Internet Island Topic Post #36: Strengths/Weaknesses?

We’re Back!  I want to know. Do you have any strengths which could be considered to be weaknesses? How about perceived weaknesses which you believe to be strengths. After over two years, I think I’ll give the Internet Island Blogring and Participatory Blogsite a chance. As in the past, I have chosen a second question about strengths and weakness, in case you don’t feel up to comparing the two.

By the way, please promote the Internet Island by copy pasting the following into your entry somewhere: “Find more topic entries at the Internet Island.” This will allow anyone interested in coming over here to see the rest of the entrants, and to join the blogring if they desire.

36.1 Do you have any strengths which could be considered to be weaknesses? How about perceived weaknesses which you believe to be strengths.?
36.2 Do you have a trait you consider to be your strongest strength? Your most futile weakness?

The Topic Post will last about a month. Please enter the link or date of your Internet Island Topic Entry for this post in a comment here. If you are creating a link, make sure you link to the page with the “comments” box and not the page with five entries. (HERE IS A TUTORIAL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE LINKS.) The purpose of Internet Island Topic Posts is to help get the members of the Internet Island Blogring to exchange comments and get to know each other. Please check back periodically for new entries throughout the posting period.  If you post a topic entry, please make an attempt to visit the other Islanders who do so as well. It is also a good idea to post the link to the Topic Entry in your own entry so that other interested parties can come here. You can copy/paste the Topic Post links right here in this entry into your own weblog entry box.

Topic Entries:

baldmike2004: 8/24

betrayed1959: 8/25

Zeal4living: 8/26

writergoddess: 8/26

radicalramblings 8/29

mommachatter 9/06

thepictureofme 9/07

YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE ONE TOPIC. OR MORE IF YOU WANT.  IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!

Remember, the tabs at the top of theInternet Island Blogring Page will “sort” the members by latest post, date joined,  and alphabetical Username. Use the ring page to find new Islanders, or older ones you might not have visited in a while. It’s OUR Island, and we’re a great group of people with different interests, fantastic stories, and wonderful lives, and we have a great deal of love for our fellow man.

Internet Island Topic Post #34: Good and Bad Days

I’m pretty late in getting up a topic this month. I’m making this one real easy. Are you having a good day, or a bad day? What’s the best day and the worst day in your life? What is your typical “day”? You can tackle one or all of the prompts.

34.1 Having a Good Day: What is the best day you’ve ever had?
34.2 Having a Bad Day: What is the worst day you’ve ever had?
34.3 A Day in Your Life:  Describe your typical “day”. 
 

The Topic Post will last about a month. Please enter the link or date of your Internet Island Topic Entry for this post in a comment here. If you are creating a link, make sure you link to the page with the “comments” box and not the page with five entries. (HERE IS A TUTORIAL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE LINKS.) The purpose of Internet Island Topic Posts is to help get the members of the Internet Island Blogring to exchange comments and get to know each other. Please check back periodically for new entries throughout the posting period.  If you post a topic entry, please make an attempt to visit the other Islanders who do so as well. It is also a good idea to post the link to the Topic Entry in your own entry so that other interested parties can come here. You can copy/paste the Topic Post links right here in this entry into your own weblog entry box.

Topic Entries:

phil leafman 34.3 04/23

oh mother may I 34.3 04/21

closethippie 34 04/23

lmoisan 34 04/23

edlives 34.3 04/23

mourning2dancing 34.2 04/24

baldmike2004 34.2 04/24

couldquitepossiblybeme 34.3 04/24

suzyQ darnit 34.3 04/28

BoureeMusique 34 05/01

viscosityofwords 34.3 04/23

Jeri Dee 34.2 05/01

harmonyOstars 34.1,2 05/02

Zeal4Living 34.1,2 05/02

adrianslusky 34.3 05/01

What a Wonderful New World 34.3 05/08

phil leafman 34.1,2 05/12

FastingFrogs 34.3 05/16

YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE ONE TOPIC. OR MORE IF YOU WANT.  IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!

Remember, the tabs at the top of theInternet Island Blogring Page will “sort” the members by latest post, date joined,  and alphabetical Username. Use the ring page to find new Islanders, or older ones you might not have visited in a while. It’s OUR Island, and we’re a great group of people with different interests, fantastic stories, and wonderful lives, and we have a great deal of love for our fellow man.

Internet Island Topic Post #33: Working, Playing, and Living

I’ve mentioned this before. As the months pass, it gets incredibly difficult not repeating myself. I’ve done it slyly, and done it without realizing it. However, I really like my idea for this month’s topic, don’t think I’ve seen these topics before, and I’m deliberately trying not to “ask questions”. Xanga is overwhelmed with questions these days. The purpose of the prompts here on Internet Island have always been to spark the imagination, and hopefully serve as a jumping off point for visiting other blogs you might not have noticed before and developing new friendships. Last month, I took some of the Islanders’ advice and listed only one topic with three subtopics. Three is a nice round number. (That’s an intended joke for any of you mathematicians out there.) The topic generated a lot of response. I also want to try and time these so they don’t fall on dates when Featured Grownups and Kween of the Queens post topics, cause a lot of us are members of all three blogrings. Well, without further ado, here are this month’s three subtopics:

33.1 Working

33.2 Playing

Take a Chance: I’m not talkin’ about Vegas. Chances are you’ve taken a big chance sometime in your life, be it short or long, and when you decided to take that chance, something told you there was a very large risk involved, yet you took the chance anyway, and lived to tell the tale. Tell it to us.

33.3 Living

Life Resume: I’m sure we all know that the term resume usually refers to a document listing our qualifications when we apply for a new job or position. What would your “resume” for life look like. List your qualifications for being yourself, on or off the job, in business, social circles, or alone. Apply for the job of being yourself.
You can write however and whatever you please, of course, but here are some resume guidelines if you’d like.

The main parts of a resume are:
Objectives, achievements, experience, education, skills, and of course the requisite “references available upon request.” Free resume format from about.com:

The Topic Post will last about a month. Please enter the link or date of your Internet Island Topic Entry for this post in a comment here. If you are creating a link, make sure you link to the page with the “comments” box and not the page with five entries. (HERE IS A TUTORIAL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE LINKS.) The purpose of Internet Island Topic Posts is to help get the members of the Internet Island Blogring to exchange comments and get to know each other. Please check back periodically for new entries throughout the posting period.  If you post a topic entry, please make an attempt to visit the other Islanders who do so as well. It is also a good idea to post the link to the Topic Entry in your own entry so that other interested parties can come here. You can copy/paste the Topic Post links right here in this entry into your own weblog entry box.

Topic Entries:

baldmike2004 33.1 3/14

GunStarHero1988 33.1 (fiction) 3/7

Zeal4living 33.1 3/15

phil leafman 33.1 3/15

couldquitepossiblybeme 33.1 3/17

Ladyblue1 33.1 3/18

CanadianNational 33.1 3/21

baldmike2004 33.2 3/26

boureemusique 33.1,3 3/31

closethippie 33.2 4/01

MsCatbert2You 33.1 4/05

SadnessPart1 33.1 4/05 (new member)

Jemstone05 33.2 4/06

Jeri Dee 33.1 4/08

therestaurantmanager 1 4/09 (new member)

therestaurantmanager1 32.1 4/10

YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE ONE TOPIC. OR MORE IF YOU WANT.  IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!

Remember, the tabs at the top of theInternet Island Blogring Page will “sort” the members by latest post, date joined,  and alphabetical Username. Use the ring page to find new Islanders, or older ones you might not have visited in a while. It’s OUR Island, and we’re a great group of people with different interests, fantastic stories, and wonderful lives, and we have a great deal of love for our fellow man.

Internet Island Topic Post #32: Home is Where the Heart is.

Last month I asked Islanders why they joined the blogring, and asked for some advice concerning why this blogring isn’t too active, when other participatory blogrings always get lots of traffic, and new Xanga features like “Featured Question” are so popular. The consensus, from what few responses I received, was that I write far too many subtopics for each Topic Post. My reasoning has always been that the more selection, the more participation. I guess most people think it’s overkill.

Hence, this topic post will be short, and will consist of only three subtopics, all geared toward the main theme: “Home is Where the Heart Is”. I won’t write long introductions, as usual. These subtopics are short and sweet. As usual, I am hoping for a great turnout, and I wish to thank all the Islanders who still regularly post entries for the topics. A warm welcome to any new members whom I might not have visited either as Internet Island or baldmike2004.

32.1: Define “Home”: What do you think of when you hear the word “home”?

32.2: Away From Home: How far have you travelled?

32.3: Homework: What are your “chores”? How do you contribute to your household? If you don’t contribute, what constitutes the “homework” you do around the house, if any?

The Topic Post will last about a month. Please enter the link or date of your Internet Island Topic Entry for this post in a comment here. If you are creating a link, make sure you link to the page with the “comments” box and not the page with five entries. (HERE IS A TUTORIAL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE LINKS.) The purpose of Internet Island Topic Posts is to help get the members of the Internet Island Blogring to exchange comments and get to know each other. Please check back periodically for new entries throughout the posting period.  If you post a topic entry, please make an attempt to visit the other Islanders who do so as well. It is also a good idea to post the link to the Topic Entry in your own entry so that other interested parties can come here. You can copy/paste the Topic Post links right here in this entry into your own weblog entry box.

Topic Entries:

Kristenmomof3 32.1 2/14/08

phil leafman 32.3 2/14/08

LadyBlue 32.1 2/14/08

Pacifism Please 32.1,2 2/14/08

Zeal4living 32 2/14/08

stixandstonz 32.1 2/14/08 (new member)

silkenbutterfly 32.1 2/14/08 (new member)

viscosityofwords 32.2 2/14/08

Lmoisan 32.1 2/14/08 (new member)

RH32 32 2/15/08

phil leafmen 32.2 2/16/08

ed lives 32.1,2 2/16/08

Jemstone05 32.2 02/16/08 (new member)

HarmonyOstars 32 02/17/08

AnatomyOfThisGirl 32.1 2/18/08

baldmike2004 32.1 2/18/08

sherrytwinklz 32.1 2/18/08

adrianluzky 32.1 2/19/08

queenoscots 32.1 2/22/08

prettynosyarentu 32.1 2/23/08

closethippie 32.1 2/24/08

writergoddess 32.1 2/25/08

Jeri Dee 32.1 2/25/08

couldquitepossiblybeme 32.1 2/28/08 (new member)

YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE ONE TOPIC. OR MORE IF YOU WANT.  IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!

Remember, the tabs at the top of theInternet Island Blogring Page will “sort” the members by latest post, date joined,  and alphabetical Username. Use the ring page to find new Islanders, or older ones you might not have visited in a while. It’s OUR Island, and we’re a great group of people with different interests, fantastic stories, and wonderful lives, and we have a great deal of love for our fellow man.

Internet Island Topic Post #31: New Year’s Potpourii

As I did last time out, each topic below has it’s own introduction. I’ve chosen nine different topics from which to choose. Hope to see a lot of posting. If you have any other ideas for topics, I’m always open for suggestions, and throughout 2008 I will ask you Islanders for topic suggestions as well as using my own. Hopefully this will spur even more interactivity and visits amongst us. Only 13 sites participated last time (including me), and I left the topic up for almost two months! I give you an opportunity here with a mix of both serious and not so serious topics. Let’s see some action here on the Island in 2008! A special thanks to all who do participate, and who visit the other topic entries with comments and 5 star ratings!

31.1: A New Year, A New Page: Each passing year is literally a “page” on your blog. You can go back and “relive” your “Xanga life” if you haven’t deleted the posts. What is different or similar about the “page” that is turning now, in Jan. 2008? Are you writing a “new book” or is this year just another chapter in a long, meandering novel? Be creative.

31.2: The Internet Island: Why did you join this blogring? Are you satisfied with the topics? Do you have any advice for me why there isn’t lots of participation among over 130 blogring members? Do I write too many topics? Too few? Let it all hang out.

31.3: Pet Peeve: When I edited our high school newspaper, there was a feature called “Senior Celebrity”, in which the reporter asked prominent seniors a series of questions. One was always “what is your pet peeve?” What really peeves you the most? (it can be about anything)

31.4: Happenstance/Predestination: Do things “just happen” or do they happen for a reason? Are we on a rollercoaster which seems to be a crazy ride but is definitely on “track” or are we on the bumper car ride, with no direction at all save what happens when we turn the wheel?

31.5: Write a “Dear Xanga” letter: Communicate with the “Xanga Gods”. I know you can actually contact John or other members of the Xanga team through their blogs, but compile a list of your likes and dislikes. Do you really like “Themes”? Do you have suggestions or criticisms of how the site works?

31.6:Politics: If you were running your country, what would you do to insure that things get better instead of worse?

31.7: Financial Straights: I recently read that I’m not the only one whose income doesn’t cover his monthly bills. Talk about your personal financial picture. Do you have advice or fears about the future, the falling value of some currencies (like the American dollar), recessions, the downward spiraling housing market, the fluctuations of the stock market, etc. Are you able to do anything to make your life better or to maintain your lifestyle in these seeming perilous times?

31.8: Popular Xangans: I’ve been reading about how services like MySpace and YouTube are now being bombarded with “professionals”. Television stations, movie studios, stars, prominent writers all are establishing webpages on other services, and the established entertainment giants are getting lots of hits. I’ve even seen some “big stars” with blogs on  Xanga. I like the fact that “regular folks” can become extremely popular if they write or present something interesting and entertaining. Who are your “popular Xangans”. Whose blogs do you read because you want to read them, not just because you’re “exchanging comments?” If the commenting feature “disappeared” who would you still visit and read?

31.9: Pick a topic, any topic: Go throughout the entries listed on this blogsite, or in the group of links below this page from when the blogring topics were presented on my personal blogsite, and pick one. I’m always hearing that people skip writing for the Internet Island because they are waiting for different topics. I’ve written a lot of topics and subtopics over two years. If you can’t find one here, then pick one from the past, identify it, and write about it.

The Topic Post will last about a month. Please enter the link or date of your Internet Island Topic Entry for this post in a comment here. If you are creating a link, make sure you link to the page with the “comments” box and not the page with five entries. (HERE IS A TUTORIAL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE LINKS.) The purpose of Internet Island Topic Posts is to help get the members of the Internet Island Blogring to exchange comments and get to know each other. Please check back periodically for new entries throughout the posting period.  If you post a topic entry, please make an attempt to visit the other Islanders who do so as well. It is also a good idea to post the link to the Topic Entry in your own entry so that other interested parties can come here. You can copy/paste the Topic Post links right here in this entry into your own weblog entry box.

Topic Entries:

phil leafman 31.8 01/12/08

screaminginmyhead 31.2, 31.4 01/12/08

edlives 31.2 01/13/08 (new member)

baldmike 2007 31.1,3,6,8 01/13/08

harmonyOstars 31.1-8 01/13/08

prettynosyarentu 31.3 01/13/08

Jeri Dee 31.3 01/13/08 (new member)

Zeal4living 31.4 01/14/08

phil leafman 31.2 01/14/08

Zeal4living 31.1 01/16/08

sherrytwinklz 31.3 01/16/08

phil leafman 31.9 (9.3) 01/20/08

phil leafman 31.3 01/26/08

writergoddess 31.3,4 01/27/08

boureemusique 31.1-4,6-8 01/29/08

ElectricBlue eyes 31.9 (30.4) 01/30/08

phil leafman 31.9 02/11/08

YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE ONE TOPIC. OR MORE IF YOU WANT.  IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!

Remember, the tabs at the top of theInternet Island Blogring Page will “sort” the members by latest post, date joined,  and alphabetical Username. Use the ring page to find new Islanders, or older ones you might not have visited in a while. It’s OUR Island, and we’re a great group of people with different interests, fantastic stories, and wonderful lives, and we have a great deal of love for our fellow man.

I created the Internet Island blogring on November 4th, 2005, which means this month is the two year anniversary of the “Island”. There are, at most recent count, 130 “Islanders.” Happy Anniversary Islanders. For the 30th Topic Post, I’m going to give you a wealth of different kinds of topics on which to ponder and perhaps write a blog entry about. I’d like to see EVERYONE post something for our 2nd Anniversary. I haven’t given up yet! Believe it or not, it’s not too easy to come up with interesting subjects every month, and after two years, not to repeat myself. (I have, I know, upon inspection, but it isn’t intentional.) The Island was always supposed to be MORE than just a writer’s prompt site or a question and answer session. It’s all about interactivity amongst my fellow Xangans. Well, here goes. The SECOND ANNIVERSARY TOPIC POST for the Internet Island.

Internet Island Topic Post #30: 2nd Anniversary Post

 Each topic below has it’s own introduction. I’ve chosen eight different topics from which to choose. Hope to see a lot of posting. If you have any other ideas for topics, I’m open for suggestions, and throughout 2008 I will ask you Islanders for topic suggestions as well as using my own. Hopefully this will spur even more interactivity and visits amongst us.

30.1: Home Economics:Messiness/Cleanliness
Some people are “Oscar” and some are “Felix” when it comes to degrees of home management. I’m single, and living with another guy, so the reference to the “Odd Couple” is especially apt in my situation. (I’m Felix, He’s Oscar) “Family” is a different concept today than when I was growing up. My father didn’t clean the house. That was my mother’s “job”. I’d like to hear about Messiness and Cleanliness in your household, or your family’s, or someone you know, with comparisons. Be honest.

30.2: The Cultural Blender (just happens to be the name of one of my websites, natch):
Most of us are entertained by popular culture. For some of us this goes farther than mere “entertainment”. Some of us have been shaped as people by popular culture in some form or another. Fans of the old television show Star Trek, known as either “Trekkers” or “Trekkies” were famously derided by the star of the original series, William Shatner, who told them to “get a life”. Star Trek today has developed a life of it’s own. I’d like to read blogs about which televison show, or movie, or book, or piece of music (or album, radio show, etc.) has most moved you and influenced your life. Which popular entertainment informs and elucidates the world about you? Type “Miley Cyrus” into a search engine and you get 18 million links. (Elvis Presley gets 66 million) The internet is fueliing our worldwide passion for cultural diversions which sometimes become the focus of our lives.

30.3: The Big Thankful:
November brings the American holiday of Thanksgiving, which might be either an excuse to get fat on turkey and stuffing or perhaps a time for a more spiritual gratefulness. What does being thankful mean to you? What is the single most important thing for which you are so thankful you forget about it most of the time?

30.4: Time Machine:
Sometimes I think I’m on a time machine with the lever stuck fast in “forward”, and I keep going faster, and never slow down. The older I get, the faster the machine goes, and the lever can never be unstuck, stopped, or reversed. If you could slow down a moment in your life, just one single, simple moment, so that you could “go back” and learn/relive/investigate/obsess/remark about it, what would it say to you, and what did you learn? You can pick any moment. Some people might have had an epiphany during a particularly sad or bad time which actually made them a better person.

30.5: Spiritual Journey:
Is humankind any more spiritual now than in the past? Has global communication spurred a revival of spiritual thought? Are we better off now than when we were cut off as individuals from others because of travel or communication restrictions? I seem to read a lot of blogs with a spiritual bent to them. Not just from Christians but from Pagans, New Agers, Muslims, Buddhists, Universalists, and a host of other bloggers who learned less well known schools of thought. I’d like to read blogs about spiritual journeys, from the personal to the Universal. (to borrow one of the taglines from my own website)

30.6: Accelerated Lives: Existence on Steroids
Home run record breaker Barry Bonds was indicted for “perjury and obstruction of justice” in court recently and could face prison for telling a federal grand jury he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs. I suffer from a pinched nerve and have had muscle damage because of the chronic condition of my hip, and I must have looked most quizzical the first time my doctor prescribed steroids for me. Drugs are rampant in society these days, and it seems that the doctor always has a pill to prescribe for almost any ailment you can name. The drug companies are making more money than ever before. I want to know how the Islanders feel about steroids? Are anabolic steroids good or bad for us or for the people who use them? Isn’t it about time that the sports industry embraces performance enhancing drugs rather than attempting to forbid them? Should Barry go to jail, for heaven’s sake? Should the Olympic Committee give Marion Jones back her gold medals?

30.7: Xanga Moviemakers:
I created the “MikeVideo” blogring a couple of months ago, when I began posting my “internet movies” online on Xanga. How many Islanders are videomakers? Have you an “Oscar worthy” clip sitting in your “video” section that hardly ever gets any hits? I want to promote artistic videomaking on the internet. YouTube has some artists in residence, but also a lot of Hannah Montana clips. (Not to denigrate any Miley Cyrus fans,now mind you.) I’ve found a few neat videos on Xanga, but I haven’t scratched the surface. Here’s a chance to “videoblog” your Internet Island entry. (I’m going to keep adding this topic in differing ways until somebody picks it, by the way. This is the third time, I think, I’ve used “videomaking” as a topic.)

30.8: I Read the News Today, Oboy:
I like to tell everyone ad infinitum that I don’t watch news on television. In fact, I think the “news” on television has become just another “reality series”. I read the newspaper. The ever shrinking journalistic cornerstone which has been rapidly disappearing since the first USA Today hit the stands. (On April 1st, 1987, believe it or not.) Someday soon I’m afraid the newspaper is going to disappear altogether. How do you get your news? Or do you care about the state of the world because you don’t think you can do anything about it.

I’d like to open up subtopics 30.9 and 30.10 to the Islanders themselves. Either write a topic entry on an entirely different subject of your own choosing and let me know the “topic” or give me a suggestion. I’ll pick the first two suggestions/entries and add them here. 

The Topic Post will last about a month. Please enter the link or date of your Internet Island Topic Entry for this post in a comment here. If you are creating a link, make sure you link to the page with the “comments” box and not the page with five entries. (HERE IS A TUTORIAL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE LINKS.) The purpose of Internet Island Topic Posts is to help get the members of the Internet Island Blogring to exchange comments and get to know each other. Please check back periodically for new entries throughout the posting period.  If you post a topic entry, please make an attempt to visit the other Islanders who do so as well. It is also a good idea to post the link to the Topic Entry in your own entry so that other interested parties can come here. You can copy/paste the Topic Post links right here in this entry into your own weblog entry box.

Topic Entries:

Baldmike2004 30.3 11/16

Kristenmomof3 30.3 11/16

writergoddess 30.1 11/17

adrianluzky 30.4 11/21

mourning2dancing 30.3 11/22

harmonyOstars 30 11/25

Zeal4living 30.5 12/02

daveshelterfromthestorm 30.2 12/03

viscosityofwords 30.2,3 11/16

screaminginmyhead 30.4 12/04

BoureeMusique 30.1,2,3,5,8 12/01

prettynosyarentu 30.8 12/27

phil leafman 30.4 01/08

YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE ONE TOPIC. OR MORE IF YOU WANT.  IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!

Remember, the tabs at the top of theInternet Island Blogring Page will “sort” the members by latest post, date joined,  and alphabetical Username. Use the ring page to find new Islanders, or older ones you might not have visited in a while. It’s OUR Island, and we’re a great group of people with different interests, fantastic stories, and wonderful lives, and we have a great deal of love for our fellow man.

Internet Island Topic Post #29: Stupidity/Intelligence

I always say I don’t like stupidity. A few months ago, the Island had a challenge about “mistakes”. We all make them. But we aren’t all stupid, are we? I consider myself intelligent, but I’ve made some “stupid” decisions. In fact, I made a real stupid move just last week. (Which inspired this post!) This time out, the subject for discussion is “Stupidity/Intelligence”. From the sublime to the ridiculous, we will be offering up our ideas, observations, and recollections of the best and the worst our minds have dictated to us.

The Topic Post will last about a month. Please enter the link or date of your Internet Island Topic Entry for this post in a comment here. If you are creating a link, make sure you link to the page with the “comments” box and not the page with five entries. (HERE IS A TUTORIAL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE LINKS.) The purpose of Internet Island Topic Posts is to help get the members of the Internet Island Blogring to exchange comments and get to know each other. Please check back periodically for new entries throughout the posting period.  If you post a topic entry, please make an attempt to visit the other Islanders who do so as well. It is also a good idea to post the link to the Topic Entry in your own entry so that other interested parties can come here. You can copy/paste the Topic Post links right here in this entry into your own weblog entry box.

As you list your entries in the comments to this post, I will “list” them here, so they are easy to find. It is also helpful to add your Internet Island entries to the Internet Island Blogring Pool. When entering a post for an Island Topic on your blog, click “Send to Blogrings” in your editor, and choose the Internet Island Blogring

29.1: “What a stupid thing I did!” Have you ever done anything “stupid” ? Blog about the absolutely “stupidest” act you’ve performed, words you’ve blurted out, or anything else that proves you aren’t as smart as you thought you were.

29.2: “Stupid is as Stupid Does”. Are there degrees of “stupidity”? Can one be “less stupid” than another and still be stupid?

29.3: “I’m With Stupid” Remember that old Tee Shirt declaration? There was usually an arrow pointing to the person standing next to the person wearing the Tee. Here’s a chance to write a real deep rant about the stupidest person in your life.

29.4: I recently saw a film called “Idiocracy”  (2006) starring Luke Wilson and directed by Mike Judge (who created cartoon characters Beavis and Butthead). The movie takes place in a future where the President of the U.S. is a professional wrestler, and the IQ’s of everyone in the nation have sunk to an incredible low. I read that we live in an “age of information”. But is America, or the world in general, gaining knowledge, or in fact getting stupider?

29.5: The opposite of “stupidity” is “intelligence.” If you don’t wish to remark about how stupid you are or someone you know is, then let’s hear about your intelligence, or the intelligence of someone you know.

29.6: Here’s the ‘serious’ subtopic. There is a lot of debate among proponents of “Intelligent Design” and “Evolution”. The concept of Intelligent Design is based on the Biblical recounting of God creating the world in six days, with man appearing late in the week to start messing things up. (last part of the sentence is my own observation). Evolution is a scientific theory proposed first by Charle Darwin in his 1859 book “Origin of the Species”. The evolutionists decry “creationism” and the creationists maintain that evolution has never been scientifically proven, which is a fact. I’d like to hear from you about which “theory” you believe is true. The reason why I’m including this in a topic about stupidity is because there is an actual museum you can visit which shows dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark. For some reason, this seems stupid to me. What about you?

29.7: This next question/topic comes from a blog entry I read on Islander  Emily’s (BoureeMusique) site: What do YOU think is the purpose of education in America… or wherever you call home? Also I’d like to know if “Education” is broken and needs fixing (see 29.4) or are we riding down the educational path to enlightenment?

Topic Entries:

adrianluzky 29 9/26

CanadianNational 29.1 9/27

harmonyOstars 29.1-7 9/27

BoureeMusique 29.5 9/27

ladywolf aq 29.1 9/28

Zeal4living 29 10/12

PacifismPlease 29.5 10/12

davesshelterfromthestorm 29.1 10/13

davesshelterfromthestorm 28 (from last topic) 10/13

baldmike2004 29 10/15

YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE ONE TOPIC. OR MORE IF YOU WANT.  IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!

Remember, the tabs at the top of theInternet Island Blogring Page will “sort” the members by latest post, date joined,  and alphabetical Username. Use the ring page to find new Islanders, or older ones you might not have visited in a while. It’s OUR Island, and we’re a great group of people with different interests, fantastic stories, and wonderful lives, and we have a great deal of love for our fellow man.

Internet Island Topic Post #28: Premonitions/Back to School

At about the same time Bridge I-35W was falling into the Mississippi River, I was crossing the Vincent Thomas suspension bridge over the Los Angeles harbor on my way home from work. For some strange reason, I began to think about what would happen to me if the bridge suddenly “fell down” into the harbor about 60 feet below. I drive an open car, so I wondered if I should unbuckle my safety belt and try to dive away from the car, or if I should “ride it out” in the car as it fell. I don’t watch TV news, and wasn’t on the internet that evening, so I didn’t even know a bridge had collapsed in Minnesota until the next day. This got me to thinking about premonitions, visions, and supernatural events.

This month, the Internet Island Topic is divided into two sections. The first “unworldly” section deals with the supernatural. The next more “grounded” topic is “Back to School”.

The Topic Post will last about a month. Please enter the link or date of your Internet Island Topic Entry for this post in a comment here. If you are creating a link, make sure you link to the page with the “comments” box and not the page with five entries. (HERE IS A TUTORIAL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE LINKS.) The purpose of Internet Island Topic Posts is to help get the members of the Internet Island Blogring to exchange comments and get to know each other. Please check back periodically for new entries throughout the posting period.  If you post a topic entry, please make an attempt to visit the other Islanders who do so as well. It is also a good idea to post the link to the Topic Entry in your own entry so that other interested parties can come here. You can copy/paste the Topic Post links right here in this entry into your own weblog entry box.

As you list your entries in the comments to this post, I will “list” them here, so they are easy to find. It is also helpful to add your Internet Island entries to the Internet Island Blogring Pool. When entering a post for an Island Topic on your blog, click “Send to Blogrings” in your editor, and choose the Internet Island Blogring

28.1.1: There was an old TV program in the 50s called “One Step Beyond”. I remember an episode where a gentleman who had booked passage on the Titanic had a premonition that he shouldn’t go on the cruise. We all know what happened to the Titanic! Have you ever had a premonition which steered you away from danger, or have you otherwise experienced any supernatural “visions” or do you know of anyone who has experienced or who has told stories about premonitions in their lives?

28.1.2: Do you believe in the supernatural, and if so, what do you think causes things like premonitions, deja vu, telekinesis, and the reading of others minds?  If not, why do you think these strange things happen? Is there a natural explanation?

28.1.3: A lot of bloggers “blog their dreams”. Do you have or have you ever had a dream which seems to relate to “real life”? Has a dream ever told you to do something, or stay away from doing something? What are dreams? How do they relate to life, or do they? Why do people seem to forget their dreams immediately after they wake up? Can someone die in their dreams like in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies? Use these questions, or formulate some of your own for an entry about dreams and nightmares.

28.1.4: Here’s a more serious subtopic you might try your hand writing about. Is there a spiritual reason for paranormal phenomena?  Or is it a bunch of hooey?

28.2.1: It’s the time of year cheered by parents and dreaded by children. It’s “back to school time”. What are your memories of your own schooldays, or what has been memorable about your children’s first days of school.

28.2.2: When I was a kid, I would go with my parents to Zodys in SoCal where they would buy our school clothes. Sometimes this was as exciting as Christmas. Each year we would get shiny new notebooks (which we would immediately personalize by drawing logos, cartoons, and slogans). In high school the “Pee Chee” folder was almost ubiquitous. Do you have any memories of your own schoolday shopping trips, or have you had any memorable shopping trips with your kids?

28.2.3: I created a blogring called MikeVideo to gather together friends and fans of my own MikeVideo internet movies, which I am collecting on both YouTube and Xanga, and to attract videomakers themselves. Almost anyone can make a video nowadays. You can use a standard videocamera, a computer ballcamera, or certain cellphone cameras to shoot video. Then you upload your video masterpieces to Xanga’s video section.  If you have the means to do so, I’d love to see “interviews” with your children about how their first days of school this year turned out.  Are they excited? Bored? Did they learn anything new?

28.2.4: I’m always hearing about the different cliques in school. There are the “sochs”, the “freaks and geeks”, the “stoners”, the “goths”, the “gangbangers”, etc. Were you part of a group or clique in school? What are/were your experiences as a student. You could talk about either elementary, middle school, high school or college or all of them.

Topic Entries:

Ladyblue1 28.2.4 8/16

sherrytwinklz 28.1.1 8/17

Kristenmomof3 28.2 8/17

natgusman 28.1.1-4 8/17

mourning2dancing 28.1 8/18

merridian 28.1-4 8/18

screaminginmyhead 28.1.2 8/18

A Method 2 My Madness 28.2.1 8/17

prettynosyarentu 28.2.4 8/20

BoureeMusique 28.2.1 8/20

Zeal4living 28.1.2,4 8/21

propa ghandi 28.1,2 8/21

harmonyOstars 28.1.2-4 8/22 (new member)

A Method 2 My Madness 28.2.4 8/23

mourning2dancing 28.1&2 8/23

xhandwrittenlettersx 28.1.3, 28.2.4 8/16

baldmike2004 28.1.4 8/27

Araku 28.2.4 8/27 (new member)

BoureeMusique 28.1.2 8/30

PacifismPlease 28.1.2 8/30

ladywolf aq 28.1-2,4,28.2.2 8/31

thereluctantsinger 28.1.1 9/2

adriansluzky 28.1 9/9

YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE ONE TOPIC. OR MORE IF YOU WANT.  IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!

Remember, the tabs at the top of theInternet Island Blogring Page will “sort” the members by latest post, date joined,  and alphabetical Username. Use the ring page to find new Islanders, or older ones you might not have visited in a while. It’s OUR Island, and we’re a great group of people with different interests, fantastic stories, and wonderful lives, and we have a great deal of love for our fellow man.