Actual email that I received today:

As you read this, I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, because, I believe everyone will die someday. My name is Paul Simon an Offshore Oil Rig Engineer in Port Harcourt,Nigeria. I have been diagnosed with cancer of the Brain .It has defiled all forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to live, according to medical experts…

The last of my money which no one knows of is the  cash deposit of Six million dollars $6,000,000,00 that I have with a BANK in Port Harcourt South -South of Nigeria…

I have set aside 20% for you and for your time.

God be with you.
Mr. Paul Simon.

So I have a few questions…

First of all, do they expect me to believe that Paul Simon is giving me money?  Can’t they think of a more creative name?

Second, do they even know basic grammar?  I copied and pasted this email so it appears to you exactly as it does to me.  Apparently Mr. Paul Simon flunked the third grade.

Third, do they know how to spell?  Never in my life have I heard of a cancer that “defiles” all forms of medical treatment.  It must be a bad cancer, since it is not only defying medical treatment but DEFILING treatment!

I found this online today.  It totally made me laugh uncontrollably!  So I share it with you, my faithful readers.  Enjoy!

“We… took the baseboards off and made the mantel disappear and took the ceiling down. And ooh! You. Will. Not. BELIEVE whatwefoundintheceiling!!!!! Porn! Somebody’s secret hidden stash from 1997! Three little dirty magazines. Not sure why it was hidden above the drywall. It’s not as if you could actually get to it from there. I guess the previous owner really didn’t want anyone to discover his little pornographic secret. What makes this even better, though, is that the previous owner actually lives next door to us now (his wife used to be just the pretty girl next door until he, you know, married her and moved next door). I’ll have to refrain from asking him whether 1997 was an unusually “hot” year, or whether he really “felt the excitement” that year.”

We had another storm last night.  We also had another power outage last night.  Yippee…

So, with no power, our internet didn’t work (because the router and modem need constant power) and our computers didn’t work anyway.  We pulled out our handy “blackout” radio, a radio that picks up the audio on television frequencies, so that we could still listen to the news.

We pulled out all our candles and created a “soft light” zone around our dining table.  Hint: Tealights are fantastic for blackouts.  If you need to carry the candle with you, though, put a votive candle inside a baby food jar or votive holder.

Anyway… we played several rounds of Skip-bo by candlelight.  Then, when the news was over, we went to bed - because frankly there was nothing else to do!  It really makes me understand how and why people slept so much more before they had electric lights!

I have this domain.

I picked it up early on, along with melindamusil.com, because I thought it was cute and clever.  But then - perhaps kind of stupidly - I started my blog on melindamusil.com.  I never did find any long term uses for this other domain.

I don’t want to let it go.  It’s a good domain and I am certain that I can use it to earn money.  In fact, I hope I can start another blog on it and earn money through that.  However, I have NO IDEA what to write about.

It’s challenging enough to maintain this blog.  What I need to do is find a “channel” or “topic” that I am fairly knowledgeable about.  I don’t know what to write about, though!  I have so many thoughts and ideas, and I know so much about so much.  I can’t decide what one topic to write about!

Does anyone have ANY thoughts?  I need some help!

My bedroom is small (about 10′x10′) and crowded (bed, nightstand, desk, dresser, mirror, 2 sets of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, 13″ television, DVD player, two printers, a scanner, and a large and comfy papasan chair, plus all my clothes and shoes), but I love it.  It’s cozy and a comfy place to relax.  Last Wednesday afternoon, the phone rang, requiring me to extricate myself from my bedroom.  When I hung up the phone, I returned to my bedroom and sort of “fell” back into my papasan chair.  In the process, I whacked my right elbow against the sharp corner of the desk.  I didn’t know it was possible to bruise the elbow, but my elbow is still periodically reminding me of that moment.

A few minutes ago, I discovered that the outer portion of my left palm is kind of sensitive.  It is painful to the touch, and it’s even a little sensitive just to type on my computer.

In high school, I had a fantastic journalism teacher.  Two years under his tutelage shaped my writing in a way that few other events have.

One thing he taught, that I’ll never forget, was the power of language.  I can walk or run.  I can trot, scamper, scurry, race, sprint, bolt, chase, dash, gallop, hustle, jog, lope, scramble, or whisk.  These are all synonyms of “walk” or “run”, but each word implies a different type of motion.

We also discussed the strangeness of idioms.  Imagine, if you will, overhearing these phrases and not knowing the story behind them, or perhaps hearing them but not knowing their significance in the English language…
-”It cost her an arm and a leg.”
-”She was burnt to a crisp.”
-”He was as high as a kite.”
-”He was beating a dead horse.”
-”She bent over backwards for her family.”
-”He really went out on a limb last week.”

I could go on but I think you get the idea.  His point, always, was that words have power.  Words must always be chosen carefully, because the wrong word can give an entirely unintentional impression.

I’ll be the first to mention that I don’t always succeed at this.  Of course, I always try to keep these words in the back of my head, but like I said, I don’t always succeed.

An example of this is my previous post about a boy’s death at an amusement park.  I wrote, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to an amusement park… reading stories like these makes me glad… police are reporting that another teenager died at an amusement park”.

I did not clarify the second phrase.  Reading stories like these makes me glad - not that anyone died, but that I have not been to an amusement park in a long time, and probably won’t return to an amusement park for a long time.  I think it’s tragic that anyone died, and I’m saddened for this boy’s family.  I am NOT glad, as a commentator implied, that the boy died.

Hope this clears it up…

Actually, let me clarify… it is not so much a strange website, but it is a strange topic about which to create a website.

Today I found a website for the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.  This site includes Hot Dog News (I didn’t know there was that much news about hot dogs), Hot Dog Recipes, and Hot Dog Trivia.

Perhaps my favorite bit of Hot Dog Trivia is a the site’s list of Hot Dog Etiquette.  For example, did you know that it is poor etiquette to put your hot dog toppings between the bun and dog?  You should never take more than five bites to finish a hot dog.  For a foot long wiener, 7 bites is acceptable.  It is inappropriate to use ketchup on a hot dog after the age of 18.  And don’t ever bring wine to a hot dog barbeque; you should only have beer, soda, or lemonade with hot dogs.

These are important things to know.  You know, people at hot dog barbeques are so easily offended…

Tonight I made pasta for dinner.  We found this amazingly wonderful pasta sauce called Scimeca’s.  I think it is a local product, but it’s wonderful!  We had pasta with the wonderful sauce, and I did the dishes afterward.  I don’t like doing dishes, but I love our kitchen sink - it’s big, and comfortable for dish-doing, with the most powerful kitchen faucets I’ve ever seen.  Since Mom is out of town, all the clean-up work is my responsibility.  Luckily it’s not too bad, especially when I’m only cooking for two (myself and my father).  Not too many dishes, thank goodness!

Today, after I went to the car dealership and then out to lunch, I visited a brand new geneology and history library.  When I say brand new, I mean BRAND NEW - it opened (I think) five days ago.  I didn’t stay as long as I would like, because their wireless internet was not hooked up yet.  But it was still kind of a surreal experience.

First of all, there were TONS of books.  You could tell, though, that the building was designed to allow for expansion - a smart idea, since this is the 3rd major move in just my lifetime for this library.  The architecture was incredible - it was SO beautiful, and allowed lots of natural light.  I can already tell that I’ll be spending lots of time at this library.  It’s so well designed and with perfect “cubbies” for writing.

In an hour or so, I am meeting a friend at Wendy’s for lunch.  Wendy’s is a delicious restaurant that is right in our price range. :)  We haven’t been able to spend much time together for quite awhile, so this should be nice.

Last night (in the middle of the night, of course), I was reading about the south pole.  It’s fascinating - you know, there is a research station at the south pole.  They have one sunrise and one sunset all year.  All winter is nighttime, with aurora (like the northern lights, except… southern.).

It would be so cool to spend an entire winter in the darkness like that.  I would love to be able to do that for at least one year.  Maybe someday I will move to Alaska, above the arctic circle, to experience the “several days nights”, since I don’t really have the education to qualify for the south pole station.