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The post below is the last one I entered into this blog. Please visit my new blog.

The end of our Trek
30 Jun 2005

I finally watched the final couple of episodes of Star Trek Enterprise. They sat there on my Tivo for a few weeks. I just couldn't face the prospect of never seeing a new episode, or new movie, again. But now I have no choice. As it stands now, there are no new series or movies being planned. We can only hope that someday, maybe 20 years from now, someone will create another series based on Roddenberry's Star Trek.

I wasn't thrilled with the final episode. I appreciate them trying to tie it in with a "future" show (i.e., past, since Enterprise was set to take place years before Capt Kirk's Enterprise). And I was glad to see that they chose Riker and Troi from Next Generation, since they are two of my favorites. But I was confused about "when" their scenes were supposed to be taking place. I finally realized near the end, when they talked to Data over the com, that it was supposed to be taking place during the Next Gen series.

I think that that was a mistake. Frakes and Sirtis are not well enough preserved to make that believable. I would have much rather have seen them acting out as husband and wife, with Riker the Capt of his own ship, as they were at the end of the last movie.

I also didn't like how in the closing sequence they showed Archer's Enterprise, then Picard's Enterprise, then Kirk's Enterprise. Um, wrong order there, guys. And what about Voyager and Deep Space Nine? A nice consecutive series of shots of the ships with voices in the right order would have been very cool.

I also didn't like how the final episode took place 9 years after the episode before it. I am sure it would have been difficult to get them to the creation of the Federation in just 3 seasons, but it just felt weird seeing them all different from what we were used to. And killing off Cmdr. Tucker was completely unessecary.

Over all, I liked the Enterprise series very much. It is my third favorite, after Voyager. They went way overboard with the gratuitous Topol body shots and sex scenes, but I am sure they felt they had to do that to keep from getting cancelled. I think Archer made a perfect Capt, and that surprised me. All of the characters were well crafted and played (except for Topol, but she improved). And I loved the idea of them being the first warp ship. Too bad it didn't fly for more than three seasons.

There may never be any new Star Trek, and I am very sorry to see go.

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Cali and Pearl on a hot day
26 Jun 2005

It seems that even the 95 degree heat doesn't deter Cali and her adopted daughter Pearl from doing some cuddling!

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Pearl in her Big Cat Collar
16 Jun 2005

Isn't she getting big?

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Bonn the Happy Bride to Be
30 May 2005

A bunch of us gave Bonnie a surprise shower at Billie's apartment. She and Jim are marrying in Maui this weekend. She was simply glowing!

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Ever have one of those days?
25 May 2005

I came in to the office this morning to find that one of our main file servers had crashed and burned. Our tech staff had been working to restore it since last night! They had to restore everything from back-up tape - a complete disaster recovery. Poor Kevin, Steve, and Faye. I'd like to say it is their worst nightmare, but I could be wrong, and I certainly don't want to know what could be worse!

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Mother's Day 2005
14 May 2005

Here are Richard, myself, Dad, John and Mom at our Mother's Day brunch in St. Joe. We all survived Richard's first meeting of the parents just fine!

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Sleepy Baby
14 May 2005

I caught Voodoo letting Pearl sleep with him!



Here she is cuddled up with her favorite toy.

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Like mama and baby!
01 May 2005

Cali and Pearl are now sleeping together all cuddled up, like mama and baby!

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All better now
27 Apr 2005

Thanks to Anne at Marshall Field's salon at Briarwood. It took 3 hours to strip the color out of my hair and apply new color. Presto?

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My Hair 911
25 Apr 2005

What you are looking at is a picture of my new hair color, thanks to Revlon ColorSilk #70 (Medium Ash Blonde). This shade is two shades darker than the color I have been using, but it definately was not supposed to turn out gray! I did everything as normal, and cannot think of any reason why this happened.

I am advised not to try to re-dye it right away. I may have to go to a color specialist and have it stripped out. In the meantime, I'm writing a very strongly-worded e-mail to Revlon!

HELP!


Update: I called Revlon and they said the problem happened because I had been using a light blonde, then switched to a darker blonde. Whatever! But there may be a solution. She said that I could go to a beauty supply store and by a temporary rinse in a medium gold color. I can use that tonight, and in four weeks I can color my hair with permanent color again. Four weeks!

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I still can't resist
24 Apr 2005

Pearl and Cali Cat wrestling. Cali doesn't know whether to bite Pearl, or give her a bath =)



Voodoo Cat's tail is dangerously close to Pearl!


Pearl attacking the giant foot!

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More Pearl pics (how can I resist?)
19 Apr 2005

Here Pearl shows the aggressive Cali Cat that she's ready for a fight.



Kitten nap!

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Pearl Comes Out of Her Shell
16 Apr 2005

Pearl has stopped hiding and crying and has become part of the family!



"Can I jump up on to the couch?"



"I think I can! I think I can!"



"WOOHOO! I did it!"

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A NEW KITTEN!
15 Apr 2005

Welcome Pearl, the newest addition to my feline family! Since I've had to put two kitties and my dog PeeWee down over the last couple of years, I felt very ready for a new kitten. My friend Carol knows someone who has some, so we went over last night and picked her out.



There were three kittens (and 10 cats!) at the house. One kitten was a dark grey boy with lots of confidence. Another was a very pretty light-colored tabby with brown and orange stipes. She was the prettiest, but was also extremely timid. The third was Pearl, a light grey kitty with striped paws and face. She was scared too, but not as much as the other one. I decided that the bold boy would be too much competition for Voo, so I chose Pearl.



She did pretty well last night. She cuddled on my chest and ate some dry cat food. But then she hid behind the TV stand and went to sleep. She's pretty afraid of my other cats (and rightly so). She spent the night alone in my guest room with all the ammenities. She didn't make a peep! This morning she hid under the bed and cried, but wouldn't come out. Poor little urchin!



Cali and Voo did pretty well, too. They weren't as upset as I thought they would be. Voodoo is interested, but wants to keep his distance. Cali is very interested, and did some hissing and growling, but I think she really just wants to play. But she'd be too rough, so we have to keep them separated (or under close supervision) for a while. I can't wait to get home and see Pearl again!

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Powered By Detroit ColdFusion/Flash Conference
11 Apr 2005

This weekend I attended the Powered By Detroit ColdFusion/Flash Conference in Dearborn, Michigan. For a small conference (compared to Macromedia MAX in New Orleans), it packed a lot of wallup. I learned a ton, met great people, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

There were sessions on Flash, but the main focus was ColdFusion. I attended sessions on Flash Forms, good coding practicees, CF Components, Flash Remoting, CF & Flex, UI Concepts for Intranet Apps, CF Mail Gateway, and tips for coding in Dreamweaver. ALL were outstanding, and I haven't been able to stop using (or starting to use) what I learned all day.

Even better than the sessions were the keynote addresses. On Saturday Macromedia's Greg Rewis showed us the next version of the Flash player. WOW is it gonna do cool stuff! Greg is a wonderful speaker. On Sunday the CF team leader at Macromedia - Ben Forta - gave a much more serious and technical talk. But his entrance was a riot. For Some reason they had a giant Hummer backstage. Ben Entered in the Hummer, accompanied by two scantily-clad "Hooter girls" who came up on stage with him and threw t-shirts into the audience. Quite a contrast to the decidedly non-flashy (but totally geeky) Ben.

The food at the Hyatt Regency was great, as were the meeting rooms. I loved hanging out with my fellow Developers all weekend. I learned a lot from them, too.

Can't wait until next year!

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To Disclose or Not To Disclose
01 Apr 2005

I was shocked to learn of a Michigan Senate bill seeking to force online dating sites to disclose the fact that their members have not been checked against databases of criminal records. Such disclosures should appear on their web pages and in their e-mails to members, or they would have to pay a substantial daily fine. Similar legislation passed the House last year, but didn't make it through the Senate. The bill is backed by Republican Sen. Alan Cropsey of DeWitt, who says:

"There are inherent dangers in the whole area of the Internet. Something needs to be done."

Sure, and since everyone uses their real name when signing up on dating sites, running their names against a database of real criminal offenders would solve the problem. Uh huh!

The real question is, is he an internet-fearing nitwit, or a recipient of lobby-money from true.com, the only online dating site that does perform background checks on its members? True.com supports this bill.

True.com not only performs background checks, but allows its members to post critiques of the people they have met in person after finding each other through online dating sites – including sites other than true.com. These critiques center on how much like their profile a person really was.

Hey – that's a great idea, one of those ideas you wish you had yourself. But what I don't like about true.com is the fact their entire business model revolves around supporting legislation against their competitors. They aspire to eek out a niche in the online dating site world by claiming that they are the only site to offer "safe online dating," while giving their members a false sense of security.

What you wanna bet their CEO is a lawyer?

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Spring Fever
31 Mar 2005

We had our first sunny, warm day yesterday. I couldn't wait to get home and sit in the sunshine. Here Richard displays his version of clothesline art.

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Michigan Dreamscape Meet, March 2005
23 Mar 2005

On Saturday night Richard got his first taste of a Dreamscape Meet in Howell, Michigan. The meet was organized by Ruby Rubes and Nomad, and had very good attendance. This group hasn't gotten together in nearly two years, and we were all very happy to see each other! Ruby picked a great place - a very large bar called the "Time Out Bar & Grill" just off of I-96 in Howell, MI. Most of us stayed in the hotel that was about 50 feet from the bar. Squirlly and K1TT1 came from Columbus, OH, and Ðark§iders Snowshark and Corrin came all the way from New York state! It was wonderful, and I just wish I had taken more photos (I was too busy having fun)! Here are the few photos I took:


Left to right: Ravishing Rick, Mojo, and my goofy sis Mystic Cat


Here is a long shot of the group. That's IlseQueen's son Peter with the red eyes, and Ðark§ider Big J standing up with his back to the camera. Isle is drinking a beer across from J (she's gonna kill me again this time!).


Mojo and Mystic Cat (open your eyes, sis!)

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Birthday Mania
09 Mar 2005

I celebrated my 44th birthday on Sunday. Richard and my friends Carol, Billie, Cathy, Steve and Amber joined me at Joe's Crab Shack for a shrimp dinner and some laughs.



Me, Cathy, Steve, Amber and Billie at the bar before we were seated.



Me in all my birthday glory.



The staff made me dress up in a Hawaiian shirt, grass skirt and shell bra, then ride a plastic goose around the resturaunt. Why? I guess it's just what they do for birthday folks! This picture is out of focus, but it is still funny.



Me with my birthday hat.



And my goose.



Here I am with the birthday cake that Richard made for me. He poured rum on the layers, and put raspberry jam and frosting between each layer. It was delicious, but quite slippery too!

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Goodbye, Maggie Cat
04 Mar 2005

Maggie Cat kept fighting to the end, but I had to put her to sleep yesterday. She was 18, and just a ghost of her former self. She was a good cat, and I will miss her very much. Goodbye, Maggie!

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Florida Seascapes
01 Mar 2005

Florida was breath taking:


Sunrise over the ocean


My dumb brother at the beach


Sunset over the Indian River

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Back to School
31 Jan 2005

I'm now taking Web Programming Using Apache, MySQL, and PHP at WCC Monday and Wednesday evenings. Even though I've been using PHP and MySQL for a few years now, I am learning a lot. It's great to be back in class again.

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More Holiday Highlights
14 Jan 2005

What an enjoyable holiday season I had this year! Now that it is finally over, here are some pictures I took at various get-togethers with loved ones:


These are the people I work with, posing for a goofy picture after our annual holiday gala at work!




Richard and I got together with my dear friend Kelly and her husband Rick at Powell's Pub for a holiday beer.


We spent Christmas Eve at my friend Sue and Ray Tell's house in Dexter. Sue and I went to MSU together many moons ago. Here we are posing in front of the tree.

The only bad thing about my holiday vacation is that is over too soon! But it sure was great while it lasted.

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