Okay I guess I'm super silly because I didn't put up a birthday post for (e:Mike) Soooooooo HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!!!! I can't wait to party it up for your birthday tonight.

EVERYONE BE THERE!!!!!!!

We will probably look something like this, if all goes well...

Jen...even though you may never check this site...we will miss you and wish you the very very best of luck! How exciting for you!

We will miss our little Southern belle... :(

Okay at this very moment, I am the only one logged onto this site. This is weird.

So last night I drove to Cleveland to visit my friend Nicole and her fiancee Joel in their new apartment. This morning Nicole and I went to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. It was pretty nice...nice and big, and I saw pretty much every animal you could expect to see at a zoo. Now (e:Mike) and (e:Paul) have had several tortoises in the time I've known them and I always thought they were pretty big. Until I saw these guys...look how big they are...





I just re-discovered my love for Nina Gordon's album "Tonight and the Rest of my Life" and am looking forward to hearing her new album.

And does anyone else agree with me that "Two Princes" by the Spin Doctors is an absolutely great song??

Once in awhile I get forwarded e-mails that I actually think are funny, and this is one of them. Enjoy.

"If you remember the Original Hollywood Squares and its comics, this may bring a tear to your eyes. Peter Marshall was the host asking the questions...

Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
>>A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
>>A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.

Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
>>A. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.

Q. According to Cosmopolitain, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he's married?
>>A. Rose Marie: No; wait until morning.

Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
>>A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.

Q. Do female frogs croak?
>>A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.

Q. What are "Do It," "I Can Help," and "I Can't Get Enough"?
>>A. George Gobel: I don't know, but it's coming from the next apartment.

Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking?
>>A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing old question Peter, and I'll give you a gesture you'll never forget.

Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
>>A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
>>A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries.

Q. In bowling, what's a perfect score?
>>A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.

Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?
>>A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I'm always safe in the bedroom.

Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
>>A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.

Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?
>>A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?

Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
>>A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
>>A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.

Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it?
>>A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn't neglected.

Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
>>A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.

Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
>>A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex?
>>A. Charley Weaver: I'll lend him the car, the rest is up to him.

Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
>>A. Charley Weaver: His feet.

Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed?
>>A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh"

Thank you all for your comments but I'm actually still more interested in the whole condoms during oral sex issue. Anyone, anyone?

So a friend of mine recently had an STD test, and was questioned about the use of condoms. The nurse asked if he used condoms every time he had sex, and he said "yes." And then she asked if that included oral sex, and he said no, so she said "well, that means no then."

I'm putting it out there to see how many people actually use a condom for oral sex. I'd like to hear your thoughts, opinions, etc. I personally have never heard of anyone using one for oral sex. I can only imagine it would not be any fun for either party involved.

On the same topic, does anyone consider oral sex "sex"? Are you no longer a virgin if you've partaken in the act of oral sex?

Deep issues to ponder...

Has anyone ever attended or known anyone who has gone to the following schools:

Penn State
Westminster Choir College
THE Ohio State University
UNC at Greensboro
Univ. of Colorado at Boulder

I'm looking into grad schools and would love any info anyone has on these schools. Thanks guys!

I can't get over the fact that I as well as my friends are in such a crazy part of our lives right now. Like at this point, I really don't know how I want my life to go. I can think of several different career routes I could take but none of them seem THAT appealing and even the ones that do, seem like it will take a lot of work and time to get there. I could probably just start teaching right now and do it for like 35 years as most people do and then retire. But I honestly feel like if I just teach public school music for the rest of my life I will feel like a failure and that I could do so much more. So then I think I want to teach at the college level, but maybe I'm not good enough. It's just that there's so many things I could do right now and it seems so intimidating and scary.

What is also very, very sad is that I still have maintained similar thoughts patterns I used to have when I was in my stupid bad relationship. What I mean by that is, every time I used to make a decision or take any action, my first thought would always be, "what would he think? what would he do? what if i do something he doesn't approve of, or what if i don't succeed and i look stupid? what if he does the same thing, but better? of course he will, i never do anything better..." etc. etc. I STILL have these thoughts. A lot. And it is really, really troubling. Like I'm putting together a recital right now, and I'm trying to do "the best" music, because otherwise I will look like a singer who doesn't know what she's doing. I want to go to "the best" grad school. It's like, I don't know the difference between what I WOULD have done before because I felt so much pressure to be great versus what I ACTUALLY want to do. Like right now, I don't have a job other than teaching lessons. And I really enjoy it. However, I know that I would feel the pressure to have a job because otherwise I'm "wasting time." Oh it is so stupid that I still have these awful thoughts and feelings. I am just so afraid that it is still controlling what I do and think, and that is so terrible. Why can't I just get it through my head that no one is controlling me anymore?

Lastly, I'm sad I missed Kenmore Days/Taste of Buffalo. While I had a good time at my friend's sister's grad party, it makes me sad to miss out on the good times with the Kenmore crew, especially since we are hardly ever together anymore, now that people have real jobs/husbands/houses or apartments in other places. Life is moving pretty fast...

People:
1. How did you find out about/why did you become of estrip?
I found out about it from the very beginning through (e:Mike) .


2. How "out" are you about having a publicly accessible online journal. Do your friends know? Does your family know? Do your co-workers know? Does your boss know? Do you use your real name? Do you use your real photo?

Many of my friends know because they are on it, as well as my friends in school. I used to have a link in my profile to my journal. I'm pretty sure my family knows. I don't talk about it at school with my students or co-workers. I don't really want them to read it. My boss or the principal doesn't know. I've put my real name on here and my picture is on here several times as well.

3. How many epeeps have you met real life?

ummm if you don't include the ones I knew before...probably like 15?
4. How has estrip changed the way that you meet people, on and/or off line?
It really hasn't. (sorry!!!!)

5. How has estrip affected you love life?
Not much at all. I think you have to HAVE a love life first...:)

Actually I will say that I always appreciated and took to heart the comments I received after posting many angry or sad messages about an old relationship. I like to hear the many opinions of different people on the site, and it is just nice to be cheered up sometimes.

6. How many of your friends have joined estrip because of your influence?
I would say it was probably more (e:Mike) 's influence, but 5 of our close friends joined the site after we did.

7. Are you from Buffalo/do you live in Buffalo?
Yes and yes.

Equipment:
1. What type of hardware or software purchases have you made as a result of using estrip?
Um none.

2. Have you used the mobile version of estrip? Why or why not?
I think I did do something once for (e:Paul) back in the beginning to test it out, but I have not used it since then. I don't really feel the urgency to post that badly, plus I haven't taken the time to learn how to do it.

Lifestyle:
1. In what way has estrip changed your Internet surfings habits? Describe the amount of time you spend on estrip, when you use it and about how long?
When I'm at my office job, I spend probably a total of an hour a day looking at it (not all at once, usually.) I also look at it at school because it is one of the only sites I can use that is not blocked.

Otherwise I would say I use it about 5 times a week, usually in the evenings.

1a. How many journals do you usually read per day?
Somewhere between 1 and 5.

2. In what ways has estrip changed the way you perceive your local community?
I don't know for sure...I enjoy going out on the strip and recognizing people from the site or seeing an event I heard about online. I don't know if it's changed it a great deal but it definitely is always in the back of my mind when I go out. I bring a camera more often than I used to in case something fun or interesting happens that I may want to post.

3. How has journaling about your life affected the way you spend your free time?
I don't think I spend any more or less time online than I used to before I had a journal.

4. Has estrip changed your living situation in any way?
No

5. Do you find that you mediate/document more of your experiences now that you share them with others?
Yeah, as I said, I bring my camera with me very often.

6. Has publishing on estrip affected the way that write?
I don't think so. Generally, I think using messaging and online writing has made people more lazy with spelling, abbreviations, etc.

7. Do you have other online journals? If so, with what service and has estrip affected your usage of that journal?
No, unless you count Facebook.

8. Have you ever gotten in trouble for using estrip at work?
Haha, not yet...

9. If you have stopped using estrip, why?
I have not AND NEVER WILL!!!!

:)

Should I get a nifty new bike or a nifty 30 GB iPod?

Both would be useful in a variety of ways, including transportation sans paying for gas, getting exercise OR the ability to record my voice lessons digitally, having a fun little gadget to play music with, etc...

(Obviously each of those advantages apply to the bike or iPod separately.)

What do you think???