Sharron Smalls, Jane Addams High School Principal, Under Fire For Facebook Picture

I knew someone in which every picture you saw of her, she had a drink in her hand at a bar. People don't think before they post things on Facebook.

A high school principal is facing harsh criticism after a revealing picture found on her Facebook page surfaced.

The photo showed Sharron Smalls, of New York's Jane Addams High School, next to a topless man as he pours a dark liquid substance over her. Students passed a copy of the photo around school last week.

Smalls is already under fire for allegations of credit padding. A New York City Department of Education probe is looking into whether she gave students credits for classes they didn't take.

"They put me in cosmetology because we don't have chemistry," 16-year-old senior Clarissa Williams told The New York Times.

The scandal has outraged students, many of whom may not graduate due to lack of credits.

Jane Addams High School received a an F grade from the city and is in danger of being shut down.

via Sharron Smalls, Jane Addams High School Principal, Under Fire For Facebook Picture.

via Sharron Smalls, Jane Addams High School Principal, Under Fire For Facebook Picture.

Woman 'tried to burn down house of long-time friend who defriended her on Facebook' | Mail Online

Facebook is causing people to do the dumbest things because of what's being said or people unfriending them. I think people need to build a bridge and get over it.

Sidenote: If I un-friend any you, please don't burn down my house.

 

A woman tried to burn down the house of a long-time friend who defriended her on Facebook, police say.

Jennifer
Christine Harris, 30, of Des Moines, Iowa, has been charged with
first-degree arson and is being held in the Polk County Jail.

Harris allegedly tried to torch the home of old friend Nikki Rasmussen while Nikki and her husband Jim were sleeping.

The fire broke out in a detached garage at 1am on October 27 at the Rasmussens' home, officials said.

The police report says the fire caused a popping sound which was followed by a 'boom.'

The
couple were woken up by sound and they managed to escape as the siding
on their house started melting from the heat of the fire in the garage.

The roof of the garage collapsed on the cars parked inside and other items stored there were ruined.

No one was injured in the blaze, but the garage was destroyed.

When
police asked Jim Rasmussen if anyone had a grudge against them he gave
them the name Jennifer 'Jen' Harris, desmoinesregister.com reports.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057170/Woman-tried-burn-house-long-time-friend-defriended-Facebook.html#ixzz1fbGxPvQ1

via Woman 'tried to burn down house of long-time friend who defriended her on Facebook' | Mail Online.

I SHOT A DOG IN THE NAME OF ART

Tom Otterness, in 1977, picked out a dog from a dog shelter and then killed it by shooting it. Not only did he shoot the dog, he filmed himself shooting the dog, and called the project art. HUH?

And now he is being rewarded ($750,000) by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency:


In June, the board of directors of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency approved a contract with Otterness for 59 bronze sculptures to fill three levels of the proposed subway’s Moscone station. An agency spokesman said the board was unaware of Otterness’ controversial past and relied on a recommendation from the Arts Commission. SF Examiner

I heard about this, (geez, do I dare call him a person) inhumane person from NPR (National Public Radio) and was appalled by his reward for an act done 34 years ago, and the question brought up was just that; the act was done 34 years ago, should he be forgiven for it now? NO! Another question posed was, does this act define his character? YES!!!!!!!!   He, being of sound mind and body, walked into a dog shelter, picked out a dog, and then shot it. HE PICKED OUT A DOG WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF SHOOTING IT!

Michael Vick was only sentenced 2 years (I believe) for his crimes of systematically killing dogs that loss fights (money) for him. When Michael Vick was given the position of quarterback for the Eagles I was appalled. Then I learned recently, that he was awarded a 100 million dollars contract. If that doesn't teach him that what he did was wrong, I don't know what will. COME ON PEOPLE! Now, this idiot (Otterness) is being rewarded $750,000.

I believe in giving everyone a second chance for we have all done wrong in the past, but I feel that when one deliberately kills a dog, there is no forgiveness nor no rewards to be given.

Bo

This is Bo. He is approximately two years old and he ran away from home....literally. Its a long story, but he's in a good place now and gets more love than he knows what to do with. We are watching him until January and then he will go to his new owners. I am going to miss him so much when he goes to his new home, but will be able to visit him when I want and we will be cat-sitting more down the line or just have him over on weekends.

And in case you were wondering, we did not pose him this way. He did this on his own. I think I have a GQ model on my hands.

Same Blog, Different Name

Trying to get a blog page perfect is a long process with many changes taking place from blog name to themes. I have finally settled on a blog name and theme. If you are following me, no need to adjust your TV set. If you have me linked to your blog, please note the name and URL change. If you aren’t following me, you really should so you can be the cool one on your block. SMILE

Bank of America Class Action Suit - Overdraft Fee

Someone filed a Class Action suit against BofA stating they unlawfully charged overdraft fees. The suit states that BofA would rearrange the debit charges in the consumer's account in order to cause the consumer to be short of funds in their account, thus charging the consumer over  draft fees. Bank of America Law Suit

This lawsuit is to cover millions of BofA members.

I left BofA, or as I like to refer to them, Bank of Piss Me Off Again, over a month ago and went to a credit union, and so far I am a happy banker. Ran into a slight bump in the road with the credit union, but they fixed the problem in a very good way.

 

Cain Is Not Able - Herman Cain and the Sexual harassment Revolution

Herman Cain, recently, has been ducking questions about past sexual harassment charges that were filed against him, but settled out of court, by two women in the 1990's. Another lady is now coming forward, with lawyer Gloria Aldridge, that she too, was sexually harassed by Cain. The first two women will not disclose their names, however, the third "victim" (and I use the word very loosely here for right now) doesn't seem to have a problem exposing herself.

My understanding is that Perry's (Rick) crew is the one that dug up the story and Politico is the one that presented it to the world. Again, that's my understanding. I could be wrong. Wait, I'm never wrong (insert laughter and applause).

I have not lost faith in Cain because of the allegations. I've lost faith in Cain because he won't own up to it. When it was first presented to him, he claimed he didn't know anything about it. But when his campaign group presented the information to him, he tried to back pedal. BACK PEDAL. That's why I can't support Cain anymore. And when I say support, I do not mean forking over my hard earned quarter to his campaign fund or trailing behind him wherever he goes (TV wise), or hanging on to every word he says. When I say support, I mean, I actually found someone I might have voted for. Um, voting is a whole other blog that I may or may not write about. I'm trying to decided if I want to be driven to Smack Down Hotel after my post. But I digress.

As mentioned, I am not holding Cain's past "mistakes" against him. I don't hold anyone's past mistakes against them, if they are willing to own up to them by saying they did it and they were wrong. Cain has yet to do either one.

Some are referring to this as technology lynching. I just call it dirty playing on the part of the Perry campaign group. What people did in their past is just that, their past. We cannot judge a person from their past actions, we can only judge a person from their present actions...BACK PEDALING. We will always keep in the back of my minds what has taken place in the past, but that should be the end of it. But politics isn't like that. Politicians want to profess their honesty and integrity to the world, all the while, they are playing dirty in the background. They are quick to throw the brick and then hide their hands.

My name is Nikki and this my two cents with some change probably coming back.

What Facebook's New Features Mean for Journalists

 

 

 

 

 

As a blogger and aspiring Pro-Blogger, ghost writer, paid contributor, and any other writing that will allow me to get paid, I am really hoping that Facebook's new feature will help me get myself out there to more people. Right now, I only have two subscribers on Facebook. I am not sure how to get that number to increase. All I can ask is for people to support me and subscribe.

I haven't received the new Timeline widget yet, so perhaps that might help me as well. We will see.

What Facebook's New Features Mean for Journalists.

The Health of the President

So, the news report says that the President of America (Obama) is in tip-top shape, but they made no mention of the country.  No one has to be a genius nor a doctor to know that the rest of the country is carrying around PhD's: Poor, Hungry and Depressed!

Can You Be Christian And A Capitalist by The Snark Who Hunts Back

The Snark Who Hunts Back is another one of my favorite blogs to read, although I don't that much attention to politics or the world around me.  I shouldn't say I don't, because recently I have been listening to  every day for two hours.  Two hours is all I can take because then they begin repeating themselves.  But I digress.

Where I was going with this is, although I am not much of a political person, and wasn't paying too much attention to world around me, I always enjoyed The Snark Who Hunts Back's blog, and this one is no exception:

Can You Be Christian And A Capitalist

 

A Nice Surprise from the Montgomery Brothers

Last week I posted a guest blog from Jim Montgomery regarding the Occupy Wall Street protests that are going on.  I asked Obstructed Views to write a post about it because I knew they could tackle it better than I could.  And as mentioned before, I really like their style of writing.

Upon returning home Friday from Disneyland, I found another guest blog post from Obstructed Views in my Gmail, but this time it's from Jim's brother Kyle.  I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.

Kyle Montgomery has giving his view point on the Occupy Wall Street "copycats", which I find very interesting, because I was thinking the same thing about some of the new protests that have sprung up lately.  However, since I do not delve into that area of the world (yes, I know I should), I am not qualified to speak on it.  I could, but I would come off sounding like some rambling fool, instead of giving an intelligent point of view, that some may or may not agree with.

I like to keep my writing to things I know and am an expert on, and that's things that have happened to me personally, or things I can relate to.

Jim and Kyle Montgomery write on things I know about, but, as mentioned, give an intelligent argument to.

Let me reiterate what I have said before about Obstructed Views; I may not agree with everything they say, but I do like their thought process.  It gives me much food for thought and I hope it does the same for you.

I will be posting Kyle's content tentative title Kyle's Two Cents around Noon PST today.

Kyle's Two Cents - Occupy Wall Street Occupies Copycats by Kyle Montgomery

First things first, we want to thank Nikki for the opportunity to voice our opinions about certain things do without further ado, here it goes!!!

I want to briefly touch on these protests once again as it seems, as is the case with any newsworthy public issue, there are multiple copycat protests occurring. This seems ridiculous and redundant. People seem to be protesting for the sake of protesting and have no real agenda other than to say they did so. To each their own and if you feel it is legitimate, then by all  means protest. The problem I have is that it seems people are protesting anything that can be deemed controversial because they know it will get coverage. What's next, everybody with the last name of McDonald in the world will stand outside of the restaurant McDonald’s and protest not getting any revenue or even a free burger?!?!?!

Overlooked in all of the protest coverage has been the fact that Herman Cain has not only become a legitimate presidential candidate, but he has become the favorite to run against Obama in the upcoming election. There are some people who feel that some of these protests have been caused by Cain and his theories. I am thrilled at the fact that this country has come to the point that physical appearance does not seem to be as important to the majority. It seems that what they are proposing to do and their stances on certain issues have become more important. For instance, Herman Cain has come out and said he will oppose government funding of abortion and that he is 100% pro-life. He did not shy away from the question and answered honestly without conviction. Whether people agree or disagree with him, he knows what he stands for and there is integrity in that. People laugh at his 9-9-9 plan but I honestly don't think it's that bad of an idea and like his slogan says "Let's get real", it definite couldn't hurt. If it is in place and does the things he envisions it doing, how could it be worse than it is now?? Now as we all know, when it comes to politicians, its one thing to say it and another to do it. The only issue I have is that people are making a big deal about him having a mustache. Herman Cain seems like the real deal and mustache or not, we should all pay attention to what he says, rather than whether he has facial hair or not!!

This is Kyle Montgomery, and this is my two cents!!

 

____________________________________________________________________

Kyle Montgomery is a co-founder of Obstructed Views Blog , which is an unbiased (as long as you agree with our views) blog where we tackle the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics, current events, and anything else we feel like.  Kyle can be reached at montyobv@gmail.com and on Twitter @Obs_Views_Blog

Short And To The Point

I have a lot to say and avoid doing so because I feel that the post has to be long and full of explanation.  I am starting to realize that is not always the case.

I did a poll in a LinkedIn group I belong to asking how long should a post be and received a number of answers that landed in one spot; it depends on how long you want it to t be.  I had one person tell me that she used to write long posts until she began writing short ones.  After-which, she learned her readers enjoyed her short posts better, if not more, than her long posts.

So, with that said, I say this.  I will be posting more.  Some will be short, as in this instance, and some will be long.  It depends on how far my imagination wants to take me.

Look for more posts by me, with either facts attached or random thoughts.  These will be posted in their respective blogs, TV/Movies under The Opinionated TV, events and travel under A Roaming Gnome, books underThe Radical Book Warm and technology under One Wired Mime.

Until then,

Occupy This!

I’ve been waiting and waiting to comment on the Occupy Wall Street protests.  To be honest, I really didn’t care too much about the whole movement until they moved into Philadelphia.  Now that they have been here for almost a month I feel it’s time to weigh in.  I agree with some of what they are saying.  There is also a lot about them that drives me crazy.  Mostly though there are just a lot of questions that they have me asking.  Most of this will be directed towards the Occupy Philly people but from what I hear and read their “cause” is in line with Occupy Wall Street views.

Let me start by saying, kudos to these people.  The first amendment of our Constitution states:



Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

The Occupy Wall Street/Philly people are exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and peaceful assembly.  You could almost say they are also exercising their right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.  (They are complaining to the government about abuse of power and waiting for a response)  I’m all about the right to protest and speak out against the issues that you believe are wrong.  Hell, our country was founded because a group of people protested what they perceived as Tyranny by their government.

The problem that I have is; what exactly are they protesting?  You ask 10 people you’ll probably get 10 different answers.  I’ve heard they are protesting everything from corporate greed, to unemployment, to shitty healthcare.  Huh?  Pick one people.  This is where you lose me.  A couple weeks ago a friend of mine posted the following on his Facebook status: This in from my time at Occupy Philly today. Saturday at 1pm people are meeting at city hall for a march to independence hall. The walk is being organized by the direct action team and "Fight for Philly". Thousands attended last week and they expect thousands again this week. If you can make it out to support then do there are plenty of problems in america, shitty healthcare, corporate greed and corruption, political insignificance and puppetry, police brutality and wrecklessness, financial theft and fraud, prescription drug lobbies as legal dope dealers...no matter what you've been a victim of at least one of these has most likely affected you, pick one and go represent yourself. [sic]

While I believe that all of those causes are worthy causes to protest, lumping them all together in one protest is insane.  Pick one and focus on it.  Again, I agree that you have the right to protest.  Hell if you want to protest a million and one things then be my guest, just don’t expect my support.  I would 100% support you if you chose some of these “causes”.  Since you chose so many you, lose me.  I can’t support some of them despite agreeing with others.

The second problem I see is with the unemployment argument.  Sure, unemployment is a huge problem in this country.  If this is their main “cause” I have a few issues.  First, instead of protesting, shouldn’t these people maybe be looking for jobs?  Oh yeah, that’s right; “there’s no jobs.”  Let me rephrase that; there aren’t any jobs that they’d take.  I get that you were a white collar employee.  Guess what?  If you can’t get a white collar job than you take the blue collar warehouse job to support your family.  You sure as hell shouldn’t be protesting.  An argument I get a lot is be happy you have a job Jim and you don’t know what it’s like.  You know what?  I’m very thankful I have a job and you’re right, I don’t know what it’s like.  You know why?  Because I didn’t sit on my ass and bitch and moan about how unfair it is and how the government should take care of me.

When I graduated college I couldn’t find a job.  Did I blame the government or Wall Street?  Did I look for handouts and pity?  Fuck no.  You know what I did?  I went around and spent my “free time” looking for god damn job.  Lo and behold, guess what happened?  Yep, I found a job.  Was it the job I wanted?  Nope.  I had a college degree but I was a seafood clerk in a supermarket making $8.90 an hour.  Talk about humbling.  Did it suck?  Absolutely.  Did I feel that I was “better” than the job?  Sure.  Unfortunately I didn’t have many other options.  Sure I could have protested but I was too busy working as many hours as I could to support myself.  It wasn’t the ideal situation but shit happens.  I worked hard and eventually became a manager.  I was able to make enough money to pay for myself to back to school to get my master’s degree.  Again, I didn’t sit on my ass and expect others to help me.  I helped myself.

Before anyone chimes in, I know there are some hard luck cases.  There are some older folks who can’t get hired because of their age and/or experience.  This does suck.  Let’s be honest though, whose fault is this?  Certainly not the person who is unemployed.  Is it Home Depot or Wal-mart’s fault?  No.  They are in the business to make money.  They can hire a young kid in high school (or 2 for that matter) for minimum wage to do the same job that “unemployed Joe” wants $12 an hour to do.  How is that Wal-mart’s fault?  Last time I checked we live in a capitalist society.  That means that Wal-Mart is trying to make a profit.  I know that Wal-Mart etc., all have their faults but it’s an example and I’m not here to debate Wal-Mart. (maybe that’s a good idea for another post) Is it the governments fault?  Hardly.  What are they supposed to do?  Make a law that says Wal-Mart has to hire “unemployed Joe” at $12 an hour instead of little Timmy for minimum wage? No because where I come from that’s socialism.

The final problem I have is with the outrage at Wall Street.  Another one of “reasons” for the protest is to stop corporate greed.  Listen people.  Are those Wall Street big wigs douche bags?  Yes.  Anytime you’re paying yourself bonuses with money the government gives you to bail you out, it’s messed up.  However are they really to blame?  Who gave them the money?  That’s right, our government.  Did they ever tell them that they couldn’t pay themselves bonuses?  Not that I know of.  So who is really to blame?  Yep, our government.  That’s where the protests should be; not on Wall Street.  Besides, not every company that received a bailout used it for bonuses.  Even so, if your mom sent you to the store for groceries as a kid with $20 and said here’s the list and whatever change is left is yours, would you buy the most expensive brands?  NO.  You’d by the shit that’s on sale so you could maximize your profits.  That’s what some on Wall Street did.  Put the blame where it belongs, on our government.  Besides, most of the companies have been paying back their loans at a high interest rate.

Speaking of our government and why people should be protesting them, they’re the ones who create the laws with the loopholes that allow these corporations to get away with these things.  Companies book their revenue offshore to avoid paying taxes.  Again, they’re in the business of making money so who can blame them?  If I could make a few extra dollars by doing business in another country guess what?  I’m shipping my business to China or wherever.  Our government is the entity that allows this.  Protest them.  Put the blame where it belongs.  You want to be upset with someone?  Start in D.C., not Wall Street, Philly, or any other city for that matter.

The last thing I want to touch on is strictly an Occupy Philly thing.  These people are costing the city of Philadelphia $112,000 a week in police overtime (that’s not including the hours of the police that are pulled from other districts) to ensure the safety of these protesters.  Problem is the city is cash strapped.  If you have read any of my previous posts you’d know that the schools are suffering in this city.  The mayor has made attempts to help alleviate the problem.  He has had little success but at least is trying.  I bet some of these same people protesting how bad the city government is, are the same ones that bitch when Mayor Nutter attempts to solve the issues.  Can Philadelphia really afford an extra $112,000 a week?  Nope, yet these people will be the first to whine when their streets don’t get plowed “on time” this winter.  Furthermore what is the city of Philadelphia going to do to help?  People have been bitching about the city government and how bad it is for years to no avail.

In conclusion, I think the Occupy Wall Street movement has potential.  Unfortunately they don’t have a clear focus.  (Or maybe even all the facts)  I’d also like to know how many people are protesting just for the sake of protesting.  Our founding fathers protested perceived Tyranny by the British.  Their focus was “no taxation without representation”.  We all know how that worked out.  Yo Occupy Wall Street/Philly, choose a cause and go with it.  Also, you want me to feel sorry for you?  Do me a favor.  Stop tweeting about your exploits on your IPad2.  As far as I’m concerned if you have an IPad2 (which I can’t afford WITH a decent job) you’re not in that bad of shape.  You look like a fool.  That’s all for today.  Until next time this is Jimbo saying hell no I won’t go!


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Jim Montgomery is a co-founder of Obstructed Views Blog , which is an unbiased (as long as you agree with our views) blog where we tackle the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics, current events, and anything else we feel like.  Jim can be reached at montyobv@gmail.com and on Twitter @Obs_Views_Blog

Obstructed Views - Views From Another Point

On LinkedIn, I am part of a few blogger/writer support groups.  Yes, I do call them support groups, although we do not sit around and discuss our problems.  Rather, these groups helps us with our problems with regards to writing.  But I digress.

Through one of these groups, either Bloggers Helping Bloggers or The Blog Zone, I came across the blog Obstructed Views and immediately became a fan.  I may not agree with everything that is being written, but Obstructed Views makes some valid points about a lot of things.

If some of your remember, I wrote a piece called How to Make a Million Dollars After Prison, which was a piece I wrote off the backs of one of Obstructed Views piece titled Suck My Vick  Although I did agree with their take on the Michael Vick situation, I respected it a great deal.

I ask everyone to please welcome Jim Montgomery from Obstructed Views as my first guest blogger for this week, and I hope for many weeks to come.

Teacher Mocks Special Needs Students on Facebook

Read or watch the follow story Special Ed Teacher Mocks His Students on Facebook, then read my thoughts.

My question is, why did it take so long for this fool to be caught with regards to his posts.  If they found a long list of posts by him on FB, how long has this been going on? Was anyone from the school district noticing this on his page?  Of course they were, but why wasn't anything being done?

I am currently dealing with an authority figure using the R word to describe a stupid person or a stupid situation.  I tried to let it pass, until one day this person said, "We are being mildly retarted."  It was at this point that I know exactly that this person was well aware of what the word "retarded" means and it should have been obvious to this person, a long time ago, that perhaps using this word is not right.  But the funny thing is, she doesn't like any word that sounds like the N word.  The word doesn't even have to be a reference to the N word, it just has to sound like the N word.

I don't like hearing the R word to describe anything, because as far as I'm concerned, the "mentally challenged" are smarter than those that are not.

There's so much we can learn from them, such as patience and not taking everything so seriously.  We can learn not to get bent out of shape about things that won't mean a hill of beans in a week's time. Or even, in an hour's time.

I am not casting the first stone, nor living in a glass house, for I am guilty of using the word plenty of times in my youth and partially in my adulthood.  I never gave much thought to the word itself, meaning, I never thought of it offending a group of people.  But I get mad when I hear the N word used to describe something as in doing a quick fix - "n**ger rig it".  As far as I'm concerned, when I quick fix something, I MacGyver it.

Since I have educated myself about the R word, I am on a mission to correct/education people on the word as well.  I just have to figure out a way to approach this one person on the usage and how offensive it is.  Not to just me, but to a group of people.

Spread The Word to End The Word

The Last One Got Away

I am going to make this one short because a whole lot of explaining is not needed.

My dream was to make it as a musician. Not to be famous or rich, but to get paid to make music. Well that dream is gone - way gone and it makes me a bit bitter at times, I have to admit. I didn't have a good support system. I was too controlled and too beaten down by basically being told I couldn't make a living with music.

My new dream, and one I will reach is to be a paid blogger or a freelance writer. I will not let this one get away and do whatever I need to to make this dream come true.

I'm tired of accepting things the way they are. I've done it too long. I'm 45, to be 46 in a couple weeks. Life is moving at a comets pace and time is slipping by. I have a strong support system from my partner and my friends (Facebook, Twitter and in real life).

I know where I want to go, I just need a road map and a few people to point me in the right direction. My gratitude will not fall by the waist-side either.

I just to had to put this out to the universe and now I will await a return message.

My main area of interest is TV and/or movie reviews as well as writing blogs/articles of events I attend.

The Full Tilt Ponzi Scheme

I have been playing poker for a number of years - mostly for free and when I played for free I played like really money was riding on the line.  I always played on Full Tilt, but because they didn't accept credit card payments from US players, I never had money on the site. I just played with Play Money.  It wasn't until I learned of sending money via Western Union that I decided to put money on the account and play for some real chips - or so I thought.


Full Tilt always had the reputation of being the only legitimate poker sites around. (You can read the history of Full Tilt here: History of Full Tilt).

Before joining Full Tilt, I did extensive research and Full Tilt was always in the top 10, so I finally gave in and did my first Western Union transaction with them and boy was I excited. I played ring games at first, no limit. After losing, I decided to play limit games. Although a slow climb up, I was doing OK. My next move was to get involved in SNG (Sit n Go's) and from there get involved in real tournaments. Some that allowed you to advance to a bigger one or one that paid out to the top, let's say, 20 players out of, again let's say 500. I did good in both areas, so I figured my best bet is to play in SNG's or tournaments. The few months I played I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So much so, that I finally hit the live tables in Vegas and in a city near me. Which reminds, I need to get involved in their Sunday Tournaments.It had been knowledge among us poker players that there was a chance that we would end up in a Blackout, meaning all the poker sites (Full Tilt, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker) would be shut down.  The Blackout, from my knowledge was suppose to last only 15 months.  Knowing about the strong possible Blackout to take place I decided to play like nobody's business (basically get rid of my chips, because that's all it is now, chips) and of course I was winning.  Not big, but winning just the same.One day I tried to get on Full Tilt and was unable to do so.  I tried from a different computer and a different laptop.  I tried three times and even had a friend try and and finally she received the message that Full Tilt was currently down and explained why. I should add that before the Blackout started I tried to get my money off the account but the only way it would allow you to do that is to give them your bank account information. Well that wasn't about to happen. There was another way, but it was some long draw out thing, that by the time I received my money, I would have forgotten where it came from that's the reason I decided to play like there was no tomorrow - and guess what, there wasn't.


Several months had passed and a few times I have received emails from Full Tilt claiming they were working to get our money to us and for us to hang tight. A few months after that I received another email stating the same thing. I was going to write them after a couple of weeks asking for further information, but figured they would just refer me to their email, so I didn't bother. I thought I would wait it out.


Today I decided to look up the latest on Full Tilt and the payback of funds to its players and came cross this article talking about how Full Tilt was never a legitimate gambling site, but rather, a Ponzi Scheme: Online Poker Site Running Ponzi Scheme

From what I have red, Phil Ivey is now suing, or has sued the sponsors (Full Tilt) for $150 million (which he can share with the rest of us) and refuses to play in this year's WSOP (World Series of Poker). I am not sure what the outcome was of the suit or if he played. I basically stopped following anything poker related since the Blackout, which I shouldn't have done, but I'm slowly getting back into the game.


I don't think I will ever see my funds again, which I am fine with. But next time I lay some money down for chips, I will know my money is in on someone's cash drawer instead of in cyberspace and then the lining of someone's pocket.

The Snark Who Blogged Back - Blocking the Writer

As a writer, there's nothing worse than having writer's block, but perhaps having writer's block for a week or longer. I know there are writers that go months without being able to produce anything. I went through writer's block for about a week and I found myself thinking more about having writer's block than doing something about it. Basically, because I wanted the writer's block to just leave. I wanted it to disappear as soon as I plopped myself in front of a desktop or laptop, but it didn't. Instead, it really came on full force and basically laughed in my face because it thought it had me beat. And it did - for a bit. It wasn't until I started reading a post by a friend and fellow blogger. The contents of that particular post isn't important for this writing, but it should be read by many

The Snark Who Hunts Back - http://thesnarkwhohuntsback.wordpress.com/

Upon receiving a blog post of hers in my e-mail I began reading. I didn't read the entire post, but enough to realize why I was having major writer's block - because I'm not reading enough. You can't write unless you read. So, with that said, I say this. My blog friend wrote a great piece about that subject and I wanted to share it here for everyone.

http://thesnarkwhohuntsback.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/720/ - blog about writer's block and how to cure it.Actually, this post gave me a great idea. I think I am going to begin linking the posts that affect me and write why they affected me.

 Until then:Go read The Pretty Little Liars series

I'm Pretty Flawless Not To Mention...

Unbelievably Wicked.

Last month (August 2011) I began reading Pretty Little Liars written by Sara Shephard. I am not sure as to how I came about that book, rather the series, but I did and I am absolutely enjoying it. Pretty Little Liars (book 1) was one book I couldn't put down, next to Catcher In The Rye and The Help. I think I read that book in two weeks time. I am not saying that that book is a hard read. It's not by a long shot. But it is so well written that it transports the reader to the time and scene being written about.

Set in a rich area of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, it follows a group of girls that were best friends in seventh grade through high school at Rosewood Day (private school): Alison, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily. After a tragic accident and then the disappearance of Alison (during seventh grade year), things change drastically for the remaining three girls. But not only does tragedy and the disappearance of Alison change them, time changes them. High school becomes a different environment with new people entering their lives and old one leaving. As together as people seem on the outside, their world is anything but perfect.

I never attended a private school or lived in a ritzy area growing but I can still relate to the characters in the book because, as humans, we all go through some crazy stuff in our adolescent and young adult years. This is what I enjoy about reading young adult books. Unless you skipped adolescent and young adult, anyone can relate to these books.

I have begun reading Flawless and as with Pretty Little Liars I can't put it down (thought at times I have to). I read it on my breaks and lunches at work and its the last thing I read before shutting off the light for sleep time. Unlike Pretty, Flawless is becoming a slow read because I am also reading other books to help me with blogging better as well trying to attend to my blogs (either writer or modifying them).

I know ABC Family made a TV show of the books and on Twitter there were people watching the show and posting at the same time. I had to turn Twitter off because they were spoiling it for me.

I am not sure if I will watch the TV show because it might ruin it for me as in the people weren't cast correctly or things were changed from the book - as is done with all TV series and movies. But curiosity always gets the best of me and once I am finished with the series, I will look at the TV show and give my take, as any good blogger should do.

Until next time:

"Two can only keep a secret if one of them is dead." Alison from Pretty Little Liars

How To Make Millions of Dollars After a Prison

I read a blog today regarding Michael Vick signing a 100 million dollar contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and how people are outraged over this. Well they were outraged when he got out of the hoosegow and went right into playing football like nothing happened. But it seems people are more outraged by the amount of money he is getting right now. I am one of those people.Here is the link to the article: http://montyobv.blogspot.com/2011/09/suck-my-vick.html

I am not going to comment on the other people mentioned in the blog, just on my thoughts on Vick.

I was a Vick fan when he played for the Falcons. Not a huge fan, but a fan. Then the story broke about him being involved in dog fighting and in the brutal torture and murders of dogs that lost fights. He was given 18 months in the hoosegow. Yeah only 18 months. That's how much a animals life is worth. I am not saying that an animal's life is worth more than a human's but I feel the crime is the same whether it was done to a human or an animal. That's where my frustration comes in. But I digress.

After Vick's release he was given a job of quarterbacking for the Eagles. As a friend said it best:

There is really nothing anyone can say that can change my view of this convicted animal abuser. Yes he served his time...yes everyone deserves a second chance. But no one comes out of prison with the opportunity to make that amount of money. The NFL claims to be a business...then they should act like a business and do back ground checks before you hire..because in the real world making a decent living..convicted criminals struggle to get decent jobs because of bad choices they made. The NFL should be no different!

I remember watching a show in which this guy was released from prison and was trying to get a job and no one would hire him because he had a prison record. He couldn't even get a job as a dishwasher and his crime was nothing close to Vick's.

I do believe strongly in giving everyone a second chance, but paying someone millions of dollars is not a second chance, that's a reward. I feel that Vick should have never been allowed back into the NFL so quickly. I feel he should have worked his way up like all convicts have to do to.

I admit that this infuriates me because I am an animal lover and animals do depend on us and that wasn't more apparent to me than in 2009 when my cat Facers, was diagnosed with a kidney disease and she was subjected to daily IV's and constant monitoring. But more importantly, she needed someone to tell her everything was going to be OK and she was loved and such. And that person was me. I happened to not be working that year, so it worked out great that I could be there for her. As of today she is doing great and very healthy. So while I am nursing my cat back to health, Vick is killing his dogs because they lost a fight and didn't make money for him. It's all about the benjamins with that bozo.

I don't think he feels one ounce of remorse for what he has done and how can he when he is being told that hey, we know you are the scum of the earth, but we want to pay you millions of dollars anyways.

It seems the NFL welcomes criminals. So if you want to make millions of dollars, join the NFL, commit a crime and you too can make up 100 million dollars.

I might have done more ranting than making a point, but this is just something I had to get out of my chest. If you comment, please be gentle.

True Life: I Want To Be Straight

MTV has a show called True Life in which they follow teen/young adults around that are dealing with some type of issue as in being addicted to drugs, or being an outcast in their school, etc.. On one particular episode, they followed two people, a male and a female, both of whom lived a gay lifestyle but now they want to be straight. The female is doing it because of her mother. When her mother found out she was gay (her mother caught her with another woman) her mother stabbed her - literally. The male in the show is doing it for religious, as well as family reasons. I watched about 14 minutes of this show before turning it off. I still have it on my DVR but I am about to sock these two people because of what they are doing which is telling the world, the ignorant part of the world., that being gay is a choice, which it isn't. Oh and I better ad, that the guy in the show is even seeing a therapist to rid himself of his homosexuality. Yeah- that should be enough to piss anyone off.

My mother thinks being gay is a choice and it's not. Why would I, or anyone, make the choice to be gay and put ourselves at risk of the ignorant asses out there? We wouldn't. But we aren't going to conform to what others think we should be. My mother still hasn't accepted who I am and who I am with and that's fine with me. I talk to my mother every blue moon, but when she starts bringing up my sexuality and treats it like it's a choice I made and such, I have shut her down and be clear of her for a few years. But I'm digressing from the point of this blog.

There are people, like my mother, a lot of people, who feel that being gay (I decided to lump us all in one category) is a choice. There are choices we make because it is something we like. I choose chocolate ice cream over vanilla because I like it. I choose football over basketball because I like it. I choose blue over yellow because I like it. All these things make me feel good. Being gay is not a choice- it is what I am. I did not choose my brown eyes. I did not choose to be deaf in one ear. I did not choose to be dyslexic to a point (I transpose numbers but can remember numbers like nobody's business). I choose none of this. But I learned to live with it. But being gay is something I have learned to accept of myself (took a lot of years) and for these two people to try to change who they are for someone else, I don't care who it is, just disgust me. Yes, I may be writing out turn for I have not finished the show and for all I know, they may remain who they are. I will do follow up to this blog once I have finished the show.

Society today seems to be more accepting of homosexuality. They may not agree with it, but it seems they are a bit more supportive of us. I would do anything for my mother but conform to her view point of how things should be. I will not conform to any one's view point on how things should be. I do not flaunt my sexuality at all for it's how I choose to live my life. Pretty much anyone that myers to know know I am gay without me telling them. No I am not butch nor am manly I. Anyway. Some people have gaydar - I know I do. But anyways.

This has probably been a lot of rambling and somewhere in the middle of this rambling there is a point and the point will continue once I have finished the show with the end results of the two people.

Before CBS 5 I Was Star Struck. But Now...

Before I began working at CBS 5 in San Francisco between 2004 and 2005 I would get star struck easily. I didn't care who the person was, if I heard they were around I had to get a look and that would be it. No bragging, no nothing. Just had to see. But since working at CBS 5 and meeting a number of actors/actresses/musicians and such I am no longer star struck.

I met one who was the nicest person you'd ever want to meet and very down the earth and met another who had a very nasty personality without opening their mouth. I will not mention their names for I am not Perez Hilton. I want to make a name for myself while putting others down by name. But digress.

My view of people in the entertainment industry has changed quite a bit. I no longer like someone just because of what they do. I like them for who they are. My view changed because of my encounters. Not because of the bad one, but more so, because of the good ones. I have learned, and as cliche it may seem, we are all the same, just some of us are more known than others. I am still in the other category. I listen to stories about them from others or read articles about them (not in celebrity magazines) but in magazines about things they are interested in. I also do a lot of reading on IMDB via the trivia page and the message boards and try to learn something interesting about them that is not related to what they do. From all my readings I make up my own mind.

Twitter is a haven for celebrity followers. I was never one of them because I would have to like the person for who they are and not what they, as mentioned as before.

I also don't get excited about who is coming to town - unless it is Santa Clause coming to town and he better have my Mac Book Pro laptop with him or else.

But then there are people I like because of what they do and the list is long. What this means is that I would never want to meet them. The only person I like for what he does and who he is is Roger Waters and that is one person I would love to meet someday.

I have three or four people from the soap opera world I am following on Twitter and two have responded to me when I responded to their tweet. And my responses have nothing to do with their characters on the show or the entertainment world. I am sure that's the last thing they want to talk about.
 
I have learned that if you treat an actor/actress like everyone else and talk about things non-related to their job they are more responsive towards you for they feel you are there for them and not for what they do. In other, there's no ulterior motive.

The next time you are eager meet someone, don't approach them like a fan, although you may be the greatest fan, but approach them like they are one of us, which they are.

Always keep this quote in mind if your favorite person turns out to be a real a-hole:

"Whoever said fame makes you the person you are, must have had David Ruffin in mind"... From the movie The Temptations.

It's The Little Things

There are little things in life that we enjoy. Some enjoy the times with their kids. I don't have kids so you can count me out of the circle. People enjoy spending time with their significant others. I have one of those so I can be included in that circle. But the one thing I enjoy more is being at my favorite place with the one I love. And tonight that place is The Pyramid Brewery located in Berkeley, CA near Fourth Street.


Picture credit: http://www.pyramidbrew.com/alehouses/berkeley

Tonight (27 August 2011) I had the Brewery Burger, medium well with onion rings instead of fries with one of their house beers, the Hefeweizen. We asked to be seated near a TV so we could watch the Giants play the Astros, but we are also able to watch the football game (Niners vs. Houston). After finishing our burgers my partner had the Cherry Berry Cobbler with vanilla ice cream.Right now we are just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.My shorts description of Pyramid Brewery is it is warm and inviting.

What is your favorite place to go and why?

My Favorite INANIMATE Object

I would have to say the pen is my favorite inanimate object because from that pen I can become anyone I want and be anywhere I want to be. With the pen I can be the richest person earth, or make myself pauper. I can have millions of fans or be a hermit. The pen will either make me larger than life or be the death of me.

Judy Blume - One Size Fits All

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume




I don't care what age you are - as long as you are past junior high age, any of Judy Blumes books are for you. I'm in my 40's and I still read her books because at some point in my life I was a girl in junior high trying to make it through thinking those were the tough times. Little did I know that those were the best and simplest times of our lives. How I wish I could go back sometimes.



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The Kitchen House, part II

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The first book that affected me was Catcher in the Rye, the second was The Help and now The Kitchen House.

Set during slavery, it centers around a 6 year old indentured servent who is brought to a plantation and takes up residence with the slaves who work at the big house. The book follows the girl, the slaves and the plantation owners and their family and friends for almost 20 years.

Its story is told between Levinia (indentured servent) and Belle (a house slave). Things that take place are seen through both their eyes from different views.

You will grow to love all the characters, even the Cap't (the plantation owner).

If you loved The Help, you will definitely love this book and not want to put it down. Once you have completed the book, you will want to read it again.

I had the pleasure of interviewing the author and from that we are developing a friendship. She's a wonderful person and fascinating one at that.



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The Jury Room - Facts Over Feelings

I don't claim to be an expert in the matter of juryism (yeah, I made up a word), but I have to give my two cents to the recent events that took place regarding the verdict in the Casey Anthony case.  And, mind you, I am not trying to sway people at all.  This is just a bit of an insight and my opinion.

As mentioned in my previous blog (scroll down to read), I served as a juror. Although a minor case (meaning not high profiled), the job of a juror is still the same. We must look at the facts and ONLY the facts.

The Case:
The charges against the guy was Assault Against a Peace Officer with a Deadly Weapon.
It happened in Baypoint (aka Gunpoint) where a Peace Office
recognized the defendant and wanted to question him. The defendant
became hostile, ran from the cop and ended up in a field where the
office drew his gun on the defendant while the defendant was holding a
large rock in his hand. The defendant then flung the rock at the cop
hitting the cop in the arm (where the gun was).

The Court - Day One:
We listened to the Defense's opening statement

The Prosecutor's opening statement

Then we heard from the Officer who was assaulted and witnesses.

Day Two:
More testimonies and then closing arguments. Once all that was done the judge, just as the judge did in the Anthony case, gave us our instructions along with the packets needed for us to do our work.

Jury Room:
The packet basically breaks down each item.
Assault
Peace Officer
Deadly
Weapon

From the list and its definition we had to determine if he did assault the Peace Officer. After we made our determination we moved to Peace Officer and those definitions. Made our decisions there. Next was deadly weapon (referring to the rock - a big one at that) that the Peace Office was hit with. We first had to determine if the rock was a deadly weapon. 11 of us said no. One said yes. OK. Now, us 11 had to explain to the 1 juror that it WASN'T a deadly weapon because before it became such, it was a rock and ONLY a rock.

There were two questions we had to ask the judge (actually, I had to ask since I was Foreperson). I think one had to do with a penal code, but I forget what the other one was.

One of our decisions, should we have found Mr. Garcia guilty, is to determine which Penal Code was he guilty of.

We did find him guilty of Assault Against a Peace Officer With a Deadly Weapon, but it wasn't an easy decision to come to. We had to go by evidence - hardcore evidence.

Before going into the jury room I was convinced Mr. Garcia was as guilty as they come. But when I entered the jury room and looked at the break down of everything, I wasn't so sure. I don't think any of us was sure and it made for great discussions.

I highly recommend everyone watch the movie 12 Angry Men with Henry Fonda. I watched that movie after serving juror duty and I had much more appreciation for the job.  But watch it to get a sense of what a jury has to go through and the decisions they have to make.

We can all agree the sky is blue, but when its broken down into tiny pieces and we have to put those tiny pieces together, we all will not agree the sky is blue.

Regarding the Casey Anthony case:
Some sat and watched the trial since day one and hoped for a guilty verdict. Some caught the end of it, me, and hoped for a guilty verdict and felt she was guilty. I began thinking and feeling like the majority of the population and had no doubt she would be found guilty. But when I got the phone call from a friend of mine telling me they found her not guilty, I was shocked. I stayed shocked for about an hour, until I remembered the job of a juror and I have to say that they did their job.

They could have easily gone in there and found her guilty and called it Bob Hope. But they were in there for approximately10 hours. The paperwork they had to go through and the stuff they had to read and agree upon - I can't imagine.

Their decision was not made from the heart - it was made from the law. If it was from the heart they would have been in and right back out - but they were in there for 10 hours.

Having Casey go to prison won't bring Caylee back (cliche, I know). People think that Caylee didn't get justice, but she did. She has thousands and thousands of people she's never met, care about her and wishing they could have taken her into their home (me included) so she didn't have to be subject to what her mother did. Caylee has the hearts of a lot of people, which is more than Casey can say. Casey now has the strong dislike of thousands and thousands of people.

I could easily rant and rave about the decision and what a horrible person Casey is, but what good is it going to do. I will be mad about the verdict - for I am human - but I will respect the verdict - as a former juror.

Again, I am not trying to sway people's decision or showing in favor of Casey in any way.  Just trying to give others a better understanding of the jury process.

I look forward to comments and/or questions.

Jury Duty

Back in April 2007 I was on a jury for a case that involved a man being charged with Assault On a Peace Officer with a Deadly Object. I think I was the only one in the jury room (where you sit and wait to be picked) that wanted to serve on a jury. And if I got picked I wanted to be foreman. I was able to do both.

Those who haven't served think that coming up with a verdict is easy. And it's not.

I'm watching the judge give the jury their finally instructions in the Casey M. Anthony trial and what he's saying to the jury is what we were told in our trial. I am speaking of the break down of the charges. Then when you get to the jury room you're looking at the break down again, but now on paper. It can be overwhelming because of the details that are there.

Being foreman put more pressure on the person because you are now looked upon to run the show and to basically referee disputes that break out between jurors. I only had a minor one and it was civil. But I also had to explain things to the jurors. I also had to make sure all the paperwork was signed and dated correctly. It was also my responsibility to ask the judge questions via writing when we confused about something.

I am not sure how long we were back in the jury room, but it does seem like you're back there a long time because you have to convince all 12 people to agree with each other and the way the charges are broken down, people can agree that there was a weapon present, but may not agree that it was used intentionally. I remember one lady saw the object as deadly but that wasn't what the question asked. I don't remember the exact working of the document but it basically asked if the object was deadly. We all said no because it was an object. It only became deadly when it was used. But the lady said the object was deadly because IT WAS USED in the crime. That's where a lot of our time was spent and it made good arguments.

We ended up finding the guy guilty of assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon. We weren't there for the sentencing. No big deal to me.

I would love to serve on a jury again and serve as foreman. I almost got on a five week case in which a father was accused of killing his son. But as it turned out they had the jury picked. We were basically an alternate jury to be picked.

The Dark Joker

As a self-proclaimed movie buff and lover of villains (the more evil the more I love them), I find Heath Ledger's Joker to top them all. You knew it was Heath behind the make up but you also forgot it was Heath. His facial expressions, his nervous, yet acquired habit with his tongue and his voice had you mesmerized at the talent that was and could have been, Heath Ledger.

I can't say enough about Heath's performance in The Dark Knight save for I had to see it twice, and I did. I saw it opening night, then on 21 July 2008 (5:35pm showing) and once more at IMAX.

But Heath's performance is not the only attraction to the movie. I enjoyed Batman Begins because of the darkness of the movie (Oh, I also love, love, love dark movies). And I was anxiously awaiting the next installment and it did not disappoint.

The ending of The Dark Knight left things open, especially the return of the Joker. So, my question is, who can or will top Heath Ledger's performance?

The man who left this earth with so many questions as to why he did what he did on that faithful day, has now left me with more questions as to what would have become of him since playing the Joker so exquisitely? Would he reprise his role in the next Batman installment? Would he continue to play villains in other movies? Or has this movie made him a legend before his time?

As the Joker said in the movie:

Introduce a little anarchy... Upset the established order... Well then everyone loses their minds!

Has his early departure done just that? We'll never know.

I do not believe his death made him a legend, but rather his role as The Joker.

See his work in action if you haven't already, go to You Tube and type in Heath Ledger - The Joker.

The Sweeney that is Todd

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_hgrfZVlJA]

I am not really a Tim Burton fan, although I do respect the dark aspects of his movies. When I completed watching Sweeney Todd and although a great idea on a classic, I am a bit turned off by the singing, and a lot of unnecessary singing at that.

Background of the story Sweeney Todd courtesy of Wikipedia:

In his past life, Todd was known as Benjamin Barker, a middle class barber, married to Lucy Barker with a daughter, Johanna. The villainous Judge Turpin exiles Benjamin to Australia on false charges in order to have Lucy to himself. Lucy poisons herself in grief, and in her hiatus, Turpin adopts baby Johanna as his ward. By the time Todd returns to London, Johanna has become a young woman and falls in love with a sailor, Anthony, who attempts to steal her away from Judge Turpin, who has proposed to marry the girl. In some versions of the Sweeney Todd story Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime and variously his friend or lover (and whose first name is variously Nellie, Marjorie, Sarah, Shirley, or Claudette), hides his crimes by butchering the corpses of Todd's victims, baking their flesh into meat pies, and selling them to unknowing customers.

In the original story, A String of Pearls, Sweeney Todd is still the same working class barber. Instead of killing for revenge, however, he kills in pure greed. At the end, he is arrested and hanged, while Mrs. Lovett commits suicide in her cell.

In every version, Mrs. Lovett takes in an orphan boy, Tobias Ragg, after Sweeney kills Ragg's previous guardian, Adolfo Pirelli. Ragg is generally the first character to catch onto Sweeney's crimes and also is responsible for Todd's death.

In almost every variation, Johanna, Anthony, and Toby are the only characters who survive.

I am not sure why Burton felt the need to keep it a musical, which to me is, following suit of others. It would have been great if this movie was a straight up talkie.

Now, on to the good stuff.

As the story says, Benjamin Parker (Sweeney Todd), once a barber, was falsely accused and thus sent away. He comes back 15 years later to find the judge who put him away has married his wife and adopted his daughter. Sweeney is now bent on revenge. He re-opens a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett's pie shop, thus begins the relationship between Todd and Lovett. Also in the pictures is a boy named Toby who worked for a peddler of whatever he was peddling at that time. To learn more of how everyone came to be, rent the movie...I think any version would do, but if you want the dark version, then rent Burton's version.

The entire movie is dark (dark streets, dark clothes, dark scenes, dark everything) save for the part when Todd is telling Lovett of his past and when Lovett is imagining her and Todd's life together with Toby.

The movie centers around revenge and Todd's heart being full of malice. The lengths Todd goes through to exact his revenge causes others to fall prey to the wicked hands to which they were never a part of. Todd's first chance at revenge against the judge is missed by no fault of his own. Before his second chance appears, many, many men will die and become the meat in Mrs. Lovett's meat pie, which are the hit of Fleet Street. Once his revenge is complete against the judge, he soon finds that his malice has caused the death of someone that was close to his heart. This causes more anger for Todd who seeks revenge on another and thus the vicious circle just goes around and around and ends with revenge getting its revenge.

The Pen May Lie but The Sword Does Not!

There seems to be an influx of false memories rolling down the river of late. The first known of this was Clifford Irving’s book The Autobiography of Howard Hughes. I am sure there was others before him, but he’s on of the famous one. Then there was James Frey and his A Million Little Pieces in which he even had Oprah fooled. Oprah brought James back on the show to talk about the lies and for her to do this just probably made the book even popular. I can’t say for sure, but as a collector, I like to keep books of this nature.

The James Frey hoax had a bit of a backlash in that readers demanded their money back. I didn’t. I have the original book before the disclaimer was introduced in the re-released copies. I also have the O J Simpson book, If I did It that was released by the money hungry Goldmans. But I digress.

Recently, there have been two memoirs that have been exposed for being lies. The first was a holocaust memoir titled Misha: A Memoir of the Holocaust Years by Misha Defonseca in which she states, as a Jewish child, she lived with a pack of wolves in the woods during the Holocaust. Well, my first clue that something wasn’t right is the “pack of wolves”. Unless your name is Tarzan or Lucan (for those of you from the 70′s and remember the Tv show), no one has ever been raised by a pack of wolves. The second memoir was by Margaret B. Jones (real name Margaret Seltzer) called Love and Consequence who claimed she was a foster child growing up in South Los Angels and survived by selling drugs the street gang The Bloods. Oh, did I mention that she claims she was abused as a child and that she’s half white and half Native American? You should look this one up because she’s a hum dinger. The author’s, or should I say, the liars true story is, she actually grew up with her biological family in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley.

I am not sure why these people feel the need to fabricate their stories.

I am currently editing my first novel, which so happens to be about the holocaust. The protagonist is in an unnamed concentration camp. My story, unlike the ones mentioned, is of fiction. It is what you would call a historical fiction novel. I am neither Jewish nor have a Jewish background. In addition, I do not know anyone who was in any of the camps. After I had completed by draft, I had the pleasure of meeting Gloria Lyons who did spend time in four camps. Her husband was able to escape the Holocaust by being sent to Budapest and then to America.

Of the two hoaxes to come about the one that irks me the most is the book about the Holocaust. The Holocaust is a subject near and dear to my heart. This is a subject that should not be played with nor doubted. When others come forth with their stories, are they going to be believed? Hard to say. These constant false memoirs are starting to turn into the boy who cried wolf.