ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow

most of you that know me up close and personal know that I have been plagued for years with pain and illness for quite some time... doc says it's (most likely) fibromyaliga (which I need to learn to spell AND say...).. Diagnosis needs to be made by a rheumetologist, but the reading that I have been doing points to YES...

website gone *tear*

yeah, after being online since sometime in 2002, I let my www.izzythebootblack.com website lapse... renewal was something like $70... and that's a lot of food...

i'm not that active in bootblacking anymore, and anyone that wants to find me still can... in the meanwhile I still spend a lot of time on Second Life. I'm not going to publicly post my avatar name here, but if you want to find me there, contact me privately...

John Waters bores me

Don't shock me, impress me

Anyone can be shocking

Few can be impressive

One Small Day...

How many times has it turned against you ?
How many times did they walk away ?
How many times have you let depression win the fight ?
Oh, my sentimental friend
We'll walk as one again
One day

One day
Where I didn't die a thousand times
Where I could satisfy this life of mine
One small day

One day
Where every hour could be a joy to me
And live a life the way it's meant to be
One small day

---Ultravox "One Small Day"

this song comes from an album I bought about 22 years ago, Lament, by a great band called Ultravox. Timeless music for sure. (find it if you can... Midge Ure plays electric violin on much of it... as just an example of what you will hear...iTunes has a clip too short to do it justice but they still have a clip)

But maybe one day again I will have a good day

Even Pure Evil has to drive to the grocery store...

Love/Hate Letter

I might not seem like the typical Pink fan, but she IS good...

Dear Mr. President

Selling my first kilt...

ebay listing

150133392248

POSTAL BLUE KILT

This is REAL....

Someone in my VW club posted this on our message forum, and when you watch it you think "great computer animation/enhancement..."

Honda Commercial

but wait, there's more...

it's not computer generated.

its for REAL

SNOPES takes on the Honda Commercial

Just Let it GO...

MAN DROWNS IN SEWER...

A New Source for the Draft...

got this link from the Raggedy Android awhile back, and gosh it's good... but it doesn't refer to ME... *I* am a Rev War reenactor, not one of those oddball Civil War guys...

The Onion News Online

quack quack

the original name of "duct-tape" was actually "DUCK tape" because it is waterproof... it changed its name when aluminum heating ducts became more common and "duck tape" was perfect for sealing seams in DUCT work...

Latest photo of my shine box lid

many in the leather community put pins on a vest, but pins on a vest can get lost (and they can hurt when you hug someone...) so i decided to put them on the inside of the lid of my travelling shine box.. the space is almost full... most of the pins are events that i have worked at, some are for clubs that i have met

IML weekend

i didn't realize HOW MUCH I HAVE MISSED DOING BOOTS!

i haven't dont boots pretty much at all in about a year, and kind of a little bit i was almost dreading going to IML... but i made promises to David Hawks to help with the IML Bootblack Party friday night, and i made promises to Suka and Leslie to work the bootblack chair at Cell Block saturday night...

yes, i was exhausted from sleeping poorly Thursday night, but i made my way to Chicago Friday morning, set up my cot in the spare room, and got down to the Palmer House hotel.

I didn't even know who all was going to be competing for bootblack until i got there, but i liked what i saw upon my arrival... and let me just say CONGRADULATIONS to Spot of Michigan who is now the FIFTH CONSECUTIVE Great Lakes Bootblack to compete and win at a national/international level...!

I did boots at the Bootblack Party Friday, and i forgot how good it feels...! and then i did boots at Cell Block Satuday, and HOT DAMN i loved it...! and it didn't hurt that, heh heh... erm... ok i'm not going to kiss and tell unless she tells me to... and i'm gonna leave THAT at THAT...

What's wrong with this picture?

not a gosh darned thing...

Bootblack Issue is OUT!

click the picture for a direct link to Amazon.com for YOUR copy of Power Exchange Magazine, March issue

Now that I have your attention...

I have an article in the March issue of Power Exchange Magazine which is dedicated to Bootblacks. the issue will be available through Amazon.com (but is not QUITE yet...) and if they sell enough issues, I get paid for my article! So, shameless plug... buy the March issue of Power Exchange!

Where have i been?

I've been leading a Second Life!

i have become addicted to an online game called Second Life but if you want to find me, you are gonn have to ask really really nice!

no, she doesn't look much like me...but hey, it's just a game... or is it?

Ludo is HOME

okay, he came home Wednesday night, but was weak from not eating... i started force feeding him kitten formula, which he was not very happy with, but too bad. We humans can rationalize "sure i feel like crap, but to feel better and get better i have to eat soup/drink juice/take these vitamins etc. Animals just know what they are feeling RIGHT NOW. so it is easy for an animal to just not eat because they feel crappy.

when he came home, his bladder was still a bit leaky... he was CHOOSING to use the litter box, it's not that he was just randomly wetting himself. he was just... leaky... so my bed still smells a little like cat pee. so is life.

he took up a spot right by the radiator, to keep himself warm and possibly also to dry his fur when he would "leak". for the first couple days he would just curl up and sleep and only get up to pee. he was anti social and mopey.

but after a couple days of his meds and getting force fed, he started to perk up, gain back his joy, and his appetite started to come back. as soon as he was eating on his own, i stopped the force feeding.

and he is purring again. my baby is gonna be OK

Ludo is in the Hospital

when i came home from Southwest Leather Conference Sunday night (actually Monday morning at 1:30 am) Ludo did NOT run out to greet me, which itself was abnormal. i called for him; when he finally came out of hiding, he was lethargic and confused. i picked him up; his belly and legs were covered with urine and crusted cat litter (some of you will remember that i added Ludo to the family after Koshka died in 2003)

i cleaned him up and rushed him to the Emergency vet. His urinary tract was blocked with crystals to the point if i was gone for one day more i might have come home to dead kitty.

He is doing well but could be doing better. they are HOPING that he can come home tonight (Wednesday night) but they can't be sure (it is only 5:30 am Wednesday; they just called me) but the bill is already $1000. the $700 deposit maxed out my credit card, and i don't know if they will do a payment plan for the rest.

so, yes, this is the fundraiser part of the story.

on my website (http://www.izzythebootblack.com) you will see my PET YOUR BOOTBLACK logo. i made this into a travel fund pin during my International Ms. Bootblack year, but now since i have a bunch left i am going to use them to try to raise money. go to the main page of my website for more information if you want to donate money to get a pin (or you just want to flat out donate money)

Attack of the Clones

The FDA might be on the verge of approving cloned animals for agricutural use; breeding, meat, and milk, but the public is confused, concerned, and just plain weirded out by this possibility. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel just had a short article about it within the last few days. Of course scientists involved with the develpoment of cloning feel that yes, the FDA will approve cloned animals with a hearty "WHY NOT?" One was quoted saying something along the lines of "If the FDA says its safe, then the public should jutst accept it." But i think that we can ALL think of products that were originally approved by the FDA and then pulled from the market when said product turned dangerous. years ago i was on a prescription drug that was eventually pulled from the market because it was killing people. obviously it didn't kill me too, but it did cause me severe side effects in the time that i took it.

I think that science is going to push so hard for the agricultural application of cloned animals to justify that the work that they have done is not "evil" or "creepy". But do we even NEED these cloned animals? Do we actually have a shortage of quality dairy and meat cows? The article mentioned that even scientists admit that cloning is expensive, so we won't be in fear of whole herds of cloned cows. What's wrong with letting cattle just do it themselves?

I think that science has other reasons for developing and improving cloning, and pushing agricultural use is a smokescreen so to speak. I don't care if it is "safe". I just don't want it happening.