The Giving Tree

Have you heard about a blog called The Giving Tree? I've nominated it for Best Charity Blog at Blog Net Awards.

Michelle, the blog's author was inspired by her favorite childhood book, Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. She has made a very ambitious goal to give in some way every day in 2009 for the simple joy of giving joy, and she is sharing her experience with her readers not for credit or accolades, but instead to highlight the simple blessings that are reaped along the way. She gives to reputable charities and through simple acts of kindness to those in her path. Please check out her blog, I know it will inspire you to look differently at the small charitable opportunities you might be missing everyday.

After you've checked out Michelle's blog, The Giving Tree, I hope you'll stop by Blog Net Awards and vote for her blog and comment. Voting is easy. Click How to Vote On Blog Net Awards for instructions on how to vote.

Voting is still open for March. Please click Blog Net Awards to vote for The Giving Tree.

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

How To Handle Online Community Death Notifications

"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." - Mark Twain

To everyone concerned about my glass eating incident (how bad does that sound? Sounds almost trailer trashy, doesn't it?) I am perfectly fine. So far. Knock on wood. I just really wanted to quote Mark Twain, how often do you get to do that?

You wouldn't believe the trouble I had concocting the subject line. I didn't want to scare anyone into thinking the worst about me.

In my blog hopping, email checking and online newspaper reading this morning I came upon this AP article, Death Leaves Online Lives In Limbo. The article talks about what happens to a person's online life when they die. Not only online gamer sites, but social networking and blogs as well. How do family members notify their dearly departed loved one's online community?

The article offers several options, including several services which offer to maintain and encrypt information and allow it to be accessed by whomever you specify. Suggestions were also offered to leave a listing of sites and passwords with a trusted family member or friend.

The services charge an annual fee, sometimes quite high, as much as $30 a year. Kind of taking advantage don't you think? The other suggestion, I don't know that it would work for me. I've given Anastasia my passwords several times, but she still couldn't log into my email if she wanted to because she can't remember them. Not high on her list of priorities. I can't even get her to remember where the wills are, let alone what my passwords are.

I know I've come across a couple of bloggers, not anyone I've known or followed, who have passed away from cancer and they had bloggie friends who were also real life friends and those bloggie/real life friends kind of notified everyone via a chain of blog posts throughout the blogosphere. That's completely doable, if you have bloggie friends who are also real life friends.

What about you? I don't know about you, but this is not something I've ever thought of. What would you do?

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Fun Friday

Stephanie over at Rocket Scientist just started a new blog Ask Me Anything. She has given me the honor of having my question answered first. It was a real doosey. Check it out: Ask Me Anything - For Lola: Swallowing Broken Glass. Be sure to come back and comment here.

Yes, I am fine, and no, I did not do it on purpose so as to be her first question. And no, I was not practicing up for a job with the circus when it comes to town.

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Being that St. Patrick's Day is coming up, and that some of us like to celebrate early, I thought I'd post this a little early.

Anastasia and I are both Irish. In theory, we should both be serious drinkers, however we are not. I'm not trying to perpetuate a negative stereotype, I'm just saying, within our own families I am stating a fact. In any case, in the years that I have known Anastasia I have never been drunk, and I had only seen Anastasia drunk once. I have always been the designated driver when we go to parties. I'm a firm believer in not drinking at all if you are getting behind the wheel.

One Friday night almost 2 years ago, Anastasia went out with a group of friends for a going away party. Around 11pm she phoned me quite drunk and apologetic and asked me to come get her. She told me that she was afraid to call, but didn't feel safe to drive. I told her I was glad that she was smart enough to call me she should never be afraid to call.

I got there and went to the bar to make sure that it was ok to leave Anastasia's car. Then I met up with her. Anastasia is a fun drunk. Thank goodness! I don't know why I wouldn't think she would be, she's so much fun sober! Never having seen her drunk before I didn't know what to expect. Before she got in my car I told her that I had 3 rules she had to promise to abide by. They are:

1. No yelling. (I've seen way too many drunks yell and be loud and I wasn't familiar with the area and wasn't going to tolerate yelling while I tried to navigate our way home.)
2. No crying. (There is nothing worse than a crying drunk.)
3. No pukin on the leather seats. (Ok, there is something worse than a crying drunk.) If you have to puke, even if you get the slightest feeling, tell me right away so I can pull over.

I thought Anastasia was going to wet herself from laughing. I was completely serious.

Anyway, we started heading towards home and Anastasia insisted I stop at a McDonald's drive thru because she hadn't eaten. Hmm, could that be why she was soooo drunk? She asks me to order her a quarter pounder and a Fruitopia drink. Uhh, no freakin way am I ordering you a Fruitopia. A drink that is red and sugary when you are drunk and have an empty stomach? Red stains. No freakin Fruitopia for you. You'll be having a Sprite.

It was a long ride home from Oak Brook. There was much laughter, no crying. The next day she had quite the hangover. We woke up the kids and everyone got dressed and we headed out to go get her car. We used it as a teaching lesson for the kids about drinking and driving. I told them if Anastasia or either one of you call me to come get you because you have been drinking I will come get you and I will not yell at you. It is about being SAFE. It's not about bothering me or taking me away from what I was doing. I have to say that I think the whole event made quite an impression on the kids. It's just too bad that Anastasia had to deal with that nasty hangover to teach them the lesson.

To this day anytime we see Fruitopia Anastasia and I laugh our arses off, remembering that night. No freakin' Fruitopia for you!

If you go out to celebrate on St. Patrick's Day or any other day designate a driver. If you've been drinking, don't drive. Phone a friend, family member or a cab. You might think your friend or family member will be angry with you, but if they are good people they will be glad you called. I'm not saying they won't be angry with you the next day, but at least you will have gotten home safe and everyone in your path will have as well.

Cheers!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Virtual Girls Night Out!

I stumbled across Ann Again... And Again's Virtual Night Out - St. Patrick's Day Edition when I was over at I Am Harriet. Since I am Irish and it's likely we won't be doing anything 'social' for St. Patrick's Day, I thought this would be fun.

Party Game! From Virtual Night Out - St. Patrick's Day Edition

The Shamrock 3

Name 3 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:
1.) A date anywhere with Anastasia, without the kids. (We love them, but because of visitation issues they have been with us all the time since July 4th, save for 1 weekend when my son was at his Dad's. And prior to that we could never make plans because there were always problems with the visitation.) Anastasia and I figured out a few weeks ago when the last time was we had a date with no children. It was when we went to see "Wicked" in Chicago and ate dinner at Big Bowl after the show. That was February 2007!
2.) Ireland
3.) Vegas baby! Maybe Anastasia and I would get lucky and win a few bucks!

Name 3 Things You Will NEVER Drink Again:
1.) Spoiled Soy milk in coffee. In fact when I go to a coffee shop I can't bring myself to order it since the last time I ordered Soy milk in my coffee it was spoiled.
2.) Any of those weird Mountain Dew flavors. What's wrong with regular Mountain Dew? Why do they have to funk it up with those other colors and flavors?
3.) I can't really think of a third. But I know what number 1 on Anastasia's list would be. Chocolate Martini...with nachos. Beer with nachos Yes!, Chocolate Martini with nachos, let's just say it wasn't pretty. Oh I just thought of something else I won't drink. I don't know if they have it all over the United States, or just in the Chicagoland area, but there is this green soda that you can get at the grocery stores here called Green River. It's green and it's nasty! It tastes like a green safety pop. Blech!

3 People You Would Like To Pinch (for not wearing green of course!):
1.) My neighbor from across the street when I was a kid. She was Polish and always wore ALL orange and made sure she came out of the house so my Dad (who of course was wearing all green) could see her. She flaunted the orange. To this day no one I have mentioned this to gets the significance of orange on St. Patrick's Day. I don't either, but my Dad took it as an insult. So, this would be a mean pinch, not an 'I think you're hot pinch", just to be clear.
I think I'm good with just the 1.

I wonder what your Shamrock 3 will be?

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

The Compliment Guys Give Free Compliments

Purdue 'Compliment Guys' Can't Get Enough Of A Good Thing. Have you heard about the 2 guys giving out compliments "From 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. every Wednesday, they stand outside the chemistry building in the shadow of the university's Bell Tower with their "Free Compliments" sign. They're there in the rain. In the snow. And this week when the windchill made it feel like 10 degrees."? They claim they are not part of a psychology experiment, and they're not trying to pick up girls.

Brett Wescott, one of the young men in the duo says that "Just overall, making people's day is really satisfying. ... Not enough people do nice things anymore."

Who could argue with that?

Considering the state of our economy, the overall on guard, depressed state that everyone seems to be in because they are wondering if they are next to lose their job, wouldn't it be great if this idea spread?

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009

Get Off My Lawn/Busted Part 2

Remember my post Get Off My Lawn/Busted? This morning when I heard a lot of barking at about 8:55am. I looked out the window, saw the dog off leash on a neighbor's property and went to retrieve my camera. When I returned to the window at 9am an Animal Control van had already pulled up.

Seems like Anastasia and I are not the only ones fed up with this dog/dog owner. Within minutes another Animal Control van pulled up in the opposite direction. Both vans were nose to nose. At one point the dog owner came out, but never put the dog on leash. Apparently Animal Control van #1 was writing up citations.

The dog was running between and around the vans, jumping up on Animal Control van #2's driver door and just plain flaunting his/her off-leashness. At one point a mom in a mini-van tried to pass the 2 Animal Control vans blocking her lane and the dog started prancing around in front of her in the road. She had to stop several minutes and wait for him to move. At no point did Animal Control make the owner put the dog on leash and at no point did they remove the dog. WTF? The dog could have been run over had the mini-van driver not been paying attention. Maybe that's what they're hoping for? This neighbor has gotten citations at least 3 times (that I know of) in the last 10 days. One would think that would be expensive and would make one more diligent about keeping ones dog on a leash or tie-out.

At least it's good to know that we aren't the only ones calling, though I'm sure the owner probably did see me in one of my front windows trying to snap photos. I managed just one, but because the window screen makes the photos so blurry, there's wasn't much point to taking them. That orangey brown blob to the right of the front of the van is the dog.

After the 2 Animal Control vans left the guy put his dog on a tie-out by the tree and and in true drummer boy (aka Metallica-head) fashion, he started playing his drums, ear bleedingly loud. How do I know this? Because I was in my house, with all the doors and windows shut tight, and I had headphones on attached to the laptop watching a dvd. Yes! Headphones on, inside my house, with the doors and windows shut and I could still hear his dang drums from across the street. By the time I got my Flip camera he had stopped playing. Maybe next time, then I'll have an excuse to learn how to upload videos so you too can enjoy his drumming. LOL!

Lola's Diner
©2008-2009