TikiPrincess

Welcome to your awkward teenage years. I had the unfortunate luck of getting glasses, braces, and a really bad perm all at the same time in the 6th grade. You'll want to stick with soft foods the first couple weeks of having braces because your mouth will be sore and cut up because it's not used to all that metal. Eventually, your mouth will get used to it. Hell, I played the saxophone when I had braces. I think they have this wax stuff that you can put around your mouth to make a bit of a barrier against your braces. You should also invest in Carmex. I used to have a bunch of those little jars all over the place. It's a great lip balm, but it also cools, soothes, and heals. It's great on cold sores, which is why my friend suggested it when I got all cut of from my braces. Another piece of advice is to keep using the retainer after you get your braces off. I promptly "lost" mine a few months after I got it, and my dentist says I probably need braces again to straighten my teeth out.

mojoman, please at least read the first thread thoroughly. I explicitly stated, What I'm looking for is ways to improve the quality of the classroom. How do your English and Italian teachers make the classroom into a more relaxed atmosphere? They must assign homework like the rest of the teachers, so are their assignments less stressful or done in a different way that allows you creative expression?As for the teachers who can't teach or are older than dirt, unless they're first/second year teachers or do something really illegal, like being a pedophile, they can't be fired. Once a teacher attains tenure, which changes from district to district, they cannot be fired for what they teach. This is done because sometimes teachers feel the need to teach something controversial, like evolution, sexual education, or even religion, which can sometimes get the school board, parents, or administrators up in arms. But tenure gives teachers the freedom to expand students' minds and explore new possibilities without fear of losing their jobs. However, it also means that dinosaurs who still fight to keep their chalkboards and have taught the same way since before FDR was president will still have a job until they retire. Anyways, I'm really interested in what to incorporate in my classroom and what I should avoid, so please, I'd like some honest and useful input here.

I merely used my parents as one example of people with opposite characteristics that were able to have a relationship despite the differences between them. I think it's rather presumptuous of you to disregard a possible relationship simply on the basis that you think that she might be annoyed by your behavior. Just because she's shy and quiet in public doesn't mean that she can't have all sorts of crazy thoughts going on in her head. Ever hear of the expression "Still waters run deep"? If you want a relationship to last, then try to be as true to yourself as possible because if your posing for her/his sake, then it'll be a real shocker when they discover the real you. Yeah, so you're not going to act the same way around her as you do with your guy friends or whatever, but if you're an active person, then be active.

Interesting to see how your schools across the Atlantic work. When I was in high school (secondary or whatever), we chose our schedules at the end of the year before. The teachers knew what classes they would be teaching and what times, so we just filled out the course number of the classes that I wanted or was eligible to take, kinda like I do with college. Sometimes teachers change, but they just replace the previous teacher's schedule. But I went to a private school, so I know that my experience is different from others.

I've seen lots of threads about how school sucks and people who hate their teachers. As a future teacher myself, this saddens me because it seems that by the time students get around to my classes in high school, they're already apathetic about the education system. I'd like to change some of these preconceptions and reach out to my students to keep them involved and interested in my class. So what do/did you like about school? What makes/made you stay in school and keep going/finish? How can schools make it more enjoyable? What is your most memorable experience in class, good or bad? Please don't say I shouldn't assign homework or schools should make every period lunch. Teachers have to teach a long list of content standards and prepare you for exit exams as well as all the new regulations caused by that No Child Left Behind monstrosity. It has such good intentions, but... well, that's another story. I would love some honest and informative input here that I could possibly implement into my lesson plans and classroom management style to make students actually want to be in my class and hopefully understand and retain the skills that I'm trying to teach them. Believe it or not, information is only a small part of education. Acquiring skills, including social skills, is a large part of the microcosm of the school environment.

ohhhh more monkeys! I love it! My husband and I have called his neice a little monkey since she was little. Even more so now that she's older and has this urge to climb everything. My sis-in-law says that if her daughter doesn't get a chance to climb trees for awhile because it's raining or whatever, then she starts climbing the walls in the hallways and stuff. BTW, Old Navy had coin banks for awhile shaped like monkeys. One was a supermonkey with a mask, cape and a banana.Anyways, welcome to Trap! Mich seems to have already given you the rundown, so I won't repeat the info. Just make sure to follow the rules and don't spam the forums. But feel free to spam comment boxes. Especially Saint_Michael's. He enjoys spam, so do it often. If you have any questions that the README doesn't answer, you're welcome to send me a PM, and I'll try to help you as much as possible or at least point you in the right direction.Welcome again, hope to see you around!

I would actually NOT recommend seeing a romance on the first date. And I probably wouldn't go with a romantic comedy either. Sometimes the situations that the characters get into are a little awkward, and it might be uncomfortable for people who aren't really in a relationship yet. Comedies are great because you can laugh at some of the stuff together, but what if she laughs and you don't or vice versa? There's kind of a pressure to enjoy something, but some people just have different ideas about what's funny. Action/suspense films are good because they're so engrossing. They really draw you into the characters and storyline. Plus you have lots to talk about afterwards. But rather than pick the movie yourself, why not ask her what she'd like to see? Strike up a conversation about movies, or say you were thinking of watching a movie this weekend, but can't decide and ask her which one sounds the best. Then ask if she wants to watch it together. It's less pressure because you're making it seem like you were going to watch a movie anyways, so it's no big deal if she says no. It also makes her see that you value her opinion, which means that you've noticed her, and she might feel more comfortable talking to you without being so shy. Totally not true. My family is very matriarchal, so all the women are pretty loud and rambunctious. And they all seemed to marry very quiet and soft-spoken husbands. There just has to be a good balance and a degree of understanding between the two. Ya know, that whole saying of opposites attract, yin and yang, etc.

Yeah, the weather was pretty weird here in California too. There was a frost in the spring after some rather warm weather, so lots of crops were affected, especially the citrus trees. The smoothie chain Jamba Juice actually added a "burrr charge" to certain drinks claiming that the frost had raised the price of the fruit in those drinks. My neighbor lost her plumerias and we lost a fern because the weather almost never dips to freezing, much less below freezing, around here. The funny thing is that we had more apricots this year than we've ever had before. And the oranges are blooming a little late in the season, but there's so many on the tree right now. One of the fruits is still green, but it split open because of all the juice inside. Really, really odd weather... I'm not sure exactly how this will affect our plants in the long run.

Enlisting and being a career military man are two very different things. It sounds to me like you're planning on enlisting. However, based on the current climate of the war, I would suggest pursuing other avenues. Though I'm a staunch Democrat, I believe only a fool would pull out of Iraq at the moment. It will most likely be a gradual thing, which means you'll probably have to do a tour of duty there. If you're actually interested in a career in the military, I suggest completing your education first. I believe that makes you eligible for officership as a DCO. I'd also suggest the Air Force since two of my cousins are in that branch, and they seem pretty happy there. My older cousin gained some useful skills in telecommunication and got out when the cell phone boom started, so he's been making bank as a contractor for several companies. My other cousin is going the career route and working her way up the ranks. I think she's an E-5 right now, or maybe an E-6, I'm not sure. Plus, she's stationed in North Dakota and hasn't been sent anywhere except Vandenberg for training. Then again, it's North Dakota... well, at least she's not in Iraq!

Isn't there a "pruning" option for old threads in IPB? I never used the function because they were small forums and there weren't a lot of people so it was much easier to moderate, but I seem to recall that you could prune topics that are x amount of days old.

It seems to me that a lot of old threads are being revived by people lately. I was just wondering whether these should be reported as spam if it's no longer relevant, like relationship advice for a thread started two years ago or a computer issue that was posted six months ago.

hehe, some assembly required :PI actually like IKEA for what it is. I've got a dresser and several bookcases from there. Granted, you'll need a higher IQ than a trained monkey to put the furniture together, but it's cheap and functional. Some of my friends don't have the patience or handyman skills to do it, so they hire my husband since he works in maintenance and does a lot of handyman stuff around the house. His dad worked as an electrician and his grandpa worked as a carpenter, so he picked up some stuff from them. Everything else he learned from his job working maintenance at a historic theatre that was built in the 1920s. For stuff that I want to last, I buy from a reputable furniture store. Or I bug my husband's aunt into giving me a discount at her antique store. I scored a lovely Mission-style rocking chair from her last estate auction. It fits perfectly with our little Craftsman Bungalow.

So about 5 years ago, the morning show on my local radio station found out about these two guys that had deemed September 19th as International Talk Like a Pirate Day. That particular date also happened to coincide with the inaugural Vegas bachelor party for our little group of friends. (We've had four weddings since, and the boys have gone partied in Vegas each time to celebrate the demise of the groom's bachelorhood.) Ever since then, my favorite radio station and my group of friends has honored the day. Why talk like a pirate, you may ask? Why not? It's just a fun, crazy thing to participate in and have some harmless fun doing. Walk around saying "Arrrrrrr!" and "Shiver me timbers!" and see who answers back. Try out a piratey pick-up line compiled by the founders of Talk Like a Pirate Day, Cap'n Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket. Or just visit their website to see how it all started and how to get some Pirattitude for the day. We're lucky enough to have a Pirate's Dinner Adventure nearby, but I haven't yet celebrated the day there. It's kinda like Medieval Times except that the stage is a sunken pool of water with a pirate ship as the battlefield. Last year, the morning show broadcast there and let listeners in for free, so I'm hoping they do that this year too. However, my friends and I get together for a dinner night every week. It's something we've done for about 8 years now. The cook rotates each week, so sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not so good (for example the refried bean enchiladas were not very tasty). And the number of people can be as few as three or as many as 15, just so long as we get together to kick back and hang out. This year our dinner night lands on September 19th, with yours truly as the cook for that night. I'd love to cook up a big batch of turkey legs with some jugs of Captain Morgan, but I'm not exactly sure where I'd get a batch of turkey legs. So I think I'm gonna go with jerk chicken, maybe some jambalaya or gumbo, and rum-based drinks because we're not the type to swig straight rum. Yup, we be lily-livered land lubbers.

I have the same problem, so I talked to my hair stylist and doctor about it. There are actually different types of dandruff. Smaller flakes are usually caused by residuals like hair gel and hair spray or if your hair is very oily. The solution would be to wash your hair after using such products or, if it's caused by oily hair, you should actually try to wash your hair less frequently so that your scalp will stop producing excess oil. It'll look greasy for a few months, but once your scalp adjusts, it'll even out. Try not to wear hats or anything that covers your head because much of the heat in your body escapes through your head, and heat tends to increase oil production. This also means that you shouldn't use hot water on your head, so when you wash your hair, try to keep it lukewarm or cold. The other type is caused by something like eczema. You can tell if you have this type because you'll have large flakes of dandruff close to the scalp. Sometimes they can even be as large as the size of a dime. You'll need something stronger than selsun to get rid of this. My stylist suggests Nutrogena's T-Gel, and I've had some success with it, but it can be expensive. You can also try stuff with tea tree oil or peppermint to stimulate the follicles while cooling the scalp. Right now I'm using a medicated shampoo that my doctor prescribed similar to Nizoral. It's actually just the generic version. My doctor said to use it twice a week. It seems to be working since I'm comfortable wearing black clothes.

Picking a college isn't always an easy task, and it sucks that you have to pay an application fee just to be rejected or accepted at a college that you don't really want to go to. Some people have known where they wanted to go for ages, but some people aren't really sure at all. I'm assuming you're a senior, so it might be a little late to do some of the prep work that I'm going to suggest, but it's still possible to do most of this stuff. First, think about whether you want to go away or somewhere close. You mentioned that you can't really afford college even with student loans, so if you go to a college nearby that you can commute to, you can save money on room and board. If you have a major, or an idea of what you'd like to do, then you can also narrow your list by looking into the schools that offer that major. However, I've found that most students go into college undecided or change their major after their first year. But if you have a specific career in mind and you're pretty sure of yourself, then this would be a good way to narrow the list. If you're staying nearby, then that should narrow down the list. Go visit the colleges and see what the atmosphere is like. Take a tour of the facilities and spend some time at the food court. Look around and see what's nearby and whether things are convenient, like parking, food, and gas. Apply to all of them if you can afford it just because you've already limited yourself to those within commuting distance. If you want to go away to college, then you'll have to do a little more work. Decide the type of atmosphere you want to live in. Do you want to live in a big city like L.A., a suburb like Pomona, or a small town like Chico. (Yeah, I live in California, so I'm using the state colleges as examples.) You might want to look at the schools that give lots of grants and scholarships or look into their work-study programs. Surprisingly, lots of private schools give full or nearly full scholarships and the majority of their students are on some sort of financial aid. You probably won't be able to visit the campus, but if you have the opportunity, take it. Then separate your list into dream schools, good chance, pretty sure, and fall backs. Dream schools are the ones you don't think you have a snowballs chance in hell of getting into, but you'd really like to go there. Remember, you have to shell out money for each application, so unless you've always dreamed of going to Harvard, I wouldn't put it on your dream list. Stick with ones you actually would like to go to. Good chance schools are ones that you have a good chance, but you'll probably need to get really good grades and stay on the straight and narrow the whole year. Pretty sure schools are the ones where you can mess up a little and still be sure that you'll get in. They've got a decent academic reputation. Fall back schools are the ones that you're certain they'll accept you and you go there when every other school has rejected you. Your list should be narrowed down enough, but if not, only apply to a few of those dream schools, but at least apply to one just for the off chance that they accept you. Apply to most of your good chance and pretty sure schools. Then apply to a few of your fall back schools. Don't apply to all of them because these are supposed to be the ones that you know you'll get into. Just pick the 2-3 that you wouldn't mind going to. Finally, don't rule out community college. They're usually much cheaper and you can get out all those general ed classes that you're supposed to take the first couple years. Around here, some of the community college teachers also teach at UCLA or CalPoly, so you're getting roughly the same instruction but paying less than 1/10 of the cost. And some schools have agreements with colleges where you're guaranteed a spot into the college or university. Anyways, those are my suggestions. Hope this helps!

If I only had a superpower for one day, I think I would much rather have the ability to multiply myself so that I can be a dozen different places at once. I mean, think of all the things I could get done, places I could go, and things I could see, all in a single day. Sure, if you're invisible, you could spy on people and find out what they really think of you, but you'd have to follow that one person around all day. What a waste of time when you've only got one day to use it! And flying would be interesting, but you can simulate the feeling of flying by skydiving, or hang gliding for the less adventurous. Telekenetic powers are okay if you're Jean Grey, but I honestly can't see myself meddling with other people's minds too much. So the one that seems most practical and the one that I keep wishing I had on a daily basis would be the power to be in a million different places at once.

Seems like a rather old thread to dig up dre, but still relevant and interesting, I guess.Having been born and raised into the Catholic tradition, I was always told that there was a God watching over us and, for a time, I was filled with fear and awe of him. I attended Catholic school during the week and church every Sunday. I joined the choir, gave the readings during Mass, and tried to keep myself from sinning. And one day while I was taking classes to go through Confirmation, my teacher said something that struck a core with me. Her brother-in-law would have been her choice to be her son's sponsor for his Confirmation, but he couldn't because he was Muslim. He was a good person, devout and pious, generous to a T, but he practiced a different faith and so he was condemned. And then I noticed the hypocracy within the Church, the sordid lives of the Avignon popes, the embezzlement scandal with one of the Church leaders as its mastermind, the pastor with his brand new Jag while the church roof continued to leak and the fundraiser never seemed to be enough.I realised that organized religion is flawed because people are flawed and fallible. But religion continues to interest me, and I like to explore the tenets and core documents. I've actually taken a few world religion classes and studied Buddhist meditation for awhile. For now, I don't really believe in the Christian concept of God. I'm not even sure that I believe that such a being exists but not because of proof or lack of proof. I just think that my faith in such things doesn't lay with an external and ethereal power. I'd like to be able to believe in myself and put my faith in the goodness of humanity.But I understand the need for religion and it serves its purpose well. As for God... well, I'd like to think that I would do the right thing because it's the right thing, not for the promise of a heaven or a better life when I reincarnate.

My friend works for Starbucks and can't stand their coffee. She actually goes to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf because their coffee is freshly roasted. But you're right, coffee actually loses flavor within 48 hours of being roasted, no matter how well-sealed the "flavor packaging". You can even store green coffee beans for about a year before they start to lose their potency, but even after that, it simply means that your fresh roasted coffee won't be as tasty as it could have been though it will probably still taste better than anything you'll get at the store. I personally can't have coffee because there's way too much caffeine for me even in decaf, but I love the smell of roasting coffee. I did a little poking around and found a couple websites that explained the process. - BrewOrganic.com gives instructions on how to roast beans on the stovetop, fireplace/barbecue, in the oven, and using a roasting machine. They also have a handy chart about the various degrees of roasting and how that affects the taste. - CoffeeGeek.com gives a step-by-step process on using a popcorn popper. I think he also references a forum where people rate and recommend places to purchase green coffee. - HomeRoasters.org has a rather flimsy instruction section, but it's currently under construction. However, they do have a section of vendors that sell beans and equipment. - SweetMarias.com is what the Wiki based most of their entry on home roasting. It has a variety of information and a wide selection of equipment and materials for roasting coffee, including the beans.

Well, you can now pre-order TimeShift, which will be available for the XBOX 360 and PC in OCT 2007 and on the PS3 in DEC 2007. There's also a TimeShift movie posted on Break.com. It's not gameplay though. It's a live action movie that sets the main character from the game in a modern-day setting. For more screenshots and video of the actual game, visit Sierra's TimeShift website.

I think this would have been a little more interesting and perhaps less confusing if you could describe it in your own words rather than relying on Wiki and How Stuff Works. My mom took a photography class a couple years ago for fun and learned about the basics of photography. She even made a camera out of a shoebox. Basically, you poke a little hole in the center of the shorter side. Next you make sure that all the edges are sealed tight so that no light can come through. Then you go into a dark room and stick in some photo paper on the other end of the shoe box. Cover up the hole so that no light can get through it. Since you can't actually see what you'll be filming, you have to look carefully and try to frame your shot. That's why you'll sometimes see photographers making a square with their hands and looking through it to see what the picture will look like when it's cut off from the surrounding environment. For some reason, the aperture in the box makes things appear upside down, so your photo will actually be upside down. Our eyes actually work the same way, but different things with the cones and rods and stuff in the retina or whatever fix it so that we see right side up. That's why the cameras use mirrors to fix this anomaly. You're relying purely on available light to create an exposure, so it's best to take the picture in bright sunlight. But you also want to make sure that there's not too much light. Key times would be late in the mornings and mid-afternoon for most of the year. If it's winter, you might need the full sunlight of early afternoon. Summer light can last well past late afternoon and provide adequate light for most shots. Once you've chosen your shot and found the right lighting, you need to set your box camera on something stable because any movement will be recorded on the exposure. A tripod doesn't really work very well for this kind of camera, but a stool or any sort of solid surface that won't move is adequate. You'll need to leave the hole open for anywhere between 10 seconds to few minutes based on the amount of light and contrast you want. More time means more exposure, which means a darker picture. Finally you develop your paper. The way film used to work is that there were two strips of different material attached. I think one of them was silver and the other was a photosensitive metal that would burn away as it was exposed to sunlight. This created the greys and shades of contrast in the photo. I'm not sure how modern day cameras work, much less digital, but this is what my mom learned while she was taking her class, and she was so excited about making her own camera that she was kind enough to share the information with me.

OK, I'm probably the last person who needs to be starting this topic, but it's one of the conversations that got brought up during my friends' Labor Day party.So what constitutes as "cheating"?One of my friends, a guy, says that it's not cheating unless you get caught. Then you have to suffer the repercussions of your actions and how far you took it. If you get caught kissing and your partner thinks that's as far as you've gone, then that's the only thing you have to atone for.Another friend, a girl, believes that intention is all that's needed to be considered cheating. Her example was that if she were dating one guy, and she goes to a club and flirted with someone else and tries to make someone else want her by flirting with him, etc. even if nothing physical passes between them, then that's cheating in her book.Obviously there are as many definitions of cheating as there are relationships. Each person has their own barometer of the behavior they expect from their partner, and it may change from partner to partner. In my opinion, neither of the two definitions given is satisfactory to me. The guy's is far too lax and the girl's is far too strict for me. I'm a flirt, and I like dancing and innuendo while my husband doesn't really enjoy dancing and doesn't mind that I dance with other guys. But I still consider something like kissing another guy on the lips as cheating.So I pose the question to you all, where does flirting end and cheating begin?

Welcome to the Trap, Michael! My friends came back from their trip to the Great Barrier Reef about a month or so ago, and they told me that it was the second coldest winter in Australia this year. We're a pretty fun community as long as you follow the Board Rules which are found in the Xisto Readme. That also answers most questions that you need to know about things like Hosting Credits, Member Ranks, and The Xisto Story. There are several musicians here, and I think a few have posted audio links. And there's a wealth of information on programming and programming languages. Saint_Michael posted a tutorial of how to build your own computer based on his class. Aside from that, there's a plethora of topics to choose from. If you can't seem to find anything that you'd like to respond to, and sometimes that happens, amazingly enough, you can always start your own thread. If you think that the forums could be improved in some way, there's even a suggestions thread. Of course, like most suggestion boxes, it may take awhile for change to occur, but changes have been made based on member suggestions. If you're still unsure about something after reading the Readme, just send me a PM and I'll try to point you in the right direction. I've got most of the basics down, but there's still a lot about Trap that I've yet to discover. And the mods and most of the older members are generous enough to guide noobs through the forums. Anyways, welcome again!

Yeah, we had a run of 113 degree weather for about 5 days straight, but this was after a week of the temp hovering between 98 and 102. My friends threw a labor day barbecue and we ended up playing a game of badminton with the sprinklers running. It felt so nice to have the cool underground water splashing on us, but then the grass started getting all soft and squishy. I was wearing a t-shirt over my bikini, so I actually didn't mind when they turned the water off since my shirt had already gotten soaked and evaporation is a cooling process. They also didn't heat up their jacuzzi, so it was a tepid 85-90 degrees when we got in warmed only by the sun. Usually that feels like a lukewarm bath, but with a nearly 20 degree difference to the air temp, the water felt nice and not nearly as shocking as the 60 degree temp of the Pacific Ocean at the beaches this weekend.Thankfully, the heatwave has finally broken. It was overcast this morning and the temp is supposed to rise to the mid-90s. I think that I saved my food from the freezer in time. The majority was frozen solid before the power went off. The only things that were kinda thawing out were the hot dogs since I'd been pulling them out everyday to use them as frozen popsicles for my dog during the heat wave.

My friend started dating a girl when she was 17 and he was 23 or 24. And they got a lot of flack from friends and family for dating, but they stuck it out and got married just before her 21st birthday. But not even a year later, they're having marital problems. They have different views of the world and they're coming from different places in their lives. But that's just one couple, and there are probably several examples of happy couples with huge age gaps between them. I have to agree with rayzor on this. Male hormones peak around adolescence and teen years and are difficult to control. And mature or not, she's going to do things that she isn't really ready to do because she wants to please you because that's what she's been conditioned to do by society and the media. I just think that most people aren't really ready to date until they're mature enough, and that varies from person to person. I started dating and being sexually active when I was 15, and I wasn't anywhere near ready to deal with the psychological implications of that kind of intimacy. As for men dating a woman older than you, I think there's less of a stigma against it. But you still have to deal with some of the same issues. An older woman will have a different world view and their intentions are hardly any purer than an older man courting a younger woman.