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Friday, Oct. 15, 2004 - 1:26 p.m.

I am back online, not that I was ever really offline. Actually, I was simply being lazy, lazy, lazy. Then this morning my mother informed me that I hadn't updated my online journal in fifteen days and I better get on the goddamn ball if I expect anyone to read my journal ever again. Hmmmm...

Yesterday I recieved the Fall 2004 issue of a U.25 magazine, which is published by USAA, my family's insurance provider since my father served in the army. Now, this magazine is really a half-hearted attempt to make the more boring side of money, that is the management thereof, seem hip and cool in an intelligent I-am-going-to-be-a-millionaire kind of way. Mixed in with the "Be a Millionaire Before You Hit Forty" articles are the "How to Date Online" articles. One of the latter in this particular issue was "Blogosphere or bust" (The 'b' in 'bust' was in fact lower case in the magazine, which irks me. Who the hell are they paying to write or edit this magazine and why the hell don't they find someone more intelligent, like me?). The article gives "five basic steps to blogging." Here's how I stack up, according to these educated steps:

Step 1: Select a topic aka pick a theme. I don't even come close to this, unless you consider whatever the hell I feel like talking about at the time a theme.

Step 2: Read and look at other blogs for ideas. A good idea, until you end up spending all your time reading other blogs instead of updating your own.

Step 3: Sign up for a free blog. Okay, check. I did this step pretty well.

Step 4: Totally useless piece of information that isn't really a step as much as a means to make the total number of steps given the nice-to-remember-number five.

Step 5: Promote your blog by commenting on other blogs. Then, with a wider readership, I would have to update my journal. And then a whole new set of people would come to know what a lame life I lead. Step 5 is of questionable help.

Thank you U.25 for information that was totally useless, and for making me realize I will never earn enough to be a millionaire before I become 200 years old.

In other news, Operation Make SuperGeniusKid Five Year Old Kid Genius is coming along well. She has mastered the word 'copacetic' and is now working on the word 'gregarious'. Now, if only she could speed up learning how to read, she would be well on her way to becoming a six year old Einstein. Of course, while she knows the meanings of both copacetic and gregarious, saying these words is a bit more challening. The repetetive 'g' sound in gregarious takes verbal coordination that she does not yet have, but it's worth it to hear her tell my dad he is being too gregarious when she is annoyed with him trying to chat with her while she is trying to watch "101 Dalmatians" for the 400th time. It never ceases to amaze me that someone who's idea of entertainment is having me swing her around in circles can have such an incredible capacity to learn and remember information.

Short and sweet:

Graduate school applications: Practically finished.

Job: None as of yet, besides babysitting kid genius and her sister, which is an education as well as a job.

Brother: Smart ass, as usual.

Parental units: Last Sunday morning, we were watching the morning news and reading the paper. I looked up from the article I was reading to find both my parents fast asleep.

TB test (so I can substitute): negative!

Reading: Circle of Women, an anthology of women writers in the West (By the way, Jane Eyre is the most wonderful book ever written.)

Writing: Stuff.

This Sunday I will be attending the Flathead Writers Conference. It is in Whitefish, and I have to admit that while I am excited about the conference itself, I am very much hoping I can find a sushi bar in Whitefish. Oh please, sushi!

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