48% To Go

You Have Low Self Esteem 52% of the Time

While you sometimes feel good about yourself, you tend to struggle a little with self esteem issues. It's not about changing who you are, it's about accepting your faults. You just need to be less critical and demanding of yourself!

How is Your Self Esteem?

I am trying to overcome this tendency. I think that considering and appreciating my strengths and talents as well as accepting or dealing with the weaknesses will help.
Any other suggestions?

Just a Peek...

Can I find the quote by next week?
Discussing Creationism Part XV

Friendly Friday

Hey Friends of the Friendless Marching Band, you look mighty fine in your bearskin caps. I knew you would...but what is all that grumbling about? It is not very becoming for a friendly marching band...oh, it is 25 degrees celsius (where is that Farenheit converter?) and those caps are...okay, take them off. At least we got today's picture!







You all know Pat Paulk, the glass armonica player. He is also an amazing poet who has been published in numerous ezines. He composed a poem just for us! Listen up...

Friend Of The Friendless

The band marches on Fridays,
a friend of the friendless
that circles the globe.
“I Love Lucy’s” the conductor,
uniforms are whatever you dare.

Selections are played
with licks of keyboard clicks,
there’s no cacophony of scales.
Rev up the mice that run the bus,
we’ll burn this gig
in 4/4 comment time.

Alright, Pat!

Now for today's march...
the featured site is Poem-A-Day. I like Eric's blog because:

• of his attempt to write a poem a day!
• he knows to take a break.
• of his poetry.
• of his links.

Then visit A Fish to be Mongered. Isn't that a cute little guinea pig and how about her idea to post her blogfriends' recent posts. (Y'know, I'm starting to doubt her friendless status!)

Next in the line-up is Frazzled LaShawn. She is a happily married blogger with 3 boys. I think this explains the frazzled part.

Have fun discovering new friends!


Thank you Pat for writing us a poem this week.





For those wondering how the band works:
To join the Friends of the Friendless Marching Band, leave a comment stating that you wish to join then choose any instrument you like. (ability isn't an issue for this cyber band) We have three piano players, a harpist, a theramin and french horn player plus a variety of others so you get the idea that any instrument is possible.
On Fridays, the band meets to visit the chosen friendless sites which are listed anew each Friday. Then the band leaves friendly comments for our honored recipients. Let them know that you are from the FFMB.
Get to know other band members. There is sure to be someone you can connect with.
Nominate friendless sites. They can be bloggers you know or ones that you come across in your blog surfs. Think unique. These sites have less than 5 comments/post and be posting currently. Leave me a comment with their address or email me at Carol_ffmb at yahoo.ca. I will let you know whether they have met the friendless criteria.

Display your FFMB banner today!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: What Carol is thankful for this week I am thankful for the memories. and for the sweetness of those just beginning. My Eldest graduates from Grade XII on Friday Links to other Thankful Thursdays (If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Thankful Thursday code

Click here for Chrixean's blog


Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!

View More Thankful Thursday Participants

Mom's Brag Post

My Eldest loves politics so when she was given a school assignment which was to include photography and an interview, she contacted a Member of Parliament and made an appointment. I accompanied her there and as we waited she commented that I was more nervous than her.

The interview went really well. I was only present for the photos but his assistant said twice how professional the interview went!

I am proud of this confident young woman.

The High Standards of Being Bipolar

Being ill is being a part of weakness and fragility. Sometimes it is not pretty and sometimes it can be beautifully different.

Automatic thoughts
Magnified but seeing less

It hurts to see more
but look...

Discussing Creationism: Part XV

Immanuel Kant, 1724-1804, a German philosopher, reasoned that "[A]n orang-utan or a chimpanzee may develop the organs which serve for walking, grasping objects, and speaking – in short, that he may evolve the structure of man, with an organ for the use of reason . . . (Kant, 1798 in Anthropology)"
Evolutionary Psychology

Now, I would really like to find a copy of Anthropology so as to find the reasoning that led to this conclusion.

Discussing Creationism: The Initial Argument
Part II: Two Questions about the Ark
Part III:The Volume of the Ark
Part IV: The Weight and Sturdiness of the Ark
Part V:What is a Myth
Part VI: Gilgamesh
Part VII: The Biblical View of Noah
Part VIII: Gathering of the Animals
Part IX Evolution
Part X The First Evolutionist
Part XI The Notebook
Part XII Erasmus Darwin
Part XIII Aristotle
Part XIV Middle Ages

Friendly Friday

Hello Friends of the Friendless! How ya doing?
I have a feeling that you are really going to enjoy today's march...

What are people saying about the FFMB?

"What a great idea."
" It's good to be a part of this group. I love all the blogs listed in FFMB."
"I'm honoured to be in the band with all of you"
"I really like you are doing here. There are so many in the blog world who don't get read hardly at all."
"What a wonderful idea!"
"I was just delighted to learn that I had been selected to receive such an honor as this! And I'm still looking for someone to pinch me"
" Keep up the good work, you are finding very interesting blogs."
"Political correctness is a sham. Next thing we know is those elitist idiots would want to ban English as the mandated spoken language for all international flights among pilots and control towers across the globe."
"i am friendless by choice. beat it carol."

"ok ok ok ... i will join..."

Oh, this brings back memories...

This week, I invited Mango, FFMB's flag bearer and best friend of the conductor, to visit some friendless sites and put the band through the paces with her keen blog appreciation skills. Wow, check these out...

Dear fearless leader:
Thank you once again for bestowing upon me the honour of presenting
today`s featured sites.
It pays to have friends in high places.
Okay, band members listen up. The FFMB is a great marching band but
we have stiff
competition at the "Texas Bands Network". This blog celebrates the "...many
concepts and
philosophies of sound and marching in Texas." There are a lot of places to
visit here. My
favourite are the video clips of band performances. Oh and the shopping. I
really should get
that pink t-shirt with the logo- "Winner in LIFE"- or maybe the trucker hat.
Decisions,
decisions.

So you wanna be a rock star? Then check out Clayton Smith`s "Rock Star
Journal". He`s
a struggling musician letting people in on his daily life. He updates on a
more
regular basis at his other blog. You can check out music samples of his work
as well.

At "Psychotic Philosophy" one will find the musical musings of Dan
( who bears a resemblance
to Anne of Green Gables, oddly enough). If a person is not up to date on
heavy/thrash/doom/
death/extreme/metalcore metal music then this is the place to be. He is
currently focusing on
religious heavy metal music.

That`s it for this edition of Friendly Friday.
Yours truly,
Mango Lane

Now that was a workout!
I was unable to leave a comment for the Texas Band, so this site is probably for your viewing pleasure only.


Thank you, Mango, for helping me co-host this week. You did a sensational job, too!




For those wondering how the band works:
To join the Friends of the Friendless Marching Band, leave a comment stating that you wish to join then choose any instrument you like. (ability isn't an issue for this cyber band) We have three piano players, a harpist, a theramin and french horn player plus a variety of more so you get the idea that any instrument is possible.
On Fridays, the band meets to visit the chosen friendless sites which I list. Then the band leaves friendly comments for our honored recipients. Let them know that you are from the FFMB.
Get to know other band members. There is sure to be someone you can connect with.
Nominate friendless sites. They can be bloggers you know or ones that you come across in your blog surfs. Think unique. These sites have less than 5 comments/post and be posting currently. Leave me a comment with their address or email me at Carol_ffmb at yahoo.ca. I will let you know whether they have met the friendless criteria.

Banners are still available, but only one per band member.
Nah, I'm joking. Take as many as you like!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: What Carol is thankful for this week I joined Toastmasters officially today. I hope for improvement in my speaking and communication skills. I won this ribbon in an impromptu speaking exercise I participated in a few weeks ago. The topic was "how do I get my backyard ready for spring". (That was easy, I don't. My effort or lack of it was appreciated.) This was an encouraging start. Today, I am thankful for opportunities to improve. Links to other Thankful Thursdays (If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Thankful Thursday code

Click here for Chrixean's blog


Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!

View More Thankful Thursday Participants

A Mother's Diamante

beautiful soft
living wilting dying
sweet temporal eternal love
struggling erring doing
joyful hopeful thankful
a mother's day

Discussing Creationism Part XIV

*Revised May 15, 2006*

I am still curious about other pre-Darwinian evolutionary ideas.
I've already looked at:
Part XIII Aristotle
Part XII Erasmus Darwin

Using the web site,Pre-Darwinian Theories of Evolution as a time-line guide, I looked at the Middle or Medieval time period which is from the defeat of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance, approximately 500-1450 AD.

During the Middle Ages, the philosophy of Aristotle was rediscovered. Aristotle, a pupil of Plato, was a keen observationalist with a fondness for biology. He developed his own classification system, dividing the animals by the presence or abscence of blood. He believed that living matter had potential to grow into its perfect form.

There was discussion among scholars on how to reconcile the the Biblical account of creation with Aristotle's viewpoint. Debate and study into the matter was discouraged as disagreement with Church doctrine was punishable by death. However, Aristotle had considerable influence over the theologians of this time.

It is interesting that his thoughts should reappear.

Other sites:
Medieval and Renaissance Concepts of Evolution and Paleontology
Science and Human Values

Also in this series (Focus on Noah and the Flood):
Discussing Creationism: The Initial Argument
Part II: Two Questions about the Ark
Part III:The Volume of the Ark
Part IV: The Weight and Sturdiness of the Ark
Part V:What is a Myth
Part VI: Gilgamesh
Part VII: The Biblical View of Noah
Part VIII: Gathering of the Animals
Part IX Evolution
Part X The First Evolutionist
Part XI The Notebook

Juggling a Fine Line

Friendly Friday

Dear Friends of the Friendless,
I am so proud of you band members that show up each Friday, rain or shine. You are the bloggers with a heart. You make the band! Sigh.

Now, are you ready...hup two three...oh just a minute. I want us to stop at Barbara's blog first. When I first met Barbara, she did not have the huge following she has today. See her post from October 2005, "I'm a Miserable Blogging Failure, Are You?" Well, she really never was a blogging failure, but today her blog "Catch Me If You Can" is a popular spot to visit. She also, is a friendly and helpful blogger which explains why she is in the FFMB.

The featured site this week is Lil Curlz of Curlz Speaks. I like her blog because:

• her list of rules
  
• she has been blogging for over a year, February 2005
  
• of the variety in her blog
  
• she knows to enjoy silence

I also enjoyed Paige's blog, Cracked Nuts. She is a new blogger and I especially liked her fair story.

Visit Sarah's blog My Confessions; it helps her cope with the loss of her first love.


First, I want to thank TNChick for designing the official FFMB Thank You card. You did a fantastic job! (TNChick has a collection of glitter tags.)
Thank you for always making the march.

Thank you, Barbara, for letting me use your post in today's Friendly Friday's march. Thank you, also, for being an active band member.

For those wondering how the band works:
To join the Friends of the Friendless Marching Band, leave a comment stating that you wish to join then choose any instrument you like. (ability isn't an issue for this cyber band) We have three piano players, a harpist, a theramin and french horn player plus a variety of more so you get the idea that any instrument is possible.
On Fridays, the band meets to visit the chosen friendless sites which I list. Then the band leaves friendly comments for our honored recipients. Let them know that you are from the FFMB.
Get to know other band members. There is sure to be someone you can connect with.
Nominate friendless sites. They can be bloggers you know or ones that you come across in your blog surfs. Think unique. These sites have less than 5 comments/post and be posting currently. Leave me a comment with their address or email me at Carol_ffmb at yahoo.ca. I will let you know whether they have met the friendless criteria.

Band banners are available here.

Carol's New Schedule

• 8 am Wake up. Have Bible/Prayer Time with The Two Youngest. I started a "How to Study the Bible" lesson with them. The Older one is off to school already.
  
• 8:30 am Check blog.
  
• 9 am. Own prayer. Preacher said we should start and end our day with prayer. Good idea.
  
• 9:30 am Yoga.
• 10:00 am Breakfast. Read paper. Suduku puzzle. (Getting a bit better at it because of Daughter's coaching tip)
  
• 10:30 am. Grocery shopping.
• 12:00 pm Back home. Husband home for lunch.
• 1:00 pm Wash van. Errands.
• 2:00 pm. I'm beat. Lay on couch.
• 2:45 pm. Lift weights with Jane.
• 3:30 pm Snack. Kids home.
  
• 4:00 pm Tidy up a bit.
• 4:30 pm. I am in need of another sit down activity. Yes, I am getting stiff. Kids outside. This is a good time to read the Bible. I am just starting 1 Chronicles. Also looked at the book of Hebrews as we are studying that in Bible Class.
  
• 5:30 pm Started supper. Easy meal with red snapper fillets and rotini pasta but chocolate bars for dessert. Yep, I bribe them!
• 7:00 pm Cleaned up after meal. Chores.
• 7:30 pm Husband and I go for a walk!
• 8:00 pm Blogging for tomorrow's Friendly Friday.
• 9:30 pm Another snack break. Would you believe a banana and sunflower seeds while I read the magazines that are piling up.
  
• 10:30 pm. Blogging again...
  

Wordless Wednesday

Shh...just to let you know, this isn't my photo. It is by Juan Ulloa, photographer.

Exercise Time

I started exercising when I was pregnant with my second, 15 years ago. I will never forget the first time in this session. I was working but decided to go for a 15 minute walk on my lunch hour. It had recently rained and I slipped on the muddy path and had to go home to get changed but the next lunch hour I was out walking again.

Recently, because of various infirmities, I stopped for 5 months. My body thought it was longer. It is difficult to bring it back into my life, too. Other priorities have taken its' place but I am not one to give up for long. The accomplishment of working out and the resultant feeling of being fit are not easily forgotten.

I work out at home. I figure I could my complete my whole workout in the time it takes to drive somewhere else. I would probably be pushed to work harder if I went to a gym but I enjoy exercising alone. I like trying to figure out what the perfect workout is, use a new video or an old favorite and be able to fit a routine into my day.

Today, I rode my exercise bike, not for long but enough for this out of practised body. Then I did weights with Jane (Fonda), my favorite instructor. I only did one set of 12, compared to her three, but I'm back on track and it feels great!

Protect Yourself

Tomorrow, the tv movie, Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America, airs on ABC.

I bought my N95 masks today!

See my February 1, 2006 blog entry entitled Getting Ready.




See the World's Health Organization's classification system of where the Bird Flu stands today. Current WHO phase of pandemic alert

Discussing Creationism Part XIII

After reading about Erasmus Darwin and his evolutionary speculations which preceded that of his grandson, Charles, I can see that pre-Darwinian evolutionary thoughts are important. They actually began with the Greek philosophers. There were many different ideas but the most popular are Plato and Aristotle. Both of these men wrote of an advancement towards the ideal, divine, unchangeable Form.



Aristotle's thoughts are the more evolutionary. He wrote that changes occurred from lifeless primeval matter to vegetation. Then, according to Aristotle, there was another transition from plants to animals. These transitions are a gradual progression from the lower forms to the highest which is man.

These ideas are captivating and interesting for sure, but are still speculative and unscientifically based.

Discussing Creationism: The Initial Argument
Part II: Two Questions about the Ark
Part III:The Volume of the Ark
Part IV: The Weight and Sturdiness of the Ark
Part V:What is a Myth
Part VI: Gilgamesh
Part VII: The Biblical View of Noah
Part VIII: Gathering of the Animals
Part IX Evolution
Part X The First Evolutionist
Part XI The Notebook
Part XII Erasmus Darwin

Friendly Friday

Hello Friends of the Friendless!
I think it is time for a special march to one another's sites! We have a lot of new members too.
So pick, I don't know...uh, say three, from the band roster on the left that you don't know very well and go check their blog out! Feel free to visit more if you want. Of course, leave comments!



What did you like about the blogs you visited:

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Always remember that the Friends of the Friendless Marching Band is inspired by the beautiful and zany Lucille Ball and episode #60!



This wonderful recyclable Lucy replica was made by Jon Cox. She is made out of a plastic milk container, water bottles, cardboard, yogurt containers and paper. Visit his blog to see more of his unique folk art.

Quiz alert:

Which I Love Lucy character are you most like?

Guess what else I found for the FFMB to be a part of? We are now officially in the fanlist for the Friends of the Friendless! (See the the pink banner next to the FFMB's in the sideblog)
Everyone cheer!

For those wondering how the band works:
To join the Friends of the Friendless Marching Band, leave a comment stating that you wish to join then choose any instrument you like. (ability isn't an issue for this cyber band) We have three piano players, a harpist, a theramin and french horn player plus a variety of more so you get the idea that any instrument is possible.
On Fridays, the band meets to visit the chosen friendless sites which I list. Then the band leaves friendly comments for our honored recipients. Let them know that you are from the FFMB.
Get to know other band members. There is sure to be someone you can connect with.
Nominate friendless sites. They can be bloggers you know or ones that you come across in your blog surfs. Think unique. These sites have less than 5 comments/post and be posting currently. Leave me a comment with their address or email me at Carol_ffmb at yahoo.ca. I will let you know whether they have met the friendless criteria.

Please help yourself to a FFMB banner for your blog!

It is About Time for Some Quizzes

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

And This...

You scored as English. You should be an English major! Your passion lies in writing and expressing yourself creatively, and you hate it when you are inhibited from doing so. Pursue that interest of yours! English 100% Journalism 83% Philosophy 75% Engineering 75% Dance 58% Psychology 58% Linguistics 58% Sociology 58% Mathematics 50% Chemistry 50% Theater 42% Biology 42% Anthropology 42% Art 33% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com Art is below anthropology?!

One More!

My perfect job is Glamour model.
Take The Perfect Job Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.