This writer has tremendously eclectic talents in her writing. You really have to listen to a number of the songs to get an understanding of her amazing range, from the haunting and moody piece she wrote for Coraline, to the playful "Simple Things" and heartbreaking "Whisper."

And the "If Battlestar was and 80's sitcom" theme is frakkin' inspired... think Larry and Balki meet the Cylons...

Definitely worth the time to listen to a number of the writer's compositions.

I missed paying one of my student loans for six months in a row. I had set up online bill pay for all of my bills and monthly payments and forgot this one. As soon as I realized it, I made six months worth of payments in one shot and got it current. My bad. Thought it was over.

Then I try to purchase something with my Citibank card. Won't go through. I go home, call, and I'm told they lowered my spending limit to a point BELOW what I had already put on the card, and ran my interest rate up to 32% (that is more than the Chicago Mob charges, by the way). No lie. They said it was because of something reported on my credit history. Nothing to do with Citi, but because of that student loan issue that I had already corrected. So now I'm looking at over the limit fees, other penalties, interest hike, etc. My payment goes from around $120.00 a month to more than $700.00 a month.

They tell me there is nothing I can do about for six months. It's locked in. Because it was something that came off my credit history. I spend that summer struggling to keep the card current. I pay hundreds every month and still can't get the card below the new lower limit.

Finally, six months later they call wanting to know when they are going to see my next payment. I tell them flat out, "Ya know, you totally f-ed me. I've been with you for twenty years; first card I got in college, never had a problem or issue with you and you F-ed me royal the first chance you got. And it was for something that had NOTHING to do with you. I have NO F-ING IDEA when I'm going to be able to pay you again."

Ultimately I bitched and moan enough at the little girl they put on the front line at the customer service center, who was completely unhelpful, argumentative, unsympathetic and uncooperative, to get bumped up past two tiers of supervisors to a manager who could actually do something. She waived all of the extra fees, interest and penalties and pretty much reset the clock to where it was before this whole mess happened.

I've since paid the card off and cut it up. I'm almost done paying my other card down to zero. I will NEVER deal with Citi again.

Lesson One, don't get yourself in that situation in the first place. Banks don't care. Not a bit. You're screwed. Loyalty means nothing to them.

Lesson Two, always push past the phone reps and get to managers, they often can and will play ball with you.

I agree with Atomicsecrets... it looks like someone cut and pastes a frame from that famous bigfoot film onto a martian landscape. That's the first thing I though: that this was just a goof.

Here is a link to the decision that reversed the lower court ruling. Gotta say, I agree with the appellate on this one. It was a horrendous ruling by the lower court judge.

http://www.americanadoptions.com/adoption/article_view/article_id/2435?pg=1

The ruling was reversed...

IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF "E", A CHILD, BY JOHN P. BURKE AND CYNTHIA D. BURKE, PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS

Supreme Court of New Jersey

59 N.J. 36; 279 A.2d 785

July 1, 1971, Decided

COUNSEL:
Mr. Albert G. Besser and Mr. Leo Pfeffer, of the New York Bar, argued the cause for plaintiffs-appellants (Messrs. Hannoch, Weisman, Stern & Besser, attorneys; Mr. Leo Pfeffer, of the New York Bar, Mr. Albert G. Besser and Mr. Dean A. Gaver on the brief).
Mr. Edward Terner argued the cause for intervenor, Children's Aid and Adoption Society of New Jersey.
Mr. Mark F. Hughes, Jr., argued the cause as court-appointed amicus curiae.
Mrs. Joan W. Murphy, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause amicus curiae for New Jersey Bureau of Children's Services (Mr. George F. Kugler, Jr., Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney; Mr. Stephen Skillman, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Miss Joan W. Murphy, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).
Mr. Arnold Jay Gold argued the cause amicus curiae for Council on Adoptable Children (Mr. Barry G. Radick on the brief).
Mr. George A. Breur argued the cause amicus curiae for New Jersey Council of Churches (Messrs. Breur and Breur, attorneys; Mr. G. Thomas Breur and Mr. George A. Breur on the brief).
Mr. Charles B. Blackmar, of the Missouri Bar, submitted a brief amicus curiae for Department of Church in Society, Division of Homeland Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, and Division of Human Relations, Board of Christian Social Concerns, United Methodist Church.

JUDGES:
For reversal -- Chief Justice Weintraub and Justices Jacobs, Francis, Proctor, Hall, Schettino and Mountain. For affirmance -- None. The opinion of the Court was delivered by Proctor, J. Weintraub, C.J. (concurring). Weintraub and Jacobs, JJ., concur in result.

PROCTOR, J.

The county court denied plaintiffs' application for a final decree of adoption. The court held that plaintiffs' lack of belief in a Supreme Being rendered them unfit to be adoptive parents. The plaintiffs appealed to the Appellate Division, and prior to argument there, we certified the case on our own motion. We reverse.

If a sperm was the size of a sperm whale, it would travel at Mach 15 (size and speed being relative, of course).

I had a cat once that would fetch. It started out with the tin foil from when I made a french bread pizza. I'd ball it up and toss it across the room. Tigger would chase after it and swat it around the legs of the kitchen table and chairs. I'd walk over, pick it up, and toss it again. Eventually, he'd pick it up in his teeth, carry it back, drop it at my feet and sit up. If I didn't toss it again right away, he'd insistantly nudge it toward me with his paw.

Tigger should have been named 'Hobbes.' He would wait, stalking me by the front door of the house and attack me playfully when I got home from school, launching himself at my legs. He was the best cat ever.

The true insanity is that a piece of white canvas could be valued at valued at €2 million.

I think given that a British judge just ruled that the Inconvenient Truth DVD cannot be shown in classrooms there without also showing a significant disclaimer that illustrates 9 specific items in the film are outright falsehoods, that the film shows only one side of the 'controversy and is highly political, no way should Gore be given a peace prize.

And as former Poland President Lech Walesa pointed out, what does this have to do with peace?

It's political. It's ridiculous. It's alarmism. It's hype.

Gotta get outta here before Pool-slide dog shows up!

I had a queen ant (the ones with the wings) fly into my ear when I was about 10 years old and it got stuck there. Deep. It was still alive and driving me absofreakinglutely INSANE was it tried to move around and get out. Imagine the thing right up against your ear drum squirming writhing and trying to flap it's wings. And you can't reach it. Can't scratch it, can't do anything about it except deal with it. It was horrific, especially for a ten year old. About two hours of this and a doctor was able to kill it by pouring oil down my ear canal, but it still had to be removed. So we went to the hospital where the doctor used a little suction thingy to pull the ant out. 'Took five minutes. Charged us $500.

The nurse insisted it was trying to fly through because it saw the light coming through from my other ear. Ha. Freakin'. Ha.

We had to learn a song in fourth grade called "Fifty Nifty United States." Part of the lyrics included singing the names of the states in alphabetical order. We'd have contests to see who could do it the fastest. 17 seconds was good. 15 was great and some intrepid souls got it down to 13. Even with the remnant of that childhood ability, it still took me two and a half minutes to type all the names in.