25 Mar 2008 9:09 PM

...my heart is heavy, my tears flow, my stomach quesy, as i am missing a gentle, kind, and faithful friend. I knew Joe (aka "watcher") for a year and a half. He left this life today, March 25.

...he had enough pain of his own to bear and yet selflessly listened. He was a good listener...quiet, yet spoke when he had something to say. When he spoke it left a warm and loving impression on your heart. I always admired him for that.

...Joe stepped in to comfort me at times when it meant the most...such as when a handful of members tried to do me harm with gossip. He provided the necessary proof of authenticity for my paintings needed when Tal-Lou (aka Talula, RubyRed, Portvalelady, etc) tried to make everyone think they were fakes (i had sent joe a donation check to help him start his website and he compared the signature from the check with my signature on my paintings).. That brought an end to it. Joe repeatedly encouraged me to allow him to repost the images on his website. He kept them all in his file. One time my hard drive died and all my copies on there, of my paintings, were gone. Some of the paintings i had sold so i had no other copies. But Joe had them still in his files and sent them to me. You have no idea how much that meant to me.

Joe told me, "i believe in you...you have always held a special place in my heart". Those were his last words to me. I know many held a special place in his heart...he had a big heart.

...a true friend.

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21 Mar 2008 6:57 PM

OK......i'm no expert so comments are welcomed but first off all, personal computers (PC) run slow because of all the websites you've ever clicked on and things your computer has saved that you don't want anymore...first thing is to clean it all up.

I do this daily:
...open Internet explorer,find tools,Internet options, then delete files,cookies, history,delete all,you must trust me on all of this. Doing this only deletes temporary files that your computer saved without your knowledge.
...find days to keep history,I'm sure you have it on 20 or 21,every time you visit a web page this stays on your hard drive,that's why pages take so long to load,Because its searching your hard drive......put it on zero.
OK that's cleaned a little.

...download a free virus scanner like ad-ware. A computer needs baby sitting and has to be cleaned up regularly...at least 2 times a week.

EXTRA TIPS:
...also you can add some more ram to your computer. ram is your "water pipes"... if its not big enough for the things you are using then, your computer slows down. Just buy more Ram for your computer...the more RAM the faster your computer should start up or run programs.

...move some of your songs to a CD so you can free up space on the 

...you can disable startup programs. Start, Run
type in msconfig...be careful and don't disable any Microsoft System files.

...delete stuff you don't want from you mailbox...especially attachments (photos, songs, jokes, etc that take up lots of MB


THINGS YOU SHOULD DO ONLY IF YOU UNDERSTAND IT:

I've never done this but just learned that i should:
...next click start,all programmes,accessories,system tools,disk clean up...do both drives.
...next click start again,all programmes,accessories,system tools,disk defragment,analyze both c and d to see if they both need a defragment.

Here's more you can do but you must be careful not to disable programs you want (but if you do you can always go back and enable them again...you might want to leave this to a professional if you don't understand it:
...you can click run, in run type in msconfig...here is your system configuration,which show you what programmes are starting up,be careful not to disable what you don't recognize or what you want to keep...,you will see in there for instance...look around to see what you want to start up or not...?
3w's dot spybot dot info/en/index dot html

I don't understand this but someone told me you can do this...don't if you don't understand what you're doing though:
...go into Start - run - type in Prefetch, select all, delete then go into start - run - type in %temp%, select all, delete. They said they learned this from someone they called in regards to their Dell computer running slow. She does this every once in a while.

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17 Mar 2008 10:55 PM

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY everyone!
(it's still St Patrick's Day here in America... australia is a day ahead)

I was told I'm Scotch-Irish but then I was also told some English and French too. But for today, I'm Irish....aren't we all??? ...Cheers!

I LIKE BEING IRISH FOR A DAY

I like emeralds and I like isles.
I like Singing Irishmen with those bluuuuue eyes mmmm.
I like how irish eyes are smiling.
And I like a morn in spring.
I love Wild Irish Roses.
I don't like Guinness...but i do like Irish Coffee in a sugared glass with fresh whipped cream and the delicious warmth that could chip away the iciness of the harshest March wind.
I just like saying Finnigan.
I like Irish Setters.
And I like fresh greens.
I like living in the country and warm gentle rains.
But I hate snakes.
I like luck...especially when i see a snake.
I don't particularly like parades. As a spectator, I can't get a clear vantage
point, and as a participant, my clearest vantage point is generally of the
jiggly arse of the person in front of me.
I like doing an irish jig to work off those yummy little irish potatoes.
And I like Riverdance.
I like rainbows and pots of gold.
I like to pick out the candy charms from the Lucky Charms Cereal box.
And I dated a Notre Dame (the fighting irish) football quarterback named Coley O'Brian (but I wasn't a football fan)

So here's a toast to all my friends who like to be Irish for one day....Cheers, anna

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16 Mar 2008 11:18 PM

Hi friends, one and all....

...hopefully, this will be a helpful piece of advice for the day....i find it helpful to

try to remember that this is Overfifties...that means that some of our members

are on medications that may sometimes make them act in an angry, hurtful

way...in a way that is not who they really are (and no, im not on any

medications myself and am healthy at the moment...but it can happen to any of

us at any time). Alcohol consumption is another factor (some people get silly

drunk but some can be quite beligerant).


...therefore, try not to take anything too personally. Instead, maybe choose to

pray for their recovery. It's a hard thing not to lash back at times...that only

makes things worse. I know from personal experience that i want to defend

myself but that doesn't help. Don't let them run you off though...it's often the

medication talking. Admin's advice is to ignore any negative comments and that

works best.


...if we all choose to ignore it completely, it will usually fizzle out in short

order...but above all, don't take anything to heart from those who are negative.

Then we will all enjoy a healthy, happy environment here.


...enjoy the day, anna

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25 Feb 2008 7:56 PM

...i went to a Contemporary Folk Art Show today at Fearrington Village in North Carolina set in the countryside on a farm of oreo cows and whirleygigs. As my mother, sister, i, and my dog max (who sat front row center in the car as usual) drove down the country lane to the parking lot, i spotted the artist's cars that were all whimsically painted and objects glued on...every nook and cranny covered...and i knew i was in for a treat.

...oh my, was the folk art show an eyeful! I was not all that excited to go as i was expecting to see all these common arts & crafts like woven potholders and fridge magnets made from popsicle sticks but noooooooooo wayyyyyyyy. These artists painted on old doors and chairs, on tar paper, ties, shoes, and clawfoot bathtubs. They had glued on found objects and welded together quirky sculptures.

...first, i laid eyes on "Sam the Dot Man" who was written up in Smithsonian Magazine with his photo too. What a character! He looked like a black uncle sam but his hat and clothes and even his shoes were painted with dots and children, skies, trees and all sorts of folk art images and sayings...every inch was covered. One of his art pieces said "If We All Hold Hands We Can't Fight".

...but my favorite piece was a large collage/painting created by "Missionary Mary Proctor". She had many sayings from her Grandma but this one really grabbed me. She had glued on many broken pieces of plates, that had the old "Blue Willow" design on them, onto the dresses of her grandma and herself as a child. Then wrote this on the side in her own printing:

I remember when i was a child
i broke my grandma old willow blue plates.
I thought she would whip me.
Instead she held my hands
And said i forgive you
Cause just the other day
God forgave me
And He said one must forgive
To be forgiven.

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