Tagged Again!

So Beth has tagged me again. This time she made her own and it is very clever. It is based on the game Scattagories.


"Let's see how creative we all are.SCATTERGORIES. ...it's harder than it looks!
Take up the challenge! Erase my answers, enter yours, and tag a few people.Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things.. nothing made up!Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question & you can use the same answer twice."

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Amanda
BOY NAME: Albert
4 LETTER WORD: Aunt
GIRL NAME: Anna
OCCUPATION: Animal Trainer
A COLOUR: Amber
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Argyle socks
BEVERAGE : Apple Juice
FOOD : Asparagus
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Ass cream
A PLACE : Athens
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Airplane Crash
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Ah Hell!

That was fun! Some were tricky.

Don't forget to visit Beth's Blog for more cool stuff. And click here for the original post.

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Book Meme Tag

My fellow blogger, Beth from Beth's Thoughts, has tagged me with this meme . . .

1. What book is on the left hand side of your computer or closest to the left hand side?

2. Are you reviewing it, is it your favourite, or is it there for some other reason and specify.

3. Go to page 38 and write down from the 2nd paragraph, the first 4 sentences.

4. Tag 4 friends and pass them this avatar.

Here is my answer:

1. Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

2. I like to read and I liked the movie so I thought I'd give the book a try. So far it has been a kinda slow reading and its pretty weird.

3. There are only two sentences in this paragraph: " It was detachment that made this possible, a sublime loneliness with which Lestat and I moved through the world of moral men. And all material troubles passed from us, I should tell you the practical nature of it."

4. I'm probably not going to pass this on, but you may if you'd like.

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Free Recipe Websites

Here are a few of my favourite free websites for great recipes:

• Joy of Baking


• Allrecipes.com


• Better Homes and Gardens Recipes


• Taste of Home


• KraftCanada.com

Discussion: There are a lot more out there, just Goggle 'free recipes'. Which cooking sites are your favourite?

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Free Blog Backgrounds

I found some awesome (and free) blog backgrounds from The Cuteset Blog on the Block. It has a gallery of 283 backgrounds and is categorized into many styles/subjects. And they are really easy to install and they look professional.

Related Posts:
Free Blog Backgrounds

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Fairy I

This is the first fairy in the Fairy Series Competition. Please give her a name . . . you could be a winner!

This fairy was inspired by John Grimshaw’s ‘Spirit of the Night’ which I am planning as my next tattoo.

The Fairy’s Wandering by S. K. Lindeman

"The fairy’s wandering

her wings are light
her shadow so haunting
drips into night

but clutches of darkness

clasp not her wings

for fairy of lightness

flies upon dreams"

Competition Start Date: November 13, 2008
Competition End Date: December 13, 2008

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Fairy Series Competition!

About the Competition: I will be hosting a series of competitions in relation to the Fairy Art Series. The competition will be to name the fairy picture. All of them are in desperate need of names to be truly completed after two long years.

Winners: There will be one winner for each fairy competition. You can win multiple times. I will pick the names I like best. Each competition will end one month after they were originally posted.

Rewards: Since I cannot offer any tangible prizes I will award the winner of each competition with exposure on my blog. I will create a posting on Growing Pains that highlights your blog (if you are a winner) including an overview and any other aspects that you request.

If you have any questions just add a comment to this post and I will reply promptly.

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Fairy Art Series

About the Series: Over the past few weeks I will be posting some of my own drawings of fairies (which lack official names).

About the Drawings: They are very simple drawings that I did by hand and then scanned into my computer to colour in and add effects.

The Dark Side: I drew these a couple of years ago when I was going through a "dark" stage (that hasn't completely warn off yet). So they are a little on the goth side but still kinda cute.

Not Obsessed: I am not a 'fairy' person . . . I do not even know why I was drawing them in the first place. I think that I just wanted to try drawing people because that's what I was learning in art class at the time (high school).

Added Bonus: Along with the pictures I will add some random fairy-oriented content to the posts just for fun.

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Winter Blues . . .

Winter Approaching: Here in Southern Ontario it is starting to get cold. We just had a couple of really warm days (unseasonally warm for November) but it's all over now. It snowed once before Halloween but it didn't stay. Each day is getting colder. Soon there will be tons of snow and I will have to dress in dozens of layer just to go outside and i'll catch a couple of severe colds/flus.



Missing the Sun: Usually I am happy when summer is over because I am very uncomfortable in hot and humid temperatures. But this summer was mild and I had a lot of fun in the sun. So now (for the first time) I don't want the summer to be over.



Autumn Gone in a Flash: Fall is my favourite season. I love all the fall colours and wearing cozy sweaters. But it wasn't long this year, as usual, before the leaves just died and fell off the trees. Winter is approaching to quickly!




On the Bright Side: There are a lot of things I like about winter though. I like the sun but I elso enjoy the eerie comfort of a dark and cloudy winter day. The snow and landscape is beautiful. I love coming home after being in the cold and dressing into soft and dry clothes. . . and best of all warm socks! And of course I love Christmas even though I think people (and mainly corporations) go way overboard on the holly jolliness to soon.



In the End: I cannot change the weather no matter how much I wish I could. Like many people I will never be completely happy with the weather . . .winter is too cold and windy . . . summer is too hot and smoggy. Every year I just focus on the good aspects of each season because there is no point wishing for a different season all of the time.

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Recommended Movie: Apocalypto

I was reminded of a movie I really like and thought I would share my comments with you. Apocalypto is an amazingly intense and gorey movie. I am not a big fan of Mel Gibson, and I haven't seen Passion of the Christ yet, but I love this movie. The graphics and camera work are beautiful but their is an eerie and sad mood about it (the official website is really cool too).
Here is a short plot summary that I got from IMDB:

"In the twilight of the mysterious Mayan Kingdom, a young warrior known as Jaguar Paw has been captured and taken to the great Mayan city, where he faces a harrowing end. Driven by the power of his love for his wife and son, he makes an escape to rescue them and ultimately save his way of life."

If you like the sort of movies and things that I do (see my profile) then I would recommend this movie to you! I'll just let you know that it is inanother language so you have to read the subtitles and it's probably not appropriate for children.

You can click on the image at the top of this post to watch its trailer on YouTube.

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The 2008 US Election Results Are In!

I am not a big follower of politics but I must say that I am very pleased that Obama has won! I'm so glad that I was around for such a big part of American history. I believe that this is proof that we (US and Canada) are headed for big social changes and our future is headed in a good direction.

Click here to watch Obama's Victory Speech.

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Duggar Family: Crazy Courtship Ritual

The Duggar family is on a show called 17 Kids and Counting. I was watching it the other day and I found one of their practices very interesting. The oldest son in the family was in the process of "courting" a young women. This meant that no dating was permitted. He asked the girl's father for permission to get to know his daughter better. After what I think was a couple of years he then asked the father's permission for his daughter's hand in marriage. He proposed to her but the most affection he felt comfortable with was putting his arm on her shoulder. Later that evening he asked the father's permission to hold his fiancee's hand. The first kiss and intimate relations were to be experienced with marriage. Also, even after they were engaged, they could not go anywhere alone; they had to have a chaparone.

While I respect these families' choice to ensue courtship I cannot help but have strong negative feelings about this. To save the first kiss for marriage sounds fantasic and respectful but I could not imagine what it would be like for grown adults to not be allowed to express their love to each other. And they do not have any privacy . . . and they are adults! I do not believe that sex and kissing should be held off until after marriage. People should have the freedom to do as the please with their bodies. It is a beautiful way to express a person's love to another and no one should be ashamed of that for any reason.

I also find it unfortunate that this process of courtships seems to only value the men's decisions. He was asking the father for permission and not her mother. I think that people should do what makes themselves and others happy. If the Duggar women want to be courted I think that is fine. But I cannot imagine the parents being okay with their daughters rejecting this practice and choosing to date. When I have children I want them to have respect for their partners but I would put enough trust in them that they will do this on their own without being pressured into it.

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