Marvels of the Internet

I must confess, sometimes the internet is my pacifier. It's amazing how many mind numbing hours I can spend and not realize how much time has actually passed. So many people talk about how the internet has caused us to become disconnected and I can concede that point to a degree but in many ways, the internet has allowed me to be connected to so many more people in more intimate ways than I could ever have imagined.

Honestly, there are many times when I use the internet to help me deal with boredom, loneliness, frustration, and especially insomnia. I don't know if I can say it really helps me or not, but it definitely serves as a serious distraction and makes it more palatable some days.

Today I am going to share some of the more interesting sites I have run across either just doing random searches or found on some of my favorite blogs. I have these bookmarked to occasionally peruse depending on my mood. These provide me hours upon hours of mindless entertainment, laughs, amazement, shock and awe. Sometimes I even learn something ! LOL Hope you enjoy.


MY UNTOLD SECRETS

This is an anonymous site where people can post things that they may have not have ever confessed to anyone. These can be thoughts or opinions about situations or actual confessions of things that people have actually done. It can range from, " I have the password to my ex-girlfriends email and still check it since we broke up 3 years ago just so I can keep up with what's going on in her life " to something like " I took someone's life by striking them with a car and leaving the scene. I'm such a coward, its been 15 years & it still haunts me. Lord help me. " After reading numerous posts, I realize that some of them are probably not true, but honestly after reading many more, I am inclined to think that the majority are true. The human condition is very fascinating. It's kind of interesting the things that people need to express even if anonymously, I guess as some kind of catharsis. I can actually see myself getting some blog fodder from some of the stuff I have read on there. The pictures and images that the site owner adds to the confessions makes this site a little more compelling as well.


EBONY MAGAZINE ONLINE FROM THE BEGINNING

This is a really cool link. You can read actual original copies of Ebony Magazine from 1959 through 2000. I mean they have every page from cover to cover including all of the advertisements scanned for every month, and this is some very interesting reading ! I probably didn't actually start reading Ebony until I was about 10 years old, so since I have access from ten years prior to my birth, there is at least 20 years of stuff for me to catch up on. There is lots of stuff I had even forgotten I knew in the many pages of this historical magazine. I might actually print some of this stuff off to teach my nieces about African-American culture and history, when they come to visit on their school breaks. You know how they always do the profiles on professional careers in the front of the magazine ? (I can still remember when I was a kid, wanting to grow up and be successful enough to be featured in the magazine just like every other little black child I am sure.) One of the things that I do now is when reading one of these old profiles if somebody interests me, I Goo.gle them now to see whatever happened to them.


YOU KNOW YOU DEAD AZZ WRONG

This is a guilty pleasure of mine, but I have to admit to it ! LOL I am a serious lurker on this site at least weekly, but I NEVER comment. That's really only because there is a group of people who comment on the regular & they have it on lock. They are hilarious & sometimes what they have to say can sometimes be more entertaining than the photos ! People need to understand that the internet is forever and be careful about who you release your images to. The site owner is off the chain too. She posts actual emails from people who write in threatening "legal action" to have their photos taken down from the site, and she clowns them on the regular and REFUSES to take the pics down. Evidently it's usually their "friends" that send the pics in ! LOL It is amazing how proud & unashamed so many people can be, posing like they are doing it when they are looking crazy as H@$% ! LOL I mean sometimes all I can do is SMH and say "my people, my people". After about 30 minutes or so of this site I find myself wondering if the internet really is the devil ?

There you have it folks, some of my favorite time fillers. As you can see they run the gamut from "sick and twisted" to "culturally enlightening" to "hilariously shameful". Please don't judge me ! LOL Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Check them out and them come back over here & tell me what you think.

Does the internet help you to escape or relieve stress ? Is it just entertainment ?

Do you have any interesting links or sites that you enjoy or would recommend ?

Thanks in advance !

Beautifully Complex

Just Me..........Randomly

Greetings Blog family ! Hope your 2010 is off to a wonderful start. Other than the record breaking cold temperatures in Houston over that last couple of weeks making me have to dust off my winter coat that I usually never use here, it has been great.

Got a chance to check out a new wine spot last week. Max's Wine Dive. The wine was great and the food looked really good, but I had already eaten so I didn't get a chance to sample. My group was standing at the end of the bar, near the entrance to the kitchen, so I could see the constant parade of food headed to the tables. I exercised some major discipline and didn't order anything and also limited my wine intake for the evening. The ambiance and the crowd were cool to so I most definitely will be back.

Happy Founder's Day to my beautiful, intelligent, and talented Sorors of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. I was looking through some pledge pictures of me and my line sisters last night and cannot believe how unbelievably skinny I was in college. I would not want to be that skinny again..... but dropping 15-20 lbs. would be good for this year ! LOL

I have a friend who is from Haiti who I actually met online several years ago. Please pray for his family during this challenging time. I spoke with him by phone yesterday and he seems OK but I could not imagine how to deal with so much uncertainty. It seems that financial donations are the best means of helping at the moment.

Tomorrow morning is the Houston Marathon, wish I had stayed committed, like I planned and I wouldn't be talking about dropping lbs :( ! I was looking over my finisher medals from the 4 Half-Marathons that I have completed & had really wanted to be able to run the full by the time I was 40, but my knees have just said no way. I am going to watch it on TV in the morning and then get on the bike for ride. The good thing is that one of my friends has signed me up for another 20 mile bike ride in March and a couple of road races ( 5K & 10K) so I am trying to get prepared & motivated to meet some fitness goals.

Speaking of, so far this year I have been focused on cooking and eating out less. I was doing pretty good the first 10 days or so, but then worked kicked in hard the second week and I have been putting in some very long hours & it's just so convenient to grab something when you are tired. Sometimes meal planning seems like work and I procrastinate & then end up just back to the same. I will try again this weekend to do my shopping and planning & just be better.

I have been getting some of the funniest emails from internet dating sites that I subscribe to.
I think I may save some of them for blog fodder as opposed to deleting them like I usually do.
I haven't really been actively searching but just read the messages that I get a couple times a week. It's funny, since that little age box clicked over to 40 on my profile, all the the 55+ think they have a shot ! LOL


My plans for the lovely weekend include girls night tonight, grocery shopping, meal planning and my date with Denzel Washington on Saturday ! LOL ,then Sunday, watch a bit of the Marathon on TV, put some miles on the bike, head to church, cook dinner & chill. Monday is MLK Day, so weather permitting I will be at the parade. Well, I am headed out to run some errands and get dressed to head to Sullivan's for some fun time with some great friends ?


What's going on random with you ?

2010 Here We Go !

"Twenty Ten", wow, that sounds really strange to say. A true reminder of just how much time has passed. With all the reflective blogging floating around, it's obvious that the last 10 years have been challenging for many, many people. Since I was born in 1969, each new decade marks a milestone birthday for me, 20, ...30,...40. I have thought about the trials and tribulations of the last 10 years of my life and realize just how unpredictable life can be. I remember back then being so excited to be 30 and finally feeling really grown ! I had just moved away from my family a couple of years prior & me and my ex-husband were getting settled into our independent life in Texas, making great friends, buying a beautiful new home, saving lots of money, being very active in ministry and building on the foundation on which we were raised. Careers were flourishing & I thought I had so much to look forward to, our future was so bright. I was blessed beyond measure. I had no idea that I would soon face infertility, separation due to career moves, emotional turmoil, adultery, divorce, financial ruin, and clinical depression. Many a day I would wake up in utter amazement that my life had unraveled so easily and completely. I remember being so hurt and angry at God, feeling sorry for myself, feeling like I did not deserve all that had happened to me and not sure how to resolve those feelings. Insecurity, shame, and fear ruled my life every day, for a very long time. I can honestly say there were too many days when I hurt so deeply and so completely that I really thought it would be better for me to leave this earth....just to make the pain stop ! I am blessed to have found the strength to make it through. So blessed that He never left me, even if I thought He had. He sent angels in the form of people to touch my life. Dear friends and family that stepped up in the defining moments of my life. It is very hard for me to give my testimony without tears falling, because reflection takes me back and I remember how I felt, it is a painful reminder, but I don't ever, ever want to forget. It keeps me grounded. It keeps me from harsh judgment. It keeps me humble. It is my story.

The transition has been far from easy, in fact it has been the most challenging period of my life, but with Him I have faith and unshakable belief. I tried it without Him because I was angry and felt cheated somehow. What a joke ! LOL Through all the false starts, and failures of my own judgment, He got me right where he needed me to be, submitting to His will, not mine. I can't say there are not days when I sometimes long for what I thought was my life in the past. Sometimes someone says something or asks a question that sets me back, but I know that I cannot move forward while looking backward. My Great-Grandmother used to always say " Get the lesson Baby". It's funny how you hear the things older, wiser people have said to you, over and over again, never really getting it, and then one day, it hits you like an epiphany. I am reluctant to make resolutions this year, I guess primarily because I am finally just resolute period, to spend EACH DAY being the best me that I can be. I want to be a better daughter, better sister, better aunt, better cousin, better friend, better co-worker and just a better Christian period. None of that requires that I lose weight, or save money, or any of the other many resolutions people make and then break every year. This last decade has been a huge learning curve for me and I pledge to use all that I have learned to move into this next decade stronger, wiser, and of course better than I have been.

I spent NYE by myself again this year. Another failed relationship, that barely even got started. I was only slightly disappointed though, which I know is a sign of growth. I trust His will be done. He continues to save me from danger and trouble unseen by me. At the end of the day, I was in church, where I promised myself I would be this year, after last years fiasco. It was a truly blessed experienced. Israel & New Breed performed and Pastor West had a word just for me ! I am counting my blessings this morning and don't have enough fingers and toes to do it. I have no idea what the next 10 years will bring but everywhere I look in my life, I see His hands and that is all the comfort that I need. I don't know if I will ever have children of my own, but I know I have children in my life that love me unconditionally. I am not sure if I will ever be a wife again, but God has protected me and covered me and provided for me better than any man ever could. I don't know if I will ever find the companion that I desire, but I do have friends that cut for me and support me through the struggles and the joys. We share life and enjoy one another and make the most of everything we are blessed with. I have good health and a sound mind. I can smile. I can sleep. I can work. I can pray. I can think and communicate and share myself with the world. I can worship. I have a home. I can travel. I can experience life and all that it offers. I recognize I don't deserve any of this. I can't earn it. I don't take it for granted.

I am excited about the new year, another chance to get it right !

Wishing you Peace & Blessings in 2010 ! Thanks for stopping by !

What are your reflections as we make the big transition ?