"You hate people like me but you are happy to use me"

"you hate people like me but you are happy to use me" ... it is a quote I paraphrased from Shelley Lubben and am very fond of it. In the case of American Idol's latest controversy, seems apt. Whether it is the blow of relationship revenge or shameless self promotion ... Antonella Barba has shown the true colours of our puerile nature. Presently Antonella Barba is the highest search term in Technorati, ahead of the Oscars, Myspace, Youtube, Britney Spears and Al Gore ... as my friend put it "We are interested in dick sucking, not planet fucking."

While her blow job demonstration was hardly educational the release of this material happens because of society's insatiable appetite for other people's lives. More than the success and celebration of others, we prefer to see them fail. We need to realise that we USE these people. We consume them. Build them up, burn them out then forget them. Think about that before you Google Antonella Barba.

Voyeurism is a practice in which an individual derives sexual pleasure from observing other people. Such people may be engaged in sexual acts, or be nude or in underwear, or dressed in whatever other way the "voyeur" finds appealing. The word derives from French verb voir (to see) with the -eur suffix that translates as -er in English. A literal translation would then be “seer” or "observer", with pejorative connotations.

Also, the word voyeur can define someone who receives enjoyment from witnessing other people's suffering or misfortune.

Are you Asian and Don't Want to be?

This is a 'joke' ... but it also sadly isn't. It was sent to me by a friend of mine and I just couldn't ignore it.

Sexually destructive behavior is a choice whether you are heterosexual or homosexual. Natural orientation isn't.

Stuck on a Plane

I don't like flying much. It isn't that I don't like planes, or heights ... I just don't like airlines.

I have just arrived back in San Francisco after spending the night in my own real life homeless experience, sleeping on the floor of the Chicago OHare airport. I should be grateful really. I got to enjoy the beautiful Chicago hospitality after being stuck on a plane for eight hours ... on the tarmac, going NOWHERE. United Airlines Flight UA 907!

During the eight hours on the plane we were given one muesli bar and two cups of water. No mention was made about the availability of food for purchase or otherwise. We did however enjoy the view of the crew eating, drinking coffee and reading magazines. The staff could only be described as cowardly.

Information was given to us in approx. 90 minute intervals. Each time ... the information was more B.S. Yes it was snowing. Yes it was very unlikely we would be flying - but yet they had a full plane held hostage for eight hours.

We were let off the plane at 12.15am and told that customer service would close at 1am ... no time at all to process a plane load of passengers, no time at all to organise food or accommodation. United Airlines, you gutless, cowardly business. We'd never fly you again, but we like you do know we don't really have a choice, because all the airlines suck.

On the bright side ... it was only eight hours and not the eleven experienced by hundreds of Jet Blue passengers just a few weeks ago.

While writing this post I was directed to this letter of complaint written to United Airlines ... not for those with an aversion to strong language or adult concepts.

"I'm looking for a woman who can make me think, make me laugh and make me come."

In the article The 80 per cent relationship, Sam de Brito discusses whether or not settling for an 80% relationship is cause for the carnage of divorce and in true crispy style uses a quotation to justify his position from none other than Meatloaf and his "two out of three ain't bad" philosophy. A funny take on the hunt for the perfect relationship.

My thoughts on the causes of divorce (I've done it a couple of times now) ... working too hard, making love too little and having nothing else in your life than a mortgage, pursuit of middle-class wealth, three hours of TV a night ... and the "Good Weekend" on Saturday mornings.

If you can't be happy together when you have nothing, what makes you think you will be happy together when you have all you thought you wanted?

I want a man who will be just as happy eating a Vegemite sandwich under a tree as he is fine dining in Paris... I may just have found him.

Hidden Lives

What do you do when you are alone?

When was the last time you cried?

Unveil yourself at Hidden Lives

Put down the stones people ... Where were you when God found you?

Christianity by Issues ... doctrine of the modern church. This self-righteous religious, political ranting about homosexuality, abortion, prostitution should be embarrassing to anyone calling themselves a Christian.

Are you somehow more worthy of God's mercy because you are not gay?

Are you somehow more deserving of God's love because you are not a prostitute?

I know "the churched" love 1 Corinthians 6 but I think most stopped reading before getting to the the end of the paragraph.

Verse 9
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
Verse 10
nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Verse 11
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

"And that is what some of you were" ... and as the media keeps uncovering everyday "And some still are". Where were you when God found you?

It is only through the blood of Christ and his mercy that any one of us can be right with God. Give mercy ... Get mercy. Judge ... get judged. Put down the stones people.

Jesus Crispies T-Shirt!!

You can get a Jesus Crispies T-Shirt here:

A measure of success ... life as a blank book

There has been much talk of late about the soulless void that has been created in our pursuit of wealth. Many people are awakening to the fact that we seem to have our values upside down. This pursuit of the material has been described as selfishness, perhaps that is a very unfortunate joke. No one suffers more from the pursuit of wealth than the individual sacrificing all other life expression in order to obtain it. How we define success should reflect our whole being. Surely peace of mind, a good night's sleep and joy in life are more desirable than slavery to a mortgage and the admiration of others held in the same slavery of attainment. Obtaining wealth isn't wrong ... but sacrificing everything to obtain it may just be.

Recently, I bought my partner a blank book with the Emerson quotation on the cover.

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!"

Life provides opportunities to make many decisions. Anyone can have a blank book, a clean slate any time they decide to give themselves permission. Decision requires surrender.

What would you do if you decided to start with a blank book? To leave the baggage of yesterday and face each day with hope?

I decided to start my own blank book and this is what I wrote on the first page.

pursue the best for you and do not settle for anything less

do the work you want to do with the type of people you want to work with

make time to play, to share with friends, to give something back

start!

What’s wrong with us? We’ve become nicer than Christ.

God Bless America...

It’s Time for Conservatives to Take Comedy Seriously

"Why can’t conservatives get their comedic act together? The liberals, on a 24/7 basis, are tossing us soft balls that we should be driving out of the park in a humorous, prime time, way. It’s so easy it’s stupid...

...The secular left is an amalgam of mayhem, a veritable Star Wars bar scene, a rogue gallery of freaks, geeks, nuts, sluts, slick politco’s and skanky ho’s—and we’re letting them walk without skewering the living day lights out of them.

What’s wrong with us? We’ve become nicer than Christ."

It is beautiful David Giles, thank you. Whichever side of politics one falls ... from the outsiders perspective it's all funny in a very sad kind of way. I am enjoying the circus of fools.

Domestic Blisters and Caustic Bitches

Domestic abuse.

I lived in a relationship full of domestic violence. I never thought that I would be that woman who didn't leave. I thought I was strong. Fear is real and immobilising. I feared for my life. It wasn't until I was prepared to lose my life rather than to continue living in fear that I had the courage to leave. It had been two and a half years since the abuse first began.

It takes most battered women months or years of abuse to finally summon enough courage to leave or to take the justified action of seeking legal protection through the application of an AVO (Apprehended Violence Order).

As a woman who lived with violence as a frequent occurance, I find it horrific that some women wrongfully use the AVO (set up to cover and protect women experiencing genuine fear and abuse) as their own weapon of revenge and domestic abuse against their partners.

This action can only weaken the protections available victims of domestic abuse and provide amunition to those groups whose agenda is to roll back the legal protections of victims of domestic abuse.