flora's on the move -

to here.

Well it finally happened.

Aol is closing j-land forever. To use their own words -

"Why is AOL Journals shutting down?
It's never an easy decision to shut down a feature, especially one like AOL Journals that you have used for a long time. We have to look carefully at all of AOL features to make sure we are offering as much value to our members as possible. With many good blogging services now available on the Web, AOL Journals aren't as widely used as they once were. So we've decided to focus more on popular free features like e-mail, AIM®, AOL® Radio and AOL® Desktop..."

so, they're closing because they singlehandedly, intentionally, ran it straight into the ground. The blame rests squarely on their shoulders. Congratulations AOL!

I can't wait to see how well they "manage" the other "valuable" features...

anywho - I transferred the old site to this shiny new site - just so every once in a while, I can walk down memory lane...

Succulent Wisdom - will be moving in next door too...

on the eve of the eve

and in a flurry of activity

a moment to pause

and wish each of you a wonderful,

and wonder-filled,

Christmas.

 

on what i've been up to.

"mischief, no doubt", I hear some of you saying.

well...yes,  you are close.  The beading hobby, turned into home based business, turned into starting a bead society, turned into opening a real bricks and mortar...get this...

turned into a bona-fide BEAD STORE called Buttercup Beads.

Some of you (Judi) knew this already - and some of you are just hearing (reading) this now.  I don't know who all is left here...but I know that some of you diehards are here, and hardly dead.

In any event, Mr B. (lovetrain - mr. b) got me to thinking about blogging again, and how much fun we all used to have here....

so I thought I would do a little date=up, as slac would say.

now don't get all excited - I might not post again for another six months...but then again, who knows - i might just link to my new website and post on a regular basis...

not that anyone is reading anymore.

but, ya just never know.

ya just never know.

if any of my loyal subjects are still wandering round these dusty, dank halls of the infamous aol blog-oh-sphere - drop in, and let me know, won't you?

until then - check out me new digs (professional digs anyway) - and if you happen to live in the area - stop on in - i'd love to see you.

www.buttercupbeads.com

smooches,

flora
with the beadazzled mind.

below is a little sampling of my lampwork florals - oh yes, i'm a woman on a oxy/propane torch now too - blame vivi.

 

 

 

flora opens a bead store. no, really.

 

Every so often there are moments in your life that force you to stand still and breathe deep the wonders of life that surround you. And every so often you are granted a little lifequake of a moment to motivate you to move on toward your next challenge, your next adventure, or your next dream.

 

Little moments like - ice forming on a holly berry, or the sound of a cold winter wind clinking ice covered branches together - like little crystal glasses of champagne toasting the new year...or a new winter season. 

 

Or standing awestruck in the quiet light of ancient stars, twinkling through old winter Orion in a velvet black sky - so crisp and clear and shivery cold...that suddenly you realize your place in the Universe, so fleeting, so small, so precious. 

 

And in the quiet moments that follow - you learned to stop being fearful and learned to trust your abilities and gathering your courage to reach for your dreams - and you hear echos of a wise man once saying, "Tend to living, while you're at it." 

 

And no matter the worries, or the uncertainties - you know that you are exactly where you are meant to be, and what you need to do.

 

And then how amazed you are to find that in sharing your dreams with others, they are as excited for you as you are - and when they reach to join hands to walk the path with you - well, it's almost too much...

 

And you are forever humbled and enormously grateful.  

 

To each of you then, my family, my friends (new! and old) -  I thank you.

 

I thank you for your friendship, your love, your support, your good wishes, your bright energies, your kindnesses, your smiles, your enthusiasm, your patronage, and your generosity.  

 

I thank you for making Buttercup Beads more than a dream. I thank you for making Buttercup Beads a reality.

 

My wish for you this season is a year of quiet moments, a lifequake or two of your own, and a bead board full of inspiration.

 

With love,
Andrea
the head beading biddy of Buttercup Beads.

 

www.buttercupbeads.com ~where creativity blossoms!

 

See AOL's top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter.

#578 - click - and then sign. please.

  <!-- DIV {margin:0px;} -->

On March 21st, I will testify before Congress on the immediate action that needs to be taken to end the climate crisis. Help me fill the committee room with 350,000 messages. Can you commit to finding 10 friends to send a message to Congress demanding they take action? Ask them to visit: http://algore.com/cards.html Dear Andrea, On March 21st, I will testify before Congress on the immediate action that needs to be taken to end the climate crisis. At the hearing, I will deliver the 294,374 messages you signed, demonstrating that hundreds of thousands of people share my sense of urgency. If an additional 55,626 people sign our message, it will be as though 350,000 of us are there at the hearing expressing our determination to convince Congress to act. Having served in the House and Senate, I can tell you that members of these committees would find this to be a meaningful and impressive show of support. There are only 5 days left before the hearings begin, so please do not pass up this opportunity to joinin showing the broad public support we need in order to solve the climate crisis. I know you have friends or family who care deeply about this issue but have yet to sign our message to Congress. Ask them to help fill that committee room with 350,000 messages by visiting: http://www.algore.com/cards.html The reason Congress has so far failed to act is not because there are no solutions to the problem. Nor is it because the majority doesn't believe that the climate crisis is real. They have failed to act, because they have not yet faced a sufficient expression of political will on the part of the American people demanding they confront our climate crisis head on. You and I know that political will is a renewable resource, and enough already exists to start solving this crisis. We just have to communicate that forcefully to the political leaders of our country. In the last two weeks alone 101,673 people visited AlGore.com and signed our message to Congress. This is an incredible demonstration of the energy behind this issue. In my testimony, of course, I will speak about the scientific evidence for global warming - just reiterated six weeks ago by the world's scientists in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But frankly, the debate on the science has long been over - except for a diminishing number of skeptics and deniers. At this point, it is far more important to deliver your message about the urgency with which this crisis must be faced. Political leaders need to know that you intend to reward those who do the right thing and that you will work to replace those who do not. That's why it's vital we fill up the hearing room with 350,000 messages. Please ask your friends to sign our message to Congress today by visiting: http://www.algore.com/cards.html Together we are building a movement that has the potential to translate your strong feelings into effective change for our country. And we all know that when the United States changes - and offers leadership - the entire world will follow. Thank you, Al Gore You can unsubscribe from this list at any time. View our Privacy Policy

#577 - kids are kreative

 

 

 

I don't remember my tests being this much fun.  Kids these days, ya gotta kill them.

 

#576 - In the Beginning...

Couldn't help but to paste this email here...

 

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Krispy Creme Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?"

And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.

 

And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14.

 

So God said, "Try my fresh green salad." And Satan presented
Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

 

God then said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them." And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.

 

God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it "Angel Food Cake," and said, "It is good."  Satan then created chocolate cake and named it "Devil's Food."

 

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

 

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.

 

God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald's and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said, "You want fries with that?" And Man replied, "Yes! And super size them!" And Satan said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.

 

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

 

Then Satan created HMOs.

 

 

 

 

#575...kicking you in the ass...

....well someone has to do it.

okay peoples listen up.

this is not a request - it is an order - It is a queenly (if you know what's good for you) kinda order.

I want you to rent a movie.

(or go see it if it is still playing in your area.)

and then I want you to gather around every one that you know, and watch this movie together.

(and if you're a loser and have no friends - then watch it alone.)

and then tell them to do the same.

and to keep spreading the word.

in every way they know how.

and then I want you to turn off all unnecessary lights,

at home, and especially at work,

and change to energy efficient lightbulbs.

and to drive less, and more efficiently.

and plant a tree, no....plant two trees.

and recycle.

really recycle.

everything that you can.

and then write a letter to your congressperson.

and if you can't think on what to say - write me, and I'll let you copy mine.

because I'm generous like that.

But after seeing this movie - I don't think you will have any trouble writing what you need to say-

because you will feel everything that needs to be said,

right in the middle of your gut and inside your head. 

Which movie you ask?

"An Inconvenient Truth" - hosted by Al Gore

(and damn if he ever runs again - he has my vote.)

and no, it is not a Gore thing -

it is a MORAL thing.

and we need to do what is right.

and good for our children.

and no, there is no more room  for argument.

or excuses.

thanks, I know I can count on you.

now shoo.

(~will someone please enter this into the official log?)

www.climatecrisis.net

 

 

#574...A New Year, A New Entry, and New Resolutions

Well, will ya look at that.

Another fun-filled holiday under my belt and a brand spankin New Year to find trouble to get into.

Oh sure, oh sure - I'm gonna be good.

I gonna eat healthy,and exercise more, and lose weight for my nieces wedding, and give all my money to my kids, and ask my husband for his money, and love harder, and be nicer, and call my 84 yr old Dad more, and iron clothes, and clean out the garden, (and the refrigerator), and bead fabulous new stuff, and grow the business, and blog more, and while no one else is looking - solve all the world issues, cure cancer, the environment, and save the world from us (we?) humans.

Yeah, yeah, it's a big ticket and 365, no 4...days is not a lot of time I know.... but what the hell.

We all have to shoot for something...

Why not the stars?

We only go round once in this life yous people.  "Why not get to living while you're at it."

~Happy New Year 2007!  Toodles.

~moi.

www.believablebalderdash.com

www.mainlinebeadsociety.org

 

#573...Merry Christmas 2006

and so the eve has passed, and a new Christmas dawns...

and in the moment, one delicious moment, those at hand's reach and heart's reach,

i think on you.

 

thank you for the memories, and the delights, and the ways that you've enriched my life...

with a kiss and a whisper

                                                                             Merry Christmas.

 

(...by sun and candlelight)

 

 

righto - back to work I go.

#572...the eve of the eve

well, it's the eve of the eve...

and I should really post something.

and will.

when something comes to me.

 

hey...

#571 - on solving the immigration issue.

okay, I cannot take credit for this idea - it was forwarded along to me in an email but I like it.

a lot.

A win, win, win solution on solving the Immigration issue:

1.  Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.

2. Take the dirt, raise the levies in New Orleans.

3. And put those troublesome Florida alligators in the moat.

Are there any other problems you would like for me to solve?

~Yeah, why aren't you (whoever you are) - running for president?

 

#570... because i like seedy places

Newsflash:  AOLHELL's real estate just got cheaper. 

cheaper than albert's frilly cape even. 

so cheap...in fact,

that it's absolutely free now.

so now, I have no problem taking advantage of filling up their server space with unnecessary stuff.

so here goes:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Here ye!  Here ye! One and All:

The Freely Floralilian Journal of Pointless Posting is hereby re-opened for pointless business...

On occasion, that is.  (because she is still a busy Queen, doncha know.)

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

"Why Flora?" some of you might ask - 

Well, it's simply because it's one less password I need to remember.

- don't flatter yourself into thinking anything else, AOL.

 

oh, and happy third blog birthday to me too. thanks for reminding me Connie!

#569..from boobies to beetle orgies

So the damn japanese beetles are chewing on my Crepe Myrtle and Flowering Plum - leaving lacy remnants of what used to be leaves. 

And all the while having orgies - those "in your face" orgies on top of orgies on top of orgies of shameless sex - humping and thumping and swapping and chewing and grinding and buzzing and flying into walls and into my hair and down my shirt...

Enough! There is something decidedly creepy about having to retrieve a fresh from sex beetle from between my cleavage - traumatizing even - Enough I say!

And so I went out and bought some beetle bags - those "Japaneze beetle traps"..deciding against sprays and pesticides - deciding to go the humane way and collect those pesty creatures, save the environment, play fire against fire with a tiny potent sex lure......only to find them full to the brim, spilling humping little shiny green beetles over the rims in less than 24 hours.

The green bags bulged with the squirming humping beetles meeting their demise under the shear weight of the orgies on top of them - dropping in one, after the other, after the other - all frantically searching for the "sex " they have so eagerly detected.  Add to it the 97 degree sun constantly beating on the pulsating humpers and soon I have a bulging bag of slowly saute-ing humpers getting that one last pathetic and futile hump in.

I feel bad. 

Kinda, sorta. 

To see the rippling, squirming, bulging bag, and then seeing a few of them trying to wiggle out of the three air holes on the bottom; trying to wiggle free of the pressing weight, and the suffocation, and the heat...and almost, just almost, hear the tiny whispered screams of ...."helllllp me.....helllllp me...." from their little mandible faces with little hooked arms outstretched..

I ponder the distress calls briefly - letting a small amount of guilt seep into me for inflicting such pain and suffering on the little horny creatures...worse probably than a few sprays of Japaneze Beetle Pesticide....

 

nah.

 

 

"Die! You little bastards! Die!" I say and cackle hysterically in the face of their torture.

 

I think I need to stop watching CNN.

 

#568...on Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Okay, unfortunately I don't really have any time to post anything pointless -

But I do have time to alert women to a little known type of breast cancer that is not detectable as a lump or on a regular mammogram screening - until after it has flared up. It is aggressive and needs to be attended to quickly. You do not have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

Think you have a bug bite, a little swelling, a little enlargement, or different texture to the breast skin, itching, even a sudden inversion of the nipple?  The symptoms are similar to mastitis or a breast infection. If they do not or have not respond to antibiotics within 2 weeks - then by all means see your doctor immediately.

Please visit The IBC (inflammatory breast cancer) Research Foundation website for more details. http://www.ibcresearch.org/

 

                 (oh please - you've seen worse in fashion magazines...)

 

 

There. Now you can't say you didn't know anymore.

Pass the word on ladies.

 

 

#567....hard cheese.

 

"Oh, so Mother Nature needs a favor?! Well maybe she should have thought
of that when she was besetting us with droughts and floods and poison
monkeys! Nature started the fight for survival, and now she wants to
quit because she's losing. Well I say, hard cheese."

                      -- Mr. Burns

 

you go mr. burns!

 

 

#566...and then one or another dies...

                           

 "...and then one or another dies.  And we think of this as love cut short; like a dance stopped in mid career or a flower with it's head unluckily snapped off - something truncated and therefore, lacking its due shape.  I wonder. If, as I can't help suspecting, the dead also feel the pains of separation (and this may be one of their purgatorial sufferings), then for [all of us] without exception, bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love....It is not the a truncation of the process but one of its phases; not the interruption of the dance, but the next figure.  We are "taken out of ourselves" by the loved one while she is here.  Then comes the tragic figure of the dance in which we much learn to be still taken out of ourselves though the bodily presence is withdrawn, to love the very Her, and not fall back to loving the past, or our  memories, or our sorrow, or our relief from sorrow, or our own love."  ~c.s. lewis

 

Rest peacefully, mah leetle marshmallow.    Thank you for all you've taught us.

 

http://journals.aol.co.uk/his1desire/JustOneGirlsHeadNoiseUK/

#565...passing it on..

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to
ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably
more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so
remember how it felt when yours was broken.  You'll fight with your best
friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry
because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you
love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never
been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of
happiness you'll never get back.

~anon the wise.

 

#564..Design for Loving - the play.

    

The daughter, (bottom right), snagged the role as Ariadne in a new play in Philly - entitled Design for Loving -

for tickets and information - please click the link - we would love to see you there!

                 http://hometown.aol.com/inthelime/designforloving.html

 

 

#563....cause apparently, you can teach an old whore new tricks...

 This just in:

AOL is threatening the very existence of organizing online and the Internet as we know it.

AOL wants to charge an "email tax" for sending email. Those who don't pay would risk their emails not being delivered.

Can you help change AOL's mind by signing this emergency petition?

Click He

Dear AOL user,

The very existence of online organizing and the free Internet as we know it are under attack by America Online. We need to fight back quickly.

AOL just announced what amounts to an "email tax." AOL would sell access to your inbox to giant corporations—allowing them to bypass spam filters and get messages directly into your inbox with a special high-priority designation. AOL says this fee will help deter spam, but it will actually help companies spam you more efficiently—and it'll lock out online organizing groups that can't afford to pay the price.

Can you sign this emergency petition to America Online and forward it to your friends—especially those who use AOL or care about keeping the Internet free?

http://civic.moveon.org/AOLpetition/?id=6819-6115103-7I4prETiWucf18W45yII.g&t=2

Petition statement: "AOL, don't auction off access to my inbox to giant corporations, while leaving my friends, family, and favorite causeswondering if their emails to me are being delivered atall. The right way to deal with spam is to put more control in the hands of users and to keep email free."

AOL is not used to massive citizen outrage. When thousands of AOL users sign a petition, AOL will begin to understand they face a huge customer rebellion. Everyone who signs this petition will be sent information on how to contact AOL directly as well as future steps that can be taken until AOL drops its new policy.

The big loser would be customers—whose email from non-paying senders would increasingly be marked as spam and go undelivered. AOL pretends nothing would change for senders who don't pay, saying their emails will still be "accepted." But this is an empty promise since "accepting" non-paid emails means many will be thrown into the black hole of a spam filter or "stripped of images and Web links" to the point of being unreadable, as reported in the New York Times.1

Another loser would be democracy on the Internet—which has thrived as regular citizens have been empowered to organize online, participate in civic life, and communicate with each other for free. If an "email tax" existed when MoveOn began, we never would have gotten off the ground. 

Under AOL's proposed pay-to-send system, online organizing all across the political spectrum will suffer. Issue groups, charities, and other non-profits with large email lists will have to pay thousands of dollars for every email message sent. And AOL would get two paydays: one when you pay for your account and another when you're emailed by companies that bought priority access to your inbox. 

Can you sign this emergency petition to America Online and forward it to your AOL friends?

http://civic.moveon.org/AOLpetition/?id=6819-6115103-7I4prETiWucf18W45yII.g&t=3

Thanks for all you do.

–Eli Pariser, Noah T. Winer, Adam Green, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team
  Thursday, February 9th, 2006

P.S. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Cindy Cohn summed up the "email tax" issue beautifully in a column this Wednesday:

Email being basically free isn't a bug. It's a feature that has driven the digital revolution.  It allows groups to scale up from a dozen friends to a hundred people who love knitting to half-a-million concerned citizens without a major bankroll...

Once a pay-to-speak system like this gets going, it will be increasing difficult for people who don't pay to get their mail through. The system has no way to distinguish between ordinary mail and bulk mail, spam and non-spam, personal and commercial mail. It just gives preference to people who pay...

Spam is a real problem demanding real solutions, but taxing the internet...isn't one of them.  The best solution is to put more power in the hands of users to control and configure spam filters...not allowing [companies like AOL] to auction off access to their email boxes and ransom free speech.2

Sources:

1. "Postage is due for companies sending e-mail," New York Times, February 4, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1453

2. "AOL, Yahoo and Goodmail: Taxing Your Email for Fun and Profit," Electronic Frontier Foundation, February 8, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1454