The Tragedy of Michael Myers: A Halloween Fantheory

Halloween opens with a shockingly young murderer committing his first kill as he brutally stabs his teenage sister to death. He then wanders outside where his parents find him and remove his mask to reveal what is usually interpreted as a blank, callous look given what the audience has just witnessed. However, a more careful examination reveals the expression on the young boy's face to be more shocked and confused than merely blank. A careful examination also reveals another important detail: There is not one drop of blood on his clothes.

Exhibit A

A six year old stabs his nearly adult sister to death and his clothes are pristine. No blood on his face, no blood on his hands. If he just violently stabbed someone, why is there no blood splatter on him? My theory of this murder is that Judith's boyfriend is the one who killed her. 

Judith's boyfriend rushes down the stairs and out the door shortly after they go up to her room. As a movie watcher, you get the idea that they had sex; but did they, though? I know they're teenagers, but a minute and a half elapses between the time they go upstairs and when the boyfriend leaves. The audience clearly sees Judith is alive and doing some naked hair brushing after her boyfriend leaves. But throughout the opening sequence, we are seeing events through Michael's eyes. If he were a young child who had just walked into his sister's room to find her brutally stabbed to death, he would struggle to make sense of what he was seeing. His mind would try to piece together this event that he has no template for. According to my theory, this is what the audience is seeing. We are not seeing events as they actually unfold, but what Michael remembers as he is trying to make sense of his sister's death. He needs to make what he is seeing logical, so he imagines that when he walked into Judith's room she was still alive and then he imagines himself stabbing her. That's how children make sense of the world. They create elaborate fantasy worlds to figure out how everything works and to practice for the real world. What a child is usually trying to figure out with their fantasy world is what does a mommy or daddy do, or how do I astronaut. But Michael Myers has a much darker incident to figure out. 

Once his parents find him holding the knife used to stab his sister, they assume that Michael is the one responsible for her death. As doctors and lawyers and wardens reinforce his fantasy that he's a murderer, any real memory of what actually transpired is whittled away and all that's left is a bloody knife, a dead teenager, and a child's imagination trying to make sense out of the senseless. Michael apparently spends most of his time catatonic, so his mind never progresses far beyond the six year old trying to understand his sister's death. Fifteen years later he escapes, a child who has been brainwashed into believing that he is nothing more than a killer. Much like kid logic tells a child that they cannot be a cowboy without the hat, Michael Myers is not a murderer without his mask. The few times that his mask gets ripped off, Michael stops the murder-in-progress. There's no real reason to. He's very adept at killing, it's not like he's planning on leaving any witnesses. The Michael Myers underneath the mask is not a murderer. He has to put on the mask and play the role of murderer because every trusted adult he has encountered for most of his life has told him that he is a murderer. Still with the mind of a child, Michael is dutifully following the expectations of his elders and fulfilling the potential that he has been convinced is his nature.

Also, Michael Myers is a cat! 

The opening scene of the original Halloween movie:

Other interesting articles about Michael Myers:

Loomis, not Michael, is the real bogeyman

Was Michael Myers Autistic?

Why Did Michael Myers Start Killing?


This post was based on John Carpenter's original Halloween. I know later Halloween movies went in all kinds of directions, and Rob Zombie's remakes are wonderful but completely different from the original 1978 Halloween. To see the original, you can buy it either digitally or in physical formats from Amazon (affiliate link).

                                               

The True Spirit of Halloween

Samhain

Halloween has come a long way from its origins. Today there are only intermittent reminders of the true nature of Halloween.

Halloween started as Samhain, a festival that marked the end of the harvest. The Earth has given life and is also returning life back into the Earth to prepare to create new life. The Earth is in a liminal state between life and death, and so this time of year became a time to remember death and honor the spirit world.

The Reason for the Season

Samhain has been regarded as the day when the veil between the physical world and the spiritual world is the thinnest. It's a time for remembering loved ones that are now a part of the spiritual plane. It's a great time for divination and scrying. Samhain historically occurred just after the last of the crops had been harvested, so it was considered the beginning of the new agricultural year. It's the start of the time when the Earth rests and regenerates in preparation for creating new crops.

Here are some ideas to celebrate in the true spirit of Halloween.

Divination and Scrying

Tarot

A Tarot reading is a great divination activity for Halloween. It’s something that you can do by yourself or as an activity with friends. You don’t have to be an expert at Tarot to do a Tarot reading. You can let your intuition guide you to decipher the cards.

Runes

Runes are stones with symbols carved on them. Each symbol has a complex meaning. A fun group activity incorporating Runes could be to carve Runic symbols onto apples and have everyone bob for apples. They can look up and interpret the symbol they receive.









 Scrying

Scrying is simply gazing into a reflective surface and meditating to let images come to you. People generally think of gazing into a crystal ball to do this, but a bowl of water works just as well. What's most important is to be relaxed and to let the images come naturally.

Halloween is a time to reflect on new beginnings. As the Earth prepares to create new life and people reflect on life that has passed, remember that every ending is a new beginning.

The Fortune Telling Book 

This is a small and simple book about fortune telling. It has many different ideas for fortune telling activities. It gives directions for how to go about divining using various mediums. It even gives you ideas for fortune telling using simple household items (like using an ordinary deck of playing cards as Tarot cards).
 

                                                                  

Treasures From Half-Priced Books: Bon Jovi Picture Disc

I frequent Half-Priced Books and, while they sell mostly books, they also sell records. I collect records so I like to look through the vinyl just to see what they have. Sometimes they have some interesting LPs, but I never would have imagined that I would have found collectible vinyl at Half-Priced Books. During my most recent excursion I found Bon Jovi's New Jersey 12 inch picture disc.

New Jersey is Bon Jovi's fourth album. It was released in 1988, and the date of this posting is actually the 26th anniversary of the release of this album. Doing a little bit of online research it looks like the picture disc was a UK release. That's the band looking very 80s on the the front. The back is just their New Jersey logo (lots of blue with the band name and the name of the album).

My favorite song from New Jersey is Born to Be My Baby. You can listen to a 30 second preview on Amazon.

                              

 

 Their New Jersey album really solidified Bon Jovi's status as a great rock band. Their first album (Bon Jovi) was decent, but then their second album (7800° Fahrenheit) was a total flop. There is literally one song from their second album that I like - and I'm a Bon Jovi fan. Their third album, Slippery When Wet, is a great album that really sets the tone for the Bon Jovi we've come to know and love over the years. Then this album - their fourth album - is similar in style and quality to Slippery When Wet. With the release of New Jersey Bon Jovi demonstrated that they just needed to get their bearings and figure out what works for them, and from then on they've released hit after hit.                     

I collect rare records so this was a very exciting find for me. I seem to have good luck with Bon Jovi at Half-Priced Books. I recall one day I was looking for their album Slippery When Wet. I wasn't looking for it specifically, I just had awareness that that was an album I would like to get my hands on as I was flipping through the records. Then Slippery When Wet leapt out at me. The cover art is supposed to look like the album name drawn in raindrops on a dark car, so it took a few seconds for me to process what I had found. Half-Priced Books never disappoints.

How to Remove Web Protect Virus Without Using the Control Panel

A computer at my work was recently infected with the Web Protect for Windows virus. This is a particularly nasty virus. Not only does the virus get onto your computer, but it downloads other viruses onto your computer by affecting your web browsers (potentially all of them). The worst part is that when you try to uninstall Web Protect for Windows by using Add/Remove in the Control Panel it will actually try to install something else. Now, it's possible that if you select custom install and then deselect everything that it's trying to install that it will in fact uninstall Web Protect without installing something else, but I didn't want to take that risk and I wouldn't suggest that anyone else take that risk. So, while everywhere else on the web that I've seen suggests that you go to Control Panel and uninstall Web Protect from there I decided to do something different - something which worked without installing more viruses onto the computer.

To uninstall Web Protect for Windows without going to your Control Panel you have to download a separate uninstaller. I downloaded Revo Uninstaller. Run the uninstaller on Web Protect and when it starts to go through the uninstallation process that you were trying to avoid before close out of that uninstallation. So (this is with Revo, I'm not sure what it will be like with other uninstallers) Revo will start uninstall, then it will go through the Control Panel process where Web Protect tries to download more software at which point you close out of the Web Protect uninstallation (but not the Revo uninstallation). Then Revo should continue and it will give you a list of stuff from your Rootkit that was downloaded by Web Protect. Let Revo do its thing with deleting all of that bad stuff and at the end Web Protect will be completely uninstalled.

After this you should download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Run that on your computer to remove anything left that was downloaded by Web Protect (because Web Protect downloads other viruses onto your computer, too). Malwarebytes is wonderful software that will remove things that virus scanners don't. Of course, have a good virus scanner on your computer to try and prevent this from happening again.

Although I didn't keep having problems with my web browsers, if you still think your web browsers are being affected then go to Malware Tips. This page on Malware Tips has instructions for uninstalling Web Protect the bad way, but after that it has instructions for resetting all of your web browsers to remove anything that might be left over from Web Protect. However, when I used Revo and Malwarebytes I didn't have anymore problems with Web Protect at all. But the virus was only on the computer for a couple of days, so if you think it's been on your computer for longer then you might want to take this extra precaution.

Why I Love Being A Loner

I am a loner, and there are times that I am really grateful for my preference. This morning my coworker came into work three hours early because he woke up early and, it being four in the morning, no one else was up so he had nothing to do. As a loner I am seldom bored. I am engaged with my own mind. There is never a shortage of books to read or movies to watch or even puzzles to do. I am not dependent on having other people around to have a good time. My life doesn't stop because no one else is awake.

For all the times I've been accused of "doing nothing" or "vegging" because I spend most of my time alone, and for being accused of having no life because I don't spend time with friends I say: How is sitting at home and reading more "vegging" than going to a bar or going to see a movie? Why is doing puzzles or reading short stories alone "doing nothing" but going to a sports game is doing something?

I love being a loner because every day I get to take part in activities that are interesting to me and I don't have to wait to do them. I don't have to wait until the world starts to do something fun, and if all of my friends are at work it doesn't make a difference to me. I feel lucky that my plans aren't tied to someone else so I'm not at someone else's mercy for my fun.

If you're a loner and you get tired of people ragging on you for "never doing anything" or calling you boring because you never go out then remind yourself of how mentally diverse your life is. I know it's easy for the "socials" of the world to get us down, but how interesting is it really to go to a bar every weekend?

If this post resonates with you, then I suggest you read my article Being a Loner in a Social World.

Also recommended reading is Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto by Anneli Rufus - "a long-overdue argument in defense of the loner." Available as a Kindle ebook or paperback through Amazon (affiliate link).

                                                      

Treasures From Half-Priced Books: Poltergeist The Legacy on DVD

I occasionally wander around Half-Priced Books when I have nothing better to do. I promise myself that I'm just going to look at the books, I'm not going to buy anything. But I always end up buying something. Sometimes I come across something that I would not have imagined finding at Half-Priced Books.

This week I found Poltergeist: The Legacy first season on DVD. I didn't even know there was a DVD release of this show. Poltergeist: The Legacy is a show about a group of people who investigate paranormal phenomena. (It has no relation to the Poltergeist movies). It ran from 1996 until 1999 and it was on at two in the morning on Saturday mornings. It's produced by Richard Barton Lewis, who also produced The Outer Limits revival series. I didn't even know anyone but me watched this show. When I came home and looked up some information about it I discovered that it's actually a Canadian show, so it must have been on at a regular time up there. And not only is there a season one DVD, but there is also a season two DVD and the entire series is available on Region 4 DVDs. Update: The entire series has now been released on Region 1 DVD (for US/Canada). There is an Amazon link to the DVD collection below, as well as links to the first two seasons streaming on Amazon Prime.

More About This Show :

The main characters are Nick Boyle (played by Martin Cummins), Alexandra (Alex) Moreau (played by Robbi Chong), Derek Rein (played by Derek DeLint), Rachel Corrigan (played by Helen Shaver), Katherine (Kat) Corrigan (played by Alexandra Pervis), and for the first couple of seasons Philip Callaham (played by Patrick Fitzgerald), whose character left to become a priest. They all live in a big mansion in San Francisco and investigate occult phenomena throughout California. The Legacy is a worldwide organization that is set up to protect people from occult occurrences, with members stationed in various cities across the globe.

Derek is the Precept (or head) of the house and is the oldest member of the San Francisco chapter. He sometimes clashes with younger Nick, although he views Nick almost as a son so they work through disagreements quickly. Nick and Alex are the younger members so they do most of the research and investigating. Rachel is a psychiatrist who sometimes helps the Legacy although she is a skeptic. Her daughter, Kat, has shown some strong psychic abilities and this causes them to get drawn in to some of the cases.

Since the beginning of time mankind has existed between the world of light and the world of darkness. This journal chronicles the work of our secret society, known as the Legacy, created to protect the innocent from those that inhabit the shadows and the night.

Poltergeist: The Legacy season one and two are streaming exclusively through Amazon Prime. The entire four-season series is only available on DVD (affiliate link).

                            

Paid Survey Sites

There are plenty of paid survey sites out there. None of them will pay you a lot, but you may get a little extra money each month. Sign up for multiple survey sites to maximize money-making chances. I've been taking paid surveys for years, and what follows is information about some of the most popular survey sites.

Survey Spot : Survey Spot is one of the best survey-taking site out there. When I first signed up they were up front about the fact that taking surveys will not get you a lot of money. They send the most survey invitations (although you won't qualify for every survey). You get points for every survey that you complete and those points can be redeemed for either a Paypal payment or gift cards. (You don't get any points if you don't get to complete the survey, though). When you cash out with Paypal they pay right away. Literally, when I cashed out I received an e-mail just a few seconds later letting me know there was money deposited into my Paypal account. You can also redeem your points with an Amazon or iTunes gift card or Webshop vouchers from multiple online stores.


Ipsos i-Say : Ipsos i-Say offers points in exchange for taking surveys that can be redeemed for Amazon or iTunes gift cards, Paypal deposits, or charity donations. If you don't qualify for a survey you still get a few points so the time you spent seeing if you qualify for a particular survey isn't a complete waste. They send a fair amount of survey opportunities, maybe two or three each day. But again, you might not qualify for all of them.

Harris Poll : Harris Poll offers about one survey each day, sometimes less. You receive points in exchange for completing a survey, and you do get a few points if you don't qualify. The points can be redeemed for gift cards or magazine subscriptions. They have gift cards for many stores, including Amazon.com, so you won't have trouble finding a redemption that works well for you. Harris Poll allows people as young as thirteen to join.

My Survey : My Survey has a few surveys posted each day that you can take. You get points for completing a survey that can redeemed for Paypal deposits, e-certificates and gift cards, DVDs and video games, and assorted items. I like the rewards on My Survey best because you aren't limited to boring cash or gift cards, you can get an actual item if you want to (and that just seems more fun to me). Looking through the DVDs I saw a DVD of Mama's Family (the Carol Burnett show spin-off from the '80s) and Doctor Who (and they have over 1,000 DVDs and Blu Rays to choose from). Given that you won't make serious money taking surveys, sometimes it's better to get a neat item in return for your time.

Survey Savvy : Survey Savvy has the highest payout for their surveys, but surveys are only available a couple of times a week (and there's no guarantee that you'll qualify for every survey). They only pay with checks. There's no points system, just a straight cash incentive per survey. You don't get any sort of compensation if you don't complete a particular survey.

VIP Voice  : VIP Voice has easy surveys every few days but the only options for reward redemptions are one of their auctions or sweepstakes. You get points for every survey you take and you can use them to bid on an auction or you can use them to try and win one of their sweepstakes. So basically you're not guaranteed any real incentive for taking their surveys. 

How to Really Make Money Taking Surveys :  All of these survey sites are well and good, but as you can see you won't make a lot of money by using them. Even signing up for all of them you might get $50 each month if you're lucky. To make real money taking surveys go to Amazon Mechanical Turk. There are a lot of tasks posted to this website that pay you pennies (sometimes more) per task, but the real money is in the surveys. And there are people constantly posting surveys, so you won't have to worry about only getting two or three surveys each day. I easily make $10 each day taking surveys on Mechanical Turk (that's $300 each month at least). Some of the surveys will drag on and on with little pay, so check Hits Worth Turking For on reddit to find surveys that are worth your time. Their rule is to only post HITS (which are mostly surveys) that will amount to at least $0.10 per minute, so you won't have to keep doing surveys that pay $0.20 for twenty minutes of your time.

Never sign up for a survey site that asks you to pay first to access a bunch of surveys. There are plenty of free survey sites. You won't get rich taking surveys so don't trust any site that says you will. Before signing up to take surveys check with the Survey Police. They have information on thousands of survey sites and people can comment if they've tried a particular site to let others know if it's worth it.

My Sink Won't Drain But There's No Clog!

If you're very diligent about not washing food down your sink yet your sink still has stopped draining then use a plunger. Don't call a plumber, don't take the pipes apart, don't try to snake it. It doesn't really make sense because if there's no possibility for a clog then why would a plunger work?

My disposal stopped working months ago so I never put food down my sink drain. If I had leftovers I would throw them in the trash. My sink was getting grimy but it couldn't possibly be clogged. When I searched the Internet there was talk of call a plumber and remove the trap. I had to search for a little while before I found the suggestion to use a plunger. It made no sense to me because there was no food down there so how could it be clogged, but I pulled out my plunger and in under thirty seconds the sink was draining perfectly.

 

This is a sink plunger. It is not a toilet plunger.

There are plungers that are specifically made for sinks and those that are made for toilets. Most people don't really know about the difference. It's a good idea to have one of each. 

 Here is a sink plunger from Amazon.

                                                                


If the plunger that you use for your toilet looks like one of these and you find it difficult to unclog a toilet, then the problem may be that you're using the wrong type of plunger.

This is a toilet plunger. It has that secondary cup on the inside.

                                                                

Even if there could be food in your sink drain the very first thing you should do is use a plunger on it. If that doesn't work then this article from WikiHow has some other methods for unclogging your drain. I'm not sure why "use a plunger" isn't a ubiquitous idea for sinks the way it is for toilets. When you're toilet isn't working properly you don't immediately try to remove part of the pipe. So for your sink, before using drain cleaner or taking out the trap or calling a plumber try a plunger and see if that doesn't quickly and easily fix your sink.

Gemstone Candles

                                                         Gem Crystal Candles

Candles are a very useful tool for meditation. You can use regular candles with a specific color, or you can use these gemstone candles. These candles have gemstones in the wax so as the candle burns the flame reflects off the gem crystals. These are beautiful and you can choose a specific gemstone to direct your energy.

I originally found these candles in the natural foods store in my town. When I searched online for them, "gemstone candles" turned up gem candle holders. After changing my searches around I finally found these candles sold through Living Better Naturally. They are made by Angelic Mercantile. I am writing this because these candles are very neat and interesting and I want anyone who is looking for something like this to have an easier time finding them than I did.

 

 Herkimer Diamond Candle

Herkimer Diamond Candle sold by Living Better Naturally.

A candle for dreams and visions.
Watch as the flame dances off the quartz.
8" tall pillar candle.
Sold for $11.45.

 

  

                                                  

  Amethyst Candle 

Amethyst Candle sold by Living Better Naturally.

A candle for transformation.
Watch as the flame dances off the purple amethyst chips.
8" tall pillar candle.
Sold for $11.46.

 

 

Lapis Lazuli Candle

Lapis Lazuli Candle sold by Living Better Naturally.

A candle for inner truth.
Watch as the flame dances off the blue lapis chips.
4" tall pillar candle.
Sold for $11.45.

 

 

 

Ruby Candle

Ruby Candle sold by Living Better Naturally.

A candle for devotion.
Watch as the flame dances off the red ruby chips.
4" tall pillar candle.
Sold for $9.95.

 

 

More Gemstone Candles

See more gemstone candles at Living Better Naturally. 

They have a variety of gemstone candles, including rose quartz, kunzite, tourmaline, lepidolite, obsidian, peridot, and sugilite. 

All of these pictures are pictures that I took of the candles that I bought. I am not an affiliate of either Living Better Naturally or Angelic Mercantile. I just think these candles are neat. Always be careful when fishing the gemstones out of the candle wax.

Jewelry in Candles

I am, however, an Amazon affiliate. So, if you don't care about gemstones but still like the idea of finding something in your candle there are these interesting candles available from Amazon. They each have a piece of jewelry inside.

 

Jon Arbuckle and Liz Wilson's Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Jon and Liz!

Dr. Liz Wilson is Garfield's veterinarian. Jon has been pining after her (and going on the occasional date with her) since they first met in 1979. On July 28, 2006 they finally became an official couple! (Coincidentally, this is also mentioned as Jon's birthday.) Jon is geeky and awkward and finally gets the girl of his dreams. So, for all of us that have lost hope: If there's hope for Jon Arbuckle, there's hope for us all!

Liz and Jon Become a Couple

"She's one cute chicky-boo. I'd marry her in a second."

Jon and Liz History

Jon has always had trouble getting girls. He occasionally goes on dates, but they never end well. (Consequently, he rarely gets a second date.) He has been enamored of Liz ever since he first brought Garfield into her office, but she wasn’t very receptive at first. Over the years she has gone on a few dates with Jon but it never turned into anything serious. Not until July 28, 2006, that is. This year will be their eight year anniversary. Jon and Liz’s anniversary is a day for people who haven’t had much luck over the years in the romance department to celebrate. If this polka-playing fashion-disaster can get the girl after all of his failed attempts, then there’s no reason to give up hope. If you already found your significant other after years of having no luck, then that’s even more reason to celebrate!

Why Celebrate? 

So, why should you celebrate a cartoon character’s love life? I view this day as a day for people who have or have had bad luck when it comes to love. Jon Arbuckle was constantly rejected, and sometimes cruelly mocked, by the opposite sex. He is socially awkward and loves polka music. But despite his bad luck with women he would always put himself out there. He would quickly bounce back after humiliating himself on a date and keep trying. While Liz took a while to warm up to Jon, they eventually found love together. Maybe love does happen for everyone eventually.

Ideas to Celebrate Jon and Liz's Anniversary

If you haven’t already found that special someone, then take a chance and ask someone you’ve been interested in out on a date
Who knows, maybe next year you’ll be celebrating your own anniversary.

Go to a fancy restaurant
While he may be awkward, Jon usually treats his dates to a nice dinner at upscale restaurants.

Treat your date to a polka serenade
Jon loves his polka. Which is part of the reason why he was single for so long.

Dress like Jon Arbuckle
Jon is known for his love of loud and “unique ” clothes. So, wear a giant tie or a brightly-colored plaid suit. 

 "There was a sale at Clown Town."

Clothing ideas for dressing like Jon Arbuckle
Here are some clothing suggestions for dressing like Jon Arbuckle when he's going on a date. If you want to dress like regular Jon Arbuckle, his everyday clothes are a plain polo shirt (unbuttoned at the top) and blue or black pants.

                          

Jon Arbuckle Fashion Strut

 This dance is too funny not to include here. 

 

Jon and Liz Song 

This is an instrumental song that was featured in A Tail of Two Kitties. You can hear a preview on Amazon.

                                                             

Watch Jon and Liz's Relationship Unfold

Here are most of the comics featuring Dr. Liz Wilson as Jon and Liz make the transformation from acquaintences to a couple over the years. These are the Garfield comics that feature Dr. Liz Wilson through the time she and Jon officially become a couple. Watch Jon and Liz's relationship unfold.

June 26, 1979
Jon meets Liz for the first time

June 27, 1979
Jon and Liz talk for the first time

June 28, 1979
Jon has a crush

Jun 29, 1979
Liz and Garfield

June 30, 1979
Liz lays down the law

July 24, 1979
Jon asks Liz out on a date for the first time

July 25, 1979
And a second time

July 26, 1979
Liz weighs in

July 27, 1979
Jon is "madly in love"

July 28, 1979
Jon would really like to see Liz again

October 2, 1979
Jon still likes Liz

October 3, 1979
Jon is "so putdownable"

October 4, 1979
Jon asks Liz out for a third time

October 5, 1979
"Don Quixote strikes again"

October 6, 1979
Jon confuses Liz with a kiss

October 8, 1979
Liz stands Jon up

January 28, 1980
Jon attempts to ask Liz out a fourth time

January 29, 1980
Jon wants to be Liz's "knight in shining armor"

January 30, 1980
Jon is so awkward

January 31, 1980
Jon asks Liz out for a fifth time

April 21, 1980
Liz finally agrees to a date with Jon!

April 22, 1980
"Don Juan dazzles another love-struck waif"

April 23, 1980
Garfield tags along for the date

April 24, 1980   April 25, 1980   April 26, 1980
Jon and Liz's first date. "Kiss her, you dip"

July 31, 1980
Jon asks Liz out on a second date

September 29, 1980  September 30, 1980  October 1, 1980
Jon prepares for his second date with Liz... and Garfield

October 2, 1980  October 3, 1980  October 4, 1980
Jon goes on his second date with Liz and gets a kiss... from Garfield

July 23, 2006  July 24, 2006  July 25, 2006
Jon and Liz are out on dates with other people when Jon approaches Liz as a French waiter

July 26, 2006  July 27, 2006  July 28, 2006
Liz likes Jon! and they go on another date. ..."And they lived happily ever after"

July 27, 2012
Jon and Liz are still going strong.

Ways Congress Can Raise Money to Start Paying Down the US Debt

Earlier I was reading an article on Slate, The $5 Trillion Coin. It contains a few ideas for how the government can relieve the debt if the debt compromise doesn't go well. This got me thinking. How would a regular person keep bills at bay in order to stay in the black just a little longer? If Congress can't compromise about the debt ceiling, what if they worked together to earn money to relieve the US debt just enough to keep us from defaulting. Here are some ideas I came up with.


Auction off their junk
There are 535 members of Congress. Most of them are in their late fifties-early sixties. That's a lot of stuff piling up over the years in their attics. So, why not hold an auction? To reach the entire public, they could post their stuff on eBay. I anticipate great success with this idea because they can have a great deal of free advertising. Every reporter will be eager to talk to any member of Congress over the next few days as debt talks carry on. And there's a type of brand recognition for whatever they're selling. It's not just an old scarf, it's Nancy Pelosi's scarf that's up for auction. Having a famous name associated with an item automatically gives value to that item.

Congress Car wash
One of the old stand-bys for school groups to raise money is to hold a car wash. The members of Congress can go to their respective states for a couple of days and have car washes all over the country. Who wouldn't pay $10 to have John Boehner wash their car? They could make a fortune for the novelty of it alone.

Blog for money
A blog-hosting website could be created for Congress with ads on each page. It would be like livejournal for Congress. Each member of Congress can blog about what was discussed that day and what important decisions were reached and their take on certain issues. This website would attract high-paying ads because of relatively high search-rank for the names of members of Congress. And there would be a level of transparency in politics that has yet to be seen.

Food Stand
Congress could open up a food stand in Washington, D.C., and each of them could take turns running it throughout the year. With 535 members, if two members are working the stand each day, that's only a couple of days a year that each person has to work at the food stand. It would be part of their Congressional duties, so the individual members wouldn't make extra money for working at the food stand. But all the proceeds could go towards paying down the US debt.

Cyberbegging
Like the old adage says, it doesn't hurt to ask. Congress could take to the web and ask Americans to donate money to pay down the debt. There are probably lots of people who would be willing to pay a little to help keep the nation's credit rating from taking a beating. Make it easy for them.


So if debt talks continue to be drawn out there are still a few options for handling the debt. Paying off the bills a little at a time is a tried-and-true method that plenty of Americans have used over the centuries. As anybody who has had money troubles knows, every little bit helps.

Get Paid to Click sites

There are a bunch of get-paid-to-click sites, and a lot of them are scams. Paid-to-click sites are not economically feasible. People who need advertising pay to have their links put up on these sites, and then the site maintainers have to give that money back to people who click on the links. There are a few good ones out there, but before joining a paid-to-click website, check with PTC Talk (http://www.ptctalk.com/scamalert.php) to see if it's a scam.

The one good one that I have tried and know is worth the time is Adverbux (http://adverbux.com/register.php?ref=100815). It has a few get-paid-to-click links, but you can also play games for 1/10th of a cent. You can do this one hundred times a day, so you are guaranteed ten cents a day if you put forth the effort. This doesn't sound like much, but for get-paid-to-click sites, it's good. A lot of get-paid-to-click sites only have two or three links to click, so you can make two or three cents (without referrals). To get more money, get referrals. There will be sites that promise you a lot of money, but these sites don't usually pay out in the end. It's just not financially sound. Always check to see if a certain site has a history of not paying.

Go to Paid to Click (http://www.getpaidtowebsites.com/paidtoclick/) to find a few more good sites. When checking for more, be wary of pages with a whole bunch of ads for paid-to-click sites swearing that they're all the greatest thing in the world. These people are trying to get referrals and may not have reached a point where they can find out if the site will actually pay.

The only way to make a limitless amount of "money" while clicking links is to use a traffic exchange site. With traffic exchange sites you are not actually going to make money from the site but through traffic to your site, either by getting advertising for your business or by having advertisements on your web page.

With get-paid-try websites there are areas with links that you are paid to click, but the get-paid-to-try websites will be handled in another post.

How to Make Money Online Part II: Mechanical Turk

Amazon's Mechanical Turk is the easiest way to make a significant amount of money online. A lot of places allow you to make a few cents a day, but at least Mechanical Turk allows you to make a couple dollars a day. There are always a lot of opportunities to complete tasks.

People post HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) on Mechanical Turk and you get paid a penny or more to do them. The tasks are usually easy, like visiting a website or posting a comment on a blog or taking a survey. If the task is more involved, you get paid more. It adds up pretty quick, and you can easily make an extra $50-$100 dollars a month, depending on how much time you spend on it.

The trick to using the Mechanical Turk is to find a task that you can do over and over again. On the HITs page, included in each task description is the number of HITs available. Sometimes there will be a few hundred or even a few thousand hits available. This way you don't have to waste a lot of time searching for something that you want to do. If you're confused about the task, though, do it a few times and then wait a day to see if it was accepted.

How to make money online

I am going to make this a series. I'll give a brief rundown of each of my favorite ways to make money online, and then in future posts I'll go into more detail on each one.

Get paid to click : These types of sites are usually tied in with the get-paid-to-try websites. In those instances, there are usually only a few links that you can click. However, you can sign up for paid e-mails, too, which will get you a few more cents. There are a few websites devoted to just paying for clicking on websites, and while these don't make you a lot of money if you don't have a bunch of referrals, you can actually see your earnings grow, which is fun.

Paid surveys : Getting paid to take surveys is not very lucrative, no matter what anyone says, but you can make a little extra money a month. Don't join survey systems that ask you to pay a little to recieve the information to sign up for a bunch of survey sites. It's not worth it. The trick is to find survey sites that actually send out a significant amount of surveys each month.

Get paid to shop : These types of sites should only be used if you do a lot of shopping online. If you already shop a lot online, then this is a great way to get rewarded for it. But, of course, there's no use in spending a lot of money that you would not have spent otherwise if you're trying to make money.

Get paid to write : This is my favorite. If you like to write, then post articles to websites that will pay you for it (or create a money-making blog, whether through Sirgo.com which has a blog function or by adding Google adsense to an existing blog). And some websites that pay you for your articles will provide information from legitimate publishers so that you can try and get your writing published and make more money.

Get paid to try : These will give you a little money for signing up for free trials. Read the fine print, though, and cancel the free trial within the time limit or you will be paying a lot of money. And for all of them, you have to call and cancel, so make sure you have the information on how to cancel.

In future posts I'll go into more detail on each of these methods and provide the names of websites that you can go to.

Online Dating

There are a wealth of online dating sites out there. They are mostly the same: browse profiles, send a message, maybe you keep messaging each other, maybe not. I've tested out a few, and what follows is the essential information about the most popular (and some lesser known) Internet dating sites.


OK Cupid : Ok Cupid is my favorite Internet dating site. It's not as well advertised as the others, but it's fun and it's free. In addition to a profile, a person can post journal entries and pitctures. What is best about OK Cupid (other than that it's free) is all the tests they have. Everyone is encouraged to answer as many random questions as they want that deal with all sorts of subjects. These are used to judge the compatibility between any two people. The more questions answered, the more exact the judgment. You decide how important a question is to you, and this is factored into the compatibility ratings. Some of the questions that are important to you are placed on your tests page so people can see what's important to you. Additionally, there are staff and user-created tests that cover all sorts of subjects. They can be very fun, and your results are viewable by everyone. There are also "personality awards" that are given based on your answers to the "improve matches" questions. These are posted in your profile, allowing people to get a general sense of you.

Perfect Match : You can set up a profile for free and see your "perfect matches" as well as send "ice breakers," but you have to pay if you want to send e-mails. The best deal is their buy two months, get two months free deal. Two months costs $64.95 (while one month is just five dollars less than that). The profiles aren't very personal. Basically, they have the general statistics on a person (location, ethnicity, age, etc.) and then their answers to the profile questions that a person is asked when creating a profile. There is a section for people to type a few paragraphs describing themselves by responding to open-ended getting-to-know-you questions, but you are not prompted to do that when creating a profile, and it is not the first thing people see when looking at your profile. Additionally, the questions that make up your profile have limited answers. For instance, when you are asked about your hobbies, you can only choose two. While this would prevent people from selecting everything just to try and get more people interested, this is frustrating for people who genuinely have many interests. The draw of Perfect Match is that they scientifically determine your matches and give you "perfect matches" so you don't have to sort through a lot of profiles if you don't want to.

eHarmony : They wouldn't let me create a profile. I got that "Unable to match you at this time" message that you hear about in the chemistry.com commercials. Apparently it happens to twenty percent of the people trying to create a profile (and that's according to the nicely-worded message that eHarmony gives you). And it did make me feel a little bad. Apparently if you do not fit into a nice little box, or "defined profile," they would rather not match you than give you a non-stellar match. If you do get to create a profile, only your matches can see your profile so you don't have the option of browsing through all sorts of profiles just so you can find someone who might be interesting. You can create your "personality profile" for free and browse your matches for free, but you have to pay if you want to talk to your matches. It's $59.95 a month, with less per month if you sign up for multiple months, but all billed in one installment. Something good about eHarmony: It is focused on compatibility and geared towards helping create long-lasting relationships for the people who make the cut.

Match : Match.com is apparently the largest dating site. The profile has your statistics and allows you to make a personal statement. It includes your answers to a few open-ended questions. You can browse profiles as well as be matched. Creating a profile is free as well as seeing other profiles and winking at people, but you have to pay to send e-mails. You also have to pay to read any e-mails sent to you. Match.com is unique in a few ways, though. It does reverse searches, which allows you to find profiles of people who are looking for people like you. The cost is $34.99 per month or $16.99 per month with a six-month subscription. If you do not find someone in six months, they will give you six months free. However, you have to send a message to at least five different people each month to qualify.

Chemistry : Chemistry.com is from the same people who do match.com. Like the commercial implies, it's like eHarmony.com in that they match you based on "scientific tests" and you can't browse through random profiles. However, you won't randomly be rejected by the matching service like on eHarmony.com. It is geared towards creating long-term relationships. It has an actual personality test, unlike eHarmony which asks a bunch of questions about your values and beliefs. While knowing about your values and beliefs is good, personality tests are a good way to gauge how well you'll get along with other people. Just because you have the same values doesn't necessarily mean you'll get along. You can fill out the personality profile for free and view five of your matches for free, but you have to pay to contact people. It costs $49.95 for one month or $26.65 a month for six months.

True Beginnings : A unique aspect of True Beginnings is that they check users for felony offenders and check to see if users are married. You can create a profile, take their compatibility test, and browse other profiles (including your matches) for free. However, you have to pay to e-mail people. It costs $49.99 for one month or $129.99 for six months. The profiles have the basic statistics on the person, and the users have the option of making a few personal statements in reference to general, open-ended questions. True does give you the option of searching based on which people are looking for users like you. And they have different types of matches, so instead of just finding people who are a general match to your compatibility test, you can search for people who are a match to your communication skills or personality or your interests.

Craig's List : Quality control may be an issue, but if you want a date now Craig'sList is the best online place to go. Anyone who wants to can post an ad, and there are more than a fair number of lewd ads. However, there is a specific section for "casual encounters," so most of the lewdness is in there and staying in the "seeking" part is a safe bet. Just be careful opening ads that say they have a picture, because it might be somebody's penis. After going through a bunch of ads (and again, this is mostly on the casual encounters section, although it will depend on the people in your town) you learn not to be surprised. The great thing about Craig's List is that it's a one-stop shop. You can find a date, find someone to fix your computer, and maybe find a new apartment all in one place.


If you're not stressing out about finding "the one" right now, then join a free Internet dating site. If you are worried about finding "the one" right now, try Chemistry.com. The problem with paid dating sites is that if you do find someone you like and you message them, it's very likely that they don't have a paid membership so they won't be able to message you back. And they claim to pair people up based on "scientific" tests, but when was the last time anyone has heard of love being scientifically verifiable? Of course, take the necessary precautions when meeting someone you found on the Internet.