I’d think these are the same person:

The Cowardly Lion, fictional movie character, 1939

Drew Peterson, suspected wife murderer, 2008

I got an email a few months ago comparing a bunch of people’s faces to other pictures.  It was funny to see the resemblance between people you wouldn’t have otherwise thought about – like the two pictured above.

For those of you who don’t know, Drew Peterson is a former police officer who lives in the suburbs of Chicago.  He is somewhat of a celebrity these days because his young 4th wife Stacy went missing over a year ago.  During the search for her, his 3rd wife’s body was exhumed and another autopsy was performed.  Following this autopsy, they changed the 3rd wife’s cause of death from accidental drowning to homicide.  This and other aspects of this case always point to Drew being responsible for some sort of foul play on Stacy.  The man is very smug, and some of the things he’s said to the media are shockingly rude and callous toward Stacy.  He is an infamous jerk, and I think he actually likes the public and media attention.  I’ve take an interest in the case because I’m originally from the area where they lived, and during the national coverage of this case, I follow along, knowing the towns and areas they’re talking about.  Drew was on the Dr. Phil show the other day, and he was smug as ever…  He is in court currently on a weapons charge, and I got the idea to compare his picture to the cowardly lion when someone posted a comment on the story on dailyherald.com – good observation!  If I can dig out that original email comparing the pictures, I should post it on my blog and add these two to the email!

Thursday, October 23, 2008 – Started off the day at Golden Corral for breakfast again, and then we stopped at a Wi-Fi place so my husband could download the Chicago Bears game from the previous Sunday because the internet was too slow in our condo to do anything.  That’s a good thing though, I wasn’t able to check email all week and it was nice to take a break from bad news on cnn.com and the real world.  We were lucky enough that it didn’t rain during our trip to Florida until this day when we were already done with the parks. It really didn’t rain much, just a little drizzle, and even though the day was overcast, we spent much of it at the two pools in our condo complex, followed by a nap while my husband juggled the kids, the Bears game, and his own nap.  We then went to our favorite flea market place and let the girls spend their money that Grandma had given them.  NOTE FOR NEXT YEAR – the souvenir shopping was kind of a mistake. Sammie (4 year old) wanted to be impulsive with her money, and we got tired of telling her to wait to spend it. Finally she was allowed to buy something, and then she saw other things she wanted after she was out of money. She also spent the rest of the trip whining and pitching fits about wanting the same souvenirs that her older sister Taylor had picked out. Disney’s (2 year old) idea of “shopping” was running around and picking up things she wanted and playing with them, so overall, I would not recommend the souvenir shopping for kids this age; if we go back within a year or two, we’re going to skip this aspect of the trip.  If they earn spending money for next time, maybe we’ll pick out something for them with it!

Dinner that night was interesting.  My husband has wanted to take me to a Japanese restaurant for awhile, so we decided to try a place called Kabuki.  I was always under the impression that Japanese food would be like Chinese food, but I was wrong.  We sat at a “cooking table”, which is where the chef comes and does little tricks and stunts with the food and cooking utensils while he cooks right in front of you.  At first, I was a little nervous about this because we were seated with a couple from a country called Luxembourg, and having strangers at our table was a little nerve-wracking because my kids can be wild at the dinner table at times.  Everything was fine; the kids were really entertained by the chef’s show.  Better yet, they were mindlessly eating their food without thinking to complain about it or ask for something else.  And the couple from Luxembourg took pictures and later emailed them to me – check it out:

Overall, I liked the Japanese food experience – taste and show –  and I would recommend it to others if it’s something you’ve never tried before.  As you can see, our chef was not Japanese – the guy from Luxembourg predicted that and recommended we retry the experience with a Japanese chef.

I received an email today and thought it was one in an endless stream of useless waste of time pieces of junk. Even reading it I was hesitant, but after following the link and following the instructions, I found it to be very accurate although I do have to question one of the qualities it listed:

• “Fruity and adventurous” the adventurous DEFINITELY; however, fruity? I don’t think so.

Which brings me to the big topic of the day. Who cares who sleeps with whom? I think there are much more important issues in the world than the fact that Clay Aiken came out of the closet. I was TRYING to watch the new Knight Rider (which is one of the best NEW offerings this season… which usually means it will be gone within a month) last night and I swear I heard the news at least 5 times in one hour. Live and let live.

Ok… back to the topic at hand. Follow the link, follow the directions and see if you find yourself:

Http://DNA.imagini.net/friends

Before cell phones and text messaging, before the internet and email, before the telephone, before the typewriter, people used to write letters by hand. They knew their language, both the writing part and the reading part.

Today in this fast paced world people don’t take the time to write letters anymore. A quick email here, and text message their, an entry in a blog or on MySpace are what communication is today. I’m as guilty as the next person, except that I don’t instant message, chat or text. I’m much to wordy for any of those media. It is just too sad that people don’t know anything about the complete art of letter writing/reading.

NOTICE!!! I included reading in my assessment of a lost art. Before the advent of all these new ways to communicate, people took the time to read their letters. They were not meant to be a quick read. These were missives that someone took time to write and they deserved time in reading also.

Why am I mentioning this? Good question, I asked it of myself too. It seems that some maybe most people are looking at blog sites, and bulletin boards as direct communication to themselves. They take comments meant for general consumption and think others are talking about them. They have hard feelings when they think something or someone is against them. Now, I will admit that in some cases they may have a valid point, but in others, people weren’t talking or writing about them. But they want to take in personally.

Then again, people today don’t think before they write. They can write things that could be considered cruel toward an individual or a group. People then get bent out of shape and small wars tarnish the blogs, bulletin boards and myspace accounts. So sad sometimes. Good conversations are ruined by misunderstandings. It happens almost everywhere on the web.

So in this, I asked myself: Why?. I came up with one simple idea. It could be something, it could be nothing at all. We are losing the ability to communicate effectively with the written word, just by not paying attention to what we write and how we read. Is this something we will miss in our lives, or will the older members of society who remember this sort of communication, just talk (write?) about the good ol’ days.

Just one word of advice to those who read Blogs, myspace accounts, bulletin boards, emails, text msgs. and the like. If you read something that bothers you, take some time, leave it, come back to it later read it again. Before responding in haste or anger, make sure you understand what is written,and if those word really apply to you. I’ve used that since the my very first e-mail, and intend to keep using that practice well into my very last e-mail or whatever form of communication the future brings me.

For anyone out there who has been following our plight through my husband’s medical issues, we have good news!  Here is a copy of the email I sent to our friends and family:

Hi everyone,
Chris had his medical tests today and they went well.  They didn’t find anything horrible – just some inflammation in the stomach and esophagus.  The dr prescribed some medication that will hopefully take his pain away soon.  They did take a sample to send for biopsy looking for any cell abnormality, but we won’t find anything out from that for about 2 weeks; they don’t expect that they will find anything abnormal.  Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers and support while we were going through this – we really appreciate it and love all of you.  We can’t ask for better friends or family!  Thank you so much!
Love,
Lisa

Came across a few really cute animal-themed emails lately, so I thought I’d share.  The first one is for people who don’t have a dog or just have a very disobedient one.  Enter a command in the text box and the cute doggie will do it.  Try ‘kiss’.

 [swf]https://www.idodogtricks.com/site_template_v10.swf[/swf]

Then there’s this video, which features the winning combo of a baby and a dog, awww…  Click here to see “Childproof Drawer”.

Finally, I got these really cute pictures in an email a few weeks ago…  Seems a mommy tiger lost her cubs and “adopted” these piglets to take care of.  See the ‘pork chops’:

I recently received an email which directed me to a site where you can find out how many people in the United States share your name.  I thought that it would be fun to discover just how many lucky people shared my name.  To my shock, there was not a single person who has my name.  That is exactly what the result was “There are 0 people in the United States who have that name.”  That is strange, I have had that name for the last 34 years 8 months and some odd days.  I knew I was unique but did not know I was THAT unique.

Subject: How Many Are There of ME????

This activity is fun to do!   Be sure to add your name
to the bottom of  this list. 

Go to this web site https://www.howmanyofme.com/
Put in your first and last name and see how many people in the USA have your name as well.  

After me just put your name and results below like I did. MAKE SURE YOU ONLY WRITE HOW
MANY PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME EXACT NAME. 

Send the message to your friends and remember to SEND IT BACK TO ME so  I can see how the list is growing!

1. There are 41 people in the US named Debbie Pugh.
2. There are 36 people in the U.S. named Kesha Davis.
3. There are 274 people in the U.S. named Evelyn
Arnold.
4. There are 292 people in the U.S. named Rose Burns.
5. There are 72 people in the U.S. named Terri
Gilbert.
6. There is only 1 person in the U.S. named Jenniffer
Kinney.
7. There are 33 people in the U.S. named Esther Good
8. There is only 1 person in the US named Rhonda
Erway.
9. There are only 2 people in the U.S. named Joyce
Antes.
10. There are 9 of us in the U.S. named Thomas
Swartout.
11. There are 12 'females' with the name Debbie
luther.
12. There are 4,461 people named Patricia Martin (oh
my!).
13. There are 1,150 ppl in the U.S. named Kelly Walker
(Kelly Daw-4).
14. There are 18 people in the US with the name
Tiffany Zimmer.
15. There are 97 people in the US with the name Donna
McGhee.
16. There are 1318 people in the US with the name
Donna Phillips.
17. There are 3859 people in the US with the name
RIchard Phillips.
18. There are 2 people in the US with the name of
Karla LaPlante.
19. There are 36 people in the US with the name
Colleen McLaughlin.
20. There are 2,962 people in the US with the name
Mary Murray.
21. There are 77 people in the US with the name Dianne
Murray.
22. There are 10 people in the US with the name Susan
Addy.
23. There 186 people in the US with the name Cheryl
Caldwell.
24. There are 37 people in the US with the name Lisa
Lea.
25. There are 337 people in the US with the name Cathy
Nelson.
26. There only one person in the U.S. named Lea
Sikora.
27. There are 1,010,592 people in the U.S. named Betty
Smith
28. There are 33 people in the U.S. named Mary
Blakeley.
29  There are 9,047 people in the U.S. named Mary
Lewis.
30. There are  487 people in the U.S.  named Charles
Grimes.
31. There are 13 people in the U.S. named Debra Fenn.
32. There are 593 people in the U.S. named Jill
Harris.
33. There are 931 people in the U.S. named Anne
Thompson.
34. There is only 1 person in the U.S. named Aletha
Shell.
35. There are only 35 people in the U.S. named Shelly
Rhodes.
36.  There are only 1 person in the U. S. named
Valorie Rouse
37. There are  140 people in the U.S. named Beth
Griffin
38. There are 143 people in the U.S. named Wilma
Jenkins
39. There are 1,081 people in the U.S. named Louise
Anderson
40. There is 1 person in the U.S. named Treasure
Wasdin
41. There are 3,777 people in the U.S. named Patricia
Clark
42. There are 22 people in the U.S. named Courtney
Mercer
43. There are 20 people in the U.S. named Clarissa
Jenkins
44. There is 1 person in the U.S. named Mikel Bean
45. There are 26 people in the U.S. named Lee Street
46. There are 1 person in the U.S. named Renea
Durrence
47. There are 51 people in the U. S. named Sandy Lane
48. There are 15 people in the U. S. named Sondra Lane

49. There are 3 people in the U.S. named Yolonda Hart
50. There are 35 people in the U.S. named Sharon
Alderman.
51.  There are 10 people in the U.S. named Leslie
Hutchens.
52. There is 1 person in the U.S. named Niki Mainer.
53.  There are 8 ppl in the US named Lucy Brinson.
54.  There are 35 people in the U. S. named Jan Bowen.

55.  There are 4 people in the U.S. named Lisa Ruffo.
56.  There is 1 person in the U.S. named Sheri
Harshman.

57.  There are 29 people in the U.S. with the name Cathy Holder.
58. There are 204 people in the U.S. with the naem Renee Richardson.

59. There are 77 people in the United States with the name Heather Gamble
60. there is 1 person in the united states named charnel hazelton

I’m talking about email forwards.  And just about everyone knows someone or is someone (even if they won’t admit it) who just can’t seem to resist forwarding EVERY forward they get to EVERYONE in their address book.  I’ve mentioned before that my mom’s neighbor from about 5 years ago still forwards me stuff…  and it’s not like I knew them all that well to begin with.  They just got my email address from a forward list one time (I think), and just forward every forward to everyone they know – and some people they don’t know, apparently.  I get about 3-5 forwards in my email per day from various people.  I don’t read them all – who has time for that?  Some of them I pass along, and others I don’t.  I always feel a little guilty when I do pass them on though because there is a slight chance they could contain viruses or just be incredibly annoying to those poor people I do send them to…  So, with my apologies ahead of time to those who don’t like it, here is a link that I got as a forward the other day.  It links to this really fun and addicting mini golf game that my husband and I have had lots of fun with.  So far, my top score – well it’s golf, so my low score is a 42…  holes #14 and #18 kill me every time.  See what you think: https://www.ibogleif.dk/spil/flashspil/minigolf/minigolf.swf

[swf]https://www.ibogleif.dk/spil/flashspil/minigolf/minigolf.swf[/swf]

Oh, yeah, and DO NOT open this at work – I do not want to be responsible for getting anyone into trouble on the job!  I know I can’t put the game down…  enough of this posting, the baby needs a diaper change…  I’ll change her after one more game, just gotta play while holding my nose…

The subject of this post, my friends, is the result of an email forward I got today.  It’s one of the stupidest forwards, yet somehow irresistable at the same time.  I posted it below if you want to try it.  I didn’t have the nerve to bother my friends with this at work, so I decided to post it on my blog instead.  Imagine my surprise when I got an email from a neighbor my mom had like 4 years ago (I somehow got on her forward list) with a subject of: “I love an ipod because I think I need some serious help.”

This is funny, and silly but fun..keep it going..Type the sentence you end up with, in the subject line and forward to your friends… Pick the month you were born: January——-I kicked
February——I loved
March——–I karate chopped
April———-I licked
May———-I jumped on
June———-I smelled
July———–I did the Macarena With
August——–I had lunch with
September—-I danced with
October——-I sang to
November—–I yelled at
December—–I ran over

Now type out the sentence you made, in the subject line and forward to your friends.