Very Nifty Trip to the grocer with my Bro this morning... they have automated cashiers at the Winn-Dixie on Cordova and 17th. They didn't have as much of a variety of foods as the Publix does, so no veggie munchies or some of the other no-meat goodies, but at least they had Boca burger and some morningstar stuff.

I've been bad about cooking lately... it's a lot easier to measure and control pre-measured portions off of a freezer-box.

Bro and I had a nice time gabbing and handing out, however briefly. I'll be seeing him again tomorrow to give him some goodies, and then it will be a while. He got a haircut... the shortest I've seen it since he was a kid. Still long on top, but the back is trimmed to the hairline rather than the shoulder-length or longer he normally keeps it.

There was an extremely skinny squirrel outside that was getting the hairy eyeball from Newt; I put a dab of peanut butter on a cracker outside for him to snack on.

Next week, ACIM splits into two zones... a first and a third-floor office. The meeting room, Fly Me, Newbie and Rhode Island Red will be upstairs, and the Big Kahuna, Volunteers and Prop2 will be downstairs... Tomorrow, the big Kahuna will be in Texas, talking to police departments.

Hmm... Live journal is having some tummy rumblings, and even the off-site status pages are on the fritz, a new one.

I'm sire to 24 active vampires in the Vampire game right now, including: LdySaphyre (6400 pints), Liliana (2351 pints), MissV (2010 pints), mixedresults (1246 pints), gilbella (1115 pints), Morgoth (226 pints), Sierina (190 pints), DEATHBEAR (86 pints), UnknownPersona (73 pints), phenrill (60 pints)

When being placed under arrest for DUI and drug possession flashing "an honorary deputy sheriff's badge" won't do as much good as you might think. I'm glad that folks that name-drop and think that they can use connections to get out of situations can get nailed now and then. Hopefully he'll get in a treatment program and stop his nonsense as soon as possible.... Apparently he crashed his car while talking on a cell phone, smelled of beer, had cocaine in his possession and had a broken toe. Ron Brafford is identified as a senior vice-president and spokesman for Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and says he was driving home from a fund-raising talent show.

I added a few Yahoo RSS feeds to my lj reading list - Oddly Enough & Science ... if they get too rapid-fire, I'll delegate them out of my default, and just let them live in feeds.

I've got a couple of public filters in place.. communities, humans, feeds and image heavy.

The Harvest Moon Arrives Early This Year

The Full Moon of Wednesday, Sept. 10 also carries the title of the Harvest Moon for those living in the Northern Hemisphere. This year it arrives earlier than is typical.

The annual Harvest Moon is defined as the Full Moon that arrives nearest to the fall equinox, which is on Sept. 23. In one out of three years the Harvest Moon is in October. The 2003 version comes unusually early, although it can occur as early as Sept. 8 (as in 1976) or as late as October 7 (as in 1987).

The Moon officially turns full when it reaches a spot in the sky opposite to the Sun in our sky. This moment will occur at 16:36 Greenwich Time (12:36 p.m. EDT or 9:36 a.m. PDT) on Wednesday.

Many people think that the Harvest Moon remains in the night sky longer than any of the other Full Moons we see during the year, but that is not so. What sets it apart is that farmers at the climax of the current harvest season can work late into the night by the Moons light.

A Full Moon always rises about the time the Sun sets. But at this time of year, instead of rising its normal average 50 minutes later each day, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night. Below we’ve provided some examples for ten North American cities.

The local moonrise times for Sept. 9, 10 and 11 are provided, the middle date being that of the Harvest Full Moon. The Moon will appear nearly fully on each of these nights.

In actuality, over this three-night interval for our relatively small sampling, the rising of the Moon comes, on average, just over 23 minutes later each night. A quick study of the table shows that the night-to-night difference is greatest for the more southerly locations (Miami, located at near latitude 26N, sees moonrise come an average of just under 33 minutes later). Meanwhile, the difference is less at more northerly locations (at Edmonton, Alberta, located at latitude 53.6N, the average difference is less than 12 minutes).

Why the strange seasonal circumstance? The Moon appears to move along the ecliptic, an arc in the sky that the Sun also traces out. At this time of year when rising, the ecliptic makes its smallest angle with respect to the horizon for those living in the Northern Hemisphere.

In contrast, for those living in the Southern Hemisphere, the ecliptic at this time of year appears to stand almost perpendicular (at nearly a right angle) to the eastern horizon, so the difference for the time of moonrise exceeds the average of 50 minutes per night. At Melbourne, Australia, for instance, the night-to-night difference amounts to 64 minutes.

Interestingly, for those who live near 60 North latitude, the Moon does indeed appear to rise at the same time each night around the time of the Harvest Moon.

And for those who live even farther to the north, a paradox: the Moon appears to rise earlier! At Reykjavik, Iceland (latitude 64.2N), the times of moonrise on Sept. 9, 10 and 11 will be, respectively, 8:55 p.m., 8:49 p.m. and 8:43 p.m.

Moonrise Times For select locations during the Harvest Moon of 2003.

Basic Sky Guides

• Mars Watch


• Full Moon Fever


• Astrophotography 101


• Skywatching Tips & Terms


• Sky Calendar & Moon Phases


• 10 Steps to Rewarding Stargazing


• Understanding the Ecliptic and the Zodiac


• False Dawn: All about the Zodiacal Light


• Reading Weather in the Sun, Moon and Stars


• How and Why the Night Sky Changes with the Seasons


• Spacewatch Main Page: More Skywatching News & Features

9/6/03













Afterlife: Streatham Cemetery (warning, site has some sound) - Photographer Jonathan Clark spent a year capturing the melancholic beauty of an English cemetery. In springtime, colorful blossoms grow out of green graves as birds chirp in the background and ethereal lights flutter past names faded on tombstones. I can watch the images over and over... I'd love to have a mirror of the site locally.

Speaking of Great photos... (safe for work)

It's Good to Be the King

LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of bare-breasted young maidens danced in front of King Mswati on Friday -- many hoping to catch his eye and become his next wife.

A record 50,000 young women staged Swaziland's annual "Reed Dance," taking part in a traditional ceremony now seen as an audition to join King Mswati's many wives.

The 35-year-old king, sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch, now has 10 wives and one fiancee -- a royal luxury that has drawn criticism as his small southern African kingdom battles poverty and a raging AIDS (news - web sites) epidemic.

Lined up in rows, the maidens danced topless before the king for three hours, undeterred by blustery winds or last year's controversy surrounding Mswati's choice of three teenage reed dancers as his latest queens.

"I am tired of being poor. I want to be a queen. I hope the king sees me," said 17-year-old Nomsa Gama, wearing the traditional dance costume of a small piece of beaded fabric around her waist.

"There have never been this many girls before. They all want to catch the king's eye," Thulani Dlamini, a traditional warrior assigned to chaperone the maidens, told Reuters.

Mswati usually reviews videotapes of dancing girls recorded by the government-owned television station to select new brides, according to palace sources.

Controversy swirled after last year's reed dance, when the mother of one dancer charged that her daughter was later abducted from a schoolyard by palace aides and forced to join the royal household.

The mother brought suit in the High Court seeking the girl's return but eventually dropped the complaint.

The case threw a spotlight on the reed dance as a place where young women might find royal favor, and on Friday tens of thousands showed up with their own Cinderella dreams.

LIMOUSINES AND HOUSES

The dancers paraded around in military-style divisions before lining up shoulder-to-shoulder, swaying, singing songs and raising toy spoons and kitchen knives blunted with oranges on their ends.

Mswati, who came to the throne in 1986, observed the dance from a reviewing platform with his mother, coming down several times to greet the dancers.

Last month the palace announced that Mswati would marry the last of three girls chosen during last year's reed dance -- a move seen as clearing the decks for more selections to be made this year.

While women's rights activists have slammed Mswati's marriage habits as feudalistic and health care workers have raised concerns they send the wrong message about AIDS, the prospect of joining royalty has a strong allure for many young Swazi women.

"I want a limousine, and a house like they give the queens. I want my children to school in England," said 14 year-old Phindile Thwala, one of this year's dancers.

regarding that... Stealth Disco! - Sneak up and dance!

Skippy the Goth Kangaroo



Points: 34.3 Adj: 0 Act: 0.0 Rem: -0.3
Bank: 12.5 Adj: 0
Bank Max: 35 Point: 0 Act: 0
Bank Method: Start on Monday
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 6.4 points
4.0: Egg sandwich -morningstar no cheese
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup
0.3: Egg; whole; hard-boiled

Lunch: 14.3 points
0.6: Fruit juice bar; grape
0.8: Boca burger; grilled vegetable
1.4: Peas sweet; 1 can; solids & liquids
5.9: Veggie munchees -12
1.4: Bagels; egg
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup

Dinner: 8.4 points
2.8: Baked beans in veggie sauce-1 cup
2.8: Baked beans in veggie sauce-1 cup
2.8: Baked beans in veggie sauce-1 cup

Snack: 5.2 points
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup
1.0: Dove dark chocolate promise


a year ago Crash Bonsai, sticky song poll

2 years ago Hammer-Wheel, Beijing, Stephen Foster, Mystery men Hiring, soap hair

3 years ago - Suzy goes to the Clink

9/6/03

The heavy rains have passed already...

Not clear skies, but, at least you can look out your window and see something.





Through 630 PM...scattered showers and thunderstorms will continue to move across the area. The strongest activity will lay across central Broward County. Activity will generally move east and northeast at 15 to 20 mph. The main concern with any of this activity will be brief periods of heavy rainfall...occasional lightning...and wind gusts to 25 mph.

Regarding weather and the skies... I learned a handy mnemonic last night about the moon phases... In summary -

A good way to identify phases (in the Northern Hemisphere) is to look at the night sky and remember the word "D-O-C." As the Moon cycles around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun, its position relative to the other bodies changes. The four resulting Moon phases are called quarters. The Moon is "new" when it comes directly between the Earth and the Sun and can't reflect much of the Sun's light. The first quarter Moon appears as a small crescent with the bulge facing to the right, as it does in the capital letter "D".

At second quarter, the Moon appears half full and resembles the letter "D". The light of the Moon increases each night until it reaches the Full Moon stage and hangs in the night sky like a great big "O." When the Moon decreases from Full Moon back to New Moon phase, the bulge moves to the left side, like a "C". When it reaches the fourth quarter stage, the Moon looks half full again.

I imagine the same could be said in the southern hemisphere, only to remember the word "C-O-D" instead.

Also, HOLY MOLEY!

I'm sire to 22 vampires right now, Including:LdySaphyre (6351 pints), Liliana (2337 pints), MissV (2008 pints), mixedresults (1246 pints), gilbella (1094 pints), Sierina (190 pints), Morgoth (177 pints), UnknownPersona (76 pints), DEATHBEAR (60 pints), phenrill (48 pints).

9/6/03

Sakes, the rain is coming down hard... beautiful sound, and the scent of ozone and sky-water is intoxicating.


I'm getting envious of all the northern talk of the temperatures going down to the 50s... I guess turnabout's fair play, since I don't freeze in the winter or totally melt in the summer. I've had quite an appetite this week... I think the body’s adapting to me not having just one lump meal a day.

The Gallery of Monster Toys. I had, or at least got to play with a lot of these over the years.

When I was little (Maybe 6?), I had this Wolfman... I wonder if that's part of the reason why I like earth tones? I would've loved to have the Bionic Bigfoot too.

We were living in Richmond, VA when Sally and Bill Brunot got my brother The Glow-faced Dracula, and I got the Wolfman again... I remember being especially happy, the old one was missed terribly. The newer one was even better, because my brother was old enough to play monsters with me, and they had "monster action" sort of a hug move when you pressed the back... plus, glow in the dark is always better. (I was maybe 11 at the time)

Picked up the Predator vs. Aliens set for Kev's sis, Karen, and she really loved it. I almost kept the alien for myself. (This was well after graduation from college)

Managing a movie theater that had a ton of Nightmare before Christmas stuff left over from about a year or so before. ... I hooked Pam, Rik and a few other pals up with all sorts of movie stuff at that time... It cost my very little, and went over well. I still can't believe that was almost a decade ago.

I eventually gave away my Creature from the Black Lagoon that I got on a whim at Suncoast Video... they were always selling goodies for next to nothing when they were tired of storing it... sort of like Kay Bee. Some great new action figure comes out, wait six months, and get 'em 3/$10, or less. I had all of the burger king monsters, too. That Creature was the basis for my "Aquatic Elf" character in the Wu's multi-genre game. He was great... you could squeeze his chest and spit water at things. I should've gotten a bit of white string for Wolfman to use as a belt, but never did. I think those guys are still in the old IMT building at 910... more likely, they got chucked when the company moved to 760.

Two Lives of Nepal's Child Goddesses

KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuters) - Twenty-two-year-old Rashmilla Shakya is like any other eager student in the crowded Kathmandu classroom, working toward a bachelor's degree in information technology.

Once in a while, though, people step aside and fold their hands together in respectful greeting as they recognize Nepal's former child goddess.

Rashmilla was 4 when she was taken from her home and enthroned as the Kumari, or virgin goddess, in an ancient three-storied palace with ornately carved balconies and window screens in Kathmandu's historic Durbar square.

For eight years, until she reached puberty, both Hindus and Buddhists revered her as the protector of 23 million Nepali people and the king in a tradition dating back to the 18th century.

Once she started menstruating, she lost her divine status and was returned to her family in a tiny, brick-and-mud house along an alley in a low-income Kathmandu neighborhood.

A 5-year-old girl replaced her as the living goddess and Rashmilla, who could neither read nor write, started rebuilding her life from scratch.

The tradition of worshiping an ordinary girl as the source of supreme power has endured in the world's only Hindu kingdom, despite criticism from human rights activists.

"Rashmilla considers herself lucky," her elder sister, Pramilla, told Reuters in an interview in their home adorned by pictures of the living goddess.

"She says she has had two lives, being a Kumari was one life, and now she is born again."

A shy and smiling Rashmilla sat in another room, preparing for her computer science class at Kathmandu's Institute of Science and Technology. She said her sister would speak on her behalf.

ISOLATION

Critics argue it is cruel to take a child from her parents, deny her a childhood and then toss her back unprepared to handle the realities of life.

As a goddess, Rashmilla lived a life of extreme privilege in an ornate cloister, but also a life of isolation.

She could leave her palace only a few times a year to be wheeled through the capital on a chariot pulled by devotees.

And she could never visit her home and her family.

The Kumari must wear red all the time, her hair is tied tightly in a topknot -- which permanently damages her hairline -- and she has a mythical third eye painted on her forehead to ward off evil spirits.

Rashmilla's playmates were children of the family that took care of her in the palace.

"The Kumarighar became her home," said Pramilla, who is a college physics lecturer, referring to the house of the goddess.

"She was completely adapted, the caretakers were her family."

The selection of the goddess, who must come from the Shakya Buddhist clan, is an elaborate process of secret rituals. She must spend a night in a darkened room with the heads of slaughtered buffaloes.

"No girl is forced to become a Kumari," said Mukunda Raj Aryal, who teaches culture in Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University.

"This is part of Nepali culture where even parents compete to give daughters as Kumaris."

There were three other candidates, but Rashmilla was chosen after her horoscope matched that of then-King Birendra, the popular king who was later killed by his drunken son in a palace massacre in 2001.

"We had mixed feelings when she was going. She was too small to remember anything," said Pramilla.

A tutor came to teach Rashmilla but he was too scared to order her to study. When she "retired" at 12, she started school in grade 1. Other 12-year-olds were in grade four.

Leather -- which comes from cows, which are considered sacred -- is not allowed anywhere in the palace, and Pramilla recalls how her sister recoiled in horror the first time she had to wear shoes to school.

"She is strong inside -- she told herself, 'The only way I can get over this is to wear it."'

Rashmilla will get a lifetime pension of 3,000 Nepali rupees ($40) a month from the government. The pension used to be 300 rupees until the age of 21.

A child rights activist said conditions for the kumaris, past and present, had improved after criticism.

"Human rights became an issue about 12 years ago," said Gauri Pradhan, head of the Child Workers group in Nepal.

"Most of the concerns have been met, they are getting an education, friends and families can now meet them."

But few in Nepal believe that the tradition should end.

"The system of Kumari is a tradition linked to many people's faith and pride," said Pradhan.

9/6/03

Ramma-frazzin landlord knocked on my door at 9am this morning and woke me out of a deep sleep to ask me a question about the trash cans outside. Not everyone is up and out and about that early on his day off.... I was so groggy that I forgot to ask him which tenant is leaving, even though I suspect the reason he was asking me was to make sure the place is clean and sharp for potential new folks moving in.

Life in Elizabethan England : a compendium of common knowledge

Death - The last taboo - Throughout the world, death and the rituals that surround it are steeped in taboos. Death is celebrated, embraced and feared. Around death and the dead, cultures put in place diverse restrictions and practices associated with clothing, food and ritual. This website explores what happens to us when we die and the different ways we deal with death.

Images via IRC - Displays images directly from recently added channels to SearchIRC. Channels are added in huge chunks every 60 seconds, so hitting reload on your browser on this page will usually display fresh new images for your viewing pleasure. Like anything on the net, it can be cool, unusual, boring or obscene. Use at your own risk.

The most comprehensive collection of Star Wars, GI Joe, Transformers, comic characters, Anime and toy related tattoos known to mankind.

The Gender genie thought my first paragraph above was written by a female.

Analysis
Masculine Keywords						Feminine Keywords
[the]	3	x	+17	=	51	[with]	0	x	-14	=	0
[a] or [an]	2	x	+6	=	12	['s] or [s']	0	x	-5	=	0
[some]	0	x	+6	=	0	[possessive pronoun]	2	x	-3	=	-6
[number]	1	x	+5	=	5	[for]	1	x	-4	=	-4
[it]	0	x	+2	=	0	[not] or [n't]	1	x	-4	=	-4

9/5/03

Well slap me on the bing bong! I got a postcard from The Ranting Swede from Dubai. Very cool. :)

I'm so glad to be indoors, and in comfy surroundings while the rains are coming down. Soooo sleepy. I may take a little catnap with Newt after supper.

Noobie2 has conscripted me to help with the silent auction coming up. I told her I'd be happy to, as long as I didn't have to wear a tie or move heavy objects, and she agreed. I'm guessing I'll be security, keeping an eye on what's there. She and I get along best of the group I think.

There is a *lot* of stuff to go on ebay... I'd almost prefer to drop it all off at a local consignment shop or three.... and I still have to put a paypal donation button on the site.

Misc Morning shots... sun was low in the sky. I need to start keeping the good camera with me at all times. :)





Hmm... My weekly virus scan has found a copy of VerifierBug.class dwelling in my java development system. I wonder where *that* came from.

(The compressed file within C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\javapi\v1.0\jar\archive.jar-27b6d963-7de5da96.zip is infected with the Trojan Horse virus.)

Optical illusions - I especially like "face or liar" and "skull or lovers".

Appreciating Horror, Fantasy & the Grotesque in Art. Also, Supernatural & Fantastic Imagery from Medieval Times....

75th Anniversary of Band-Aids.

today's eats -

Points: 34
Water: 4 Veg/Fruit: 0 Milk: 0
Points: 41.0 Adj: 0 Act: 0.0 Rem: -7.0
Bank: 12.8 Adj: 0
Bank Max: 35 Point: 0 Act: 0
Bank Method: Start on Monday
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 8.0 points
8.0: Croissan'wich w/ Egg & Cheese

Lunch: 11.0 points
0.0: Soda; Low calorie; other than cola or pepper; w/aspartame
5.5: BK Veggie Burger w/o Reduced Fat Mayo
5.5: BK Veggie Burger w/o Reduced Fat Mayo

Dinner: 8.9 points
0.1: Beans; snap; green; canned; no salt added; drained solids
5.3: Amy's Enchilada dinner
3.5: Goldfish

Snack: 13.1 points
5.3: Amy's Enchilada dinner
4.8: ice cream ; low fat fudge ripple - 1 cup
0.3: Egg; whole; hard-boiled
0.3: Egg; whole; hard-boiled
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup
0.3: Egg; whole; hard-boiled

9/5/03

Slow to wake up this morning... still a tiny bit creaky from yesterday's tests, and I woke up in the middle of the night, ravenously hungry. Nuked some enchiladas at about 2 am.... I don't want to work.. I just want to get under the covers and snug my sweetie.

This week's Photo Friday theme is "Aged". I'm thinking about using maybe one of the pictures form an old photo safari.

Ack... Dystopia snuck out the side door? I'm with ... I liked the left side navigation better, too. I'm glad that I still have the option to view in the old way if I prefer. I'll try the new one out for a week or so, and see how I like it...though my user info page looks weirdly sparse now.

Looks like The Finn is no longer at FMM, and they got another nice Jamaican fellow to fill departed Dale's shoes. Islanders and Certs make a good combo, It seems!.. .I don't know all the details of the Finn going, but I do know it was a long time coming. She wasn't happy there, and the gross majority of people there didn't want her either. I hope that she got a nice gig. (I'm guessing that she'd had the quits coming for a long time, as she took a long-ol vacation before being goneski.)

Random Scotto Factoid - I like the term "gooey viscera."

9/4/03

Today's Eats -

Points: 34
Water: 5 Veg/Fruit: 3 Milk: 0
Points: 34.9 Adj: 0 Act: 4.9 Rem: 4.0
Bank: 21.8 Adj: 0
Bank Max: 35 Point: 0 Act: 0
Bank Method: Start on Monday
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 4.0 points
4.0: Egg sandwich -morningstar no cheese

Lunch: 5.5 points
5.5: BK Veggie Burger w/o Reduced Fat Mayo

Dinner: 18.5 points
3.1: Chik patties - morningstar
3.1: Chik patties - morningstar
0.1: Beans; snap; green; canned; no salt added; drained solids
5.9: Veggie munchees -12
2.1: Orange juice; chilled; includes from concentrate
2.1: Orange juice; chilled; includes from concentrate
2.1: Orange juice; chilled; includes from concentrate

Snack: 6.9 points
4.8: ice cream; low fat fudge ripple - 1 cup
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup

Activity Log: (Min:Int: Points Desc)
25:M: 2.7 Bus-walk
20:M: 2.2 Evening- stretches

Mark Millmore's Ancient Egypt - Hieroglyphic Writing: Ancient Egyptian writing and Egyptian mathematics.

Commercial Animation art: This collection of art and photos all came from the Ray Patin Studios. They produced hundreds of amazing black and white TV commercials all through the 50's and early 60's.

News items :

Stranahan House plans to mix spirits, history in October tours for tourists' joy

"Visitors are flocking to the Stranahan House, but not to research the county's oldest existing structure, the one-time town hall, and home of the town's founder and its first school teacher. They're looking for ghosts."

Capitalizing on a local ghost team's report in May that the 1901 home and trading post of Frank and Ivy Stranahan is haunted, Stranahan House officials have decided to conduct special ghost tours in October, featuring tour guides in Victorian mourning costumes explaining superstitions of the time.

A coffin typical of that period is under construction by the Stranahan House's maintenance man. If the tours go over well, one might become a standing feature during tourist season.

Marketing the Stranahan House as haunted might be unorthodox, but so far it's a strategy that's working.

Officials at the museum on the New River downtown, where the modern-day city began, say publicity about the South Florida Ghost Team's investigation in May brought the attention they've been craving.

"I just think this has been the one shot in the arm that the house needed," said Stranahan House education specialist Marlene Shotamus. "Attendance really picked up."

Shotamus said the morning after the South Florida Sun-Sentinel featured the investigation; a group of 90 students from Pine Crest School came through. Some swore they'd felt a presence.

"Some smelled perfume, the eyes in Frank's portrait downstairs moved, laughter came from the vents in the dining room, and one child felt someone tap him on the shoulder when he was upstairs," she wrote in an e-mail at the time.

One radio station, Majic 102.7, had a séance there afterward, with a psychic and the ghost team on hand.

The next morning, during rush hour, drivers were given the mysterious details.

"There was a rocking chair in the middle of the room," disc jockey Rick Shaw told listeners, "and all of a sudden it started rocking by itself."

The creepy possibility that spirits of dead people are haunting the Stranahan House could save it from relative obscurity, even though national debunkers like Fort Lauderdale's James Randi, the "Amazing Randi," have said the ghost team's proof -- including ghostly "orbs" captured on digital cameras -- is easily explained away.

The house is off East Las Olas Boulevard, where U.S. 1 slips under the New River. But it's difficult to see from the road and has had trouble luring visitors. It's on the National Register of Historic Places, but many people living in Fort Lauderdale couldn't pinpoint it on a map.

Stranahan House officials think visitors who take the ghost tour will return for the regular tour, to hear about the deeply religious "little white mother" who taught Seminole children to read and her husband, who ran a ferry on the river, a trading post and a bank and was involved in civic affairs.

At the least, museum officials are having fun telling people about the growing legend. Museum docents have claimed they heard strange noises in the home. Feeding that legend is the fact several people died there.

Frank Stranahan drowned himself in the New River in 1929, in despair over losing his friends' money when his bank failed. Ivy Cromartie Stranahan, his wife, died in 1971 in a bedroom. Her father, Augustus Cromartie, died in the house, as well. Shotamus said her research also uncovered a Seminole woman who died in the trading post in 1901.

Shaun Jones, leader of the South Florida Ghost Team, said her group was sure it felt spiritual presences in the home. They hope to find out whether its next door neighbor, the historic Riverside Hotel, also is haunted. For now, they're pleased with the excitement.

"I think it'll be good for the house, good business for the house," she said. "A lot of other cities have ghost tours, like St. Augustine, and I think South Florida needs to start it."

That house is about a mile from my place. The New river is what passes over the "Haunted Tunnel."

Sage herb 'can boost memory'

"Centuries-old theories that the herb sage can improve memory appear to be borne out by modern research."

Scientists at the Universities of Newcastle and Northumbria tested 44 people, who were either given the herb or a dummy placebo pill.

They found that those given the sage oil tablets performed much better in a "word recall test".

Experts believe the active ingredient may boost levels of a chemical that helps transmit messages in the brain.

The Medicinal Plant Research Centre (MPRC) at the universities are testing many old-fashioned claims about the healing powers of herbs and flowers.

Sage is often referred to in ancient texts - in 1597 the herbalist John Gerard said that it was "singularly good for the head and quickeneth the nerves and memory."

Researcher Nicola Tildsley said the results of the study proved that, in some cases at least, the herbalists should be taken seriously.

She said: "This proves how valuable the work by the old herbalists was, and that they shouldn't just be ignored because they were writing centuries ago."

There are still question marks over the herb's ability to boost long-term memory, she said.

"Tests would need to be carried out on people over a longer period of time to prove that sage improves exam performance - but we don't have any plans to do this at present."

However, it is possible that the herb could help patients affected by Alzheimer's disease, she said.

Alzheimer's is accompanied in many cases by a drop in the same brain chemical boosted by sage in experiments.

It also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which may also conceivably help - although this is still far from proven.

The centre has already embarked on a study to test the effect of the herb on Alzheimer's patients, and results from this are expected soon.

The memory study was published in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior.

Will Scientology Celebs Sign 'Spiritual' Contract?

Tom Cruise claims to have been dyslexic before he was saved by Scientology.

Let's hope that he can read the fine print in a new agreement the religious organization is demanding its members sign.

The contract — called the "Agreement and General Release Regarding Spiritual Assistance" — makes it clear that the signee does not believe in psychiatry and does not want to be treated for any kind of psychiatric ailment should one befall him.

Instead, once the paper is signed, the agreement calls for the Church of Scientology to step in if there's ever a problem. The result would be total isolation and constant surveillance.

The question is: Will the stars upon whom Scientology has depended to carry its message — including Cruise, John Travolta and Kelly Preston, Lisa Marie Presley and her mother, Priscilla — sign a new agreement that could potentially hand over their rights and personal freedom to the church?

The wording of the agreement is shocking, to say the least. If a member of the church becomes what we might call "mentally incompetent," he automatically agrees to be placed in the care of Scientology counselors, potentially barring family, friends or anyone else from interceding, including doctors and psychiatrists.

The new agreement seems to stem from a long-simmering wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the estate of Lisa McPherson against the Church of Scientology.

It alleges that McPherson died in 1995 after being held against her will by the church for 17 days. When she died, it is claimed, her body was covered with cockroach bites and McPherson was dehydrated.

By having members sign the contact agreeing to be isolated from family and medical professionals, the church apparently believes it would be immune to such lawsuits. The lawsuit, which has suffered several postponements, may come to trial in 2004.

Outspoken critics of Scientology — such as Carnegie Mellon professor Dave Touretzky, who uncovered the new agreement — claim the form is designed to protect the church from further litigation.

But will Cruise, Travolta, and others agree to the same wording that non-celebrity followers must in allowing themselves to endure something called the "Introspection Rundown?"

Calls to their spokespeople didn't help very much. Travolta and the Presleys' publicist referred my question back to the Church of Scientology. Cruise's office didn't have an answer.

An assistant in the Scientology office did tell me that she was a member of the church and had signed many different contracts.

The Spiritual Assistance agreement reads in part: "I understand that the Introspection Rundown is an intensive, rigorous Religious Service that includes being isolated from all sources of potential spiritual upset, including but not limited to family members, friends or others with whom I might normally interact."

"As part of the Introspection Rundown, I specifically consent to Church members being with me 24 hours a day at the direction of my Case Supervisor, in accordance with the tenets and custom of the Scientology religion. The Case Supervisor will determine the time period in which I will remain isolated, according to the beliefs and practices of the Scientology religion."

"I further specifically acknowledge that the duration of any such isolation is uncertain, determined only by my spiritual condition, but that such duration will be completely at the discretion of the Case Supervisor. I also specifically consent to the presence of Church members around the clock for whatever length of time is necessary to perform the Introspection Rundown's processes and to achieve the spiritual results of the Introspection Rundown."

(Any isolation, of course, would be preferable to watching Travolta in "Look Who's Talking.")

What does this all mean?

Linda Hight, spokeswoman for Scientology, told me last night that the contract is self-explanatory.

"I'm sure you know the English language," she said, "and you know what it means."

She described psychiatry as "barbaric, harmful, and fraudulent."

"The contract is drawn up," Hight added, "for those who wish [to use it]."

9/4/03

11:05 am

I'm always a little beat after visiting the doctor... Stress and stretch checks to see how far I've come. I need to make sure Liberty doesn't hose me, and that a backup plan is in place.

2:36 pm

prop2's husband is in the clink... Was AWOL last night, and her family isn't posting bond for one reason or another.

5:23 pm

a lot of curiosity in my mind... Bro, coworkers, the future... I'm able to keep a positive mindset so far, fortunately. I see good things on the horizon.

5:39 pm

revised 55 is slower on the return trip - note focus on following day's objectives and maybe do time sheet then.

6:00 pm

Just got in and had the following info bits added

• Bro - Monday moving to the new place, court went ok, I'll have a chance to spend some more time with him this weekend.


• one of the apartments in this building is for rent. I hope it's Frankie moving on to other things.


• Cathi's dad got a tracheotomy / will have a voice box put in, hopefully they caught all of his throat cancer.


• I dropped and broke a plate. Newt didn't like being sealed in the bathroom as I cleaned up. Not one little bit.

9/4/03

Ok.. went to the Doc this morning, and he's approved my going to a neurologist to see if there are any other alternatives to surgery. I'm doing reasonably well, so I've got high hopes and reasonable expectations. The insurance company has been hassling me doctor terribly, to the point of him mentioning, "I know it's not your fault, but they've disrupted the whole office with incessant requests and pointless forms." Apparently, they're under the doctor has orders now to put stuff in a file (I imagine circular) and just contend directly a maximum 2 times a week, and ignore the rest.

I wonder how things with my brother went at the courthouse today... I hope everything got sewn up with a minimum of fuss.

While I wait for 11 to roll along...

Digital Librarian: a librarian's choice of the best of the Web - Mucho Scotto-used linkage.

Cincinnati's Abandoned Subway System
I am a sucker for abandoned places, especially tunnels. The adventure possibilities are endless. Morlocks. Gene Hackman - Luthor's lair from the first Superman movie. The Beauty & the Beast TV series. Grant Morrison's Invisibles.

Giant lizard terrorizes Beirut
He's big, he's a carnivore, he's terrorizing the neighborhood’s residents, he's been swimming in people's pools and he's already claimed victims - several cats, a dog and apparently even a horse. In Lebanon, a giant lizard has been roaming the streets of a Beirut suburb for several weeks, eluding all the attempts by the authorities to catch it.

He's Lebanon's own Komodo Dragon, or so say the witnesses who have seen him.

Komodo Dragons are an endangered species and live in Indonesia.

They belong to the family of monitor lizards.

It's believed that the one living just outside Beirut was brought to Lebanon by a German who lived here and eventually set him free.

KOMODO DRAGON

• World's largest lizard


• Measures up to 3.1m


• Weighs up to 126kg


• Numbers estimated at 1,000 to 5,000


• Indigenous in Indonesia


• Nicknamed 'buaya darat' or land crocodile

About three months ago, one person sighted him, but his tale was dismissed as that of a crazy person.

But when pets started disappearing, people started paying attention.

It's still possible that the dragon is not a dragon at all, but one of many kinds of monitor lizards, all of which are carnivores.

The civil defense has stationed dozens of personnel all over the area, but it lacks the sophisticated equipment needed to catch the lizard without harming it.

The civil defense is now trying to take a picture of the lizard to prove it is indeed a Komodo Dragon and sent an appeal for help to nature and science TV channels.

Brutal tragedy ends storied tale

The internationally famous research by two Canadian naturalists showing that grizzly bears in the snow-swept Russian wilderness can live peacefully with humans has ended in a brutal tragedy, The Globe and Mail has learned.

The dozens of massive Siberian grizzly bears whose lives were catalogued for the groundbreaking eight-year study have been slaughtered in their nature sanctuary as a message to the Canadian researchers, Charlie Russell and Maureen Enns, to abandon the project. Their research has been the subject of a PBS television documentary, a best-selling book and hundreds of news stories across three continents.
The people who killed the bears nailed the gall bladder of a baby grizzly to the research station's kitchen wall as a gruesome taunt.

After searching fruitlessly for two months for the bears' remains, Mr. Russell arrived back in Canada last Friday and broke his silence only after a week's soul-searching.

"The bears were killed so we would go home," he said in an exclusive interview with The Globe from his ranch in the Rocky Mountain foothills of Alberta, adding later, "It is a brutal ending to our research."

The warning was effective. He and Ms. Enns, an eminent painter and photographer, have permanently shut down their isolated research station on the southern tip of the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East.

"It's an immense and immeasurable loss simultaneously to science and to Charlie and Maureen," said Paul Paquet, a Canadian biologist who studies large predators across the world. "It makes me sick to my stomach."

Dr. Paquet said the Kamchatka research, while controversial, had given humans a fresh and startling new understanding of grizzlies, demonstrating the complex emotional relationships among the mysterious creatures.

"He was an interpreter for the bears. He's been their ambassador," Dr. Paquet said.

He compared the explanatory role of Mr. Russell and Ms. Enns to that of Dian Fossey, who taught the world that mountain gorillas in the remote Rwandan highlands were shy vegetarians instead of the ferocious killers humans had thought. Many of her subjects were killed by poachers and eventually, in 1985, she was hacked to death by machete at her research site.

Mr. Russell and Ms. Enns are shattered at the fate of the bears they had spent years documenting, photographing and teaching to live fearlessly with humans.

"Do I have guilt? Only in that I taught these bears to trust humans and it backfired," Mr. Russell said.

The horrifying phase of this remarkable story began in May when Mr. Russell arrived at the cabin in Kamchatka for the eighth year in a row, in time, as he thought, to greet the bears as they came out of hibernation.

The cabin looked perfectly normal from the outside when he arrived by helicopter. And it was immaculately swept. But inside, he found the baby gall bladder in plain view on the wall. He went into denial.

"I just refused to believe that it was happening," he said. "I wanted to believe it was a prank."

As the days went by, the sinister reality set in. Usually, the bears would come to greet him within a day or two of his arrival, sniffing his scent in the air, nuzzling his footprints and then making contact.

This year, there was nothing. But there were fierce snowstorms and he thought they might be keeping the bears away. He traveled far and wide, looking for any sign of the bears he knew. Grizzlies have carefully defined territories and don't stray far from them. Mr. Russell's observations over the years have also taught him precisely where the bears gather food during the spring and summer.

By the time Ms. Enns arrived in early June, he had almost given up hope. Together, they searched for another few weeks. Finally, with tears in their eyes, they gave up.

Mr. Russell said that all the study bears and then some have been obliterated, a minimum of 20 and possibly as many as 40. He found spent ammunition outside the research station and signs that a helicopter had landed there.

He said the bears, including the young, had likely been shot, skinned and their gall bladders removed. Gall bladders are a pricey folk remedy in Russia and the Far East. He believes that the carcasses were then sunk in the lake or airlifted and dropped in the remote bush, as is the practice among bear poachers in this part of Russia.

Mr. Russell said it is not clear who ordered the bears killed. He suspects a Russian who has connections to the crime world. He said he does not believe he is personally in danger now that he is back in Canada.

"Even though it was a brutal ending, it was a Russian ending," Mr. Russell said.

He said he believes that the ranger program he and Ms. Enns set up and raised money to finance five years ago in order to protect the bears of Kamchatka from poachers had become too successful. Not only was it preventing the killing of bears, but also of salmon, highly profitable for their caviar-like roe.

Mr. Russell's aim has been to explore the heretical idea of whether humans and grizzlies could inhabit the same landscape without coming to violence. It is the ultimate conservation plan for the creatures — and an extremely controversial one in scientific circles — if it could be made to work. It's also replete with irony, given the story's ending.

Their project showed for the first time that grizzlies are predictable in their behavior and that they are not automatically dangerous to humans when they lose their fear of them.

The implications of that finding are huge. For millennia, the thinking has been that bears and humans must not mix. But as humans take over more and more of the wilderness that the animals need, the numbers of bears across the world are falling.

During their summers in Russia, the couple endured deprivation and miserable Siberian weather, and defied death on many occasions to test their radical grizzly theories.

They catalogued their adventures in the book Grizzly Heart: Living Without Fear Among the Brown Bears of Kamchatka, published last fall by Random House. That, and a PBS special, Walking with Giants: The Grizzlies of Siberia, made Kamchatka grizzlies the most famous bears in the world.

A book of the extraordinarily tender photographs that Ms. Enns took of the study bears — all now slain — was set to be published this fall.

The grizzlies, which once roamed widely and thickly across the North American continent, have been reduced to an estimated 1,000 in the lower 48 United States. Another 40,000 or so live in Canada and Alaska. But the motherlode of the world's remaining grizzly DNA is in eastern Asia, where about 100,000 grizzlies live.

Of all those grizzly populations, the one based in Kamchatka is believed to be among the healthiest and densest in the world. That, and the fact that the Russian bears were unused to humans, drew Mr. Russell and Ms. Enns to set up their station.

Mr. Russell said he is tortured by the mental image of the giant bears happily approaching their killers.

"I can see how easily they were killed. That's my nightmare image," he said, his voice dropping almost to a whisper.

Male chromosome disappearing, scientist says

The human Y-chromosome is disappearing, but millions of males need not fear extinction, a leading Australian scientist says.

Jenny Graves, head of the Comparative Genomics Group at the Australian National University, Canberra, gave a lecture in Dunedin today on sex, genes and chromosomes as a guest of the Royal Society.

"I'd like to be remembered for having put on the table some quite shocking ideas about sex chromosome function and evolution," she said.

Prof Graves is internationally recognized for her work on the origin and evolution of human sex chromosomes, and on platypus and kangaroo genetics.

She points out that the human Y-chromosome once boasted 1438 genes.

Now, just 41 active genes remain, one of which, the SRY gene (sex region Y chromosome), determines whether the human embryo develops as a male or a female.

Active genes have disappeared from the genetically isolated male chromosome at the rate of about five every million years, she said.

At that rate, the Y was likely to vanish altogether in about eight million years, if not earlier.

However, all is not doom and gloom for the embattled male of the species.

The current sex-determining gene once had a different brain control function.

She reassured men that another male sex-determining gene would develop elsewhere, enabling men to survive the Y's demise.

"Evolution will find another way. Don't worry about it," she said.

Males can also find an unlikely source of comfort in the humble vole, a small, fluffy, big-toothed creature that flourishes in holes in the ground in the former Soviet republic Azerbaijan, and Iran.

The vole has no Y-chromosome, but produces a perfectly adequate supply of males from an as yet unidentified gene.

9/3/03
Ok, revised launch times again. Gives me ten more minutes of rest.

Blogshares Total Portfolio: $961,917.95. Folder: 15 blogs.

Bad Toon Rising is a collection of drawings of well-known cartoon characters produced by amateur artists entirely from memory and without any reference materials whatsoever. (via boing boing)

An International Catalogue of Superheroes: The purpose of this site is to build up a database of information about various superhero characters from around the world. For decades American comics, and especially those from two prolific publishing houses, have dominated if not the market, then certainly the public's perception of it. There are few people in the world that would not recognize Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or the X-Men, and there are hundreds of websites devoted to those characters. That is not the focus of this site.

Woo! From the Vampire game "You are sire to 16 other vampires, including: LdySaphyre (6072 pints), Liliana (2285 pints), MissV (1794 pints), mixedresults (1246 pints), gilbella (1043 pints), Sierina (180 pints), Soul Harvester (25 pints), Morgoth (18 pints), bloodytears666 (17 pints), renwick (6 pints)" I wish it gave me an option to view full lineage.

Sjohn's Font of the month - Invader Candy

Going out to dindin with the bro... sushi, I think.

Good, long productive day.

9/3/03 7:52 am

I need to remember to just sit tight at breakfast and just head over when 8am comes. There's no reason to lurk around waiting out front, though I expect to get a key soon.

Dinner with the bro tonight...I expect to spend some flex points if we dine out.

Had some lovely veggies, rice and tempura... bro got spicy chicken. We gabbed and played yahtzee... spent some quality time together. I'm going to miss not seeing him on his birthday or Halloween, but we'll be in letter contact pretty much daily.

Going to the doc first thing tomorrow morning, at last to have him review my most recent MRIs. I hope that he and I both like what he sees.

Ever Been in a Turkish Accident? - The U.S. State Department warns of 25 significant dangers to look for when driving in Istanbul or Ankara, Turkey: "Vehicles backing up (in reverse) on exit ramps and on main highways."

Free PDF ebooks, mostly classics.

Today's Eats -

Water: 6 Veg/Fruit: 2 Milk: 0
Points: 41.8 Adj: 0 Act: 4.9 Rem: -2.9
Bank: 30.4 Adj: 0
Bank Max: 35 Point: 0 Act: 0
Bank Method: Start on Monday
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 8.0 points
8.0: Croissan'wich w/ Egg & Cheese

Lunch: 6.5 points
0.0: Side salad
1.0: Kraft Fat Free Ranch dressing
5.5: BK Veggie Burger w/o Reduced Fat Mayo

Dinner: 10.1 points
3.1: Rice; white; glutinous; cooked
3.1: Rice; white; glutinous; cooked
0.0: Mixed veggies
0.2: Soy sauce made from soy & wheat (shoyu)
0.2: Soy sauce made from soy & wheat (shoyu)
3.5: Oil; peanut; salad or cooking

Snack: 17.2 points
4.3: Toaster Pastries; POP TARTS; Frosted chocolate fudge
4.3: Toaster Pastries; POP TARTS; Frosted chocolate fudge
4.3: Toaster Pastries; POP TARTS; Frosted chocolate fudge
4.3: Toaster Pastries; POP TARTS; Frosted chocolate fudge

Activity Log: (Min:Int:Points Desc)
25:M:2.7 Bus-walk
20:M:2.2 Evening- stretches

9/2/03

Up and at 'em, Atom Ant!

Well, I've got a fair amount of sleep under my belt (about 5 hours... I prefer at least 6) so I think I've got a decent amount of Scotto-fuel to get me through the day.

I've got the things I'm going to mail off today, and my bank deposit. Hopefully, I can get that stuff taken care of sometime midday. It’s raining and thundering out right now... I'm in a decent mood.

Nostalgia Central - A one stop reference guide through three decades of music, movies, television, pop culture and social history.

Until later, dear journal.

a year ago - John Walker Lindh, Old Maid, debian, red flags, my tarot card, underdog

2 years ago - Reading location poll, start page, bat-music, Amazon dreams, JH Noir

3 years ago - Empathy Rating, me, and the bionic woman

Only 5 more months until my birfday!

Got my packages into the mail, so goodies (and forwarded goodies) should be winging the way to points north as I type this.

Getting together with the Bro tomorrow for an early supper at Tokyo bowl...I figure we can get out convo caught up there over some California rolls and miso, or bean burritos and rice. I want to spend as much time with him as possible before he heads off.

Ol' Network gave us some trouble today, right as I was setting up an email account.. I thought first that the pc was down, then the server.. it turned out internet was broken across the board. A mild setback and we were up and running in under an hour.

I had a nice email convo, and got to call Kev on the phone to ask for him to donate some hardware, software and license stuff to ACIM, and also make a tentative appointment for a get together at IHOP for some tasty nighttime breakfast.

Putting a lot of our donated art stuff from Las Olas on eBay, and tracking that is going to be a daily fun stop

for Kat - (since I can't seem to sign comments at Enigma) The Billboard website. Look at the Charts on the left. Albums, for example.

Today's eats -

Water: 6 Veg/Fruit: 4 Milk: 0
Points: 34.9 Adj: 0 Act: 0.0 Rem: -0.9
Bank: 33.3 Adj: 0
Bank Max: 35 Point: 0 Act: 0
Bank Method: Start on Monday
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 8.0 points
8.0: Croissan'wich w/ Egg & Cheese

Lunch: 6.5 points
5.5: BK Veggie Burger w/o Reduced Fat Mayo
0.0: Side salad
1.0: Kraft Fat Free Ranch dressing

Dinner: 13.5 points
3.1: Chik patties - morningstar
3.1: Chik patties - morningstar
1.4: Peas sweet; 1 can; solids & liquids
5.9: Veggie munchees -12

Snack: 6.9 points
4.8: ice cream ; low fat fudge ripple - 1 cup
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup

9/1/03

Today was supposed to be a day of rest and comfort. From 3PM on, that simply wasn't the case. Tomorrow will be a better day... I'll be able to focus on other issues. There were a few positives about the day... Fortunately, I have some good anchors to keep me grounded. Added bonus, short week ahead.

I get to be a piglet for dessert snack tonight, because I need to catch up on my points, and I'm not in the mood for orange juice.

Self Esteem Test -Score 88/100

According to this test, you have very high self-esteem. You recognize your inner value and it shows in your personal life, relationships and career/school success. You exude confidence, which is very attractive, and believe enough in yourself to pursue things whole-heartedly. Such a healthy self-esteem allows you to "be yourself", handle stress effectively and maintain an overall sense of well-being. You should value and nurture this quality; it will get you far in life. Way to go!

Since it looks like hurricane Fabian is going to miss us, some other weather links. Nifty Earthquake tracker for the USA (also the world) Also Lightning Strikes for the USA, and a tighter one for Florida.

Watching my blogshares go up. I'm currently at Total Portfolio: $847,447.65. Folder: 18 blogs.

Vampire game clue - Dark desires on Olive & 61st... They have - Scroll of Turning (500) Vial of Holy Water (2000) Scroll of Teleportation (5000)

I've been trying to get a call through to Dave and Cathi for a while... but they're pretty busy lately, with another baby on the way, and the purchase of the second house coming up.

Tried out Toontown, a multiplayer game set in the disneyverse. If in the course of visiting you find an orange cat in stripes by the name of Max Nicklenoodle, that's me. The idea of evil robot businessmen in suits called "cogs" cracks me up to no end. My free account is good until Wednesday.

Hitting the sack shortly. Until later, dear journal. Getting up 15 earlier to adjust for the new route times.

9/1/03
Points: 34.8 Adj: 0 Act: 0.0 Rem: -0.8
Bank: 34.2 Adj: 35
Bank Max: 35 Point: 0 Act: 0
Bank Method: Start on Monday
Vitamins: Yes

Breakfast: 2.7 points
0.3: Egg; whole; hard-boiled
0.3: Egg; whole; hard-boiled
2.1: Cereals; LC OATS 1 cup

Lunch: 7.8 points
3.5: Goldfish
4.0: Egg sandwich -morningstar no cheese
0.3: Egg; whole; hard-boiled

Dinner: 10.9 points
5.3: Amy's Enchilada dinner
4.2: Corn; sweet; white; canned; whole kernel; drained solids-1 can
1.4: Yogurt; fat free, blueberry 4.4 oz

Snack: 13.4 points
4.8: ice cream ; low fat fudge ripple - 1 cup
4.3: Toaster Pastries; POP TARTS; Frosted chocolate fudge
4.3: Toaster Pastries; POP TARTS; Frosted chocolate fudge