Facing the better part of 500 spam attempts—I have not accepted any new memberships registered in the last week or so. If you are a real and sincere person unfortunately caught in the mass deletion of the spam-net, please do sign up for the site again, and this time post a message in whatever thread is going—it won’t appear until I can get around to approving it, but *I’ll* see it even if no one else can. A message (not about free vacations and handbags and inheritances) may wait a time unanswered until I can get to it and actually put the magical ‘approved’ stamp on it—but the presence of that message in queue will assure you don’t get caught in the spam-barrier. (It’s so strange to see 14 ‘Victorias’ in a row, all with different last names, trying so persistently to sign up. Coincidence does happen…but that number of Victorias is a bit trop de bizarre.. 😉
A message from Fearless Leader…
by CJ | Jul 2, 2013 | Journal | 53 comments
53 Comments
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Does your WordPress theme allow the possibility of a Captcha on the signup? We had a similar scale problem on wellbeingaustralia.com.au/wba, and had to disable user registration for a while. Also, the problem came back pretty much as soon as we re-opened the registration process, but (on paid advice!) adding the Cimy User Extra Fields plugin enabled us to fix it on the user registration process without having to add the burden of Captcha on the comment entry. There are probably other similar plugins to achieve the same thing.
Welcome home both of you. Spam should stay in the can….sorry you have to deal with this garbage. Do you ever feel that you have somehow wandered into Bizarro World?
It would be on a true Hawaiian Pizza, and if not that’s misrepresentation. 😉
Noooo… Spam is for Spam musubi. Real peeg goes on pizza in the form of ham or kalua peeg, in the company of pineapple bits and sometimes BBQ sauce. YMMV.
Caught in the act! 🙁
Gotta admit I’ve never been to Hawaii to have a real one on-site. Just that knowing Spam’s popularity in the Pacific Basin, the ones I’ve had here with bits of ham seemed highly suspect.
Spam DOES go on pizza in Bizarro World 😉
Wait! Fearless leaders have minions! How’s about a loan? When you are done conquering the Forces of the Spam would be fine.
You and Graham Chapman SPAM
I know I’m not up to date… Rocky & Bullwinkle? Boris spoke of Fearless Leader. I admit to being an old *ahem*.
Ah, yes. Tho’ I liked Mr. Peabody and his boy, Sherman, better. 🙂 Say! That means there’s a *precedent* for time travelers wearing a bow tie! Don’t recall them ever wearing a fez, though….
I see the Captcha is on for registering, but the address is a default (wp-login.php?action=register). Wonder if it’s possible to change that, since most bots probably are just scripts to hit any-wp-blog/wp-login.php?action=register
Fearless Leader from Rocky & Bullwinkle is the only “Fearless Leader” I’m aware of either. He was the dictator of Pottsylvania. He had two minions, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. According to the Villains and Bad Guys Manual, Fearless Leaders are allowed to have either German or Russian accents, and may have as many minions as they can scare up. Jackboots and monocles are optional.
hmm, think I’m okay here. spam bots must die…. hmm sounds like a story title.
And to everyone in the US, a happy Independence Day! Do not scare your pets with too many fireworks!
readyDog is a confirmed coward. We don’t do fireworks at all, preferring to go to the city fireworks display. They have fire trucks available to keep the tinder-dry brush from getting out of control. readyDog is so noise sensitive that he climbs over shoes to get into the back of the closet when he hears the first grumble of thunder or the fireworks set off three kilometers away. Fortunately we can see the most impressive displays from our backyard, so I can babysit readyDog on these noisy holidays. readyCat on the other hand is not disturbed by noise but was poorly socialized as a kitten before we adopted her at age two. She does not come to anyone for security, but only to demand chin chuckles, ear scritches, rubs for tummy, and continuous stroking on her schedule. readyCat has completely cowed readyDog, just by being present. This is one mighty weird family…
Maybe you can reassure him by letting him sit with/on you while you watch? You’re there, he should feel safer, and nothing bad happens to him.
readyDog will curl up on the floor next to where I am sitting, but refuses to join me sitting on a sofa or on the bed… At almost 60 lbs he is too big to be a lapdog. Lightning today with thunder most of the afternoon has been traumatic and has him acting twitchy.
@ready, I don’t know if this might help your dog, but it works for my cat, for a time. If I put the radio or television on when there’s fireworks or thunder expected, she doesn’t notice and get scared until the noise gets real loud and near. She knows the TV and radio can make a lot of strange noises, including bangs and grumbles, that she doesn’t need to pay attention to, so the first distant grumbles and bangs are absorbed into that noise-stream without alerting her.
In the run-up to New Year’s Eve, when the little boys always start setting of firecrackers several days early, I can save her a day or two of anxiety by keeping her indoors with the radio on. As soon as someone sets off a really loud bang close by, she notices it and gets scared. After that she’s alert to it and the more distant/less loud noises will also frighten her, so it doesn’t help at the worst times; but maybe for persistent lightning and thunder at some distance it might delay the start of his fear.
My 4th celebration is being back home from the hospital after a heart attack. Lucky for me it was no as serious as it could be. I am exhausted, though. Do hope to get some nice pictures tonight, though. Other than that, not planning on doing anything at all!
Well, maybe write. LOL. That’s my usual stress-relief.
I hope everyone else has a good time today!
Glad you recovered! 🙂
Eep! Glad you’re okay, Zette.
Oh, golly, Zette! So very glad to hear you are doing better and can be at home! Take it easy and I hope you are back to your old self real soon.
Great to hear/read that it was not as bad as it could have been. It’s good that you are home and doing better. Take it easy and many, many thanks for the daily pics….they always bring a lift to the day, but the Fourth fireworks were spectacular!
Oh, dear, Zette! So good that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I had noticed you hadn’t updated the daily blog, and you’ve not been feeling so hot lately… hopefully you now are taking what you need and will be feeling back up to snuff very soon.
And of course you are exhausted – no one can properly rest in a hospital. Too much noise, too many smells, lights, etc. Nothing is in your control in a hospital and enduring the constant hustle and bustle of nurses in and out is very taxing. Now that you are home, though, in familiar surroundings, you can relax much better. (((hugs for zette))) And tell Russ to take it easy too as much as he can, bet he’s been frantic.
(hope you don’t mind me being so familiar, I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while, have some of your books, and I’ve known you from Nano for simply ages, as well as here.)
get better soon, honey.
Being back home is worth a celebration!
So glad you’re better off than might have been, but I’m wishing you a speedy recovery, and strength for you and Russ both. Sometimes the partner gets the worst scare, from what I’ve seen with my parents.
Speaking of which, I don’t think the Boss is back home yet. Still R&Ring. That message seemed she was just checking in from afar. Nothing since, not even a message to zette, which wouldn’t be like her!
Zette,
Oh take care of yourself! So glad Russ is living back at home these days (and I bet he and you are glad too!). My Mom was in the hospital last week for three days with fevers from Lyme disease and one of the newer, tick born illnesses. Luckily both respond to doxicyclin but she got back home absolutely exhausted by the experience too. Take it easy for a few days and then start taking it back to well.
Oh dear. I’m glad it was relatively minor(for some values of minor!) , and that you are home again. Please take it easy and do whatever you need to so you recover fully.
Oh Zette, take care and be well. We hope your recovery will be speedy and complete.
Zette, it’s good that you’re home; you’ll recover faster there in your own place. And it will be easier for Russ (it’s rough on patient and partner both; I’ve been the partner, and very well remember this!). And you’ll have a lot of eager nurses; I bet Buffy and Wind and the boys were upset at your absence. Let them all take good care of you, and you take good care of you. And getting away into your own worlds, writing, could be a great stress reducer; just don’t tire yourself!
Thanks everyone. I’m remarkably sore still, but mostly doing okay. Not doing much but write today — and no, that isn’t work for me. I don’t watch TV (nothing against it, just don’t watch) and writing is my personal form of entertainment. At least first drafts. I won’t be editing for awhile. LOL
By the way, all my novels are half price and the short stories are free on Smashwords this month. Smashwords provides versions for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony and more along with PDF versions. Use the code SSW50 at checkout. Here is my list:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/zetteG
The nonfiction writing-related stuff is still full price, but they’re only $0.99 anyway. LOL
And now I think I’m going to nap.
Thanks for the link, Zette: I see you’ve got a lot of new books up since last I looked. Glad you’re doing OK and resting.
Thanks. Hope you find something you like. Having new med problems on this end, but back to the doctor tomorrow. At least losing weight since I can’t seem to eat much at all. Odd good side to it, right? LOL
Been a little quiet with the Boss gone. I’ve let my schedule slip a bit. Sorry! This seems appropriate for the month. 😉
:facepalm: With all due respect to the artists, who shall remain anonymous, I just heard a nice song done in French. Except they wrote it and were not fluent in French. They made a first semester student’s mistake.
“Vous êtes mon cœur.” (As a line in a love song, or as a general statement of familial or friendly or couple’s affiliation.)
That’s the wrong pronoun and verb form. It should be, “Tu es mon cœur.” The difference is vous, formal, polite you or plural you, versus tu, the familiar singular you, old thou, which implies familiarity, a feeling of friendship, family, a couple, equality, or a relationship to a junior in age or status, or to the deity.
It’s the difference between “ye are my heart” and “thou art my heart” in older English. If you’re pledging your heart to someone, or pledging you’ll care for that someone’s heart, you should really be well past the time when you have offered each other permission to say “tu” instead of “vows.”
The English speaking writers got through an entire song in French, with fair enough pronunciation, but missed the major grammatical point there. And the correct wording would not have thrown off their rhyme and meter and their lyrics.
I wouldn’t even vent, it’s just…I wish they had gotten it right.
Drat auto-incorrect. That should be “vous” not “vows,” though in context, “vows” almost fits too.
@BCS: If they use ‘vous’ throughout, might they be intentionally portraying an old-fashioned kind of ‘courtly love’, putting the beloved on a pedestal to be admired from a distance?
Considering the origin of the ‘courtly love’ kind of poetry and love songs in the Provence in France in the 12th century, and the artists being English-language speakers writing a love song in French, this too might be deliberate.
Hmm, that could be a possibility. The musical style was more modern, so it wasn’t a revival of a medieval tune, but hmm, the words intending courtly love? That could be. I didn’t notice something that would suggest that in the lyrics either. Now I’ll listen again for it.
If Fearless Leader is not watching this thread too closely, then perhaps this is the best place for this link, for obvious reasons ….
http://bluepueblo.tumblr.com/post/54672072428/aquarium-headboard-north-carolina-photo-via
Zette — hope you are taking giant steps to reduce your risk of future heart attacks. Them, you don’t need one of, never mind another.
Wow, that might even be better than a skylight to look out at the night stars for a head board. I certainly presume the bed is a water bed, for obvious congruencies of style.
Wow! But I’m with TC2. I’d never sleep!
Gorgeous — but I’d never sleep; I’d be too busy watching!
Fearless Leader and minions may be interested to know there is an upcoming Mr. Peabody and Sherman movie due out in 2014, animated 3D by DreamWorks. There’s supposed to be an accompanying short with Rocky and Bullwinkle shown in theaters. I would think when it comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray and download, they’ll bundle the short.
I am probably the last to know as usual. 🙂
Minions, so hard to find good minions these days. Is there a Minions R Us? Same-Day Delivery? A want ad for hiring minions? Ah, well.
I haven’t looked — can you get minions from Amazon? ebay? Off of Craigslist?
Maybe there is something in the credits for Despicable Me 2. They had to get their minions from somewhere! LOL
LOL! I’m almost afraid what would turn up if I did a search just for the fun of it.
Though Amazon probably offers minions. They must hire minions. They might have spares…. I guess you’d need something more than the usual cardboard box.
Golly, the idea is a lot more appealing than I want to admit. :rotfl:
Yes, I shall have to recover the shreds of my decorum, now.
I think I’d better write that story idea, though. (It tried to morph into a serious medieval fantasy, so it’ll need a complete re-draft back to comedy. Keeping the other, though. Might go somewhere.)
Writing-wise, I have been doing better, but still haven’t gotten past two or three newbie fic writer hurdles. Think I might be gaining on one, though. Having fun at it, though.
Zette – I am so glad your bout was minor. Do take time to recover, and pay attention to recurrances of whatever pains made you go to the hospital. I had a minor attack ten years ago, was released and then developed pains when out walking. (Bed rest after release was not recommended.) I ended up having a stent installed, and have been on meds ever since. Since then I have been monitored each year, and haven’t had to cut back on activities too much. Walking is fine, but Ulitmate Frisbee is out for me. Keep us posted on new books, please.
CJ and other authors – What brought me here this morning – http://www.thepassivevoice.com/07/2013/introduction-of-single-application-copyright-option/ Some new procedures for copyright registration in the States, mentioned in a very interesting and sensible blog community which I have followed for a couple of years now.
Zette, good grief,—haven’t had time to read e-mails for two weeks, and I hadn’t a clue! So glad you’re home and doing well! Take care of yourself, please!
Thank you. Didn’t email — just dropped the note here. (Though you may mean the emails from here!)
Doing mostly okay except for exhaustion. Back to doctor again tomorrow.
Writing is taking a hit but it’ll come back.
YIPES!!!! Take care of yourself, sweetie! Wiishu and Pook send you hugs and magical raspberries!
Yep, we were both off in the wilds of Oklahoma, away from emails and blogs and teh interwebs…I was completely offline and Jane was doing only catchup…We got home Saturday to a near-crashing fish pond~..
All is well at our end now; and Zette, we love you, and want you to take it very easy and not get frustrated at the writing. It will indeed come back.
Apropos our collective addiction to sweetners, there’s this from NPR:
researcher Susan Swithers writes in a new opinion piece published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, “accumulating evidence suggests that frequent consumers of these sugar substitutes (such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin) may also be at increased risk of … metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
…
the San Antonio Heart Study, which pointed to a strong link between diet soda consumption and weight gain over time.
…
it’s possible that some diet-soda drinkers suffer from a mindset problem: They justify eating lots of high-calorie foods because their drinks are calorie-free.
…
from the moment sugar touches our lips, our bodies start to release hormones to begin processing the sugar. It’s part of a feedback loop that helps the body predict what’s coming.
But if we develop a habit of consuming artificial sugar, our bodies may get confused. And it might not respond the same when we consume real sugar.
…
And researchers think this change in hormone levels could contribute to increases in how much we eat,
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/07/10/200488420/do-diet-drinks-mess-up-metabolisms?ft=1&f=1007