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YES!
Sept 5, 2005 21:52:24 GMT -5
Post by Light Rises on Sept 5, 2005 21:52:24 GMT -5
I can't imagine anything much worse than not knowing what's become of friends or family, whether good or ill. Thank goodness just about all of your friends made it through, and that you now know for sure. *also hugs*
~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Sept 5, 2005 22:08:31 GMT -5
*scoffs* "Babyish"?! I'd do the same thing if I had a Randall plushie, so don't you feel ashamed at all! ;D VERY nice pics, by the way; the Falls is certainly on my list of places to go before I die, and these photos just make me wanna visit all the more. Awww, that's so SWEET! He looks like he wants a hug in the second one. You know, I believe he DOES! *hugs Randall...has sudden, EVIL thoughts of stealing said plushie, and won't let go just yet* >:-) ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Sept 5, 2005 21:45:57 GMT -5
It's still hard for me to wrap my head around what's happened down there, and I don't envy anyone who's now involved with the process of cleaning up. But it's truly been one of those situations where the best and worst of people have emerged -- all the lawlessness, juxtapositioned with people helping each other out. It truly is something, to hear about the toughness of these folks, and how they're acting as the best help now in this crisis. What really, really angers me, though, even worse than the horribly slow Federal response, is the attitude that some people, including one of my own best friends and some people in Congress, that New Orleans should be allowed to die. Never rebuild it, never allow anyone to live there, just wipe it off the map, forever. Anyone who says that, and believes that, has clearly never been there, and never experienced that magic. They have never known what it was like to walk the sidewalks in a huge, major city where someone like Randall would be as welcome as someone like me, and never thought of as "strange" or an "outsider". How many places do y'all know of like that? We CANNOT allow it to just vanish, in all but pictures, like mine on DA, and memories. I will not live long enough to see it return to its former glory, but maybe the rest of you will, and if you ever get a chance, please go there. pitbulllady *raises eyebrows* NOT rebuild New Orleans? *shakes head* I pray it doesn't come to that. And I do, absolutely plan on visiting there someday -- THAT'S not changing, not no way, not no how. ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Oct 8, 2005 16:38:57 GMT -5
Wouldn't it be easier to send in H20 helicopters to dounse the flames? Like on patrol? Oh, they've been doing that, along with other helicopters dousing the fires with some sort of pinkish substance which I have to guess is a fire-retardant solution. But when fires grow to any substantial size, it's no longer as simple as dumping water or solution on the flames, and the helicopters can only hold so much. Besides, they tend to avoid doing patrols after dark due to visibility issues. Helicopters DO help, but the work grounds crews do are still the most important component of putting out fires like these. Absolutely; while it's devasating at first glance, these fires are actually GOOD for this sort of environment. To quote Ian Malcolm: "Life finds a way." ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Oct 7, 2005 15:52:03 GMT -5
Well, except for a couple cases that were somewhat suspicious, all the rest of the fires just started on their own. It's the typical thing at this time of year: the brush and other plants are at their driest, along with the air, and it's also one of the hottest times of year. Part of what made the fires so bad this year was the fact that NONE had broken out until the past couple weeks, at the very end of the fire season. Consequently, that's given the fires a lot more "fuel" to feed off of than usual, since none of the brush, etc. had been burned off before now. All things considered, it's amazing that only a handful of homes have been lost to the fires, and there's been no loss of human life, either. They've certainly devasated the natural landscape, however, but as I said before, that's just part of the natural cycle of things around here.
~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Oct 7, 2005 15:31:36 GMT -5
Geez....and I thought Hollywood was impervious.... But wow.... But....Something happen? I mean...from what I see, I think this happened in 2003 right? What? No -- this is happening right now. I think there were some major fires going on in 2003, yes, but nothing like this. *is confused* ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Oct 7, 2005 15:21:37 GMT -5
I'm still wondering what you guys are talking about.... Hmm...how about googling something like "California wildfires", and seeing what you get? There's been tons of stuff written about these fires (at least locally), so I'm sure you'll find at least a good chuck of news articles online. ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Oct 7, 2005 15:06:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the condolences, everyone. *hugs all around* It means a whole lot, believe you me. I guess with strong winds that strong scent can really travel. More than that, the Santa Ana winds really make quite a piece of work out of fires that are already big, creating other "spot fires" and whatnot. I guess that, even without the winds, though, the smell would've still been persistent for miles and miles around; from Northridge alone (which is in Los Angeles county), you could see a literal wall of smoke blocking out the view of the mountains and sky westward (from the Topanga fire), and I'd never seen something of that magnitude before. The good news is that the Topanga fire has pretty much been put out by now, although another huge one has started up in Riverside. It's funny, because my biology professor was discussing that on Tuesday. She told us that this part of California is a "chaparral zone", which is naturally prone to quick-spreading fires. It's nothing new or different, no matter what the media might make people think, because this was a chaparral zone long before ANY humans settled here. You're a lot less likely to be affected by these fires (or by mudslides for that matter), though, so long as you live away from the hills and mountain areas, like us. It might not be as pretty, but then that just leaves us with the earthquakes to worry about. ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Oct 1, 2005 15:35:49 GMT -5
Nope, I'm not dead. ^^; There's just been a greater accumulation of personal and school stuff going on than usual, so free time's become something of a luxury. We had to put our sweet and wonderful rottie, Heidi, to sleep a couple weeks ago (we'd had her for ten years [we adopted her when she was one], and her illness just came on so suddenly...) *sigh* Yeah, that was a rough week. On all of us. On a lighter note, though, my older sister got engaged (*mock long-suffering sigh* "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride!" ), and I'm in Animation I at my school! ;D And, yeah, that class has been the other big time suck, along with the personal stuff. When our professor warned informed us that animation was the single most time-consuming artform, she wasn't kiddin'! Stressful stuff at times, yes, but exceedingly fun nonetheless (and sooooo fascinating!).^^ Still, though, I could certainly do without being away from you guys for long stretches of time. It's getting rather irritating, to put it mildly. *shakes head*...These fires are insane. I could smell the burning from my house on Thursday (and we live in the flats, a good distance away from the hills where the huge Topanga fire was/is still ravaging, so that's saying something). The odor's no longer in the air, though, at least from home, but goshdarnit if those firefighters haven't been working like dogs (and probably will be for the weeks to come)! On the plus side, this is happening towards the tailend of the fire season, and amazingly, only two homes have been lost so far (and we're talking about fires that have burned thousands of acres of land, the Topanga one alone having pretty much torched 20,000+ acres). So...yeah. 'Nuff rambling. It's too, too good to be back. ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Oct 7, 2005 15:37:56 GMT -5
My, it sounds like you guys DID have a fun day! Not too cluttered with birthday activities and such, but sometimes it's better that way, I like to think. Oooo, and before I forget: A VERY Happy Late Birthday, Sean and Randall! ;D ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Oct 1, 2005 16:10:58 GMT -5
I first heard about Silverwing a couple weeks ago, when Toon Disney aired an animated movie version of the first novel (at least I'm supposing it's the first novel, if not a compliation of all three), and I realized it was based on a series of books. I rather like bats personally, and judging from the author's writing style in the first couple pages (from the Amazon excerpt-thingie online), and from the plot itself, this looks like something I should check out! ;D
~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Feb 18, 2005 12:51:41 GMT -5
Aw, gee... *hugs* When you're right, Sean, you're right -- I DO want to do this. Thanks for the kind words. *inhales*...All right. I'll take "The Eyeball and Fur Rug" then, please. ~Light Rises
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Post by Light Rises on Feb 18, 2005 12:39:15 GMT -5
Well...a part of me wishes I could be a moderator, but I just don't think I'm up to it. What I mean is, besides a couple of short stints at IMDb, the old Boggs' Board is the only message board I've been on. So, unfortunately, I know very little -- if anything at all -- about being a moderator. And time is also a big issue, since I'm in college now. Wish I could be more helpful in this area... ~Light Rises
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Mar 11, 2005 15:34:00 GMT -5
Post by Light Rises on Mar 11, 2005 15:34:00 GMT -5
Sure.... Afterall. When qualified, a card player can be a teacher. Ask me your questions young Charmander ^_^ Oh, thanks! Alrighty -- but I have to find those cards first! I hope my folks haven't thrown them out yet... Hmm...my mom says I have to straighten up my room this weekend, so maybe I'll find them when I do that. Yeah, that's it! I'll get 'em both done at once... Dang...I'm so disorganized. XD Oh! Check you Instant Messages LR. Yup, already saw that. *heads off to reply*;D ~Light Rises
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Mar 11, 2005 15:12:32 GMT -5
Post by Light Rises on Mar 11, 2005 15:12:32 GMT -5
Heh, funny...I used to like Pokemon a lot (back when it was still super-popular in the U.S.), but my interest, too, faded once the TV series' first season was over. Meowth was my fave character on that show. I still have some shrink-wrapped Pokemon comics and cards around here somewhere. *looks around, then shrugs* My little sis and I tried to learn how to play the card game once, but we just couldn't wrap our brains around it for some reason, lol. You could probably teach me, Sean -- although right afterwards you'd still kick my butt at it. ;D ~Light Rises
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