted to say something about mental illness, and how if we are ever going fix this world we need to stop hating each other...But words are eluding me at the moment, I guess because my mind is still reeling. Whoever you are God, please help us all. Blessings and love to all my beautiful people ;)

Water. My sun sign is pisces, the fish, so the association was established earlier on. However, after having a few discussions with friends, I realized... Pour some water into a glass. Now pour it into bowl. It changes it's shape to fit each container, yet it is still water. It still has properties of it's own, that are different from it's containers. I feel that I am much the same way. I take the shape of my environment, but that doesn't change who I really am. I'm still me, you just think I'm acting differently because I've been poured into a different container. But that doesn't make me like the bowl.

D***, my desk just broke...Oh well. Anyway, I was planning to create my own website. I wanted to start an online journal, post various short stories, and also post my scribbles that I try to pass for fanart. But...I'm a lazy bum. If I had created my own webpage, I would have never updated it after about three months or so. So...I posted my stuff on various sites, even started a journal at Livejournal.com. Then I stumbled across myotaku one day...and...was just so thrilled. I could blog and post my artwork. I like blogging on myotaku better because there IS a community and it seems easier and more convient. I had planned to write some amusing, interesting posts. For example, "God does not have a penis..." That hasn't happened yet. So far my blog is less than lame, mainly because I haven't been motivated to put any real effort into the crap that I write. But maybe I will find that motivation. I just need to find a way to start a fire under my a**. Until then...you can check out the crap that is all ready there. myotaku.com/users/missa8305

My first love was Matt. I met him at work and we started dating about six months later. We were together 2-3 years. Anyway, I did love him, but I came to the conclusion that we just couldn't have a healthy relationship. I suppose to believe in "true love" you would have to believe in "soulmates." I'm sure whether I believe in either of those things or not. I believe for a relationship to work you must be compatible with your partner and willing to put forth the effort to make that relationship work for the both of you. Some people, like Matt, aren't ready to do that, and that is when you have to move on.