D-chan

This is a link. Don't click it until you read the rest of the post.

ATTACHMENT THERAPY: A SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS.

The above links to a blog for survivors of Attachment Therapy, also referred to as Holding Therapy or Rage Reduction. This is a brutal and sometimes fatal form of abuse masquerading as psychiatric treatment. There's next to nothing out there for children and adults who have undergone it, in part because it's a relatively new "technique". Attachment therapy promises quick fixes and firm results and creates lasting scars instead.

This is child abuse, sanctioned and committed by so-called professionals and funded by insurance companies. It is child abuse, and there is plenty of documentation that it can easily end in murder.

If you'd like more details about what Attachment Therapy involves, and some of these are graphic, you can visit the blog. If you can't cope, or don't want to, I don't care. You don't have to read it, though I think you should. What matters is making this public. And that, honestly, means getting that blog as public as humanly possible.

So read it or don't read it, but please post the link and title on your journal. Some parent's going to be told they should send their child to Attachment Therapy and they're going to get on Google and try to research it, or their friends or family are. Some survivor is going to start struggling with their experiences and look for help, and they'll get on Google too. The above-linked blog should be the first link anyone sees when they search for Attachment Therapy. I believe this without reservation.

Feel free to copy the text of this post, in whole or in part, when you post.

step 1: put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
step 2: post any damn line I like from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
step 3: post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
step 4: strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.
step 5: looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!

1. Here they talked of revolution / Here it was they lit the flame / Here they sang about tomorrow /But tomorrow never came  Les Mis:  Empty Chairs at Empty Tables  perivates 

2. I'm happy just being with you / So what should it matter to me what you do in bed with guys?  Avenue Q:  If You Were Gay perivates 

3. We're going off to war / We'll have girlfriends by the score / We'll be shot by Michael Moore!

4. We are what we want to be / It's in ourselves to rise or fall / This is easy to believe / When distant places call to me

5. Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery / Weaving time in a tapestry / Won't you stop and remember me?

6. I am a king in crisis / counting minutes / there is an ending to my reign

7. A cyber involved diversity / so straighten up and go online / Sexual drive intensity, the darkest pit that you can find

8. A sentimental song that casts a magic spell / They all will hum along / We'll overact like hell

9. No animal nor man / can scream like I can / With the fury of my recitations

10. For nineteen winters served his time / In sweat he washed away his crime. Les Mis:  Valjean's Confession perivates 

11. How would it be if you were standing in my shoes / Can't you see that it's impossible to choose?

12. Somehow I've fallen / Under your spell / And somehow I'm feeling / It's up that I fell

13. Dare you talk to me of crime / And the price you had to pay / Every man is born in sin /Every man must choose his way  Les Mis:  Confrontation perivates 

14. So, what is the sinister secret?/ The lie he will tell you is true? - / It's that each man you meet in the street / Isn't one man but two!  Jekyll and Hyde:  Facade  perivates 

15. If our country is to flourish / Then my son must take the lead / Be our inspiration, nourish / All our hopes our dreams our creed

16. Oh Fatherland, Fatherland / Show us the sign / Your children have waited to see

17. Dream, child / Dream with an angel's view / Out there, safe in your clouds

18. I'll get a boy to work with / Someone who can left me up; show me off / Oh hell. I'll get two boys / It'll frame me better

19. Yeah I got caught in the ruse of the world / It's just a promise no one ever keeps / And now it's changing while you sleep  Goo Goo Dolls:  Truth is a Whisper perivates 

20. Oh now I believe in looking / Like my time on earth is cooking / Whether polka-dotted, striped, or even checked

I really shouldn't be.

On July 30-August 2, sparkle-obsessed Twilight fans will descend upon the Sheraton Dallas Hotel like so many twinkling disco balls. Well...at least the spoiled rich ones whose parents have money.

TwiCon, (also in agreement with R.K. Milholland.  (Reeeead Something Positive) wtf is this obviously for-profit venture doing with an org website?) a first-year fan convention, costs a grand total of $255 per person. This price includes....

GETTING THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR. That's just the entry fee, folks. To actually get a hotel room, you've got to plunk down $139/night. Four people can stay in one room, so it's $34.75/night that way. But if you're staying for all three nights, that's still a little over $100 you're shelling out in addition to the $255. So after shelling out $359.25 to stay in an overpriced hotel room with 3 other people and just get into the con, you still need enough money to eat on, THEN you can focus on buying souvenirs. If there are any to buy.

The VENDOR fee is a whopping $750. Now, if the con brats are all going for the starving waif vampire look (I don't know if the Twilight vamps are actually that skinny, but whether they are or not, it's a pretty widely over-romanticized view of the race in general. Beside, I'm being hypothetical.) they might spend a grand total of $400 on entry, hotel, and food. Realistically, they'll probably have to spend more.

So, though these are diehard fans, the majority of the fandom that would want to go to a con seems to be people young enough to still be financially dependent on their parents. After spending almost half a grand on this con (and this is just for local people that live close enough that travel isn't a huge expense as well), some people will spend a little more on merch (or give their kids a little more to spend--I'm going to guess and say $50 average on merchandise), but I can just about bet that even if there are only 3 vendors (decreasing competition for the congoers' monies) hardly a single vendor would be able to break even on the exorbitant vendor fee + THEIR food + THEIR travel + THEIR hotel stay, let alone turn a profit that makes attending even worth the time and effort. Oh, and if your booth needs electricity? That's an extra 35 bucks.

There's an artist alley for artists. Only $100! BUT...you can't sell anything. Yeah. I want to pay $100 for the privilege of giving away my artwork to a bunch of glittery fanbrats. ¬ ¬

Somehow, I've got the feeling that TwiCon is going to be a one-hit fleeci--er, wonder.

*grumble* Why did people stop creating actual UPDATES for their software? The only items that seem to simply update are Adaware and antivirus programs. Everything else? It's not an update. Update would indicate that you just download a SMALL file and it updates the program. Call a spade a spade, people.

"We just tweaked -fill in program here-, but instead of giving you the update to install, just download this little update manager instead and use it to download the ENTIRE FUCKING PROGRAM again!"

It wouldn't be so bad, except:
1. I am on DIALUP. It is a huge pain in the ass to redownload any of my programs because they are large and dialup is slow.

2. In my experience, when it comes to slow connections, these "convenient" download managers are anything BUT.

I did not ever have this problem on my old system (or even the Gateway, back when it was new), but now, every download manager supplied by the creators of whatever program times out before the file is finished downloading. Not to mention now, when downloading something that doesn't run in the background like Windows auto updates, pages loads slow to such a crawl that the page often stops loading before it's completely up.

I almost didn't get YIM back at all, because it had me download a DM first, THEN it was going to download the program for me. It continually timed out and reset on me. I had to look around online until I found a site that had the actual PROGRAM for direct download. I sometimes have the same problem on direct downloads, but I have Star Download Manager, which actually allows me to pick back up where the download left off if I lose the connection. I just wish all these updating programs would d/l a DM that has that option (AIM, YIM, MSN, ZoneAlarm, Kodak Easyshare....) I have a bunch of software that I'd LIKE to update, but because the manufacturers have it set up so that you need their download managers to do it, I CAN'T because they don't save what's being downloaded until it's ALL downloaded.

ROLL TIDE!!!



That is all.

Man, this day has dragged along. I haven't even been impatient or checking my watch much; it just feels like it should be a lot later than it is.

Quizzes!



I can dig it.



So, mostly straight, but I could be convinced to settle on the right girl. Like...Abby from NCIS. :D

Book meme:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your LJ along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

Tayse watched his face as Senneth closed her fingers over his, saw him try to hold back his astonishment and relief. Better than a good fire, it seemed, or a shot of new whiskey. Better than a night under clean blankets beside a warm body.

Senneth released Justin and turned toward Tayse.

~From Rider and Mystic by Sharon Shinn


And now to get back to work on my GO exchange fic, which I am stuck on. I really don't want to have to ask for an extension again this year. *shakes Aziraphale and Crowley* Work with me already!

Local burglar still on the loose, as far as I know.  There is a trailer across the street from my house kind of tucked behind an old service station.  Nobody lives there now; the former residents moved out.  Yesterday morning, someone tried to break into that trailer (yes, because people leave valuables in an old home for months after they move into a new residence).  Someone saw him and called the police.  This whole area was crawling with police cars, but unfortunately, I believe he got away.

Also had a bad thought regarding the stolen jewelry:  that damn Cash for Gold business.  That's more anonymous than online auctions.  You just mail them gold stuff and they send you a check back.  Lovely.

Have an interview tomorrow morning (at eight-freaking-thirty) for the judicial file clerk thing.  I hate interviews.  I hope I do well, but even if I DO, I don't know if I'd get a job out of it.  This whole process is to fill a "potential employees"-type roster.  I HOPE they're going to actually hire for that position soon, though, and that I get it.  I need a job.

Edit:  Ever have one of those weird size days?  Currently, my favourite jeans (16s) are too big.  I have to pull them up every now and then when I wear them.  Also, they need to be washed.  The pair I bought to replace them (14) actually a little small,  (apparently only people that shop in the junior section are worthy of odd-number sizes) and I'm really feeling that today.  My other 16s are a little snug (weird; my kingdom for a standard of sizing, honestly).  So what I'm left with that is not currently waiting to be washed and that is comfy to sit in are a pair of 18s that I bought even though they were already a little loose to begin with.

To recap--Normal jeans and skinny jeans feel snug, but fat pants require a belt.  Yay, PMS, I bet.  I just want jeans that FIT.  Geeze.

Well, it's election day, and I've changed my mind on who I'm voting for.  Until a runoff election is instituted in elections with more than 2 candidates (so...just about all of them), all third-party voting will do is split the ticket.  I have decided that either way, I do not wish to see an Obama presidency, and although I don't agree completely with his stances on things, I will instead vote for John McCain.

( Explanation/Rambling here )

MotherFUCKER.

There has been a series of break-ins in this area.  Over on Pinegrove Road (Pinecrest?), someone even had their washer and dryer stolen and another woman had her entire LIVING ROOM SUITE stolen.

Monday night, while we were watching the 6 o'clock ep of NCIS on USA, our dogs started barking.  Since having 2 cats killed by dogs in the past month and a half, if our dogs start up, Dad goes out to check.  He went outside, went around our yard, went down to the barn, and came back after not seeing any dogs.  At a bit after midnight, Mawmaw called.  Someone had broken into her house while she and James were gone.  They'd pulled the AC window unit out of the kitchen window and climbed in.  They live next door to us, and the back deck where that window is is in line of sight from the dogs' pen.  THAT is likely what they'd been barking at.  The bastards stole:

• a .22 rifle that had belonged to James' son (deceased)
• Mawmaw's grandmother's engagement ring (probably 100+ years old)
• the wedding ring set that Pawpaw had given her when they got married
• a knife collection that had belonged to Pawpaw in a roll-up case
• a couple of antique straight razors (on that had belonged to my great-grandfather and the other belonged to my great-great grandfather)
• Mawmaw's B.B. Comer class ring (Class of sometime in either the 40s, 49, I THINK)

They'd also found a fire-proof safe box in a closet and had pulled it out, trying to get into it.

LAST night, the dogs started barking during the new NCIS (after 7), and Dad went out and looked around Mawmaw's house, checking the doors and that upstairs window.  He said it didn't occur to him to check the window next to the "basement" door.  After midnight again, got a phone call.  They'd come back and broken out that basement window to get in.  They got the safe this time, which had Mawmaw and James' insurance papers in it, savings bonds intended for Jeannie (Mawmaw's first great-grandchild), and Pawpaw's coin collection.  They also got a bunch of change that was in a jar, but left the jar.  They're checking that for prints.

Local LEOs are going to be checking the pawn shops in the area.  I am going to be keeping an eye on Ebay.  Going through recent listings of wedding ring sets will be next to impossible, at least on my connection, but the list of class rings is less than 10 pages.  That would be the most easily identifiable piece.  Gold, B.B. Comer High School, Class of '49 (or 40-something), smooth, domed black stone.  If anyone would like to help me keep an eye out for it, I will be most appreciative.  No guarantee that it'd be put up there, but with police checking pawn shops in the area, and the general anonymity of internet auctions (not to mention it's cheaper than driving out of town to sell), it's a possibility.

( Cut for those sick of Politics, too )

( Cut for those tired of economic shit as well )

I am seriously getting tired of fucking dogs.  Remember the four kittens that we had to bottle-feed after their mother was killed by a car?  One of mom's friends from work took three of them: Tigerlily, Blackjack, and Callie.  They take the kittens outside to play, and their own dogs play with the kittens.

Yesterday afternoon, one of their neighbor's dogs came into the yard while Tigerlily was outside.  She was used to the dogs she played with, so she didn't run, and the dog grabbed and killed her.  They killed the dog.

I am sick and tired of people who just let their dogs roam around into other people's yards.  I'm tired.  Last night when I went to bed, it took forever to fall asleep because I kept thinking I could hear dogs barking.  I'm tired of worrying.  I'm tired of caring.  I'm just.  Fucking.  Tired.

Those same fucking dogs came back tonight and killed Blondie the exact same was they killed poor Yella Fella, like she was some rope tug-toy. Her kittens are barely two weeks old. Their eyes JUST opened a few days ago. Despite being dumb as a brick, she was always a good protective mother cat. She might've been trying to lead them away from the porch where the kittens were. Well, she succeeded there. The mother cats around here nurse each others' litters a lot and Grizabella had kittens a few days ago, so we're hoping she'll take them, too.

I knew this would happen again. When you have a pack of dogs that have killed other pets, they start to look at those pets as prey animals. They won't stop until their fucking owner takes some fucking responsibility and puts them in a pen or on a chain. If they come back around here when anyone is around to see them, they WILL be killed.

For the past few nights, I've been thinking and worrying about dogs getting after Blondie. Premonition or coincidence? *shrug* I dunno, but sometimes it seems like if I focus on one of our outside herd more than usual for whatever reason, something happens to that cat.

I don't know if I'll be sleeping tonight. They shouldn't come back tonight, but I'm probably going to have a few nights of little sleep, just listening for barking dogs. Again.

Stupid, stupid cats.

Blondie had kittens. A couple days ago, she moved them from the cozy little cat bed on the porch to the flower bed off the side of the porch, under a yew. This would have been fine, except at that point, we were expecting the first rain we've had in a couple of weeks. It started raining, not hard, mind you, but still. Rain. What does she do? She leaves them right where they are and gets wet nursing them. Dad kept moving them last night. She'd move them back. This morning, I got woken up by Dad calling to ask me to check on the kittens, because it was raining hard by that point. Stiiiiill in the flower bed. Retrieved kittens, dried them off, put them BACK in the kitty bed, and it looks like Blondie will leave them where they are now.

Now to pimp the new addiction.

DRAGON CAVE

Adoptable dragon eggs. There's a big drop at the top of the hour of about 15 eggs in groups of 3, then a series of mini-drops of 2-3 eggs every 5 minutes (1:05, 1:10, 1:15, etc.). There's also an abandon page where abandoned/escaped eggs and hatchlings go for other users to snap up.

You don't just sit and wait for them to hatch; you have to get clicks and views for them to hatch, and to grow up. Eggs have 7 days to hatch. If they have enough clicks/views/unique views, they can start cracking as soon as the 5.8 mark on the countdown, and hatch at 3.5 days. They can't hatch any sooner than that, though. After hatching, they get another 7 days to grow up. Stage 2 (growth of wings or size increase) can happen around 5.8 and adulthood at 3.5. The dragon_pens and dragonspam communities are great for getting the views you need to grow them up. There's also dragon_er for eggs and hatchlings with less than 1 day left.

(Also, where the fuck is my Rich Text tab? I'm only getting HTML option. *sighs and goes looking for the LJ user code*)

Here are my current hatchlings:




After they grow up (likely tomorrow), I'll breed them for more eggs, provided I don't get stuck with all of one gender. Tomorrow, all my adults will be breedable again, too. They can only breed once/week.

All my dragons: http://dragcave.net/user/Darastrix

I know cartoonists are free to put whatever they want in their strips. It's their mode of expression, artistic medium, etc. I get that. But man, I am tired of going to read my favourite web comics just to see yet ANOTHER bit of political commentary. I see it on TV, hear it on the radio, read about it in blogs. I'm freaking inundated with it already. Then I go to a comic to be amused, and there's more of the shit. I know the artists have just as much right to voice their opinions as I do, but geeze this is getting old fast. I would appreciate FACTS, but I don't care what X-person's opinion is, and even on the news, so much of it is anchor opinion.

In other news, Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses series appears to a good read. I've only read Rider and Mystic so far, but I enjoyed it. I think the Archangel series will remain my favourite of hers, though.

Race weekend is now over, thank goodness. I get the house to myself tomorrow. (Because the traffic is SO horrendous for the race at Talladega, the school system is off the Friday before and Monday after the race so the buses don't have to fight the traffic.) *looks around* I think I'll be cleaning tomorrow. Yays.

I now understand why some mothers with colicky babies and the like need to take a break from their screaming infants for a while.  I am also very much certain that I do NOT want children.  Ever.

We have four kittens in the house because their mother decided to cross the street for some reason and got hit by a car.  The kittens, thankfully, do have their eyes open and everything, but they are about a month old and at the "adorable" velcro-kitty stage.  My left hand is all scratched up from holding kittens to be bottle-fed (I can't WAIT until they all get the hang of lapping their formula from a saucer) and holding kittens to go potty.  Feeding is a bit easier.  They like food.  They do not, however, like--and understandably so--a big person trying to play mommy cat with a warm, damp cloth to make them piss.  I seriously can't wait for them to get the hang of that on their own.

It's getting me irritated and frustrated and wanting to play kitten-hockey.  If four cute baby kitties (my animal of choice) get me this crazy, I can only imagine the ire a baby human would bring out in me.

*sigh*  At least THEY'RE all fed now.  All I have is a Vault that warmed up on me while I played food-dispenser.

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

You know,  taking something to an extreme that nobody has ever gone to in an attempt to guilt someone does nothing to validate your point.  It makes people wonder what the FUCK is going on.  Then saying that you did it just to teach folks a lesson?  Let's just say that it's NOT something you'd find in How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Frankly, it's comprable to completely trashing someone else's living room in their presence in an attempt to make the other houseguests feel bad about not picking up the napkins they dropped.  It does not make the napkin-droppers feel bad about their own actions.  It makes them wonder what in the world is wrong with YOU.  Then when you tell them you had the homeowner's permission and it was just to show that dropping napkins is Not Nice, people will not suddenly feel kindly towards you.  It tends to make them wonder what both you AND the homeowner are on at best and quite likely pissed at the two of you as well.
At least the other people's trash is, for lack of a better term, honest.  What you see is what you get.  There is no pretense.  You might not like it, but, well, it's not even your place to make a point.  It is what it is, and fyi, most of my trash gets neatly dumped in the bin so the homeowner doesn't have to deal with it.  What I do drop, I will not apologize for and I will NOT feel sorry about it.  You and the homeowner, however, were deceptive.  I will CERTAINLY not feel sorry for my trash when you presume to try to police my actions regarding the homeowner (which, I might add, you have not even WITNESSED) by doing something that is WAY beyond what I would even consider.  

I will get pissed off at you.  I will get pissed at the other person.  I will NOT want to stop dropping the occasional napkin.   It makes me feel like trashing BOTH of your livingrooms.

I could continue along this vein and make all sorts of metaphoric references, but really, all I want to say is 

FUCK YOU

      A     B      C     D    E    F      G
III [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

II   [8 ]  [9 ]  [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

I    [1 ]  [2 ]   [3 ]  [4 ]  [5 ]   [6 ]  [7 ]

I = the past
II = the present
III = the future

A = Work/success
B = Plans/intent
C = Luck (good or bad)
D = Friends/support
E = Love/sex
F = Family
G = Personal state

After trying to muddle through one row at a time (I - III), I decided to look at the columns instead (A-G), which was a bit easier.  Some of the meanings, I'm not sure on, but overall, it seems to be indicating that things will work out, if I take certain steps.

(Going from past to future here...)
Work/success: The Fool - The Emperor - Judgement

Plans/intent:  3 of Swords - Page of Wands - Justice

Luck - 9 of Pentacles - 5 of Pentacles - 2 of Wands

Friends/support - 6 of Pentacles - The Hermit - Page of Pentacles

Love/sex - King of Pentacles - 3 of Pentacles - Wheel of Fortune

Family - The Empress - 4 of Pentacles - 6 of Cups

Personal state - Queen of Wands - Knight of Pentacles - The Lovers

I have never seen the Pentacles show up so much in a single spread before.  Granted, I don't usually attempt spreads quite this large, but still.  Nearly every minor card was a Pent.  I can follow some of these a bit more easily than others.  The Work/success line was pretty easy for me to work out, but some of the rest?  Not so much.  Anyone here have any ideas?