miz_em

Donations

2007-08-05T20:26:52Z

So I get a call yesterday from the Illinois State Police asking for donations. Normally, I turn them down before even listening to what they want. But they said the magic 'k' word. They were getting donations to pay for kevlar vests for the State Police. Now how could I say no? :-P

Just think, the next time I get pulled over by the State Police, it might be some hot Colby Granger lookalike in a kevlar vest I helped purchase.

Alright. I might be just a tad obsessed. hee!

Lost 40 pounds

2007-08-04T18:24:27Z

Yep, I did. Lost 40 pounds since February 2007. Under normal circumstances, it would be a cause for celebration. Dropped two clothing sizes and all. But I lost that weight because it's one of the side effects of this diabetes medicine that I'm on, called Byetta. Mixed blessings, I guess.

The diagnosis in February was certainly a rude awakening, my blood glucose level tested out at 340 mg/dL, a normal person's is around 70-120, I believe. So it was off to the doctor, and now six months later, the blood glucose is down to around 100 each day, but I have to inject the Byetta before the two biggest meals of my day.

I hadn't really let myself think about it too much, just tried to do the right thing, changed the diet, added exercise, etc. I finally had to give in and buy new clothes this week, and clean out my closet of the clothes that are now too big. Another situation I faced with mixed feelings because the fact is the diabetes is here to stay.

Funny how things are. Like I said, I hadn't really let myself think about it, but I was looking at some pictures this week, in particular the ones I took at the CalTech Num3brs Panel, with Dylan Bruno, Rob Morrow, and Lou Diamond Phillips respectively. It's really noticeable. I had this triple chin, but my third chin is now gone, replaced with some wrinkles. I'll take the wrinkles any day. :-P

And as rarely as I post in this journal, I might even lose another 40 pounds before I post again... *laughs*

meme

2006-05-17T06:25:50Z

Oh dear!

List ten fictional figures you would have like to shag (in no particular order) and tag 5 people to do the same.

1) Colby Granger (played by Dylan Bruno in Numb3rs)
2) Don Eppes (played by Rob Morrow in Numb3rs)
3) William Bush (played by Paul McGann in HH2 and HH3)
4) Athos (played by Jeremy Irons in Man in the Iron Mask)
5) Inspector Carlisle (played by David Tennant in Blackpool)
6) Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon in NCIS)
7) Logan Cale (played by Michael Weatherly in Dark Angel)
8) Derek Morgan (played by Shemar Moore in Criminal Minds)
9) Seeley Booth (played by David Boreanaz in Bones)
10) Mr. Darcy (played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice)

Aww, I just thought of one more. Adam Carter played by Rupert Penry Jones in MI 5. Too many men, too little time!

Tagging umbralillium, shipotl, rollyb, miss_b_haven1, intervain

Huntington Library Botanic Gardens

2006-04-15T23:41:59Z

So it was supposed to be production implementation this weekend and I had to stay in LA for it. Alan flew out here so I wouldn't be alone this weekend.

We actually got off our behinds an went to Huntington Library. Spent several hours there too! It's absolutely beautiful. Took a ton of pictures and actually had a few turn out well.

Important events on your birthday....

2006-04-07T19:14:29Z

snagged from intervain

Go to wikipedia and type in your birthday. List events, Births and one death.

Events

33 - Crucifixion of Jesus (traditional date).
1860 - The first successful Pony Express run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California begins, and is completed on April 13.
1885 - Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his engine design.
1968 - Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "mountaintop" speech.

Births

1245 - King Philip III of France (d. 1285)
1367 - King Henry IV of England (d. 1413)
1958 - Alec Baldwin, American actor
1961 - Eddie Murphy, American actor and comedian

Deaths

33 - Jesus (b. 8-2 BC), son of God (according to Christianity(traditional date)

Um, I guess that explains why Easter always seems to be around my birthday... *rolleyes*

miz_em @ 2006-04-04T11:38:00

2006-04-04T18:37:05Z

From umbralillium. Posted because I'm amused at how accurate it is!

How You Life Your Life

You have a good sense of self control and hate to show weakness.
You tend to avoid confrontation and stay away from sticky situations.
You prefer a variety of friends and tend to change friends quickly.
You tend to dream big, but you worry that your dreams aren't attainable.

How Do You Live Your Life?

Conventions and such...

2006-02-22T16:47:57Z

I had a great time with Estelle and Jenn. And it was fabulous seeing Gaby again. And most of the guests were fabulous, but I think this is going to be my last Gallifrey convention for a while. I always seem to end these weekends on a down note, and I'm tired of trying to climb back up out of it.

Rob Shearman was as sweet as he could be, and he'll be an inspiration to me, I think. He's lost a lot of weight, using Weight Watchers, I believe. I'm going to use him as a role model for the weight loss thing.

Now see, Rob behaved much like how I expect guests to behave. Friendly, even though you know you're not friends. Unlike others, who say they are friends, then end up not even willing to say hi. I guess that's what made the weekend a downer. Ah well.

Em

Catch up post

2006-02-03T07:54:35Z

I was in New York for a Broadway long weekend with my sister a couple of weekends ago. Had a fabulous time and thought of all kinds of things I'd wanted to post. But didn't have the time to. Oh well. One of those things. One thing I do remember is about the play "Doubt". I wasn't sure what I would think of a play. Musicals are more my thing. And I was totally surprised to see Ron Eldard as the priest in Doubt. I haven't liked Ron Eldard much, but he truly impressed me in Doubt. The very first scene of the play has him speaking in his sermon to the audience as though we were the congregation. I have to admit I very nearly made the sign of the cross at the end of it, I was so spellbound by his sermon. lol! I told my sister and she just totally laughed at me. :-)

One of the amusing things too is that Ron Eldard starred with Dylan Bruno (see icon), my latest crush, in When Trumpets Fade. It was a Dylan Bruno connection sort of a weekend, because I also saw Sweeney Todd, which starred Patti Lupone. They were to do a pilot together some time back. Very amusing.

So here it is two weeks later, and I'm headed for London tomorrow! Yes! I wish I could say I was going to get some rest but I never do on these vacation trips. I usually have to go back to work to get the rest. The unfortunate thing is that I think I'm going to come down with a cold. I'm fighting back as hard as I can though, so I hope it doesn't happen!

It's my third time in London but my sister's first. We're going to see Billy Elliott the musical and We will rock you. And some sightseeing of course. I love the history in Central London. It's the anglophile in me, I guess.

Unfortunately, Jason and Nigel will be out of the country while I am there. I had hoped to connect with them but that's not going to happen now.

It's been a tough evening getting everything together and packed for the trip. The best laid plans etc. Ah well. It'll turn out well tomorrow. I know it will.

Icons and such

2006-01-05T03:53:59Z

What can I say? I'm a shallow woman... :-) I saw Gaby's and Karin's bare behind icon and I had to have one of my own. How obliging of Dylan Bruno to provide me with the opportunity to make one!! :-P

Em

Resources

2006-01-01T09:52:29Z

Many thanks to all the websites that provide brushes etc for general use. I'm listing all the ones I know I have downloaded from, regardless of whether I've actually used them. If you see something of yours that I've used, and not credited you with here, please email me at thediva@diamond-diva.net and please accept my sincere apologies. I just get crazy sometimes and just download them because they look cool!

Livejournal:

17dreams
77words
____kali____
___iconliciousx
__darkdreaming
__lockdownxbaby
_atomic_cherry
_euphory
rightforyou
_lovelygirl or hollowskies.net
_paperdreams
sharpfragments
_theillusionist
accented_rain
acidroses
aconite
adoraheatherly
hanako_lovely
alaskan_icons
amavel_bel
amethystia
amottie86
anabel_iconds
anais_dirge
angel_elf_icons
angelicc
anglesey
angry_kangaroo
anyathe
aranelmanveri
arisubox
artemisiiii
astarte59
ashkeicons
awmp
azuremoonicons
beckyo
benevolent
bianca____olaes____ is the name I have but it says bad username...
big_rock_show
blimey_icons
bloodytearslife
bombayicons
boutondor
boutondor
braggadocio
branlage
brevet
brokenicon
brokenrook
bunny_icons
cala_jane
candycrack
casey
caseybecker16
cassie47
catlove
cauldroncake
chatchocolat
chemista
claudia6913
colorfilter
colortone
comateen
contradictz
crazy_clockwork
creamycoolness
crumblingwalls
darkdreaming
darkicedphoenix
damnicons
david_lucena
dawn_icons2
daumin_su
deceptive_night
detoxicons
discordandnight
disappearicons
digitaljazz
dirtyfootprints
dj43
dracois393
dragong
drako_malfoy
drave
drunken_hawkeye
dusted_stuff
dymer_dream
eggdrpsoup
eightlove
elijahelectra
elitenobody
elliptica
envious_forms
eskimo_icons
etiolepb
euroticket
evenstar
eversmiling
ewanism
extraflamey
faded_icons
firithel_icons
fks_graphics
fluffy_monster
fooish_icons
frozenmoondust
garinungkadol
dearest
glass_prism
graphicjunkie
graphicquandary
grimopera
haito
hakanaidreams
hecatesknickers
_heckyes05
hermyonegranger
honerbright
hotoko
i6l803399
ianthinae
ibejeska
icon_goddess
icon_maiden
icon_monkey
iconic
iconisms
iconistas
iconographer
icons_with_love
iconstudios
iconxbrothel
ifancy__you
ihearttoronto
infinite_stars
ingridmatthews
innocenceagain
inxsomniax
iris_elegance
iwl
jessiesquash
jeweledicecream
joyfulsong
julia_thorne13
kamino
keliolio
kenaree02
kimcallea
latexandleather
lemonfossil
liars_dance
lily_designs
liminalstate
lindy
liss07
little_son
lookslikerain
lostluck_icons
lovemelikemusic
luminicity
luxbrush17
luthien_black
magdalenaicons
marlenum
masquerade_arts
masquerademasks
masterjinn
meek
meleada
miggy
minusthewalrus
miserylovesme88
miss_snoopy25
muted_seraph
mutlu
my_wonderful
myrasis
natangel
natazzle21
neko_graphics
nellenoir
nobodysbusiness
nocturnaldreams
notagimmick
on_thin_air
onebigshrug
onyx_icons
ouserboudreaux
oxoniensis
oxsweetwaterxo
pale_septembre
paperdreams
pekeana
petticoatrow
pfefferminzchen
pinklilies
pink_my_icons
plafulmispeling
plumerii
poshpixel
pokemastersan
princesae
promenadeicons
propaganda_live
pseudein
puppetarium
quebelly
rainbows3
realta_nala
rebeccama
riceball
risha66
roostersgrrl
roseicons
rubyraindrops
ryxangl
salsa_babe
ohfreckle
scarsonchest
scrapbookart
secretly__dying
september_icons
severusslave
shatteredshards
siebelle_art
slaygalthessily
snarkybecky
so_out_of_ideas
sofuckenvicious
soporifical
softcelestial
spaceyme
spiralling
squidfingers
stargater_gal
starlit_designs
studioamelia
suffering_eternal is the name I have, but it says bad user name...
neke
sweet100x100
synergy
synner
talon
tatteredhalo
teh_indy
the_base_queen
the_morningstar
theillusionist
goddess_naunett
throw_elijah
toxic_overload
trash_graphics
triedtoholdonto
tsuyogari
oceancurrents
unamused_icons
unconfessed
unmasked_icons
unobstructed
unusualgeek
veredgf
vexedselene
victoriaely
vodkaandirony
wash_when_dirty
wednesday_icons
wizzi_icons
wonderland__
x_sob
yumei_k
zinzibar

deviantart:

autumnsgoddess-stox
banaboy
daemon_djinn
FGaia13
meldir
moonlightstock
moonlightstock
NoxiousStock
omni-sana
redheadstock
reyesphile
shyu
twinkles1955
wingsdesiredstock
XxBLINDxX
zefhar

Websites:

44suburbia.net
500ml.com
8nero.net
arty.dk
brunos-honeypot.net
catandcharlie.com
cybia.co.uk
hollowskies.net
hybrid-genesis.net
janeandles.com
photoshopbrushes.com
pixelchick.dk
rainingdreams.org
redmoonstudios.org
siren.org
spy-glass.net
studio-amelia.com
swallowingshadows.nu
unknown-hakkai.net
veredgf-fredfarm.net
xtra-ordinary.net

miz_em @ 2005-12-31T16:36:00

2005-12-31T22:51:42Z

gakked from judiang

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
I controlled my temper better at work than I ever have before.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Nope, and nope.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, my father-in-law, over Thanksgiving

5. What countries did you visit?
None outside the US this year!

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
Travel to other countries

7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Dec 30th, I found out what my bonus was for the year. It was a great year!!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Staying sane

9. What was your biggest failure?
None this year! Isn't that fab?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Tivo!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Woohoo! Mine, always!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed you?
I tried not to think about it, but George Bush.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Eating out.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Numb3rs

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
I'm not too good with songs...

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier. More at peace with myself.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercising, but that's like talking about New Year resolutions.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Griping at hubby

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With Mom and rest of family! It was awesome!

22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
I'm still in love with the man I married 16 years ago. Annoying though his habits may be... lol!

23. How many one-night stands?
None.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Numb3rs

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No

26. What was the best book you read?
I only read to pass the time, nothing to enrich my mind...

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Norah Jones

28. What did you want and get?
Recognition, acknowledgement

29. What did you want and not get?
Wealth and power...

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
I don't think I have one!

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I'm sure we went to a Cardinals spring training game. I'm 41

32. What was one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Travel outside the country

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
Comfortable and casual

34. What kept you sane?
My friends.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Paul McGann is out the door. Dylan Bruno is the hottest man ever.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I try not to think about it.

37. Whom did you miss?
My parents.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Numb3rs fans online

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
It is possible to find a place to work that fits your working style.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Never hold back your step for a moment
Look alive! Oh, your courage will grow
Yes, it's higher and higher and into the fire we go
Into fire!
Onward, ho!"

"Into the Fire", The Scarlet Pimpernel

miz_em @ 2005-04-13T17:20:00

2005-04-14T00:32:55Z

I'm on several icon communities and all day long for a while now, I see these posts from people sharing what they've done. There are caps, brushes, textures, gradients, etc. They usually have a list of criteria for when someone uses their work, ranging anywhere from "must comment, credit, no hotlinking", to "comment if you like" or "I just want to see what you've done with it".

I think it's fair enough to ask for credit, when it's something like a texture which could actually involve a good amount of work on the poster's part, or even a gradient or brush. Or an icon, which goodness knows can take me days. What gets to me are people who are screen capping movies or TV shows.

Now this I have mucho experience in, and it does take a good bit of time. But these are raw caps we're talking about. You cap the movie while you're watching it, upload the whole shooting match to a webserver, and voila! It's available to the world, in all it's copyright infringed glory. And they're asking for credit? Hello!!!

Or people who make bases from other people's pictures, pictures that they've lifted from getty images or someplace else. Credit? Excuse me? All they've done is to crop a picture to 100x100 pixels!

So what exactly am I saying here? Beats me. It just irked me that people ask for credit when I don't think they have the right to. Asking for credit when they're doing something illegal? Oy!

Just had to vent. Back to your regularly scheduled programming... :-)

Em

miz_em @ 2005-04-02T23:07:00

2005-04-03T05:20:38Z

Met elsaf, trinalin, and judiang for dinner at Lalo's tonight. I loved my mango margarita, but Judi didn't like her strawberry one very much.

I like joining them for dinner, even with my husband. It's usually boring for him when he comes along to a dinner with my friends, and he hardly ever wants to. But Judi, Elsa and Trina always make sure they include him in the conversation. Usually about movies I've never heard of, but that's okay... :-)

Judi and I were celebrating our birthdays. Hers was yesterday and mine is tomorrow. She's more enthusiastic about celebrating them than I am. But she has a point when she says "Better too many than not enough"!! Or in the words of the immortal Methos "The alternative is unthinkable!" I should have remembered that, because it *is* unthinkable. I think I'll be enjoying my birthdays more from now on!

Anyhow, hubby and I stopped to take pictures as we walked home. It's about a thirty minute walk but it stretched to about an hour as we stopped to take lots of pictures. Chicago at night is beautiful, and taking pictures at night is a challenge I love. It's more of a challenge with this camera because I'm not as familiar with it.

A shot of the Chicago river a few blocks south of the restaurant

The Merchandise Mart

The new headquarters of the Encyclopedia Britannica

Chicago Board of Trade Building

The Methodist Church downtown

An interesting shot at 120 N LaSalle

I love Chicago at night! :-)
Em

Icons

2005-03-27T05:02:25Z

I've got into making icons, thanks to intervain. They aren't nearly as good as hers, but here are my efforts, behind the cut. One of them has Jason Haigh-Ellery as well... ;-)

Oh, My resource list is at the McGann Library at EZboard

Web pages!

2005-03-23T02:02:51Z

I've been a busy bee working on web pages. I set up a website for Jason Haigh-Ellery of Big Finish Productions. It's a typical fan website, found at http://www.jhe-annex.net

But the best fun I've had with this so far is working on the Nigel Fairs interview, found at http://www.jhe-annex.net/nigel.htm. Read all about him there.

It was fun on two levels. Talking to Nigel was a blast. He's such a sweetheart! And I really, really enjoyed creating the background image for that site. I've learned a lot about Photoshop in the last year, and the graphic is one of my best so far. :-) Check it out! I'd love the feedback.

And feel free to spread the link around to any Dr. Who or Big Finish fan!

Flushed with the success of creating these web pages, I'm planning a personal one. I have the domain already, http://www.diamond-diva.net. It's just a "under construction" graphic right now. Stay tuned for more on that!

Hugs!
Em

gakked from warinbabylon

2005-03-06T02:54:31Z

You Are 30% Extrovert, 70% Introvert

You are quite reserved

You aren't afraid of social situations...

But you very much prefer to go it alone

And why not? You're your own best friend!

Are You An Extrovert or An Introvert?

A fun meme!

2005-02-16T06:58:33Z

From pamdram

1. Reply with your name and
I will write something about you.

2. I will then tell what song(s) remind
me of you.

3. Next, I will tell you who you remind me of,
celebrity/animated or otherwise.

4. Last, I will try to name a single
word that best describes you.

5. Put this in your journal

I couldn't resist this one.

2005-01-23T04:50:59Z

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

miz_em @ 2004-10-30T22:56:00

2004-10-31T03:58:06Z

Haven't kept up with the journal in a while, but thought I'd post the results of this quiz because I like it.

Earth Dragon

The Dragon Personality
brought to you by Quizilla

Lookout! ;-)

2004-07-27T00:59:39Z

Goddess of Fire

What Kind of Goddess Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

He's been discharged!!

2004-07-02T21:44:08Z

Hubby was discharged from the hospital today, because the CAT scan, the MRI/MRA, and some other tests came back clean.

So, that means that they've ruled out stroke, but they still don't know what it is.

They have additional tests for him next week, but for now he's home. I can't tell you how relieved I am that it wasn't a stroke, even though we still don't know what caused the attacks!

Thank you, everyone, for your kind support! I felt so horribly alone until I posted in various places and saw the responses!

Em

My husband's in the hospital tonight..

2004-07-02T01:28:39Z

Alan was admitted to the hospital tonight. He had a couple of episodes of what they call TIA, transient ischemic attacks, this week. Mini strokes, one of the doctors explained to me.

He went to the ER on Monday night after the first attack and got a CAT scan. Apparently the CAT scan didn't show anything, so they gave him referrals to an opthalmalogist and a neurologist and sent him home. They thought it could also have been a rare sort of migraine.

On Tuesday, the opthalmologist said he couldn't see anything without dilating Alan's eyes but he was afraid to because Alan had narrow angle something or other in his eyes. So he suggested that Alan get an outpatient surgery done on his eyes that would punch a hole in his iris to relieve the fluid pressure.

Alan had that done on Wednesday on one eye.

Today, we went to the neurologist, and the neurologist was alarmed when he found out that Alan had a second attack on Wednesday night, so Alan was admitted to the hospital tonight. He'll have an MRI either tonight or tomorrow morning.

And that's all we know right now. Worried doesn't even begin to cover what I'm feeling right now. Scared doesn't quite do it either. I don't really even know what to do. All we're doing is hanging in there. *sigh*

miz_em @ 2004-05-24T12:27:00

2004-05-24T16:28:05Z

heheh! Pretty true!

This is worth a giggle!

2004-05-13T04:33:12Z

You're a Spirograph!! You're pretty tripped out,
even though you've been known to be a bit
boring at times. You manage to serve your
purpose in life while expending hardly any
effort (and are probably stoned to the gills
all the while).

What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

BWAHAHAHAHAH!

2004-05-07T17:30:15Z

Power Rangers Movie!

What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

I've never seen this movie.