Here is a frightful image to get you warmed up for Halloween. More Halloween and Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) images are in the works. Stay tuned!

Original image of skull was captured at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, then processed in Lightroom and Photoshop.

"haha. no its getting a lot better. i toughed it out for 1 1/2 weeks with some advil . i dont really dig taking pills. plus my body doesnt really dig em, especially on that low calorie count. i guess day 5 i broke down and had a perkaset ?sp? i wasnt in pain for a few hours, shit i was on could 11, then it wasnt so pretty.

i later found out i did in fact have dry socket and there was exposed jaw bone from the same hole. really sucked! so i had like 3 weeks of pain before i could even really start healing, or eating SOLID food. . . all the while trying to do interviews and other online whatnot. ie: maintaining messages so i didnt have even more to catch up on

[i need to blog about this so i may copy and paste this email :] "

so after that fun adventure, that i guess is still technically going on [healing up from wisdom extraction in general is a long road back to recovery] i had to do some much needed "house cleaning". Had some employees that had needed to not be around for sometime,  but i had just been too busy to be around or restaff. so, being knocked on my ass from my teeth gave me some time to really asses assess how unacctable their attitudes and quality of product was. [ and i had a 3 minute online adventure finding the transitive verb form of assessment ]

i guess what im trying to say is, i have so much for you all to be updated on and pictures to share, its just life has been in the way a bit. so know that when im updating and responding to your messages its between so many of my other duties.

This should perk up anyone's ears who was disappointed by the demise of Minx. And while it doesn't solve the manga v. American style comics conundrum, it's certainly still a positive step.

Anyway, down to business:

Cartoon Network and Del Ray will be partnering to launch their new Manga Publishing Partnership! In December, we'll see the debut of Bakugan Battle Brawlers: The Battle Begins. So get excited for that. I know I'll be checking it out. The books in this series will be aimed at boys ages 6-11 and is adapted from the animated show.

I actually haven't been that aware of the popularity of manga with boys, but I'm glad to hear it.

A lot of people wonder what mainstream publishers put out graphic novels. Well, the easy answer is--a lot, but I wanted to give a quick (but not comprehensive) rundown of a few that I know and love. If you have any to add, let me know.

Aaaaand...for your edification I'll add a few books I think you (yeah, I mean you) should check out:

Scholastic Graphix (Bone)

Random House Pantheon (Persepolis)

Simon Pulse (100 Girls)

Hyperion (W.I.T.C.H)

Del Ray (soon to be publishing the first Outlander book in graphic novel form!)

Simon & Schuster Atheneum (To Dance)

Puffin Graphics (Dracula)

HarperCollins (Coraline)

Alright. So y'all get to reading those and I'll get back to writing SCOUT.

K, Break.

Status: Well, I've become a chunker. No, I'm not tipping the scales at four hundo or anything, I've just realized that I am much more productive when I write big hunks of the script and then link together. Fine, it's not a recent discovery. I've known for awhile, but have always felt guilty about it. I mean, there is something incredibly satisfying about going in order and saying I am on page #337. But too bad. Because I am doing so much better writing then linking. Right now, my script looks a little bit like separate sausages, but pretty soon I'm going to link them together, so that it will look like intestines instead. Just in time for Halloween.

Is it possible that millions of people are ignorantly sacrificing their health in exchange for the convenience of microwave ovens? Why did the Soviet Union ban the use of microwave ovens in 1976? Who invented microwave ovens, and why? The answers to these questions may shock you into throwing your microwave oven in the trash.

Over 90% of homes have microwave ovens used for meal preparation. Because microwave ovens are so convenient and energy efficient, as compared to conventional ovens, very few homes or restaurants are without them. In general, people believe that whatever a microwave oven does to foods cooked in it doesn't have any negative effect on either the food or them.

Of course, if microwave ovens were really harmful, our government would never allow them on the market, would they? Would they? There is evidence to prove  that microwave cooking is not natural, nor healthy, and is far more dangerous to the human body than anyone could imagine.

However, the microwave oven manufacturers are suppressing the facts and evidence. Because of this, people are continuing to microwave their food - in blissful ignorance - without knowing the effects and danger of doing so.

So where is the evidence?

In 1991, there was a lawsuit in Oklahoma concerning the hospital use of a microwave oven to warm blood needed in a transfusion. The case involved a hip surgery patient, Norma Levitt, who died from a simple blood transfusion.

It seems the nurse had warmed the blood in a microwave oven. This tragedy makes it very apparent that there's much more to "heating" with microwaves than we've been led to believe. Blood for transfusions is routinely warmed, but not in microwave ovens. In the case of Mrs. Levitt, the microwaving altered the blood and it killed her.

It's very obvious that this form of microwave radiation "heating" does something to the substances it heats. It's also becoming quite apparent that people who process food in a microwave oven are also ingesting these "unknowns".

Dr. Hans Ulrich Hertel, who is now retired, worked as a food scientist for many years with one of the major Swiss food companies that do business on a global scale. A few years ago, he was fired from his job for questioning certain processing procedures that denatured the food.

In 1991, he and a Lausanne University professor published a research paper indicating that food cooked in microwave ovens could pose a greater risk to health than food cooked by conventional means.

An article also appeared in issue 19 of the Journal Franz Weber in which it was stated that the consumption of food cooked in microwave ovens had cancerous effects on the blood. The research paper itself followed the article. On the cover of the magazine there was a picture of the Grim Reaper holding a microwave oven in one of his hands.

Dr. Hertel was the first scientist to conceive and carry out a quality clinical study on the effects microwaved nutrients have on the blood and physiology of the human body.

His small but well controlled study showed the degenerative force produced in microwave ovens and the food processed in them. The scientific conclusion showed that microwave cooking changed the nutrients in the food; and, changes took place in the participants' blood that could cause deterioration in the human system. 

Ten Reasons To Throw Out Your Microwave Oven:

• Continually eating microwave processed food causes permanent brain damage.

• The human body is unable to metabolize the unknown by-products created in microwaved foods.

• Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.

• The effects of by-products remain in the human body long-term.

• Minerals, vitamins and nutrients are reduced by microwaving so that the body gets little or altered components that cannot be broken down.

• The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals by microwaves.

• Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths. This may partially explain the rapid increase of the colon cancer rate in America.

• Long term consumption of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.

• It also causes immune system deficiencies through alterations in the lymph glands and blood serum.

• Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory and concentration, emotional instability and a decrease of intelligence.

  http://www.foodmatters.tv/cmd.php?af=790593

This article was written by Anthony Wayne and Lawrence Newell

Source: www.mercola.com

For more research on this important topic please visit this link: http://www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards.htm

Beans (legumes), berries (especially blueberries), broccoli, green tea, nuts (especially walnuts), oranges, pumpkin, salmon. soy, spinach, tomatoes, turkey, whole grains and oats, and yogurt can all help stop and even reverse diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and some forms of cancer. And where one might have an effect on a certain part of the body, it can also affect the health of other body functions and performance, since the whole body is connected.  With these 14 foods as the base of a balanced, solid diet, weight loss gimmicks and other fly-by-night programs can become a thing of the past in your life. 

Conversely, the ill-effects of an unbalanced diet are several and varied. Low energy levels, mood swings, tired all the time, weight change, uncomfortable with body are just a few signs that your diet is unbalanced.  An unbalanced diet can cause problems with maintenance of body tissues, growth and development, brain and nervous system function, as well as problems with bone and muscle systems.

Symptoms of malnutrition include lack of energy, irritability, a weakened immune system leading to frequent colds or allergies, and mineral depletion that can trigger a variety of health concerns including anemia.  

And since the body is connected, realizing that an unhealthy body will result in an unhealthy spirit only makes sense.  When we nourish our body with these superfoods and complement them with other nutrient-dense and healthy fresh foods, our spirit will be vitalized and healthy as a direct result.

Many modern diets based on prepackaged convenience foods are sorely lacking in many vitamins and minerals, which can affect our mental capacities as well, and cause irritability, confusion, and the feeling of ‘being in a fog’ all the time. 

Superfoods can be the basis of a sound, healthy, nutritious solution to curing many of these ailments and more.

This is a great Video show casing what is going on with today’s Foods. This Video was an independent film called FOOD MATTERS. It will shock you on what is going on with our agriculture and the doctors these days.

Beans (legumes), berries (especially blueberries), broccoli, green tea, nuts (especially walnuts), oranges, pumpkin, salmon. soy, spinach, tomatoes, turkey, whole grains and oats, and yogurt can all help stop and even reverse diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and some forms of cancer. And where one might have an effect on a certain part of the body, it can also affect the health of other body functions and performance, since the whole body is connected.  With these 14 foods as the base of a balanced, solid diet, weight loss gimmicks and other fly-by-night programs can become a thing of the past in your life. 

Conversely, the ill-effects of an unbalanced diet are several and varied. Low energy levels, mood swings, tired all the time, weight change, uncomfortable with body are just a few signs that your diet is unbalanced.  An unbalanced diet can cause problems with maintenance of body tissues, growth and development, brain and nervous system function, as well as problems with bone and muscle systems.

Symptoms of malnutrition include lack of energy, irritability, a weakened immune system leading to frequent colds or allergies, and mineral depletion that can trigger a variety of health concerns including anemia.  

And since the body is connected, realizing that an unhealthy body will result in an unhealthy spirit only makes sense.  When we nourish our body with these superfoods and complement them with other nutrient-dense and healthy fresh foods, our spirit will be vitalized and healthy as a direct result.

Many modern diets based on prepackaged convenience foods are sorely lacking in many vitamins and minerals, which can affect our mental capacities as well, and cause irritability, confusion, and the feeling of ‘being in a fog’ all the time. 

Superfoods can be the basis of a sound, healthy, nutritious solution to curing many of these ailments and more.

This is a great Video show casing what is going on with today’s Foods. This Video was an independent film called FOOD MATTERS. It will shock you on what is going on with our agriculture and the doctors these days.

I recently cam across a product that would help me with my high cholesterol at first I was not sure but after taking the product and reading about what it has and what it can do for me. I have become very impressed with it and MAN does it taste good. You are only suppose to take 2oz in morning and 2oz in the evening but it taste so good I can help but drink more. You can't overdose on it, it is a fruit juice but it is very very powerful.

The juice is scientifically formulated with 19 fruits, including the superfruit açai, delivering powerful antioxidants to nutritionally support your cardiovascular system. It is design to help your body get the proper nutrition. It has 2 FDA ingredients in that are plant sterols.

Here are some of the benefits

• Boasts heart healthy levels of plant sterols* to help maintain existing healthy cholesterol levels.

• Features resveratrol, which supports your cardiovascular system by helping protect healthy blood vessels.

• Delivers powerful antioxidant polyphenols to promote a healthy cardiovascular system.

• Features a wide array of essential nutrients for optimal health.

• Offers potent antioxidant protection against free radicals.

• Delivers the antioxidant capacity of approximately 13 servings of fruits and vegetables in just four ounces.

Watch this cool video the company released explaining what cholesterol is and how the product works. 

Additional information http://www.monaviepulse.com/ to buy

It's been a long time since my last post and I miss this blog. REALLY.

Well, I hope it's not too late.

To wish SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI on the 4^th day of Raya.

On the day before and days after 1 Syawal, I received tons of messages wishing me Selamat Hari Raya.

Thank you, guys. I really appreciate that. Thanks for still remembering me as one of your friends.

And thank you also to you guys for made me thinking.

I hope it's not considered as BLASPHEMY.

The question is,

How sincere you apologize, to no matters who, with that quote "MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN"

The word "MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN" is like a TEMPLATE and it's a must for every Selamat Hari Raya wishes. Every year, we send messages or even Raya cards to our friends, relatives, saying, Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin. The recurrence of that quote made me wanna blog about that.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this post.

xoxo.

Selamat Hari Raya Ke-empat (bak kata Bone. Hahaha.)

O preço ainda é "um pouco" salgado: quase 400 reais.

É, por hora, prefiro meu fone da Santa Ifigênia, mesmo...

• June 2007:  Had my fifth open heart surgery (as a result of a birth defect) which came along with some complications, like the need for leg surgery.  If you have a LOT of time and absolutely NOTHING to do, my hubby and I kept a ongoing blog about that time here if you just really want to check it out.  LOL 
•  June 2007-August 2008:  Could only walk on one foot for over a year.  Used a wheelchair and a walker because my foot was angled down like a horse's foot.  Was told by three different doctors that amputation from the knee down was the only answer for me.  Refusing to believe that was the ONLY answer, I was referred to a doctor in Dallas who told me that amputation was the farthest thing from his mind and he COULD help me.  So, since June of this year, I have been in an Illizarov (the contraption, as we called it) for two months, a splint for two weeks, two different casts for about three weeks, and then finally a walking boot for 2-3 weeks.

• I finally have been to the point where I felt some normalcy in my life again.  I was walking again without the help of any equipment (walker or wheelchair); I could take a shower again and be able to get my leg wet (not hanging out of the tub because of a cast, splint or hunk of metal on it); I could walk side-by-side with my husband again and hold his hand (kind of hard to do that when you have to hold on to a walker or roll yourself along in a wheelchair); I could go up and down the stairs normally (not hopping down on one foot or crawling up the stairs like before); I had started back to work part-time and was slowly working towards working longer hours and more days; the list goes on and on....
• Fast forward now to Friday, September 26th (one week ago).  I was out with some friends and introducing our new little dog, Bean to some people who hadn't met him yet.  My BFF Kara and I were headed back to my house.  It was around 9:00 pm or so and I had Bean on a leash.  As I was getting out of her car and trying to manage Bean, my cell phone starts ringing, and I'm trying to carefully walk around in the grass to get to the sidewalk.  Kara's dog, Kandi, was still in the backseat and I didn't notice Bean trying to run back towards the car.  I tripped right over his leash and landed right on my bad leg!!!  I just laid there and cried for a moment and then tried to get up.  Kara took Bean's leash as I tried to get up to my feet.  I knew the moment that I put weight on my leg that something was wrong.  I managed (somehow) to get up to my front door.  I took my boot off to see if I could see anything wrong, but couldn't.  Lance then came home and I told him that I thought I needed to go to the ER to get an x-ray of my leg.  The pain was excruciating!!!
• Off we went to the ER.  After several x-rays were taken, they came back in and told me that I fractured my tibia (the weight-bearing bone in your leg) and couldn't walk on it for 8-9 weeks.  :(    So, Wednesday, October 1st, I went to see my orthopedic doctor about what he thought I should do.  He put me in a cast (a red one this time) and told me that while my bone was fractured all the way through, it had not separated.  If it separates, I will have to have surgery in order to place a pin between the bones to hold them together.  So, my week has pretty much been spent laying around the house with my leg elevated and doped up on pain medicine.  While I am still in pain, it's not as bad as it was before I got the cast. 

Can you believe it?  When I watch my soap opera on TV, I think, "How can all of these things happen to ONE character?"  While I don't have buildings coming down on me, attempted to be killed by five different people, or attempted marriage with my husband for the third time (to the same man); I do feel like everything I have been through this past year or so sounds like it's taken right out of a soap opera plot!!  LOL

So, if you haven't had communication from me during the past week, now you know why...While I have been sitting around not doing much, the pain pills that I have been taking make me sleepy, so I have been doing a LOT of sleeping.  LOL...How pathetic is that???!!!

Mimi is a female Chihuahua and is about 20 years old (human years). Mimi very loving and one happy dog. She still has more life ahead of her than what everyone else thinks. She's still energetic and loves to get her belly rubbed.

This is Mimi's Story:

On September 28, 2008 my boyfriend and I went to his relatives house where they have been watching Mimi until the other relative got her a new home. For the few days she was staying there she only ate a bone and a pizza crust. We knew they had wanted to put her down because she was getting too old and they couldn't take care of her. They were saying if they weren't to find her a home they will put her down. We feel that's not right. So we took her in to save her life. When we brought her in the house, we noticed she is very skinny, has arthritis really bad on her back legs, has very long nails,and what is looks like it might be a cyst or a tumor in her throat. It looks like it can be the size of a baseball, no lie. When she gets her belly rubbed it disappears, like it went in. She has a breathing problem also, and we think that's the problem to that. She doesn't like to eat dog food only human food. Little by little we are having her eat dog food mixed a little bit with human food until she gets used to eating her kind of food. I'm going to bring her to PetsMart for a regular check up and to get her nails clipped and ears cleaned. Now I know by not even the visit they are going to say she needs surgery and other medication.The surgery alone will put a hole in my pocket, and then the medication after that. This is going to be a hard one for me.

Now this is where you nice people come in. If you can from the kindness of your heart, please donate money for Mimi's future surgery or you can copy the URL and post it on your blog, myspace, or any site like that.She's old, but still has it in her. I will like for this to go all out for people to see.

I don't like to put a dog down only because she is getting too old. I hope you all understand.

http://helpmimisurgerybill08.chipin.com/mimis-surgery

Thank You All For Reading

In one blow this week, I spent almost seven thousand bucks on comic books at Fully Booked - the complete Bone series collected into one volume (it's in black-and-white, unlike the individual volumes, which are digitally painted and look absolutely beautiful), and Neil Gaiman's Absolute Sandman Volume III.

I'm halfway through Bone, and it's absolutely lovely. Jeff Smith's writing and art is absolutely gorgeous, and something I want to pattern myself against. When TIME Magazine says it's one of the top ten graphic novels of all time, you need to believe them. I just can't imagine what the other ten could be - but I will certainly go out of my way to complete them all. I already have Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, so I think I'm well on the path to creating a stash of fine, inspiring literature to pass on to future generations of MDJ Superstarlings.

Sandman is Sandman, but I don't know when I'll have the time to actually crack it open. It's been months since I read volumes 1 & 2, so I'll need to refresh my memory first, methinks...

Also, I downloaded a movie I had no idea even existed - "Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam & West", which sounds as cheesy and campy as it sounds. It's all about Adam West & Burt Ward from the original Batman TV series from the 60s (KAPOW!), as they chase down a villain from their past, complete with the still-foxy Julie Newmar (Catwoman) playing a key role. I love nostalgia, and I swear to God my nipples stiffened with joy just seeing the original Batmobile and the "WHAM!/OUCH!/ZING!" sound effect supers.

Sigh. I'm poor, but contented.

Whoever said money can't buy happiness obviously never knew where to shop...