What is your passion?

The ClubHouse: The Game II - Mysterious Puzzler: Discussions/Challenges: What is your passion?

Ocean_Islands

Friday, January 26, 2001 - 06:16 pm Click here to edit this post

One of my passions is photography. I hope to share some with you soon.

Ocean_Islands

Friday, January 26, 2001 - 06:17 pm Click here to edit this post

http://www.icp.org/

Juju2bigdog

Friday, January 26, 2001 - 06:54 pm Click here to edit this post

Hi Ocean, I was going to post in the personals thread, but I think I will put it here. I write little stories about everyday occurrences. Here is one I wrote in late 1999:


MARRYIN' OFF MOMMA

This is a true story of Bigdog's mother, born 1904. We call her Momma. Bigdog was a change of life baby, so he is not so old as his mother’s date of birth might lead one to believe. Momma’s first husband, Thomas, Bigdog's father, died in about 1982. In 1989 at age 85 Momma remarried Duncan, and we all thought that was cute as could be. They had about nine good years together and then Duncan just wore out, died last year. Last year, just when we thought Momma was getting ready to go into a nursing home, and indeed Momma’s sons were engaged in looking for a suitable place for her, she announced she would not be going to a nursing home after all, as she was getting married again.

Bigdog and I decided we better not miss the wedding, so we both took off from work Friday and Monday and flew to Little Rock and rented a car. Flew through Dallas Fort Worth with a plane change. As one must do in DFW, we got off the plane and RAN to the next gate even though we had an hour to change planes and just made it. Spent Friday night with Juju's former work colleague Little Rock, Arkansas, then drove to Momma's house in the foothills of the Ozarks, arriving mid-afternoon. We got to meet the groom, Mark S. We like to joke that Momma calls him Marcos because she cannot remember his name. Truth is, she calls him Duncan and Thomas AND Marcos, but he doesn't care. He can't hear so well anyway, so it doesn't bother him. And he can't see so well, so he can't read her lips.

Bidgdog's older brother and wife and their adult daughter arrived late Saturday afternoon, but not in time to meet their new daddy. Seeing as how he is legally blind, Marcos had to leave before it got dark, so he could drive himself home. He came back the next morning before the wedding to see if he passed inspection. Momma got him down and spiffed him up, and it was off to the church.

The wedding took place during the regular Sunday morning church service in the Presbyterian church. Ceremony went quite well. Momma stumbled a little bit going up the steps to the altar but nobody noticed because one of her four bridal attendants, all age ten and under, was falling down right behind her. The four girls were all daughters of the granddaughter of Momma's mother's brother. (Genealogist readers, please furnish the nomenclature.) The church folks sprang for cake and coffee and punch, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house (the other widows all crying that Momma had scarfed off yet another of the area's eligible bachelors).

After the reception, the groom treated a party of thirteen to lunch at Jim and Judy's Diner in Franklin, Arkansas. Special was chicken fried steak or pork roast, mashed potatoes and gravy and corn and rolls. Let's just say lunch for thirteen cost around about as much as lunch for two in San Francisco.

And that's about it. Oh yes, y'all are wondering how old Marclos is. He is 89, will be 90 in January. He was a consultant to the foundry business, traveled a lot in his working life. Also piloted his own plane. He's not after Momma's money. She doesn't have any. She might be after his, can't tell if he has any.

Ocean_Islands

Friday, January 26, 2001 - 09:11 pm Click here to edit this post

I'm please to introduce my website to the public at large.

I'm sorry I couldn't invite you all to the reception, however there weren't enough hors d'oeuvres to go around!

http://www.geocities.com/paris/chateau/1757

Misslibra

Friday, January 26, 2001 - 10:26 pm Click here to edit this post

Very sweet story JuJu, you still have time to write since being in the house ?

OI, I like your site !


My passions change from month to month just about. I get bored easily. And wont stick to any one thing for very long. I like doing crafts, making dolls, I also love to sew. But since getting my computer I haven't been doing any of that. I'm sure I'll go back to it one day, if I can just pry my hands off of this keyboard !

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 06:38 am Click here to edit this post

Ocean, those were great. I was going to marvel at how quickly they opened too, but then they slowed down to a standstill. I only got to see all of the Chicago and the fire engines in Montpelier. I liked Chicago, the golden city best of the ones I saw, although I liked them all. Do you mostly do cityscapes and architecture? I will go look at the rest later (hopefully), and look forward to the ones of Hawaii and Florida.

MsLibra, no, I have been neglecting my writing in here. I have quite an extensive network of friends and relatives that I send stories to. The past week they have been sending anxious inquiries to me and Bigdog wanting to know if I am sick. Yes, I am sick, real sick, got imaginary house-itis. Got caught up last night (while y'all were flailing away on gun control) just enough to reassure some of them I am still alive.

Ocean_Islands

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 06:48 am Click here to edit this post

Some of the photographs are quite large, it's true. The ones of Grand Central Terminal are over 1MB each. Most photos are from travel, I guess.

I'd love to read more of your stories Juju!

And I'd like to hear more about people's passions.

What are you passionate about?

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 08:27 am Click here to edit this post

Oceah, Oh! I wasn't even thinking about size as being a factor in the time it takes them to open, but of course it is. I just thought my computer was doing yet another mysterious thing. LOL.

I'll go finish the photos and then I'll look for another story.

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 11:55 am Click here to edit this post

Okay, Ocean, got back to the pictures. It really WAS my computer doing wacky things. This time they opened with little difficulty. very nice, but it sure looks cold temperature-wise in those photos.

And arrrrgggggghhhhh, I got a really cute little picture today that I decided to post on a website for the house guests' enjoyment, but I am not very experienced at doing that. Went first to homestead.com and tried to do it there. Homestead takes forever, so I cancelled out of there and went to geocities, which turns out to be yahoo. so I initiated the web page for photos there and waited for all the stuff to load, then went and got my picture, then waited for it to load, and lo and behold, it won't take it because it is a .bmp and not a .gif. Nothing is ever easy, is it? wasted a whole hour there. and I even translated the caption on the photo from spanish to french just for Ocean. Maybe I will get some more time or energy later. It really is quite a cute pic. I suppose I can probably use whatever rudimentary photo editing program I have on this computer to change it from a .bmp to a .gif.

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 12:02 pm Click here to edit this post

Here is a rather ordinary little story from September 1999, San Francisco. audience for these was families and friends.

SATURDAY WALK IN THE PARK

We needed to do a big walk today because we did too much car riding yesterday. On the other hand, it is apparently opening day of football season and some of us needed to sit around and watch television. We had a game that started at ten our time and another at one. Am told both our teams lost pretty bad. Oh well, good thing we got our big walk in.

Headed out at 11:30 to walk to the sub shop, which is about three to three and a half miles away, across Golden Gate Park and almost to the other end of it. Once we got to the park we ended up commingled with some people doing City Walk, a seven mile walk to benefit something or other. A lot of them were outwalking us, and we walk pretty fast. Turns out they were at the end of the seven mile walk.

Okay, go past the buffalo paddock in Golden Gate Park. They have a new little electric fence up inside the paddock where it adjoins the fence to keep out the public. Have the buffalo been charging the bystanders? Bystanders been feeding the buffalo funny brownies? Don't know. On to Spreckels Lake where the remote control boat hobbyists ply their craft. Guy has a really cute boat. It is a ferry boat, complete with a load of cars and people. Even has running lights.

And whoa, here's a new thing. Drinking fountain made of stainless steel with a little bowl on the ground that you can push a button and run water into. For really short joggers? Or to keep people from letting their dogs use the higher up people spigots?

We hear a bunch of loud music, maybe a live band, and cross the street to get a better look and listen as we pass it. Oh. It is for heart and lung transplant people. We take a run down there, scare them, and offer them some cigarettes. Okay, not really. This turns out to be what the benefit walk is for. Across the street is a pure white bird sitting on a low branch next to the sidewalk. It does not fly away even though we are quite close. Juju thinks it is a dove watching over the heart and lung transplant people, and Bigdog thinks it is a stupid white pigeon, rat with wings.

Next we come upon a set-up for a film crew shoot. They have white reflective panels set up for lighting and some potted palms surrounding a large eucalyptus tree that is decorated with a couple dozen bright blue butterflies. Two other trees have bright blue cardboard squares attached to them. Don't they shoot things as blue when they are going to insert other images into the footage? Should have gone over and asked what they were shooting.

Walked past the mysterious stream that seems to flow uphill. Go through the arboretum and find a bizarre tree, called something like a bunga bunga tree from Northeast Australia. It is a very large tree, and all its leaves are like thorns and every piece of trunk and branch has these thorn/leaves coming out of it. Help me out here, Cuz Chairfree from OZ.

Get to the sub shop around 12:30, and it is looking good for getting home by one for the second game. We are taking the sandwiches to go. But no, the 44 bus does not come, and we are still across from the sub shop at 1:05. On the other hand, we had time to discover that the sub shop also has pretty good fries. Take the 44 through the park and transfer to the 38 at Geary and 6th. Got home about 1:45. Not too bad, unless one is worried about missing a football game.

Spamgirl

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 12:02 pm Click here to edit this post

Browsers don't know how to display any images other than .gif and .jpg (and some can do .png, but not very well yet)

Ocean_Islands

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 12:25 pm Click here to edit this post

Would you be talking about your passions Spamgirl?

Spamgirl

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 12:31 pm Click here to edit this post

I suppose :) My passion would be web design... flash design, especially... although I never have time to truly sit down and do something incredible... always so rushed! Like with the fan sites - I didn't have time to enjoy them all, so they all ended up pretty half-assed... ah well :)

I did some really neat flash work for a company called NewMindsets, but because of an NDA, I'm not allowed to share it :( Such is life :)

Ocean_Islands

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 12:55 pm Click here to edit this post

Always so rushed? From appearances it looks like you're in front of your computer all day! :)

Spamgirl

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 01:11 pm Click here to edit this post

ROFL Yes OI, but I'm working too... I mean, it seems I don't work... but I do, too much even... and I'm constantly tech support for a huge number of people :) and I volunteer for DE and run about, gosh, more than 10 mailing lists for them that I have to administer... plus I deal with the email to about 3 organizations (i.e. read it, delete spam, reply to what I can, forward on to people, deal with membership requests, etc. etc.)... the reason I'm here all day long is becuase I HAVE to be... in fact, if I'm not, my husband is (during the day, anyways)... the sound of my email alert is like the call of the wild for me ... and it's constant

So yes, the fun stuff is rushed... posting here takes like 30 seconds per post, so I can slide it in between work...

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 03:39 pm Click here to edit this post

Okay, Ocean (and others), I finally managed to make my crappy little one picture webpage. Here it is: http://www.geocities.com/juju2bigdog/misc.html

Ocean_Islands

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 03:44 pm Click here to edit this post

You are such a scream Juju! I loved it!

Ocean_Islands

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 03:53 pm Click here to edit this post

By the way, if anybody has any .bmp files they need changed to any other format, please let me know. My laboratory will be happy to assist (we've budgeted for public aid).

Spamgirl

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 03:58 pm Click here to edit this post

ROFL

or you could go to http://www.ryansimmons.com/users/irfanview/english.htm and download iview - it's extremely small, quick download, and easy to use. It not only converts graphics, but is also a wonderful slide show tool (you can view every file in a directory with it)... it's an INCREDIBLE program!

"IrfanView is a very fast FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) 32-Bit graphic viewer for Windoze 9x, Windows NT and Windows 2000.

The first graphic viewer WORLDWIDE with Multiple (animated) GIF support One of the first graphic viewers WORLDWIDE with Multipage TIFF support The first graphic viewer WORLDWIDE with Multiple ICO support"

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 05:03 pm Click here to edit this post

I managed to change from .bmp to .jpeg with just the PictureIt! software that came with this computer. considering I don't know what I am doing anyway, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

Spamgirl

Saturday, January 27, 2001 - 11:07 pm Click here to edit this post

When you get down to it, my real passion is bdid.com ... ever since the first time i saw a baby with anencephaly (born without a brain), I just knew i had to help... so I started researching, and began the site...

daily I recieve pleas from people, from "could you get me more information on this disorder" to "I'm being charged with child abuse and I need information to prove the effects of this syndrome"... in fact, once I helped a woman with the diagnosis of her child (yes, I make it VERY CLEAR that I am not a doctor, and I didn't diagnosis the child myself) by supplying all the information I could on disorders which resembled the symptoms she and her children exhibited... she took this information to her doctor, who in turn did the correct genetic testing... the child abuse charges she had against her were then dropped as it was proven that her child had a disorder that caused subdural hematomas (bleeding of the brain), and it wasn't Shaken Baby Syndrome...

That is my passion. Helping families and even people with these disorders find information (or support groups or specialists or diagnoses or, or, or...) that can make their lives both easier and more hopeful.

Juju2bigdog

Sunday, January 28, 2001 - 08:33 am Click here to edit this post

Spam, it never ceases to amaze me how you find the time to do all the things you do.

Juju2bigdog

Sunday, January 28, 2001 - 08:39 am Click here to edit this post

Ocean, I was going to try to transfer these over to geocities, because homestead is so slow, and also for other reasons, but I couldn't do it. Has to do with format again, and I just don't have time to mess with it. Anyway, this is just to show you here is an area of the country that is a photographer's dream, if you have not already been to the Pacific northwest U.S. and B.C. Canada.

www.judykandted.homestead.com/bellingham.html

Ocean_Islands

Sunday, January 28, 2001 - 08:44 am Click here to edit this post

Juju's site link

Great pictures. My brother lives in Seattle so I have been up in that area, including Vancouver BC.

Azriel

Sunday, January 28, 2001 - 08:46 am Click here to edit this post

Juju, everyone knows how versatile spam is! She's also the life of the party! You should have a
Spam Party

Elitist

Sunday, January 28, 2001 - 05:04 pm Click here to edit this post

Ocean this is tough cause I have a few.

First of course is my kids, but that is enough said about that.

Second is for helping couples adopt children. When my wife and I went through it the first time we had nobody to turn to and went it alone. We vowed if we could help anyone else we would. We have been fortunate to help 10 to 12 couples through their adoption experience, and in turn they helped us through our second.

I also have a passion for games - not video stuff, but real strategy, thinking, and role-playing games. Yeah I was one of those college kids that used to play Dungeon and Dragons back in the late 70s/early 80s.

I also really enjoy music, especially singing. I sing all the time, some people think I am nuts when I vocalize a little bit too loudly.

I've got more, but you get the idea :)

Juju2bigdog

Monday, January 29, 2001 - 03:18 pm Click here to edit this post

A couple of small stories:

EARTHQUAKES

Our first earthquake 8-17-99

At 6:06 p.m. tonight we are eating dinner and listening to news of the devastation of the earthquake in Turkey. All of a sudden the house starts shaking, and there is no mistaking what is going on. This is no big bus or truck going by. I would estimate it lasted about 5 to 7 seconds. Ted had a sensation of going side to side, while I had a sensation of going up and down several times.

There has been practically nothing on television BUT the earthquake ever since it happened, and it is now more than an hour later. (Pre-empting Jeopardy, Hmmmmmpff!) They are saying it was a 5.0, centered in Bolinas, which is north of the Golden Gate bridge, probably about 4 miles from us as the crow flies. We are about three miles inland from the San Andreas fault at our house. Out here, the fault runs about three miles offshore, probably goes back under land at about Bolinas.

We did not have any damage. Hooey! That sure was scary. Especially with the descriptions of the Turkey devastation playing on the television. We just sort of held our breath waiting to see if it got better or worse. Luckily, it got better rather than worse. Okay, I am ready to retire now.


Jumpy 9-18-99

Oh, panic and big news in the bay area tonight. As I was reading e-mails earlier, and later reading the paper, say around 5-5:30, I could hear these explosions going off. Didn't feel like an earthquake, now that we really know what an earthquake feels like. But something BIG sure was going on out there. You would hear one every few minutes. I finally asked Ted if he could hear it, and he said it was just on the news that it is thunder. THUNDER?! We don't have thunder out here! Particularly not in September. So that has been big news all evening, with the newsies interviewing various people and asking them what they thought it was. A school teacher said her kids were scared as they had never heard thunder. Oh yes, we in the bay area are a jumpy lot!

Ocean_Islands

Monday, January 29, 2001 - 04:25 pm Click here to edit this post

They don't have thunder??? How sad!

Juju2bigdog

Monday, January 29, 2001 - 06:31 pm Click here to edit this post

Nope, no thunder in the san francisco bay area. Well, you don't really know you are missing it if you never hear it. It's not until you do hear it and don't know what it is that you miss it.

Guruchaz

Thursday, February 01, 2001 - 12:47 pm Click here to edit this post

Right now, my passion is being on the internet it seems. I enjoy travelling to new places and experiencing new surroundings, but that just hasn't been much of an option lately. There are so many parts of the world that I want to see and experience before I cease to exist.

The thought of seeing the Pyramids, Stonehenge, and Easter Island and the experience of going on an African safari, seeing Australia and Europe and the Orient, and taking a private gondola in Venice are all passions of mine. Of course, I certainly wouldn't want to experience all of this alone.

Azriel

Thursday, February 01, 2001 - 01:15 pm Click here to edit this post

Gu, that is one of my unfulfilled passions, too. I want to travel and see the places I've only read about and dreamed about.

Juju2bigdog

Thursday, February 01, 2001 - 01:37 pm Click here to edit this post

Um, I guess I am doing the travel part now. Of course, if you want to skip the time and expense, you can just visit Las Vegas for that gondola ride and the skyline of New York and the pyramids and the Eiffel Tower, etc. Some people hate Vegas. I am in the camp that thinks it is outrageously appealing. (I don't gamble) Hey, I saw a pretty darn good replica of the Palace of Versailles Hall of Mirrors in a hotel there.

Guruchaz

Thursday, February 01, 2001 - 02:00 pm Click here to edit this post

I've only been to Vegas twice and I don't remember gambling much on the second visit. There are just way too many other things to do there.

I feel another happy thought. I'll use Merlin's teleport spell and go over there...

<poof>

Merlin

Sunday, February 04, 2001 - 06:08 pm Click here to edit this post

I have had to thing about this topic for a while. My first response was that my passion exists around young people. Then my thoughts were there must be something else, like fishing, diving, reading, etc. It still comes back to young people. It is the only thing I will *give* my time to besides family and my business.

First would be an explanation of how I am using the phrase "young people". This phrase includes anyone from birth to the end of the teen years. I have chosen to try to avoid the terms kids, and children. The reason why is, I see what is normally referred to as kids or children as actually being young people.

I had the tendency to see childhood as a preparation for life. Now I see childhood is life. A young person is not getting ready to live, that young person is living. Instead of me looking at a child and wondering what are they are going to be, I look at them as already being.

There is a business that is a profit based organization and inside this particular company I assist in producing seminars that are directed toward young people. The company prefers to not use the term volunteer as the word has its connotations and they like to use the word assist. This company has a program that was created for adults and has been modified to include young people. The reason I assist is this program would not be available to young people because the organization does not make the large profit that comes with the adult program. All of the individuals that work with the young people are volunteers. If you are picking up a complaint on my part about this, you are correct. This organization goes for the profit, but what is available is a program that I consider very valuable for anyone and especially for young people.

What can young people get out of this program? I have seen teens that were positive that something was wrong with them because their parents divorced and the divorce was the young persons fault. I have seen one young girl who was in a boating accident and her father drowned saving her and felt completely responsible for his death. I have seen young people male and female who have been molested and felt that they were responsible for what happened to them, that what happened was their entire fault. The best thing I have seen is when these same young people realize it was just a story in their minds about what they saw happening at the time and when they can look at it in a different perspective it gives them a freedom they have not had in a long time. Herein lies my passion.