You know, I'm really quite tired of scams people run. Do these phrases sound familiar?

"Results not typical"
"Simulated imagery"
"Just pay shipping and handling"
"Based on consumer perception"
"...may apply"
"100% money-back guarantee"

"Free" no longer means free. It's just a word people stick in to get your attention. It's instantly followed up with "just pay shipping." I love that, "Free, just pay." Some logic, huh? Allow me to do some spin-doctor decoding.

"Results not typical" is corporate speak for, "You're not going to look like this regardless of how much you use our product."
"Simulated imagery" is corporate speak for, "Our product sucks and does nothing, so we had to make up some photos just to have something to show you."
"Based on consumer perception" is corportate speak for, "Good thing for psychological placebos! Even though there are no verifiable differences, at least the consumers seem to think there are!"
"...may apply" is corporate speak for "...will apply."
"100% money-back guarantee" is corporate speak for, "Sure, we'll refund the purchase price, but we're not refunding your shipping and handling charges, which is where we make our money anyway, because we inflate it about 10X."
* is a corporate catch-all that pretty much means, "Forget EVERYTHING we just said, because here's a conditional statement that nullifies our previous statement which was made only to get your attention."

It seems to be nothing but scam after scam, and they are masters at what they do. They craft their words very carefully so that you will interpret them a certain way, but when you find the product does not work as advertised, they cannot be pinned down to it. "Well, what was SAID was this, but what you interpreted was that." They're very crafty so they can never be caught directly.

For example, Lipozene, a weight-loss product (which, if you look at the fine print, says consumers lost an average of 3.86 lbs over an 8 week period. Honestly, 3.86 lbs over eight weeks? That's just so ridiculous, it's nothing. That alone could be water weight. In other words, it does virtually nothing) has an announcer that says, "Best of all, participants were not asked to change their daily lives!" Well, now, that doesn't mean they didn't change their daily lives. All they said was that participants were not asked to change their daily lives. But they know you're going to interpret it as, "People took this product and didn't do any dieting or exercise and still lost weight." They do this on purpose. Lipozene also has a 30-day money-back guarantee, yet it took the participants in the study 8 weeks to lose even just 3 lbs. Interesting how that time frame works, isn't it?

So after 30 days, here are your options at this point: Pay to have it shipped back and get refunded for the price of the bottle, but eat the shipping and handling charges where they have already made their money off you, or just keep it and avoid the hassle of shipping it back altogether. Either way, the company's beaten you at this point. From the moment you place your order, the company has beaten you. And this isn't just Lipozene, it's anyone, everyone. Lipozene's just a convenient example.

How many of you are familiar with the scam of buying something for a low price, but shipping and handling is twice as high as the "great value" you're getting for the product in question? "Buy this for $.99 (S+H $15)"

How about buying one and getting one free, but you have to pay separate shipping and handling? You get one product for $.99, plus $15 S+H, and you get another one FREE (just pay separate $15 S+H). So now your fantastic deal of a $.99 product has been jacked up to $30.99 Some deal, huh? And what other motivation would they have for shipping the two products separately when they could just as easily ship them in the same box if not to make extra cash off you? Oh, but it's free!

Ah, I just get so, so sick of the ridiculous crap out there. It's just one con job after another. I trust no companies these days! I've made it a point to instantly read the fine print in all commercials and webpages just to see what con jobs they're pulling, and I instantly scan for the qualifying asterisk. Everything out there is geared on screwing the consumer, one way or another. Remember that!

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NEW POLL!

If you were cast in a movie, would you rather play the main hero or the main villain?

For me, personally, I think playing a villain would be a lot of fun. It's so opposite of my real personality, but I can have such a creepy smile when I want to. Playing a hero would be a lot of fun, too, but villains get so much more freedom! I suppose it ultimately depends on the hero or villain role in question, but I guess I'd choose villain I'd love to play both roles, though!

Vote here: [link]

Poll results are always confidential, so privacy should never be a concern for you when voting in any of my polls. Thanks for voting!


It's never too late to check out past polls and vote! Take a peek at previous polls here: [link]

Update: I have a new mailman, it seems. He comes later than the other one. I thought this was a bad thing, until I found he looks a bit like Russell Crowe, and now I'm suddenly over it. So yeah, I'm adding Russ to the list.

In no particular order, here's a list of some pretty sexy guys I'd do.

1 Mr. Lawrence (The guy who voices Plankton in SpongeBob SquarePants) [link]
2 Jerry Trainor (No idea what that wet stuff is on his shirt. Probably my drool. Wouldn't mind making him my personal Trainor, if you know what I mean. Oh, Lord, yes.) [link]
3 Edward Norton (Sooooo hot, want to touch the hiney! Aooooh!) [link]
4 John Cusack (Not so much now, but in his younger years, oh, yes.) [link]
5 Russell Crowe (man, all the guys on my list are just too old for me. Still, though, damn!) [link]

I'd probably do Mr. Lawrence and Jerry Trainor the hardest, though.


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NEW POLL!

Do you believe there is intelligent life on other planets?

Essentially, "Do aliens exist?" We could probably all agree there are at least monocellular organisms out there, but as far as complex, thinking creatures, do you think they exist? Does it make sense, out of all the planets out there, for Earth to be the only one with life? From certain religious aspects, it might, if God especially created Earth and only Earth. From a scientific point, it makes no sense for there to be no life on other planets.

I once saw a poster with a quote that seemed reasonable. It said something along the lines of, "Either we're alone in the universe or we are not. Either possibility is overwhelming." Some people fear the possibility of other life forms. Personally, I would be more afraid if we were alone.


Vote here: [link]

Poll results are always confidential, so privacy should never be a concern for you when voting in any of my polls. Thanks for voting!


It's never too late to check out past polls and vote! Take a peek at previous polls here: [link]

I just watched Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd and I really liked it! I wasn't sure if I would, but it was among four movies my ex (wow, it's so hard to call him my ex. I keep calling him my boyfriend still, but he's not. It's so weird making that transition...) and I picked to rent and watch together (the other three being Balls of Fury (didn't like it), American Gangster (haven't watched it yet), and Spider-Man 3 (we both liked it, but it was very uncomfortable in how closely the relationship between MaryJane and Peter mirrored our own)). Have any of you seen it, and did you like it if so? What are some of the recent movies you've seen? What movies are coming up that you want to see?

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NEW POLL!

Do you believe ghosts exist?

As for what I mean by "ghost," it would be however you personally define the word. For some, it may mean the spirit of a deceased person. For others, it may mean a random apparition. It's just whatever the word "ghost" means to you.

Vote here: [link]

Poll results are always confidential, so privacy should never be a concern for you when voting in any of my polls. Thanks for voting!


It's never too late to check out past polls and vote! Take a peek at previous polls here: [link]

Well, everyone, after many weeks of deliberation and tons of emotional distress, my boyfriend and I have reached a decision - together. We've amicably decided to separate for a while, likely six months to a year. We'll be living apart and dating as much as possible. Neither of us have really had a relationship prior to ours, nor have we had much experience in romance or dating, so we haven't really bee able to make decisions in our own relationship based on anything other than our perception of what we think to be out there.

We're both confident and happy with the decision we've made, and while we're still nervous about it, we know it's for the best. In six months to a year, we'll reconvene and see where we are from there. We may want to get back together, and we may not. It's a huge weight off our shoulders. I think if it were going to work itself out, this is the best way it could have done so.

We're also both going to remain friends, which is something we were worried wouldn't happen. My initial fear (confirmed by him at first) is that he would find it too hard to see me without being with me, and I was afraid if we broke up, I would lose him completely. It felt like an all-or-nothing situation, which is why I was hanging in limbo for so long. But now, he thinks he can remain strong enough to still hang out with me and be a close
friend. We'll still depend on each other just as we had before, only we just won't be in a relationship together.

Of course there are going to be moments of fear for both of us where we'll get scared and want to say, "Never mind, let's just stay together," but we both know this is something we just have to do. It's going to be very good for us both, and we know it.

Anyway, hopefully we're both going to be on the road to recovery. Knowing that we can still hang out and that we might get back together later on in life really helps. Now maybe I can focus more on getting over this sickness that I haven't been able to shake the past three weeks. I finally feel relieved, from everything.

Thanks to every one of you for being here! I love you all! Happiness and success!

In light of the recent difficulties surrounding me the past month, I've noticed some vices of mine coming out. One I always sort of knew was there, and that is shopping. I love to shop. Shoes, clothes, makeup, jewelry - I love it all, even if I don't actually spend any money. I will browse online for long periods of time just shopping.

Another one that I recently discovered is hanging out with friends. Nothing seems to beat the company of good, fun friends. I have been going and wanting to go out to bars and play pool and darts with groups of friends a lot lately because it helps take my mind off my situation and gives me a lot of joy. I also just love talking and chatting about random things, and in general just hanging out with groups of mutual friends.

Combining these with my hedonistic tendencies and my addictive personality, I may be doing it in excess, and that can be hard to control. I have always had difficulty putting limits on things I enjoy. For example, I have always loved swimming. I remember one day when I was a child, I spent a whole six hours in the pool just swimming. It didn't seem that long, but it was. I kept asking my family to stay, but they just couldn't stay in the pool any longer. I admit, six hours is a hell of a long time to do anything, but I figure, "If I am still having fun, why stop?"

Another example I recall is playing badminton. I love that game, and I spent three hours, non-stop, playing it one day. I have always been a fun- and pleasure-seeker. It's very difficult for me to put a cap on things I love. This is a problem for me because I get in too deep too fast with a lot of things this way. If I could change one thing about myself, it would probably be my ability to control my desire for fun and pleasure. I would not say I am undisciplined, because I can control it, I just have a hard time doing so.

So, now what I want to know, is what are some of your vices? Feel free to share what you want. If it's private, you don't have to share. Only do so if you feel like it. A vice is anything a person does in excess to escape or avoid emotional distress and/or to provide comfort during distressing times. For example, there are drinking, sex, partying, drugs, shopping, eating, gambling, video games, and television to name a few. What are some of yours?

In other news, I noticed I'm almost up to 10,000 page views. It's interesting that it took me four years to reach 5,000 and in one year I managed to double it. I have no idea why or how, but no complaints. I suppose I'll do a kiriban if anyone screencaps it and sends it my way, but should the 10,000th visitor not notice or care, it's no skin off my nose. Who knows? I might do one anyway.

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NEW POLL!

Do you floss every day?

Vote here: [link]

Poll results are always confidential, so privacy should never be a concern for you when voting in any of my polls. Thanks for voting!


It's never too late to check out past polls and vote! Take a peek at previous polls here: [link]