Us Against The World

Online Dating Profiles:

What would you write (if you were completely honest and held nothing back) about who you are looking for?

I want to be with someone who:

• Has compassion for others.
• Doesn’t joke at my expense.
• Loves me for me and doesn’t expect me to change.
• Believes in me when I decide to better myself and helps me stay on track.
• Is intelligent, can hold a serious conversation but also joke around with me.
• Builds me up and makes me want to be a better person.
• Communicates with me before something becomes a problem.
• Works with me to accomplish mutual goals.
• Likes the same things I do.
• Respects my “me” time and interests they don’t share.
• Loves the things I do for him because he knows that’s how I show I care.
• Does little things to show me he cares and he listens.
• Has self respect, is trusting and trustworthy.
• I can be myself around and feels comfortable around me to be himself.
• Will call me out on my own bullshit.
• Sparks, I want Sparks!
• Is a bit of a freak and can keep up with my over the top sex drive.
• Wants me and touches me to show affection. Wants to give me a back rub after a long day.

Get to know yourself

Up until a few years ago, I believed that I had been discovering myself.  Since the age of twenty one, when I had almost died alone in a hospital room at Virginia Mason, I should have died. Figured fate had only been delayed slightly.  My mission was finding myself, learning to understand who I am and who I want to be if given the chance to live.  All along I thought I knew who I was and where I was going, in life.  In reality I was seeking approval from others instead of listening to myself.

I was just gathering other's input on who they thought I was, how I should be and who I should become.  These people I was seeking insight from didn't really know me at all.  I never showed my "true colors" to anyone.  And even if I had opened myself up, who were they to judge and decide what made me who I am?  Most of them were random acquaintances who floated into and out of my life without so much as a snap of the finger, barely noticed.  Especially not by my self-absorbed mind, too busy trying on different personas to pay attention to players exiting stage right.

Truth is no one outside of yourself can determine who you are and no one can tell you who you should be.  Its  not easy to get to know the true you, fear of what you might find will often delay your quest. 

Just your average dumb blonde

 For most of my life people have assumed me to be a typical dumb blonde.  They have labeled me as stupid and useless without any investigation. I won't lie, I have had my fair share of blonde moments (I will be the first to point them out and joke about them, when they occur) but not enough to be judged and dismissed so quickly.

Blank Cover = Dumb

Judging a book by it's cover, people have decided they can walk all over me and I wouldn't even realize what they were doing much less take action to stop it. 

Valentine's Day Keeping Up With The Jones(es)

Show your love with homemade baked goods!

I wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day but then again, I wish all your days to be happy. 

Today is not special to me, by any means.  I don't buy into the commercialized hype of this holiday.  I think that your love and adoration should be celebrated every day of the year, not just on this day. If you cherish your love everyday then you don't need society to designate a day to shower your significant other with love, gifts and attention!

Musical Valentines By ZombieSmile
http://zombiesmile.deviantart.com/

I believe that when guys over the top to create the perfect Valentine's Day that it's not really about love.  I think that there is usually some other motivating factor behind the gesture, most likely guilt.  They don't do it because they feel especially romantic today or because it's going to be fun for them mostly they buy the gifts, plan the date, get the flowers because society tells them they have to or their woman will be outraged.  I hate being pressured into doing anything, how about you?

The Difference is Why...

"They laugh because I am different... I laugh because they're all the same! I'm proud to be a geek but I am no sheep!" -Malibu Ninja

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SoulPancake Activities - The Difference is Why- 1 month ago
Quiet people listen more. Shorter people are more grounded. Bookworms are more well-read.  Wallflowers smell better. OK, maybe not necessarily that last one.
Embrace your inner oddball. List all of the best things about being different.

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I am not capable of being ordinary, only extraordinary. I have always been a little different.  Like a mis-matched shoe that is obvious to anyone who cares to look. 

Have never followed the path those before me have beaten but instead set out on my own to blaze a new trail.  I can’t say that it was always the best option but it was always my decision, rarely influenced by anyone or anything outside of myself.  My route was not the path of least resistance but most of the time it was that of most resistance and often my own choices kicked me in the ass and punched me in the eye!

Head Scratcher

My sister Rachel & I,
Photo was taken at a friend's wedding in 2006

So this crazy thought popped into my head the other day, which is not odd in any way because that happens all day long...   But this one is about my siblings, which I have more than I can count on my fingers I would have to use my toes too! 

Anyways my little brothers were over and we were talking about nieces and nephews and I realized our unusual situation and I decided to share it.  I sat down to write out a post about it and then wasn't sure how to even explain it.  So I slept  on it for a couple of days and now here it is, my random head scratcher.

I don't know how common this type of family situation is but I am sure many others have weird families right?

My baby brothers, Aaron, Chris & I
Taken August 2013

I was fourteen when I became an Auntie for the first time.  My youngest brother, Aaron, was a year old when my oldest sister, Rachel, gave birth to my niece.  Aaron however, was an Uncle before he was even conceived.

So how is it possible that Aaron was already an Uncle before he was born but I became an Aunt the first time almost a year after he was born?

Quotable Moment

In response to a friend's status about jotting down his ingenious breakthrough ideas, then not being able to read his own handwriting later, I had a "Quotable Moment". 

I thought I would share my awesome words of wisdom since they are so few and far between... 

"The best ideas are often recorded in the haste of excitement and then later undecipherable!" -Stacy M Price 2013

Don't allow Expectations to Ruin You *Wiz-Dumb Pai*

So many people go through life attempting to control every aspect of their day to day lives.  They plan everything in their minds and expect their plans to become reality.  They expect what they consider to be perfection.  Even if they don't expect exact perfection, they do expect close to it.  Through their predictions they are sure that events will go smoothly for them.  Predicting every outcome so all will be right in their world! 

These people predict what will happen, how it will happen and how they will react to whatever it is.  Then they spend their day manipulating everything and everyone around them in an attempt to produce their desired outcome.  When whatever it is doesn't turn out exactly how they believed it would... well, they become enraged or depressed.

 

When you set expectations you are throwing a metaphorical wrench into the engine of your life. 

Dear Mankind **WIZ-DUMB PAI**

“True success is achieved when you stop trying to empress others and start believing in yourself” –Johnie Pai

Dear Mankind,

You always want what you can't have. You think you need more then you truly need to sustain life. Apparently you can't tell the difference between needs and wants. Your priorities consist of you and all your needs/wants, nothing of substance and no one of importance. You always want more, more than you already possess, more than all the money in the world could buy. Your gluttonous display of excess is not enough and no matter how many expensive things you collect none of it will ever be enough for you to be satisfied.

Note Taking Device Attached To Your Arm

When the Note Taking Device Attached To Your Arm Isn't Good Enough To Meet Your Demands…   Where Do You Turn?

Smile 12 a (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My original, tried and true note taking app is  not really what comes to mind when you hear "app" because it's attached to my arm: I'm talking about my hand!!!  Technically you put a pen in your hand and APPLY it to the paper to write, right?  So it can be called an app...  Anyways...

So, writing by hand is slow and it’s difficult to go back and edit what you have written without completely re-writing it all.  With all the notes I take I would have to carry around a ton of paper or binders or notebooks to be able to access needed notes whenever I required the information. 

So instead, I take notes on my computer.  I used to keep notes in Word but those files are large and it’s difficult to keep it all organized in different files and folders and such.  So, I use two note taking applications religiously; one being Microsoft's OneNote and the other being SpringPad, a browser based Notebook.

Memories of Birthdays Past

My buddy Brian's Birthday Reminds Me of Birthdays Past...

So firstly, Happy Birthday Brian!  

I can't believe it,  my buddy Brian's girlfriend dumped him, today of all days, His Birthday!!!  Who does that?  Have you ever viciously broken someone's heart on their birthday?

I called Brian to sing him Happy Birthday and he told me what happened, he was devastated and heartbroken, so in an effort to cheer Brian up I created this image for his birthday...

Brian's birthday nightmare makes me think back to the summer I met Brian.  I was 15 or 16 and we met on Alki Beach in West Seattle (Where I lived at the time) and were immediate friends.  We hung almost continually from that point on and I began to date Brian's friend Carlos.

20 Geeky Socks Sure to Knock Yours Off

I saw the following post on Mashable.com and had to share it with my geeky friends...  

I love funky socks for two reasons; 

1. It's pretty easy to figure out sock matching when each pair is unique 
2. I love to express my individuality And these are another great way to do just that!.. 

 Express your inner geek with Geek Chic Socks!!!  These Einstein socks are my favorite, Which are your's??

Ever noticed the fountain at Seattle Center that is strangely reminiscent of a flushing toilet?

Jamison, Kale and Madyson checking out
"Encircled Stream" summer of 2010..

Well it is one of an artwork series done using natural elements, designed  to illustrate how amazing our mother earth really is.  This fountain was created by Ned Kahn and it’s  called "Encircled Stream".  Encircled Stream represents how Washington state's landscape was carved from repeated floods over time!