You're Not The Boss Of Me

If you feel the insatiable need to gain more control over your life, then let the internet help you. Now, there are two websites which can help you cut off that long-winded phone call. Sorry Gotta Go can provide you with background noises (crying baby, ringing doorbell and whistling tea kettle, just to name a few)to help you pry yourself away from your mother-in-law, sister, friend, boss or telemarketer. If you are looking to make better choices in potential boyfriends, then you might want to check out Don't Date Him Girl . Here you will find thousands and thousands of names and photos of guys you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. If nothing else, if will provide you with hours of entertainment at your next pajama party.

If you don't already know this, Sylvia Browne, is a world-renowned psychic, who appears weekly on the "Montel Williams Show" fielding questions from audience members. Sylvia, I think of more as a medium (someone who connects to those who have passed over) than a psychic (someone who can predict the future). If there is a difference, it's that mediums rely on the loved ones of those who have passed over to give them insight as to future events. If anything, Sylvia and people like her, should be looked upon as a source of entertainment, and nothing more. She has come under close scrutiny of late because she told Shawn Hornbeck's parents, on national television, that Shawn had been grabbed by a stranger, but that he had died. In her own defense, Sylvia has said that she is not always right and that she has made mistakes. Perhaps the biggest mistake that anyone could make is to take her word for anything. I think there is certainly validity to her gift, but to give her or someone like her too much power is a dangerous thing. She has her critics including James Randy (The Amazing Randy) who has offered her and others who claim to be psychic, one million dollars if they would take his challenge and prove that such a gift is real. Of course, no one has taken him up on his challenge, because there will never be any concrete evidence and he knows that.

If you are a movie fan, or, if you are fan of actress, Dakota Fanning, then you know that there has been some controversy surrounding her new film. The movie, 'Hounddog', which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was targeted by public-interest groups for depicting a scene wherein Dakota's character, Lewellen, is raped. These people, of course, never saw the movie, which got dreadful reviews anway and may never likely be picked up for distribution on that fact alone. If they had, they would have seen that the rape scene is very quick and not at all graphic....not like in real life that is. This post isn't about reviewing the movie, but rather the irony here. The fact is, children are brutally raped every day in this country and we still have laws that, in large part, protect the rights of the predators more than the children. If an issue needs to be raised about this movie and it's rape scene, then maybe these interest groups should shed light on why we haven't changed our laws yet to better protect our children. Legsilators are looking to pass a 'one strike' bill which will send these predators away for life if they are found guilty of harming a child in any way, sexually or otherwise. This is where the energy needs to be spent. As for Dakota and her family, I'm sure she is thinking of her long-term goals as an actress. She is embarking on her teenage years and is probably looking to make the transition as best she can without being pigeon-holed as a cute, child actress, similar to Jodie Foster and Brooke Shields, who both appeared in controversial roles as young actresses. Also, from what I have read about this movie, she is, indeed, the best thing in it.

Recently, news anchor, Elizabeth Vargas, from ABC, took a step back from her hectic career to take some much needed time to stay at home with her growing family. Unfortunately, she has taken some heat for this decision. It seems that no matter what mothers do, there will be critics judging them for either returning to work or staying at home to raise their family. The last generation had simple, clear-cut answers. It was a given that that moms would most likely leave their jobs to stay home. The womens' movement changed everything for us and not necessarily in all good ways. Leaving are children to have fulfilling careers outside the home seems selfish to some, but a basic necessity to others. Either way, we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Personally, I took another route and decided to work part-time with the stipulation that I am home for my children when they are home from school. I have made sacrafices in this regard. My job is neither fulfilling personally or financially, but I have the satisfaction of knowing that my children get my attention when they need it most. On the other hand I cannot fault any mother for wanting or needing to either work full-time outside the home or to be a stay-at-home mom, a much more demanding job. As mothers, we must learn to look for the common threads that bond us together, rather than the things that make us stand apart. Like it or not, we need each others' support and empathy because any way you look at it, raising children is the hardest job we'll ever have and the one we were least prepared for when we took it.

As parents, we are always told to teach our children not to talk to strangers. We believed that if we drilled them with this information, it would keep them safe from predators. We couldn't have been more wrong. It appears that the predators are one step ahead of us and use other tactics, like force, to get want they want. Predators will also do anything they have to, once they have their prey, to keep them, including terrorizing them, either physically or emotionally. Shawn Hornbeck has already admitted, in a private discussion with Oprah, that he didn't attempt to leave because he was too scared. As time goes on, more specific details will begin to unfold and we will have a better idea of what he exeperienced for four years, and Ben Ownby experienced for four very long days. Knowledge is power; this information should be used to educate our children what to do in such an event so that they can protect themselves and escape from harm. One brave little girl just recently escaped her kidnapper by sneaking out of the truck of his car when he stopped for gas. She ran into the convenience store where the police where called and she was safe, but her kidnapper got away so he's still out there, probably planning on doing the same thing to another innocent child. Unfortunately, we have to prepare our children for such events. It's a scary world, but it is even scarier when they go missing for months and years, without a trace.

Jack Bauer is finally back....with a vengence. Initially, I was never a fan of the hit TV show '24', but now I am totally hooked. The new season, which aired over two days and four hours, began with a bang....literally. Television, in general, is dealing with the idea of a nuclear holocaust, and the aftermath. If you haven't seen 'Jericho' yet, then check that out. I guess it's not so far from the truth given current events. Just when you think Jack Bauer will step in and save the day, there's a twist, and this season, we get to see a side to Jack that we haven't seen in previous seasons. The big question is, what will happen to Chloe? She may not last the whole '24'.

If you want to spice up your blog or website, then think about downloading some great, sassy fonts to get the attention you deserve. So, you're probably asking yourself, "Where would I get these fonts?". You can get them at Urban Fonts . At Urban Fonts you will find a wide variety of fonts....free fonts and dingbats. Actually, they have over 8,000 free fonts and dingbats which you can download for either PC or Mac. Besides having their own blog and tag cloud with the most popular searched words, you won't get any annoying pop-ups to make you a dingbat. So mosey on over there and check out top 100 fonts and free dingbats . I'm heading over there just to find out exactly what a dingbat is!

As a pre-school teacher, one of my responsibilities this year was introducing a foreign language to the children. The language that was chosen was Spanish. Unfortunately, I didn't take Spanish in school, I took French. It was at that point I realized I was at a disadvantage since I was picked to teach a language that I wasn't familiar with. Short of picking both my kids brains on how to speak the language (they both took it in school), I found a neat website that sells foreign language programs very inexpensively. FSI Language Courses are a great way to learn a language quickly and easily without investing a fortune in money or years of time. Besides, even if I didn't have to teach the little ones a new language, it would still be a great way to expand my own horizons, which only goes to show, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

School bullies have been around since schools began centuries ago. It's not something that you may have given much thought to unless you yourself have been a victim of a bully (I have) or if one of your children has. It is a very painful and sometimes dangerous situation that has even driven children to suicide or even killing others in retaliation for the bullying. Parents, teachers and school administrators are often incapable of handling the situation or diminishing the problem. There are organizations that have formed in order to deal with this problem that seems only to have increased over the years. Love Our Children USA is one such organization that attempts to give a voice to children and their families who have been impacted by a bully. There are things you can do beyond the scope of the school. Educate yourselves about how to deal with bullies right at the beginning of the problem so it doesn't escalate to a dangerous situation. Really, the best way to treat a bully is to not acknowledge them in any way. By ignoring them, you take away their power and they move on (unfortunately, usually to another victim). Bullies are often people with very low-self esteem issues who are often times victims of family abuse or neglect. Nevertheless, no other child should have to endure a bully's abuse. Validate your child's feelings and learn how you can empower your child to overcome bullying.

Loudlaunch is yet another pay to post website that has popped up recently, enticing bloggers to sign on and get paid to post for specific advertisers. The requirements are simple and similar to other pay to post sites. You must be 18 or over, have a verifiable Paypal account, have a blog that is more than two months old and have a verifiable readership. They will pay you every thirty days and you may post for up to two advertisers a day. There is already a backlog of bloggers as once word gets out, bloggers flock to new sites to sign on with the promise of making more money from blogging. However, you can see for yourself if Loudlauch is for you, but just clicking here .

I found this great new search engine called ChaCha.com that has real people as "Guides" to find information for you on the Web! I loved ChaCha and after using it, I signed up and became a ChaCha Guide.

With ChaCha you can perform a normal instant search, but you can also click "Search with a Guide" and be immediately connected to an experienced, friendly ChaCha Guide (like myself) who will find the best Web site(s) with the exact information you are looking for!

As a ChaCha Guide, I have my own ChaCha toolbar and would like to invite you to download my toolbar and use it to search on ChaCha. It's much better than the other toolbars out there because you can connect with a real person live, to guide you. Who knows, you may get connected to me!

Click on the link below and start experiencing a NEW way to search, with real human intelligence.

Download the toolbar by clicking on the link below or copy and paste the link into your web browser.
ChaCha Toolbar

Having suffered the frustration of using dial-up internet service, I was very happy to switch over to my local cable company for high-speed internet service. My happiness quickly dissolved when I received the first bill from this company. One could feed a small village in a third world country for the cost of high-speed internet service. Enter My Blue Dish . This unique satellite service has the ability to offer high-speed internet service at a fraction of the cost imposed by your local cable company. Don't let those big cable companies be the boss of you. Get a grip on the situation by checking out this unique alternative.

My Lot is yet another way for people to make money from their computers. You can log onto My Lot and see for yourself that by simpling posting and responding to posts you can begin to earn money with payouts beginning at $10. You must have a Paypal account to sign up so log onto Paypal to open up an account if you haven't already done so. I'll keep searching more ways to make money so that you can be your own boss!

About.com is looking for a few good writers who are experts in their field. You could be a blogger who has an expertise in a particular area. The pay is very good (around $500 per month), but they have a detailed and painstaking process to determine if you are good enough. If you are, then you may have found yourself a new career. Check it out at Be A Guide .

It used to be that people would say if you really want to meet someone, you can't stay home and expect it to happen. That is no longer the case. In fact, you may have a better chance of meeting someone special, if you stay home. How can that be you might wonder. With the onset of dating sites, meeting someone who is right just for you is more of a reality than wishful thinking. Unfortunately, many of these sites hook you in with a free trial period that doesn't allow you to see pertinent information (like how to contact a person). Once they have you hooked you have no choice but to join, sometime paying fees you can hardly afford. Now there's Just Say Hi which gives you the opportunity to meet a special person where you live....for free!!! That's right, you don't have to pay them one penny to join. So, if one of your resolutions is to meet a special person this year that can change your life, give them a try and, best of all, you don't have to leave home to do it!

I just became a Chacha guide recently and so far I'm loving it. Since some folks might want to know how to become a guide, I just found a great website forum Searching 4 Cash which will help you understand how to become a guide and what is expected of you once you do. It will also give you a good idea of how to build your own network so you can even make more money. This is a pretty good work-at-home idea, but you have to work hard to move up and build your own network of guides.

2007 is now upon us and some are wondering what the new year will bring? There's nothing wrong with wondering, but how much will you personally do to bring about the changes that need to be made? Many of us, myself included at times, let fate make these decisions for us. Sometimes though, fate does not make the right choices for us and we have to learn to take matters into our own hands whether it's about losing weight, finding a new job, starting your own business, buying a home or, the most popular next to weight loss, getting out of debt. This blog, over the next year, will explore all the options in all these categories and more to help you (and myself) to gain more control over our lives so no one but you will be the boss of you!