Mom Sued By Son Over Finger

Nancy Garrity of Wayne, NJ won't be awarded "Mother of the year" ever! John Garrity, Nancy's son, was using a miter saw in her garage as she tapped him on the shoulder. As John turned his head, he lost control of the saw and his pinky finger was in a pile of sawdust on the floor.

A jury ruled in favor of John after his mother admitted "her actions caused the incident and her son injuries." The court awarded John $20,000 in medical expenses and an additional $95,500 for pain, suffering and undisclosed damages.

Kid Beats Mom Over French Fries

Dennis Hickman went berserk and repeatedly clubbed his disabled mother because she wouldn't share her French Fries with him. Family and friends have stated the troubled man has a history of violent and bizarre behavior. Dennis was charged with first and second degree assualt after his rampage on his mother.
Sheila Ross, Hickman's 52 year old mother, suffered injuries to her head, wrist and leg. She was treated and released from the hospital the same evening.  Sheila claims her son went crazy but isn't crazy and simply needs help.

After denying her son the last remaining french fries from her meal, Dennis grabbed a bat and started swinging. He kicked down the door, slashed his mothers tires, bashed in her mailbox and hit her car a few times.
Mrs. Ross told police, "He's my only son. I love him, but I can't be abused."

Breast Implants Explode During Flight

A 45-year-old woman from Russia on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Los Angeles found herself in a dire medical emergency when her F-cup breast implants burst. No one was exactly sure of Irena's exact medical condition when she collapsed at the LAX airport. It became apparent after a thorough examination that her breasts were the culprit. Irena's implants were removed shortly before she departed America to return to her home in Russia. Since her ordeal, officials in Russia have been warning patients of potential health consequences due to breast augmentation.

Teen Robs Shop With Banana, then Eats evidence!

A North Carolina teen was foiled as he attempted to rob an internet cafe with a banana but ate it before cops arrived. Seventeen year old John Szwalla entered a Winston-Salem store with a banana in his hoodie, claiming it was a gun and demanding all of the money in the register and safe.

A quick thinking customer and store owner Bobby Ray Mabe tackled the would-be stickup artist and kept him pinned to the ground until police arrived. While they waited, Szwalla ate his "weapon!"
Major Brad Stanley, spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff stated the officers took photos of the banana peel and joked about the possibility of charging the teen with destroying evidence in addition to his pending charge of attempted "armed" robbery.

That Shirt Looks Smart! That Shirt IS Smart!

Studies show that sixty percent of Alzheimer and Dementia patients will begin to wander and get lost as their disease progresses. Unfortunately, many will find themselves in this position more than once.

In this day and age of smartphones, corporations have begun to cash in on tracking technology. In an effort to get them home safely, a large communication and a large department store has joined forces to develop clothing equipped with GPS tracking capabilities.

The technology will provide authorities the location, within 50 feet, of the individual unknowingly wearing the device stitched within their garments. The plan is not yet set into motion thanks to the fact that testing units have had circuitry issues when washed.

The original idea, conceived by an assistant professor at George Mason University, was to equip shoes with a GPS unit for parents to track their children as well as nursing facilities to track Alzheimer patients. The technology was realized in 2002 when shoe manufacturer, GTX Corp GPS track-able shoes 2002 at a cost of approximately $300. GTX also offers GPS SmartSoles insoles which can be used with any pair of shoes.

The need for track-able clothing has become an issue due to the fact that many times, individuals that require remote over-site, are not wearing shoes. The proposed articles of clothing slated to receive GPS implants included under garments such as briefs, boxers and panties. Due to the fact that many patients require disposable undergarments, the focus has now switched to night gowns, socks, bathrobes and pajama bottoms.

The retail giant, which has not yet announced their plans publicly, is stating the access app to the GPS system will be available through the Google Play, Kindle and App Stores. The articles of clothing, each with an individual bar-code, will be limited to healthcare professionals and those with written prescriptions from a qualified healthcare provider. The retail corporation is hoping to provide the GPS traceable clothing for less than $40 per item.

This retail giant is not the only clothing outlet looking to make a profit off this technology. During my own research, I found that a certain lingerie company has been approached by individuals hoping to make the sex industry safer for prostitutes and exotic dancers.

Psychic's Crystal Ball Destroys Home

English Psychic, Kim Yeates, of Somerset can see the future events of others but unfortunately missed the call in regards to her own future. Ms. Yeates had left her apartment to visit friends and returned home to find that her home had been destroyed by a fire.

Investigators discovered that a 3 inch crystal ball, a tool which Kim uses to read clients had been placed where the sun's rays were reflected through the sphere onto the back of Ms. Yeates' television, which exploded, set fire to her couch and the rest of her apartment.

Kim left the ball in a window, noting how she liked how the sun reflected through it. The fire damaged everything she owned and unfortunately, she didn't have insurance to cover replacement of her items.

Firefighters at the scene stated that they had never seen a fire started by a crystal ball. Kim states "I used to love looking at the crystal ball and watching the sunlight come through it, but I wish I had never gotten it now!"

Why I Like Showtunes???

Straight people seem to ask me this question frequently. My answer? It's complicated. I'm not completely sure how I began to love show music but two events in my life stand out in my mind.

1- My dad's favorite movie of all time was The Sound of Music and every time it was on TV, he made sure it was loud enough to be heard throughout the neighborhood. To this day, I can sing and quote complete scenes from the film, note for note, word for word without cues or lyric sheets.

2- My discovery of a cassette tape of The Premiere Collection The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber from a flea market. The stories within the songs spoke to me and it all just clicked. Several years later I heard the complete score of The Phantom of the Opera and became obsessed to the point that one of my goals was to make it to New York to see the show on Broadway. During the summer of 1992 my goal was realized and I not only saw the show once, by January of 1993, I'd seen the show 35 times.

My love for show music could also be contributed to the fact that it's the genre I initially learned to sing. The natural tone of my voice, unaltered, seems to fit into theatrical music than most any other genre.

I discovered early on that not everyone shares my affinity to show music and it's not exactly a genre that's appreciated during karaoke night at a bar...even if it's remixed...I will never make THAT mistake again.

The mention of show music tends to also baffle the mind of many individuals also. I've had many people tell me they don't care for opera when I've asked if they've ever seen a Broadway musical. Though show music takes skill and a degree of training to sing, it's certainly NOT of the opera genre, though there are some shows that contain "operatic" parts within the show...this doesn't make it an opera though.

To further confusion, technically Les Miserables, Evita, Miss Saigon, RENT and Jesus Christ Superstar ARE operas but yet The Phantom of the Opera is NOT an opera. Why you ask? While The Phantom of the Opera contains opera scenes, it contains a good bit of spoken dialogue and non-musical scenes. Les Miz and the others I mention are completely sung through with no actual non-sung dialogue which technically means, they are modern day operas.

With all that said...Why do I love show music? I just fucking do.

BMG & Columbia House Music Clubs...Fine Print? Bills? No Problem

Long before Napster reared it's ugly head opening the flood gates to music sharing sites, before iTunes, before the FED's, RIAA, MPAA, NBA, NAACP, PBS or anyone else using capital letters as an identity nosed around out computers, we had Columbia House and BMG music clubs to de-value the music industry.

I was a very creative child and somewhat deprived. My mom's idea of getting that hot new tape that all the other kids are listening to was to tape it off the radio, which entailed holding an old cassette tape recorder up to a radio speaker, or even better, the TV. My copy of the soundtrack of The Sound of Music was a one of a kind recording. Just under Julie Andrews singing "My Favorite Things" you hear my dad in the background proclaiming The Sound of Music is the BEST movie ever made and my mom from another room screaming "turn that shit down!!!" My bootlegged from radio "Like a Virgin" tape was not much better thanks to mom's voice chiming in "Tell that whore to go back to Hell's Kitchen where she belongs" during "Dress You Up." Had I ever had a party, these were not really playlist worthy recordings.

So back to devaluing the music industry, pre-internet. How the hell did Columbia House or BMG ever make money? Picture it, you're flipping through Seventeen magazine and out pops a card stock postcard which reads 12 Tapes For A Penny. IN-TER-EST-ING!!!! How many more issue of Seventeen magazine are in the house?4 to 6 weeks later 4 boxes arrive in the mail addressed to variants of my name. 48 tapes, all for free!!! No more smokers cough and banging on my door followed by a voice telling me to turn that shit down. 4 weeks later, 4 different bills arrive. Bills? or Free tapes? Must be a mistake, we'll just file that into file 86. Bill Bill Bill, garbage garbage garbage.

Eight weeks later, the novelty of my 48 tapes has long since worn off...Need more tapes...Damn, I can only find 2 order cards...6 weeks later, 24 more tapes arrive in the mail. 4 weeks later, 6 bills arrive addressed to my clones. My mom asks "What are all these bills coming to you for?" My reply was "dunno!" then came the final notices times 6. Shortly after, a collection agency called North Shore started sending bills and demands for payment...What ever will I do??? I know, I'll fix it where no one will ever find out...Change of Address...Family moved to New Hampshire, no one lives there so who would ever tell?

My parents never caught onto my early life as a mail fraudster, nor do I think they understood or found a definite reason their mail seemed to have been redirected and lost for over 6 months when the forward request expired.

My Thoughts of Cra-Z-Art Shimmer 'n Sparkle Cra-Z-Knitz Ultimate Designer Knitting Station

During the Christmas season 2014, I saw this loom knitting set in both Wal-Mart and Toys R Us. Being that I already own over 20 different knitting looms, I couldn't really justify shelling out $30 for the set. I was intrigued with the lap desk the looms fit into though. I actually thought about buying a plastic lap desk from Hobby Lobby and just retrofitting it to use for my existing looms but so far, I've not.

Cra-Z-Art is the same company that I knew as RoseArt when I was a kid. I HATED RoseArt crayons, Cra-Z-Art's crayons are no different and much like when they were known as RoseArt, they have nothing on the quality of Crayola and Sargents. I have used other products made by the company, aside from their crayons, which I did enjoy using so I knew this could possibly be a good or a bad product. Even if I could use a 40% or 50% off coupon, still couldn't justify the cost.

A member of the GoodKnitKisses facebook group mentioned this set was listed on Amazon.com for $5.95 under the Warehouse Deals. I didn't really know what to expect from because the listing not only mentioned it was used (from past experiences I've found this to not be true) but it also stated that the box was damaged but less than $6 wouldn't be much to loose if it turned out to be a dud. Being an Amazon Prime member, I get free 2 day shipping on most items...I have already gotten my money's worth in free shipping since I renewed my membership in February.

 So I ordered the loom set, 2 days later it arrives on my doorstep. I opened the box to find it to be in rather good condition, never opened and showing no signs of damage other than a little bit of dented corners from shop wear. When I pulled everything out of the box, it was apparent that this was INDEED a new set which had never been opened. There was more to this set than I realized. The "bonus" item was a spool loom also known as a french knitter. My excitement for the loom desk turned to disappointment when I realized that it was designed to sit on a table or solid surface rather than using it as a lap desk.

The set includes 2 standard knitting looms, one a round loom for hats and items knitted in the round and the other was a small "long" loom also known as a rack loom for flat paneled items. The molded plastic has a bit of a thin and glossy feel to it, I've read some reviews claiming it is flimsy plastic. Honestly, this is a loom set, mass produced and marketed to children, it's not designed to be an item to be used for professional or more serious projects as the Knifty Knitter or Martha Stewart looms were designed for. The knobs on the tops of the looms are a bit smaller than I'd prefer them to be, but then again this isn't a loom set designed to be a travel or as an on the go set either. The looms are completely functional. The loom hook is really cool, fits my hand perfectly, unlike the ones that come standard with the Darice, Yarnology, Knifty Knitter or Boye looms.

Another bonus, in addition to the spool loom, you get 4 small skeins of brightly colored yarn made of acrylic yarn. The yarn seems to have a softer feel than Red Heart Super Saver or the acrylic yarns usually included in kits for children. The down side to the included yarn is the fact that the amount for each skein wouldn't add up to be enough for more than just a hat in each color...No problem though, the colors included appear to match up to colors that can be purchased from any yarn retailer...or at least coordinated.

My overall thoughts regarding this set?
I would say it is worth the original price if it's intended as a gift for a young child who wanted to loom knit or at least a beginner. The yarn included is fun to work with. The loom hook/tool itself is better than most and the spool knitter made me feel like I actually got a great value. The knitting desk/storage mount that came with the looms is possibly the weakest link of the set but it looks cute when all put together. One improvement I would have liked to have seen with this set is if they included a way to spin the looms as you worked. To work completely around, you have to turn the entire desk/mount around. Definitely a set to keep on hand if you've got kids with an interest in crafting, it's fun and functional.

Living Cheaper vs. Living Green

I've mentioned my idea for this blog to many people and it seems that many people have showed a general interest. Unfortunately, the bulk of those that show an interest have made the assumption that I am trying to create a how to site featuring sustainable and greener living. Though it would seem that these ideas do overlap at times, they are completely different lifestyles.

Living cheaper is exactly what it sounds like. The basis behind this page is to share my discoveries of finding cheaper alternatives to live without feeling like you're missing out on an enjoyable life. I'm not trying to create a page based on survival methods.

Living Green focuses on being environmentally friendly. Many times living greener can be more expensive than "normal" living. Take a stroll through Whole Foods and you will understand what I mean. Living green overlaps with living cheaper when it comes to re-purposing items or making your own cleaning supplies from natural ingredients. I'm all about re-purposing items, recycling and I love the idea of making my own supplies but I don't believe it should cost an arm and a leg to reduce the footprint you leave on the planet.

Car Karaoke Driving Discotech

Have you ever look over and seen someone singing and/or dancing in their car? Since I don't drive, I usually have plenty of time to watch other people do as they do in their own cars. A "fool" spotter, if you will. I've got it all down to an undetectable art...though Terry usually gives it away. We'll be stopped at a stoplight or stuck in traffic and I'll spot someone with their windows down, Thelma Houston blasting on the radio...you know it's not actually on the radio and it's most likely loaded on a device or they are playing a CD because it's crystal clear. I'll say "Terry look next to me" and he does as I'm trying to be discreet...of course he looks and stares for a good minute. By the time I get enough courage  to look back over, Terry looks away and the singer/dancer has felt the presence of eyes and at the exact moment that I look again, they turn around to see who's staring and since my head is in their direction, I'm the one they believe was enjoying the duration of their performance.

There are usually only two responses to this ordeal.
1-They stiffen up with both hands on the wheel looking straight ahead acting as it nothing happened

OR

2-They instantly become a Vegas Showgirl that invites us into her world, essentially adding props and anything else to the performance.

By the time the song changes, you have the option of turning away as if the situation never existed or you jump in and sing a long and prove which of you is the true American Auto Idol. Pretty much if these people do these little performances in the cars, could you imagine them home alone? That's the sort of crazy ass friends I need in my life...for sure.

Easter In My House 2.0

When I was a kid, Easter was all about the Easter Bunny. Growing up and being subjected to Southern Baptist church, I was aware of the story and all that went along with Easter but what I pretty much loved was everything Easter not related to the bible. The brightly colored baskets, eggs, candy and everything else one equated to the Easter Bunny.

Me, a cake my mom made and my sister, Becki.

 Unlike Christmas, there was no need to drop hints about what gifts you wanted. One didn't write letters to the Easter Bunny as they would Santa. Easter required no preparation not did it require decorations going up a month in advance. Every Easter, no matter what house we lived in, played out exactly the same unless my parents chose not to head over to my granny's house for the family Easter Egg Hunt, Easter Dinner and everyone's favorite....The bi-annual fight between my cousin La Shea and my Uncle Mike.

Might one call the night before Easter "Easter Eve"??? If not, I always have and always will. Anyway, Easter Eve was not exactly an evening of fun for me though I did go through the motions and try to seem as if I'm enjoying it. My mom would hard boil about two and a half dozen eggs, she usually boiled more than we needed because it was inevitable that some would crack in the pot, which meant she got to snack as we dyed the eggs that made it out of the water with their shells as solid as they were when dropped into the water. Whatever cracked eggs that she didn't end up snacking on or the ones that ended up looking awful, she'd use the following day in her amazing Southern Potato Salad. While we were working on dying eggs, she would also bake a coconut cake...I was the cause of that one I believe, if you said you liked something she would run with it for life...I had coconut cakes every Easter AND for almost every birthday...I've not eaten a coconut cake since I was a kid.

Dying eggs may be fun for most kids, especially the ones you see on TV or on the packages of store bought dyes. Occasionally my parents would buy the Paas Dyes but many times, I liked them for several reasons...They included many different colors and I loved watching the tablets fizz in the vinegar. I secretly wanted to eat the tablets because they looked like candy appeared as if they may have had a fruity flavor. The copper colored wire thing for dipping and removing the eggs from the dye baffled me, it seemed to bend from the weight of eggs. Why was the wire not thicker? I remember more often though, the food coloring coming out of the cabinet and a few drops of each of the 4 colors were dropped into coffee cups containing vinegar and water. Using spoons, my sister and I would do our best to make the 4 colors come out as impressive as we could get them so the Easter Bunny and no one else would know that we used ordinary food coloring. I also believe we really didn't understand the concept of mixing the 4 colors to create additional colors, so all of our eggs were Green, Blue, Red and Yellow.

I thought the better the basket of eggs looked, the more impressed the Easter Bunny would be and he'd leave my sister and I more candy than the year before. We would go to bed with the eggs sitting on the kitchen table, we'd wake up Easter to find them in the refrigerator and our Easter baskets that each of us had since our first Easter filled with candy where the eggs were the night before.

This was the Easter we lived at our Granny's house.

Those awful yellow curtains...ugg.

 The contents of our Easter baskets seemed to always be the same types of candy year after year. A large cream filled chocolate egg, a couple of Russell Stover eggs, small foil covered chocolate eggs, Robin's eggs, Peeps, jelly beans and Easter themed circus peanuts sitting atop Easter grass. The best part of our Easter baskets were the hollow chocolate bunnies made by Palmer. To this day, I prefer Palmer's chocolate over any other brand, even the expensive stuff.

My sister, being the wonderful older sister she was, found joy in how gullible and compulsive I was. After being told that my chocolate rabbit was actually alive, she said he would be in pain if I ate him and if I broke parts of him off, since he had eyes, he would see it and he would see me killing him. My bunny would sit for weeks because I felt bad for him. Eventually, I would pick the eyes off...sort of like a monkey would when they turn on a human...Once the eyes were gone...it was ON.

If we didn't go to granny's, my mom would usually bake a ham and my dad would hide the eggs my sister and I worked on the night before in our yard for us to find...Of course we'd only find a fraction of them and he rarely remembered all of his less obvious hiding places.

Our trips to granny's house though...those were always fun. My dad and uncles would spend a good bit of the morning drinking beer or whatever whiskey someone brought with them while hiding all of the eggs that we all brought over with us, much like the egg hunts at home, only a fraction were found. My mom would add an egg Leggs pantyhose came in to the collection of eggs with a bit of money in it, usually $5 or something better than a plastic egg with jellybeans or a real hard boiled egg. My dad had a tradition that he seemed to enjoy, he'd always hide a brightly colored egg high up in a tree for my cousin Missy. Missy was always the one to spot the egg in the tree and her tall skinny ass would be in that tree collecting that egg while all the rest of us are finding eggs under stinging nettles and in horse or cow poop...where one of my demented uncles would hide them. The egg's we didn't collect that day would usually let themselves be known within a few weeks once the rotten hard boiled innards exploded from the brightly colored neon or pastel shell.

My cousin Mikey and me...BTW my dad actually built that swing we are sitting on.

My Aunt Joan and Granny would cook for the family, my mom usually made her contribution to Easter dinner with her Southern Potato Salad, containing some of the eggs that weren't suitable for dying the night before. Sometime after everyone ate, or sometimes while we ate, Mike and La Shea would find themselves in the same room and one would say something to the other and it was ON. I don't recollect the topics of the arguments but the outcome was always the same. Everyone sitting in the living or dining room wondering what just happened and acting surprised as if no one expected it when in reality, everyone was wondering when it would happen. This was always a part of our family get togethers so to me, it was a part of it and if it didn't happen, I would wonder what was wrong.

My dad and Granny in her kitchen.

With all that said, I am now here at Easter 2015, Terry and I are both working Easter Sunday. We didn't get anything for each other for Easter, other than a little chocolate bunny made by Palmer. We always have the intention to dye Easter eggs but never do...not that I want to anyway. Our only real tradition is heading out Monday and snatching up the Easter candy that's all on sale but not so much that we'd have to worry about diabetes. ;-) Terry also always tried to find me my favorite bunny Biggy Ears made by Palmer.

So that's it, that's the story of Easter in MY home. Yes, I still remember the story of Easter as told in the bible, though with my knowledge of not only the bible but Roman history, I know more about it than the average person. If you want to read about a horrific death, do a little research on how Christ actually would have died...All thoughts of the last scene in Jesus Christ Superstar will be erased from your memory.

Dangerous or Gross Lifesaving Animals

It's a fact that animals can extend our life expectancy by giving us stress relief by capturing our hearts with their cute and cuddly ways. Therapy cats and dogs have become so popular that prescriptions have been written to individuals with special needs. Lifesaving medical therapy doesn't stop with cuddly creatures though. Here's a bit of info that you might have missed last time you were diagnosing yourself on Web MD.

Horseshoe crab blood is used to fight endotoxins though with a cost of $15,000 per pint.

Gila Monster venom has been discovered to treat the epidemic in American known as diabetes. A hormone in the venom, known as exendin-4, is similar to a hormone in the human digestive system that produces insulin when blood sugar peaks. Byetta, the drug derived from the venom of the ferocious lizard is available as an injection for Type 2 Diabetics to maintain healthy glucose levels. Not only does the drug help with glucose levels, it has also been noted to help with weight loss and appetite suppression.

Snake venom has been found to treat an array of medical issues including blood pressure, cancer, bacterial infections and many others. Tirofiban, an anticoagulant drug used to treat cardiovascular disease is derived from the venom of the Saw-scaled viper. Many other venoms are used for various ailments including venom from the King Cobra, Bushmaster, Copperheads and even the harmless, yet mildly venomous Garter Snake.

Maggots are certainly not something people think of when it comes to cleanliness. The larvae of the blowfly loves to eat decaying or dead flesh. Doctors use maggots to clean wounds by allowing them to eat the dead and bacteria filled tissue. Usually only used as a last resort when all other treatment methods have failed, maggots are placed on the infection under bandages for several days. The maggots ingest liquefied bacteria and clean the dead tissue from lacerations. Within the time these little guys are feasting on your flesh, they grow about a half an inch.

Leeches are known as nature's vampires. They were commonly used centuries ago to save limbs as well as lives. In modern times, leeches are used to close wounds and repair skin damage after reattachment of limbs such as fingers and toes. Just imagine, you cut your finger off, doctors reattach it then apply a few creatures with three jaws full of sharp teeth that continuously feeds on your blood. Sound fun? The FDA has approved only one of the 650 different species of leeches for medical use.