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Tuesday, November 13th, 2007
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My old old kitty I may have to put down and I'm Very sad about it. She has been with me for almost 17 years and I can't hardly let myself think about it but I know I have to. I know the other cats know something is wrong with her, and the way they show love to her is so tender. The way she perks up the moment she knows I am near her, and how tightly she holds onto me while I hold her is heart breaking.
Emily is at least going to be still with me.
till later babes I Love You - Melissa
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Record Number of STD Cases Last Year
By MIKE STOBBE,AP
Posted: 2007-11-13 17:04:34
Filed Under: Health News
ATLANTA (Nov. 13) - More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year - the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease, federal health officials said Tuesday.
"A new U.S. record," said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr. of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More bad news: Gonorrhea rates are jumping again after hitting a record low, and an increasing number of cases are caused by a "superbug" version resistant to common antibiotics, federal officials said Tuesday.
Syphilis is rising, too. The rate of congenital syphilis - which can deform or kill babies - rose for the first time in 15 years.
"Hopefully we will not see this turn into a trend," said Dr. Khalil Ghanem, an infectious diseases specialist at Johns Hopkins University's School of medicine.
The CDC releases a report each year on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, three diseases caused by sexually transmitted bacteria.
Chlamydia is the most common. Nearly 1,031,000 cases were reported last year, up from 976,000 the year before.
The count broke the single-year record for reported cases of a sexually transmitted disease, which was 1,013,436 cases of gonorrhea, set in 1978.
Putting those numbers into rates, there were about 349 cases of chlamydia per 100,000 people in 2006, up 5.6 percent from the 329 per 100,000 rate in 2005.
CDC officials say the chlamydia record may not be all bad news: They think the higher number is largely a result of better and more intensive screening.
Since 1993, the CDC has recommended annual screening in sexually active women ages 15 to 25. Meanwhile, urine and swab tests for the bacteria are getting better and are used more often, for men as well as women, said Douglas, director of the CDC's Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention.
About three-quarters of women infected with chlamydia have no symptoms. Left untreated, the infection can spread and ultimately can lead to infertility. It's easily treated if caught early.
Health officials believe as many as 2.8 million new cases may actually be occurring each year, he added.
Chlamydia infection rates are more than seven times higher in black women then whites, and more than twice as high in black women than Hispanics. But it's a risk women of all races should consider, CDC officials said.
"If (health care) providers think young women in their practice don't have chlamydia, they should think again," said Dr. Stuart Berman, a CDC epidemiologist.
The gonorrhea story is somewhat different.
In 2004, the nation's gonorrhea rate fell to 112.4 cases per 100,000 people in 2004, the lowest level since the government started tracking cases in 1941.
But since then, health officials have seen two consecutive years of increases. The 2006 rate - about 121 per 100,000 - represents a 5.5 percent increase from 2005.
Health officials don't know exactly how many superbug cases there were among the more than 358,000 gonorrhea cases reported in 2006. But a surveillance project of 28 cities found that 14 percent were resistant to ciprofloxacin and other medicines in the fluoroquinolones class of antibiotics.
Similar samples found that 9 percent were resistant to those antibiotics in 2005, and 7 percent were resistant in 2004. The appearance of the superbug has been previously reported, and the CDC is April advised doctors to stop using those drugs against gonorrhea.
Douglas said it doesn't look like the superbugs are the reason for gonorrhea's escalating numbers overall, but they're not sure what is driving the increase.
Other doctors are worried. The superbug gonorrhea has been on the rise not only in California and Hawaii, where the problem has been most noticeable, but also in the South and parts of the Midwest.
"Suddenly we're starting to see the spread," Ghanem said.
Syphilis, a potentially deadly disease that first shows up as genital sores, has become relatively rare in the United States. About 9,800 cases of the most contagious forms or syphilis were reported in 2006, up from about 8,700 in 2005.
The rate rose from 2.9 cases per 100,000 people to 3.3, a 14 percent increase.
For congenital syphilis, in which babies get syphilis from their mothers, the rate rose only slightly from the previous year to 8.5 cases per 100,000 live births.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-11-13 14:34:26
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Monday, September 17th, 2007
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hey babes,
I am so excited I finally got a canvas letter for an industrial hygiene trainee position. prey for me, and wish me luck!! please!!
I also have decided that as of this last weekend, I'm only drinking socially, and then only a glass of wine with dinner or something of that sort, but nothing more. I sprained my ankle last week, oy! It was the other one, not the one I broke a few years ago. But its pretty bad, and it has been slowing me down. I'v got to rehabilitate it now, and the range of motion is discouraging.
anything else you may want or need to know give me a call.
Miss ya lots and lots and love ya - Melissa
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Saturday, August 25th, 2007
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| Mood: |  cheerful. |
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hello my dears,
So I have a job, or was that two, or three, sometimes I get confused. only one is full time and that one I have to wear a uniform for so if you want to see it send me a text message as I took one halfway decent picture of myself in it in my phone.
my last bunny is still alive and bouncy, happily. She has to be the most spoiled bunny ever, but, I really dont care, her and my shelby doggie are happy. Emily, too, btw, finds the bunny amusing and I sometimes find her curled up near her. Im not really sure the bunny thinks she is a bunny, shelby thinks she is a cat, emily acts kind of like a dog with the way she plays fetch. and bunny except for the brief moments her littermates were alive, never had any other contact with other bunnies and she had a dog as a seragate momma. Id be confused to!
Im glad to hear from everyone, Iv missed you all. Im looking into advanced degree areas right now, mainly pharmacy, and Ill keep you up to date on what I finally do do.
ok babes love ya lots - Melissa
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Saturday, June 30th, 2007
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I'm finally watching this documentary and I'am very impressed with Al Gore! It is as he says "not so much a political issue any more, it is a moral issue."
It also makes me remember hearing people say, as if it was nothing, with the increases in tempratures and the strange weather, with the phrase "oh its just global warming". That phrase to me is just as bad as swearing or prejustice. It all just shows ignorence and an attitude about life and this world that is unacceptable in our now global community.
What is the point of fighting over something as trivial as differences in religious belieaf, if we have no world left to worshop the devine as we see them in? The people in this world that fight over such stupid things, should stop fighting over such stupid things, and put all that wasted energy into saving the world for their children.
All people must join together no matter where they are, or who they are, or what they may identify themselves as, put it aside, put all that hate aside and work together. We must all do what we can in our own ways to save our planet, or there wont be one.
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May, I Love you thus far. It has been sunny and warm for over a week and i'v been loving it! I hear its susposed to rain again, sometime this week, but I really dont care right now. Days like this, and the smell of the air on days like today, is one of the things in life I most adore. I hope I can carry a pocket full of sunshine with me even if it does choose to rain.
I have been so much happier this spring, than I could ever hope to have ever been last spring. Its like a cool salve has been applied to those wounds, and my spirit is flying high amongst all the places I had forgotten in my greaf and stress, and all the places I once thought I was never allowed to enter or even think upon. God has opened my heart and my eyes to so many places, and I am almost giddy with the freedom I feel benieth my wings.
Mind you everything is not perfect, in fact things are down right difficult, frustrating, and you name it. But the way I have learned over the past year to relate to all this turmoil has changed. How I see has been liberated, and sure I do still have days that are harder than others to handle, but I have so many less now, and I believe it is because I'v decided to just let God worry about the outcomes. I just do my best each day to improve myself and my situation, I may talk about it as its exciting and sometimes scarry to put yourself out there like that, but then I try to let it go and move on to the next task at hand.
Its liberating!! I hope I can continue to work hard through the many many many ups and downs I have, It would be easier if I had some money thats for sure, but I'll get there soon I hope.
Love you all far and near, you are all in my heart - Melissa
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that better be a correct saying because to me this april has been wet and if it was not for the few sunny and warm days we have had id be really upset. heheheh! anyway at least we can say we are resiliant and can make it through anything cuz were from NY or have at least lived here for awhile.
nothing compares to new york, there is a certain thing about people from here that sets us apart. maybe it is the high education standards (far above many other states), maybe its our agriculture, or our people and the diversity they bring, maybe its the weather that teaches us all to "be prepared" cuz in two hours we will have something entirely different to deal with.
nowhere else is sunshine and fair skies more appreciated, nowhere else do we hardly ever close schools dispite three feet of snow with more coming. and snow tires, we will think about it, but we learned to drive in this stuff on all season tires, and havent had anything else, so why change now. besides, if we slip and slide, it just makes driving that much more interesting. who wants to get bored and have a reason to fall asleep at the wheel anyway?
im sure there are sentiments about other states that we can think of so please share ill look forward to them from my out of state friends who spent some of their lives in new york. hope some of these cute little rantings gave someone a chuckel.
love ya all - melissa
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THE
Velveteen Rabbit
OR
HOW TOYS BECOME REAL
by Margery Williams
DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC.
Garden City New York
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To Francesco Bianco
from
The Velveteen Rabbit
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HERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy's stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming.
There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten.
For a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms. The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. Even Timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with Government. Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse.
The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him.
There was a person called Nana who ruled the nursery. Sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards. She called this "tidying up," and the playthings all hated it, especially the tin ones. The Rabbit didn't mind it so much, for wherever he was thrown he came down soft.
One evening, when the Boy was going to bed, he couldn't find the china dog that always slept with him. Nana was in a hurry, and it was too much trouble to hunt for china dogs at bedtime, so she simply looked about her, and seeing that the toy cupboard door stood open, she made a swoop.
"Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He'll do to sleep with you!" And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy's arms.
That night, and for many nights after, the Velveteen Rabbit slept in the Boy's bed. At first he found it rather uncomfortable, for the Boy hugged him very tight, and sometimes he rolled over on him, and sometimes he pushed him so far under the pillow that the Rabbit could scarcely breathe. And he missed, too, those long moonlight hours in the nursery, when all the house was silent, and his talks with the Skin Horse. But very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talk to him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that he said were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in. And they had splendid games together, in whispers, when Nana had gone away to her supper and left the night-light burning on the mantelpiece. And when the Boy dropped off to sleep, the Rabbit would snuggle down close under his little warm chin and dream, with the Boy's hands clasped close round him all night long.
And so time went on, and the little Rabbit was very happy–so happy that he never noticed how his beautiful velveteen fur was getting shabbier and shabbier, and his tail becoming unsewn, and all the pink rubbed off his nose where the Boy had kissed him.
Spring came, and they had long days in the garden, for wherever the Boy went the Rabbit went too. He had rides in the wheelbarrow, and picnics on the grass, and lovely fairy huts built for him under the raspberry canes behind the flower border. And once, when the Boy was called away suddenly to go out to tea, the Rabbit was left out on the lawn until long after dusk, and Nana had to come and look for him with the candle because the Boy couldn't go to sleep unless he was there. He was wet through with the dew and quite earthy from diving into the burrows the Boy had made for him in the flower bed, and Nana grumbled as she rubbed him off with a corner of her apron.
"You must have your old Bunny!" she said. "Fancy all that fuss for a toy!"
The Boy sat up in bed and stretched out his hands.
"Give me my Bunny!" he said. "You mustn't say that. He isn't a toy. He's REAL!"
When the little Rabbit heard that he was happy, for he knew that what the Skin Horse had said was true at last. The nursery magic had happened to him, and he was a toy no longer. He was Real. The Boy himself had said it.
That night he was almost too happy to sleep, and so much love stirred in his little sawdust heart that it almost burst. And into his boot-button eyes, that had long ago lost their polish, there came a look of wisdom and beauty, so that even Nana noticed it next morning when she picked him up, and said, "I declare if that old Bunny hasn't got quite a knowing expression!"
That was a wonderful Summer!
Near the house where they lived there was a wood, and in the long June evenings the Boy liked to go there after tea to play. He took the Velveteen Rabbit with him, and before he wandered off to pick flowers, or play at brigands among the trees, he always made the Rabbit a little nest somewhere among the bracken, where he would be quite cosy, for he was a kind-hearted little boy and he liked Bunny to be comfortable. One evening, while the Rabbit was lying there alone, watching the ants that ran to and fro between his velvet paws in the grass, he saw two strange beings creep out of the tall bracken near him.
They were rabbits like himself, but quite furry and brand-new. They must have been very well made, for their seams didn't show at all, and they changed shape in a queer way when they moved; one minute they were long and thin and the next minute fat and bunchy, instead of always staying the same like he did. Their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses, while the Rabbit stared hard to see which side the clockwork stuck out, for he knew that people who jump generally have something to wind them up. But he couldn't see it. They were evidently a new kind of rabbit altogether.
They stared at him, and the little Rabbit stared back. And all the time their noses twitched.
"Why don't you get up and play with us?" one of them asked.
"I don't feel like it," said the Rabbit, for he didn't want to explain that he had no clockwork.
"Ho!" said the furry rabbit. "It's as easy as anything," And he gave a big hop sideways and stood on his hind legs.
"I don't believe you can!" he said.
"I can!" said the little Rabbit. "I can jump higher than anything!" He meant when the Boy threw him, but of course he didn't want to say so.
"Can you hop on your hind legs?" asked the furry rabbit.
That was a dreadful question, for the Velveteen Rabbit had no hind legs at all! The back of him was made all in one piece, like a pincushion. He sat still in the bracken, and hoped that the other rabbits wouldn't notice.
"I don't want to!" he said again.
But the wild rabbits have very sharp eyes. And this one stretched out his neck and looked.
"He hasn't got any hind legs!" he called out. "Fancy a rabbit without any hind legs!" And he began to laugh.
"I have!" cried the little Rabbit. "I have got hind legs! I am sitting on them!"
"Then stretch them out and show me, like this!" said the wild rabbit. And he began to whirl round and dance, till the little Rabbit got quite dizzy.
"I don't like dancing," he said. "I'd rather sit still!"
But all the while he was longing to dance, for a funny new tickly feeling ran through him, and he felt he would give anything in the world to be able to jump about like these rabbits did.
The strange rabbit stopped dancing, and came quite close. He came so close this time that his long whiskers brushed the Velveteen Rabbit's ear, and then he wrinkled his nose suddenly and flattened his ears and jumped backwards.
"He doesn't smell right!" he exclaimed. "He isn't a rabbit at all! He isn't real!"
"I am Real!" said the little Rabbit. "I am Real! The Boy said so!" And he nearly began to cry.
Just then there was a sound of footsteps, and the Boy ran past near them, and with a stamp of feet and a flash of white tails the two strange rabbits disappeared.
"Come back and play with me!" called the little Rabbit. "Oh, do come back! I know I am Real!"
But there was no answer, only the little ants ran to and fro, and the bracken swayed gently where the two strangers had passed. The Velveteen Rabbit was all alone.
"Oh, dear!" he thought. "Why did they run away like that? Why couldn't they stop and talk to me?"
For a long time he lay very still, watching the bracken, and hoping that they would come back. But they never returned, and presently the sun sank lower and the little white moths fluttered out, and the Boy came and carried him home.
Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter.
And then, one day, the Boy was ill.
His face grew very flushed, and he talked in his sleep, and his little body was so hot that it burned the Rabbit when he held him close. Strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned all night and through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he was afraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and he knew that the Boy needed him.
It was a long weary time, for the Boy was too ill to play, and the little Rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long. But he snuggled down patiently, and looked forward to the time when the Boy should be well again, and they would go out in the garden amongst the flowers and the butterflies and play splendid games in the raspberry thicket like they used to. All sorts of delightful things he planned, and while the Boy lay half asleep he crept up close to the pillow and whispered them in his ear. And presently the fever turned, and the Boy got better. He was able to sit up in bed and look at picture-books, while the little Rabbit cuddled close at his side. And one day, they let him get up and dress.
It was a bright, sunny morning, and the windows stood wide open. They had carried the Boy out on to the balcony, wrapped in a shawl, and the little Rabbit lay tangled up among the bedclothes, thinking.
The Boy was going to the seaside to-morrow. Everything was arranged, and now it only remained to carry out the doctor's orders. They talked about it all, while the little Rabbit lay under the bedclothes, with just his head peeping out, and listened. The room was to be disinfected, and all the books and toys that the Boy had played with in bed must be burnt.
"Hurrah!" thought the little Rabbit. "To-morrow we shall go to the seaside!" For the boy had often talked of the seaside, and he wanted very much to see the big waves coming in, and the tiny crabs, and the sand castles.
Just then Nana caught sight of him.
"How about his old Bunny?" she asked.
"That?" said the doctor. "Why, it's a mass of scarlet fever germs!–Burn it at once. What? Nonsense! Get him a new one. He mustn't have that any more!"
And so the little Rabbit was put into a sack with the old picture-books and a lot of rubbish, and carried out to the end of the garden behind the fowl-house. That was a fine place to make a bonfire, only the gardener was too busy just then to attend to it. He had the potatoes to dig and the green peas to gather, but next morning he promised to come quite early and burn the whole lot.
That night the Boy slept in a different bedroom, and he had a new bunny to sleep with him. It was a splendid bunny, all white plush with real glass eyes, but the Boy was too excited to care very much about it. For to-morrow he was going to the seaside, and that in itself was such a wonderful thing that he could think of nothing else.
And while the Boy was asleep, dreaming of the seaside, the little Rabbit lay among the old picture-books in the corner behind the fowl-house, and he felt very lonely. The sack had been left untied, and so by wriggling a bit he was able to get his head through the opening and look out. He was shivering a little, for he had always been used to sleeping in a proper bed, and by this time his coat had worn so thin and threadbare from hugging that it was no longer any protection to him. Near by he could see the thicket of raspberry canes, growing tall and close like a tropical jungle, in whose shadow he had played with the Boy on bygone mornings. He thought of those long sunlit hours in the garden–how happy they were–and a great sadness came over him. He seemed to see them all pass before him, each more beautiful than the other, the fairy huts in the flower-bed, the quiet evenings in the wood when he lay in the bracken and the little ants ran over his paws; the wonderful day when he first knew that he was Real. He thought of the Skin Horse, so wise and gentle, and all that he had told him. Of what use was it to be loved and lose one's beauty and become Real if it all ended like this? And a tear, a real tear, trickled down his little shabby velvet nose and fell to the ground.
And then a strange thing happened. For where the tear had fallen a flower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower, not at all like any that grew in the garden. It had slender green leaves the colour of emeralds, and in the centre of the leaves a blossom like a golden cup. It was so beautiful that the little Rabbit forgot to cry, and just lay there watching it. And presently the blossom opened, and out of it there stepped a fairy.
She was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. Her dress was of pearl and dew-drops, and there were flowers round her neck and in her hair, and her face was like the most perfect flower of all. And she came close to the little Rabbit and gathered him up in her arms and kissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp from crying.
"Little Rabbit," she said, "don't you know who I am?"
The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn't think where.
"I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real."
"Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit.
"You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to every one."
And she held the little Rabbit close in her arms and flew with him into the wood.
It was light now, for the moon had risen. All the forest was beautiful, and the fronds of the bracken shone like frosted silver. In the open glade between the tree-trunks the wild rabbits danced with their shadows on the velvet grass, but when they saw the Fairy they all stopped dancing and stood round in a ring to stare at her.
"I've brought you a new playfellow," the Fairy said. "You must be very kind to him and teach him all he needs to know in Rabbit-land, for he is going to live with you for ever and ever!"
And she kissed the little Rabbit again and put him down on the grass.
"Run and play, little Rabbit!" she said.
But the little Rabbit sat quite still for a moment and never moved. For when he saw all the wild rabbits dancing around him he suddenly remembered about his hind legs, and he didn't want them to see that he was made all in one piece. He did not know that when the Fairy kissed him that last time she had changed him altogether. And he might have sat there a long time, too shy to move, if just then something hadn't tickled his nose, and before he thought what he was doing he lifted his hind toe to scratch it.
And he found that he actually had hind legs! Instead of dingy velveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched by themselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass. He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great that he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and whirling round as the others did, and he grew so excited that when at last he did stop to look for the Fairy she had gone.
He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits.
Autumn passed and Winter, and in the Spring, when the days grew warm and sunny, the Boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. And while he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken and peeped at him. One of them was brown all over, but the other had strange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had been spotted, and the spots still showed through. And about his little soft nose and his round black eyes there was something familiar, so that the Boy thought to himself:
"Why, he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet fever!"
But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be Real.
This book has been put on-line as part of the BUILD-A-BOOK Initiative at the
Celebration of Women Writers.
Initial text entry and proof-reading of this book were the work of
John Mark Ockerbloom and Mary Mark Ockerbloom.
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Thursday, March 8th, 2007
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In obesity, the brain is unaware of body fat
18:11 06 March 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi
A high-fat diet can desensitise the brain to appetite-suppressing hormones, effectively leaving the brain unaware of obesity, a study in mice has found.
The research shows why the brain cells of obese mice stop responding to one such hormone, called leptin. According to scientists, drugs that help the brain to respond to leptin might one day treat obesity in humans by decreasing appetite.
In both humans and mice, fat cells throughout the body release leptin. The hormone travels to a part of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which regulates sensations such as appetite and thirst.
In theory, when fat increases in the body so do levels of leptin, causing a decrease in appetite. But scientists have found that administering leptin does not reliably work to treat obesity. The new study by Michael Cowley at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, US, and colleagues suggests that failure is because the brain has become insensitive to leptin.
Brain sensitivity
In their experiment, researchers fed a group of genetically identical mice either a high-calorie diet rich in fats or a low-calorie diet. All of the mice on the low-calorie diet remained lean.
Among those that received the high-calorie chow, some became obese while others maintained a normal weight. (The reason for this difference remains a mystery.)
Cowley’s team then removed the hypothalamus from the animals and analysed the response of cells from this brain region to leptin. When exposed to the hormone, the cells from obese mice did not release key chemicals involved in the appetite-suppression pathway. However, cells taken from lean mice on either the rich diet or low-calorie diet did.
Failure of will
Further investigation revealed an accumulation of a compound called SOCS-3 inside the brain cells from the obese mice. SOCS-3 is believed to prevent the signal sent by leptin from registering within cells.
The results indicate a biological reason for the difficulty people can have in losing weight. “There is a perception in society that obesity is a failure of will," Cowley says. "This work suggests that’s not an appropriate model.”
In further experiments, the obese mice lost weight when switched from a high-calorie diet rich in fats to a low-fat diet with the same number of calories. The hypothalamus cells from these rodents regained sensitivity to leptin, suggesting the leptin-insensitivity is reversible.
Designing drugs that lower SOCS-3 levels may help cells regain leptin sensitivity, says Cowley: “This work really does point to pursuing that as a drug development target” to treat obesity in people.
Journal reference: Cell Metabolism (DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2007.02.004)
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Rapists snared by sperm-free semen
07 March 2007
Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.
Linda Geddes
Dividing the sexesPolice investigating sexual assaults could be aided by a new technique that allows DNA to be collected from semen samples even when no sperm are present.
A common problem for forensic scientists hoping to use DNA fingerprinting to identify assailants in sexual assault cases is that the quantity of male DNA in swabs taken from the woman is often tiny compared to the amount of hers present. "The female DNA profile is so strong in the analysed sample that the male DNA is swamped," says Andy Hopwood of the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham, UK. This means that conventional methods of amplifying small amounts of DNA don't work, because the female DNA would be amplified as well. "We're looking for ways to isolate out the male component," Hopwood says.
One way of doing this is using a method called preferential lysis, in which enzymes are used to destroy the membranes of ordinary cells, leaving only the more robust sperm cells behind. However, in some cases the assailant may not produce any sperm - either because of a medical condition or because he has had a vasectomy.
"It is surprisingly common," says Hopwood. "The semen may have come from a vasectomised male in around 10 to 15 per cent of the cases we deal with. We got to thinking: 'What else is there in this sample that we could look for?'"
“The semen may have come from a vasectomised male in around 10 to 15 per cent of the cases we deal with”Semen doesn't only contain sperm, but often immune and epithelial cells as well. Until recently, these would have been virtually impossible to distinguish from female cells present in a swab. Now Hopwood's team has done just that by combining a technique called laser microdissection (LMD), which enables single cells to be extracted from a microscope slide, with fluorescence in-situ hybridisation (FISH), a method that can be used to highlight chromosomes carrying a particular DNA sequence.
Hopwood's team used fluorescent tags specific to repetitive areas of DNA on the X and Y chromosomes. When added to cells and viewed under a fluorescence microscope, these tags made the X chromosomes glow red and the Y chromosomes green. This made it possible to distinguish between male cells containing an X and a Y chromosome, and female cells containing two X chromosomes.
The team then used LMD to mark the coordinates of male cells on a microscope slide and cut them out from the plastic membrane they were sitting on. The researchers transferred the cells to a collecting tube and used DNA amplification to increase the amount of male DNA. They were then able to compare the DNA against a database of DNA profiles in order to search for the assailant.
Using this technique, full male DNA profiles have so far been obtained from vaginal swabs taken up to 24 hours after sexual intercourse, even when no sperm were present.
The FSS gets around 90 cases a year in which the new technique could be useful, says Keith Elliott, one of Hopwood's team. "These are really difficult cases where you have a sample that's semen positive, but sperm negative," he says. In January, the technique was put into practice for the first time, helping UK police to charge a suspected rapist when his DNA profile was found to match the male DNA recovered from the victim. The case is currently going through the UK courts.
From issue 2594 of New Scientist magazine, 07 March 2007, page 16
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ok here is something rather strange but also cute at the same time. my mother's rabbit had her litter today and will have nothing to do with them and has no milk. my mothers dog had a litter on monday and the dog has more than enough milk and lets the bunnies nurse and then cleans them off afterwards. does this mean that the rabbits will grow up thinking they are dogs? i guess though at least one mother wants them.
love to all and have a joyful day - Melissa
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Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
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Here are some facts most sane people are unaware of:
A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
A snail can sleep for three years.
Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
Butterflies taste with their feet.
Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
Leonardo DiVinci invented the scissors.
No word in the English language rhymes with month.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.
"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand, "lollipop" with your right.
The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.
The words 'racecar' and 'kayak' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at a red light.
In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch face is 10:10.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself.
There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables.
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."
There is a word in the English language with only one vowel, which occurs five times: "indivisibility."
The Bible does not say there were three wise men; it only says there were three gifts.
Did you know that crocodiles never outgrow the pool in which they live?
That means that if you put a baby croc in an aquarium, it would be little for the rest of its life.
A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle; a group of geese in the air is a skein.
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
Pinocchio is Italian for "pine eye".
The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.
The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable".
It's impossible to lick your elbow.
More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
Rats and horses can't vomit.
The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language...try it!
Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
A duck's quack doesn't echo anywhere, and no one knows why.
In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders.
Most lipstick contains fish scales.
Cat's urine glows under a black light.
Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
NOW DON'T YOU FEEL SMARTER?
OK, Be honest, did you try to lick your elbow?
I know one thing I'm not taking a black light with me to clean the cat box anytime soon yuck!!!
love ya babes - Melissa
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Early Europeans unable to stomach milk
22:00 26 February 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi
Researchers analysing the DNA in Neolithic human remains claim to have uncovered the first direct evidence that modern humans have evolved changes in response to natural selection.
Just 7000 years ago, Europeans were unable to digest milk, according to a new analysis of fossilised bone samples – nowadays more than 90% of this population can.
Europeans must have incurred a rapid change in their genetic make-up because it held an evolutionary advantage for them to be able to digest milk, says Mark Thomas at University College London in the UK, who carried out the study with colleagues.
However, other experts caution that larger studies are needed to support the conclusions of this research.
Milking it
The majority of humans around the world lose the ability to digest lactose – a sugar in milk – before reaching adulthood. This is because their gene for the enzyme lactase, which breaks lactose down, is switched off during adolescence. Symptoms of this “lactose intolerance” include bloating and diarrhoea after drinking milk.
However, over 90% of northern Europeans have a version of the lactase gene that remains active throughout life, enabling them to continue drinking milk as adults.
To determine when this special lactose tolerance evolved in Europe, Thomas’s team analysed the DNA from 55 bone samples belonging to eight Neolithic Europeans. The skeletons were dated to between 5840 BC and 5000 BC.
Constant supply
After extracting the DNA from the fossils, researchers identified the sequence of the lactase gene for each of the eight Neolithic individuals. Surprisingly, says Thomas, none of the early Europeans had the gene mutation associated with lactose tolerance in modern-day Europeans.
Based on this result, he believes that the mutation for lactose tolerance spontaneously arose in Europe within the past 7000 years and quickly became prevalent through natural selection.
He explains that the ability to digest milk would give a massive survival advantage to people living thousands of years ago: milk from cows is uncontaminated by parasites, making it safer to drink than stream water. It is also available all year long, unlike seasonal crops.
Thomas also notes that the low levels of sunlight in northern Europe during winter mean that people have lowered levels of vitamin D in their bodies, and therefore have difficulty absorbing calcium. Milk solves this problem by providing them with both calcium and some vitamin D.
Prone to error
Thomas says the comparison of the fossil DNA and present-day European genes provides a before-and-after snapshot that provides “the first ever direct evidence that humans have changed in response to natural selection”.
“This is a fascinating and important study,” says bio-archaeologist Clark Larsen of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, US. “It offers a new window onto past human genetic variation, and is truly an important development in the history of our science and in the study of the past.”
But Larsen adds that larger studies of fossils are needed to confirm the absence of the lactose tolerance gene in Neolithic Europeans. He and others stress that the process of extracting and analysing DNA from fossils is very complicated and prone to error.
The ability to decipher genes from fossils “is a great feat in and of itself”, says Ripan Malhi at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, US. And Malhi says he believes that other examples of direct evidence for relatively recent natural selection acting on humans may be out there.
Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0607187104)
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Cervical cancer virus is common in the US
21:00 27 February 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi
The survey found that around a quarter of teenage girls and half of women in their early 20s carry the virus.
Doctors say that the new findings show that HPV infection is common and that there is a need to vaccinate young girls against high-risk strains of the virus. But some campaigners argue that vaccination should not be encouraged for all girls because it only protects against a small subset of HPV strains.
Telltale DNA
Eileen Dunne of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, and colleagues analysed self-collected vaginal swabs from roughly 2000 women aged between 14 and 59 years. They tested for HPV infection by analysing DNA in the swab samples, looking for genes that belong to the virus.
About 27% of the women tested positive for HPV infection, which equates to around 25 million women in the US, the team says.
More than 2% of the participants tested positive for HPV 16, HPV 18, or both, two strains of the virus known to cause cervical cancer. High-risk strains of HPV are found in 99% of women with the disease.
Dunne’s group also found that around 1% of the women had HPV 6 and/or HPV 11, which are known to cause genital warts.
In 2006, the CDC’s advisory committee on immunisation provisionally recommended the HPV vaccine Gardasil – which protects against types 6, 11, 16 and 18 – for all girls aged 11 or 12.
Kevin Ault of Emory University in Atlanta, who has conducted clinical trials of the vaccine, notes that only 4% of the participants in Dunne’s study already carried one of the four types of HPV that the vaccine protects against. “To me that means that 96% of the women might benefit from the vaccine,” says Ault.
The fact that nearly a quarter of girls between the ages of 14 and 19 years tested positive for HPV “shows how important it is to vaccinate people early”, says Rachel Winer of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, US.
Natural defences
But opponents of mandatory HPV vaccination programmes for US schoolgirls say that the new findings do not demonstrate that they are needed.
The body naturally clears most HPV infections on its own, including types 16 and 18, says Dawn Richardson, president of Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education, based in Austin, Texas. The parent group recently held a demonstration against attempts to make the vaccine mandatory for schoolgirls aged 11 and 12 years in the state.
Richardson adds that Gardasil only protects against two of the HPV types that can cause cervical cancer, which means that girls who receive the jab are still vulnerable to other high-risk types of the virus that cause these tumours.
Journal reference: Journal of the American Medical Association (vol 297, p 813-819
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Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
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In Maryland, it is illegal to sell condoms from vending machines with one exception: prophylactics may be dispensed from a vending machine only "in places where alcoholic beverages are sold for on the premises."
Alabama, Anniston - If a woman loses a game of pool, it is illegal for her to settle her tab with sex.
Arizona, Cottonwood - It is illegal for a couple to have sex in a vehicle with flat wheels. The fine is doubled if the sex occures in the back seat.
Arizona - It is illegal for a man to cause his wife to become a prostitute.
And:
It is illegal for unmarried persons to have sex. The penalty is three years in prison.
Arkansas - Adultery is punishable by a $20 to $100 fine.
And:
It is illegal for a husband to place his wife in a brothel.
California - Adultery is punishable by a $1,000 fine and/or one year in prison.
And:
Husbands and wives are prohibited from having oral sex.
And:
It is illegal to import an Asian woman and make her a prostitute.
Connecticut - "Private sexual behavior between consenting adults" is still illegal in Connecticut.
Delaware - Only physicians and wholesale druggists may legally sell condoms.
Florida - Oral sex is punishable by a 20-year prison term.
Illinois - It is illegal for a husband and wife to have sex while out hunting or fishing on their wedding day.
Indiana - It is illegal to entice someone under 21 to masterbate.
And:
Male skating instructors are prohibited from having sex with their female students. However, there is no parrallel law preventing female skating instructors from having sex with their male students.
Kansas - Anal sex is punishable by a maximum six-month prison term.
Kentucky - Only physicians and other medical personnel may legally sell condoms. However, their "condom selling" license may not be publicly displayed.
Louisiana - Streaking is illegal, but only if the streaker intended on rousing anyone who saw him or her.
Maine - It is illegal for a husband to place his wife in a brothel.
And:
Condom sellers must obtain a license from the state and display their license at all times.
And:
Maine, Buckfield - It is illegal for a cab driver to charge a passenger a fare if the passenger had sex with the driver while on their way home from any place that sold liquor.
Maryland - Condom vending machines may only be installed in places where alcohol is served.
And:
Anal sex is punishable by a one to 10 year prison sentence.
And:
It is illegal to have oral sex with a person or an animal.
Michigan - It is illegal for a husband to place his wife in a brothel.
And:
It is illegal to masturbate. The penalty is five years in prison.
And:
Sex between unmarried consenting adults is punishable by a fine up to $5000 and/or up to five years in prison.
Minnesota, Alexandria - It is illegal for a man to have sex with his wife if his breath stinks of garlic, onions, or sardines. By law, the husband must brush his teeth if asked to by his wife.
Missouri - It is illegal for a husband to force his wife to work as a hooker on the streets.
Montana, Bozeman - Sex is illegal between two people who are naked on their front lawns after sundown.
Nebraska, Hastings - It is illegal for a man and woman to sleep together in a hotel when both are naked. Also, a couple may not have sex in the hotel unless they are both wearing plain white cotton nightshirs, which, by law, must be provide to them by the hotel.
Nebraska - Anal sex is illegal and punishable by a $5,000 fine and 10 years in prison.
And:
Only physicians may legally sell condoms.
Nevada Condoms are mandatory for sex with legal prostitute.
New Jersey - It is illegal for two men to masturbate in the presence of each other or to masturbate each other. The penalty is three years in prison.
New Mexico, Carlsbad - It is illegal for couples to have sex in a parked car or van while on their lunch break if they can be seen by passerby.
New Mexico - Oral sex is punishable by a two to 10 year prison term and a $5,000 fine.
New York - A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. This old law specifically prohibits men from turning around on any city street and looking "at a woman in that way." A second conviction for a crime of this magnitude calls for the violating male to be forced to wear a "pair of horse-blinders" wherever and whenever he goes outside for a stroll.
The New York City Transit Authority has ruled that women can ride the city subways topless. New York law dictates that if a man can be somewhere without a shirt, a woman gets the same right. The decision came after arrests of women testing the ordinance on the subways. A transit police spokesman said they would comply with the new rule, but "if they were violating any other rules, like sitting on a subway bench topless smoking a cigarette, then we would take action." Smoking is not allowed in the subways.
The penalty for jumping off a building is death.
North Carolina - It is illegal for a man to spy on a woman through a window. The same law restriction does not apply to women watching men or men wathcing men.
Ohio - Male skating instructors are prohibited from having sex with their female students. As in Indiana, this law does not apply to female skating instructors.
Oklahoma, Clinton - It is illegal to masturbate while watching a couple have sex in the backseat of a car at a drive-in theater.
Oregon, Willowdale - A husband may not use profanity while making love to his wife. The same is not true for his wife, who may cuss to her heart's content when she's with her loving husband.
Pennsylvania, Harrisburg - Female toll booth workers cannot have sex with male truck drivers in the confines of their toll booth.
Rhode Island - It is illegal for unmarried persons to have sex. The fine is $10.
And:
Oral sex is punishable by a seven to 10 year prison term.
South Carolina, Branchville - It is illegal for a couple to "lewdly or lasciviously romp" either in private, or in public. The fine is $500 fine and a five year prison sentence.
South Carolina - Anal sex is punishable by a $500 fine and a five year prison term.
South Dakota, Sioux Falls - It is illegal for a couple to have sex on the floor between two single beds in a hotel.
South Dakota - It is illegal for prostitutes to solicit customers from a covered wagon.
And:
Oral sex is punishable by a 10 year prison term.
Tennessee, Skullbone - It is illegal for a women to masturbate a man or perform oral sex on him while he is driving a car.
Texas - Sex between unmarried consenting adults is punishable by a $500 fine.
And:
Only a "registered pharmacist" may legally sell condoms. Anyone eles will be prosecuted for illegally practicing medicine.
Utah, Tremonton - It is illegal to have sex in an ambulance.
Utah - Oral sex is punishable by six months prison term and a $299 fine.
Vermont, Beanville - It is illegal for massage parlors to advertise on road maps.
Virginia, Norfolk - It is illegal to have sex while riding on the sidecar of a motorcycle.
Virginia - Adultery is punishable by a $20 to $100 fine.
Washington, D.C. - It is illegal for a man to cause his wife to become a prostitute.
Washington - It is illegal for a man to have sex with a virgin.
Wisconsin, Connorsville - It is illegal for a man to fire off a gun when his partner has an orgasm.
Wyoming, Newcastle - It is illegal for a couple to have sex while standing up in a market's walk-in meat freezer.
Wyoming - It is illegal to entice or help someone under 21 to masturbate.
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Friday, February 16th, 2007
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i am awake again at almost 1am, not that i really want to be.......
love ya all very much - melissa
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Saturday, February 10th, 2007
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the lord is my shepard i shall not want
he maketh me to lie down in green pastures
he leadeth me beside still waters
he restoreth my soul
he leadeth me in the paths of rightoiusness for his name's sake
yeh, though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death
i will fear no evil
for thou are with me
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me
thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies
thou anointith my head with oil
my cup runneth over
surelly goodness and mercy shall follow me all of the days of my life
and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever
this is a psalm that i find very much comfort in. this is the psalm of all our lives. the more that happens to me in my life the more the scripture speaks to me of not just me but all people.
i will fear no evil..... though i walk through the valey of the shadow of death. death is an issue we probably all have experience with. evil is another issue all together. Death is not good or bad, it just is.
how we deal with death, is a reflection of deeper feelings. thus we may see death as evil. we have to look within ourselves to find what our deeper feelings are that are not allowing us to work though issues concerning death.
then we must with faith allow god to set our table right in the face of the enemy our own unresolved unexpressed emotions, and trust that by sharing a meal with that that you most fear, you will learn and grow in ways that you did not know were possable.
there is a devine plan for everything and everyone in this world. when we decide to be completly honest with ourselves, others, and god to the best of our ability. we make the decishon not to live our lives in fear and loss, but in faith, hope, and Love.
we no longer fear facing emotion due to the pain we may experience, we face the pain because it is the only way it will end and we will grow. Granted it may take years of hard work for some issues, and the beginning is always the hardest.
but it hurts more and longer if we dont deal with troubles as they come along in life. like a snow ball, push after push it gets bigger and more daunting untill finally you feel overwhelmed and unable to even look at the thing.
we may feel a tightness in our chest just to think of the issue. that is when we must step back. ......
i must make a phone call now
till later my dears i love you always and forever - Melissa
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Friday, January 26th, 2007
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just had to post that frustration
love ya babes - Melissa
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Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
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I have been missing one of my best friends very much.
love to all - Melissa
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Sunday, December 24th, 2006
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Reason is powerless in the expression of Love. Love alone is capable of revealing the truth of Love and being a Lover. The way of our prophets is the way of Truth. If you want to live, die in Love; die in Love if you want to remain alive.
- Rumi
With this Christmas eve, I was going to just post a warm wish for everyone, but I found this quote and it spoke to me of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas.
But, not just that, the meaning of Faith, which is cross cultural and spands all religon, as I have learned in my world religons class. Faith is Believing, no matter what, cannot be seen, or touched by our own hands. Faith is only obtainable by using our hearts, and is the singel most disputed topic known to humanity. It is also the cause for more suffering due to wars, between people who should look more at similaratys as apposed to differences and find peace amongst one another.
However Faith is healing as well, it unites people and gives them hope through Gods grace no matter how the picture of God is seen by anyone, to endure through hardships no matter how innumerable. Faith is Love. If you cant believe in something, you cant believe in anything.
Sure there are many arguments to faith and belieaf, but with the break down of the home due to people not being FAITHFUL to their Loved ones, where people get married and do not take the vows seriously. How can anyone say they really know what Love is? and how can anyone even say they are fit to be married to anyone unless they know what true faith is and what true Love is?
God's gift at Christmas is true Love. He could have kept his son all to himself, he could have said I dont believe any of those people diserve that gift. But, God is the perfect parent, he sent his son to earth to help us learn from example, and to save us with the crucafixon and resurection we celebrate on Easter. God knew we needed guidance, and he had faith in us and a belieaf in us, that if we learned the lessons his son taught we would become a better civilization, a more moral people.
This is my Belieaf, that Love came down at Christmas. God Loves us Perfectly, he gave himself to us, and he Loved us so much he gave his own life to us in sacrafice to save us, to teach us. I wish for all people to find god's Love and to let him into your heart, so that everyone can know what true beleaf, true faith and true Love is. When you have that written upon your heart, truely written upon your heart (as there are many who only claim to it), you will know Love, contentment, and peace.
I hope everyone has a joyous holiday season and can know god's Love and Peace today and always. - Amen
much Love sent to everyone today and always - Melissa
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pasht43's journal
sad.
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blah.
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determined.
sleepy.
frustrated.
awake.