Well, I’ve done it… I’ve taken the plunge, and started my own web design business: AshTree Web Design! After 7 years of being out of the work force I feel I’m ready to jump back in, and with Morgan in school until almost 3 pm I now have the time to commit to such an endeavor. It is especially sweet that I am able to work from my own home, and I won’t have to deal with anymore do-nothing coworkers.

One of my biggest pet peeves while working outside of the home was coworkers who were lazy and/or neglectful of how they performed their job. IMHO… If you’re not going to even try to do something right the first time, then don’t do it at all, and don’t expect someone else to do the work you’re supposed to be doing in the first place! How you do your job, whether you’re a mere sanitation worker, or the President of the United States, speaks volumes about your character. Working for (and I guess with) myself I no longer have to worry about dealing with coworkers who are slackers anymore. Yaaaay!!!

I got my very first paying client (a contemporary artist) last week, and I already have a second, and possibly a third, one lined up. After 10+ years of experience designing and creating websites for personal, or charitable, purposes it’s so nice to finally get paid for it.

I have Pookey & Carolyn (who I met through KittiCo) to thank for giving me the confidence to start my own web design business. Pookey was always pointing out that I can design web pages better than half the web design people out there today, and that it would be a good direction for me to go career-wise. Carolyn was truly instrumental in giving me that last final push to get me to venture into starting my own business, and a new chapter in my life.

So, if you’re looking for someone to design a website for you, or redesign an existing one, give me a call.

Instead of wasting all this money on such a senseless war we could have fully funded GLOBAL anti-hunger efforts for 7 years!!! Just think… Tonight there are children in this world going to bed hungry, including children right here in America, all so Bush & his cronies can make a quick buck!!!

It’s a fact that Bush lied to congress, the entire American public, and the rest of the world during his January 28th 2003 state of the union address when he made his claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. What really pisses me off is: Clinton got a blow job from Monica Lewinski (a fully consenting adult), lied when he was asked about it (IMHO: Something he should have NEVER had to answer to the American public for in the first place!!! The only person he needed to answer to for it was his wife.), and got impeached for it. Yet, when Bush knowingly lies to the whole world to justifying starting the war with Iraq, killing and maiming millions of people, then lies some more to cover it up the original lie, nothing is ever done to him!!! Sad!!!

So, remember:

Blow job + Lies = Impeachment

Starting a war that kills millions + Lies = Re-election

In an open letter to the Kansas school board Bobby Henderson asks that if the Christian theory (I use the term "theory" VERY loosely) of "Intelligent Design" (remember when it was called creationism?) is to be taught to children in Kansas schools, then his theory in which the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster should be included as well. Hopefully this example will show them the sheer folly of allowing strictly religious theories to be taught in any public school, as it will open the door for any other religious group to demand that their theory be taught as well.

My opinion about this whole issue is: Religious theories should never be taught in public schools. Ever. That is what churches/synagogues/mosques/temples are for. If you want your children to receive religious instruction while in school, then send them to a private school that offers it. This whole movement to get creationism taught in public schools is merely a thinly veiled attempt by certain religious groups whose only goal is to shove their beliefs down everyone else’s throat… Whether we want it, or not. Sad, but true.

He also offers another interesting theory:

You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average global temperature over the last 200 years. As you can see, there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature.

Hmmmm… It makes you think, doesn’t it?

Dreamhost (our hosting company btw) has a hilarious flash video (QT version also available) on their brand spanking new blog:

Let’s Save Our Environment

One day my uncle picked up a hitchhiker going down Topanga Canyon Blvd. The hitchhiker gave my uncle a packet containing a cd-rom video and a few pages of song lyrics and the synopsis/proposal for a movie called "Kathy and Erol". Here is the video for your consideration (click load and then the play arrow near the bottom): More →

All I know is: This guy must be high on life… and glue! *lol*