Friday, May 11, 2007

FX Club Foreign Exchange Money Trading

OK...today I signed up to trade money with FX Club brokerage firm. I am starting out with a whopping 100$. Here is my plan....

100$ means you actually control a margin of 1000$

So, I plan on making 3-5 trades per day of that amount.

I will not sell any amount if I am losing money. I will only sell if I am making a profit of at least 5$.

I know this does not seem like a large amount of money, however, I am not a rich person (Few writers, aside from Stephen King, are--and Lord knows I'm no Stephen King!).

With each profit I make I will increase my investments.

If you are not familiar with foreign exchange money trading it is fairly simple. Money has a different value based on the economic viability of a nation. So you trade USD for other money, and then trade that money for other money. You gain money based on the spread---the difference between the buy and sell prices. It is KINDA like stock trading only not quite.

But what the heck, FX Club is giving me 100$ to play with, so if I lose I'm not losing my money---I'm losing theirs. Can you beat that kind of deal? I think not. The coolest thing is if I earn money, I get to keep what I earn.

My dream would be to earn enough money to buy a home. I am tired of renting! Of course, it would take a few years to do that, but who knows? Stranger things have happened! If I could make an extra 100$ to 200$ a month, then I will put that money away for my kids. They are all going to be wanting cars very soon.

My Interview with fellow blogger LMA

Here is an interview I had with Little Miss Attitude. This is part of an 'interview ring' If you want to be interviewed by me, just leave a comment and I will send you five questions of my choice. Lets get to know one another! Her questions are in regular text and my responses are in italics.

My friend LMA can be found at http://littlemissattitude.blogspot.com/

1) You see on CNN that a real-live UFO has landed...oh, say on the Mall in Washington, D.C....making it official that there is other intelligent life in the universe. What is your first reaction?

I'd probably be excited, scared, and happy. Then I could stick in my bible bashing baptist step dad's face. In a nice way of course. He's a good guy, just confused.....Well, I suppose I would get my camcorder, digital camera, and shotgun...just in case. I mean you never know if they are nice aliens or not. Or if they are turning everyone into zombie like slaves as an attempt to take over the world. Or if they are going to mine our world and eat us. On the other hand, they could be really cool dudes. With gifts of chocolate.

2) Where is your favorite place to read? Why there?

In bed or on the couch. Because I live in a really small house! Plus, in the winter I can't read outside, and in the summer I get too hot.

3) Think back to when you were in elementary school. What was your very favorite thing about school? What did you just hate about it?

I liked reading and I knew all the answers to everything. No, seriously. Then everyone beat me up about it. Jerks.

4) You've just won two million dollars in a lottery. But there's a catch (figures, doesn't it?). In order to keep half the money, tax-free, you have to give the other half away to one or more non-profit organizations. Where would you give that million? Would you give it all to one organization, or would you divide it up?

You know, I hate giving money to organisations. I would rather start my own. One that fills in the gaps for the average family who needs help every now and then.

But, since I have to give it too an organisation, I would go with battered persons--including wife on husband abuse--and hungry/homeless families. In the USA.


5) Okay...this one takes a bit of an introduction. When I was a little girl, my grandmother lived down the street from a woman who spent her days going down to the city dump, where she would fill the wagon she pulled with glass bottles (I think they were all glass, way back then) and other likely items that she liked to collect. She brought them home and built full-sized buildings out of the bottles and used some of the buildings to house the collections of other items she accumulated. Now, the Bottle Village that she built (or what's left of it after the 1994 Northridge earthquake) is world-famous and Mrs. Prisbey is considered to have been a classic folk artist, mentioned in the same breath as people like Simon Rodia, who built the Watts Towers.

With that introduction, my question is, what interesting or unique place and/or person (famous or obscure) did you grow up near?

Well I grew up in the Umpqua National Forest and surrounding areas. We have tons of cool things with a few hours drive, like Crater Lake, the Oregon Vortex, Mercury Mines, The Narrows (white water rafting), and so on....but little known story...there is this tree with huge gazankas. Yes. I mean HUGE boobs. It actually looks like the shape of a woman. every few years kids go and paint it up too look like a naked woman. It's eloquently named the Boob Tree. I haven't been out that way in years but I totally should go see if it is still standing and take pics.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

The Verses of Ely-Anor

The Verses of Ely-Anor

by Rita Fae Harris
This item rated Teen Teen by its creator.

Paperback book $9.79
Download $4.69

Buy now at http://www.lulu.com/content/852341

Product Details:
Printed: 163 pages, 6" x 9", perfect binding, 60# cream interior paper, black and white interior ink , 100# white exterior paper, full-color exterior ink
Copyright: © 2007 Rita Fae Harris Standard Copyright License
Language: English
Country: United States
Version: 1


The tale follows Ellie, a simply librarian, who is thrust into an unseen universe of might and magic, of dragons and demons. Only her selfless love for others and her stoic resolve to survive will save her from the darkness she faces. An alien being seeks to control her, to use her as his weapon. An ancient warrior speaks to Ellie's mind, and a forgotten goddess comes to thier aid.

Will Ellie be able to save the ones she loves from a certain fate? Will the alien creature use her inate powers to control the many universes? Will Ellie's inner ancient spirit rise, or fall away into memory?

A journey of both the mind and spirit, into places unknown, begins with the opening of a simple box. Alien beings made of glass, an ice elemental who fancies herself a goddess, and the spirit of an Ancient warrior must battle to save one small librarian. The librarian girl is prophesized to fight the essence of evil, Dragon, in the final battle. First, however, she must discover and awaken the goddess that sleeps within the deepest recesses of her soul.


Excerpt:


For a moment, Ellie could only stare at the strange creature, and absorb the odd tawny and crimson colors of his crystalline body. Everything had occurred so quickly that she could not grasp reality; her sense of self was sand between her fingers. She was praying, somewhere, deep in herself, but those words held no meaning to her. They were only babble. She wanted to succumb to her fear, to crawl and cringe beneath this demon’s feet and beg it for mercy.

It was studying her, she could tell. She was not sure how she knew this; do bacteria know when they are under the microscope? She knew.

The crystal thing turned to her. “You think I am evil, a demon perhaps? Something out of a story book or movie? That may be so, I often wonder at my own existence. Are you listening?”

Ellie nodded her head, slowly, reluctantly.

He was suddenly kneeling beside her, and taking her torn fingertips gingerly in his glass hands. The crystal man bent close to her face, his shimmering liquid skin wavered in front of her. She could feel him staring into her. The Betrayer lay something of a kiss upon her brow. It kissed her earlobe, and Ellie felt ice against her skin.

“Then listen very carefully.” It whispered to her, and Ellie felt its bitter cold tendrils entering her ears.

Eleanor Brigit Smithy screamed.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Writer's Block is Exhausting.

Writer's block is a pain in the hind end. It cramps your style. It makes you judge yourself. It makes you wonder if writing is what you should be doing. If I worked in a factory or manufacturing, I would be bored but at least I would know exactly what to do and when to do it.

Writing is a solitary art. There are a bunch of websites, tricks and tips to overcome writers block, but at the end of the day it is only you and the keyboard (Or pen and paper).

The problem is that there is no one to kick you in the butt and say GET TO WORK! There is no whistle bell for when you should start and stop working. I tried using the alarm clock, but that just irritated me because I pretty much hate clocks.

Inspiration comes at the oddest of times. Worse yet, writer's block only comes when I really need inspiration! I shouldn't even be writing this blog right now. I should be working because I have assigned work due by the end of the week.

Not finishing that work means not getting paid for that work.

Not getting paid means we aren't going to eat next week.

Not eating next week is a bad thing.

Now, I wish I had a muse. Not the imaginary muse, but a real life muse standing right next to me. One who orders me to get to work. One who tells me exactly what to write, how to write it, and pushes me to get it done.

Luckily for me the closest thing to a muse I have is my family!

Things coming up for me.....

Well, my friend Kim Griffin and I have been working on a book of dark poetry we will be publishing at LULU.COM. We are hoping to have it up for sale in September 2007, but first I have to figure out how to make a gosh darn pdf file look the way I want the gosh darn pdf file too look! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

The poems are not for the faint of heart. I wanted to convey the darker, more secretive side of life. Those things we feel but we never say. The pains we hide and the demons in our hearts we try so desperately to control.

Seriously, writing the poetry was the easy part. Now I have to think about the format, organization, the images, the way the book will look and feel when my readers have it in their hands....

Kim is awesome, her artwork is displayed at the right. She is a great photographer and illustrator and I am sooo lucky to have her on board! Kim's art is really what is making the book. The poems convey feelings, the art conveys the imagery.

Resizing the photography and artistry to fit on the page with the poetry has become a bit of a struggle, but I am certain that we will be triumphant!

It is also hard to find the time to work on the arrangement, as far as how it is most eye-appealing and not jarring to read the poetry either over the image, beside the image, above or below the image.

So my props go out to the book editors/designers who do this for a living. There is so much more too making a book than I ever thought possible!

Monday, May 7, 2007

Google Co Founder Larry Page

Larry Page and Sergey Brin revolutionized the way we search on the Internet. Their Google search engine is an expansive directory, and one of the most profitable businesses on the Internet. Here are some interesting facts about Larry Page.

Larry Page’s technological savvy stems from his family’s love of technology. His father was a computer science professor, and his mother taught computer programming.

Larry Page’s parents met at University of Michigan. Page’s Michigan roots run deep. In his 2005 University of Michigan address, Page quotes his father as having said 'Well, I'll pay for any school you want to go to-as long as it's Michigan.’

Pioneering and innovation run in Larry Page’s ancestry. The B'nai B'rith Magazine reports that Larry Page’s maternal grandfather was an early Jewish immigrant into Israel who settled in the desert town of Arad.

Larry’s first computer was an Exidy Sorcerer—in 1978! The Sorcerer boasted 2 MHz processor speed and about 8K in RAM. That is about as fast as a third-grader’s calculator nowadays!

A love and affinity for technology began early for Page. He was the first child in his grade school to turn in a word-processed homework assignment-when he was seven years old.

Larry Page loves inventors and inventions. He is particularly fond of the works of Nicola Tesla. If you don’t know who Nicola Tesla is, Google him!

Google was originally dubbed BackRub, and developed while Larry Page and Sergey Brin were doctoral students at Stanford. It is a good thing Larry Page and his co-founder changed the name. BackRub just doesn’t have the same marketing appeal.

Larry Page never graduated from the Stanford doctoral program. Google took off so quickly and rapidly --boasting 20% monthly growth the first year--and the young inventor simply did not have the time to graduate.

Larry Page’s education credentials are a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering University of Michigan and a Masters degree at Stanford University.

Even before he co-founded Google, Page was working on his leadership skills. While attending University of Michigan, Larry Page served as president of the University's Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society.

Page was the first recipient of the University of Michigan Alumni Society Recent Engineering Graduate Award. He is a member of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) of the University of Michigan College of Engineering, and still serves as University of Michigan alumni.

Larry Page’s love for knowledge and invention did not end with his degrees. He was named a World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow in 2002 as well as a "Young Innovator Who Will Create the Future" by MIT's Technology Review magazine.

Larry Page is a valuable and recognized member of the technology industry. He has been a speaker at the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference, The Wall Street Journal Technology Summit and the World Economic Forum and the Commonwealth Club.

Larry Page also serves as a trustee for the X PRIZE Foundation Board. X PRIZE. The mission of the X PRIZE Foundation is to develop competitions to create breakthroughs in space and related technologies for the benefit of humanity. Most recently, the X PRIZE offered a $10 million ANSARI X PRIZE purse to stimulate the development of a new generation of privately owned and operated spaceships.

Page is quoted by the X PRIZE Foundation as saying: "The ANSARI X PRIZE team has challenged, motivated and encouraged talented small teams to accomplish breakthroughs that benefit humanity." Page can be viewed as a down to earth guy with his eye on outer space. Believable, since Page and his co-founder already conquered Earth through inventions such as GoogleEarth.

The name Google is actually a play on googol, the mathematical term referring to 1 followed by 100 zeros.

Jokingly, Lucas Pereira once said “You idiots, you spelled [Googol] wrong!” Larry Page commented that “this was good, because google.com was available and googol.com was not.”

Larry Page likes to have fun and be creative. He served on the University of Michigan’s 1993 "Maize & Blue" University of Michigan Solar Car on the Electronics Team. The car won the Sunrayce in 1993.

Many report that Larry Page once built an inkjet printer out of Legos™. Yet according to Brad DeLong, Larry Page says that “Actually, they weren't even legos. The point was to save money by building cheaper disk-drive cases. They were knock-off duplos from CostCo.”

In an article with the San Francisco Chronicle, Larry Page states that he is most fond of Lego Mindstorms™ -- Lego building kits with little computers in them. Look out world, soon Legos™ will come programmed with Google search engines. Maybe that will help us figure out how to put the Lego™ kits together.

Microsoft could take a few tips from Larry Page. In an interview with Peter Jennings on ABC News, the Google co-founder is quoted stating “"We have a mantra: 'Don't be evil,' which is to do the best things we know how for our users, for our customers, for everyone," Page said. "So I think if we were known for that, it would be a wonderful thing." Way cool, dude.

Larry Page drives a Toyota Prius. Not the kind of car you would expect from the co-founder of a multi-billion dollar corporation, but one you would expect from a nice Michigan boy.

Speaking of billions of dollars, in 2005 Forbes magazine ranked Larry Page as the 55th richest man in the world with an estimated $7 billion dollar worth.

In 2006, Forbes ranked Larry as the 27th richest person, with a net worth of an estimated $14 billion. Larry was 33 years old in 2006, and in one year his estimated net worth nearly doubled.

Yet with all this income, fame, and technology at his disposal, Larry Page is true to his roots in invention and philanthropy. The Washington Post reports that Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are fighting poverty and disease in Africa, addressing energy and environmental issues, and assisting nonprofit groups by giving away free online advertising, and devoting $1 billion in a 20-year corporate commitment.

Google Co Founder Sergey Brin

In the mid-1990’s, two doctorate students at Stanford University met and shared an uncommon love—the love for search engine development. Eventually, these two ‘nice boys,’ Sergey Brin and Larry Page, created Google in a friend’s garage. Find out some interesting facts about Sergey Brin, an almost timid young man with a kind heart and great vision.

Sergey Brin is a Jewish native of Moscow, Russia. His family immigrated to America in 1979, shortly before the Gorbachev era closed the borders for Jews migrating out of Russia.

Sergey Brin is the exemplification of the phrase ‘nothing gained easy is worth having.’ Sergey was only 7 when his family immigrated, and adjusting to life in America was not easy. Sergey struggled with language and cultural barriers.

Mark Malseed, coauthor (with David Vise) of The Google Story, quotes Sergey’s mother, Genia, as saying: “It was a difficult year for him, the first year…We were constantly discussing the fact we had been told that children are like sponges, that they immediately grasp the language and have no problem, and that wasn’t the case.”

As a youngster, Sergey found his niche in puzzles, maps and mathematics. Math is, after all, the same in every language.

Sergey’s education flourished under his parent’s supervision and the Montessori method—a method that fosters creativity rather than grade point averages.

Mark Malseed, coauthor (with David Vise) of The Google Story, explains that shortly before his 17th birthday, Sergey’s father chaperoned a trip of gifted math students to the Soviet Union. It was on this trip that the young Sergey thanked his father for taking them out of the then communist Russia.

On the same trip, the teenage Sergey showed his defiance for the Soviet Union’s communist control by throwing pebbles at a police car. Thankfully, his parents were able to speak to the upset police officers and save Sergey from any fines or other punishment.

Sergey Brin’s education credits include a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in mathematics and computer science from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page met during the doctoral program at Stanford in the late 1990’s, eventually developing a search engine the world has come to know and love as Google.

Google lore has it that Sergey and his partner Larry Page were not instant best friends. It was hard work and a love for retrieving relevant information for large data sets that developed the friendship-and company-that would last a lifetime.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page co-authored the 10th most downloaded scientific paper at Stanford, “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine.” Sergey also has dozens of other academic and scientific research publications under his belt.

It is no secret that Google began as a search engine created by two quiet computer geeks. Interestingly enough, it began in Susan Wojcicki’s basement. She now serves as an executive at Google, which shows that even with their fame and fortune, the Google co-founders have not forgotten their roots.

Sergey Brin is in a serious relationship with a nice girl, Anne Wojcicki. Don’t worry, Anne is not after Sergey’s money-in fact, her sister Susan Wojcicki serves as a Google executive and the families have known each other for many years.

Sergey Brin may not have a Ph.D., but he is recognized by the Instituto de Empresa with an honorary MBA, and is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. Sergey Brin was nominated to be one of the 2005 World Economic Forum's "Young Global Leaders."

Sergey Brin is currently reported as ‘on leave’ from the Ph.D. program at Stanford. It would be easy to assume that as a young billionaire, Sergey Brin will not return to graduate with his doctorate.

Mark Malseed, author of The Google Story, reports that Sergey’s Russian-Jewish parents are not ready to let the young man off the hook from following in his family footsteps and gaining his Ph.D.

Lazy is not the word many would associate with Sergey. Intelligent, kind, sweet, and especially modest are the phrases often used to describe the young man who co-founded Google. Even so, ABC New’s Peter Jennings quotes Sergey as stating “I am sometimes something of a lazy person, so when I end up spending a lot of time using something myself — as I did with Google in the earliest of days, I knew it was a big deal.”

Since co-founding Google with Larry Page, Sergey has become one the 14th richest person in the United States, with an estimated value exceeding $14 billion dollars in 2006, according to Forbes.

Hey, if Al Gore can run for president, Sergey Brin can make a movie. Sergey Brin is the executive producer of Broken Arrows, a film written and directed by Reid Gershbein. The film is due for release in 2007. A drama about love and destiny, Broken Arrows stars Lori Petty, Peter Quartaroli, and Mackenzie Firgens.

The Google mantra-‘Don’t Be Evil’ has some clarification through Sergey. Eric Schmidt has famously said, “Evil is whatever Sergey says is evil.” And as long as Sergey stays away from the dark side of the force, Internet searchers can rest easy.

According to ABC New’s Peter Jennings, Sergey Brin holds to more than success. He stresses the importance of innovation, ethics, and especially making a difference in the world. This can be seen in the decision of Sergey and co-founder Larry Page’s 20-year, $1 billion, commitment to world-wide philanthropy.

Sergey Brin is so well loved by the Internet community that some unknown person purchased all possible domain names under "Sergey Brin".

There is something unassuming, natural, and rather special about Sergey. On his Web-site mysergeybrin.com, Sergey states : I like ordinary and humble people . Will I be more stylish with a black suit ? No , I am just Sergey. And I want to stay Just Sergey for my friends, for me, for my family, and for all that support me and love Google.” How can you not want to be friends with this guy?

Sergey believes in simplicity of business and lifestyle. In an interview with CNNMoney.com, Sergey Brin explains why Google is so successful: “ Simplicity is an important trend we are focused on. Technology has this way of becoming overly complex, but simplicity was one of the reasons that people gravitated to Google initially. This complexity is an issue that has to be solved for online technologies, for devices, for computers, and it's very difficult. Success will come from simplicity.”




Some more inspirational shorts

Here are some other shorts I was playing around with. I hope they are inspiring!

Love is not

Love is not a chain,
But a freedom.
Life is not a destination,
But a journey.
Faith is not a rule,
But a guide.
Hope is not a vessel,
But a way home.

A Mother's Blessing for Her Grown Children

May the wind always be soft and breezy,
May your travels bring you beauty,
May your heart stay steady,
And kind,
And faithful.
May the sun always warm your face,
May you always find a safe place,
May God give you His grace,
And love,
And blessing.
May you always find your way home.

Faith is...

Faith is honesty without judgement,
Faith is the innocence of childhood,
Faith is giving without expectation,
Faith is a steady heart for troubled youth,
Faith is guidance born of love and prayer,
Faith is belief in the wisdom of God's works.

Don't Dwell

Don't dwell on what makes you sad,
But on the things that make you glad.
Don't dwell on friends that done wrong,
But on the ones that stayed strong.
Don't dwell on troubles long gone,
But on the blessings still to come.

Freedom

Freedom is the one gift,
We never think on,
'Till it's gone.

Keep True:

Keep true to yourself,
Keep love in your spirit,
Keep strong in your faith,
Keep honesty in your words,
And hope in your pocket.

Sit a Spell

Sit a spell,
For there are tales yet to tell,
And journeys yet to travel.
Eat and drink and be merry,
For tomorrow's a trouble
None should carry.

Today I Recieved

Well I thougt I would try my hand at the inspirational short poetry. I was a little disenheartened when the company said they only wanted humorous 2-3 liners.

Well sorry I'm not that funny! I try, I really do.

Instead of a funny bone, God's infinite wisdom gave me a happy bone. That's why I'm always smiling!

Well, just to share with everyone, here are some of the inspirational things I sent in. I thought they were funny, but what do I know?

A Mother's Prayer

Lord,
Bless this home,
Bless the children,
Bless my husband.
And I don't often ask
For myself,
But if you can get them
To wash the dishes
Every now and again,
And perhaps the laundry,
Then I'll give a little extra,
Come Sunday.

A Best Friend

A friend is someone who will offer guidance
A best friend will simply listen and understand.
A friend will help when you are in trouble,
A best friend will help you get into trouble.
A friend will lend you a helping hand,
A best friend stands by you in the end.

A Sister is...

A sister is someone
Who never asks to borrow anything----even when it's my favourite,
Who never minds wearing my makeup,
Who never bothers saying sorry.

A sister is someone
Who always stands by my side---even if I am not right,
Who always gives me hope and comfort,
Who is always my best friend.

Welcome!

Welcome friends, family, and Internet persons. I hope you will enjoy this blog. I have lots of thoughts on what will be coming up.

Today I have quite a bit of freelance work to do. I am working on several tips at lifetips.com, as well as writing articles for lifescript.com.

Whew! I'm a busy girl lately, which of course is entirely better than not being busy, which means that I would be out of work.

I have to tell you, when I began freelancing about a year back, I really did it just for extra income until I 'found something better.' Little did I know then that writing IS something better!

Is there anything more powerful than the written word? Think about it. We can learn, we gain hope, we can be saddened and uplifted, just because someone wrote thier thoughts and observations down. Words are a special kind of magic!