I’ve got some great news! Amnesia is moving!

Please update your bookmarks and links to:

 Http://www.anaedream.com

 I will not be updating this website any longer, so please come to the new site!

Weekend Assignment #154: Your Car or Your Computer? :  John Scalzi says that you must choose between the car — beloved icon of American greatness and freedom — and the computer — the defining machine of the 21st century. If you choose the car, you do not get to touch a computer again, except for basic work-related purposes at work. If you choose the computer, no more personal wheels for you. And for those of you in a two-car family, there’s none of this “oh, I’ll just ride in my spouse’s car” stuff: Any rides you bum have to be outside your immediate family. Similarly, no using the spouse’s or kid’s computers, and those of you with super-enabled cell phones will henceforth use them only for phone calls. No Web-browsing, e-mail or text messaging. See, now it’s gotten harder, hasn’t it?

_____________________________

I would choose my computer. No questions. Here are the specs that I bought and built:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual-Core 512K

Asus CROSSHAIR nForce 590 SLI Audio/GB-LA

2 GB DDR Memory

ATI 1900 xtx video card

Soundblaster X-FI Extreme

SENNHEISER|PMX200 RTL headphones — awesome sound quality

19 Inch LCD Flat Panel Monitor

Apevia Case (black one pictured to the right)

It’s a pretty kick ass machine. I’ve got a great Saitek Keyboard and the Logitech G5 mouse to boot with full stereo surround sound speakers. Go me in my insane geekiness.

As for the reason I would choose my computer: I can do anything on my computer. I can write, compose music, order food, send email, chat with friends, play games, surf teh intraweb, go shopping.

While I would miss my car, I could probably secure rides places or pay for a taxi. I live right next to a shopping plaza so I wouldn’t ever starve or want for anything. I’d probably get more exercise if you ask me, having to walk the majority of places.

Extra Credit:

My computer did cost more than my first car. I bought a 1986 Volkswagon Jetta which lasted 3 years until it caught fire on the side of Route 2 in Connecticut. I had noticed smoke coming from the vents so I pulled over to check it out, and my friend who was with me screamed, “Kate, fire! Under the steering wheel!” I proceeded to take his supersized coke from his hand to douse the flames, to which he then replied,

“Hey! That’s my drink!”

“Hey! This is my car!”

Regardless, the sugary concoction could not save Julie and she perished in a blaze of Glory while stopping traffic for a few miles.

Sony really wants to make sure you really want to buy their online product.

Personally, I love the way Gabe captures the expressions of both the kid who’s trying to buy the game, vs. the fat and stupid man representing Sony’s online commerce. If you haven’t checked out Penny-Arcade yet, this is a great site to get neat gaming reviews and overly opinionated and intelligent banter on the latest geeky trends.

Enjoy and remember what Jesus says:

Three articles I’ll link right off the bat:

Stephen Hawking in Space

Black Holes, they never get dirty

Anyone missing a 19.2ton magnet?

Would one of the greatest minds on earth put his life at risk to experience space travel? Unless drastic changes are made in our ability to lift humans into space without all the thrust and G forces, Hawking would most certainly be hurt upon his ascent into the heavens. If anything, someone would have to introduce a pressure suit to stabilize his head and chest while keeping an eye on other vital functions just to survive the initial lift-off. While trained astronauts can take the pressures of 3Gs, someone with Hawking’s condition would have difficulty breathing, not to mention a slew of cardiac and joint problems.

While he may be going on Zero Gravity’s flight with trained doctors and available medical equipment, Hawking’s dream to break the atmospheric barrier might be crushed if we can’t devise a better space shuttle. 

Regardless, I do hope he can come just a bit closer to touching those stars in April, and finally see the earth from above in 2009. 

My thoughts and prayers most certainly go out to you, Mr. Hawking.

_____

Gotta love the super-sucky, Earth-gobbling, dangerousness that is a black hole! I remember speaking with my friend who happens to be a particle physicist at Brook-haven National Labs when they were running their particle acceleration tests in their superconductor. 

He had heard of protests where disconnected worriers would demonstrate their incomplete and misconstrued horrifying visions regarding re-creating the big bang. Frankly, I was actually surprised by this article because I initially thought the danger would be much larger than it is. Yet, I come from the school of thinking where I believe our scientific progress depends on our ability to research our origins so that we may learn to grow exponentially.

Wow, that was a mouthful.

Regardless, what amazes me are the many different organizations that crop up, spreading fear amongst the population. “Black holes will destroy civilization!”

I would think a trained scientist can better assert the risks of crashing two particles together to create both matter and anti-matter, than a fear mongering watchdog group. Please be careful what you read people! Experimentation like this, risks aside, is a keen look into our past and most definitely a pathway to our future. Creating new dimensions, proving and disproving theories, and moving forward on the evolutionary scale has always been appealing and a necessary step to secure the livelihood of our species.

If you watch scrubs and you didn’t catch the link on a recent episode, you must explore all the wonders that is ‘The Todd.” If you do, reach up that hand for an Internet Five! Oh Yeah!

Click Me!

Editors note: If you’re slightly homophobic, Todd is sporting just a banana hammock. So beware.

My father is a proud and stubborn man. Two years after his stroke, his recovery is amazing as he tries to get around without his cane. Had you seen him in his hospital bed, unable to speak with tears of frustration welling in his eyes, you would never recognize the courageous person who now stood before you.

I will never forget the moment that our entire world imploded. I didn’t receive the normal daily phone call that started when my father got sober 3 years prior. The phone would ring, I would answer and the other side of the receiver would be brimming with hope for the day ahead. Joining AA had given my father a new lease on life.

“Hey baby, just calling to say I love you.”

No matter how bad I had started my day, his voice would always cheer me. So to return the favor, I reached for my headset and called him instead to see how he was doing.

Do you know what it feels like to be helpless? To register that something horrible is happening and not being able to do a damn thing?

“Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Huh? Uhhh. Katy….Uhhh.”

“Dad? Are you alright? Dad?”

Fear suddenly struck within the deepest part of my soul.

“Uh, Katy. I… I… Oh.. God.” My father’s speech was now slurring as he lost his words one by one. I started to shake as I reached for my cell phone.

“Dad, stay with me. Don’t hang up. Keep talking to me, please.”

“Okay.”

I frantically dialed 911 on my cell phone and called the paramedics. 

“911, what’s your emergency.”

“My father is having a stroke….”

He hadn’t told me. There was no one there to diagnose. I just knew and I could do nothing. For what was an agonizing three minutes, my father slipped further inside the recesses of his mind as I listened 30 miles away. I remember trying so desperately to keep from breaking down as I tried to make him talk, each word more difficult than the last for both of us.

I drove to the hospital sobbing.

 Had I lost him? Was I too late? Should I have waited so long to call him? 

 I waddled to the nurse’s station 9 months pregnant with my third child, frantic and full of apprehension. The kind nurse ushered me slowly to where they were keeping him. I remember seeing his pale features surrounded by the usual assortment of wires and tubes. The simple hospital gown. The hopeless and yet strangely efficient emergency room.

Children are never supposed to see their parents afraid, but as I looked at him, his usual bright eyes were now wide with terror. His vocabulary had been reduced to emotional cusses and stutters.

“Your father has had a massive stroke. We believe he is suffering from ‘Expressive Aphasia.’ As the doctor in the worn green ER scrubs continued to divulge the results of the test, I couldn’t help but look to my father and wonder if he understood what was going on.

He seemed to be with me, but unable to say anything. I grabbed his hand and squeezed.

“It’s going to be alright. I promise. I love you, Dad.”

I was the parent at that moment, as I leaned down and kissed him lightly on his sweaty forehead.

My father closed his eyes as the tears ran down his cheeks and the heart monitor kept a steady reassuring pace. 

To Be Continued…

Click here for MSNBC’s Month in Space Pictures.

Come see the emo side of Kate!

Ode to January 7th, 2007 – read aloud by me!

I close my eyes and remember
The way things used to be;
The touch of two sweet lips
and strong arms surrounding me.

What catches me off balance
I find you never really cared
You never looked into my soul
As a partner, never shared

Yet, I still catch your scent
Even though you’re gone
The lies you’ve told remain
The hurt forever strong

Memories will  always fade
as I long for a new embrace
Someone to view me as their own
and take me from this place

So it may be lips, and arms
Or a look that would make me weak
A kiss to bring me to my knees
A real partner I would seek

But of all the things that I do miss
and the things that make me blue
I can not help and I must confess!

Hell, it isn’t by any stretch

Not even a little bit

You.

Allyson (2 years old) – First & Only Audio Blog

I’ve been having so much fun uploading my audio blog that I figured I’d let Allyson try it. She’s feeling somewhat better as well, and is quick to entertain. She can quack, bark and sing the Star Wars Theme. Take a listen!

The Sinister, Cursed Abomination from the Legendary Zodiac Isle is itching to know the other monsters out there in the multiverse.

So take the challenge, post an avatar or a link to your blog and let us both know.

I went back and did my kids names too! This was way too much fun, and I’m glad to see that they all love livestock so much.