Happy year of the dog everyone!! Please try to make the best of it.

Astrology


Year Of The Dog Chinese Business Horoscopes

Lacey Rose, 01.25.06, 12:00 PM ET

NEW YORK - With good reason, dogs are dubbed
man's best friend. They're playful, lovable and loyal. And according to
the Chinese Lunar Calendar, it's their year.

But beware, 2006--or 4704 on the Chinese calendar--may not be as auspicious as 2005.

According to Master Larry Sang, an esteemed
Chinese astrologer and founder of the American Feng Shui Institute,
2006 will be a beneficial year for development and expansion. But
uncertainty looms large.

Find out what the stars portend for 2006.

Master Sang predicts the upcoming year will be
riddled with fighting, misunderstandings and gossip. “2006 will not be
a stable year,” he warns. “We will experience fighting and clashes
around the world.”

And if that’s not enough, “We can predict an
elevated risk for earthquakes, landslides, sudden shocking explosions,
global bombings or terrorist attacks,” Master Sang explains.

The traditional Chinese method of recording
time is cyclical--very different from the linear Western concept--and
the beginning of the year falls sometime in late January or early
February. The Chinese calendar uses a dozen animals--dog, pig, rat, ox,
tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey and rooster--to
represent the years. According to traditional Chinese astrology, people
born in the same year share similar attributes.

Take the Dog, for instance. If you’re born in
the Year of the Dog, you’re likely to be a loyal person. But while Dogs
are honest and faithful people themselves, they often find it difficult
to trust others. Astrologers believe everyone will experience some
Dog-like traits this year. Continued below.

Click on your sign to read your business and career horoscope from Master Sang. (As
a rule of thumb, your sign corresponds to your birth year, unless you
were born before Feb. 4. In that case, use the prior year’s sign.)

The
Year of the Dog means good things for Pigs and Snakes in particular.
Master Sang expects 2006 to be an excellent year for those signs, in
terms of both their careers and their financial affairs. And with
auspicious stars shining above, the Year of the Dog will prove
favorable for Rabbits as well. But 2006 won’t be as positive for
Monkeys and Dragons--Master Sang sees instability and conflict. And
danger lurks for the Roosters.

Curious what 2006 has in store for you? Click
on your Chinese zodiac sign above to read Master Sang's business and
career forecast for the Year of the Dog. Or click here to see his forecasts for all the signs.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

(May you have wealth and prosper!)

* Master Larry Sang, founder of the American Feng Shui Institute, is one of the most influential practitioners in the philosophy and teachings of Feng Shui. He is the author of The Principles of Feng Shui, Yi Jing for Love and Marriage, and each year he publishes his Chinese Astrology & Feng Shui Guide.

Let's play 'monkey see, monkey do': Eight-year-old Gun-Mo leads the way during a promotional event for the 2006 Animal Academy show in Seoul. The monkey was drilled to skate for two weeks, the animal trainer said.

How CUTE is that??? 

That's it, someway and somehow I am going to adopt a monkey someday.  They are so clever and cute.
I mean how awesome would it be to own a monkey you know?
It would be a lot of monkey business and oh so much fun!!

today was a pretty good day,

i finally got scott off the web and outta the apartment to come hang out in the real world with me and it was seriously the most fun i've had in a while.

and now i have to say, it is an even better day...

one of my favorite xanga writers,

chrischoi

is engaged and has shared his story of love..
of knowing how he was always going to marry the love of his life.
of believing in true love and possibility in a world where both is lfleeting at best...
his story nearly made me cry. 
it's wonderful please go and  wish him congratulations.

i know for me their story gives me hope, that true love, the kind where both people find each other in such a lost world and know that all they want is to just be together does actually exist.  and that is a very rare and beautiful thing.

thank you for sharing your story chris, you have inspired me to not settle for anything less than the real thing.
i wish the two of you all the very best.

it's girl scout cookie time again!!

2006
Girl Scout Cookies

$3.50/box.

Samoa Vanilla cookies covered with caramel on top and bottom, and then rolled in toasted coconut, and striped with a rich, chocolaty coating. Count: 15	Lemon Coolers Bite-sized bursts of cool lemon flavor in crisp, vanilla reduced-fat cookies. Zesty lemon chips and a covering of powdered sugar make these "lemon wedge" cookies too cool to resist. Approx. count: 33	Trefoil Short, tender, delicate tasting shortbread that melts in your mouth. Approx. count: 45	Tagalong Cookies topped with creamy peanut butter and covered with a luscious chocolaty coating. Count: 15
DoSiDo Crisp and crunchy oatmeal cookies with creamy peanut butter filling. No artificial color or flavor. Approx. count: 22	Cafe Cookie Caramelized with brown sugar, this charmingly crisp cookie will delight even cookie connoisseurs. With a hint of cinnamon spice, it's perfect with your favorite warm beverage. Approx. count: 47	Thin Mint A thin wafer covered with a smooth chocolaty coating. Extra thin, extra crisp! Made with natural peppermint. Approx. Count: 40	All Abouts These beautifully-designed shortbread cookies have a series of Girl Scout messages embossed on top and a rich fudge coating on the bottom! One bite and you'll be reminded of the Values, Friendship, Leadership, Sharing, Caring, and Fun Girl Scouting is all about! Approx. count: 17

if anyone wants cookies and needs an order filled lemme know. I know a first time girl scout who can use the help! = )

i've been really really busy.  Since Jan 2nd I've actually been
taking a three week intersession course in Latin American History.

It has been truly eye-opening and a very rich cultural exploration for me.

Latin America is a truly diverse, unique and incredible country with an ever enduring and amazing peoples.

It's just heartbreaking going over all of the suffering, poverty,
oppression, military and governmental corruption and killing, it's a
country that fascinates me and draws my prayers...and i'm not even a
religious person.

I could go on and on. but I can't. this crazy three week marathon of
five to six hour classes every day, coupled with massive amounts of
reading is finally coming to an end.

My final is tomorrow, I'm grossly unorganized for it.  And i'm stressed.

Mostly, its because Latin America is such a huge continent, let alone a
country with such a long history of so much change, violence,
revolution, and struggle.

Imagine living in world where military coups, and dictatorships,
corrupt govt and foreign interests are just a few of the illd that have
depleted your resources, markets, and economy.  No jobs are
available for the overpopulated nations and poverty is an institution.

To understand it in an unorganized matter is daunting. Even harder when
coupled with a brilliant professor, who is passion BUT REALLY REALLY
scattered in his lectures and a book that jumps from topic to topic.

I don't know what to do. I know the material but not by heart, and it sure as hell isn't chronological and organized.

SO i'm gonna go back to studying.  Just wanted to pop in.

Also I wanna say thank you to scotty...for going out and getting me a
crepe for dessert after dinner tonight. It was the sweetest (literally
and figuratively) and most thoughtful gesture ever. THANK YOU
HUN! 

HEHE it was my treat for being so good and studious. 

Which I do agree was very well earned, I've been busting my balls...seriously I'm tired, exhausted, and burnt out.

 AND the new semester begins on MONDAY!  I think i'm gonna go crazy.

If you're curious and want a glimpse of Latin America's incredible,
vibrant, often violent, tragic, and very human history...read this book:

Shampooh my precious doggy has started her own dog blog.  It's a
new venture, graduating from the world of xanga to test products, share
ideas and thoughts and generally celebrate and talk about all things
dog.  Please stop by and visit sometime, whether you're a genuine
dog fan, bored, or curious...we'd like you to marvel about the world of
dog as well. And if you know any others who would also enjoy this world
of dog business please let them know about the site.  We hope that
you will like what you read...even if it is from the perspective of a
dog.

http://shampooh-nose.blogspot.com/

THANK YOU!

real fact # 410

Pandora

Wow. I try my best to stay current with technology and as a result test
drive a lot of programs and gadgets, but this one really knocked my
socks off. Have you ever been bored with your current library of music
and wanted some suggestions on other artists/groups? I never really
imagined that a program could do that, but apparently I was wrong. Pandora is powered by the Music Genome Project,
a highly ambitious project that has led to the analysis of music from
over 10,000 artists. Basically, how it works is you input a favorite
artist or song and Pandora does a search based on the Music Genome
Project data. Pandora then compiles a "station" of streaming music from
various artists that produce musically similiar work. If you don't like
the music, then Pandora will make adjustments and suggest alternatives.
If you happen to like the suggestions, you then have the option of
buying the suggested albums from Amazon or iTunes. It's that simple!
This is an absolute must-try for anyone who loves music.

if you like his blogging, also make it a point to check out his guest blogging on the web's premier cool hunting site at  http://www.joshspear.com
there's a lot of good material there and also a very cool bio of my
hunny on there at the beginning of his stint as a guest blogger.

today humanity needs to be questioned and my heart bleeds.

often times in life, when
things are going well for us, we overlook and forget about the horrible
acts that mankind is capable of committing.  and we go back to
living in a bubble of sorts, and it becomes easier to not know that bad
things are happening all around us everyday.  then once in a great
while a discovery is so inhumane and heinous that we must look and it
is in times like this that i am reminded that as much as i would want
to just live in a comfort zone where evil does not have a place, doing
so and being apathetic to really perhaps actively thinking about and at
least promoting awareness only ends up in there being the worst kind of
injustices. because the world is not watching and being active
participants in really being here for one another. and it is
heartbreaking to me that while i am able to have moved away from a lot
of the horrific things that happen to people everyday, i have allowed
myself to forget about reality.  i've forgotten that there are
people who need more people to care about what is happening, to
hopefully be able to make a change, or to at least have a public
consiousness that will remain keenly aware that just because we are
well off, doesn't mean others are not in need.  acts like this
remind me that i need to be a more active participant in the good of
the world, so that maybe it will be possible to at least get helpless
children out of the way from abusive authority figures.  acts like
this tell me that i should not allow myself to be blind to attrocities.
they tell me that more people need to care and spread the word and be
aware...bad things do happen, and while we may not be able to do
anything about it...we should try to spread awareness so that people
will know to look out for one another and maybe be just maybe...the
awareness will mean that a caring citizen will not let a neighbor they
know is hurting suffer alone. maybe there will come a time when it will
not be too late to do something.



ugh. i'm just upset by this
tragedy...and just wish that something could have been done to prevent
this. i wish things like this didn't happen, but i know that they do.
human beings are cruel, they don't understand that they can and do hurt
others. that there are very real consequences to their actions.
AAAAAARGH. i'm so heartbroken.i can't think straight.
i'll just repost  BabyMooch

's post now...

***************************************************************************************

THIS IS WHY I HATE THE NY CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM AND HAVE NO FAITH IN THE NY JUSTICE SYSTEM!! HOW the HELL can you NOT even THINK or SEE something was terribly wrong?! Now a little girl is DEAD. DEAD when she could've been SAVED!!    NYdailynews.com Bound, beaten, starved, killed

Stepdad & mom face murder rap in death of girl, 7

By NANCY DILLON, AUSTIN FENNER and ALISON GENDAR DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Kindergarten photo of Nixzmary Brown, who weighed less than a 4-year-old should when she died at 7. NYPD detective removes a chair - with twine still attached - yesterday from Greene Ave., Brooklyn, apartment. Chair allegedly was used by parents to bind and torture Nixzmary Brown. Body of Nixzmary Brown is removed yesterday from Brooklyn apartment buidling she lived in. Nixzmary Brown's tragic life of unimaginable physical and emotional agony ended at 4:30 a.m. yesterday when the 7-year-old's battered body was found in her Brooklyn "house of horrors." The second-grader had been bound to a chair, tortured, sexually molested and starved for weeks before being killed by a savage blow to the head - even after child welfare authorities dismissed charges of abuse. In what cops are calling the worst child abuse case in a decade, Nixzmary was beaten with a belt without mercy because her stepfather believed she was "wild," police sources said yesterday. Trapped inside a makeshift, barren bedroom, Nixzmary missed weeks of school - and was forced to use a cat's litter box as her bathroom, sources said. No one - not the city Administration for Children's Services, not her mother, not her public school, not her neighbors - did enough to save her. Her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, 27, an Army veteran with a past assault arrest, and her mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, 27, were both charged with second-degree murder. Based on his own admissions and statements from other children in the family, Rodriguez also was charged with sexual abuse. It was 4:30 a.m. when Santiago - who has five other apparently unscathed children - found the girl's corpse lying faceup on the bedroom floor in their Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment, authorities said. When medical technicians examined Nixzmary's small body, they found fresh and old bruises, ligature marks around her ankles and wrists where she had been bound and a fresh wound to her head, authorities said. She stood 45 inches but weighed only 36 pounds - less than what a 4-year-old should weigh. The medical examiner determined Nixzmary died of head wounds and the accumulated injuries of years of beatings. Last night, investigators carried a small wooden and metal chair from Nixzmary's second-floor apartment. White twine - apparently used to bind the girl - dangled from the chair. One cop called Nixzmary's apartment on Greene Ave. a "house of horrors." Not since 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo was held prisoner, sexually abused, starved and beaten to death by her mother has the city seen a case so disturbing. Elisa's death on the lower East Side in November 1995 became a symbol of the failures of the city's child welfare agency - triggering a revamp of the system. Mayor Bloomberg yesterday called Nixzmary's death a "great tragedy." He vowed to launch an investigation into her slaying and to review all open child abuse cases throughout the city. But Bloomberg defended the ACS. "A 7-year-old is dead," he said. "ACS was called. . . . They tried to do an investigation, obviously not fast enough. . . . Overall, ACS does a very good job." As the city's sweeping probe began, the medical examiner also was investigating the death of a second Brooklyn child - 2-month-old Michael Segarra, who was found dead in his Howard Ave. home. His family had been monitored by the city. ACS officials first investigated Nixzmary's family last May, after her school, Public School 256, said she had been missing for weeks, sources said. But child welfare workers dismissed the abuse charges and closed the case. A source said investigators believed Santiago's explanation that she had been ill because of pregnancy and had a hard time getting her children to school. Nixzmary, a slight girl who loved math and playing tag, started missing school again in November, showing up to class just two days that month, sources said. Her unexplained truancy and bruises on her head led school officials to notify the ACS again, sources said. A second official case file was opened Dec. 1. But sources said investigators took no action to safeguard Nixzmary or her siblings. The agency has 60 days to investigate a complaint. Her sister and four brothers, ages 6 months to 9, were all placed in protective custody yesterday. There was no initial evidence they had been beaten. When detectives at the 79th Precinct stationhouse grilled the stepfather, he told cops the girl was "wild" and "tormented" her siblings, pulling their hair and throwing food on the floor, sources said. To punish her, he locked her inside a bedroom or tied her to a chair or other piece of furniture - often at night, sources said. "It wasn't his kid, so he thought she was disrespectful, wild," a source said. "So he'd beat her and wouldn't feed her, locked her up in a bedroom, but he left the other kids alone." Rodriguez has two children with Santiago, his wife, sources said. Investigators believe she participated in the beatings, sources said. A teenage boy who lives in the building said Nixzmary's mom ran to his family's apartment for help after she found her daughter early yesterday. "She said [Nixzmary] was dying. When they got downstairs, [Nixzmary] was mad cold," said the teen, giving his name only as Adam. The teen said he had seen signs in the past that the girl had been abused. "She had a black eye and a busted chin," he said. "Her chin was bleeding." Yet, apparently, few or no attempts were made to save her. Just a month ago, ACS Commissioner John Mattingly had pledged to review his agency's practices after two kids being monitored died. He found himself pledging to do the same thing yesterday. "I am deeply disturbed by the death of Nixzmary Brown early this morning," he said in a statement. Nixzmary's classmates and their parents described her as a quiet girl who loved to draw and write stories about friends. She was learning English and tended to stick close to her mom. "My heart goes out to that little girl," said William Peace, 43, whose nephew was Nixzmary's classmate. "This is what happens when ACS lets them fall through the holes." Santiago doubled over to hide her face from reporters and photographers as she was led from the police station early this morning. Outside her apartment building, neighbors put up a shrine of teddy bears and candles to Nixzmary. A cop brought down a rose-scented candle inscribed with a verse from the family's apartment. It said in part, "Because I love you, everything's more beautiful." Originally published on January 11, 2006

What the hell went wrong?

It is the sort of story that stuns, and sickens, anyone with a heart and a conscience. A 7-year-old girl dead in her Brooklyn home. A homicide, police say. Murder. And ponder this: For that child, death was likely a relief from a life of torture. Little Nixzmary Brown, killed by blunt-force trauma to the head, had been repeatedly beaten, starved down to 36 pounds, forced to use a litter box in what was described as a torture room. Police said it is one of the worst cases of child abuse they have encountered. And consider what they have encountered in this city. Then consider how this little victim suffered. But killer parents aren't the only ones at fault. Nixzmary's school twice contacted the city's Administration for Children's Services about this bruised, stunted and emaciated little girl, but the agency dismissed one report as unfounded and was still investigating a second. In the name of all that's good, how did caseworkers fail to see that Nixzmary was being starved? How did they miss the injuries that were inflicted on her over the course of years - the scars from which were readily apparent in her autopsy? Did they not look into the room where Nixzmary was imprisoned? Did they not question the siblings who were witness to her suffering? Did they not remember Elisa Izquierdo who was similarly held prisoner, starved and beaten to death in 1995? She, too, died because caseworkers accepted the alibis and explanations of monstrously abusive adults. And what of all the other adults who saw Nixzmary, her neighbors and relatives and her teachers and school principal. Yes, school authorities did file reports, but in the end they failed to protect a child who was allegedly being deprived of the very sustenance needed just to grow. "Overall, ACS does a very good job," Mayor Bloomberg said, while promising a thorough investigation. That's very nice, Mr. Mayor, but doing a good job "overall" was meaningless here. Nixzmary is dead, and many bear responsibility. Originally published on January 12, 2006   Bloomberg.. is an idiot.