I don't like the word, "but". Especially when it follows a build up...you know...where everything is sounding good, until......"but...." That is usually a verbal signal that conversation is getting ready to take a change, and not for the better.

Example:

I love you......but......(Just like, "There's no crying in baseball", there are no BUT'S, in love)

I know what we have is special......but........(If it were so special, there wouldn't be a BUT...)


Why do people do that...build things up, then, BAM...there comes the "but". To sweeten the blow...? Excuse me, but a knife to the heart is still a knife to the heart, no "if's", "and's", or "but's" about it.

So, what about using "however" instead....? "However is a fancy "but" all dressed up in it's Sunday best.

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO,:Famous Break Up Lines


IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S ME (It's YOU.)****OKAY, I ADMIT THAT I HAVE USED THIS ONE.

I JUST NEED SOME SPACE........(WITHOUT YOU IN IT)

I THINK WE NEED TO SEE OTHER PEOPLE ( I ALREADY AM)

I JUST DON'T SEE THIS GOING ANYWHERE (I'VE ALREADY MOVED ON)

I THINK WE NEED TO KEEP OUR OPTIONS OPEN (IN CASE SOMEONE BETTER THAN YOU COMES ALONG)

I DON'T THINK WE ARE IN THE SAME PLACE EMOTIONALLY (I WANT TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU WITHOUT HASSLES.....HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BOOTY CALLS...?)

YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE (RIGHT NOW, IN THE PRESENT)

I remember, Keith, was my very first boyfriend in elementary school.....I was in the 5th grade. Back then, that amounted to sitting together at lunch and on the school bus, passing love notes, him walking you to the playground at recess, you each had the others photo in your wallet and wrote your names together inside a heart on your notebooks.

We had been an item all year. Then came summer vacation and we would send one another letters in the mail, and talk on the phone. One day, 2 weeks before school was to resume, I get a phone call from him at my cousins house.

"You are not my girlfriend anymore, you TWO TIMER!"

I was devastated. First of all, because everyone would be expecting us to still be a couple when the new term started, and he was always there, third seat from the back on the right when I got on the bus. And, second, because, I had no idea at all what a two timer was!

Things didn't get much better after school started, when his best friend, Nick, asked me if I wanted to "go" with him. Which....I never understood that....I mean...we didn't "go" anywhere but to school. I did decide to "go" with Nick, and I admit that was in part, okay, in LARGE part due to the fact that Keith had broken up with me and Nick was his best bud. After 6th grade....there weren't best buds.

Still....that always bothered me. Especially once I found out what being a two timer meant. Fast forward 5 years, my junior year in high school. Keith, for the first time, just happened to be in one of my classes. Being that 6th grade was all water under the bridge, I asked him one day to tell me what had given him the idea that I was a two timer. Come to find out it was, his best bud, Nick...who told Keith that I had been calling him over the summer and wanted to, "get with him."

Keith was my first break up...there were others after that and it was always ME who did the breaking.....until my senior year. At least he did wait until after the prom, gave me a lot of BS excuses.....(like the examples above), which I called him on and finally he had to fess up and tell me the real reason, which was that I wouldn't, "....put out...."!

Three times in my life the guy has done the breaking.

First time: The Two Timer Break up

Second time: The No Nookie Break up

Thrid time: (which I won't go into) The,I Know The Door Is There (But I just can't walk through it) Break Up.

So...I gotta ask....IS IT ME...?

**How many times has someone broken up with you?
**Did you get BS break up lines or the dirty truth?



Why can't people just stop beating around the bush and say things directly? Do they think sugar coating things changes what it is....?

Personally, I'll take the ugly truth over a beautiful lie any day.......BUT.... that's just me.




Later Ya'll...^Belle^

Found a great poetry site I want to share. You won't find any famous names here, this is poetry for the people, written by the people.

Should you find a poem you really like, you can send it as an ecard to friends, and design your own backgrounds.

www.netpoets.com

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP

KRISTY HAS TO GO!!!!!

Brooke White makes me sick I know, I know...she is so sweet....she is so cute....Give me a break! I tried to like her, really I did....She is just a little too goody-goody for my taste.

She stands there center stage like she is making an acceptance speech or something....then tries to engage in small talk with the judges...like last night when she told Paula, "I like your hair" (big toothy grin)

All she needs is a bunch of Disney animals around her and the Seven Dwarfs.

David Cook is growing on me. Initially, I didn't really care for him, but you can't deny the man's voice. He was awesome last night.

David A....HE MADE ME CRY! Very moving performance of Smokey Mountain Memories. This kid has mad vocal skills!

Carly Smithson....AWESOME as always.

Michael Johns... He did my favorite Dolly song, IT's All Wrong, But It's Alright....And as we say in the south, He put that one to rest! Best performance of the night as far as I am concerned.

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets. Your risk of cheating is low. Even if you're tempted, you'd try hard not to do it. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

TWENTY NINE LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

1.. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.

2.. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.

3.. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.

4.. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.

5.. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.

6.. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me

7.. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

8.. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.

9.. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.

10.. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.

11. Nyquil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.

12.. God must love stupid people; He made so many.

13.. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.

14.. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.

15.. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

16.. Being 'over the hill' is much better than being under it!

17.. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.

18.. Procrastinate Now!

19.. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?

20.. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

21.. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance

22.. Stupidity is not a handicap.Park everywhere!

23..They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.

24..He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.

25..A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.

26..Ham and eggs.A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

27.. The trouble with life is there's no background music.

28.. The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.

29.. I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends! Life is too short and friends are too few.

Save the earth, it's the only planet with chocolate!

Later Ya'll...

What Your Pizza Reveals

You have a hearty appetite. You are likely to complain if a restaurant has small portions. You are a very picky pizza eater. Not any pizza will do. You fit in best in the Northeast part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are generous, outgoing, and considerate with your choices. You are cultured and intellectual. You should consider traveling to Vienna. The stereotype that best fits you is geek. You're the type most likely to order pizza to avoid leaving your computer.

Your Boobies' Names Are...

Beavis and Butthead

BLOGSTREAM NEWS UPDATE:

At last the mystery is solved. I have long suspected that Whit, a fellow blogger here on the stream, was hiding his true identity. My suspicions were confirmed here on Blogstream, via a comment on Lucy's blog. Whit is in fact, Burt Reynolds.

We now return you to the final quiz already in progress.

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly. You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality. People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

Later Ya'll...

It was the 70's. Most girls my age were staring at posters of Donny Osmond and swooning as he sang, Puppy Love. Meanwhile in my room, sitting in a crimson colored bean bag chair, lava lamp bubbling, Burt Reynolds was THE MAN.

I first became aware of him during a short lived TV show he starred in called, Dan August. During those days, cable TV didn't exist in Alabama. There were 4 stations, ABC,NBC,CBS AND PBS.

Old movies ran late at night on the weekends and often you could catch a Burt Reynolds flick. The first one I remember seeing was W.W. And The Dixie Dance Kings.

A favorite line from the movie, Burt pulls up to a service station and the attendant asks:

"You want ethel?" (A type of fuel)

Burt responds:

"Yeah, if you got her."

I remember the buzz around Alabama in the mid 70's concerning a movie starring Burt Reynolds. Talk was a crew was in town scouting out 1-20, which was near completion, but not yet totally finished. We were all excited and couldn't wait to see the movie.

It was a Tuesday night. Me and my cousin were dropped off at the theater by our parents who were on their way square dancing. We sat through it twice. The weekend arrived and I talked Daddy into taking the whole family to see it. I still remember my brother, Johnny, sitting in the very first row, laughing out loud and echoing, "Sum bitch", with Jackie Gleason.

I'm not sure Daddy enjoyed the movie or not, as I was constantly punching him in the arm, telling him: Watch this......Here is the part I was telling you about.....etc.

Some of the dialog, I didn't understand at the time, like, "Sheriff, do the letters F.O. mean anything to you?" I asked Daddy what that meant and he said he said it was something that young ladies shouldn't say. (I found out later from my cousin Steve what the F.O. stood for...though....I still didn't know what it was. Yes...I lead a very sheltered life.)

During the entire run of the movie, I went at least once a week.

Every photo of Mr Reynolds that I could get my hands on was placed on my bedroom walls. Daddy couldn't stand to come in my room and would just shake his head in dismay.

"Daddy...he is SOOOOOOO good lookin." I would say.

"If that's good lookin', I'm glad I'm ugly." He would respond.

My aunt came over one day and presented me with something special in a brown paper sack. Inside was her copy of the April 1972 issue of Cosmo, with Burt as the centerfold. I was cautioned not to tell Mother, and under no circumstances, Daddy. Needless to say, that couldn't go up on my wall, and ended up under the mattress, where Mother found it.

I came home one day to discover it on top of my bed. She sat me down in the kitchen, explaining there was nothing wrong with being curious about the opposite sex. Curious was an understatement!

After graduating from high school, I was working that summer at McDonald's. Our assistant manager was known to go down to the Ramada Lounge after the lunch rush for a drink or two.

He returned one day, strolled over to me with this important news.

"Guess who is having a drink at the Ramada?"

"Don't have a clue." I said going about my business.

"Burt Reynolds."

I didn't believe him. He finally told me to go check it out for myself. By the time I got down there, Mr Reynolds was leaving. I didn't have the nerve to approach him and nearly passed out!

A few years later, I was admitted to the hospital for surgery. I took 2 very special things with me. Nick, my teddy bear, that I had slept with since I was 2 years old, and a framed photograph of Burt Reynolds, that I hung above my hospital bed.

All the nurses got a kick out of it, as word spread, they started coming from other areas of the hospital.

Below, a scene from one of my favorite movies of all time....SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT.This scene was supposedly filmed on our county's portion of 1-20 which runs right into Georgia.

I couldn't have imagined at the time this movie was released, how important, 1-20 would be and WHAT it would bring into my life. Or that, years later, my daughter would marry an Alabama State Trooper.

Later Ya'll...

I had big plans for Saturday that included throwing myself into spring cleaning. Yet, when I woke up, the weather was dreary, and just didn't seem like a spring cleaning sort of day.

I cranked up Elvis on the stereo and amused myself with a whole bunch of nothing. The calendar caught my eye, and I realized that THE day, I selected some months ago would soon be here.

Letting it sink in, I noticed, my heart wasn't racing and my stomach didn't churn at the thought. PROGRESS.

I wasn't filled with dread. In fact, just the opposite....ANTICIPATION.....!!!!

It has taken a long time, a very long time and much soul searching to arrive at this point, and it will be such a huge relief!

I first had to make peace with the decision, and with the help of my therapist, I have. His words, so profound, that I wrote them down and posted them on the fridge and in the office: GIVING UP AND LETTING GO ARE VERY DIFFERENT THINGS.

Giving up has always been distasteful to me. But I'm not giving up. I'm just letting go. I've been lost in a dream for so long, refusing to see the truth.

Life has a way of holding up a mirror for us, and over the past 12 months, that is exactly what it has done. I saw in the lives and actions of others, what I couldn't see in myself.....and know what....? It made me SICK!

When I began therapy, I made an outline for myself of things I wanted to accomplish.

ACKNOWLEDGE

FACE

CONFRONT

ACCEPT

It hasn't always been easy, in fact it has been damn tough.

Losing yourself in a dream, is nice for a while. But now, it's time to leave the dream and live in reality.

Enjoy this little known Elvis song,Fairy Tale....it has always been a favorite of mine.

Later Ya'll...