Misanthrope

The park wasn't too far from Troy Missouri, where some of my relatives lived at the time. It was the first time in my life I'd ever seen buzzards (I thought they were pretty cool). Actually it was the first time I'd seen a lot of things - like pickled pigs feat and greased pig contests, and folks used terms like "sodi" instead of "pop." It was also the first time I'd ever ridden a horse, saw fireflies or walked through a corn field. And I got to help my grandfather shell black eyed peas. It was a taste of the country I took back with me to the city, sans the pigs feat. Thankfully, city life is now a thing of the past. We've got our fair share of ticks up here too....nasty things. What constructive purpose can they possibly serve? Kinda like fleas only worse. Thankfully, it gets so freakin' cold here in the winter blood sucking fleas don't seem to thrive. We've got these weird insects called "snow fleas" that thrive in the snow. Thankfully, they don't seem to be intent on sucking my blood. Still working on my tick immunity, though. Yeah, you're certainly right about shelter critters and adoption policies. The fact is indoor cats live longer - generally speaking. We've got two cats which we allow outside during the day, but we get them in well before nightfall so they don't fall prey to coyotes, dog packs and the like. If I lived in an urban area I wouldn't even let them out during the day. Too many cat haters and unknowns out there. Skunks and rabies ......oh dear. Guess I better be more careful, 'cause I get awfully close to the little guys on occasion. Do they spread it mostly to dogs? They've acted pretty tame toward me so far. Some people take them in as pets after they get them "de-skunked." Me, I prefer the traditional cat or dog as pet.Seems I did hear something about shelter animals being shipped up from Mexico - as if we don't have enough unwanted animals here. We're busting at the seams, for crying out loud! Funny, this seems to parallel our misguided immigration policy as well. We invite hungry mouths from without when we can't (or won't) even take care of those from within. It would be funny (in a tragic-comic sort of way) if it weren't so true.

Oh yeah! It would be no exaggeration to say we live on the side of a mountain. I have relatives in Missouri and I remember visiting a park in what I assume was located in the Ozarks. Beautiful country, and a great place for self sufficiency as it's relatively undiscovered. I remember how uncrowded that park was compared to the place I was living at the time. Now I'm located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near the Canadian border. The main drawback being the short growing season. Folks who live down in the valley near the river get considerably longer growing fun. Most definitely. It bothers me that people continue to breed critters so recklessly when so many unwanted little souls languish in the shelters. Well heck! Get yourself down to your nearest shelter and adopt some kitty beasts! If you're in a rural environment you can set them loose on the rodent infestation without worrying about them getting hit by cars or poisoned by some kind neighbor. You can attract skunks to your property by leaving out peanut butter. Apparently, rats are one of their favored dining options.

Thanks for the excellent ideas. I know a couple farmers around here utilize greenhouses, but our property is pretty hilly. We'd have to excavate. I've been trying to get my hands on some "floating row covers," otherwise known as "remay" but no one seems to carry it around it here. And since I'm also a tight wad, I'm remiss to order them through a catalog 'cause of the shipping costs. Guess I might have to break down though, 'cause we'll probably get our first frost in September and I want to be ready. I like your trick with the green beans and black plastic. I've heard some people use red plastic around their tomatoes, though I've never tried it myself. Yeah, I know what you mean about Rotties. I did some rescue work with them and back-yard breeders have definitely taken their toll on the breed, but then - they seem to have that effect on everything they touch. I lost my Rott (Helga) several years ago when she died suddenly at the age of seven. Since then I've only fostered, though Helga herself was a rescue dog from the Humane Society, and had suffered at the hand of some back-yard breeder piece of trash. She was just a puppy and the shelter had to remove one of her eyes because the breeder allowed it to get infected to the point of no return, then dumped her at the shelter for someone else to deal with. I guess she was no longer "marketable" with just one eye. As it turns out, she got along just fine with one eye. Cats, however, are a perennial favorite at our household. I can't remember a time in my life (other than traveling) when at least one cat wasn't blessing me with it's presence. *checking out oldseed.com*

No kidding! (pun intended!). We are short the goats and chickens, but yes - even with a garden, Spring is the most hectic time of year - which would explain why it's not my favorite time of the year. Still, watching the earth spring back to life is a site not to be missed or reveled in. But back on the farm, we'd eventually like to built a chicken coup and have access to our own eggs. Right now, we buy them from a local farmer who has a very small operation and treats his chickens very well. He also has a few goats as pets and makes his own wonderful goat cheese. I refuse to buy store bought eggs anymore. The poor things are forced to operate as machines and not treated as the living, breathing, sentient creatures they are. If you ever have the chance to compare a store bought egg to the real thing, you'll never go back! Compare, if you will, a rich golden yolk to that of the weak, anemic, pale yellow pitiful excuse for eggs sold at grocery stores. And that's not even factoring in the difference in taste. This year's garden's doing pretty good. My only complaint is that it's not bigger, but that would entail terracing out more of the hillside which equates to spending more money on a back-hoe and extending the deer fence - a huge operation. In the end, the increased produce yield would justify the initial cost. We've got more birds than ever this year. It's a freakin' aviary out there. Of course, putting out several bird houses, feeders, and bird baths didn't hurt matters. I love having them around for several reasons. Their bird song is such I prefer to listen to them than the radio. They are garden befenficials: they get in and around the veggies and eat slugs, ants, and other nasties. And I just plain enjoy watching their winged antics, especially this time of the year when they are in the process of building nests. We've only got one little hummingbird that I've seen so far. So far we have the following delectables growing: Swiss Chard, Spinach, Peas, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Dill, Beans, Basil, Arugula, Jalepenos, Green Peppers, Potatoes, Carrots, Radish, and Garlic. The garlic should be ready to harvest next month. I've got some Eggplant on the windowsill waiting to be transplanted. I'll probably plant some in the garden and leave the rest in planters in case they don't make it in the garden. I've heard Eggplant are pretty hard to grow up north so I'll try both methods. I'll have to post some pictures soon. I've also got some watermelon starts I should plant out sooner than later, though I'm a little hesitant as my first attempt was a disaster. Yeah, it's amazing how much you can grow in a relatively small area. You can use the "square foot method" and pack a lot more in than by utilizing conventional row gardening. For all you folks who are hesitant, there's really no excuse not to try your hand at gardening. Even if you live in an apartment, you can buy or scavenge a few containers and grow a few veggies out on your patio. But that's a whole new topic ......

No wonder you're disappointed. I would be too after going to all that trouble. May as well get a refund from Heritage, 'cause it sounds like everything was done right from your end. I don't think having the lights eight inches away from the seedlings would have prevented them from sprouting correctly. I usually keep the lights just a few inches above the plants to keep them from getting too spindly. The further the light is the more they have a tendency to reach. The goal is to produce a short, stocky plant. Not sure if I mentioned it in the original post, but having a fan on helps to this end as well, as the stems bulk up as they build up resistance to the air circulation. I'm not sure what happens when the lights are kept on all day and night. The growers around here suggest keeping them on around 17-18 hours a day, which seems a little high, but it seems to work. Yeah, I love those garden shows and farmer's markets when all the country folk show up with their wares and awesome produce. Very inspiring. Makes me want to go home and try doing the same thing. How they manage to get their produce out so early in the season remains somewhat of a mystery to me. I have absolutely no idea how I guessed you love sheepdogs! My favorite canine is the rottweiler.

Howdy Sheepdog (you wouldn't by chance be a sheepdog fan?). Peppers are a little touchy. Sounds like you were trying an heirloom variety? I like them too, especially given the possibility of saving viable seed. These days it's almost an act of protest given Monsanto's encroachment on the seed industry. Other than not using seed starter soil, was there anything else that may have been omitted from the starting process? If everything else was followed to the "t," my guess is the seed itself wasn't good, and I would get a refund. Another possibility is they weren't kept moist enough during the sprouting process and dried up. In the future, you may try keeping a mister on hand for times when the seed seems "stuck." But don't give up, Sheepdog! It's not too late to start some more peppers indoors. You'll just want to pot them up to planters instead of out into the garden this time, that way you can bring them inside when things start turning cold (I'm guessing you're in a northern clime). Look forward to seeing pictures of your driveway flower bed. Sounds like it's much more colorful than mine..

Resit the Personal Notepad! Heck - I don't use it either because until now - I've never been aware of it's existence. And I imagine many members are also unaware of it's existence. I've seen good points made to support it's use, but frankly -I'd be much more likely to use a "draft save" function over a notepad any day of the week because 1)it would be in my face, and 2)it would be in my face. Ooops -sorry, did I repeat myself? My point is, people are lazy (at least I am), and I'm not going to jump through hoops to use a notepad I can't even locate on the freakin' board. Call it what you want, but people are more likely to seek the path of least resistance.

I see the Master is quickly acquiring "evil" terminology! I'm surprised no one's chimed on this idea whose time has come. Yes - I think this is an excellent idea given the fast paced society we live in today. I mean, I can't even count the times I've wanted to begin responding to a post, but decided not to as I was just getting ready to run an errand or some such drudgery. And like the topic starter eluded to, it's not always practical or possible to have a text editor up on the screen all the times. With the number of typos I see on this board it's apparent members, myself included, don't use the preview option as much as they should, due in part to time constraints. How many of us have written something we later regreted, but didn't want to bother a mod to erase it and/or move it for us? A draft option would give folks a little more time to mull things over before jumping in head first. And while spontaneous response certainly has it's place, some threads would be better served with bit more reflection. So yes, bring on a "save draft" option. It may be a headache to install, but in the end, I think the Trap would end up with not only more posts, but more quality posts. And isn't that entire goal?

Alrighty then.....now that SM has clarified the starting time for idiots like me, I'd like to say a few things in praise of Trap 17. Firstly, I'm surprised to hear the trap is only three years old, as the level of uptime speaks of a company that's been around much longer. Secondly, thank you to all staff for providing this service to those who otherwise could not afford paid hosting.Third Place: 98 points. Thanks Trap - let's do this again some time!!

Well, I thought Zak was off but it looks like I'm the one who's off by almost an hour, no less. Guess I'll creep around for another hour and wait for the stroke of midnight!

Very cool for you to offer this opportunity, OpaQue (and whoever else is involved)! Now we wait. Let the long count down begin to the contest.....tick tock tick tock.....

I set up a several email accounts on Cpanel, and am trying to forward the mail from some of them to a gmail address. So far nothing's been forwarded. Also, when composing email, I've noticed the "receipt" function doesn't work. Any clues, anyone?On another note, I noticed Cpanel reverted back to it's former state after a brief upgrade. What's the latest with Cpanel?Several days later and still no response? Mmkay, guess I'll pm admin directly.....

Or if anyone else out there is technically challenged, impatient, or just plain lazy (like me), give "CuteNews" a try. No knowledge of PHP or any of that scary stuff is necessary. Per some excellent advice I got from Trap Admin, BuffaloHELP, I integrated CuteNews into my existing site with not much trouble. My understanding is this would be a bit more difficult with Wordpress. I'll say one thing: Wordpress has awesome templates; some of them are downright beautiful.

I was under the impression that gmail already offers unlimited space, or maybe I'm just mixing everything up. I've always found Yahoo to be a very reliable service, but I got sick of looking at the disgusting images that always appeared when I wanted to check my email. Haven't had that problem yet with gmail, as the ads I've seen so far are limited to text.

Yes, it is very rare because people so rarely follow up on their dreams. I considered Drama before deciding to major in Music, and did take an improv class I absolutely loved - though I couldn't stand our arrogant little professor. Classes were uncomfortably small so there was no getting around that annoying fact. Improvisation appealed to me for the mere fact I can't memorize lines unless they're set to music, and then I can't get the darned words out of my head! That being the case, I got my Music degree and performed professionally for most of my working career, made a great income and bucked the odds despite advice to the contrary. And I still can't get those lyrics out of my head! My point is, if a career in Theatre is what you want, just go for it, and it will happen. Don't listen to the naysayers, for they are generally motivated by jealousy. Sheer will and tenacity will always win out in the end. I helped pay my way through college by working as a movie extra on productions which rolled through town quite often before Vancouver BC became Hollywood's locale of choice. Most of them were ABC movies made for TV, like "Divorce Wars" and "Innocent Love" with Melissa Sue Anderson, who some of us remember as Mary Ellen on Little House on the Prairie. I recall being shocked at how short and non-descript she was in person - not to mention her foul mouth. Sweet little Mary Ellen sweared like a Sailor on shore leave. I never looked at movies the same after that. Believe me - these actors look nothing like they appear on the big screen. Now that the US dollar is falling so radically I suspect Hollywood may abandon Canada and come back to the states for much of their filming. Doing extra work was fun and easy with a free lunch thrown it to boot, and the best part was I didn't have to memorize any lines. But you need to be located near a major metropolis to sustain regular work. For me, this is a huge drawback as I choose to live in the rural outback these days. If you don't mind being located in a large city I see no reason why you shouldn't pursue theatre as a profession. Or, if you simply want to teach, you could avoid large cities altogether. Young people are increasingly choosing technical related careers over classical educations in the Liberal Arts, which leaves more acting opportunities for you! Nice thread starter, by the way. Do hope you stick around the Trap for the long haul.

Yes - performed professionally for quite some time (i.e. - too long) in bands, duos, and as a single act. Main instrument(s) was voice/guitar, though I also played bass and keys. I'll leave it at that since I'm not getting any hosting points here....

A thousand thanks, Saint Michael. As per usual you have outdone yourself! But I fear you are too kind, for I am not near as nice or benevolent as the cute little gal (I'll refer to her as "Sunny") you so kindly fashioned for me on this happy sig. On the contrary, I am a dark, melancholy, evil wench whose long black hair barely disguises her pale, scaly skin, yellow fangs, sharp taloned claws and foul, fire-breathing breath. Now if you all don't mind, I'm going to have "Sunny" over for lunch - with some Cabernet of course, and I suspect she'll be the main course.........Muahahaha!

Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lisa/Logan's Meadow. Something about the word "meadow" that always conjures up images of pastoral scenes, lush green grass, blue skies, and goblins (oops - not sure how that last one got in there). I may slip up every now and then and refer to you as "Elysian," a heavenly meadow and favored abode of the gods in Greek mythology. Look forward to seeing your work and interacting with you on the board.

Oh dear. Oh my! While the Misanthrope can certainly relate to this sentiment, she probably would have found a more delicate way of phrasing it. I don't think I've seen the word, "HATE" spewed forth with such lusty fortitude and venomous wrath since I first infested the Trap with my infernal, all-knowing presence. And here, it appears to manifest itself in antagonistic red, fortified by large caps, no less. The Misanthrope asks herself: What could qualify more as hate-speech than the very word itself capitalized in bold, red lettering for all to see? Pray - where are the anti-hate speech nazis when those of frail mind and youthful innocence need them most? Perhaps they only charge in when it's safe to do so, or when the mark appears easy prey. "Me thinks thou doest protest too much," .....or some other prose seems blatantly appropriate here. Speaking form my own twisted perspective, when I truly don't care about something; when I just plain don't give a crap - the last thing I'll do is bother to call attention to it with bold, red lettering. Parallel my complete and utter disinterest with Jennifer Lopez, a truly unworthy, untalented subject if ever there was one. But were I to harp on how much I HATE her, some smart folks out there might start questioning my motives. These folks might start pondering the possibility that I am the hypocrite, that I am the one with something to hide. I would be well advised to entertain the possibility the so-called hypocritical neighbor is actually the last thing I need concern myself with. And if it were me, I would consider issuing a heart-felt apology to a neighbor who obviously had my best interest at heart. Since she appears to know enough about you to illicit strong, hateful emotion on your part, you may want to reconsider making an enemy of her. Uhm.....duly noted. Good to know that high moral fiber and character are appreciated, and apparently rewarded.

Ah, thank you for clarifying that. Anyone reading the original post on the subject may have been a bit confused: After reading this, I was under the impression she had wielded the knife an unknown number of times on complete strangers, whereas it appears that may have actually only happened once. And then, I can only assume the "stalker" was a stranger, and not the same student who bugged her in the class she was teaching? Oh well, so much for my hopes that a superwoman actually existed. Please refer to my original post on guns and self defense. There, you will find a link that provides evidence to support this statement. Yes - but I don't want no ordinary butcher knife, but a "magic" one that will send guys fleeing while groping their "assets" and "jewels!" I'd be interested to hear which of these arts she held a black belt in. I can only assume that as a Sensei she held a black belt in one of these arts. I tend to lend much more credence to black belts acquired in the far east than here in the states, where they're practically dispensed like candy. I have a friend who earned a black belt in Karate while in the Phillippines. No one messes with him, but he's smart enough to carry concealed for those times a gun would prove indispensable. The art your friend could have practiced was either "Arnis" or "Kali," both of which originated in the Phillippines, and both of which utilize stick fighting and so-called "empty hand" technique. You might recognize use of Kali in the movie, "Bourne Identity." Through my association with this martial artist, I was fortunate enough to have met, studied under, and hung out with Grand Master, Remy Presas, who founded the art of Arnis, and was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame. Sadly, he died about six years ago. But while he lived, he ALWAYS carried concealed (and drank heavily ). Unfortunately you may not always be able to avoid lonely places or solicit the the company of an associate. I ask all women out there: what will you do when trouble comes to you and no one's there to defend you? If someone breaks and enters into your home, what then? Before women so readily dismiss guns as the superior self defense tool that they are, they really need to ask themselves the tough questions they so readily ignore.

That would have to be the most deliciously misanthropic prose I've heard in quite some time. Bravo! Me - I like 'em served up as the main entree, but I digress. While I buy into the "tabula rasa" to some extent, the blank slate philosophy is at odds with my misanthropic world view, which sees all forms of human life as inherently evil, and all babies born into original sin until they see fit to claw their way out of their miserable lot. Back to the topic, I admit I haven't given the subject enough srutiny to offer an educated opinion, only a personal one based on subjective bias and an inane dislike of all things 'infant" (at least I'm honest). And like the previous author, I hate to give those foul smelling little feces machines more credit than they deserve. My theory is a bizarre one with no rational basis, and that is babies (I still shudder at that word) have a sort of genetic/cellular recall that "remembers" or taps into the archetypal patterns of it's "tribe's" collective mentality. And this, of course, extends to language skills and other abilities peculiar to it's specific culture. Somewhere along the line, most humans lose the ability to access this part of their makeup. Perhaps this is a good thing, because escaping tribal mentality allows the development of something better: the individual.

Very sorry to hear we will no longer enjoy your fine company, thoughtful prose and most importantly, that adorable kitty avatar. I'd like to hear about your experience at Xisto - Web Hosting, so please chime in with periodical updates regarding your status. God speed.