I'm feeling typically devoid of inspiration for my blog, just as I have been every January for the past three years. The sword of Damocles hanging over this, and every other blog on 20six by the continued uncertainty and rumours isn't helping, it must be said - it would be nice to know where we stand (and even nicer to be gifted an export function to allow us to back up entries and attendant comments), but in lieu of an announcement, motivation for blogging isn't exactly plentiful. In addition, Christmas cheer is long since gone, the decorations have come down and all that's left is the usual post-festive hangover of steely grey skies, an absent sun, dreadful television and a dearth of activity on the work front. So, that'll be the first month in the Gregorian calender, then. Just as well then that I have bloggers like Girl Scientist on my blogroll to feed me with ideas. This one is nicely lightweight as something to kick January off with should be (and if you need further proof of my lame attempts at January blog fare, just check out these entries from January 2004). As I sit here researching an utterly astonishing neurological procedure that melds science fiction with contemporary brain surgery, with potential to find a place as a feature in the broadsheets, I need something to give my brain a rest. And who says watching Grey's Anatomy, the best medical drama on TV (or the *aherm* web) doesn't constitute work? Inspiration for features comes from the most bizzarre places. All About Me: A candid portrait of me taken 2x7 years ago. So, I'd have been, er...24, then. A City-based investment broker, I drove a Porsche, lived in an interior-designed luxury apartment and had a hairstyle inspired by M-M-M-Max Headroom. I've thoughtfully kept my jacket on so you can't see my braces though, Bobble. ;-) That said then, I give you this Seven Times Seven 'meme' (God, I hate these but I couldn't escape being tagged by this one. Seven Things to Do Before I Die: 1. Write my Autobiography. 1. Stop climbing every mountain (metaphorically speaking). 1. My readers. Seven Things I Say Most Often 1. Fuck (in all its many derivatives). Seven Books That I Love 1. A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. 1. Lost in Translation. 1. Pixeldiva, because she thinks in images.
SEVEN TIMES SEVEN
2. Fly a Eurofighter Typhoon
3. Find inner peace.
4. Spend a week with an eminent neurosurgeon and watch him perform surgery.
5. Understand the success of Atomic Kitten.
6. Visit the South Pacific, and return to South America and South Africa
7. See that Gordon Brown never becomes Prime Minister.
Seven Things I Cannot Do
2. Accept my limitations.
3. Take 'No' for an answer.
4. Get enough commissions.
5. Stop buying books, even though I can get them for free.
6. Escape my demons.
7. Learn what's best for me.
Seven Things That Attract Me to Blogging
2. Its immediacy.
3. The power of the individual
4. The ability to reach and receive feedback from an audience.
5. Its innate simplicity
6. The potential it has to educate, inform and entertain.
7. Seeing it grow in size whilst retaining its original premise.
2. "Can you get back to me by close of business, I'm against a deadline?"
3. "Would you be interested in...?"
4. "What do you mean, no?"
5. Get a life.
6. "Oh God, not another Reality TV program!"
7. Bollocks.
2. The Stand (Complete and Uncut) by Stephen King.
3. Anything by David Baldacci or Lee Child.
4. Diaries, by Alan Clark MP
5. Biographies of interesting, unusual or powerful people.
6. Non-fiction titles that inform me.
7. Hardbacks.
Seven Movies That I Watch Over and Over Again
2. Someone to Watch Over Me.
3. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
4. Schindler's List.
5. The Abyss (Director's Cut).
6. Heat.
7. Any Submarine Movie.
Seven People I Want To Join In Too
2. Molly Ocean, because it'll be interesting.
3. Flight Buff, because there's more to the man than aviation.
4. WelshChick, because she isn't Charlotte Church, but she is from Wales.
5. Tom in Iraq, because I'm curious.
6. Rawr, because I like the way she writes.
7. Megan, because I like the way she writes, too.
4.1.06 14:24
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Megan / Website (4.1.06 15:14) Two things: That picture is HOT! and paybacks are a bitch. I have my posts done for the week, so I'll catch up with this one on Monday. x |
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GrrlScientist / Website (4.1.06 15:25) I agree with Megan; you were (and are) hot! And thanks for answering the meme; I wasn't sure that you would. |
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(4.1.06 16:15) Megan: *blushes* thank you! And I have to say, I'm impressed..."I have my posts done for the week"?? How the hell do you do that?! x |
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(4.1.06 16:18) GrrlScientist: *blushes again*. Thank you, too! Have to say, I wasn't sure I'd answer this one -I hate these bloody memes, they seem so utterly pointless, but then I thought, "and the big deal there would be what, exactly?". So I did it. Blogging's like journalism - can't be too worthy about something so introspective and narcissistic as a blog, can you? |
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Megan / Website (4.1.06 17:02) My muse seems to like to kick back and chat with me for a while on Saturday mornings. Don't know why - could be the coffee, could be my short nightie. 
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(4.1.06 17:10) Megan: Thought as much; I gave up drinking coffee last year and I think that me in a short nightie could be enough to have my muse desert me for good! So that's me stymied on both counts, then. Probably just as well really, I'm sure it looks much better on you than it would on me anyway ;-) |
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(4.1.06 18:03) Crikey! What a dish!! |
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(4.1.06 18:32) Welshchick: *Taps microphone*..."Is this thing on....Er...I'd like to thank Mum for my eyes, dad for my lips and my grandparents for the genes that gave me my hair". ;-) Seriously though...thank you! Three short words, but very kind. |
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(4.1.06 19:06) I just put down what I was thinking  Quick question, why is this called a 'meme'? |
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(4.1.06 19:13) WelshChick: And it's much appreciated! As for why it's called a 'meme', I think it's an American take on the dictionary definition which is as follows: The term meme ([miːm] in the IPA; rhymes with "dream"; from the Greek word mimema for 'something imitated') often refers to any piece of information passed from one mind to another. The term was invented long before the concept of 'blog-taggging' came about, but I guess given the nature of these things, it fits rather well. x |
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(4.1.06 19:24) Ahh, I see! Thanks for that. I think I'll have a go at it too in my blog |
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(4.1.06 20:34) WelshChick: Great stuff, look forward to reading that later. |
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pixeldiva / Website (4.1.06 20:43) You look like a whole lot of trouble in that photo Your #1 movie is a very interesting choice... ... and thank you for the compliment. Flattery'll get you everywhere - might even be enough to persuade me to do the meme
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(4.1.06 20:52) PixelDiva: Trouble? I was a nightmare! I'm everso good now, though :-) Oh, and I haven't been able to get Lost in Translation out of my head since I visited Tokyo...the film is such an eloquent translation of what it's like from a foreigner's perspective, and the soundtrack has a way of drilling down into your psyche. I downloaded 'girls' by Death in Vegas, one of the most heavily used tracks in the movie, when I heard it. Since I downloaded it, it's been played everywhere...Last week's Top Gear, in adverts, all the usual suspects. I can't seem to escape from reminders of my time in Japan (which is no bad thing, let's be honest!) And I only speak the truth...your images really are good. Best you get yourself another camera forthwith - must be like walking around with only one arm being without your D50. |
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(4.1.06 21:29) There we go! I've just done a Seven thing in my blog. It took me ever such a long time!! |
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(4.1.06 22:01) WelshChick: Cool, I'll be over to have a look as soon as I get a minute. Not as easy as it first looks though, is it? ;-) |
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pixeldiva / Website (4.1.06 22:57) You are? Drat. How disappointing ... and yes, I do feel a bit unbalanced without my camera. It's really frustrating - I missed so many good photo opportunities over the festive period as a result. |
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(4.1.06 23:03) PixelDiva: You going to replace it with another D50? Please tell me you're not going over to the Dark Side?! |
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pixeldiva / Website (4.1.06 23:22) Yeah, I'm just going to get another D50 (since I can't afford a D200). I'd never go to the dark side, don't worry... |
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(4.1.06 23:27) PixelDiva: Glad to hear it! Mind you, I bet you could pick up a nice, second hand D1X on eBay for silly money now...;-) |
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pixeldiva / Website (4.1.06 23:43) Yeah, but I don't want one of those, I want a working D50 (and no mice). |
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(4.1.06 23:53) PixelDiva: Not too much to ask, is it? (a working D50 and no mice, I mean). Still, a D1X would be nice...might see if I can talk myself into getting one if I can find one for the right money. |
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pixeldiva / Website (5.1.06 00:22) Well you wouldn't think so, but it seems that I'm just out of luck right now. ... and yeah the D1X is a nice beast, but it's just too much of a beast for my wee hands. |
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(5.1.06 00:25) PixelDiva: Looks like it's too much for my bank account at the moment too...Fixation at Vauxhall are a pretty good benchmark, and they're selling used D1Xs for upwards of £1400 + VAT. There are a couple on eBay atm, too, but they're going to go way north of sensible money and...well, I don't need one so much as want one, which ain't the same thing. |
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pixeldiva / Website (5.1.06 00:38) Yeah, but since when did anything camera related (or, for that matter, any geek toy related) really have to wait til it was needed? |
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(5.1.06 00:49) PixelDiva: Damn! You've seen through my flimsy excuse for the sham that it was; it didn't even convince me, so no chance it would convince anyone else! I was trying to make myself feel better about not having the spare cash to part with. Still, having watched Derren Brown’s ‘The Heist’ on C4 earlier, I have a just come up with a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it 'weasel'. ;-) |
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pixeldiva / Website (5.1.06 01:09) Well it wasn't hard I meant to watch the Derren Brown thing but predictably totally forgot to watch it and only remembered when I was flipping through channels and caught the last 5 seconds of the end credits. Which is probably a good thing, having read the description on his site. *shudder* He still gives me the screaming heebies and I never again want to be in the same room as him. |
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(5.1.06 10:11) PixelDiva: Have to admit, I didn't think that Derren Brown thing would be any good, so I was only half watching it in the beginning. Within minutes though, I was hooked, fascinated at the way in which he was able to implant subtle hints of what was to come by drawing on the delegates' natural suggestibility. A couple of psychological experiments identified those who would naturally resist authority, and they fell by the wayside. Of the four left, when the various triggers were played, three pulled out a gun without hesitation and held a security guard at gunpoint to steal the cash he was carrying. This was done in Lombard Street in the City and they acted without hesitation. It was absolutely fascinating to watch. I interviewed a guy called Jez Rose over lunch a couple of years ago for a feature. He's a lot younger than Derren Browne, but just as capable, and it was fascinating hearing him telling me things about myself that he could never have known, simply through reading my various 'tells'. Both of them use no more than reading body language and tells, coupled with seemingly innocuous statements in conversation designed to put you at ease. Bare in mind I'm a fairly controlling personallity, resistant to authority and that I'd gone pre-armed as it were specifically to interview the guy. I have a particular interest in psychology and anthropology, and have a better than usual understanding of body language and tells, so I was trying to suppress many of these as we talked. Despite that, he still managed to impress me. It's not magic, and it's not exactly science, but people like Jez and Derren seem to have an almost autistic ability to read other people in real time, process the information and act on it. I guess we all had the ability once upon a time, but evolution and modern civilisation have rendered the skills somewhat muted in comparison. |
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pixeldiva / Website (5.1.06 11:08) Yeah, I know of Jez (a friend operates in the same circles and is of the opinion that Jez is actually better than Derren, iirc), and there's no denying that both he and Derren are enormously talented, and there's also no denying that Derren's smart enough to know how to create a compelling show (both live and on TV). ... and it's not that I'm such a control freak that all mentalists freak me out, there's just something about Derren that sets of my inner "stay the fuck away from me" alarm. Can't explain it, but it's an incredibly strong instinctive thing. I didn't have anything like that reaction when spending time with my friend a couple of years ago when he was over in London. Despite me doing my best to suppress my natural body language and tells he was able to do a very simple exercise and get out of me the name of a childhood friend, even though it wasn't a name that he would know (it's not used natively in his country). Now, whether that was entirely down to body language and tells or whether it was his signature billet trick I have no idea, but I was far more comfortable with that than I was/am in Derren's presence. Of course, theoretically, my friend could have used various rapport and NLP methods on me to gain my trust and make me feel comfortable, so its potentially moot anyway, but yes, it's a fascinating field and something I have a more than just passing interest in. |
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(5.1.06 11:17) PixelDiva: I've kept a close eye on Jez's career since I first heard about him through a friend who grew up with him. He has to be the most famous non-famous exponent of what he does; he's regularly asked for by name to perform for a number of European monarchs and A list celebs, has had a number of low-profile slots on Saturday morning terrestrial TV and has made quite a career at corporate gigs, yet he's much, much lower profile than Derren Brown. Despite that, it seems a surprising number of people are connected to him. And I get exactly what you mean about Derren Brown. Fascinating, yes. Talented, no question. Intense? Not much! He's very, very intense, and as you said, just a tiny bit creepy. |
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pixeldiva / Website (5.1.06 11:54) I think "tiny bit creepy" might be the understatement of the year so far! ... and in an attempt to get this back on topic, cos I seem to have wandered way off into the wilderness (sorry), this 7x7 thing is way harder than it looked... |
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(5.1.06 12:41) PixelDiva: That's the trouble with these things; they look easy when you first glance at them, and they are, right up until the point you sit down to come up with your answers. Stop prevaricating, woman, this isn't helping you think! |
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(5.1.06 14:33) Bit late joining this discussion.. but .. my dont you look like Ben Afflick in that picture of you.. mmm *looks into the distance in a daydream* *cough cough* um yeah. |
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welshchick / Website (5.1.06 14:41) You're right about it looking easier than it actually is. It took me an absolute age to do mine! And I caught the last 15 minutes of the Derren Brown programme. He is more than a little bit creepy! I remember feeling extremely glad that the last of the four people managed to walk straight past the security guy. |
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pixeldiva / Website (5.1.06 15:01) BlackRat: I think you'll find I'm procrastinating more than prevaricating sunshinechick: hehe. that's what I thought too at first, well, Ben Affleck when he was a lot younger before he went all puffy and became Bennifer, which is about when I went right off him. |
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Megan / Website (5.1.06 15:17) Rat? Diva? Get a room, guys.
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Molly / Website (5.1.06 16:27) Wow, I've never been tagged before! Thank you  ) It's up on my site already... |
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(5.1.06 16:37) Be curious no more; I've answered and posted with as much honesty as I can muster. |
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(5.1.06 16:42) Sunshinechick: If being compared to Ben Affleck is a compliment, er...thank you! And thanks for stopping by. WelshChick: I think the girl was the most worrying - she didn't even hesitate and seemed to almost relish the prospect of having him at gunpoint. And the third guy, who I thought had the makings of a real life bank robber, going by the aggression with which he attacked the guard. |
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(5.1.06 16:45) PixelDiva: I'm obliged, you're absolutely right *shame*. Megan: Tsk, if a guy can't comment politely in the confines of his own blog, what's the world coming to? Get a room? Really!. Molly: Don't mention it. Be right over to have a look - I'm impressed with your speed in tacklaing it! Tom: Nice one fella, much appreciated. Be right over. |
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(5.1.06 17:05) Mmm...I don't much like these either but it would be churlish of me not to accept. I shall need 7 weeks, oh all right days, or so to come up with some decent honest answers. I must say that I found yours to be an interesting mix. |
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(5.1.06 18:31) FlightBuff: Thank you; I'll look forward to reading yours. |
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(6.1.06 19:04) I'm impressed with this blog. It's very- hmm- rich. That seems like the word. Oh, I think Atomic Kitten were a success because they looked like the teenage girl in any town across the land. More's the pity! |
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(6.1.06 19:11) DoctorTripswitch: Splendid name, fella, just the ticket. Thanks for the heads up about Les Kittens - if I get run over by a bus tomorrow, I can die happy knowing the secret of the success of one of the most talentless, vaccuous and unappealing girl bands in the sorry and shallow history of British manufactured popgroups (and that's a pool so shallow, you'd need an electron microscope to measure its depth). |
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(6.1.06 20:32) No problem. Tomorrow, we'll explore the dark magic at work behind the achievements of Westlife. |
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(6.1.06 20:40) DoctorTripswitch: Oh God, no, not the Westlife 101 course. Can we do Celine Dion instead? (Would it be really un-PC of me to say I'd do her - with a gun?) |
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pixeldiva / Website (7.1.06 01:21) Not at all, but you'd really have to do it twice. Just to make sure. Then once more. To be absolutely certain. |
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(7.1.06 16:53) Awww how lovely! I'm gonna have to nick this survey thingy off you and post it after I do my post about Sweden... :D EDIT: I forgot to say that you look a bit like Ben Affleck in that pic.. (which is not a bad thing, at all). |
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(7.1.06 18:19) : PixelDiva: Works for me, hon :-) Maybe we could include a couple of others whilst we're at it - I propose Mariah Carey up against the wall, and seeing as there's no point wasting bullets, maybe we could get Cher to stand in front of her. Any one care to suggest anyone else? |
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(7.1.06 18:22) Rawr: Look forward to reading it - and your post about Sweden. Hope you had a good time, nice to have you back. Check out the 20six blinks blog too if you get a minute. And thanks for the compliment and the sweetie - most kind! x |
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(7.1.06 19:53) Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Cher plus A.N. Other? Sounds like there's a space for Shania Twain. |
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(8.1.06 22:17) |
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pixeldiva / Website (9.1.06 00:59) I was going to suggest adding Chris Martin in there, but it'd be no fun if he depessed everyone so much they killed themselves before you got a chance to shoot them
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(9.1.06 17:54) PixelDiva: LOL! IF we're going down that road, I can think of counteless others who would save us on bullets. How about The Sugarbabes? We'd have fun trying to predict which three girls would turn up, given that they seem to change their line up as often as Madonna makes a bad film. I;d chuck Sharon Osborne in too - she's a talentless, whining bint with too high an opinion of her own self-worth. Any more for any more?? |
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(9.1.06 18:07) This is carnage now. I should've realised; it always happens whenever I mention Westlife. |
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pixeldiva / Website (10.1.06 14:13) DrT: Well that'll teach you to mention that shower of unmitigated arseholes (who actually should have been first in the queue, just to make sure). Now don't do it again ...and now, to drag this back on topic again, I've finally posted my answers. |
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(10.1.06 18:46) Doc: Yeah, but just think of the carnage had you mentioned Boyzone instead. See, there's always a bright side :-) |
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(10.1.06 18:48) PixelDiva: Splendid; having taken a leisurely 6 days to do them, I expect they'll present a really informative, in-depth and candid picture of you. I can't wait to have a read... ;-) |
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pixeldiva / Website (10.1.06 23:13) Hope it was worth the wait then... |
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krista / Website (11.1.06 18:44) My you are a handsome man! It's amazing that the picture doesn't even look dated. If that were a a picture of a woman 14 years ago, her clothes would be a dead give away, but the picture you have up could be mistaken for a picture taken yesterday! |
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jennefer / Website (13.2.06 15:15) Good God BlackRat - 60 comments? You really are a leader of most read bloggers. I haven't been by in a few months, and so enjoyed your year in review. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was reading your 2004 YIR... gosh where does the time go? Anyway, I wanted you to know that you've inspired me to jump off the blocks and write in my book. I'm working on an Autobio and have been stuck for months due to, well, due to the fact I was raped in September. You can see my post if you like - it shows a letter I sent to our paper just days afterward. I was brave on tylenol 3's and shock when I wrote it. http://jenneferdavis.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_jenneferdavis_archive.html Read the post on Sept 19th. So thank you BlackRat... your post has be inspiring. I was a tad disappointed to not find you in Torino... I was so lookiung forward to amazing shots of ski jumping or bob sledding... ;-) |
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