The Quill of the Quindo

Caveman with a Missing Link

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:44:00 +0000

‘Caveman with a missing link’ – or something like that was what the game on Facebook called “How Big is your Brain?” had described me as. Thinking I could do better the next time, I got ‘Goat brain’. I sighed heavily and thought it’s probably only telling me what I don’t really want to admit to myself.

Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s really going on in my grey matter recently, and I’ll probably be thinking about it even more for the next two, three, four or so decades. These last few months I have become very intrigued by the subject of brain science and neurology.

It seems after having done a bit of reading that I have a lot of missing links up there which I didn’t know for a long time were ever missing in the first place. About ten years ago when I was in my early thirties, my wife at the time, told me she had been reading an article about someone who suffered from Tourettes Syndrome and she said that the article listed many symptoms which I matched. That was when I first learned that what I had was essentially a neurological disorder and that it had a name.

I recall quite vividly, one time in 1976, I was coming home one Friday afternoon on the train from my school for the partially hearing (as it was described then) in Southport where I boarded weekly. I was reading a jolly book about a ghost that turned into a black shadow in the day and became white at night, and while reading it, I suddenly had this urge to blink my eyes… It’s odd really that I am able to recall that day so well.

During the years that followed, my eye blinking became a habit I had little control over. Other kinds of tics developed too, such as twitching my nose and worryingly I had one where I would shake my head. It bothered me very much, and it bothered my parents too, especially my mum who would often tell me to try to stop doing it. I was of course teased by my peers and I remember one time when I kept a pocket diary in which I had written some personal stuff such as; ‘I must try to stop shaking my head...’ and unfortunately, I dropped my diary one time and one of the girls in my year snatched it and read out aloud in front of all her friends everything I had written in it. I was relentlessly teased for weeks afterwards. Adolescence is difficult enough to have to go through as it is, without this urm… blinking Tourettes. At the age of 14 and 15 I had to share company not only with Tourettes, but also acne which blessed mostly my forehead, atrocious smells which especially frequented my feet, big plastic things dangling on my ears called hearing aids, greasy hair, a pair of black NHS style framed spectacles and big silver braces on my crooked teeth - so crooked in fact that one tooth stuck out like one of Dracula's fangs and alas I was nicknamed 'Baby-toothed Dracula'. In fact, if I'd been entered into the 1980 geek of the year competition, I'd had won it hands down.

Tourettes is a neurological disorder that always starts in childhood often around the ages of 6 to 8. Experts tell us that this condition may affect as many as 1 in a 100 of the population worldwide. For most sufferers the symptoms disappear in early adulthood but for some it can be a lifelong condition and sometimes chronically so. Every sufferer has different kinds of symptoms and there are different grades of severity of the disease, usually described into three categories. At the lower end is ‘pure Tourettes’, where the symptoms are movement and sound tics only; then there is ‘full blown Tourettes’, which in addition to movement and sound tics, the sufferer may have one or more of conditions such as paliphenomena, echophenomena, copropraxia and NOSI. With paliphenomena the sufferer repeats his own words or short sentences, and with echophenomena the sufferer repeats the words of others. Copropraxia is when the sufferer says offensive words involuntarily and with NOSI which stands for non-obscene socially inappropriate behaviour, the sufferer usually makes inappropriate remarks about a person but falls short of actual swearing. The third category is known as ‘Tourettes plus’ where the sufferer in addition to the symptoms of full blown Tourettes has one or more accompanying conditions such as ADHD, OCD and Sleep disorder.

It surprises me a bit that in this day and age of advanced technology, the causes and the mechanisms of this particular disease are still not very well understood, and while there are various kinds of treatments available, there is no real cure for it to date. What is understood is that it has generally to do with an imbalance of chemicals (namely neurotransmitters) that upsets the normal working of neural circuits in the brain.

I’ve never had my condition formally diagnosed by a neurologist since I’ve generally learned to manage with it without too much bother. By my understanding of the disease, I would say my symptoms fall into the ‘pure tourettes’ category, except that in addition, I often have considerable difficulties with my thought processing. If there is such a thing, I’d say I have internal paliphenomena, meaning that whilst I have absolutely no urge to repeat what I say aloud, I do have thoughts in my head which repeat themselves all the time. Sometimes when I am talking with someone, I will say very odd thoughts about that person in my head such as ‘he smells’. You can laugh of course but believe me it is very distracting to my concentration. When I’m reading, I almost always have to repeat the sentence I am reading which in turn causes me to lose my concentration and I have go back a sentence or two anyway to take it into my mind properly. I have similar problems when writing or typing. I frequently have to go over the last sentence again and again because I very easily lose my train of thought.

This internal paliphenomena, or whatever other name the condition goes by, also has implications on my ability to make conversation. It is rare for me to be able say much more than a couple or so sentences at a time because usually by the second or third sentence I have lost my train of thought. There has to be a pause, while I try to think about what I need to say next. Anyone, unfortunate enough to be in a conversation with me has to have the patience of a saint – assuming that saints are a patient kind that is. I don’t know for sure if the condition I have just described is a part of the Tourettes or if it’s something in addition to it. I'm inclined to believe it is a part of it.

My Tourettes waxes and wanes. Different kinds of tics come and go. The symptoms have always intensified during times of high stress at work, and also during times when I am going through intense periods of study and learning. I'm not surprised by this because in study and learning, your brain is establishing new networks and so there is more neural activity going on in very specific parts of the brain. Maybe the faulty neurotransmitters that are being secreted in the newly created networks is what triggers a higher activity of the symptons, until other neurotransmitters are generated as a response to suppress the symptoms. Similary in times of stress the neural cells secrete a certain type of neurotransmitter to tell the adrenal glands to make some cortisol and I suspect that particular type of neurotransmitter is often faulty in the brain of a Tourettes sufferer thus triggering the symptoms. Just my own personal hypothesis and probably very wrong! Jeez! I'm bloody brilliant aren't I? I ought to be in a science lab leading the way in research into the causes of Tourettes.

In the years gone by, there have been times when these personal limitations will have undoubtedly had a detrimental effect on my confidence levels. Fortunately these days I have learned not to worry about my conversational performance. I am who I am and there isn’t really that much point in fretting over it. There is no gain to be had by being embarrassed or ashamed. I have no reason to care about how others perceive me. It’s taken awhile to develop that attitude and to shrug off the burden. Slowly but surely my confidence has grown and together with the maturity that comes with age and experience I have become a much more relaxed and self assured person.

So back to the caveman with the missing link... yeah, I thought with a smile on my face... that's me all right.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:29:00 +0000

Has to be one of the greatest pieces of music ever by Pink Floyd. Originally composed in 1974 as a tribute to Syd Barrett founding member of Pink Floyd. Barrett died aged 60 on 7 July 2006.

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!

In memory of Rick Wright (28 July 1943 to 15 September 2008)
Pianist and keyboard player for Pink Floyd.

Moving On

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:47:00 +0000

The concept of embracing change is something that I take really seriously. My life has always been an ever changing one and I've no regrets about that for I find happiness in it. I love and respect my past and I enjoy the present but the future is where we are always going.

This song by ZOX is called Goodnight and it's one that really strikes a chord in me because for me it is the essence of what life is really about.

Goodnight to the city and the sea
To the strangers in the street
Goodnight to the ghost out in the hall
The paint peeling off the wall
Goodnight

Sometimes I stand between the sidewalk and the sky
And just stare into the clouds as they pass by
You have to leave the ground to learn to fly

Goodnight to the TV and the clocks
To the rain that never stops
Goodnight to everyone I know
Shut my eyes and let 'em go

Sometimes I stand between the sidewalk and the sky
And just stare into the clouds as they pass by
You have to leave the ground to learn to fly

There is something beautiful dying every day
And for the first time in my life I'm not afraid
'Cause there's nothing in this world that doesn't change

Goodnight to the person I have been
To the place that I am in
Goodnight tomorrow, hello to the sun
Are you ready? Here I come

Sometimes I stand between the sidewalk and the sky
And just stare into the clouds as they pass by
You have to leave the ground to learn to fly

You have to leave the ground to learn to fly

The Answer is Within You

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:31:00 +0000

This song is a dedication to Chris and Zelda who are getting married in a week's time. These two are great friends of mine. I want people to know I think they are a fantastic couple and I'm extremely proud of them both and very honoured to be their friends. I'm looking forward to the being at the wedding very much. I hope they will have a fantastic wedding and one that they will remember for the rest of their lives together. This Ray Lamontagne song might be a bit on the soppy side for their tastes I'm not really sure, but sticking fingers down your throat is absolutely not permitted on this page ... at least it's the thought that counts. As for the video I can only say I'm not a great watcher of American tv so I have to admit I've no idea what it is.

War is not the answer
The answer is within you
Love Love Love Love

War is not the answer
The answer is within you
Love Love Love Love (repeat to end)

Vampire Weekend - I Stand Corrected

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:37:00 +0000

I'm not normally partial to American bands but this song is one among my particular favourites. I love the beat to it! It really get the bird's feathers ruffled... and you should see him dance round the bedroom to it...

You've been checking on my facts
And I admit I have been lax
In double-screening what I say
It wasn't funny anyway

I stand corrected

No one cares when you are wrong
But I've been at this far too long
To act like that when we should be
In perfect harmony

I stand corrected

Lord knows I haven't tried
I'll take my stand
One last time

Forget the protocol
I'll take your hand
Right in mine

In the Mood for a bit of Psychedelics

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:39:00 +0000

It's a Beautiful Day - White Bird

White Bird
In a golden cage
On a winter's day
In the rain
White bird
In a golden cage
Alone

The leaves blow
Cross the long black road
To the darkened skies
In its rage
But the white bird
Just sits in her cage
Unknown.

White bird must fly
Or she will die

White bird
Dreams of the aspen tree
With their dying leaves
Turning gold
But the white bird
Just sits in her cage
Growing old.

White bird must fly
Or she will die
White bird must fly
Or she will die

The sunsets come
The sunsets go
The clouds Float by
And The Earth Turns slow
And the Young Birds Eyes
Do always Glow
And She must fly
She must fly
She must fly

White Bird
In a golden cage
On a winter's day
In the rain
White bird
In a golden cage
Alone

White bird must fly
Or she will die
White bird must fly
Or she will die
White bird must fly
Or she will die
White bird must fly

40+ years of friendship after Message in a Bottle

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:20:00 +0000

This is a lovely story don't you think?

Penpals meet 40 years after their friendship began via a message in a bottle

See that Star! By Jove!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:47:00 +0000

A few days back on the 17^th July if you happened to be out in the evening you may have noticed a full moon. Nearby you should have been able to see a fairly bright star.

This star is in fact the 4^th brightest object in the night sky. It’s the planet Jupiter, the 5^th ball from the sun. Have you ever wondered that if you look through a pair of binoculars at Jupiter you might be able see the Giant Red Spot? …..

Well you can’t. But it is the largest planet in our solar system and is more than 2.5 times massive than the rest of the solar system planets combined. It has a volume of more than 1,300 times of our planet earth. Scientists have worked out that theoretically it is impossible for the planet to be any larger even if it had more matter because if it did have more matter the gravitational forces would be so huge it would cause the planet to shrink.

Back to that Giant Red Spot… it is the location of a truly massive and powerful storm that has been blowing for at least 180 years. It’s not known exactly when it was formed but scientist consider it to be stable and that it will probably go on blowing for hundreds of years to come. The spot is 2 to 3 times larger in diameter than the earth. If you think storms on earth are bad enough then you should feel sorry for Jovians, especially those who live approximately 22 degrees south of their equator. They have to brace down for that giant storm about every 6 earth days as that is the time it takes for the storm to circumnavigate the planet. They also have to tolerate a whole host of others in between time.

The planet is known to have as many as 63 moons. The first four were discovered by Galileo in 1610. In 1893 a fifth moon was discovered and by 1975 a total of 13 were known. A further 3 were discovered by Voyager 1 in 1979. A 17^th moon was briefly discovered and then lost again in 1975 – how did they manage to lose it? Fortunately, it was found again in 1999 and another 46 tiny moons were discovered through to February 9^th 2003. No more have been identified since. These little moons vary in diameter from 3km to around 9km and are thought to be captured asteroids – When will Jove release them; the poor creatures!

In Europe and the Middle East, over the next few weeks, if you look into the evening sky in a South East direction and you’re lucky enough to have no cloud cover you will the bright star and by Jove you will know a little something about it!

Water, water, water everywhere...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:49:00 +0000

After spending about 21 minutes in the shower this morning...

I stumbled across this article in the news:

Britons spend more time in the shower than any other Europeans - up to 20 minutes EVERY day

I have to say I love my showers, baths, spas and times swimming. Water is a great medium to have in contact with my skin. Very therapeutic.

Richard Pike however gives us a ticking off for such indulgences:

But RSC chief executive Richard Pike was far from impressed at such cleanliness. He warned: 'We have to take on board that water is a precious resource and in the years to come it is going to become increasingly scarce.

"We can save water massively by using less when washing, without compromising hygiene.

"One should be able to shower thoroughly in a couple of minutes. We hear stories of people staying in the shower for half an hour at a time, which is absurd and self-indulgent. They say that it helps them relax.

"If we had a population of five million and not 60 million such self-indulgence might be tolerable.

"But today, with the world facing water shortages, that simply doesn't wash."

Well, what he says doesn't wash with me. Our planet is 75% water even if most of it is salted. The fact that there are nations in drout and countries with inadequate water management and distribution, doesn't mean we should have to conserve every bloody drop that comes out of our taps. Since we are an advanced species I believe we have the brains and know-how to develop technologies that can enable us to manage and distribute sufficient water supplies to every person on the planet. In the course time we will find ways to do so in increasingly more efficient and environmentally friendly ways.

I'll get off my soapbox now... and grab a bar of soap from under it... because I'm off to soak in a nice deep hot bath.

The £64,000 Question

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:15:00 +0000

Would £64,000 a year end YOUR money worries?

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Couples asked how much they wish they earned in a year have come up with the £64,000 answer.

--- Phil's comment ---

It is unsurprising to note from this article in the UK's Daily Mail that regardless of the level of income one has; the desire to earn an even bigger income is always there.

Some people call this human greed. It's actually human nature. It's not earning big that's wrong but what you do with it that counts towards what could be wrong or right.

The mistake that everyone makes (myself included) is the belief that earning that bit more will bring more happiness. That belief seems almost inherent in all of us and it's a tricky one to purge out of us.

The wealth study suggests that most people in fact do value their family and health as more important than money. Maybe so, however I consider that is what most people aspire to as noble values but in fact their actions dictate otherwise.

The Most Beautiful Baby in the World

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:03:00 +0000

I feel like I'm the luckiest man alive...

To be the Daddy of the most beautiful baby girl ever!

You may think that Daddy's are wired in nature to be biased.

Maybe... but I can't see her in any way other than astonishingly gorgeous.

No matter what angle I look, no matter which way, whatever side...

What I see is definitely 100% the most beautiful baby ever.

And it's amazing how babies change so quickly. If I compare her pictures from when she was just three days old, and 1 week old with this one now where she is just 7 weeks old, the change is mind-boggling.

I'm so besotted with her in this picture I now have it on my desktop.

Thought I'd just share this little thing with you all. Thanks for popping by.

Hey whazz up Dude?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:06:00 +0000

Q&A: Dude
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. I was taken aback to read the following in Jerome K Jerome's
book Three Men in a Boat, which was published in 1889: "Maidenhead
itself is too snobby to be pleasant. It is the haunt of the river
swell and his overdressed female companion. It is the town of showy
hotels, patronised chiefly by dudes and ballet girls." Just how
long have dudes been with us? [Robert W M Greaves]

A. Many people have come across references to dudes in connection
with dude ranches, where urbanites could experience a sanitised
version of Western life, and it is often assumed that this is the
source of the term. However, "dude ranch" is relatively recent,
with the first known examples being from 1921. The Oxford English
Dictionary's first example of "dude" is from 1883. It's definitely
an Americanism. So what was it doing, unremarked as a foreignism,
in a British book as early as 1889?

The cause was an extraordinary craze or fashion identified by that
name which erupted in New York and its neighbourhood in early 1883.
On 25 February, the Brooklyn Eagle noted an addition to the
language:

It is d-u-d-e or d-o-o-d, the spelling not having been
distinctly settled yet. Nobody knows where the word came
from, but it has sprung into popularity within the past
two weeks, and everybody is using it... The word "dude"
is a valuable addition to the slang of the day.

Earlier cases of "dude" are on record - the Historical Dictionary
of American Slang takes it back to 1877 and there are examples of
it as a personal name or nickname even before then. But it is clear
from the article that these had made no impression on the American
public.

A description of the "dude", model for all that followed, appeared
in the New York Evening Post early the following month:

A dude, then, is a young man, not over twenty-five, who may be
seen on Fifth Avenue between the hours of three and six, and
may be recognized by the following distinguished marks and
signs. He is dressed in clothes which are not calculated to
attract much attention, because they are fashionable without
being ostentatious. It is, in fact, only to the close observer
that the completeness and care of the costume of the dude
reveals itself. His trousers are very tight; his shirt-collar,
which must be clerical in cut, encircles his neck so as to
suggest that a sudden motion of the head in any direction will
cause pain; he wears a tall black hat, pointed shoes, and a
cane (not a "stick"), which should, we believe, properly have
a silver handle, is carried by him under his right arm,
(projecting forward at an acute angle, somewhat in the manner
that a sword is carried by a general at a review, but with a
civilian mildness that never suggests a military origin for
the custom). When the dude takes off his hat, or when he is
seen in the evening at the theatre, it appears that he parts
his hair in the middle and "bangs" it. There is believed to be
a difference of opinion among dudes as to whether they ought
to wear white gaiters.

The article noted that dudes, unlike the mashers of the time and
the fops, dandies and swells of earlier generations, set out to
give an impression of protesting against fashionable folly and of
being instead serious-minded young men with missions in life: "A
high-spirited, hilarious dude would be a contradiction in terms."
But dudes were also widely reported as being vapid, with no ideas
or conversation.

The Brooklyn Eagle fleshed out this portrait by noting that a dude
was as a rule a rich man's son, was effeminate, aped the English,
had as "his badge of office the paper cigarette and a bull-crown
English opera hat", was noted for his love of actresses (to the
extent of carrying on scandalous "affairs") but with no knowledge
of the theatre.

In June, the Daily Northwestern reported that dudes had taken to
wearing corsets, "in order to more fully develop and expose the
beauties of the human form divine". The Richwood Gazette of Ohio
argued in July that the dude was useful "as an example of how big a
fool can be made in the semblance of a man"; the Prince Albert
Times of Saskatchewan noted the same month that "The dude is one of
those creatures which are perfectly harmless and are a necessary
evil to civilization." The Manitoba Daily Free Press reported the
story, "bearing evident marks of reportorial invention", that a dude was
seen being chased up Fifth Avenue, by a cat.

You will gather that "dude" was a term of ridicule, not approval.
The geographical spread of the references shows that the whole of
North America was variously intrigued and disgusted by the spread
of the dude phenomenon in the cities of the East Coast. The Atlanta
Constitution remarked in June, "So great a success the dude has had
here in the United States, most every newspaper in the country has
written editorials on him and brought him before the public in such
manner as to create comment, if not surprise." News of him crossed
the Atlantic very quickly. In fact, the OED's first example of the
word is from The Graphic, a popular illustrated paper of London.
Its report in March 1883 reads as if it were cribbed from the New
York Evening Post: "The one object for which the dude exists is to
tone down the eccentricities of fashion ... The silent, subfusc,
subdued 'dude' hands down the traditions of good form."

"Dude" became widely known in the UK and it isn’t surprising
that Jerome K Jerome came across the term, as he was at the time an
actor in London. Indeed, some American newspapers stated at the
time that the term had been brought to New York from the London
music halls and that this was the reason for the pronounced
Anglophile streak in the fashion. But, so far as I know, nobody has
found British examples that predate the US ones.

That leaves us without any direct leads to the source of "dude".
But it has been plausibly linked to the very much older "duds" for
clothes, which could in particular refer to ragged or tattered ones
or even to rags (hence, at the very end of the nineteenth century,
"dud" meaning something useless); "dudman" was an old term for a
scarecrow. We may guess that "dude" was a sarcastic way to describe
the foppish dress of these fashionable young men.

WORLD WIDE WORDS ISSUE 561 Saturday 10 November 2007
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent each Saturday to at least 50,000 subscribers by e-mail and RSS
Editor: Michael Quinion, Thornbury, Bristol, UK ISSN 1470-1448
http://www.worldwidewords.org US advisory editor: Julane Marx

The Ski Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 04:12:00 +0000

Jack decided to go skiing with his buddy, Bob. So they loaded up Jack's minivan and headed north. After driving for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible blizzard. So they pulled into a nearby farm and asked the attractive lady who answered the door if they could spend the night.

"I realize it's terrible weather out there and I have this huge house all to myself, but I'm recently widowed," she explained. "I'm afraid the neighbors will talk if I let you stay in my house."

"Don't worry," Jack said. "We'll be happy to sleep in the barn. And if t he weather breaks, we'll be gone at first light." The lady agreed, and the two men found their way to the barn and settled in for the night. Come morning, the weather had cleared, and they got on their way. They enjoyed a great weekend of skiing.

But about nine months later, Jack got an unexpected letter from an attorney. It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally determined that it was from the attorney of that attractive widow he had met on the ski weekend.

He dropped in on his friend Bob and asked, "Bob, do you remember that good-looking widow from the farm we stayed at on our ski holiday up north about 9 months ago?"

"Yes, I do." said Bob

"Did you, er, happen to get up in the middle of the night, go up to the house and pay her a visit?"

"Well, um, yes," Bob said, a little embarrassed about being found out, "I have to admit that I did."

"And did you happen to give her my name instead of telling her your name?"

Bob's face turned beet red< and he said, "Yeah, look, I'm sorry, buddy. I'm afraid I did." "Why do you ask?"

"She just died and left me everything."

(And you thought the ending would be different, didn't you?... now keep that smile for the rest of the day.)

Bathtime for Lizzie

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 13:48:00 +0000

Shhhh... she's asleep!

It's time for her bath!

Oooooooh I do hope that water is not too cold... or too hot!

Awwwww she's a tiny cutie.

Keeping her eyes closed so she doesn't get soap in her eyes - clever baby!

These pictures were taken on Saturday when Lizzie was 1 week old. The nurse has come to our home everyday to give her a bath.

Originally posted in 360: Monday 8 October 2007 - 04:50AM (GMT)

Comments made by 360° Users:

Comments(7 total) Post a Comment

Nguye…

Lovely Princess ... Congrats !!!
Monday 8 October 2007 - 11:57AM (ICT)

Carl

What a cutie! Nice job with the pictures.
Sunday 7 October 2007 - 10:33PM (PDT)

might…

She's so beautiful!
Monday 8 October 2007 - 08:20AM (CDT)

New Kid

She is such a cutie.....
Monday 8 October 2007 - 11:55AM (EDT)

Doc B…

She just keeps getting prettier, as I'm sure you will agree! How long will te nurse continue home visits and is that something that they normally do? Coming from the US, I find it amazing how they seem to take better car of infants HERE than in the richest country of all. I have no problems going to see a doctor here and would have any treatment performed in Vietnam as opposed to my home country. I have been considering the eye surgery, so I won't have to wear glasses any more. Well, back to packing boxes. We will be moving to South HCMC (Phu My Hung) in under a week, so if you three are in HCMC, we have room for you with us.
Tuesday 9 October 2007 - 09:15AM (ICT)

BARBE…

Babies look so fragile, it's a wonder we all survive. Enjoy this precious time.
Wednesday 10 October 2007 - 06:07AM (PDT)

Magel…

Oh, man, she is so beautiful. Congratulations to both of you. She's adorable. I'm all broody now, if it's possible for a bloke to be broody!
Sunday 14 October 2007 - 08:26PM (BST)

Multiply Comments:

jansen68 wrote on Oct 21

Awwww sooo sweet.

absynthedeath wrote on Oct 21

That's very sweet! She's adorable! I remember giving my boys a bath at that age. I just used the kitchen sink! lol!

lighteningsun wrote on Oct 24

Congratulations on the lovely baby girl, I'm a friend of Charlie s and happened upon your page.

debi53 wrote on Oct 27

She is a cutie!!!

What the Stork Delivered

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:50:00 +0000

... A beautiful baby girl called Lizzie.

Lizzie takes a feed from the bottle by her Grandma.

For someone like me who comes from a well developed country (or so we say) choosing (jointly with Moon) to allow Lizzie to be born by planned c-section in one of Vietnam's state hospitals wasn't an easy choice that lay comfortable in my mind. I encountered a few 'shocks' (some cultural) about the way things are done here but not withstanding I am pleased that she has received a very high standard of care by the medics and hospital staff.

Lizzie, after a couple of days delay, is now beginning to feed well from her mother's breasts. Moon is recovering well from the section and has started to take walkabouts for excercise. By my memory of my son's birth also by section 11 years ago I seemed to remember his mother recovering more quickly... but then again memory can play tricks. Moon will come out of the hospital sometime tomorrow.

Yesterday, I enjoyed holding Lizzie for a good while on several occasions, and helped Moon get comfortable with the 'art' of breastfeeding her daughter. Moon has the luxury of a room with with one other mother and baby, with a tv, and their own bathroom. There are other c-section mothers who cannot afford this privilege and have to share a room with 7 others without tv and have to use bathroom facilities shared by several rooms.

I'm in a rush, so I have to go...

Hoping to have better pictures to show in due course.

Tags: lizzie, stork, baby | Edit Tags

Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 04:50AM (GMT) Edit | Delete

Next Post: Bathtime for Lizzie Previous Post: Egg Hatched Successfully

Comments

(9 total)

might…

She's beautiful!

Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 12:35AM (CDT)

Vina …

Congratulations guys! Are you guys in Hanoi now? for how long? Lizzie is a beautiful name for a beautiful girl!

Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 02:57PM (ICT)

sapph…

CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH!SHE IS BEAUTIFUL!
SAY HELLO TO MOON&LIZZIE FOR US.THANKS FOR SHARING.

Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 10:47AM (EDT)

tabby…

What a lovely baby and thankyou for sharing

Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 05:32PM (CEST)

awwww! she's so adorable!

good job, u guys!!!!

Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 12:41PM (CDT)

BARBE…

Lucky you! Congratulations...enjoy every minute of it. Babies are small for such a short time. My baby is 6'4"...and it seems like just yesterday I bought him home from the hospital.

Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 02:56PM (PDT)

Magnet

Congratulations. She's so adorable.

Thursday 4 October 2007 - 07:35AM (CDT)

Doc B…

She is so beautiful, Phil! I hope that Moon is recovering nicely and you are getting used to changing baby diapers. Actually, if I know Vietnamese grandma's, you may be having your time with lizzie rationed, since most of the time Granny will be holding onto that newborn! LOL.

Tuesday 9 October 2007 - 09:05AM (ICT)

Magel…

Congratulations to both of you, glad to hear that both mother and daughter are doing well.

Sunday 14 October 2007 - 08:28PM (BST)

Egg Hatched Successfully

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:04:00 +0000

: I am pleased to announce that on Saturday 29th September 2007 at 10am Hanoi time, our egg was successfully hatched by operation (chisel and hammer - also known as c-section - "c" for chisel I think).

Our beautiful baby chick weighed in at 7lb 20z - 3.25 kg for the metrified. Upon examining the beak and ears it is clear that our chick is a girl. She has a full head of lovely feathers and her beak follows the same cute profile as mother bird. The same goes for her ears which have the characteristics that signify good health, longevity and prosperity.

Mother bird & father bird are both doing fine, although the stresses of the egg chiseling operation upon mother bird means she needs plenty of nest resting in order to recover her strength. Mother bird and chick will come home from the egg care and incubation centre about Thursday or Friday.

Our chick is called Elizabeth Hằng. We are calling her Lizzie. Elizabeth means God's gift and Hằng in Vietnamese means Moon. So she will be God's gift to this world and a light that shines in darkness.

I'll put up photos in due course.

Comments from Yahoo 360

(9 total)

congratulations on your baby bird!!!

thank goodness momma moon isn't in the states~ she'd be coming home tomorrow from a C~section...

please give little Lizzie the New Moon a big hug from her Aunt Sai !!!!!

Sunday 30 September 2007 - 10:08PM (CDT)

Rabbit

Congrats :) new chick new hope

Monday 1 October 2007 - 05:29AM (BST)

tabby…

I find a new connection and a chick has already been hatched. Congratulations too all concerned.

Monday 1 October 2007 - 06:58AM (CEST)

Congratulations :-)

Monday 1 October 2007 - 02:22AM (EDT)

New Kid

Congrats!!!!!!

Monday 1 October 2007 - 11:58AM (EDT)

Janom…

Oh congratulations!! Lovely name and lucky ducks for the little she bird..I myself have had 4 c sections so i sympathise!!!

Tuesday 2 October 2007 - 03:21PM (EST)

might…

Congrats! I'm so happy for you and Moon....Children are a gift and a blessing....

Tuesday 2 October 2007 - 02:55PM (CDT)

Doc B…

OMG Phil...we've been so busy with things here I missed all of the excitement in your world! I'm soooooooon HAPPY for all three of you!!!! Lizzie is absolutely gorgeous, a pleasant combination of both parental birds. There is nothing to compare with that experience, as I'm sure you now have discovered! Again, my congratulations and best wishes to the happy family!!!

Tuesday 9 October 2007 - 08:15AM (ICT)

Magel…

Lovely names for a lovely baby. Wonderful news.

Sunday 14 October 2007 - 08:30PM (BST)

The Countries I have Conquered!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:57:00 +0000

: The Quindo Empire

It seems I have a long way to go before I paint the world completely RED!

Countries I have lived in:

China, England (UK), Egypt, Iran, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and last but not least Vietnam.

Countries I have visited:

Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Isle of Man (UK), Jersey (Channel Islands), Italy, Luxembourg, Menorca (Spain), Northern Ireland (UK), Singapore, Scotland (UK), Switzerland, Thailand and last but not least Wales (UK).

So where have you been?

Comments from Yahoo

(6 total)

moonl…

Hi little brother! I've been to Ireland, England, France, Greece (twice), Haiti, and numerous states here in the US.....I want to see more.....

Wednesday 26 September 2007 - 07:56AM (CDT)

tabby…

Have lived in London (East - Bethnal Green), Zürich, Solothurn and now Feldbrunnen in Switzerland
Visited: Norway (Oslo), Sweden (Stockholm), Denmark (copenhagen), Germany (Braunschweig, Hannover, Stuttgart), France (Paris), Russia (Leningrad in 1966), Italy (Rome, Bay of Naples, Florence, Lake of Como, Milan), Morocco (Marrakech), Liechtenstein (Vaduz), Finland (Helsinki), Austria (Vienna)

Wednesday 26 September 2007 - 10:25PM (CEST)

tabby…

Forgot to mention USA (New York)

Wednesday 26 September 2007 - 10:26PM (CEST)

Morga…

Easter US from CT to ME, Western US from Seattle to Oxnard,(and the stretch of HWY in between each dozens of times) Japan, Korea and Hawaii!

Wednesday 26 September 2007 - 04:44PM (PDT)

Moon

I have lived in Holland, China, England (UK), Saudi Arabia and VietNam (of course :-D). I have visited Japan, Scotland, UK - Isle of Mull ;-), Wales (UK), Singapore, Hong Kong. I'll be visiting lots more countries in the near future :-) xxx

Thursday 27 September 2007 - 09:56AM (GMT)

ok so u world travelers have me beat...

i haven't traveled outside of 48 state territory!!!

Friday 28 September 2007 - 06:22PM (CDT)

Privacy and the Virtue of Sharing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:39:00 +0000

: <<>>

Everyone has a right to privacy and I cannot stress that enough. Precaution is sensible in a world that unfortunately has the predator and the prey. Internet fraud and identity theft exists. It happens and it's a reality.

Yet I can’t help but feel that some people’s precautions are taken out of a fear that has not been put into perspective. What are the true motives behind those who choose not show a picture of themselves or their family on their websites or blogs? The internet is a bit like a public place just as a shopping mall is. Do you walk down the shopping mall with your family and put paper bags over your heads so that you can all be 'safely' not recognised by anyone?

So what about the internet bullies, harassers, stalkers and those nasty people who prey on the naïve, the innocent, the young and the vulnerable... what about those who will snatch at any opportunity to use your identity for their gain?

It’s a good question but I believe we have to put these things into perspective. Nasty people whilst they exist are not 'everywhere'. Identity fraud, relatively speaking is not that likely to happen to you, especially if you take right kind of precautions. There are means and ways of dealing with internet bullying and harassment without having to close your world to a wider audience. The act of sharing yourself and your life in my eyes is a human virtue which brings great pleasure to everyone including the sharer. We should not deprive ourselves of such virtue.

Due to the rise in internet and identity fraud, banks have made counter moves to increase personal security measures. We are now in an age where most of our trivial personal data is rapidly becoming useless for the internet fraudster. Although there is still much to be improved and there are still some businesses for which you could easily set up an account using somebody else’s identity with a minimal amount of personal information, this should soon become a thing of the past.

On the matter of perverts and paedophiles (English spelling!) again there are simple precautions to take on the kind of images you show on the internet. However it's very sad and we are living in a defeatist world if we can't show innocent photos of our children. How I wish the world didn't have this excessive fear of paedophiles. I was really angry when at my own son's birthday party one year at a swimming pool we hired for the occasion the staff prevented me from taking photos of the kids having fun in the pool. Why should the depraved few spoil it for the decent majority.

How I also hate the media for generating excessive fear for all manner of things! To my mind this media generated 'fear' is a bigger crime to humanity than everyday petty crime!

Maybe I'm too much the idealist, the hoper of a better world to come. But I feel it's not a step forward for humanity to live with over-precaution. I'd rather choose the way of vulnerability and of exposure because I am human and I love humanity, the innocence of childhood, personal freedom and peace. Perhaps once in a while we have to fight to maintain these noble standards. I will also fight to fly the flag of being vulnerable and honest. And to sustain these noble standards we have to accept some risks. If we don't take risks in life we can never move forward.

In Yahoo 360, I enjoy reading blogs about people’s lives, seeing photos of them and of their friends and families, the places where they live and go. It's a fascinating window into other worlds where I cannot always be. And I take a deep pleasure to share mine with others too. I know there are risks.

I realise that in the case where an individual has gained a certain high level of popularity or fame then because of that greater exposure to public life you have a higher likelihood to encounter the depraved and mad cranks of this world. Thus protecting against harassment and stalking becomes necessary. There is a price to be paid for being popular but even in those situations I have great respect and admiration for those who dare to allow themselves to be approachable to their fan base.

I see it as a good thing to share with others about our lives that the common good may enjoy, learn from, and value what is shared. To survive in this world it's only natural to take precautions and be on our guard but to make humanity a good thing we have no choice but to take certain risks and fight to maintain and uphold our noble standards and virtues.; Qu’ove Revolution ©2007

Comments from Yahoo 360

(2 total)

tabby…

I couldn't have said it better. I always wondered if I was "doing the right thing" and seem to be a bit of the odd one out in my environment, although my friends and family always enjoy reading what I write.
Perhaps it is my age, but things disappear so quickly from this world today which is probably one of the reasons that I leave something behind in the shape of a blog with a few stories. Most of all I like to read about other countries and other experiences. As far as the education of children is concerned, I am glad that mine are not longer "children". It is difficult today to know what is right or wrong in their education today - but there are too many people who seem to know everything better.

Wednesday 26 September 2007 - 11:19AM (CEST)

Diana

I tend to not post pictures of my kids but then most of my post are poems about life happening to me or my friends. I feel as the kids get older they can choose to post pictures or not.
I do agree that media does tend to make the whole thing worse; but even one is more then enough.

Wednesday 26 September 2007 - 09:54AM (MDT)

Multiply Comment:

skaviva wrote on Oct 28

Well said.

Let’s make a Mesh of Yahoo’s new Mash

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:06:00 +0000

In 1974 I was 8 years old. At that time there was an advertising campaign on TV for 'instant' mash potatoes called Smash made by Cadbury's. The ad slogan was 'For Mash get Smash'. With the introduction of Yahoo's new social networking service 'Mash', I speculate that Yahoo is actually run by the Smash robots!

Reading various posts on 360, I’m coming across various rumours about Yahoo 360 closing down and being replaced by a mish-mesh facebook called Mash.

Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to get myself an invite to this new service from Yahoo.

In the early stages of development this service was apparently going to be called Mosh!

But now it’s called Mash… hmmm, I came across an idea in their suggestions forum about Mash to rename it Mesh.

From Mosh to Mash to Mesh! What do you reckon guys? This is Yahoo’s attempt to provide a social networking service to compete with MySpace and Google’s Notebook. If we are going to have the M word then I think they should really go with Mesh rather than Mash since that more logically represents a network.

I’ve read a lot of criticism about Mash and some of it not particularly constructive criticism either and lot of it unsurprisingly from Yahoo 360 users. Now if it continues that way I can imagine that might only increase enthusiasm from the big boys in Yahoo to do what has been rumoured and shut down 360.

True, Yahoo are late to the fancy dress party with their version of a social network. I’ve no idea if it will work well or not. I know it’s geared to the younger market and I’m aware that Yahoo are looking for ways to increase their revenue. And certainly they may well get more revenue out of this service than with 360.

Some people have asked where is the blogging feature on Mash? Now I don’t know if they intend producing a new blogging feature to it or not but what I can tell you is that it’s probably not really necessary since it is very easy to produce your blog (from absolutely any internet blogging service with RSS 2.0) in the blog module on the Mash Profile page.

I personally have found it very easy to set up the Mash profile and to play around with the modules. You can delete any modules you don’t want except the four mains ones namely; Photo & ID, About Me, Tags, and Friends modules. You can juggle round the order and place the modules on the main left hand side or smaller right hand side of the page.

You can have plain and simple backgrounds or fancy HTML backgrounds. When you go to other people’s profiles if you see a module you like you can grab it (essentially copying) and have it added to your profile and even to the profiles of your friends if they have allowed you to do that.

Mash is still in it’s experimental stages and Yahoo are still working to debug certain features and add new features. Hopefully they will listen to the many suggestions being made in the suggestions forum and provide a product that will appeal to everyone.

It bothers me a little bit that many in the ‘mature’ crowd are giving Mash the cold brush. I realize accommodating change is something a lot of people don’t like doing. However, this is the twenty-first century and very much the age of rapid-change. Personally I’d had thought people should be getting used to change and learning to adapt by now but some people really don’t change!

The way I’ve set up my profile is from the point of view of using it as an interface to my 360 blog. If Yahoo’s Mash does succeed then I might be able to use the Mash profile and it’s network to find even more people who just might be interested in reading my terribly very dull blog (nah come on it’s not really is it?) on a regular basis. Maybe in later months it will also be a useful place to find specific groups of people I’d like to know or meet. After all that’s what this social networking is supposed to be all about isn’t it?

The tags module is precisely for the purpose of allowing you to connect with those with which you might have common interest. For example if you’re mad on photography you can add that word to the tags and hey-presto one click gives you a list of people who have also put the word in their tags.

You don’t have to be an HTML expert to master the Mash Profile. Once you’ve learned a few little simple tricks you will find that the Mash will be your Oyster!

If you are already 'Mashing' then you will be able to see how I've set up my Mash Profile to support my 360 blog. If you haven't already joined, I recommend you give it a try and I can send you an invite. When you have time I’d say make the effort to give it a go for a few weeks. Remember it’s still in development and Yahoo haven’t got to the stage of announcing this service with full fanfare. Hopefully when they are ready, they will give the full fanfare, and the network might expand very rapidly. If you want to join, send me your email address to my “Send Messages” mailbox on 360, and I’ll invite you to join Mash. If you’ve got questions I’ll try and help if I can.

Here is the link to: My Mash Profile

Comments from Yahoo 360

(9 total)

Well I hope that I'm not just being an old stick in the mud, but I really was not impressed by Mash when I took a look at it. It actually seems to be two steps backwards after Yahoo 360.

I'm always willing to give something new a try and, indeed, have set up both MySpace and Facebook pages, but they both seemed inferior to 360. Mash seems pretty much the same as Facebook to me, so if 360 does close down I'd probably opt for the real thing over the economy pack (although I don't really have much enthusiasm for Facebook either and would probably just drift away from social networking - a phrase I hate btw, LOL).

Oh well, maybe Yahoo will keep 360 for us old timers...now where did I leave my zimmer frame, sonny?

Wednesday 19 September 2007 - 10:45AM (EDT)

Phil-…

When I first learned about MySpace and I went to take a look, I couldn't make head or tail of it and never looked at it again. Similarly with Facebook, I looked at it and couldn't see what all the fuss was about and nor could I see how it could be useful to me.

And yet, upon learning about Yahoo's Mash I decide to give it a better try than what I'd given to Facebook and MySpace. And sure enough I could see that it's actually a lot easier to use than I had imagined. And what I really wanted to know was how perhaps I could use it with Yahoo 360.

I have managed with great ease to set up the profile to support the blog. So, all that remains is to see if in some point in the future whether my Mash Profile will serve as a good shop window into my blog.

I believe it's worth a try. I also believe that Yahoo's Mash does have the potential to be a useful product not only for the youngsters who love to play around with HTML graphics and display videos of their favourite music and whatever else they're into, but also for those of us who want to use it in a more serious way.

Thursday 20 September 2007 - 04:17AM (GMT)

MATRI…

I've blogged about Mash myself. It's still very bare bones and basic at the moment and I'm reserving my final judgement until it's developed further. As it stands I can't see Mash competing either with established networking sites such as Facebook or with 360. I realise this is why it's not open to the general public yet. The big difference between purely social networks and Blogging sites such as 360 is that you don't get the same insight into the other people as you do by reading their blogs. I have a facebook account but use this purely for connecting with people I already know, with 360 you can read and comment on people's blogs and get to know them this way before sending invites, giving you more opportunity to make new friends. As I mentioned in my blog, for Mash to work it either needs to be linked directly to 360, or the two sites combined into one, giving existing 360 users the oppoertunity to import their blogs and profile detail to the new site.

Thursday 20 September 2007 - 11:06AM (BST)

Phil-…

Thanks for sharing your comment on my post. To be honest I don't care what Yahoo do. I'll go along with it and make the most of what they have to offer.

I'm frustrated that many people in 360 are not prepared to have an open mind on Mash. I don't know any more than anyone else about the fate of 360. But I do know I really like a lot about what 360 is at the moment and I'd love to see it improved. I find 360 the best blogging platform around... far better than Blogger etc...

As for Mash, I have my profile, and I'm waiting to see how it takes off and how it will be improved. If I can see it can be used to my advantage then I will use it. As simple as that.

Thursday 20 September 2007 - 10:46AM (GMT)

moonl

I think that part of the problem is that if we wanted something along the lines of Facebook or My Space, we'd be at Facebook or My Space. The reason that 360 appeals is that it is different. Yahoo is too quick to abandon a good thing, to jump on the same bandwagon that everyone else is on. Why not improve what is there? Why not incorporate what they want from "mash" into the 360? People have put a lot of work into the development of their pages, built up social circles, etc. They don't want to be told that it's all going to be scrapped, and that they have to move....I've heard a lot of people talking, they are just getting disgusted with Yahoo, I'm afraid that if they are told that 360 will close, they won't stay with Yahoo, it's not the only game in town...they've already had it happen with the photos, which is a disaster.....many are upset about that.....and right on top of it, now we start hearing about this Mash Mess.....

Thursday 20 September 2007 - 09:19AM (CDT)

Nguye…

Have got a quick look on Mash, and seem it's not interesting to me much ... Or because I've been so familiar with Y360 ... Let's wait and see ..

Happy weekend, Phillip ... :-)

Saturday 22 September 2007 - 08:02PM (ICT)

Phil-…

Just as a mention: the terms & conditions for Mash are broadly similar to Y!360.

These can be found at the bottom of the page. For Mash there are also extra terms. It is always worthwhile to read the terms of service before engaging in a Yahoo service so that you know to what extent Yahoo can use your work for their purposes.

On the matter of intellectual property rights, if in the highly unlikely event that the material was used by Yahoo in a way that is not to your liking, then from the moment the content is removed from Yahoo's pages they cannot continue to use the material for their benefit.

At least that is my understanding of how I read the terms anyway. See last sentence of 8(b) of the terms. These terms in most of all the countries Yahoo operate are similar with them being subject to the laws of that particular country.

In my own opinion these terms of service for both Yahoo Mash & 360 are quite fair.

Sunday 23 September 2007 - 04:30AM (GMT)

Trees…

I found this blog.. excellent. a good critical analysis..

I'm too am seeing lots of people in 360 dissing Mash... without really giving it (or them a chance). In away we should view it as a learning process... Web 2 technology is for ever 'changing'.. and 360.. that I love to use catching up on my friends blogs (and they on mine)... is a little restrictive in what 'else' you can do... the front page is a little limiting... whereas Mash appears to give me the 'front page' social freedom and creativity I like... but without the 'blog' (but as you say this can be added from any RSS feed ... assuming your blog is public.. which mine isn't).

Mash and 360 compliment each other... you don't need both... (actually you need neither.. but some might like to .... and others... well its there choice.... but change happens.... and I'm enjoying being part of this change.

Sunday 23 September 2007 - 01:40PM (BST)

tabby…

I am one of the critics that wrote about Mash. Perhaps it is a sign of age. I have no problem with templates or such, as I have done simple web sites myself. I think I was just annoyed at the way the system was being introduced. A chosen few that may give out invites. Eventually I got myself an invite (if you can't beat them join them) and after playing around with backgrounds and rss feeds I seem to have reached more or less what I want.
I just find that Yahoo has not been very honest with its members. The information concerning mash seemed to have been given out by other web sites and not by Yahoo itself, with the result that no-one really knew what was going on. Perhaps Yahoo 360 is something for the older, I only know that up to now I had no real interest in being in MySpace, MyFace, Yuku or whatever with their gags, tricks, flashy colours and other add ons. It now seems that Mash will just be a surface for the complete Yahoo and everything else stays, so I suppose, as someone mentioned it is all based on popularity and probably money. Long live 360° and Mash may also exist as it doesn't seem to be doing any harm at the moment.

Wednesday 26 September 2007 - 11:29AM (CEST)

Improving Yahoo 360

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:40:00 +0000

: I have been using Yahoo 360 for over a year now and in that time I've done 66 posts not including this one. I have to mention 66 because it's kind of like my lucky number even though I loathe superstition. This is a small number compared to many 360 users on here but for me it's personal achievement to have managed 66.

It's fantastic to have this service for free. I have enjoyed posting in 360 and I've met some really interesting people online. It's provided me with an opportunity to learn much more about other peoples' lives and also to learn about so many different facets of life through the reading of many posts on other peoples' 360 blogs.

Of all the blog sites that are available I have found 360 to be the easiest to use and understand. I like the fact that you can assign a list of friends thus creating an online community. Blogger, Google's blog site, doesn't offer that feature so it's difficult to advertise yourself on Blogger. It might be that I'm not aware of mechanisms which would allow me to do that.

I hope Yahoo will continue to support 360 for a long time to come and I hope they can continually make it accessible to many people and make improvements thus allowing it to evolve into a very useful and dynamic blogging site.

I am also a Yahoo Beta email user having held a yahoo email address for several years. A few months back Yahoo made superb improvements to their Yahoo email service. The web based Yahoo Beta interface has really suited my needs well. I prefer to keep my email 'post-box' web based and I don't bother using email software such as Outlook or Lotus Notes anymore. The unlimited size of the Yahoo mailbox is a big plus. The spam filter works very well. Yahoo provides free anti-virus protection on all emails and attachments. Ever since I stopped downloading emails to my own laptop I have suffered far less from virus attacks to the computer. I'm hoping that the Beta email interface can be used as my main hub for all my online communications. The chat feature is really good but I have found that it doesn't always work reliably and messages are failing to be received or transmitted. Sometimes that happens in Yahoo Messenger as well.

Yahoo Flickr is another service which generally I like very much. There are some annoying aspects to it and it also seems quite complicated to use for organising photos. I have Flickr pro free until the end of November. I now have well over 1000 photos uploaded to Flickr and I intend to use Flickr as one of my main storage bases for all my personal photos. I also keep a back-up of all my photos on USB memory sticks. I don't trust CDs or computer hardrives as a permanent place for storing electronic photos.

Here are five ideas on what I'd like to see improved about Yahoo's services and Yahoo's 360.

1. A closer integration between the Yahoo Beta email and Yahoo 360 Beta.

By that I mean I'd like to have an easy one-click link straight to my 360 page from the email interface. I'd like a dropdown menu on the email interface for a variety of the 360 features. In a way I'd prefer it to the Notepad feature. Perhaps a Yahoo 360 folder could be incorporated that would open a tab in the email interface for editing a post.

2. A blog posting facility directly from my Yahoo email.

I would like to write my posts directly from my email. This is one really useful feature that Google's Blogger has which 360 doesn't have. Furthermore, I would like to see it work in a "WYSIWYG" mode with a simple 'switch-over' click to HTML view.

3. An improved mechanism for posting images (possibly also for videos and slideshows etc).

Especially images from Flickr. I haven't yet found a way to easily post images. The method I use is slow and very clumsy. I have to open Flickr, log in, find the photo I want, open it up, click on 'all sizes', select the size I want, 'grab' the URL link by copying and pasting it into the 360 editor in HTML source mode. And sometimes I find that tricky because I'm no expert on HTML and it's often difficult to read and find the location in the HTML text to paste the URL. The solution is to make some software that allows photos to be posted easily and quickly into the 360 post editor.

4. Incorporate an auto-save feature.

In editing mode, while writing up a post, there should be an auto-save feature. Again this is a feature that Blogger has that 360 doesn't have. I don't know how many times I've written a blog and then clicked on 'Post this Entry' and lost all the work! Of course these days I'm more careful. I always copy the text first in case that happens then I can re-paste the work. An auto-save feature would be much better though.

5. Facility to make individual posts private, friends only, selected-group of friends, or public.

At the moment we can only make the whole 360 blog do this. I would like to be able to write individual posts that only my friends can see, or even only a particular selection of family and friends to see, or to make completely private, or to make public.

I hope the operators of Yahoo will somehow pick up on these ideas.

One more thing that completely astounds me, is that on Yahoo.com homepage there is absolutely no mention of Yahoo 360! The main menu on the lefthand side doesn't show 360 as a link! You have to click on the "More Yahoo! Services" link before finding the link for 360. In fact it seems that Yahoo! doesn't so obviously advertise it's blogging service very well at all.

What are your ideas for improving Yahoo 360?

Comments from Yahoo 360

(3 total)

I have a feeling that 360 won't be around for much longer once Yahoo Mash gets up and running. It's a pity because 360 is light years ahead of MySpace and Facebook as far as I'm concerned.

I'm also none too impressed by Flickr. Yahoo Photos was far superior by the end of its run and free to use, but now we've got the less good Flickr and we have to pay for it. Gee, thanks Yahoo, I don't think.

Thanks for the tip about keeping photos on USB memory sticks. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Monday 17 September 2007 - 08:37AM (EDT)

might…

I took a look at "Mash", and I wasn't impressed. It's would be fine for teenagers, and I think it was designed with that age group in mind.....I do wish they would just fine tune 360, correct some of the glitches, tighten up the security and then leave it be.....I love it here....

Monday 17 September 2007 - 07:45AM (CDT)

Astra…

Good ideas, Phil!!

I gave Yahoo my two-cents some time ago, as being a 'feature' was actually intended to give the platform a heavy workout and gain feedback. The ability to block comments to individual blogs was one of my big ones, too.

There are several Yahoo groups for 360, and they're all VERY active. I'd suggest that you post your suggestions to them, as well, and see if we can't get some action here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Y-360/ - Yahoo/360 User's Group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/360-Bloggers-Anonymous/ -- 360 Bloggers Anonymous

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/360-Friends/ -- 360 Friends

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/360-Forum/ -- 360 Forum (tips and help)

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/360_made_easy/ -- 360 Made Easy (tips and help)

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-Kk7QoHEierBqvRXolmQH?p=1#comments -- "Keep 360" Petition

http://blog.mash.yahoo.com/ -- 360 "Mash" Blog (comments welcome)

http://suggestions.yahoo.com/?prop=mash -- Yahoo "Mash" suggestion board

http://360.yahoo.com/profile-1qCkw2Ehaak.hdNZkEAzDrpa4Q--?cq=1 -- Official Y/360 Team Blog

Phil - these are ALL good sites - you might post these in a separate post for your readers to use -- when you do, let me know; I'll create a 'blast' to do a little promotion here.

Thanks for a great and informative post!

Wednesday 19 September 2007 - 06:20AM (PDT)

A Crazy Day Out

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:34:00 +0000

During May this year Moon and I visited the romantic city of Da Lat in Vietnam.

One of the places we came to visit in this small city was 'Hang Nga Guesthouse' which in English translates to Moon Guesthouse. It's also popularly known as Crazy House. The owner of the hotel calls herself Hang Nga. She's an architect by trade and has made the building of this hotel her 'Life' project.

You can stay at this hotel and experience its wonders at small cost.

The hotel has been made to appear weird and wonderful with a naturalistic theme. Each room in the guesthouse has an animal theme.

Fancy sharing a night in a room with a glowing red-eyed tiger?

I loved her 'crazy' furnishing style and colours. One thing for sure, Hang Nga has a passion for mirrors by the bed... She's got a rather naughty mind! I like that!

See what I mean by mirrors and beds. Every bedroom in this guesthouse featured a mirror viewing the bed. This particular guest room was split on two levels. The toilet, shower and relaxing area was downstairs and to get to this bedroom you had to climb up narrow winding stairs.

I love the twists and turns in the wooden structures of her house with outside corridors and passage ways.

Her guesthouse is still under construction and is an ongoing project. At the present Hang Nga believes she will finish sometime around 2010. One of the impressive things about this place is that integrates the trees and plants well with her buildings. She has aimed for a harmony with nature. In that respect I believe she has done really well.

A part of her guesthouse structure features a giraffe. And here I'm standing behind it! I just love it! I really do!

Hang Nga has designed into the walls anatomical features of both animals and humans. Like this Cacophony of boobies!

The dining room is perhaps the nearest you are going to see in this house that has any resemblance to being normal. Even here the design and layout remains impressionable. Now to let you into a little secret! The picture on the wall is her father, Truong Chinh, who was the president of Vietnam from 1981 to 1987. To think that we met the daughter of a former president of Vietnam! Many tourists and visitors to the guesthouse are oblivious to this interesting information. We found Hang Nga very approachable and friendly. She is seen working many days in the guesthouse ticket office and even when she isn't there, you can find her at her design studio.

Mirror mirror on the wall! Who's the Craziest of them all? Is it Hang Nga the owner of Crazy House in Dalat, or is it My Hang Nga? Well, I'll leave that assessment with you readers. What I do know is that I found this guesthouse to be a wonderful inspiration and not at all crazy! Walking through the many passage ways and rooms of this house with my Dear made me feel Crazy in love with my Crazy Hair Dear... But it's crazy only because She is crazily the most beautiful woman this crazy world of the Earth and Moon has made for me!

Yahoo 360 Comments:

(7 total)

Magel…

What an amazing place. I'd love to take my soulmate there as well. It's brilliantly imaginative. And yes, your wife is just lovely. You're both obviously so happy and well suited together, it's great to see, my friend. Have a great weekend, and keep up these posts. It really brightened a dreary British summer's day (grey clouds, rain LOL).

Saturday 11 August 2007 - 12:27PM (BST)

Doc B…

Looks like a great place, Phil. Actually, Bao Anh and I will be in Da Lat in November to open a new schoolhouse just outside of town. This looks like a fun place to stay, but I wondr if you were able to locate the "Phil-osophical Bird" room, or is that one still in the offing or 2010? I really didn't know you were so close, as the last I had heard you were still on a quest in Saudi Arabia! We've been traveling around too much with friends from outside of the country lately and I've just stopped by long enough to type a quick blog, or two. Hopefully, our paths will oneday cross!!

Saturday 11 August 2007 - 06:34PM (ICT)

emNgầu

Honey Doc, I think that is a great idea to stay there in Oct. The Boobies are so scary, lol...I like the crazy house!

Monday 13 August 2007 - 06:04PM (ICT)

Jools

Amazing pictures. I love odd looking houses. Reminds me a bit of the Gaudi houses in Barcelona.

Wednesday 15 August 2007 - 12:29PM (BST)

Nguye…

Beautiful and amazing ... I love that ... Will be staying there one day ... :-)

Wish you and your Moon all the best, Phillip .. :-)

Friday 17 August 2007 - 06:49AM (ICT)

Phil-…

To everyone! Thanks for the comments.

Saturday 25 August 2007 - 07:36AM (GMT)

[dele…

That is so cool. I want to go there

Sunday 30 September 2007 - 09:15PM (PDT)

Multiply Comments:

dianeoart wrote on Oct 21

Nice tour....I really enjoyed this place, great blog. :)

jansen68 wrote on Oct 21

What a beautiful place! Thanks for sharing!!!

absynthedeath wrote on Oct 21

Yet again, I read a blog where I realize that there is another place to add to my list of places I want to visit and people I want to meet!

That red-eyed tiger might have been a bit scary trying to sleep at night, though.

arolkayalkfay wrote on Oct 21

So many wonderful places to visit. Thanks for the tour.

aramink wrote on Oct 21

What a cool place! I love seeing unique things and places to stay. I would definitely try to book a room here if I was traveling in the area.

herbaliva wrote on Oct 22

Wow, I have never seen anything like it.

Women's Liberty in Arabia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:34:00 +0000

: Since I currently work in Saudi I’d thought I share a few facts about the way it is for women here in Saudi.

Saudi women are generally not allowed to work in their country. In spite of the fact that around 70% of Saudi women go to university they make up around only 5% of the total workforce.

Women cannot testify in a Saudi court of law unless it was a personal matter that did not happen in the sight of men (except presumably a male defendant if she is testifying against him). Non-Muslims, male and female, cannot testify in a Saudi court whatsoever. When a woman testifies it is treated as a presumption rather than a fact.

Women are not allowed to drive motor vehicles or ride bicycles on public roads in Saudi Arabia.

Woman citizens of Saudi are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims.

Women, especially Saudi women, are required to wear ‘abaya’ in public. The abaya is an overgarment that goes from the shoulders right down to the ankles. Traditionally it is black and most women’s abayas are black. They are also required to cover their heads with a scarf. Many also cover their faces. Foreign women (especially non-Muslim) do not have to wear the abaya but they are required when in public to be modestly dressed and that means long sleeves, full length trousers or skirts and they should not show too much neck.

Above is a picture of Moon dressed in her abaya. Suits her don’t you think? Moon came to stay with me here in Saudi during the last two weeks in July.

Women cannot generally go anywhere in public without being accompanied by a male relative. There is a provision that the male can be a young boy. I have seen women here in the supermarkets seemingly without their men but almost always they are in the company of one or more other women. From what I understand, women who go anywhere without a male relative, have to have the permission of their husbands.

What some call gender apartheid is prevalent. Segregation of male and females in public places is commonplace such as waiting rooms in hospitals and banks. Beaches and restaurants have areas segregated for families and non-families. That means you can only go to the family section when you are in the company of your spouse and or children.

Daniel McNeill in his book published in 2000 The Face: A Natural History wrote:

“Most Saudi homes have one entrance for men, another for women. Women ride in the back of the bus in Riyadh, and enter it through a separate door. Until 1981 a woman couldn't meet her spouse unveiled till after the wedding. Saudi daughters inherit half as much as sons. Amusement parks and skating rinks have segregated hours, so families cannot visit together. Saudi banks are so segregated that only female auditors examine women's accounts. Medicine is the sole career where the sexes mix, because, though fundamentalists object to women doctors touching male patients, there aren't enough male physicians to go around.”

Women following Muslim practices under Sharia law are not supposed to make eye contact with any male except their spouse and perhaps certain family members such as their sons and fathers.

Under Saudi Basic Law women are denied participation in public law or government. They do however have the right to own property, transact business and have their bank accounts in addition to their husband’s support.

A Saudi woman cannot leave the country without her husband’s or father’s permission and almost never without being accompanied by a male relative.

In 1978 the late and well known American feminist Andrea Dworkin wrote about Saudi Arabia:

“Seductive mirages of progress notwithstanding, nowhere in the world is apartheid practiced with more cruelty and finality than in Saudi Arabia. Of course, it is women who are locked in and kept out, exiled to invisibility and abject powerlessness within their own country. It is women who are degraded systematically from birth to early death, utterly and totally and without exception deprived of freedom. It is women who are sold into marriage or concubinage, often before puberty; killed if their hymens are not intact on the wedding night; kept confined, ignorant, pregnant, poor, without choice or recourse. It is women who are raped and beaten with full sanction of the law. It is women who cannot own property or work for a living or determine in any way the circumstances of their own lives. It is women who are subject to a despotism that knows no restraint. Women locked out and locked in.”

The severity of the situation today has probably lessened somewhat than what it may have been in 1978 but how can we know for sure that in some remote parts of the country that this kind of extreme injustice isn’t still going on?

Saudi Arabia is a country that practices both capital and corporal punishment. According to an article in the Daily Telegraph there were 191 public executions in 2005. So far this year (2007) to July there have already been 107 public executions including just 3 women. There is a case going on at present concerning a Sri Lankan maid who was working for a Saudi family. She was 17 years old and had only just come into the country. She has been sentenced to death by beheading for strangling a four month old boy. The girl now 19 and whose job as a maid was not meant to include child care now denies this and says she was forced to sign a confession under duress and that he was choking on the milk and she tried to save him but to no avail. The girl was denied a lawyer to represent her in court.

The last I have heard was a report in the Times on 26^th July that says:

“It was only when the BBC World Service radio reported on the case in Sinhala, the main language of Sri Lanka, that the Asian Human Rights Commission intervened. It raised £20,000 to hire a Saudi lawyer and accused the Sri Lankan Government publicly of failing to protect its citizens. Last week, the Government sent Hussein Bhaila, a deputy foreign minister, to Saudi Arabia along with Nafeek’s parents, who visited her in prison yesterday. “Emotionally and mentally, she’s very down,” Mr Bhaila told The Times.”

In the case of women migrants, especially domestic workers to Saudi families, there is a lot of abuse going on. Presently the Sri Lankan, Malaysian and Philipino embassies can have as much as 150 women in embassy shelters because of abuse at the hands of their employers. This may only represent the tip of the iceberg of the actual amount of abuse still going on.

Saudi Arabian men can have up to four wives at any one time according to Islamic law. And many wealthy Saudis do just that. Tribal societies still exist in Saudi Arabia. There was a report in the media (I recommend following the last link below) in January 2005 about a very wealthy 64 year old tribal chief who was a shepherd turned business man - Mr Al-Sayeri and at the time of the report he had already married 58 wives, although only four at any one time. Whilst Mr Al-Sayeri is more of an extreme example, Saudi men having several wives during the course of their lives is much more common than first meets the eye.

References:

Daily Telegraph article; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=45BQVYBAZNEV1QFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/07/16/wsaudi116.xml

The Times;
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2141360.ece

Anything & Everything Blog;
http://ballyblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/teenage-girl-faces-beheading-in-saudi-arabia/

Sex Segregation in Islam;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_segregation_in_Islam#_note-13

Polygamy in Saudi;
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-01-01-saudi-polygamy_x.htm

Other sources used:

Wikipedia on Human Rights.

Comments from Yahoo 360

(6 total)

BARBE

I had an absolutley gorgeous Saudi friend, whose husband was with the embassy here...obviously from a wealthy family, obviously well-educated, charming, polite, and gracious. She once had a coffee at her home to try to explain Saudi customs...and why it was such a good deal for women. She didn't get too far with us westerners. She had four or five children at the time and became pregnant (against her wishes) just before they were stationed to China. She left Spain in fear of her life because she would have to deliver the baby in a Chinese hospital...(full of infidels) and was hoping to return to Saudi to wait for the baby while her husband went to China. I have no idea what happened to her...I lost touch after she left. But, I adored her... I've had one or two other Saudi aquaintances here...most Saudi women with the embassy don't go out much...one of the reasons is that Spaniards keep dogs and are not at all good about cleaning up after them...so going out for a walk is almost impossible for them, as it is against their religion...it's unclean. Like all women, I long for the liberation of women all over the world. I wish we in the west set a better example with our liberty than we do. If all I were a Saudi Muslim woman, with Britany Spears and Paris Hilton as the only western women I was familiar with...I'd stay covered up and in the house, too.

Wednesday 29 August 2007 - 07:30AM (PDT)

Phil-…

Hi Anne... on what you have just shared I have to agree with you. I've not had as much opportunity to have open talk with Saudi women while here which is a huge shame. While Moon was with me I could have had the opportunity to visit a family home as a guest but unfortunately in those two weeks that she was here my closest Saudi colleagues were all on holiday.

I am aware that many Saudi women are comfortable in this lifestyle. It is the culture and religion that they've been brought up in. Even those Saudi wives who have had the opportunity to go abroad still feel that their way of life is fine and perfectly right.

The quality of family life in Saudi Arabia for many is in fact very good. The men do look after their wives very well indeed. And for many wives, being behind the veil is very comforting and secure. They feel very special having a body that is hidden from the world and that belongs only to the eyes of their husbands.

I wish I could have more opportunity to hear more from the Saudi women of how they really feel about their lives.

One thing I am sure of is that there are many women who hate the life they have to live in Saudi. For women who for whatever reason cannot be part of family life, and there are plenty of them, I think the situation can be extremely difficult for them.

Wednesday 29 August 2007 - 02:51PM (GMT)

Diana

Thank you so much for sharing this...for myself I know I would find it difficult to be there very long at all. I wish we could take some of the best parts of the many different cultures and put them all together. The life of a married woman there sounds like it has some positives; but the general lack of respect of women in general would be abhorrent to me and I would not feel safe there at all.

Wednesday 29 August 2007 - 09:08AM (MDT)

BARBE…

Power is a terrible thing to have over another human being. Each person should have their own power over their own lives and their own destiny, without being permitted to hurt anyone else of course. I have been a very lucky woman...living as I do at this point in history. The great evolution on women's rights, which started actually as a result of the industrial revolution, and gathered tremendous steam at the turn of the century, has allowed me to live well and pretty much as I wish. As this light of freedom shines brighter...eventually women living in the darkeness in oppressed societies will see it and want to bask in its warmth.

Wednesday 29 August 2007 - 10:45AM (PDT)

emNgầu

Lucky me, I am not an Arab woman! I think they are beautiful anyway(under their marks/clothes).

Thursday 30 August 2007 - 02:09PM (ICT)

i am for sure that for me... there is not a job anywhere nor money to follow that would make me think that i needed to work, live, visit where you are...

this helps remind me that my part-time job, my crappy love-life, and my low job skills make me far more happier than any $$$$ i once thought could...

thanks for this blog-post!

Monday 17 September 2007 - 02:07AM (CDT)

When Heaven Vibrates

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:08:00 +0000

It's Monday morning and you need something to put a smile on your face?

How about this version of the Lord's Prayer?

My vibro, which brings me heaven, rabbit be thy name, till kingdom come,

thou makest me come, on earth with eyes on heaven. Give me this day my

daily orgasm and forgive me my screams as I forgive flat batteries. Lead me

not into temptation but deliver me from frustration for thine is the

rotation, the power and the buzzing for ever and ever no men.

Comments from Yahoo 360

(1 total)

Diana

LOL love it....... I did once write a poem to mine :0
and thanks for the comment on my comments on Will's blog. It is nice when u know others appreciated what u had to say. U did very well yourself in that area too :)

Monday 27 August 2007 - 07:16AM (MDT)

Just call me Abe!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 05:02:00 +0000

Above is a picture of me in 1966 when I was about 3 to 4 months old with my brother.

The Famous Person I am apparently similar to...

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

So watch out! I must not be good on civil wars! But does that mean I'm not good at pacifying family disputes? I did say in my earlier post that I like sitting on the wall which unfortunately I suppose lends itself to making me vulnerable to being shot at from both sides... Really I was hoping to be like Einstein.

Below are the results of a personality test I took on similarminds.com

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	66%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Accommodation	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Interdependence	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Intellectual	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Mystical	\|\|\|\|	16%
Artistic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Religious	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Hedonism	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Materialism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Narcissism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Work ethic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Self absorbed	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Conflict seeking	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Need to dominate	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%

Romantic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Avoidant	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Anti-authority	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Wealth	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Dependency	\|\|\|\|	16%
Change averse	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Cautiousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Individuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Sexuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Peter pan complex	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Physical security	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Physical Fitness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Histrionic	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Paranoia	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Vanity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Hypersensitivity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Indie	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	45%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

I took the test twice. The decription for Stability and orderliness came out exactly the same in both tests but the extraversion came out as moderate in the first test and moderately high in the second. I took the test again because I'd lost the descriptive part of the results the first time. The table above is from the first test.

Stability results were moderately high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Orderliness results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun.

Extraversion results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

trait snapshot:

social, outgoing, worry free, optimistic, upbeat, tough, likes large parties, makes friends easily, rarely irritated, open, enjoys leadership, trusting, dominant, thrill seeker, strong, does not like to be alone, assertive, mind over heart, confident, controlling, feels desirable, likes the spotlight, loves food, social chameleon, hard working, concerned about others.

Conclusions: I must be a bit dishonest with myself because I don't believe I'm an extravert.

Comments from Yahoo 360

(2 total)

Phil-…

Some disagreements: I tend to see myself as flexible & efficient. Large parties are ok but I wouldn't go so far as to say I like them a lot. I sometimes find making friends difficult & even frustrating. I can enjoy leading but I'm no natural at it. I'm too soft to be particularly dominant, assertive or controlling. I only enjoy the spotlight if it's going well and others are enjoying it too.

Saturday 25 August 2007 - 07:31AM (GMT)

BARBE…

He, he, he...you can call me Ghandi... Actually, it's kind of true...I value morality and doing the right thing, and admire this man for the nerve he had to stick by his convictions, no matter the cost to him personally. But, I am by no means that much of a goody-goody...I would cave in, if facing the entire British Government. I'm too much of a chicken. Thanks for the interesting morning of test taking.

Saturday 25 August 2007 - 03:04AM (PDT)

Sitting on the Wall... Thomas Jefferson.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 12:46:00 +0000

: I go by the icon of a bird. Whether it was a purely coincidental choice or subconsciously deliberate I cannot say. The bird is blue and the bluebird is a renowned symbol for happiness. The bird is a dodo and dodos are dead. Perhaps what I am is dead to ignorance and indifference.

Birds often perch on a fence or a wall. That’s good because I can see down onto either side of the wall. I can see the good and bad of both worlds. From the wall I can see if the grass is greener on one side or the other. On one side I can see the cat hiding in the long grass with its tail slowly swinging from side to side. I know it’s after me… But on the other side there is a big dog sleeping his cares peacefully away. On the wall I am happy and I can sing and I am safe…

Or am I safe? There’s a boy playing on the same side as the dog. For now he’s chucking stones into the pond. If I continue my chirping for much longer he might just soon be throwing them at me… You see… Sitting on the wall I can be hit from either side…

When I die it might be the same as it was before I was born. And I have no pre-birth memories so perhaps I didn’t exist. And if it is the same after this life then there is nothing to fear. When I die I might find I can still think and therefore still am! Well jolly good if so, I’ll simply embark upon it as a new day in a new situation. Until then I shall be the jolly bird sitting on the wall as happy as can be. I’ll listen to the noises made on both sides; I shall enjoy them and be fascinated in all things new whichever side they come. I shall be as fair as fair can be. I shall take flight from the perils of ignorance and learn as much from all that I see. Sitting on the wall of life is good and I make it so.

But that brings me to…

Thomas Jefferson!

Let’s suppose I’m sitting on the wall of American past history and American present politics.

I don’t know what Jefferson’s final words were before his death on the 50^th anniversary of the declaration of Independence but he instructed that his tombstone shall read:

HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON

AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

On reading the declaration of independence I should like to highlight the following part of it:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I rather like that sentence!

In drafting the declaration, Jefferson helped in establishing a nation free and independent of a state mal-influenced by a corrupted church and religious laws.

In writing the statute of religious freedom for the State of Virginia he sought to establish the rights of men not to be forced to practice any religion against his will, and to be permitted to freely express his religious opinion and that civil rights do not depend on religion.

And then perhaps for a moment you can imagine a wall, where upon the blue bird is perched… the wall of separation.

To one side is the garden of the church and to the other is the wilderness of the world. As described by Baptist theologian Roger Williams and used by Jefferson to describe the First Amendment to the US Constitution which effectively says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

In founding the University of Virginia he sought an educational establishment unbiased of religion and with a diversification of subjects such as astronomy, architecture, botany, philosophy and political science.

Quoting Jefferson from Phillips Russell’s - Jefferson, Champion of the Free Mind

"This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”

Jefferson even opposed that theology should ever be taught at the university. (In spite of that the university now boasts one of the most highly rated religious studies program. It also has a ‘non-denominational’ chapel.)

I see there has been an ongoing debate about what Jefferson’s private religious beliefs were. Many say he was a deist, others say he was a Christian theist and still others say he was practically an atheist. I think he wound up in life as a deist with atheistic sympathies, but that is besides the point. Jefferson provided the framework for people to respect one another’s beliefs and perhaps to find a way to live in harmony with one another.

Now let us suppose as I sit on the wall I turn to look to the present day politics of the US.

I hear of such books like that of Kevin Phillips – American Theocracy (which I’ve not read) but I have read an article on the internet by him which gives a summary called Theocons and Theocrats

I’ve searched around to try and get a balanced view. I’m satisfied he’s not a crank or an alarmist. His statements appear to be accurate and not exaggerated. And his concerns are real.

I have also read an article by Gary Wills called Country of Faith issued in the New York Review of books Vol 53 No 18 dated 16^th November 2006.

Reading both these articles I find that what appears to be happening to be very disturbing.

Gary Wills’ article is about a silent ‘invasion’ of the Whitehouse by right wing evangelicals. In it is a quote by former attorney general John Ashcroft who once addressed an audience at Bob Jones University and said “We have no king but Jesus” and he called Jefferson’s wall of separation between church and state a “wall of religious oppression”.

I read of things like faith-based initiatives in law-enforcement, education, medicine, science, war and justice. I hear of the increasing roles of religious institutions in politics, business and economics, Christian Zionism, Christian Reconstructionalism, I hear of infringements of women’s civil liberties in respect to numerous issues including abortion, a rise of homophobia, a campaign against the separation of church and state, schools teaching creationism, stem cell research being banned… to mention but a few things all as a direct result of the influence of right wing evangelicals.

Now with all due respect to the belief of evangelicals – I used to be one; people need to be extremely careful about what’s happening here. People following their evangelical beliefs are failing to see that they are having an impact on the civil liberties of those who do not hold their beliefs. And they don’t care because to their mind it is God’s Will. To them the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God.

The wall of separation has already started to erode and the First Amendment is at an ever increasing risk of being devalued and who knows? One day it could even be removed.

The day that Jefferson’s Wall falls,
the happy bluebird will have flown away,
and it will be America’s Darkest Day.

Comments from Yahoo 360

(7 total)

BARBE…

Thomas Jefferson was not an athiest...it's obvious that he believed that God endowed us with the rights he so elloquently outlined. I do think that religion, that is to say churches, has to stay out of politics. But faith, the principles of the belief in an ultimate consequence to life, doing right not wrong, loving your neighbors and so on MUST dictate our government. So...it's a fine line we have to walk...like that bid on the fence...that can fly wither way.

Sunday 19 August 2007 - 03:48AM (PDT)

might…

I agree with you, and feel that the extreme right wing evangelists are fanatics, and as such, are dangerous, as they preach that their way is the only way. Fanaticism of any religion (or lack of such) is inflamatory, and leaves no room for differences. This frightens me.....

Sunday 19 August 2007 - 08:34AM (CDT)

Phil-…

Thanks Anne for your comment. Perhaps it appears as a fine line if those morals are seen as religious. I believe we can hold a very good set of morals and values without subscribing to religion and so for me I don't see a fine line. I'm a great respector of religion and of people's faiths.

However I have come to recognize over the years that within some sections of certain religions there are extreme beliefs which can infringe on the civil rights and liberties of persons who choose not to follow them and I consider that when these particular beliefs are imposed on others we have immoral and unjust actions that the First Amendment was designed to protect citizens of the US from.

I'm a strong supporter of the principles Jefferson laid down and men in his time sacrificed their lives to establish these principles. When I see what appears to be happening in US government now, then I consider that the principles of the First Amendment and religious freedom are being eroded away. American citizens should treat this matter with all seriousness and urgency.

Sunday 19 August 2007 - 01:46PM (GMT)

Phil-…

Donna, thanks... it frightens me too.

Sunday 19 August 2007 - 02:00PM (GMT)

Jeff

Good Blog!

Wednesday 22 August 2007 - 12:16AM (CDT)

i have not abandoned you. but that is too much of something that might make sense to me right now... and my eyes r tired and my heart hurts so i will be back later to read the greatness in which you spew...

Wednesday 22 August 2007 - 07:52PM (CDT)

Phil-…

Don't worry Sai. I know you will come back in the goodness of time.

Saturday 25 August 2007 - 07:33AM (GMT)