<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309</id><updated>2011-04-21T20:14:56.220-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Curiosity Killed the Cat (or WTF?)</title><subtitle type='html'>It's funny.... when I was younger I thought by the time I turned 25 I would have the world figured out.... needless to say I was wrong... very wrong... as a matter of fact I have more questions than answers. So with this blog I will attempt to answer the many questions I ask myself while sharing the things that happen along the way.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>16</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-113428675943261383</id><published>2005-12-11T02:26:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-05-04T21:29:59.986-05:00</updated><title type='text'>LIFE</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/974/1237/1600/images.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/974/1237/400/images.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've been gone for a while.... not really back...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Life" has been happening. There are certains things the we have no control of and death is one of those things. It always happens when you least expect it. I know that's a funny way to express it.... I mean, we all know that death is a part of life and at some point we all take our last breath. Some people may argue about what happens after that, but the point is it happens. So even though we expect death we are at the same time not expecting it. It's still one of those things that takes 7 seconds of breath from us while we try to comprehend what will no longer "be".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last month was my time to really deal with that part of life. Starting with the day I celebrated my 26 years of life. So while I had one life to celebrate I had many to mourn. I always say death is a selfish thing.... for the living. I believe when it's your time to go, you go. The people left behind mourn because of what they lost not because of what the deceased left behind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've wanted to write about the things that are going on in my life for a while, but it's difficult. I am not at a loss for words, I think I have more clarity than I've ever had during this blogging experience, but out of respect for the living and the dead I will keep quiet until the time is right to share.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-113428675943261383?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/113428675943261383/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=113428675943261383' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/113428675943261383'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/113428675943261383'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/12/life.html' title='LIFE'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-113131983701239489</id><published>2005-11-06T18:04:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-11-06T18:32:02.650-05:00</updated><title type='text'>hmmph.......</title><content type='html'>..... I was just thinking about you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I want a man who has no problem with me calling him by his name.... no matter how much you despise the name you were given you know that when I say it I say it with sincerity and love. Hearing your name come out of my mouth is the sweetest sound you've ever heard. You know that you cannot be what you want to be based on the name you gave yourself. You know that a name is just that, a name and it doesn't matter who you are or were... it's all about who you are trying to be and changing your name won't make that happen, it's about changing you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I want a man that doesn't feel the need to pretend to be someone he is not just to impress me. Being yourself is all I need. Besides why would you want to be with a woman that can not accept you for who and what you are. That doesn't make any sense to me. Even if you just want sex, that's fine, tell me... who know's I might be fine with that too, but I guess you will never know since you didn't give me the opportunity to weigh my options with you. I will not lie to you about who or what I am. You might be frightened, intimidated, challenged, but one thing you will never be is surprised, because I will be the same person six months ..... a year... five years down the road. Things and situations might change but when it comes down to it I will be Van to the core.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I want a man that doesn't have to convince me he loves me. If you love me, trust, I will already know.... I am into action not words, so even though it would be nice to hear sometime, you should never have to tell me for me to know. If you tell me you love me and feel the need to follow it up with "I do seriously" then you shouldn't be using certain "L" words with me. Nothing will make me lose respect for you faster than trying to use those kind of words against me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just because you say you are a "good man" doesn't mean that you are. Even if you are a good man it doesn't mean you are a good man for me. A good man is only as good as the woman he is with and vice versa.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Feel me?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-113131983701239489?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/113131983701239489/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=113131983701239489' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/113131983701239489'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/113131983701239489'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/11/hmmph.html' title='hmmph.......'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-113030321715388072</id><published>2005-10-27T23:40:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-27T23:44:31.003-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Funday Friday</title><content type='html'>I know last Friday I was a little emotional so this Friday I want to lighten the mood with some random fun stuff. I saw this on &lt;a href="http://nova198sworld.blogspot.com/2005/10/see-how-your-iq-stacks-up.html"&gt;his&lt;/a&gt; site which he got from &lt;a href="http://xquizzyt1.blogs.com/"&gt;her&lt;/a&gt; site. I see a lot of bloggers get MeMe's I haven't gotten tagged yet so I'm just gonna do a bunch of these blog quizzes and I guess we will find out a lot about me together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bg="" style="color: rgb(255, 247, 116);" align="center"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:14;color:black;"   &gt;&lt;b&gt;Your IQ Is 110&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bgcolor="#fffcca"&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.blogthings.com/quickanddirtyiqtest/iq.gif" height="100" width="100" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your Logical Intelligence is &lt;b&gt;Below Average&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your Verbal Intelligence is &lt;b&gt;Exceptional&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your Mathematical Intelligence is &lt;b&gt;Genius&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your General Knowledge is &lt;b&gt;Average&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogthings.com/quickanddirtyiqtest/"&gt;A Quick and Dirty IQ Test&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What do you mean below average intelligence? I am close to genius... I know this because I said I was. lol. Whatever.... it's just a dumb quiz.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bg="" style="color: rgb(152, 251, 152);" align="center"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:14;color:black;"   &gt;&lt;b&gt;You Are 70% Weird&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bgcolor="#cafbca"&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.blogthings.com/howweirdareyouquiz/weird-4.jpg" height="100" width="100" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right?&lt;br /&gt;But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogthings.com/howweirdareyouquiz/"&gt;How Weird Are You?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stupid quizzes. I already knew I was weird, my friends tell me that everyday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bg="" style="color: rgb(238, 233, 233);" align="center"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:14;color:black;"   &gt;&lt;b&gt;Your Seduction Style: Prized Object&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bgcolor="#fffafa"&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.blogthings.com/whatkindofseducerareyouquiz/prized-object.jpg" height="100" width="100" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The seduction game you play is tried, true, and still effective: hard to get.&lt;br /&gt;You know that the best seducers turn the tables - and get their crush to seduce them.&lt;br /&gt;The one running has the power, and you're a challenge that is worth the chase.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You are a master of enticing and pulling back. Giving a little and taking some away.&lt;br /&gt;You are controlled enough to know rewards come after a long seduction dance.&lt;br /&gt;Even though you want to call, email, or say "I love you" first - you don't!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You're style is the perfect mix of hot and cold - so much so that you have many suitors.&lt;br /&gt;Think Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's ... or any of those creepy guys from the Bachelor.&lt;br /&gt;You're skilled at inspiring a chase. The real test is picking the person to slow down for.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofseducerareyouquiz/"&gt;What Kind of Seducer Are You?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hmmmm.... Very Interesting!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bg="" style="color: rgb(185, 211, 238);" align="center"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:14;color:black;"   &gt;&lt;b&gt;Your Hidden Talent&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bgcolor="#c6e2ff"&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.blogthings.com/whatsyourhiddentalentquiz/volcano.jpg" height="100" width="100" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You have the natural talent of rocking the boat, thwarting the system.&lt;br /&gt;And while this may not seem big, it can be.&lt;br /&gt;It's people like you who serve as the catalysts to major cultural changes.&lt;br /&gt;You're just a bit behind the scenes, so no one really notices.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourhiddentalentquiz/"&gt;What's Your Hidden Talent?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I like this one.... and yes I am always behind the scenes... I like it that way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bg="" style="color: rgb(225, 225, 225);" align="center"&gt;&lt;span style=";font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:14;color:black;"   &gt;&lt;b&gt;Your Personality Profile&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bgcolor="#e1e1e1"&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.blogthings.com/worldsshortestpersonalitytest/pink.jpg" height="100" width="100" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You are dreamy, peaceful, and young at heart.&lt;br /&gt;Optimistic and caring, you tend to see the best in people.&lt;br /&gt;You tend to be always smiling - and making others smile.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You are shy and intelligent... and a very hard worker.&lt;br /&gt;You're also funny, but many people don't see your funny side.&lt;br /&gt;Your subtle dry humor leaves your close friends in stitches.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogthings.com/worldsshortestpersonalitytest/"&gt;The World's Shortest Personality Test&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is me.... Van in a nutshell... I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm done with the quizzes for today, but there are like 50-11 of these so I'm sure I'll be back to do some more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ok here's one more, but I promise I am done after this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align="center" bg style="color:#ffa5b2;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;font-family:Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;" &gt;&lt;b&gt;You're an Passionate Kisser&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td bgcolor="#ffdbe0"&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.blogthings.com/whatkindofkisserareyouquiz/passionate.jpg" height="100" width="100" /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For you, kissing is about all about following your urges&lt;br /&gt;If someone's hot, you'll go in for the kiss - end of story&lt;br /&gt;You can keep any relationship hot with your steamy kisses&lt;br /&gt;A total spark plug - your kisses are bound to get you in trouble&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofkisserareyouquiz/"&gt;What Kind of Kisser Are You?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-113030321715388072?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/113030321715388072/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=113030321715388072' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/113030321715388072'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/113030321715388072'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/funday-friday.html' title='Funday Friday'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-113025226115990188</id><published>2005-10-25T09:57:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-26T01:22:37.960-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Karen</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"&gt;[Warning: This is going to be a long post.... please continue to read and don't forget to comment at the end]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have you ever seen that movie "&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Sliding Doors&lt;/span&gt;"? You know "&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Sliding Doors&lt;/span&gt;" the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow. No? Ok... well "sliding Doors" is a movie about chance. I would give a brief synopsis but I found this &lt;a href="http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/s/sliding.html"&gt;review&lt;/a&gt; online and this explains it perfectly. "Look back at all the times in your life when there was a fork in the path to the future. Some sort of decision had to be made, and, for better or worse, it irrevocably altered the course of your existence. From time-to-time, everyone thinks about the roads not taken, and how things might have turned out if the choice had been different. Perhaps even more dizzying to contemplate is how a seemingly minor action -- catching the 10 am train, for example -- could have an equally profound, yet less obvious, impact. Maybe that's where you met your significant other, and, had you reached the platform just a few seconds later... ". Being the inquisitive, curious, reflective, abstract, blah, blah, blah..... person that I am, I have always pondered the "what if's". Like what if I wasn't running late for work that day, would I still have met &lt;a href="http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/you-dont-know-my-name.html"&gt;him&lt;/a&gt; or if I wasn't running late that other time would I have still connected with an old friend or when I am stuck in traffic, is this keeping me away from a potential freak accident or something like that? I think about things like that all the time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So this morning I had an event scheduled at work, but due to a scheduling conflict I had to postpone it.... I learned a long time ago that sometimes you have to roll with the punches because everything happens for a reason. Such an over used phrase, but I find myself saying it all the time and I really do believe it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess you are wondering about the title.... well it was inspired by &lt;a href="http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/word-for-today-is.html"&gt;Karen&lt;/a&gt;.... Who? &lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.karenscomingout.com"&gt;Karen&lt;/a&gt;. Who? btw doesn't that Mike Jones' song get on your nerves.... but I can't help but using it when I am trying to interject a little humor. Well anyway..... if you clicked on the first Karen link you will see the post I originally wrote about her... I don't feel like telling the whole story over so please read it, but it was basically about Karen's appearance on the show "Coming Out Stories" on LOGO. The second link is Karen's &lt;a href="http://www.karenscomingout.com/"&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; which links to her &lt;a href="http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-7CHaGeQ2abSpbu1d3LbvltU-"&gt;blog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well anyway, like I said earlier, an event I was conducting was cancelled so that left me sitting at my desk this morning..... and I got this IM&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*brrrnnnng*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: hello there. Is this Curiosity killed the cat.... ?&lt;br /&gt;Van: ummm yes&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: hi.. sorry to bother you.. I wanted to comment on your Monday October 17th blog "The word for today is.." My name is Karen...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: I thought it was WONDERFUL and thank you.&lt;br /&gt;Van: oh you are welcome&lt;br /&gt;Van: thank you for reading&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: &lt;a href="http://www.karenscomingout.com/"&gt;www.karenscomingout.com&lt;/a&gt; No! Thank you for watching the show! And the part about "courage" was just so cool!&lt;br /&gt;Van: wow&lt;br /&gt;Van: I'm slow&lt;br /&gt;Van: so you are the Karen&lt;br /&gt;Van: I wrote about&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: that's me lol&lt;br /&gt;Van: I feel honored&lt;br /&gt;Van: how did you find my blog?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: well.. my producers called and asked if I saw anything on-line about the show because MTV Networks (LOGO) pulled the reigns on media exposure... so i found some posts.. articles.. reviews, etc. and came across yours!&lt;br /&gt;Van: wow&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: (my site is almost finished.. if you want to check out the different pages on my sute use the small red words at the bottom)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: (*site)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: wanted to say thank you, really.. I am honored you stayed up to catch the ending! that was great!&lt;br /&gt;Van: please leave a comment on my page.... I would love to pick your brain some more about the subject&lt;br /&gt;Van: my brother came out to my family about a year ago&lt;br /&gt;Van: as his sister I always knew&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: really? how did everyone take it??&lt;br /&gt;Van: it's just one of those things you can tell even if it's never mentioned&lt;br /&gt;Van: my mom was horrified just like I knew she would be&lt;br /&gt;Van: very angry&lt;br /&gt;Van: my father actually doesn't know.... we've managed to keep that from him&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: awwww... so didn't take it like my Mom, huh?&gt; BUT I understand.... its just not easy Van: but I believe he knows&lt;br /&gt;Van: no not easy at all&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: prob the hardest thing i ever did, really..&lt;br /&gt;Van: but one of the best things you could ever do for yourself&lt;br /&gt;Van: I know your life has changed tremendously&lt;br /&gt;Van: for the better&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: YES.. and that was the struggle.. I WAS doing this for me.. didn't want to hurt my Mom in her condition&lt;br /&gt;Van: may I ask what her condition is....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: sure! there is a link on the site under the "ask karen" section... its called OPCA its a rare brain disease. Degenerative disorder.. her cerebellum is shrinking and deteriorating&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: no way to stop it and no way to re-build it...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: thank you for asking!&lt;br /&gt;Van: ok....&lt;br /&gt;Van: I did research on alzheimers a few years ago.... sounds very similar to that&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: yes actually! they call her a condition a "mix" of the brain diseases out there.. most brain diseases cause ataxia.. slowing speech and motor skills...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: someone you know have alz disease?&lt;br /&gt;Van: no.... not that I am aware of&lt;br /&gt;Van: but is affects so many people&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: I KNOW.. makes me sad&lt;br /&gt;Van: so that's what I was drawn to when I had to do my research.....&lt;br /&gt;Van: I approached it from a genetic aspect...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: (please tell your brother to e-mail me a little about his "coming out" experience.. I am collecting stories anonymously, of course, for a feature on my site!)&lt;br /&gt;Van: ok cool&lt;br /&gt;Van: I will email him now&lt;br /&gt;Van: that means I have to share my blog with him&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: its my screen name @yahoo.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: LOL&lt;br /&gt;Van: I am so secretive about it&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: oh its ok! you don't have to!&lt;br /&gt;Van: no I will.... I definitely want to&lt;br /&gt;Van: it'll be my pleasure&lt;br /&gt;Van: I am just so happy you had the opportunity to read it&lt;br /&gt;Van: and that I had the opportunity to chat with you&lt;br /&gt;Van: I do the blog for me even though I write as if someone is reading it.... so it's always nice to know someone is&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: I LOVED the part about "straight A's.. top of sport... bright spot" and NOT what you want to hear at that time! that was great!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: it was so nice to reach you.. I wasn't sure if you would have wanted to chat with me or not.. I felt funny..&lt;br /&gt;Van: no you shouldn't feel funny about it&lt;br /&gt;Van: I put the IM icons up there so people would IM me&lt;br /&gt;Van: a lot of times people want to comment but rather do it through IM&lt;br /&gt;Van: do you mind if I write about this conversation?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: i am so glad I did! and no.. please do... that's would be great! would you mind if I sent the link to some friends and/or post it in my blog? (&lt;a href="http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-7CHaGeQ2abSpbu1d3LbvltU-"&gt;http://360.yahoo.com/grrlzr4me&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;Van: sure.... do that&lt;br /&gt;Van: and I will do the same&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: great!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: thanks again! really... I am so glad we chatted.. Hope I didn't shock you! Didn't want you to think I was IM'ing you for negative reasons which is my I commented BEFORE I told you who I was.. LOL&lt;br /&gt;Van: I am shocked but in a good way.... feel free to contact me anytime... and I will give my brother your info&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: THANKS.... gonna write about this in my blog, too! ha ha Take care of yourself and keep in touch!!!!&lt;br /&gt;Van: ok bye&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"&gt;Karen&lt;/span&gt;: bye&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;seeeeee.... everything does happen for a reason..... maybe it wasn't as profound or life-changing as &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Sliding Doors&lt;/span&gt; or maybe it was, but either way I was able to connect to someone that inspired me in so many ways and that can change my life forever.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out Karen's site at:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.karenscomingout.com/"&gt;http://www.karenscomingout.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See what she wrote about me at: &lt;a href="http://360.yahoo.com/profile-7CHaGeQ2abSpbu1d3LbvltU-"&gt;http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-7CHaGeQ2abSpbu1d3LbvltU-&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You can get more show information at: &lt;a href="http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/coming_out_stories/series.jhtml"&gt;http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/coming_out_stories/series.jhtml&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sorry for the long post and all the links but if you love to link and open multiple pages like I do you need &lt;a href="http://www.mozilla.org/"&gt;Mozilla's&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/"&gt;Firefox&lt;/a&gt;.... the best thing since &lt;a href="http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1"&gt;Starbucks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-113025226115990188?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/113025226115990188/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=113025226115990188' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/113025226115990188'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/113025226115990188'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/karen.html' title='Karen'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112984256429207895</id><published>2005-10-25T00:30:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-25T00:30:20.960-05:00</updated><title type='text'>I Was Robbed.</title><content type='html'>I started writing a book a few years ago. No, I am not a writer and I don't have any aspirations of being published anywhere. I was going through a hard time and well.... I didn't have anything better to do. I had just kinda graduated and I was feeling worthless because I hadn't found a job yet and all the jobs that I wanted I couldn't have because I didn't have certain experience and qualifications. The job I was working was 30 hours a week at 8.23 an hour. You do the math. It sucked majorly. Oh yeah the job I had required me to sit at an info desk and nobody wanted any information so that means I sat on my fat a$$ doing nothing all day for 8.23 an hour wasting a degree that I had just kinda earned.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I found out later that summer that I didn't graduate.....that's why I say I kinda graduated. Yes, I'm sure you can imagine all the hurt, pain, confusion, frustration, anger that I felt. No need to get into details about what happened, but I didn't graduate because of the incompetence of my advisor and my lack of follow through. We were both to blame. After I got over my inital shock, I felt somewhat relieved. That meant I still had more time before I needed to find this job that I was supposed to have the minute I graduated from an institute of higher learning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was unhappy about a few things going on in my life and in an effort to try and resolve those issues I decided to write about it. They say having a joural helps.. right? Too bad I didn't know about blogging then. Butanyway, I sat down with pen in hand and the first thing that came out was "&lt;em&gt;I Was Robbed". &lt;/em&gt;I know you are wondering where that came from and what it means. Well about 18 years ago someone robbed me of my innocence. I was reading &lt;a href="http://hapee2bnapee.blogspot.com/2005/10/i-will-pouncebelieve-it.html"&gt;her&lt;/a&gt; blog about &lt;a href="http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200510/tows_past_20051018.jhtml"&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; show and was reminded about that time in my life and all the things I have done since then to rise above it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had blocked out the memories for years. I was really good at altering my reality and pretending like certain things didn't exist. One sunny afternoon those memories came back to me with a smile on "his" face. Oh my god! In that moment, years of memories began to playback in my head. I felt sick. I couldn't move. I was stuck to the ground. I managed to get my feet to move but my legs still would not cooperate. After making it home I had to try to figure out a way to deal with all of these "things"that I remembered. I did the best I could do considering the fact that I didn't share my secret with anyone. I remember feeling like I would get blamed for it. I was walking around with guilt for years and if anyone even insinuated something I did what came naturally..... deny, deny, deny.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Years later I shared my secret with my3rd, but first real &lt;a href="http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/07/not-going-for-it.html"&gt;boyfriend&lt;/a&gt;. That lead to somewhat open discussions within my family about what happend and what was to be done to help me. I felt better pretending like it didn't exist so that's what I did. It wasn't until I met my two best friends in college that my attitude about what happened to me changed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Were you molested? Huh? Wha? Why would you ask me something like that? I didn't realize it was so obvious, but now looking back I see that it was. I would get so uncomfortable when anything about sex was mentioned. I had a hard time dealing with men and was very closed to affection. Funny thing is, I didn't have any problems watching sex on tv or viewing pornos.... yes I was exposed to pornos at an early age, but thats neither here nor there.... so anyway my friends, being the observant creatures they are, called me out. At first I denied, denied, denied, but I was tired of carring around the burden and felt it was time to talk to someone and deal with my problems. That was the best thing I have ever done for myself. I am happy to say that I have been a source of inspiration for others and have been able to help other friends and their families deal with molestation and other abuses.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more information on the signs of child abuse and prevention refer to the &lt;a href="http://www.childmolestationprevention.org/index.html"&gt;Child Molestation Research and Prevention Institute&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112984256429207895?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112984256429207895/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112984256429207895' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112984256429207895'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112984256429207895'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/i-was-robbed.html' title='I Was Robbed.'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112992080356930849</id><published>2005-10-21T13:46:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-21T13:53:23.570-05:00</updated><title type='text'>It's Friday and I'm.....</title><content type='html'>Mad..... Cranky..... Exhausted..... Moody..... Hormonal....... Angry...... Nervous..... Ranting...... Raving...... Hungry...... Thirsty....... Starved for Affection..... and Attention...... Lonely...... Horny...... Sexy...... Wanting..... Waiting..... Needy..... Attached..... Fearful...... but Fearless..... Contradiction..... Hopefull..... and all of these feelings are making me feel &lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;CRAZY!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112992080356930849?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112992080356930849/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112992080356930849' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112992080356930849'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112992080356930849'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/its-friday-and-im.html' title='It&apos;s Friday and I&apos;m.....'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112985737672516044</id><published>2005-10-20T22:35:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-20T22:33:37.420-05:00</updated><title type='text'>You Don't Know My Name</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Hello?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Can I speak to...to Michael? Oh, hey how you doin'?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Uh, I feel kinda silly doin this but, uh, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; this is the waitress from the coffee house on 39th from Lenox.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; You know the one with the braids?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Yeah. Well I see you on Wednesdays all the time.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; You come in every Wednesday on your lunch break, I think.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; And you always order the special...with the hot chocolate.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; My manager be trippin and stuff talkin 'bout we gotta use water, but...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; I always use some milk and cream for you, cause...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; I think you kinna sweet. (laughs)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Anyway, you always got on some fly blue suit &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; and your cufflinks is shining all bright.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; So what you do?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Oh word?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Yeah that's interestin'...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; Look man, I mean, I don't wanna waste your time but...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; I know girls don't usually do this,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; but I was wonderin' if maybe we could get together&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; outside the restaurant one day?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;I was driving home listening to the radio and that song came on. As I was listening to Alicia Keys talk to Mr. Mos definitely sexy on the phone I was thinking to myself I wish I could be bold and do something like that. But then it occurred to me.... I did do that before. It was so not me, I was so, shall I say daring. I remember it like it was yesterday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was a Thursday morning and I was running late for work. I ended up calling in because I didn't feel like rushing to make it to work and if anyone from the Hampton Roads area knows how traffic is by the downtown tunnel in the morning you know why it would have been pointless to rush because either way I would have been late. While I'm getting dressed my mom calls me and tells me she is running late for a conference she is having in downtown Norfolk and asks me to drop her off on my way to work and check her into the hotel so she won't be any later than she already is. Of course I said yes. No, I didn't want to do it.... I was already running late, but it's my mother so I had to. We get downtown and she disappeared into the hotel before I could even get out of the car. I go check her in then they send a hop to come get her bags. Me and the hop get on the elevator and this is the first time I noticed all of his chocolate yummyness. Ummm. Yes he was that good looking. I don't know if he saw something in my eyes, but he started trying to make conversation with me and I did what any girl that is blessed to be in the presence of chocolatey goodness would do... I avoided eye contact and tried to answer his questions with as few syllables as possible. We get to the suite and he tells me to check it out while following me around and making me blush like a school girl. Ya'll should have seen this man. I just wanted to drop to my knees and thank god that I had the chance to see something so beautiful.... I couldn't take it any more.... he was so, so beautiful and making me so, so nervous. Do you know the things I would have done to this man if I were a different kind of woman. Let's just say he would have been in my &lt;a href="http://www.jia-uncut.com/blog/_archives/2005/10/15/1301680.html"&gt;funbag&lt;/a&gt; and I would have used him for nights of endless pleasure. So I thank him and left.....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know.... I know... punk move.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I finally get to work, but there was no work being done because all I could think about way my chocolatey goody yum-yum eye candy. I mean, this man was so handsome and I tried to rationalize my reasons for leaving so abruptly and not trying to get to know him better to no avail. Yeah he was sexy and all but that doesn't mean he is not an arrogant jerk. I couldn't stop thinking about him so I did what Alicia did..... I called him because... well you know.... curiosity killed the cat. I was so nervous this was not Van, she doesn't do things like this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He wasn't available at the time I called so I just left my work number (trying to keep it professional) and hoped he didn't call back. Oh yeah..... I didn't want it to seem like I was calling him because I thought he was a yummy piece of man. You see I never tipped him and I figured I'd just call and apologize for that and thank him for his service. Sounds stupid to you? Well it was the best I could come up with at the time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dang it. He called back.... and he knew who I was and before I could tell him why I called, he told me I was a very beautiful woman and I was looking very sexy that day... *gush*. I am used to getting complements but this was too much. We exchanged numbers and agreed to talk later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He called later that night and I find out this man models and is a runner.... go figure. That would explain the Adonis like body. But I also found out he had a girlfriend. ;-( He could have mentioned that tiny detail before I gave him my home number *smh*. So needless to say that was the end of that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This story might not have the happy ending you were expecting, but it was a happy ending for me. You see I did something that I normally wouldn't have done and that to me is a great thing.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112985737672516044?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112985737672516044/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112985737672516044' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112985737672516044'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112985737672516044'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/you-dont-know-my-name.html' title='You Don&apos;t Know My Name'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112976674554155379</id><published>2005-10-19T18:47:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-20T13:04:58.500-05:00</updated><title type='text'>My Love is Like.... Whoa</title><content type='html'>The title has nothing to do with this post, but as I was thinking about this situation that song popped into my head. Yes. That Mya song. My love is like whoa....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;My love is like (whoa)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;My kiss is like (whoa)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;My touch is like (whoa)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;My sex is like (whoa)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;My ass is like (whoa) &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;My body's like (whoa)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;You know Mya could probably be a good singer if she didn't sound like she was from munchkin land and why is it that everytime I think about Mya I think about Sisqo or how ever he spells his name. All I have to say about him is ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww and another ewwwwwwwwwwwww for good measure. He is, so, not sexy. I don't know what it is but I break out in hives everytime I think about, see, or hear him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ok so the situation that lead to that whole Mya thought was this.... I was thinking about the different stages of a relationship and how you can relate them to making a house a home..... maybe I should have titled this post "A House is Not a Home" or "House or Home" or something like that..... butanyway........&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;There are a few stages to making a house a home&lt;/u&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1)House Hunting- you have to have a house before you can make it a home. In relationships this is the dating/browsing/getting to know you stage. You are still unattached and free to date as many people as you want. No commitment. No contracts. After you find the house or person that looks good for you, you make an offer and hopefully it is accepted. Once accepted, you have yourself a house or a relationship. You know there are a few minor things that need work but overall you are happy with your choice. That leads into my next stage.....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2) Settling In- Ok.... so you decide this is the house/person for you... you've signed on the dotted line. You start moving in, arranging, decorating and everything is going well that is until you realize the walls you thought needed a little painting actually need new drywall, the water pressure is not low because of a valve there is actually a severe leak in the wall. That little crack that you noticed in the corner starts spreading now you have ceiling dust falling on your head. Things start becoming undone. In relationships this is the part where the phone calls become more infrequent, the "I miss you" text messages stop... as a matter of fact you never hear that you are missed anymore. Quality time seems more routine. No more going to the movies, plays, park, etc... all time together is now spent in front of the tv at home. They now answer their cell phone in the middle of your quality time. You realize that they have way too much gas. Their feet stink too. That voice you use to anticipate hearing isn't so cute anymore. The kisses don't linger as long. The butterflies that used to live in your belly are gone. There are not hours of foreplay any more. Sex lasts an average of fifteen minutes. You're ready for it to be over in five. They don't respond to your touches the way they used to... as a matter of fact they wish you would stop touching so much. You start to dress down more when you are together. Your hair doesn't always have to be perfect. You can go a day without thinking about them. You eat with your fingers and chew with your mouth open now. They do the same. Conversations are less stimulating. "Going out" means going to the gas station then to the grocery store. These things don't ruin or end a relationship, but they make you start to question it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3)Home Sweet Home- nothing or no one is perfect. Sure your house had a few minor or major problems, but it is, after all, your home and you love it and wouldn't change much about it. You realize all the painting, repairs, and changes were a labor of love and you have given birth to something new and beautiful. So your relationship is not the same as it used to be, that's good. Evolution is necessary in a relationship.... we are constantly changing and growing so why would we expect our relationships to remain the same. It's good that you can focus on other things besides them. It's good that you don't feel pressure to always look like you stepped out of a magazine. It's good that you can just chill at home with each other. Money spent going out could be saved for better things like your house.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112976674554155379?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112976674554155379/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112976674554155379' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112976674554155379'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112976674554155379'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-love-is-like-whoa.html' title='My Love is Like.... Whoa'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112952682883330960</id><published>2005-10-17T01:17:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-17T01:18:43.066-05:00</updated><title type='text'>The Word for Today is....</title><content type='html'>..... so here I go again. It's 1:15 and I am still up. Yes I know I have to go to work tomorrow but I just couldn't get to sleep. Well actually I was sleep...... it went to sleep somewhere between 11:30 and 12:15 for about fifteen minutes. You know... what they say about those power naps are true. I fell asleep, woke up and now I feel so refreshed, but that's not the point of this post so I'll stop the ramble.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So anyway like I said I was asleep between 11:30 and 12:15.... not quite sure when I fell asleep but I definitely woke up at 12:15 to the most hideous sound coming from my TV. What was it you ask... Some girl on making the band. Some of those girls sound horrible to me. Why oh why are they up there? But that's not the point of this post either so let me get to the point.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So after MTB2 went off and as I was switching around I saw something that caught my eye. "Coming Out Stories" on LOGO. Have you ever watched that channel? I have. It's pretty interesting. Am I lesbian or bisexual? No. Have I ever been? No comment. So on this episode of "Coming Out Stories" we have a woman named Karen, I think, and she wants to come out to her mother that has some sort of illness. I'm not sure what the illness is, but it seems to be terminal. So anyway it's one of those "now or never" situations for Karen because her mom could go at any time. There was one point in the car when she tried to tell her mother but instead asked her if she loved her unconditionally. "I mean like if I murdered someone and had to go to prison for a really long time would you still love me?" Well of course her mother would still love her, but Karen is afraid to hurt her mother so she decides to tell her sister first and then maybe she can help her tell her mother. So Karen calls her sister and asks if she can stop by and talk to her privately for a few minutes because she has to "tell her something". After arriving at her sister's house they walk outside and Karen begins to come out, but then starts to cry while telling her sister it's nothing bad that she has to tell it's a "great" thing. After walking away to contain herself Karen is finally able to come back and tell her sister "I'm a lesbian". "Finally!" "Is that all?" "I'm so happy for you" whew all positive responses from Karen's sister and I was genuinely relieved for her, but now it's time to tell mother. "Honor your mother" In an effort to make this a celebration, Karen goes to buy her mother a card and a clock (to symbolize the importance of time). The next scene shows Karen signing the card then we cut into Karen's mother reading the card. I'm thinking she wrote "I'm a lesbian" in the card but no, her mother is crying because the card is "so beautiful". Ahh that's sweet. "I am so proud of you" "You always made straight A's" "You were the top of your sport" "You were always the bright part of my day" , although those are wonderful things to hear from a parent, they are the worst things to hear right before you tell your parent something that could potentially break their heart. Well anyway Karen goes on to tell her mother how she's dated a few men and it just hasn't worked out for her. "So what are you trying to say", her mother asks. This is the point where I guess I got distracted by something else (Karen way clearly taking too long for me now... I had been waiting for her to come out for almost a half-hour. Does she know I need her to hurry up and come out so I can roll over and try to go back to sleep because I have to go to work in the morning?), but the next thing I know she (Karen) jumps up and says "oh my god" and a bunch of other things that confirmed to me that her mother was accepting. Then her mom says "I divorced twice, that's worse.... If I had know then what I know now I would have done what you are doing". Ok so that's basically the end of that story and that leads to the point of this post.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I admire what Karen did because it took a lot of &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;COURAGE&lt;/span&gt;. &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;COURAGE &lt;/span&gt;the quality or state or spirit enabling one to face danger or hardship with confidence and resolution (webster's). I was really inspired watching her story. I am not coming out or anything like that but I can be quite a punk sometimes. I mean, I have some fears that I just don't have the courage to get over and I make a habit of avoiding things that cause fear. But today, tonight, this morning, this month... whatever.... I want to be like Karen, hell I want to be like the girls on MTB2 and just have a little courage.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112952682883330960?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112952682883330960/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112952682883330960' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112952682883330960'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112952682883330960'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/word-for-today-is.html' title='The Word for Today is....'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112909041187172660</id><published>2005-10-12T00:19:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-12T00:29:22.136-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Insomnia</title><content type='html'>Why am I still up? It's only 11:42 so it's still kinda early, but I have to get up at 5:30 to go to work.... and speaking of work I am really hating my job right now. I know I said in the previous post I had my job for a reason, I do, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I am very thankful for my job I just hate the fact that my noctural desires can't conform into a daytime lifestyle and not to mention the fact that I commute 2hrs for work everyday..... it sucks. It was so worth it in the beginning, but now with the gas prices and my nocturnal habits it's becoming harder to justify this position. I can't sleep at night even when I am extremely tired.... this is just so inconvenient. Oh yeah I've become even more of a lazy bum.... so after my commute to work, I sit for 8 hours (not getting much mental stimulation) then make my commute home.... I come home and become a cucumber, carrot, a stalk of celery or whatever vegetable you prefer, but like I said before I am not looking for another job right now... I'm gonna ride this out and see what happens. Until then I hope I can get this insomnia under control.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other things......&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So today I was reading &lt;a href="http://amadeo.blogsome.com/2005/10/10/helpful-hints-for-dudes-who-suck-the-pretty-girl/#comments"&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; blog and I started thinking about my legend or who or what others perceive me to be and the perception I have of other people and trust me perception is not always reality. I am not sure what my legend is.... I've never asked and have never been told. I am so guilty of going for the hype of the legend and it is quite possible that I have missed out on some good men based on the legend.... Oh well. I'm sure you clicked the link and read the post and if you didn't &lt;a href="http://amadeo.blogsome.com/2005/10/10/helpful-hints-for-dudes-who-suck-the-pretty-girl/#comments"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; you go again... don't forget to read my comment. So yeah I admit it I have a &lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;small&lt;/span&gt; crush on a fellow blogger. It's a strange thing. I've never met this person before... at least I don't think I have, but reading their words for almost a year has intrigued me and well.... you know.... curiosity killed the cat. This man's legend is copious. Well at least my perception of him based on the accounts of his life that he shares is. Hey, I could be wrong, but I guess we won't know until I find out (get it).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess &lt;a href="http://nappydiatribe.blogspot.com/"&gt;HC&lt;/a&gt; was right... writing whatever comes out of my brain does make this thing interesting... at least it is for me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's now 1:19 I guess I should try to sleep....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112909041187172660?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112909041187172660/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112909041187172660' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112909041187172660'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112909041187172660'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/insomnia.html' title='Insomnia'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112871931252928809</id><published>2005-10-07T16:05:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-10-07T16:08:32.566-05:00</updated><title type='text'>What's New</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;It's been a while since I have really written anything in here... When I started this blog I thought I would be writing in it everday especially since I have a lot of free time. I was wrong. I have a lot of interesting stories and weird things that happen to me (I never really thought they were weird until I was told they were.... if at least 2 people say it, it must be true) so I thought this would be a good place to share. I am also a big thinker and I figured this would be a good place to share my random thoughts (a least this way I won't have to see the faces you make while reading them).... you know what?.... it's totally different when you try to translate your thoughts into words and put them in a way that can be read..... some people are good at that but I'm not..... to be honest with you I have a hard time just speaking my thoughts..... they make sense to me, but most people are like... huh? what? or they just smile and pretend to understand... &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;So new things...... Mr. T (I mentioned him in the first post)... well that situation is over I have a story on him in the works.... stay posted for that.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;I have another interesting story in the works about a covert military operation. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Oh yeah! I cut my hair off.... I had been thinking about going natural for a while so I made the big chop 9/01/2005.... it's seems like it's been longer than that, but I guess not.  So I am a little over a month into my new me and I absolutely love it and I am getting to know my hair. I wrote a very passionate e-mail to my mom about my desire to go natural a while ago if I find it I will post it. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;I still have the same job.... what's that you ask? Oh yeah I never told you... I don't know why I am so secretive about my job.... It's not that serious...I am just paranoid.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;I am not looking for another job right now..... I realize that I need to be here for now. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;My brother's birthday is coming soon and after that the countdown to my birtday begins.... SCORPIO BABY!!! I will be 26 this year and am looking to do something different. I usually spend my birthday with my friends over a quite dinner, but this year I want to do something different, something big.... I know 26 is not a big celebritory (is that a word) age but I don't care. So if anyone has any ideas let me know..... and if you live in the Norfolk/Va Beach area let me know if there are any cool places to hang out.  Oh yeah... I will be celebrating 11/4-11/12 so feel free to contact me if you want to help me celebrate. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Well I guess that's all for now.......&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112871931252928809?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112871931252928809/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112871931252928809' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112871931252928809'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112871931252928809'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/10/whats-new.html' title='What&apos;s New'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112740299554385017</id><published>2005-09-22T13:03:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-09-24T00:37:49.813-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Eww..... that's nasty...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/974/1237/1600/images.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/974/1237/200/images.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I went to college I had to face the big decision of choosing a major..... my choices were between art and biology. I am not the most talented when it comes to art but I enjoy it and can do a little something when I put my mind to it. Biology.... well, I am naturally curious about the world and more specifically the living world. So needless to say I chose biology, it afterall seemed like the wisest choice, that is if I planned on graduating from college and actually landing a decent paying job. Boy was I wrong, but that's a different story all together so I won't digress. I said all of that to say this although this blog is not meant to be a scientific blog, I will from time to time post on some interesting things I come across....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Scientists say that they have confirmed that men's hands are nastier than women's hands go &lt;a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=1147515&amp;amp;page=1"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; to read the article. I agree that men's restroom behaviors are nasty (so I've heard) but I think some women are nastier than any man could ever be. I can't speak of the goings on in men's restrooms because I have never been in an occupied one. I know that with men, there is skin to skin contact which can lead to all types of germ carrying scenarios, but women even without the skin to skin can also carry and get a lot of germs from restrooms. Now, let's just discuss public restrooms for this blog since the article was based on surveys taken in public restrooms...... I have been in restrooms where women will leave a bloody mess behind (nasty)..... pee on the floor (eww).... and the seat (yuck).... used toilet paper on the floor (eww, yuck, nasty).... no flushing after #1 or #2 (no home training)..... so after seeing all of that why do I still see women walk out of a stall and head straight to the door without any washing of the hands.... or better yet I'll see a woman spend a good amount of time to wash her hands but will open the restroom door with her "used to be clean now infested hands" ...... so I say all of that to say this..... I agree that men can have nasty hands but women's hands can be nastier. So men, but especially women wash your hands everytime you use the restroom whether it is in a public place or the privacy of your home. Also wash your hands everytime you go into the restroom even if you don't use it becuase the person before you didn't wash their hands and they touched everything you are now touching. Don't forget to use the paper towels on the door handle and a little purell after leaving the restroom won't hurt either.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For other information about dirty hand surveys click &lt;a href="http://www.washup.org/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; . Also click &lt;a href="http://www.microbeworld.org/htm/aboutmicro/microbes/types_start.htm"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for information on various microbes...... germaphobes don't be afraid.... we have bacteria living in and on our body that are quite beneficial to us..... say this with me "Bacteria is my friend" .......that is unless you use the restroom and don't wash your hands then running the risk of getting some god-awful disease from some god-awful bacteria that came from who knows where because the person that used the bathroom before you managed to touch everything with their unwashed, dirty, nasty hands enough to leave that god-awful e. coli resulting in vomitting, severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps which you now got because you did not WASH YOUR HANDS either..... ewwww.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So men, women, old people, and children please &lt;strong&gt;wash your hands&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112740299554385017?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=1147515&amp;page=1' title='Eww..... that&apos;s nasty...'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112740299554385017/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112740299554385017' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112740299554385017'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112740299554385017'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/09/eww-thats-nasty.html' title='Eww..... that&apos;s nasty...'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112722962612890501</id><published>2005-09-20T10:18:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-09-20T10:22:56.796-05:00</updated><title type='text'>A little Biology...... Maybe</title><content type='html'>&lt;img alt="mRNA" src="http://images.quizilla.com/S/Sc0tty/1063070819_cturesmRNA.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You are mRNA. You're brilliant, full of important,&lt;br /&gt;interesting information and you're a great&lt;br /&gt;friend to the people you care about. You may&lt;br /&gt;have sides to you that no one understands. But&lt;br /&gt;while you understand more than most people,&lt;br /&gt;you're only half-there most of the time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://quizilla.com/users/Sc0tty/quizzes/Which%20Biological%20Molecule%20Are%20You?/"&gt;Which Biological Molecule Are You?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:0;"&gt;brought to you by&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:0;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112722962612890501?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112722962612890501/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112722962612890501' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112722962612890501'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112722962612890501'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/09/little-biology-maybe.html' title='A little Biology...... Maybe'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112077034640164440</id><published>2005-07-07T15:39:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-07-07T16:06:02.156-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Do we want this?</title><content type='html'>Scientists have discovered a way to grow meat in the laboratory... WTF?... Don't get me wrong I am pleased to see the advancements that science can make.... afterall I am the girl that spent six years in school trying to stumble upon something just as innovative. This, however, bothers me for several reasons. 1.) I just can't picture my hamburger being grown in a laboratory. 2.) Why do we need to grow hamburger in the laboratory (Ok... mad cow disease)? 3.) I still can't get past my hamburger, that comes from a cow, being grown in a lab. 4.) Tissue engineering of animal meat will lead to tissue engineering of human meat (maybe I took that too far), but you can never be sure. The possibilities will be endless.... and how can I be sure that this hamburger patty that was made in MoCow Laboratories Inc. is really just bovine anymore who knows what else they can add to that. I guess I can think of a few good reasons 1.) No Mad Cow disease. 2.) Healthier selections.... the article lists several more reasons why this is a good idea, but I still don't want it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112077034640164440?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8498629/' title='Do we want this?'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112077034640164440/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112077034640164440' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112077034640164440'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112077034640164440'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/07/do-we-want-this.html' title='Do we want this?'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-112076282152858998</id><published>2005-07-07T13:38:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-07-07T14:00:21.540-05:00</updated><title type='text'>NOT GOING FOR IT</title><content type='html'>&lt;em&gt;"Fumbling around in the dark trying to find something sturdy to lean on"- &lt;/em&gt;Van&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That statement sums it all up for me. Dating is hard and I am looking for someone thats real with themselves and real with me. That thought came to me early this morning when I was delirious from sleeplessness (Is that a word?). Being that I am a smart, intelligent, attractive, funny, caring....... blah, blah, blah 25 year old woman, you would think I have dated a lot. You would be wrong. I could give many reasons and explanations why I haven't found time in the nine years, since I was allowed to start dating, to gain some experience in that area, but I won't because that still doesn't take away from the fact that I am absolutely handicap when it comes to dating...... well.... maybe it does..... ok.... I've always been the relationship girl..... well not always... I wasn't really interested in boys until 14 at which time I had my third boyfriend.... What? Let me explain.... I've always been comfortable hanging around guys and being a tomboy.... and having a boyfriend to me meant I had a "boy" that was my "friend" so when  guys asked me to be their girlfriend I didn't hesitate much because after all they were my "friends".... needless to say my first boyfriends figured out quickly that a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with me wasn't going to work..... Imagine having a girlfriend that won't even kiss or hug you.... That was me. Just wasn't feeling it. So now we get to my third boyfriend... I didn't have the pleasure of being his friend before hand (he was my brother's friend) so this was all new too me. While I'm thinking we are getting to know each other and becoming friends, he is telling people I am his girlfriend.... So I did what came natural to me.... I went along with it..... and when he lead me down a dark hallway at school.... I went along with it...  not knowing that, that would be the day I receive my first kiss. The kiss wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either, after all it was my first kiss. After that I started looking at "boyfriends" and relationships a little differently. So I spent the next 7 years (off and on) of my life in a emotionally draining relationship with him. Although the relationship was bad, I realized that I took relationships very seriously. Shortly after that I met someone new (but from my past) and spent 4 years in that situation.... it wasn't a commited relationship, but once again.... I went along with it. So all that leads me to where I am today 25, single, and restless. I am tired of just "going along with it" and am now looking for something and someone real thats why I am &lt;em&gt;Fumbling around in the dark trying to find something sturdy to lean on.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-112076282152858998?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/112076282152858998/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=112076282152858998' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112076282152858998'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/112076282152858998'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/07/not-going-for-it.html' title='NOT GOING FOR IT'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13870309.post-111950241115258002</id><published>2005-06-22T23:21:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-07-04T23:12:40.326-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Where do I begin?</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color:#999900;"&gt;So here we go..... Where do I begin? Let's see.... today. Today has been a very easy but difficult day at the same time. I am a naturally inquisitive person hence the title of this blog. A lot of times my inquisitiveness and curiosity get me in situations and I end up asking myself --how did this happen? why couldn't I leave well enough alone? what does this mean? what would have happened if I didn't do this? WTF? So that all leaves me back to today..... Dating for me has had its ups and downs and right now its down.... Have you ever met a person that seemed so wrong for you that it seemed right? Well I have and I am still trying to figure out what I thought it was so right about it. Mr. T. came highly recommended so I didn't hesitate when the opportunity for us to date presented itself. But today I keep asking myself, what was I thinking? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#999900;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13870309-111950241115258002?l=van007.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/feeds/111950241115258002/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13870309&amp;postID=111950241115258002' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/111950241115258002'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13870309/posts/default/111950241115258002'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://van007.blogspot.com/2005/06/where-do-i-begin.html' title='Where do I begin?'/><author><name>VAN007</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02069351869496862704</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='21' src='http://www.mikebastin.com/images/cr/animals/TN_Morpho%20butterfly.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry></feed>
