FolkRockFan

I haven't read this Vonnegut novel, but I read "Slaughter House Five" when I was in my early teens. That was a pretty good book, from what I remember. Now that you've mentioned this writer (brought him to my conscious memory), I'm going to have to go book shopping *grins*

Condoms are tested before they're packaged at the manufacturing facilities. Every condom undergoes the standard stress tests to make sure that it's up to par.That doesn't prevent problems caused by, uh, user error. Some people store condoms in wallets or glove compartments: both places encourage the condoms to deteriorate. Sometimes people open the foil packets with their fingernails or teeth. When the condoms aren't put on correctly, they can malfunction.Condoms and petroleum-based lubricants don't mix. Using two condoms at once (yes, some people really do this) causes friction and can make one or both of them break.So, even though most condom makers do everything that they can to make sure that their prophylactics are top notch, the people who actually USE the condoms have to make sure that they're doing everything correctly. That prevents most, but not all, malfunctions.There are more than a few couples who use two birth control methods - i.e. the pill and condoms every time. Others abstain (that's how I roll, by the way). Yeah...all that interesting stuff? Learned it in college

I would hesitate to suggest the death penalty for the first, or even second, offense. This is mostly because there are some lowlifes out there who will claim that they've been raped when they in fact were not. Another thing that I would like to see is more of us (particularly women, but men can be rape victims too) taking steps to defend ourselves against this twisted, fouled up crime. I'm not saying that rape victims are to blame. Nope. They don't choose to be raped. I AM, however, saying that we should all do what we can to try and prevent as many rapes as possible. Situational awareness...self defense (of whatever sort one chooses as long as it's legal - no carrying half a dozen hand grenades)...that sort of thing.

I'm American with a heavy Irish background. Pretty much anything involving potatoes is awesome by me. Sure, that sounds stereotypical, but it's true. Mashed potatoes...French fries...potatoes au gratin - I really don't care what ethnicity the food happens to be as long as there's a potato involved :PIf I had to pick just one type, though, I would probably go with Italian. Pizza and spaghetti are two of my favorite foods. I will, however, go to great lengths to find a big, juicy cheeseburger (Sonic drive-in does a good one).

Re: blinking text...Until a few days ago, I would have been convinced that nobody - and I mean nobody - uses the BLINK tags anymore. Then I found a site that does. I left quickly - that blinking is just as annoying to me today as it was back in '95

Barry Bonds: steroid user. If he breaks the record, it will be asterisked - if only in my mind. Steroids do help you get stronger faster, yes. But they also have lasting, horrifying side effects. I won't go into details because you can all search for yourselves if you don't already know what steroids will do to anybody who uses them too long or too much. Bonds is a major league baseball player. He's supposed to be a role model for younger ball players. He's showing them that, if they want to do well, they should pump drugs into their systems too. And that, sadly, is what will end up being the standard. Eventually, if the MLB commissioner doesn't do something - i.e. actually discipline the players who are busted for steroid abuse - upcoming ball players (high schoolers and college kids) will pretty much HAVE to use steroids just to get a shot at the pros. Otherwise, many of these kids won't be large enough or strong enough fast enough to make the cut.

I'm a Texan. I'm a college student at one of the University of Texas campuses. We actually don't have a football team, if you can believe that. (They killed the football program back in the 1980s because there wasn't enough funding...or something.)So - UT Longhorns all the way. I can't watch the games in person because I live insanely far away from Austin, but oh well. Gotta love 'em anyway

Personally, I prefer to have my standalone MP3 player AND my cell phone. The standalone MP3 player holds a LOT more songs than any of the cell phone/MP3 players that are currently on the market. That will probably change in the future, depending on how far cell phone manufacturers want to go with things, but for right now I prefer having hundreds or thousands of songs on hand.I also dislike camera phones even though I have one (it came free with my cell phone contract - I could either go with this one or pick another, smaller phone...that also has a camera). The image quality stinks. Even my cruddy little Wal-Mart HP digital camera takes better photos than the stupid phone does.

I have to know:What's the big deal? So a girl shaved her head. Britney Spears is hardly the first female to do that. Are people so shocked because Britney's always had long, feminine hair, or is there some other reason?

Join the military. I gained about 30 pounds in six months. It was all muscle, so I didn't have any complaints :POkay, so that's not right for everyone. Like others have suggested, building muscle is a good, healthy way to gain weight. Don't start any bad habits, like overeating or going for fatty foods. Those habits will only come back to bite you later.

I'm trying to feel out the different types of ergonomic keyboards. I've always used this type, but my Mom wants to know what else is out there before she buys one just like mine. By "other types" I mean ergonomic keyboards that would be suitable for lots of typing. Mom writes, sends e-mails, etc. She's not a gamer, for example, so the gaming style keyboards are already off the list

My keyboard is the split, weird looking beast with the hump *grins* I love it: I like the A shape style keyboard, though. It looks comfortable. And only one spacebar instead of my split one! Hey...I just might buy that for myself and let Mom have this one *grins*

My Mom really wants an ergonomic keyboard. Back in the day - as in, when Win98 was the latest OS - she had Microsoft's version. Piece of junk - we burned through two of those stupid things before we figured out how cruddy they are.I like Belkin's input devices. In fact, I'm using one of their ergonomic keyboards right now. It's a good model for the price (under 35 bucks online - can't remember exactly where, though). But, I want to see if anybody has any better recommendations before I make any suggestions to Mom.So...any ideas?

I have "Kissing Families" on my hard drive. I've heard that song several times now but I can't remember anything about it. Meaning, I guess, that it's not my favorite but it's not bad (otherwise I would have deleted it). I'll probably see what else they have out there for me to check out, though.

I'm an awesome girlfriend (when I'm actually dating, anyway) because I don't care for Valentine's Day. Well, I DO care about one thing: the chocolate's half price or less on the day after Valentine's Day, so I usually buy a ton of it and enjoy for the next month or so

I like to get away from everybody else and write in my journal. That usually helps a lot.Soothing music works too. Folk music is good for relaxing. Enya's nice too. (I can't stand her unless I'm de-stressing, though.)Finding something or someone that makes me laugh also works. Fortunately, all four of my sibs are pretty funny people, so I go hang out with them if I need to blow off some stress.

I played classical, acoustic and electric guitar for like 15 years. My Mom started me with lessons when I was 9 or 10. The lessons didn't last long, but I still learned - picked up more chords, learned the scales, that sort of thing.Unfortunately, I was never very good with any guitar and I eventually realized that I didn't really like it. So, a few months ago I officially quit. I've always been a LOT more interested in drumming anyway. So, now I'm learning how to play drums. I don't have my own kit yet, but that's coming eventually (like, once I'm sure that this is what I really want to do).

I've used both and prefer PC. XP does everything that I need. I surf the Internet, work, play games, watch videos, listen to music, blah blah blah - all things that XP does pretty well. I don't need to pay more for a Mac.Your results, of course, may vary. If you can afford a Mac and feel that it's a better choice, then by all means go buy a Mac. Whatever makes you happy

I love watching football (American version!), baseball and hockey sometimes.I'm also a huge XGames fan. I love watching extreme sports but won't try any of them (mostly because I don't have health insurance, hehehe).As for sports that I play: I've played baseball before (still do every now and then when I get a chance) and basketball (not really my thing, though). I like in-line skating sometimes too.

I've used Yahoo! Mail for years now. Before that, I was a Hotmail user. I dumped Hotmail because the servers - back then, I mean - were down a lot. I'm sure that the service has improved since then (otherwise, they wouldn't have nearly as many users as they do now). But, Yahoo! Mail has been awesome for me, so I stick with them.I also use GMail, though. I received an invitation a while back and decided to give it a try, mostly out of curiosity. The service is pretty good. The extra features are really nice, but I don't really feel like changing my primary e-mail account to GMail.

Addiction doesn't have as much to do with the vice as it does the person. I know people who can smoke occasionally - say, once a month - and not even think about cigarettes for weeks afterward. I also know people like me, who are definitely addicted (to the point of smoking a pack a day or more, ever day, no matter what). The same goes for gambling, alcohol...well, anything really. Some people aren't prone to addiction; others are. The fact that tobacco companies add all sorts of junk to their products doesn't help, of course. But there are people out there who would become addicted to smoking dried oak tree leaves. (I would probably be one of those people.)

You might be pleased to know that old school video games are making a comeback - in a big way. A lot of people, especially in my age group (I'm 25) are actively seeking out Atari, NES, Sega, etc. games and consoles. I don't know exactly why other people do it, but I play old school games because newer gaming systems make me sick (literally). I can't even watch my sibs playing anything N64 or later without getting dizzy, so I stick with what I can play

I liked "The Godfather" too. The movie's not quite as good as the novel, but that's usually the case anyway :PMy favorite books, though, would have to be:Most of Stephen King's novels. My very favorites are "Dolores Claiborne" and "The Stand," but I'm also partial to most of his others. He's a gifted writer who keeps things simple, which I like because I get to use more of my imagination. (Whereas some writers give you EVERY little detail, right down to each character's eye color, which is just boring to me.)J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye." I first read this when I was 14 or 15. A lot of people who first read this book later in their lives don't get it, though. It's definitely a teenage angst type of thing, so I can see why you would have to be a teenager to really get into it :DThe Bible. But that sort of goes without saying for me.

I haven't had to repair any of my DVDs (the advantage of keeping them in their original cases) but I've repaired dozens of scratched CDs with Brasso. The idea behind most of the ideas - toothpaste, metal compounds, Brasso, etc. - is that you're buffing away a very thin layer of the disc's plastic coating. This lightens the scratch or removes it completely if it's a light, surface scratch to begin with.The trick with Brasso - other than making sure to use the stuff in a well ventilated area (hehe) - is to buff in the direction of the scratch. You have to be persistent with some scratches. You could buff, clean up, buff again and repeat a few times or more before you actually see any results. But, what do you have to lose? Nothing, considering that if you can't repair the disc you'll have to buy a new one anyway.I started with a throwaway CD that I didn't want (think trial CD-ROMs that show up in your mail). That way, if I messed up, it wasn't a big deal.

I'm a 25-year-old tomboy. I never outgrew wearing mens sneakers, climbing trees, watching football, playing baseball, working on my pickup, blah blah blah - you know, all of the things that "typical girls" don't do.Guys are great. I love guys. Someday I might even marry one. But I'm not in any huge hurry to marry. Even though I'm hardly alone in this, I hear "When are you getting married?" or "Why aren't you dating anybody?" all the time. Uh...yeah. I'm getting tired of that, but I know that a lot of men have to hear the same thing.But even though I'm not "typical," I love being a woman. I'm not a huge fan of periods, but hey...that's not too terrible considering that I could have been born 100 years ago, when not being married by age 25 was downright scandalous