Ann W.'s Comments

Page 1 of 2 first | prev | next

Question of the Day--5/4 by Pamela E.

May 5, 2007 | comments: 9

Ann W. May 5, 2007, 2:00pm EDT

Not really a music video, but the opening of Zandalee is a wonderful, sensual look at New Orleans. (1983-ish, with Nicholas Cage and Judge Reinhold)

Craft Tip of the Day--5/1 by Pamela E.

May 2, 2007 | comments: 10

Ann W. May 5, 2007, 1:57pm EDT

Styrofoam meat trays also work nicely for pinning quilling down when gluing pieces together--flower parts, etc. I actually snagged a 2 X 2 foot piece about 5 inches thick out of some shop's trash one day. it makes a wonderful, portable work surface for quilling.

A Photo by Racheline Maltese

Mar 1, 2007 | comments: 10

Ann W. Apr 21, 2007, 4:49pm EDT

Gorgeous!

How many states have you had the pleasure to visit? by Juan J Martinez

Apr 21, 2007 | comments: 31

Ann W. Apr 21, 2007, 4:21pm EDT

I've been to 41: AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NY, NJ, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, NJ, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WV, WI, WY. My parents considered it part of my education to travel in the summers (when gasoline was 35 cents a gallon, and 11 mpg was good enough). Ours is a beautiful, varied, and interesting country.

$1000 savings how to's by Tracey E.

Apr 19, 2007 | comments: 24

Ann W. Apr 20, 2007, 12:26pm EDT

I set up a budget. I looked at my bills for the last six months and put everything into an Excel spreadsheet. I have two separate lists of bills. Fixed bills and variable bills. I average my utilities and put them with the fixed bills. If I budget $180 for electricity and the bill is $120, the other $60 goes into my savings account. I include big, annual or semi-annual bills like car insurance and property taxes in my fixed bills, and put that money away in the savings account also. Wnen the electric bill is $300, I take what I need out of savings, but only if I do not have the money to make ends meet otherwise. Eventually I end up with a small surplus.

I work hard to stay within budget for my variable bills, but I try to be realistic. We were using Netflix and renting 2 or 3 extra movies a month. I bumped up the number of movies we get from Netflix to reflect what we were doing. Every extra movie we rented would have paid for the extra fee to have another movie from Netflix for a whole month.

I bank windfalls, like our IRS refund. I also set my budget up so that the bills do not total out our income. I do this by not counting all our income in the budget. If we were to suddenly have a dry spell, we could still make the bills.

I don't "go out and get money in a hurry." It doesn't work for me. I use the tortise method. Another day. another 50 cents. It does work.

A Photo by Laura H.

Apr 13, 2007 | comments: 24

Ann W. Apr 20, 2007, 12:07pm EDT

It's just beautiful. Reminds me of Degas. I love impressionism.

My Mother, My Father, My Brothers, My Family by Audrey F.

Apr 10, 2007 | comments: 33

Ann W. Apr 11, 2007, 11:21am EDT

If you can stand in this dark, hurting place in yourself, and find a way to have compassion for another person--any other person--then no part of what has happened to you can ever be called evil again, for you will have made it into a goodness beyond imagining.

Obviously, Today Was Easter by Selene N.

Apr 9, 2007 | comments: 15

Ann W. Apr 9, 2007, 9:43am EDT

Okay, I didn't like the way I explained the way Easter was set, so I looked it up. Easter is the first Sunday following the first full moon (stay with me here) following the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox falls on or around March 21 each year. Sooooooo, the next full moon after that is known as the Paschal Full Moon, and the first Sunday after the Paschal Moon is Easter. Geeeeez!

Obviously, Today Was Easter by Selene N.

Apr 9, 2007 | comments: 15

Ann W. Apr 9, 2007, 12:27am EDT

Good luck with memorizing the date of Easter. Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon in March. . . And you though the 3rd Thursday of November was hard to remember!

Equal Marriage Rights -- How Do They Really Effect You? by Racheline Maltese

Apr 1, 2007 | comments: 124

Ann W. Apr 2, 2007, 11:45am EDT

Marriage laws as they exist in the US are mostly about property rights, with a few personal rights (medical decisions, etc.) thrown in. Because the "righteous wrong" need someone they can all agree upon to attack, they work to deny marriage rights to those whose idea of marriage is different from their own.

There are legal things you can do to ensure that you have the rights you would have if your state allowed you to marry--living wills, placing survivorship rights on all joint property, etc. It isn't a great solution, but it will work for now.

The real trouble is not that straight people cannot accept gays. The real trouble is that a group of savy politicians saw a way to mobilize a large number of basically good people to put them in power by playing to their sense of morality and religious mores. They chose an issue, gay marriage, which concerns that huge, scary, sinful aspect of human life, sex, and they will ride that train until it crashes. Let's hope it's soon.

Game: Name a state bird by Melanie B.

Mar 31, 2007 | comments: 41

Ann W. Apr 2, 2007, 11:12am EDT

Willow Ptarmagin - Alaska

Cacoethes Scribendi:Bush Hatred Clouds The Left's Judgment Again by Troy Stouffer

Mar 30, 2007 | comments: 46

Ann W. Mar 31, 2007, 1:47pm EDT

You saw the trees, but missed the forest. This is how American politics works. We hamstring the president, make sure he can achieve nothing, and in doing so, prevent anything else from getting done. Since Richard Nixon got caught, no president has been allowed to pursue his agenda in peace. regardless of the agenda. The next president will find it no different, because we will be no different.

An Old Slave Woman by Mikal *A Four Year Smithie* M.

Mar 25, 2007 | comments: 16

Ann W. Mar 30, 2007, 10:36am EDT

Very nice. My profs in college always discouraged me from writing in dailect, saying it was too hard to read. Students are not encouraged to disagree with the hooded brotherhood of annointed ones. I think that if it is done well, dialect is not hard to read. Mark Twain did it all the time. I still like to do it, and I understand why you do. There's something satisfying about capturing a real person's speech. Good job.

We Cannot Agree to Disagree, but We Can Have Compassion by Racheline Maltese

Mar 29, 2007 | comments: 70

Ann W. Mar 30, 2007, 10:13am EDT

You said: "If those . . . can truly have compassion for me . . . then can't I make every effort to have compassion for those . . . It is, I admit, no perfect solution. And certainly not one that changes the world. "

Au contraire. It is indeed very nearly a perfect solution, and the ONLY one that could and WILL change the world. Now if only it were easy.

All the Cool Stuff I Know about Quilling by Ann W.

Mar 24, 2007 | comments: 5

Ann W. Mar 25, 2007, 1:04am EDT

I posted the pics to my profile here to make things simpler.

A Photo by Ann W.

Mar 25, 2007 | comments: 2

Ann W. Mar 25, 2007, 1:01am EDT

The quilling itself takes about an hour. Cutting the card, folding it, and gluing the quilling to it probably takes another hour. These cards all fit in a 6 X 8 envelope.

A Photo by Ann W.

Mar 24, 2007 | comments: 2

Ann W. Mar 25, 2007, 12:49am EDT

Thank you.

I do this while I watch TV with my family. It helps me forget everything. I get a kind of a zen thing going where I'm almost absorbed by the craft, and the next thing I know, I've finished something.

Let's Start Quilling by Laura H.

Dec 31, 2006 | comments: 3

Ann W. Mar 24, 2007, 1:54pm EDT

I've been quilling for a couple of years. I've begun making cards, and found that after a few projects, working without a pattern isn't that hard. I've uploaded pictures of a couple of my favorite cards to my Gather profile, if you want to check them out.

Craft Shows by Laura H.

Mar 15, 2007 | comments: 7

Ann W. Mar 24, 2007, 1:43pm EDT

There are publications that detail craft shows all over the country. the prices on these shows range from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars plus a percentage of sales. One of these is a quarterly (I think) publication called "Where It's At".

If your state charges sales tax, you must have a sales tax account, which will allow you to buy materials for making your inventory tax-free. The downside is that you must file a sales-tax return with the state.

Crafts-show selling is serious business, and an expensive one, which includes expenses for travel, meals while you are on the road, and equipment and displays. Many people do make a living at them, but it is a rigourous life, definitely not for sissies!

Page 1 of 2 first | prev | next

top

Ann W.
Texas

Baby steps are still steps.

Gather | Friends | Groups | Share