Okay, so I don’t frog things. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? I have a firm belief that mistakes add character to a project. I’ve just never had the ENTIRE project be a mistake.

I couldn’t bring myself to make the other godawful legwarmer. (the first was SO big!) Nor could I bring myself to steek it. I  mean, what if the stitches didn’t hold together and just fell apart? All that yarn wasted. The only way to save the yarn, since I couldn’t save the project, was to frog it…so I did.

Okay….breath….breath…I think I’m okay.

I ended up cutting about two inches each from the top and bottom since I couldn’t seem to figure out where my seam yarn was. (all black yarn sucks, by the way)

So, now I’m left with the problem of finding a suitable pattern; I give up for now on making my own. That wont happen again in the near future, I can assure you. Oh, and of course, since I wanted to browse some patterns on Ravelry, my internet connection was horrible all day. Even as I type this I keep losing connection. Add “hates my computer” to today’s rants.

On the bright side, I did manage to finish Dad’s socks before Christmas…ended. I had them done about two hours ago (11:00 p.m.), wrapped them and now they sit waiting on my coffee table. Which bring us back to the stupid legwarmer project. I HAVE to get them done…soon.

I’ve already outlined the gifts I have to make for next year, including two birthdays before April, AND I’ve managed to sign myself up to make a pair of slippers for Kim’s mom. Late Christmas gift. That means BEFORE April, I’m sure. So three gifts, all pairs, before April.

Whats wrong with me?

You know, I keep seeing these people who do dozens of large projects or put out tons of pairs of gloves and socks a year, and I’m stressing about what, seventeen, eighteen gifts? There’s the one girl on Rav. She’s been knitting two years and has over two hundred projects done…beautiful projects. That means she must have some bad ones out there somewhere too. So well over one hundred projects a year. Then, there was that news article I saw on Yahoo this morning about the woman who did these wonderfully colorful sweaters for everyone in her family. Talk about making the rest of us look bad. Whatever though. Who am I to argue? Maybe they don’t have a whole lot going on right now, or maybe they knit really, really fast. Or maybe they pay people…now I’m just being mean.

Anyway, It’s after one in the morning now and I have to work at 9:00. I’m not always the smartest about sleeping enough. I hope all of you had a good holiday, and to the knitters out there (why else would you read this, really) thanks for taking the time for my venting. We all need to sometime. ^^

We got up from our bed at 5.43 am. She went to back side of the house. I sat on the bed. We clean our face with cold water. I felt chill.
We went to do meditation in our room. That is not meditation. We thought lot of thinks in our mind.
We share my love with kiss. After we went to do our regular works.

For the 1st time in my life, My Dad has allowed me to made my own mistake. I must admit, he was correct since the first time and glad he didn’t say ‘I told you so’ back on my face.

Dear wordpress readers,

 I know it has been a while but the “while” has been truly successful on my side. What about yours?? Everything from discoveries to writing breathrough to creating even more blogs. Yes, it’s possible to have even more blogs than I already did and guess what the count is now: 14!!

The first, Just a Girl (at daughtersinthelord.blogspot.com), is for all the ladies out there!! Lord knows we need each other and all of the support in the world, “‘Cause it’s hard out there for a [[chiqq]]” LoL See, I’ve never been one to prefer a gender over the other, thinking one is better than the other. What I mean by that is, I believe in equal rights. Yes, I’m a feminist. Nobody, not even my grandmother, can stop me. Conservative views CAN mix with feminist views. God made us different but equal. A weaker vessel doesn’t mean a less important or less able person. I’m not a man, I’m a woman but I won’t ever let anybody tell me that means I’m less of a person than a man. I have felt like it’s hard growing up in this world period but being female, I know certain experiences of struggle we have more than I know what it’s like growing up being male, so, I’m offering support to all of the females out there in the issues we face daily. This blog is new, obviously and so far, just has poems and link lists. Any reviews, comments suggestions, comment on the blog, please!! Now, this brings me to the second:

LiL Girl, at lilgirlgrowingup.blogspot.com, is with the same focus as the blog above but for the younger generations and addresses the stereotypes of being a woman. Almost every woman has been referred to in a belittling manner at some point, by someone thinking they were inadequate because they were a female. A woman should not feel like a little girl in a grown-up’s body but many do..and some even still look like little girls on purpose. If you’re raising a young girl, this is the blog to visit. It’s all about the mentality of womanhood. I feel a need for this blog reach & cater to women everywhere, so, input is always welcome, regardless of age or location.

Last but not least, I have my editing blog!!!!! I finally feel like I can cool off with the new blogs because eDITORcHRIS now has her editing space. Visit thewholepiece.blogspot.com to see!! From receiving writing tips to receiving editing/proofreading services, it’s where to go for any writer trying to take themselves to a more serious level. Understand, it’s one thing to communicate and another to communicate effectively, where you’re actually being heard. Others hear you when they understand you and if you’re not communicating in a way they understand, you’re simply talking (or writing) not sharing. Things like fixing a misplaced or misspelled word can go far in increasing the attentiveness and focus someone is willing to devote to your writing. Realize that, in order for what anyone writes to be relevant to someone else, they must be able to read it. Each and every word is valuable and makes a difference. We all use words, whether talking or typing. Words aren’t going away. eDITORcHRIS will help you to use them properly, to the best advantage and make your messages clear. Guess what, it’s all for free, too…for now, at least!!

AS FAR AS POSTS:

On Saturday, December 19th,  I wrote Top 8 Reasons to Take B Vitamins.

On Thursday, December 17th, I wrote Thoughtful Thursday.

On Tuesday, December 22nd, I wrote Slightly reflective, non-uniform inspiration for the day.

i’VE REVAMPED THE LOOK AND WORKED OUT KINKS WITH FEEDBURNER SO I’M MUCH MORE SATISFIED W/ ALl OF MY BLOGS AND DEEPLY INTERESTED TO LEARN HOW I WILL DEVELOP THEM FUrTHER IN THE NEAR FUTURE….

Also, in recent weeks, I have joined forces with MY BROTHERS!! If you don’t know them yet, you will. From recording music to inviting them to write on a couple of my blogs, everything’s been flowing beautifully!!

{{very}} PERSONAL CHANGES:

I packed to go on a trip to Virginia that I, in the end, didn’t go on. Read some context here: Choices

This morning, I prayed this prayer: Lord, I’ve made many mistakes…but if You forgive me, lead me now.

Unpacking from the trip I didn’t go on brought a lot of order into my life, as did the packing. I found many things and re-organized…one thing I re-discovered is this: What’s on Your Mind?, a book I bought earlier this year at a church. Bought 3 that day, actually. All of these books and more were sitting in a bookbag ever since my summer vacation and since September, the bookbag has been at the bottom of a closet in my new room that I moved into at the beginning of September!!

Now, on the topic of books and discoveries, I’ll be getting to those now:

–An e-mail from Focus on the Family had me learning of a great book to link to on my new two geared-toward-girls blogs:

Let’s Walk the Talk! Girlfriend to Girlfriend on Faith, Friendships & Finding Real Love

By: Danae Dobson

–My homepage is boundless.org and I opened up my internet browser to find them supporting yet another book I later linked to for my new geared-toward-girl blogs:

Raising a Modern-Day Princess: Inspiring Purpose, Value, and Strength in Your Daughter

By: Pam Farrel, Doreen Hanna

So, everything was coming together!! I’m sure that they’ll be great reads and was looking for good resources to add to those link lists!!

Last of the books:

–Somehow, someway, no doubt being through blogging or procrastinating, I found this! That led me to…

Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

By: Mark Batterson

I have a new author added to the list of my faves!!

Moving on from books into other media-related discoveries:

I went onto my MySpace and saw this comment:

Whats good fam!!

The United in Christ Mixtape Vol.II is out, DOWNLOAD FREE AT:
www.forgivenmuzic.com

Many blessings,

CL

So, I checked it out. Hear it 4 urself:

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2171913

On tumblr, while looking for Christian blogs to “follow,” I came across a cool video:

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhsEd73BMD10073YP1

Just a few more scans of stuff I’ve found…

[Baltimoresun Weblogs]

As all this BAD news on Tiger has come out in the past few weeks, EVERYONE from sportscasters to politicians to people like you and me have had an opinion on this situation. It’s a very SAD and TRAGIC place that the world’s GREATEST golfer has put himself in. It’s a predicament that NOBODY wants to be in.

People have told me that I needed to post something a commentary on Tiger’s current problem and I was almost tempted into doing it. But after some thought and reading a couple of commentaries on it, I reached out and approached my friend Steve Ray and asked him to write something. To be honest, this was something that I really didn’t want to touch with a hundred foot pole. However, it was something that NEEDED to be addressed.

Than all of a sudden, something interesting happened. Steve saw something on [Ron Artest]’s website and he forwarded me a letter that Ron had written to Tiger. When I first received it, I simply laughed it off and thought, “what in the world is crazy Ron saying now?” But after reading the letter, I saw a person who was TRULY trying to reach out and help a person who was suffering.

It was heart-felt and it came from Ron’s heart. Steve decided instead of writing his own commentary, he was going to go and use what Ron had written because he was blown away by the fact that Ron really seemed to CARE.

[Goldenstateofmind]

Here is the open letter that Ron wrote to Tiger…I guarantee, it’ll BLOW you away.

Dear Tiger,
In reading the statements you have made, I can tell you are a stand up guy. Please remember only Jesus is perfect. You made a mistake and you admitted your infidelity.
I have made the same mistakes. Before I got married to my wife, I had a baby with another young lady, after I already had two by my girlfriend who is now my wife. We also had another baby which makes three for us and four for me. Two boys and two girls.
My wife is a much better wife than I am a husband. We still argue and disagree after being together 16 years. and I still cope with the fact that there are so many women out there and I choose to stay loyal to my wife.
I want to be home every night, but with traveling I can’t, and sometimes I might want to go to a bar or club and be one of the fellas. Most of the time I stay in, because I have my kids and wife.
I cannot sit here and say the thought to have many women has never crossed my mind. If I were Jesus I could.
I have known my wife for 16 years– since I was 14 years old.
She was my first.
On the way to 2010 we had many ups and downs on the way, mostly my fault. But I really choose to work hard and play ball to support her and my kids. The same reason you are building your legacy.
I have been disturbed by this because there are many people who are happy that this bad news has come out.
There are a lot of sports announcers and regular reporters who are not perfect in their own homes, yet they want to bring you down.
You have done so much for people, the sport of golf, and your family and you gave your wife a life that people can’t even dream of.
I thought you were 36 or 37 until I read the news today. A 33-year-old man who has been a model citizen with so much at stake. This is your first publicly known issue since you started your career, compared to my 50 or more publicly known issues and mistakes.
You have been the perfect role model for me and my sons for longer than anyone I have known.
With the exception of a few legends.
As your fan, I can’t wait to see you golf again.
And us athletes know how much you personally love your family.

One love,
Ron Artest
This is just a fan mail letter to Tiger Woods fans and indirectly to Tiger himself.
Please, everyone support Tiger in these tough times for his family.

Also if you are a sports announcer or regular everyday reporter or blogger please step up like Tiger and tell your wife or husband if you have any skeletons in your closet. Especially if you were one of the few attacking TIGER!!
One Love People

[todaysgolfer.co.uk]

We all make mistakes and we must all realize that if we are knowingly LIVING a life of sin, it’ll eventually come back and BITE us in the butt. We have to be ACCOUNTABLE for our actions and make sure that we are living our lives for the one true creator of the universe.

Take it from Ron, the only person that was PERFECT was Jesus. The one valuable lesson that we can take away from this is that we must take responsibility for our actions and begin living a life that will bring a smile to God’s face.

God put us on this planet to bring glory and honor to his name. While we may not be perfect, it’s time we start shaping up and realize that we have to put in some WORK if we want to stay out of trouble.

Kid Cudi was falsely accused of burglary and detained by police as he traveled in California on (December 21.)

The rapper was apprehended at gunpoint, according to nme.com.

The rapper was in Los Angeles for some live performances and recently left a photo shoot. After the shoot, a number of police vehicles surrounded the rapper’s vehicle as well as the others in his entourage.

All at the scene were ordered out of their car and forced to kneel. Soon, they realized it was a case of mistaken identity.

“Who knows, really, the story changed a bunch,” Cudi told nme.com. “I’m just happy to be back. I’m a free man! For that moment I was not free. I was in handcuffs. It did not feel very comfortable.”

Over the last few days and weeks and months, I’ve been thinking an awful lot about the number one.  Specifically, the number of children we have and are planning to have.  My mother is constantly asking if we’re planning another.  (Having one, apparently, will lead to David becoming spoiled, selfish and antisocial.)  My Nana said that we should have a girl next.  People assume that, because we’re young and because David is nearly one, we’re ready to start trying for another baby.  ”When you have another…”, “Just wait until you have two…” and various phrases along those lines are used regularly.

Here’s the thing.  We aren’t going to have another baby.  I can say now, without hesitation, that our family is complete.

The road that led to having David was a long, hard one.  I had an abortion at fifteen: it was the “right thing to do”.  After all, I was clever.  I had sixth form, university, a career to look forward to.  My previously supportive boyfriend got scared and ran away, and I would’ve been a single teenage mother.  I was nine or ten weeks pregnant when my parents discovered it, and had little time to think about the decision: I went along with what they thought was right, because I didn’t know.  I couldn’t think, I just couldn’t make the decision.  I knew that I wanted qualifications and a career, but I never considered the alternative.  I never thought that I could have the baby.  I would’ve been about twelve weeks along when I finally had it done, and it hit me harder than I ever imagined it would.  I will forever regret that decision.

I hadn’t known until then that I wanted a child.  When I’d thought about it hypothetically, I’d reasoned that I’d want to concentrate on having a career, and anyway, noone would commit to me, would they?

Fast-forward a few years.  I had put all thoughts of having a baby out of my mind.  Joe and I had been together for a few months, and although we were serious, we weren’t quite serious enough to think about babies in anything other than abstract terms.

Well, whoops.  One broken condom later…

During my pregnancy, we struggled to adapt to life as a couple, soon to be a family.  Friends and family were shocked that we “hadn’t been more careful”.  They questioned our decision to continue the pregnancy.  (We had discussed it, but it wasn’t an option for either of us after the initial shock had worn off.)  A couple we knew had been trying to conceive for a long time, and we both felt guilty about how it would affect them.

I loved David the moment he was born.  Everybody did.  It didn’t make things any easier.  I’ve written about postnatal depression before, and all that needs saying now is that I, we have come through it, mostly, but it was hard.  There are times when The Crazy still comes back and slaps me round the face, just to remind me that it’s still here.  I don’t want to choose to go back and feel like that again.  It’s not fair on Joe or on David.

All the history and the drama aside, there is one overriding reason why I feel we are complete.  This.

David is enough, more than enough for me.  I don’t have the words to express how much I love him.  He learns something new every day, he’s starting to listen and respond to instructions.  He’s affectionate and caring and kind.  He travels next to me in the car, and we have conversations about traffic lights and slow old ladies in Micras driving in our way.  He gets ridiculously excited when he sees the other yellow Seicento that belongs to somebody who lives near us, and when a traffic light turns green he shouts “Go, go, go!”  He wouldn’t have this attention with a sibling.  He deserves my time, my attention, and all of my love.  I cannot offer him anything more.

1. It turns out that the great gold heist of this summer wasn’t pulled off by some crack squad of thieves, but rather some really bad accounting.

Back in 2008, someone made a little miscalculation and said that the Royal Canadian Mint 17, 500 troy ounces than there actually was.

On top of that, over $3 million in government-owned gold was sold off as if it were et cetera.

Oh, and it cost $1.3 million to figure this out.

2. Native protesters caused the Olympic torch route to be diverted slightly.

Torch runners in Caledonia, all 25 of them, were forced to run in circles around a parking lot.

Talk about raining on parades and taking names.  Take that, torchbearers!  Those natives sure proved a point, and I’m sure you want to support them now!

3. Section 2(b) of the Charter just got a little more awesome for journalists.  The Supreme Court of Canada has created a new defamation defence for the noble reporter, “responsible communication.”

The defence is based around due diligence on behalf of the reporter, and is meant to keep the press from being muzzled when reporting on important points of public interest.

Public interest is to be determined by the judge, but a jury is tasked with deciding if the reporter took enough steps to reasonably ensure accuracy.

High five, journalism!

4. Martin Brodeur completely and officially holds the title of world’s best goalie after his 104th career shutout last night, a record previously held by Terry Sawchuk.

Brodeur now owns just about every title the NHL has for goalies, including the most regular season wins, the most overtime wins, the most 40-win seasons, most games played, the only goalie to score a game winning goal, and the only goalie to do your mom during a regular season game. Zing.

Remember at school when you had to write out around thirty Christmas cards to all your classmates, probably using a gel pen and being really careful not to write ‘love from’ on the cards for the opposite sex.

My brother is 10, and found it hilarious when his friend Ads/Adam/Ad had spelt his name wrong on his Christmas card.

Oops :]

As members of the Body of Christ, we are all unified, but unique. Some of us are grace people. Some of us are truth people.  By grace and truth people, I mean that we, as individuals, are more inclined towards grace or truth. I myself am a grace person. I am inclined toward giving people what they don’t deserve. On the other hand, I can tend to let problems slide, and make problems feel like they are OK when what I really need is truth. Truth is something that is a struggle for me, and possibly always will be. It is a struggle for me to tell someone the harsh truth that will pierce their heart, even when I know it’s the most loving thing that I could do. It can be easy to compromise and act upon grace instead of truth, when truth is needed.

Truth has been something that I have been working upon the past couple of weeks. I want more of it in my thoughts, my speech, and my lifestyle. Last week, God really kicked my butt over something about grace and truth. While I was focussing on truth so much, I left living graciously in the dust, and assumed that “since I am a ‘grace person’, I don’t have to worry or invest in that. “

John 1:14

 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and  truth.

Jesus was 100% grace and 100% truth. And that is exactly what we should aim to be. Because I stopped focusing on being 100% grace, (which I certainly wasn’t, and certainly am not now) when the time came for me to be gracious to a friend who was in need, I couldn’t do it well.  I compromised, and choked the Holy Spirit.

Friends, I write this to you so you won’t make the mistake I made. For those of you who read this, always remember that you are called to be both 100% grace and 100% truth, and never stop striving for it.

In Truth and Grace,

Tyler

Even Google makes mistake. Just see the video.

You can see a small Gujarati string when you sign out from your Google account. Just try it out.
Chances are you might not see this mistake as Google corrects its errors way fast.

Oops …

How the hell did I not see that before.

I assumed we were in Mexico for just under six weeks …

Um … It’s going to be 7 after looking at a calender properly ie. With my two eyes open.

Hmmm … Time to review the budgets and travel plans.

Onwards ..

Tukhbeesat in Arabic means mistakes. Tukhbeesat in relationship-speak, however, means relationship faux pas’ we’ve all committed. (Who are you kidding? You too.) Whether it be someone we know damn well we shouldn’t have dated (but couldn’t help it), dating an ex when we know it was so over (followed by wallowing in self-loathing), or hooking up with a complete stranger and regretting it the next day.

It’s all part of the growing pains. I hope.

We all end up loosing a part of ourselves when experience a tragic event. This could be the loss of a love, a nasty divorce, losing your job or a business failure. Any of these can cause you to feel that there is no point living but you can start rebuilding your self-esteem and get back living and achieving success.

They say that time heals all wounds, and it does. If you need to, take some time for yourself and then you can start rebuilding your self-esteem; most importantly by learning to let go. During the process of letting go you will be haunted by your tragic event and you might feel the need to cry and/or feel angry, that’s OK, it is part of the process of healing. Over time you will eventually get this out of your system, then it will be time to accept the facts that it has happened and be ready to move on to bigger and better things.

Rebuilding Self Esteem – Moving On

When you are ready to move on you should first do some things that make you feel good. You can do some simple things like getting together with friends and family members that are supportive. Go out for a dinner to celebrate your moving on to next big thing in your life. Go out and get some new clothes, read a good book or watch some movies. Do something that you don’t often do, but would enjoy doing. This is an important part of rebuilding your self-esteem, do special things just for you and the special person you are.

Keep this thought in mind; you can’t get that great job, new partner or start that new business when you are doing and holding on to the old one. This is a chance for a new chapter in your life, when one door closes, another one opens. This might not seem possible at the time, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is the truth and the path to rebuilding your self-esteem.

When rebuilding your self-esteem after a tragic event you must remember that you have something locked inside which is very powerful and that is, faith in yourself and your abilities. You may have made some mistakes but you need to forgive yourself, then you can learn from your mistakes, move past them and realize that you and only you are responsible for your happiness and ability to achieve success. Adjust your attitude and outlook and realize that these were merely events, they are not YOU, but events. These tragic events are in the past, not the future. The future is yours.

Rebuilding Self Esteem – A Stronger You

There is a an old saying that goes, “ what hurts you will only make you stronger” and this statement is true because although one chapter in your life has closed, the next one is about to open. Sometimes we need to fall down real hard before we realize that we can get up and excel. It is the story of many very successful people, make it yours. Now you know what created that outcome, and you can do things differently to reach the desired outcome.

You see, it didn’t kill you, but it made you stronger. So stop wasting your time worrying about the past and start thinking about the future. Yesterday is over and a new day is on the horizon. You see, you did not have to rebuild you self-esteem, because you never lost it, it was there the whole time and you just needed to get your bearings, dust yourself off and get back in the game. Time waits for no one, so move on to the bigger and better things to come, like a mindset of success.

“Microsoft will launch Google Wave in early 2010″ said Alarabiya TV
Yes I know….stupid things always happen ; ) specially with the Arabic Media.
Never Trust…..

I wasn’t sure it was real. I had vague flashes of memory, but those could have been merely a product of an overactive imagination.

All I could remember was a Wookie child running around his house, playing with an X-Wing fighter, a singing Bea Arthur and a kick-ass cartoon about Boba Fett.

But I could find no proof of its actual existence until very recently.

Until the interweb was created and along with it, Google and Wikipedia, it was nothing more than an urban myth.

As previously stated, I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s and, like all boys my age, was obsessed with Star Wars.

I had the Millennium Falcon, X-Wing Fighter and the Death Star—my backyard became a graveyard for broken action figures missing body parts, buried out of respect for the dead.

When Christmas rolled around, I listened to Christmas in the Stars incessantly.

So it stands to reason that if this special did indeed exist, I was probably watching it with wide-eyed intensity.

And exist it did.

This was the tail end of the seventies, a sad and desperate time when disco ruled the airwaves and the variety show was king of the Neilson ratings—the reality TV of its time.

This was back when the term Wife Swap had nothing to do with ABC or prime time programming and everyone looked like a porn star.

The Star Wars Holiday Special aired Friday, November 17, 1978 on CBS. Like the famed and storied Orwellian Macintosh commercial from 1984, it only aired once then vanished into legend.

Lucas himself has said he’d like to track down every existing copy and smash them with a sledge hammer, erasing it from existence.

Big words from the man responsible for Ewoks, Jar-Jar and Episodes 1-3.

The main storyline follows Chewbacca’s family on the planet Kashyyyk as they prepare for Life Day, the Wookie equivalent of Christmas. The family, consisting of Chewie’s wife, Mallatobuck, his father Attichitcuk (lovingly referred to as Itchy) and their son, Lumpawarrump, or Lumpy for short, anxiously await the return of Chewbacca and Han Solo, who are being chased by Imperial Destroyers.

Darth Vader, it would seem, did not have the Christmas spirit.

For the most part, though, the plot serves as little more than a means to string together a series of musical numbers, celebrity cameo appearances, and other variety-show acts, including songs and comedy routines by a black-lit Jefferson Starship, Diahann Carroll as the world’s first internet porn star, Harvey Korman in drag, and the future Golden Girl herself, Beatrice Arthur as a plucky but lovable singing cantina owner (to name but a few of the star-studded guests.)

I’m really surprised Charo wasn’t somehow involved.

The program also features brief appearances by other Star Wars mainstays, including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader, Han Solo and a very, very high Princess Leia singing a bizarre song about Life Day set to the Star Wars theme.

Personally, I like Bill Murray’s version, but hey. Princess freaking Leia. Glassy-eyed or not, she was still my moon goddess.

The coolest aspect of this special, at least for a geek like me, was a cartoon produced by Toronto-based Nelvana that officially introduces the bounty hunter Boba Fett into the Star Wars universe.

If you bring it up to Harrison Ford, he might punch you. You could tell he knew it was a bad idea even back then, as he half-heartedly told the Wookies, “You’re like family to me,” in a tender moment, just before giving Chewie a hug. The look on his face says it all.

Carrie Fisher claims she was so coked out, she doesn’t even remember filming it. She’d actually rather admit she was high as a kite than fess up to ever thinking this special was a good idea.

The Star Wars Holiday Special is bad. Really bad. So bad, it’s not even so-bad-it’s-good—it transcends that level and becomes bad again.

See for yourself…and be sure to enjoy the timeless commercials of 1978 while you’re at it.

But don’t say I didn’t warn you…

I’ve always admired Saatchi & Saatchi and I still do. But even the best of agencies will have their share of mistakes. It’s about learning from them and moving on.The thing I respect about Saatchi & Saatchi in this instance is that it dared to push the envelope and to venture into an area it did not have much experience in.

So what exactly happened?

So what exactly happened and how did Saatchi & Saatchi land itself in a social media disaster? For more info, you can visit mUmBRELLA’s write-up on it.

In a nutshell, though, Saatchi & Saatchi decided to incorporate social media into its campaign for Toyota’s Yaris without the help of a digital agency, and some things went wrong. Sadly, the world can be quite unforgiving of “mistakes”. The story soon spread to Aussie news sites, British news titles, the Aussie papers, US media and large global ad blogs.

As part of the Yaris social media campaign, a Facebook page managed by Saatchi & Saatchi was set up and on this page, S&S ran a video competition. Members of the Facebook page just needed to create videos about the Yaris and the top videos would win $7,000, $3,000 and $1,000 for first, second and third prizes respectively. Unfortunately, the participation level was dismal because many of us in the social media space are probably tired of such video competitions run on Facebook pages to count towards eyeballs and ROI.

Faced with the embarrassing prospect of few entries, Saatchi & Saatchi opened the competition to its production houses in the following email:

From: Rob

Subject: Clever Comp

Hey creative people

I’ve got something that you’ll (or your housemates, brothers, sisters, artistic friends etc will) be interested in.

It’s a film comp in aide of promoting Toyota Yaris.

“A film comp? I don’t have the time!” you may say, but listen up. So far, NO ONE has entered and it has been open for more than 10 days and closes 1st December. Voting is done on hits and comments so if you’re in first you have a huge advantage. And you don’t have to make an ad, just put a Yaris in somewhere a la the ‘number 8′ or ’spring’ in Tropfest or something

First prize is $7,000. $3,000 for second and $1,000 for 3rd. At this stage, you could enter a picture of your cat playing in his kitty litter and win 7 grand.

Details are in the attachments. If you win, I’d love an all carbon fibre road bicycle for Christmas.

Cheers y’all.

-Rob

This initiative garnered entries from the production houses as there was also an understanding that the winning production house entry would win S&S’s business to produce Toyota Yaris’ ads. A team comprising of S&S and Toyota representatives came together to decide on the winning entry and TADA, presenting the winning entry (with no lack of sexual references by the way):

My thoughts on this whole episode?

• While many in the world are slamming Saatchi & Saatchi for this incident, I would like to speak up on behalf of S&S (no, I am not an employee of S&S and I have no connections with it) because I must say I admire S&S’s courage in pushing the envelope and expanding into an area that it had little experience in. I know some will call this foolhardy but honestly, are agencies which allow risk-aversion to prevent them from playing with new ideas and charting new territory, in this modern world of innovation, any less foolhardy? At the end of the day, the best of agencies have their share of “mistakes” but if their achievements and acquired capabilities outweigh these “mistakes”, the world will recognize them as commendable and respectable agencies.

• I’ve also learned from this incident that in the social media space it’s so important to create intangible value for users. Sure, the video competition promised cash prizes for winning entries but clearly that wasn’t enough to get users involved. Tangible benefits were not enough. The main problem was probably that the Facebook page already lacked content that would bring users back to the page to interact with the content and to even want to join the page in the first place. Apparently, the videos were old viral videos that anybody active in the social media space would most likely have seen. Besides the video competition was a “tired” idea. Even the cash prizes could not convince users to join the page and the competition.

• Competitions on social media channels to drive user-generated content should stay that way – user generated. I think what enraged many people about S&S opening the competition up to its production houses was that the video competition was positioned with the production houses as a pre-business pitch. What was this? A video competition originally intended for amateurs and ordinary people to participate with equal chances of winning the cash prizes was now being opened to production houses (the professionals) as a pre-business pitch? Didn’t that mean that the winner was already pre-determined to be one of the production houses? At the same time, what made this situation worse was the fact that the winning entry was decided on by a panel of Toyota and S&S employees. If the contest was a user-driven contest in the social media space (which highly values egalitarianism), why wasn’t the winning entry decided upon by users? Or at least, why weren’t users given some (if not total) say in the results of the contest?

• We must always go back to the basics – the core brand values. Another thing that got many people upset was the content of the winning entry. We’re talking about Toyota here – a brand that has long been associated with reliability and family life. In choosing the video entry that was replete with sexual references, Toyota (or S&S on behalf of Toyota) was going against Toyota’s core brand values. Even if they had wanted to energize Toyota’s brand to appeal to a younger audience, this had to be done carefully, without offending Toyota’s core fan base. This selection of such a controversial video was simply too sudden and radical.

That said, it is episodes like these that we should and must learn from, and I believe that Saatchi & Saatchi will learn from this to keep up its good work all these years.

All great discoveries are made by mistake.

Young

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) –

Tuesday October 27, 2009, 12:49 pm

When the Government tabled a document relating to its

national broadband network

proposal, it was supposed to black out a

confidential analysis

of Telstra’s

core assets

.

But the figures were left in and showed valuations ranging between $8 billion and $33 billion.

The Opposition’

s communications

spokesman,

Nick Minchin

, says the revelations bring private discussion between telstra and the Government out into the public domain.

“I mean this is

incompetence

on a grand scale,” he said.

A spokesman for the Communications Minister

Stephen Conroy

has admitted the figures were tabled by mistake and says the Government regrets the error.

More Quotes and Company Information:

TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED. (ASX:

TLS.ax

)

Source: Conroy blunder reveals Telstra value

I don’t like to bake. I love cooking, but precise measuring, rolling things out into shapes, artistically flourishing with icing and sprinkles, and everything else associated with a patisserie I try to avoid, and for two very good reasons:

(1) I am not good at baking. I never have been. I set my kitchen on fire as a child trying to make muffins, I forgot the sugar for a batch of fudge as a teenager (and used unsweetened chocolate for my base), and as an adult, I have had more failures at even the simplest baking jobs than I have successes. God clearly doesn’t want me baking. Just like God doesn’t want the Clippers to win a championship.

(2) I don’t even like baked goods. Okay, this is changing as I get older, but desserts overall are the least tempting menu item for me. Give me a good foie gras, some braised sweetbreads, squid in its own ink, or any other savory menu item and I’m good. I’d rather do two appetizers and an entrée than an entrée and dessert. Unless the dessert is Haribo Gummy Bears.

At Christmas, I sometimes get a little twinge of remorse that I’m not a good baker, and that the holly jolly holiday concoctions don’t get my Pavlovian glands going. But this Christmas, I’ve been too busy with my other kitchen experiments like sushi and headcheese to regret even for a moment that I don’t like to bake.

So when my dear friend Courtney sent out a cookie party e-vite (“bring cookies you’ve made to share!”), I was not enthused. “Check the date,” I told the Hub. “Maybe we will be out of town.” No such luck. The one weekend in December the Hub and I are in Boston was the date the dreaded cookie party was planned. “Er, maybe I won’t bring anything.”

The thing you have to realize about Courtney is that she is a really, really talented baker. And not just in that she makes delicious butter-based products that people like. She decorates. She makes things into cute, irresistible shapes, like the snail-shaped cookies you see below. In short, for a non-baker like myself, you don’t just bring baked goods to a party she is hosting. It would be like J.J. Barea challenging Lebron James to a dunking contest.

How in the name of Christmas did she even make these?

So I tried to sabotage my invitation by making some joke about bringing “bacon” cookies rather than “bakin” cookies. I had no intention of baking anything, but when I called Courtney to see if I could come to the party empty-handed, she talked about how excited the other guests, especially her star-chef roommate, were to try the bacon cookies. I was trapped.

I went online to see what I could find in the way of bacon cookies and found this delightful little blog post. Didn’t look too hard—just candied bacon and a Toll House recipe, essentially. Even I could do that.

So I candied my bacon. Candied bacon is just bacon coated with brown sugar that you bake in the oven on about 300 for around 25 minutes or so, flipping the bacon every once in a while. The final product is so delicious—sweet, savory, smoky. I wanted to just go crazy eating bacon and skip out on the cookies. But no! I continued.

I made my cookie batter according to the directions on the back of the Toll House bag. I know I followed the directions. I was careful. I tried really hard.

And I failed.

That’s right. My first batch of bacon cookies turned into a runny, liquid mass in the over. “Maybe the oven isn’t hot enough,” offered the trying-to-be-helpful Hub. “Or maybe there isn’t enough flour in the batter.” So I let the oven heat up more. I put more flour in the batter (“To account for the extra fat from the bacon,” according to the Hub). The second batch was no better. The cookies ran together, the batter melted rather than hardened into a cookie-like substance. And I burst into tears. “How come I can’t even make Toll House cookies?” I sobbed to the Hub.

Once the first bout of crying was over, we decided to try making bacon chocolate chip cookie bars, rather than individual cookies. For a while, it looked like the bars were doing what bars are supposed to do. But when we brought them out of the oven, the top was brown and crispy, but below was raw batter. Again, I burst into tears.

By now, it was too late to do anything else for the party, short of stopping on the way and getting a bag of Oreos. “We’ll put them in the oven when we get there, and try and bake them a little longer,” offered the Hub, still trying to be helpful.

Lots of cookies, lots of talent. Ba-humbug!

We arrived to a table full of holiday cheer. Courtney made not only the snail cookies, but also these adorable little pink and white peppermint candy cane cookies, coated with crumbled peppermint. Jill brought not only spicy fudge, but also sugar plums. Seriously, sugar plums?!? And there were other beautiful little treats: gingerbread crisps, nutty no-bake cookies, courtesy of Desiree, and Didi’s autumn olive thumbprint cookies.

I handed the half-baked bacon cookies to the Hub, washing my hands of the whole affair, and taking refuge in a Martha Stewart hors d’oeuvre cookbook. The Hub dutifully went to work, trying to fix my meaty concoction while the party cheerfully went on. Finally, he too gave up. He made one last attempt to cut the cookies into bars, threw them on a plate, and then we bolted to go watch the Cowboy game (even more depressing than the cookies, as it turned out). “Let all those talented cookie eaters have their party,” I thought bitterly to myself, as I made a leftover headcheese sandwich for dinner.

Sugarplums that do more than just dance in your head

That night, Courtney called me. “I thought you should know that your cookies won ‘Best in Show,’” Courtney said cheerfully. “Huh?” I muttered, still trying to put the cookie fiasco behind me. “People loved your cookies. You got best in show. They just needed some time to cool and then they were perfect.”

Ba-humbug bacon cookies

Turns out, bacon is actually quite complementary of the combination of flavors already found in chocolate chip cookies. The saltiness of the bacon brings out the sweetness of the chocolate, and the savory meatiness of the chewy bacon bits was a nice juxtaposition to the sweetness of the batter. Even I ended up liking my cookies.

I still have no idea how my cookies managed to survive. I attribute my success to the Hub, and to the power of bacon to win hearts and minds. So the morale of this story is that even disasters can end up turning out all right. And if you are bad at baking, try adding bacon.

The winners

*Thanks to Desiree and Courtney for these photos. Due to my tearful state, I was in no shape to take pictures.

Lol, I was just listening to Alice radio, and the presenters were talking about some kid was “playing with his wee system”.
I wasn’t listening the whole thing so I thought they were on about this mum writing in to say that she found her kid playing with his “wee” system.
They meant Wii.
I thought they were talking about a kid masturbating.

Stupid kids opening presents early XD

x

As eighty-nine-year-old Jack mourns the death of his wife he is overwhelmed by regret. He cannot shake the feeling that he was responsible for her fatal injuries when fire destroyed their home.

“If only I had shut the door of the bedroom where the fire started,” says Jack. “It would have isolated the blaze and my wife would still be alive.”

He will never forget that fateful evening and he may never be able to forgive himself for that one oversight.

We have all done things we later regret.

When I was about forty I reflected on some of the choices I had made twenty years earlier. I realised that when you are young you seldom think of the consequences of your actions. You don’t stop to consider that one day you will regret doing what you are about to do.

You get one chance to live each moment and then it is gone. There’s no opportunity to turn back the clock.

Agonising over our mistakes, reliving a dark episode in frame-by-frame detail only adds to the misery.

So what can we do with regret?

I reckon we have two options. Continue to carry the memories of our mistakes or recognise that while we cannot change the past, we can learn from it. A mistake that changes future behaviour is a lighter burden and becomes part of our accumulated wisdom. It has the potential to teach those who will learn from our experience.

That great servant of God, Paul, had more to grieve over than most of us. We don’t know how many Christians he sent to their death, but he didn’t let his past paralyse him. He said “yes” when God called him and devoted the rest of his life to serving Jesus Christ whom he once opposed.