NickolasJames8

ugh...you're killing me. Oh well, as long as it's up when I wake up in the morning

w00t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:nuke: :king: It's Anthology time, biatch!!!!!!!!! ok, so maybe that was a little over the top, so I'll start over....... ooooh, I'm sooo excited that the Anthology is coming out tomorrow Someone get me a sedative, please :pickaxe: :ranger:

Yeah Kitty Rules The Anthology, the work she does as an editor and of course being an admin who puts up with a lot of crap (from me )......thanks Kitty

yes I am.......... The person below me can't wait for the Anthology to be released this weekend

Arnold rules!!!

I have an announcement for the millions and millions of fans looking forward to the Live Author Chat with me tomorrow night...........now, don't start rioting, but I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule the session. A new date will be announced shortly, so please, avoid civil unrest. Nation wide protests in the street won't hasten the process :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

I have an announcement for the millions and millions of fans looking forward to the Live Author Chat with me tomorrow night...........now, don't start rioting, but I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule the session. A new date will be announced shortly, so please, avoid civil unrest. Nation wide protests in the street won't hasten the process :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

Franks dad??

Yikes...I didnt see that.....I'll take it down

what makes you think that??

The occasion of this photograph was a Veterans Day Commemoration at Dallas City Hall on 11 November 2004. The veteran pictured is Houston James, a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the Marine is Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr., a member of an ordnance-disposal team who lost his left hand, one leg, and an eye while defusing a bomb in Iraq in July 2003.

Ok, I wont make any predictions, but I will say this........... Nicky has soime kind of eating disorder, and most likey, Steve found this out while they were dating and wanted to help him. Now that they're broken up, Steve's just telling everyone who'll listen to him. As for the herione, well, let's hope not

OMG!!! It friggin rules!!!

Yay!!!

I sat down and wrote this short story about my vacation this summer the other day. I have no intention of puttting it up on my site because I feel like it falls far below the radar of the level of writing I try to attain, at least plot wise. I could have done more with this, I know, but I didn't for the simple fact that I felt like I was beating a dead horse with the subject matter. What writing this piece did for me was wake me up and help me work on a few of the elemental aspects of writing that I think are important for any story. Well, here it is. If you like it, cool. If not, bummer, dude. The flight was packed, much to my dismay. Earlier in the evening, I was panicking about the cross country trip we were about to embark on, but understanding that I had no choice

I wanted to share this piece with everyone....it's a story by a former congressman about the Constitution, a document that the Republicrats in Washington DC and all of their foolish supporters seem to know nothing about. Read on........ One day in the House of Representatives a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose: "Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living, if there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member on this floor knows it. We have the right as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I ever heard that the government was in arrears to him. "Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks." He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost. Later, when asked by a friend why he had opposed the appropriation, Crockett gave this explanation: "Several years ago I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some members of Congress, when our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast as we could. In spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made houseless, and besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them. The next morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done. "The next summer, when it began to be time to think about election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my district. I had no opposition there but, as the election was some time off, I did not know what might turn up. When riding one day in a part of my district in which I was more of a stranger than any other, I saw a man in a field plowing and coming toward the road. I gauged my gait so that we should meet as he came up, I spoke to the man. He replied politely, but as I thought, rather coldly. "I began: 'Well friend, I am one of those unfortunate beings called candidates and--- "Yes I know you; you are Colonel Crockett. I have seen you once before, and voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine, I shall not vote for you again." "This was a sockdolger...I begged him tell me what was the matter. "Well Colonel, it is hardly worthwhile to waste time or words upon it. I do not see how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it that way. I did not intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a candidate for the purpose of insulting you or wounding you.' "I intend by it only to say that your understanding of the constitution is very different from mine; and I will say to you what but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I believe you to be honest. But an understanding of the constitution different from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the honest he is.' " 'I admit the truth of all you say, but there must be some mistake. Though I live in the backwoods and seldom go from home, I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers by fire in Georgetown. Is that true? "Well my friend; I may as well own up. You have got me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women and children, particularly with a full and overflowing treasury, and I am sure, if you had been there, you would have done just the same as I did.' "It is not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the Treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing with the question. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by a tariff, which reaches every man in the country, no matter how poor he may be, and the poorer he is the more he pays in proportion to his means. What is worse, it presses upon him without his knowledge where the weight centers, for there is not a man in the United States who can ever guess how much he pays to the government. So you see, that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from thousands who are even worse off than he. If you had the right to give anything, the amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and you had as much right to give $20,000,000 as $20,000. If you have the right to give at all; and as the Constitution neither defines charity nor stipulates the amount, you are at liberty to give to any and everything which you may believe, or profess to believe, is a charity and to any amount you may think proper. You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other. 'No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity.' "'Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this country as in Georgetown, neither you nor any other member of Congress would have Thought of appropriating a dollar for our relief. There are about two hundred and forty members of Congress. If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of wealthy men around Washington who could have given $20,000 without depriving themselves of even a luxury of life.' "The congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports be true, some of them spend not very creditably; and the people about Washington, no doubt, applauded you for relieving them from necessity of giving what was not yours to give. The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution.' "'So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the people. I have no doubt you acted honestly, but that does not make it any better, except as far as you are personally concerned, and you see that I cannot vote for you.' "I tell you I felt streaked. I saw if I should have opposition, and this man should go to talking and in that district I was a gone fawn-skin. I could not answer him, and the fact is, I was so fully convinced that he was right, I did not want to. But I must satisfy him, and I said to him: "Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. I intended to be guided by it, and thought I had studied it fully. I have heard many speeches in Congress about the powers of Congress, but what you have said here at your plow has got more hard, sound sense in it than all the fine speeches I ever heard. If I had ever taken the view of it that you have, I would have put my head into the fire before I would have given that vote; and if you will forgive me and vote for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law I wish I may be shot.' "He laughingly replied; 'Yes, Colonel, you have sworn to that once before, but I will trust you again upon one condition. You are convinced that your vote was wrong. Your acknowledgment of it will do more good than beating you for it. If, as you go around the district, you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied it was wrong, I will not only vote for you, but will do what I can to keep down opposition, and perhaps, I may exert some little influence in that way.' "If I don't, said I, 'I wish I may be shot; and to convince you that I am in earnest in what I say I will come back this way in a week or ten days, and if you will get up a gathering of people, I will make a speech to them. Get up a barbecue, and I will pay for it.' "No, Colonel, we are not rich people in this section but we have plenty of provisions to contribute for a barbecue, and some to spare for those who have none. The push of crops will be over in a few days, and we can then afford a day for a barbecue. 'This Thursday; I will see to getting it up on Saturday week. Come to my house on Friday, and we will go together, and I promise you a very respectable crowd to see and hear you. "'Well I will be here. But one thing more before I say good-bye. I must know your name." "'My name is Bunce.' "'Not Horatio Bunce?' "'Yes "'Well, Mr. Bunce, I never saw you before, though you say you have seen me, but I know you very well. I am glad I have met you, and very proud that I may hope to have you for my friend.' "It was one of the luckiest hits of my life that I met him. He mingled but little with the public, but was widely known for his remarkable intelligence, and for a heart brim-full and running over with kindness and benevolence, which showed themselves not only in words but in acts. He was the oracle of the whole country around him, and his fame had extended far beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintance. Though I had never met him, before, I had heard much of him, and but for this meeting it is very likely I should have had opposition, and had been beaten. One thing is very certain, no man could now stand up in that district under such a vote. "At the appointed time I was at his house, having told our conversation to every crowd I had met, and to every man I stayed all night with, and I found that it gave the people an interest and confidence in me stronger than I had ever seen manifested before. "Though I was considerably fatigued when I reached his house, and, under ordinary circumstances, should have gone early to bed, I kept him up until midnight talking about the principles and affairs of government, and got more real, true knowledge of them than I had got all my life before." "I have known and seen much of him since, for I respect him - no, that is not the word - I reverence and love him more than any living man, and I go to see him two or three times every year; and I will tell you, sir, if every one who professes to be a Christian lived and acted and enjoyed it as he does, the religion of Christ would take the world by storm. "But to return to my story. The next morning we went to the barbecue and, to my surprise, found about a thousand men there. I met a good many whom I had not known before, and they and my friend introduced me around until I had got pretty well acquainted - at least, they all knew me. "In due time notice was given that I would speak to them. They gathered up around a stand that had been erected. I opened my speech by saying: "Fellow-citizens - I present myself before you today feeling like a new man. My eyes have lately been opened to truths which ignorance or prejudice or both, had heretofore hidden from my view. I feel that I can today offer you the ability to render you more valuable service than I have ever been able to render before. I am here today more for the purpose of acknowledging my error than to seek your votes. That I should make this acknowledgment is due to myself as well as to you. Whether you will vote for me is a matter for your consideration only." "I went on to tell them about the fire and my vote for the appropriation and then told them why I was satisfied it was wrong. I closed by saying: "And now, fellow-citizens, it remains only for me to tell you that the most of the speech you have listened to with so much interest was simply a repetition of the arguments by which your neighbor, Mr. Bunce, convinced me of my error. "It is the best speech I ever made in my life, but he is entitled to the credit for it. And now I hope he is satisfied with his convert and that he will get up here and tell you so.' "He came up to the stand and said: "Fellow-citizens - it affords me great pleasure to comply with the request of Colonel Crockett. I have always considered him a thoroughly honest man, and I am satisfied that he will faithfully perform all that he has promised you today.' "He went down, and there went up from that crowd such a shout for Davy Crockett as his name never called forth before.' "I am not much given to tears, but I was taken with a choking then and felt some big drops rolling down my cheeks. And I tell you now that the remembrance of those few words spoken by such a man, and the honest, hearty shout they produced, is worth more to me than all the honors I have received and all the reputation I have ever made, or ever shall make, as a member of Congress.' "Now, sir," concluded Crockett, "you know why I made that speech yesterday. "There is one thing which I will call your attention, "you remember that I proposed to give a week's pay. There are in that House many very wealthy men - men who think nothing of spending a week's pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased--a debt which could not be paid by money--and the insignificance and worthlessness of money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $20,000 when weighed against the honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it."

In honor of your birthday, I'll put my cook book away Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!

Holy crap...nice teeth???? :nuke: Hmmmmm.......

um.....no. Actually, I haven't read it because he hasn't broken any laws. The person below me is craving grapes right now but there are none in their refridgerator because no one listens to them when they ask for grapes at the store

Here's what happens to me in real life(read: Away from the internet)................ My alarm goes off at 5:10 in the morning and I use my fist to find the snooze button so I dont have to open my eyes....this also helps me gain some measure of revenge with the alarm clock for interupting my sleep. I stand in front of the mirror and look at myself for about a minute and try to think about whatever it is I plan to do next. Once I come to grips with the fact that I don't have enough time to go back to bed, I bitterly curl the left side of my upper lip and start to exfoliate. Once I've exfoliated, I start the shower, but before I get in, I walk back out to the hallway and get a towel and a wash cloth. Usually, as I'm doing this, I stub my toe in the door jam of the closet, or if I'm on a roll, the bathroom door catches it first, then I do it again in the closet. Now that I'm really cranky, I hang my towel and strip my boxers off so I can get in the shower. Once I'm in, I usually lean against the shower wall and sleep while the water pours off my back. Once I start to wake up again, I give my hair a tea tree treatment and I scrub twice from head to toe. As soon as I get out, I get a mouthful of listerine and swish it around while I dry off and go to my room to find my outfit for the day. Once I have my boxers and a shirt on, I give my crotch a shot of baby powder, then I put my pants on. Now that I'm almost fully dressed, I head back down the hall to the bathroom where I spit the listerine out and brush my teeth. Once I've brushed, I floss, then I brush again, then I rinse one more time with listerine. Once my mouth is burning from the minty freshness of the germ fighting powers of Listerine, I spit it out and do my hair. This is normally a twenty minute process but sometimes it can take longer, depending on how queenish my mood is. Now that my hair is done, I'm at a crossroad.....I can either use a Qtip in my ears and call it a morning, or I can use the Qtip in my ears, then, use it to style my eyelashes. Again, it depends on my queen meter. Once I'm good to go in the mirror, I get my sock and shoes on, then I put my belt on. Now, I have a theory about shoes and belts.....they're riddled with germs. Once I've put them on, it's time to go back down the hall to wash my hands. At this point I can find myself either at my desk checking out the forums and seeing who's on to chat, or at my desk finishing the homework I didn't finish the night before......if I do the latter, it has to be done with the utmost secretcy or I can find myself grounded for not getting it done the night before. Now, here's where I used to be able to say that I down a redbull and eat some grits....now I'm not allowed to have Redbull anymore and instead of grits I have a bowl of cheerios or some other whole grain cereal. While I eat my dad goes through my backpack for whatever reason. I still havent figured out what it is he thinks he'll find, but since I have nothing to hide, it doesnt really bug me. While he digs through my stuff, I always call Taylor and we talk until it's time for us to leave. Once we're out the door, it's wartime. Sometimes I can get him to let me drive to my school, but usually, he bitches about time and traffic and bullies his way into the drivers seat. In retaliation, I hit the seek button on the stereo and drive him nuts. Just when we find station we like, I change it just to be annoying Once I get to school my fag hag Christine gives me my Redbull. I down it like a beer and we're off for our day of scholastic nourishment. After school a few things can happen.....I can get a ride from someone(not often), my stepmom might pick me up, or more likely than not, I ride the bus home. When I get home I go straight to the fridge and find something to eat, then I start my homework. This is where it gets interesting, because usually, Taylor comes over and he wants all of my attention. I can't always give it to him because not only am I wrapped up in my homework, but his too, and while Im doing that, about 10 different people typically IM me throughout the evening. I walk with Taylor back to his house at 10 and it always hurts to leave. During the summer we dont have to be apart. We hang out non stop all day and night. If it didnt rain, we usually slept in my back yard(or his...he has a pool, we dont ) When I get home I have to start my homework again, but i have to do it while Im on the phone with Taylor and usually we're chatting on AOL too. Add to that the fact that I have a ton of other people wanting some of my time, and it gets a little hectic. While all of this is happening, I still have to update my stories. That means writing the chapters, getting them off to my editor and my beta readers, then thinking of the most outrageous questions I can possibly ask them about the chapter they just read. If it's a new month, I have to review the recomendations that I get from the NJ Excellence committee and send everything back to them for final voting. The point in all of this??? If you're a regular reader of one of my stories and I'm not updating as often as you'd like, please be patient. I'm working on it

ooooh, I that site :ranger: :king: :pickaxe:

it's hard to even describe fully what they are, but I guess they're made of corn. Anyway, they're heavenly with cheese or even better, with apple butter stired into them :wub:

I'm wondering if there's some kind of law against parent's forcing kids to follow their goofy diet fads.....my dad and stepmom have a habit of following the latest diet fad, no matter what it is, and sometimes, I have to take a stand. Let me explain....... About 3 years ago, my dad watched a show about Americans with diabetes who don't even know they have it. From that one show, he determined that we were all borderline diabetic and we needed to cut as much sugar from our diets as we could, so he stopped buying sweets. That didn't really go away, either. Our refridgerator and cupboards have been filled with sugar free everything, including cookies, pudding, hot coco mix and other crap that I've been forced to adapt to. At some point last year, my parents went on an organic food kick. I guess that wasn't too bad, but I had to draw the line at organic ice cream....there's something about the combination of organic and dairy anything that doesn't sit right with me. Still, I stuck it out and in the end, the organic crap they were buying faded away. Sometime in the spring, our house was invaded by olive oil, fresh vegetables and bags of various nuts. My parents planted pots of herbs and bought weird kinds of meats like lamb, goat and rabbit. Personally, I love lamb, goat and rabbit, but my stepmom cant stand goat or rabbit. In time, the rabbit and goat were gone, replaced by fish, which we still have at least 3 times a week. Yesterday, we went shopping, and as my parents strolled down the aisles, they read labels and I wondered what was next. What followed was a low fat, high fiber, whole grain and lean protien onslaught. Instead of cheetohs, we have triscuits. Instead of onion dip, we have avacado dip with fresh tomatos. Instead of pudding cups, we have fresh pineapple. Instead of coco pebbles, they bought some crap called Great Grains. I wanted hamburgers for dinner last night, but instead, they made squash and boneless, skinless chicken breast. So in protest, I ate 3 bowls of the last box of coco pebbles. I got up this morning wanting grits, and I wound up with a choice of Great Grains or a plate of eggs and fresh sliced tomato. Even worse, my toast, made with 21 gram of whole grain bread, didn't even have butter on it. So, it's time for me to settle in for another fad diet. I'll endure, though, and wait patiently for my folks to lose interest. In the meanwhile, though, I think I'll be eating dinner elsewhere for a while.