No More Negative Nelly's Allowed!

It is no secret that Mother has Issues.  I am completely upfront and honest about that fact, I do not hide it from anyone.  One of Mother's many issues is dealing with "Negative Nelly's"!  They are even worse than the "Spelling Nazis" who drive me crazy.  They may even be worse than the "holier-than-thou-oh-my-goodness-you-offended-me!" people, but probably not by much.  "Negative Nelly's", by the way are, in case you couldn't guess, people who need to throw a downer onto every party.  The ones who have to point out how "dangerous" something is, or how "fake" something is, when it is completely irrelevant to the point being made.

I try to share inspiring, positive, uplifting images and sayings whenever I come across them.  If I enjoy something, for whatever reason, I share it on Mother's Facebook pages just in case someone else might enjoy it as well.  I do not need anyone to tell me what is "wrong' with it.  Ever.  If I state something is a fact, and I am wrong, I do not mind being corrected.  Like when I shared the picture of the swirling sunflower that I said was not Photoshopped when it was TOTALLY Photoshopped, that's fine.  I was wrong, and I apologized for that error.  But when I post something about  Compassion, and the need for everyone to have a little bit more, I do not need anyone to tell me that there is anything wrong with either the picture or the sentiment.  Shut the fuck up already!

Even when I posted a picture that simple had a beautiful child saying, "If you can't say something nice, shut up"  and I had to delete half a dozen dumb ass comments from people telling me how wrong that was.  Um, NO.  My fucking page, MY fucking rules.  And "Be nice or shut up" is my number ONE rule there, always has been, always will be.  If you do not like something on my page, share it on your own page and tell everyone there how wrong it is.  Your friends and family might care what you think, but I don't.  This blog and my Facebook pages are where I get to say what I think.  If you don't want to know what I think, don't "like" my pages or follow my blog.  If I want to know what you think, I will come "like" your page or follow your blog.

I am not sure why this concept is so damn difficult for some people to understand.  Just because I Love everyone, doesn't mean I have to care what you think, or how you feel, or what you believe.  I really don't care.  I am a very kind and loving person, I do my best not to deliberately hurt anyone in any way, ever.  I try to be sensitive towards people who aren't hurting anyone else.  Live and let live,... to each his own, ... and all that cliched nonsense is really how I live.  I started the "Mother is NOT Pleased" page on Facebook as a way to express myself without hurting the sensitivities of my extended family members who have no clue who I really am, and this Blog as an extension of that. I never wanted any "fans" or "likers", at all.  I have never asked another page to "Share" or "Pimp" my pages, I don't solicit anyone to "tell your friends".  I have invited a total of 10 people to come and "like" my main Facebook Page, and only three or four to the other.  I have never been about the numbers, I really don't care if there are 25,000 of you or the 10 I invited.  I do what I do for me.  I am thrilled that so many people have found Mother and seem to enjoy her crazy, fucked-up sense of humor, but that is not why I post what I post.

If you were looking for someone to cater to your every whim and never post anything that you don't love 100%, you are in the wrong fucking place.  I only cater to my own whims, and even I don't 100% love every single thing I post.  So get over yourselves, because I am so very over having to deal with it.  If you like what I post and you want to tell me how much you enjoy it, Fantastic!  But if you don't like something, and you really have no self-control to prevent you from telling me about it, I am just going to delete your comment so be prepared for that fact.  Even if you think it "wasn't that bad", if I don't like it, its gone.  Like I said, feel free to bitch and moan on your own pages and profiles about how stupid, dangerous, or offensive you think I am, just DON'T do it in my House!     

Mother is One Lucky Woman!

Mother had a pretty productive day today for a Saturday.  I finished my "work", fulfilled my obligations, and did my chores, and still had time to finish putting the borders on two of my new quilt tops.  For me, this is a very good day.  I know that I have a pretty nice life for myself here, and I appreciate it more than I could ever express, because I know how much worse it can be.

I have said before that find it funny that my most popular posts here are the ones where I am bitching about something, because I really have so little to complain about in my own life.  Oh sure, I have a fucked up extended-family from whom I am estranged, and my husband tends to be an asshole at times, and according to the federal government I have lived my entire adult life in poverty, but I know I am one lucky woman to have the life that I have.  There are billions of people around the world who would give their left arm to have half of the life I have.  I appreciate that fact. 

I have lived with far less than what I have now.  There was a time where everything I owned didn't fill the bed of a pickup truck, and even then I had more than many people ever have in their lifetime.  I lived "off the grid" for three years - without running water, telephone, or electricity.  Half a mile to the nearest neighbor, and ten miles to the nearest town, and I didn't even have a driver's license.  For the first 6 months, we lived in a 10' x 15' wall tent, until we graduated to a 10' x 50' beat-up trailer. Life was difficult, but even then I knew how fortunate I was to have a life of my choosing.

I am a simple person, my needs are few, and my wants aren't that much either.  I have no interest in fancy clothes, or cars, or things.  I have no interest in impressing anyone.  I just want to be comfortable, and to have the rest of the world leave me the fuck alone.  Is that really too much to ask?  I have never had any interest in being rich.  Yes, I would like to know I had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life.  Hell, I would be thrilled to have enough money to know I could live comfortably for a couple of months!  It would be nice to not have to worry about money, but it seems to me that most rich people worry a lot more about money than I ever have.

I have been extremely fortunate in my life in that I have never been forced to go hungry, or homeless.  I have always known I had a place to lay my head at night, and enough food to fill my belly any time I needed it.  I would like to take some credit for never getting myself into a situation that required me to end up homeless or hungry, but I knew in the grand scheme of life I was really just fucking lucky.  I could have just as easily been born in a third world country to a family who couldn't afford to feed themselves.  I could have lost everything to a fire, a flood, or any other of an untold number of disasters could have befallen my life at any time.

There is a saying from my youth that sticks with me to this day - "There but for the grace of God go I".  Now, as I have mentioned before, I don't believe in any "God", but I do believe in grace.  I know it sounds contradictory, and maybe a little ridiculous, but it works for me, so don't argue.  Life is about luck.  Some people are luckier than others - usually by right of birth, but not always.  Sometimes we make our own luck, but the energy of the universe is not fixed, there are no guarantees in this life.  The only thing being born guarantees you is that you are going to die.  Any time you get in between those two events is a bonus, and if you get to enjoy any of that time, well, that my friend is what I call "grace". 

And I do enjoy my life.  No, its not all fun and games.  I don't travel the world, or do a lot of exciting activities.  But I have never had an interest in doing those things. The things that I enjoy most in life really don't cost that much, so the lack of disposable income has never stopped me from doing what I wanted to do.  I learned long ago to make do with what I had to work with, and to be grateful that I had as much as I did.  I may not believe in a "God", but I certainly know that I am blessed.  I may not have a lot of money, or a lot of friends, or a lot of much of any thing else (except fabric, I have a lot of fabric), but I have a husband who loves me, a comfortable home, and pretty much every thing I want. I know I am one lucky woman!

My Review of the Time4Learning website

Last month I posted that I had been given a one month free trial of the Time4learning website, in exchange for writing a review of their site on the blog here.  Our free trial expired this week so I am here to share my family's  thoughts and experiences over the course of the last month, as promised.

First a little background - I found the site while looking for non-religious based homeschooling curriculum for my two youngest sons, ages 8 & 9.  The site focuses primarily on Mathematics and Language Arts, and it is geared towards independent learners from Kindergarten thru 8th grade.  This is a subscription based web-site which charges a monthly fee of $19.95 ( plus $14.95 for each additional child) for access to all of the lessons and materials, which are all hosted on-line, there is nothing to down-load.

I was happily impressed with our free trial.  Enough so that I have agreed to stay on with the site as a paying customer.  And when you consider my limited income each month this is probably the biggest compliment I can give anything!  $35 a moth is a LOT of money to me, but I have looked at the costs of alternative programs and this is about as affordable as any I have found, especially considering all that is included. 

Both of the boys are enjoying the website immensely, and they are learning.  The site allows the parent to set the child's grade level for each subject independently, and gives the child independent access to all of the material in that grade level, as well as the grade level above and below in most cases.  This was a perfect option for my sons as we are able to adjust the program to fits their needs on a daily basis.

I do hope they continue to expand the site to include more Science, Social Studies, and other subjects, and it appears they are working towards that aim.  There are a few basic lessons for these subjects available now, and what there is appears to be good quality, but more would be helpful.

Our only real complaint was with the way the "Playground" access was set up.  The site provides a "Playground" with games and stuff for the kids to play when their lessons are done.  In theory, this is great.  Our problem came when the kids tried to get into the "playground".  Parents set up a time constraint, so the child has to spend so much time on their lessons before they can go play.  Well, that's a great idea, but the timer seems to only count if the child goes directly from the lesson to the "Playground", with no break in between.  My kids don't operate that way.  They wrok for a while on the computer, then they go do something else, then they want to come back and play, but the time they have already put in no longer counts.  It caused a little frustration the first couple of days, but we worked around it by just setting the timer to zero.  I know my kids will do their work first, so they didn't need the timer anyway, but we found the whole system there a little awkward to start out with.

A little more, or perhaps clearer introductory directions for the kids would probably also be helpful.  My kids are pretty computer literate and internet savvy for their ages.  They have had their own computer for 6 years, and monitored internet access for more than two years, so they know their way around these things, but their were a lot of options and things that they still didn't understand about the site after using it every day for weeks.  I am still learning it along with them, but I think we have gotten a pretty good handle on all of it now.

We are really enjoying the web-site.  They boys both rush to start their school work as soon as they are dressed each day, and they usually do at least double the amount of work I have asked them to do there.  When they were asked if they wanted to continue after our free trial ended, the answer was a resounding yes.  And from a Mother's point of view, not having to correct all those papers, and put all those lessons together myself, definitely make it a worthwhile investment for me.  I can print out a pdf file each day, or each week, or each month of the lessons that each child has completed and I can know in an instant what they need more help on or where they are having problems without leaning over their shoulders all the time.

I just wanted to add how much I appreciated the web-site's free trial in return for this review.  As a self-employed struggling artist, money is always hard to come by, and being able to explore the full capabilities of the site before laying out any money was a major selling point for me.  I will continue on as a paying customer for the foreseeable future as I believe the value for my family far exceeds the cost of the monthly fee.

Disclaimer:
 As a member of Time4Learning, I have been asked to review their online education program and share my experiences. While I was compensated, this review was not written or edited by Time4Learning and my opinion is entirely my own. Write your own curriculum review or learn how to use their curriculum for homeschool, after school study or summer learning.

Bitching About Bitching

Well Internet People, what shall Mother bitch about today? Hmmm, as usual the options are overwhelming, but I suppose I really should pick just one. I know! I will bitch about bitching! That sounds like fun.

I suppose to begin we should probably throw out some definitions here so that you all know just what I mean when I say something. When I say I am “bitching”, I mean that I am complaining, usually with colorful vulgarities sprinkled about to emphasize certain aspects of my personal irritations. Now there is a huge difference in my world between “bitching” and being “bitchy”. And I do make a conscious, deliberate effort not to be a “bitch”, and although I play one on Facebook sometimes, that is only in self-defense. I may do a lot of “bitching”, and yes, I can occasionally be quite “bitchy”, sometimes for no apparent reason whatsoever, but I really do try not to be a “bitch”, even when people may deserve it.

I think I have mentioned before (if anybody is actually following along here) that I don't really like to complain to other people. I like to bitch, but I prefer to do it to myself, or someone who knows me well enough to understand that even if they have done whatever I am bitching about, my bitching has nothing to do with them. My favorite person to bitch to is my oldest son. With him I am free to say whatever the fuck I want and he will just laugh with me at the ridiculousness of the world. Even if he disagrees with me he is quite adept at bitching back at me in a way that has us both laughing rather than fighting. Damn, I taught him well!

The one thing about bitching that I think is most important to me is never to single anyone out in my bitching, unless they really ask for it! I rarely call people out by name unless they are far MORE powerful and influential than I could ever hope to be. I don't pick on people. Not my style. I will however pick on the stupid shit that they do or say, the messed up crap that that life throws at them, or the messed up stuff that they throw at life, that's all fair game. But not individual people themselves.

Its is a fine line to walk, and once in a while I know I step over the bounds, but I really try not to. It really bothers me when other Facebook Pages call out their fans to attack other pages or people by name, I don't play that way. If I have a problem with a “fan” I ban them and go on with my day. If it really pisses me off I might do a little bitching about whatever it was they did that got them banned, but I certainly never tell anyone their name! Now I certainly understand when Page owners call out the beyond “offensive” pages that are just being cruel and hurtful, and ask people to report those pages to Facebook. I understand it, but I don't really like it, and I don't participate.

The one thing that I cannot stand is people who bitch about other people being nice to them. Don't complain that your Grandma bought you the wrong video game, or that the clothes someone graciously gave to your children out of the goodness of their hearts smells “bad”, that's just fucking rude! If someone does something for you because they care about you, you should be fucking grateful you stupid fuck, not bitchy! Sorry, but that REALLY pisses me off, in case you hadn't guessed. If you hate the 75^th sweater that Grandma has given you, just say thank you, tell her you appreciate how much she loves you, and shove the fucking sweater in the back of the closet with the other 74, and keep your fucking mouth shut! Better yet, why don't you send some of them to some freezing person somewhere who would deeply appreciate a little warmth and kindness and quit being such a self-absorbed prick!

But I do like bitching. I am probably never gonna get off my skinny little ass and do anything to change the world beyond sharing a little love and laughter over the internet, so my bitching is probably generally pointless in the grand scheme of life. But then again, I think most things that people place value in these days are pretty pointless, so who am I to judge? If my bitching makes you laugh, great, that was kind of the point. If my bitching makes you think, well, that's even better. Just know that I am not bitching about YOU, I am just bitching.

A Little Rant about Home Schooling Stereotypes

The general consensus seems to be that the best part of Mother's blog is when she is NOT pleased and is bitching about something. Okay then, if that's what you all want to read, I can give you that. I have always got something to bitch about. But you are still gonna have to put up with the occasional kitschy post too, cause that's just how I roll.

I did get one response to my “Atheist Rant” yesterday that I do want to address, and although the comments were positive for the most part I am going to end up being bitchy in the end so just wait for it. The comment that got me going was about homeschooling, and how that particular person couldn't do it personally, and the only people that they knew who did were religious zealots with weird kids. That was the basic gist that I got from the comment anyway.

First off, I am not taking offense at what was said, and I am totally paraphrasing out of context here, but it brought up some issues that I want to address. I have written before about the fact that I have been a “Homeschooler” for over 20 years, well, technically, for over 40 years, as I started learning long before I started school and have learned far more myself outside of a classroom than I ever did inside one. So it is a subject that is rather near and dear to my heart.

Yes, my children are a little weird, and socially awkward, and not only do I not deny that fact, I am damn proud of it. My ex-husband used to try to belittle my eldest son, by remarking on the fact that he was 16 and still a virgin, and he didn't even drink or use drugs. I am sorry, when did that become a “bad” thing? At 16 my son was a full-time College student, with a part-time job helping run the entire IT department of that College. His job involved not only dealing with computers, but also people, of all ages and skill levels, and he excelled at it! Today he is 25, he is a College graduate with a full-time job as an assistant manager, he has a beautiful girl friend who appears to be genuinely found of him, and he has a Mother who could not be more proud of the man he has become. And yes, he is fucking weird! And he is also damn proud of that fact! He has a heart of gold, and more integrity than any person I have ever known (religious or not), but he is a unique individual to the core and I would like to think that the years he spent learning at home rather than at “school” played a HUGE part in allowing him the freedom to become that person.

Of course I could be totally wrong. He could secret despise me for allowing him to stay home when he asked, but somehow I doubt it. I think he would have mentioned it by now since he usually tells me when I have pissed him off. I am the first to admit I was THRILLED when he asked and I learned that we could. I hated sending him to school. From the first day of Kindergarten I hated it. When other parents were counting down the days till they could send their kids off to school, I was dreading it. I don't like public schools. I didn't like them when I was a kid, and I like them even less now. I have nothing against teachers mind you, I have known some awesome teachers who really inspired me and made positive impacts on my life. Its the school, the whole damn system I don't like. Well, that, … and the other kids.

But more than that I hate being separated from my kids every day all day long, and then when they finally do get to come home they are supposed to spend even more time doing “homework” assigned by their teachers. Sorry folks, this is my fucking time, you had your time, if you couldn't make proper use of it that is not my problem.

I have mentioned before that I am weird right? So hopefully none of this is coming as a shock to anyone, but I like my kids, well, most of them. I enjoy spending time with them, and I enjoy helping them learn about the world in their own ways and in their own time. Do they miss out on a lot of social interaction with other kids, yes. And that is part of the point. They don't get bullied or harassed, which they all did to one degree or another when they attended public schools. They don't have to deal with a lot of peer pressure until they are old enough to know their own minds and make their own, responsible decisions.

Its funny, EVERY single member of my extended family has voiced their disapproval of our choice to Home-school, either mildly or profusely, at one time or another, but EVERY single one of them has also remarked repeatedly on how intelligent and well-behaved my children are EVERY time they encounter them. Gee folks, why do you suppose that is? You don't suppose there could be any connection there do ya? Naw, its just a fucking coincidence I am sure … yeah right.

The stereotype about most home-schoolers being religious zealots, well, there are certainly more than a few of those, but I don't know what proportion they really are. I certainly don't have any real religious motivation, or even anti-religious motivation for it. For me it is about providing my children with access to the best educational opportunities I can provide them, and for helping them grow up to be decent, happy people who are not afraid to do whatever they want to do in their lives. In some cases I may have succeeded a little too well in some areas, and not enough in others, but I did the best I could with what I had to work with. What more can anyone really do?

Deciding What to Do Next?

I haven't accomplished much today. I did write a blog post, so that is something, but its not much. Actually I have done a lot of things today, but I tend to overlook all the myriad of things that are just a normal part of day to day living, you know, like feeding the children, washing the dishes or the laundry. But other than feeding the kids I really haven't done any housework either today. I started the day writing a blog post about all of the projects that I had finished this past week, but I couldn't even finish that! So I have mostly wandered about the house aimlessly contemplating my next projects. I sorted fabric strips for a couple of new quilts, and cut half the strips for one, but I just can't muster up any enthusiasm for either of those projects, so now I am trying to decide what I do have the enthusiasm for.

I mentioned a while back that I have been trying to use up all those boxes of strips that I spent the winter cutting a couple of years back. They are all calico prints, mostly. Thousands and thousands of strips of different colors and patterns of tiny flowery types prints. The problem is I have absolutely no interest in using any of them right now. When I discovered batik and hand dyed fabrics I lost all interest in all that other fabric I had already accumulated! I think I will probably bag up all the strips I sorted out and put them away for another day, and go back to playing with the fabrics I want to play with.

Thursday looks like it might be a good day this week for dyeing, and I haven't done any of that for a while so I think I will try to plan for that. The boys have to go to the dentist on Wednesday, so I can't dye before that or I will end up having to explain why my hands are funny colors! I did manage to finish all of those pajamas that I had cut out for the boys earlier this month, so they are all set for the next several winters sleep. And I finished six different quilt tops last week from the strips I have been sewing together for the last month. The sad part is, those six quilts, emptied 1 box of strips, I still have like 40 more boxes! I thought about trying to sell off some of the strips on eBay like I have been doing with most of the yardage, but I am not perfect and I do not want to listen to the bitching that I would be guaranteed to get if some of the strips aren't perfectly straight, or aren't exactly the measurement that they are supposed to be. So I will just stack the boxes back in their hiding spots again for a while and I will attack them again another time.

I am still working on that marbling idea as well. I haven't actually done anything yet, I haven't even started buying supplies for it, but I have been reading and thinking and learning as much as I can. I am thinking I will wait for next summer to actually try to do anything with it, but I might change my mind and spend some time playing with some smaller projects before them. I had some ideas that would lend themselves to being done on a smaller scale which might even allow me to do some of it indoors, but we will see how far I get.

At the moment I am working towards the idea of actually having some finished quilts available for sale by this Fall, probably late Fall, but Fall none the less. I can't do the actual quilting on any of them until the weather cools off, but I would like to have several of them ready to go once that happens. I don't know if any one will ever buy any of them, but I have to try. For years I have made dozens of quilts and just given them away to the people I loved, most of whom never appreciated either the quilts or me. I am so done doing that. I have to keep making the damn things, I have way too much fabric and a deep seated need to cut it all apart and sew it back together that only quilting can fulfill. So, either I try to sell them, or we drowned under them! We already have enough quilts in the house to survive a small ice age, we don't really “need” any more, at all. But I CAN'T quit making them, so somebody better buy them.

That reminds me, I have a funny story to share. I was talking with my oldest son on the phone last week, and we were discussing my idea of actually trying to sell some quilts. And he says to me, “Mom, I think you are way too hard on yourself. I know people would pay like $50 for the quilt you made me last Christmas!” I said to him, “Well, that's great hun, but that quilt cost me over $100 to make!” He's so funny! He has no clue what these kind of things cost, much less the amount of time that goes into them. He does appreciate it, but he doesn't really comprehend it. And that's kinda the problem, most people don't do either one.

Oh well, I can still try. I did manage to sell two t-shirts so far, and I haven't really even tried very hard. I still have a bunch of new ones that I haven't listed yet, and more that I haven't even dyed yet! So I may never be able to make a living doing what I do, but fortunately I don't really have to at the moment, so I can keep trying and maybe someday I will!

Mother's Atheist Rant for You Sunday Reading Pleasure ...

My brain seems to be on overload at the moment. I sat down here and starting writing a blog post about what I have been up to this week, and the whys behind it. But I can't stay focused on it because I have too many other issues racing around in my head that apparently need to be let out. So here goes:

Mother is absolutely sick and tired of all the fucking religious hypocrites on the internet, and in real life! I have no need, want, or desire for religion of any kind. I don't really have an issue with that fact that other people do, that is their life choice and if they would keep it as such we could all get along just fine. I don't care what someone wants to believe, and that is the point. I DO NOT CARE! My problem is that so many of these religious people (and yes, it is mostly Christians, sorry but that is a fact) who make a point of trying to shove their religion down other peoples throats. I live in the United States of America, this is not a “Christian Nation” - it IS a “Melting Pot Nation” where ALL faiths and non-faiths are supposed to try to coexist in harmony. Yeah, I know, good luck with that.

My point is your religion belongs in your homes and your churches and your lives, NOT mine. I don't go to churches and extol the virtues of Science and Logic, and I have never met an Atheist who did. Why in the world do religious people feel it is necessary for them to go to places explicitly designated for non-believers and try to take over?!? I am just sick and fucking tired of all of it! Do not go to an Atheist Facebook page and complain that all of their posts are anti-religion. DUH! What the fuck did you think they were going to be?

In the past five years I have watched two Yahoo groups in my local community that were started specifically for Atheist and NON-religious Home-Schooling Families get taken over by the religious folks in our area to the point where there is NOTHING but religious propaganda and “Glory be to God”: get-togethers! Just TRY to find Non-religious Home-Schooling materials anywhere in this country! Even the online program that our state uses as their “official” online learning program teaches 2^nd graders that Jesus Christ was a historical figure! Seriously?!?

I am a fan of dozens of Atheist pages on Facebook, and every single one of them gets assaulted EVERY single day by dozens if not hundreds of religious people, threatening their lives, damning them to eternal hellfire and brimstone, and complaining that the Atheists are the ones waging “War on Religion”! What the fuck is wrong with these people?!? Now I am sure, to be fair, that there may be a few Atheists who post on Christian or other Religious pages trying to start shit, I have never seen it, but I wouldn't doubt it for a second. People are assholes after all, that doesn't require a religious affiliation.

I have to admit, I have an extremely difficult time understanding how any Woman living in the 21^st century can be anything but a Pagan or maybe a Buddhist, but I can understand the psychological need that religion can fulfill. Everyone wants to believe that someone will love them no matter what they do, and that this short amount of time we are each given on this earth has some meaning beyond just staying alive as long as possible. Everyone wants to believe that there is more than just the day to day struggle for existence. It is comforting, and even empowering for some folks. I get that. But I do not get worshiping a God who thinks of you as a piece of property worth no more than a cow or a sheep. I do not understand worshiping someone who sees you as evil from birth, something that must be dominated and made to suffer for his own amusement. I don't get that. And, I am sorry, but if you REALLY believe the earth is only 6,000 years old, you are a moron. Nothing you can ever do or say will ever convince me otherwise.

I am not going to debate the merits of religion, my issue isn't really with the religions themselves anyway, it is with the “followers”, especially the ones who only follow the bits and pieces that serve their own interests. If Mitt Romney, or Rush Limbaugh, or the ultimate in sub-human slime – Newt Gingrich, are going to Heaven when they die, I do not understand why any self-respecting human being would want to go there with them. Please remember that according to his religion, Osama Bin Laden is also in Heaven, as is probably Hitler, and most serial killers. Sounds like one heck of a party, but NOT one I would want any part in! But that's okay, since it doesn't matter how good a person I am in this life, how much good I do, or how much love I give, since I am not a believer I won't be going there any way, right?

And people wonder why I have no interest in this nonsense. I just wonder why in the world they do.