She Said Lust.....

Hello sin fans, here we are on week 6 of the Terrible Tuesday sin series. Now if you read last week's sin post Envy I talked up this LUST thing a bit. I was actually very excited about the post, really looking forward to spending a little time in the field doing some "research". I was willing to possibly damn my immortal soul for you readers, only because I wanted to give you the most in-depth and comprehensive blog post possible, all for you really!!

Well I am sorry to have to let you all down-I do not have any lust filled stories to share. I tried really I did, but when you are looking to lust it is hard to find! I am not sure what went wrong or why, well if you ask anyone who knows me I am a bit picky, but I really did try to throw all caution to the wind and lust away. Alas it was not to be had, but let's get on with the post-you may still enjoy it!

Lets look at some Definitions for LUST:

Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.

Lust (or lechery) is usually thought of as involving obsessive or excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature. Unfulfilled lusts sometimes lead to sexual or sociological compulsions and/or transgressions.

Dante's criterion was "excessive love of others," which therefore rendered love and devotion to God as secondary.

Now the Punishment:

You'll be smothered in fire and brimstone.

In "Purgatorio", the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful/sexual thoughts and feelings.

(See this is the one I would think deserves freezing water for all eternity isn't too much heat what got us into trouble in the first place, cold shower anyone? Walking through fire a little excessive...)

So how do I fit into the sin of LUST? Well, like I said in my envy post I think a little lust is good, it wasn't my fault I couldn't find a lust subject. But then I was talking to another blogger after that post and he pointed out that lust is not about a little, it is about a lot, ie. obsess much. So considering this and the religious connotation of lust I guess I will have to reassess my position on this wicked little sin.

So if not lust what is good then? Well I think desire, passion, and a good imagination are not only healthy but essential to living a happy fulfilling life. A sense of adventure, a sense of humor, and plenty of costumes-for Halloween of course, what were you thinking? (wink, wink) I understand the reason for the seven deadly sins, excess is bad and can lead to dangerous behaviors and/or actions, but sometimes we get a little carried away with the saving us from ourselves thing. Like all those crazy laws we enacted back in the day to protect people from lustful soul damning thoughts and actions. I mean did there really need to be a law mandating that a man brush his teeth before doing the deed with his wife? Come on now....and what was with the twin beds for married couples? The Beav wasn't dropped off by a stork.

Many of the "sins" were created and escalated by our overbearing need to control EVERYTHING, we take things that start out healthy and warp them until they are so unrecognizable that you can't remember what they began as. Ok I got a little worked up there-sorry. I will say though that if we didn't have just a little bit of that almost suffocating conservatism around we wouldn't have little gems like: Seinfeld's,"The Contest", Beavis & Butthead's, "She said member...huh uh," Eddie Murphy's, "Raw", or "The Vagina Monologues" to keep us slightly amused.

I do not think that we have to call something bad because it brings pleasure. Thoughts, emotions, and cravings are all very powerful but for those that can separate reality from fantasy, the purely physical from the beautifully emotional, and are consenting adults well you just keep on keeping on. But stay out of those mid-western states they seem to have the craziest "morality" laws, no nudity in the front lawn after dark (day time is ok I guess), live fish & walk-in freezers-still working that out, hunting/wedding day/consummation...equals crazy!

Everything in moderation is what I say!

or in excess with a Brad Pitt look alike or that guy from Sex in the City, you know Samantha's man the one that posed for the Calvin ad, or that guy (the cast) from 300, then there was that one guy...

Here is a little test for the rest of you, let me know if I will be seeing you on the other side. Don't be shy it's all in good fun -unless you are easily shocked & offended then maybe not.

CLICK HERE TO TEST YOUR LUST QUOTIENT >>>>> LUST Test

Don’t forget to check out the other Sin Sisters:

Ssgreylord

Huckdoll

Caffeine Court

Secrets of a Black Heart

CableGirl

April

The Power of Positive Thoughts

Today's post is at David Tamayo's blog...please click on the picture or go directly to http:www.securityforidiots.blogspot.com, read the post about Eddie Boy and leave a comment. Eddie and his family could really use your kind words and healing thoughts.

"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.”

-Hubert H. Humphrey

Windows Live Writer...A Blogger's BFF

Nothing excites me more than when I find something that makes my life easier-ok well almost nothing, I do like chocolate, Thai food, long walks on the beach (I need to get out more). This need to simplify, systematize, and ease my over encumbered lifestyle made me the Get Smart Tech Chic that I am today. I work hard but it's also about working smart, and when I find something that helps me reach my work less play more goal, I have to share it.

Let's talk about Windows Live Writer, some of you may already use this cool tool and some of you may be anti-establishment Down with the Man types that don't go near Bill Gates is taking over the world Microsoft gadgets. Well I am in, maybe not love, but deep infatuation with Live Writer, it has made my blogging, article writing, and website updating so much easier!!

This one tool allows me to create a blog post offline in the format of my blog, then publish directly to my blog-works with most major blog services, without going through a bunch of convoluted steps. I can also insert hyperlinks, pictures, maps, videos, tags, etc., and all from this one little FREE program. Now not all blog platforms are supported, ActiveRain for instance is not supported, and those blogs that are embedded in a website are usually not compatible for the one click publish feature.

What you can do though is change the view and copy and paste from there. So what do I mean by change the view? No it's not an everything looks brighter with your shades on reference. What I mean is that you have four views, web layout and preview (this is blog layout and view), normal (basic Word format), and html. So you can write the post/article publish to Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, etc., then convert to html for your website, ActiveRain, Trulia, or other random blog platform. Last but not least, you can switch to normal view to place your masterpiece on those article distribution sites.One stop shop is what I call that, isn't it Grand!!

Now that I have told you all the great things....there is one thing I am not keen on and that is the insert video plug-in. It will only allow you to insert web based videos not videos that are stored on your hard drive. Now for the most part your videos are probably acquired from and stored on the web, but for myself we have tons of Get Smart Women instructional videos that start on our external hard drive and then move to one of our web sources so I want to be able to do both. Yes I know I want it all-I want my cake and I want to eat too! I never understood that saying if you got the cake of course you want to eat, what are you just going to stare at it?

Anyway for now if you use Live Writer your videos have to be stored in the big web world, Youtube, Helloworld, Screencast, Seesmic, Vimeo, where ever you have them or you can add an extra step in by publishing without the video and then going to your blog and inserting the video there. This feature may change they seem to be adding new plug-ins all the time, like the Google gods and their constantly improving gadgets, they understand that to stay "cool" you need to have more and more accessories tools.

So now the Smart Gal rating 4.5 out 5 Smart Gals here:

Ok Brandon Turner from Microsoft is trying to get 5 out 5 Smart Gals, what they won't do for the extra half...can't do it until I try out the Soapbox but here is the comment he left:

"With the newest version of Windows Live Writer(was released this week) you can upload videos from your harddrive, they go Soapbox(MSN Video). This is just a preview release, so if you find any bugs, feel free to contact me. For more information on the new release:http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/"

The Green-Eyed Monster Envy

Ok here it is again Terrible Tuesday and I am still contributing to the sin sister carnival with my fifth sin post-oh that's right I am nearly there two more after this and I get to put all this introspection away until I offload it onto my shrink in 20 years.

Today's post was going to be a wickedly delicious lust post, I don't see anything really wrong with lust so I had planned on doing quite a bit of it last Thursday at a country concert that the girls and I were attending. You saw the "was going to" and the "had planned" so you know that will not be the case. What I forgot when planning the girls night out was that when you get a bunch of girls together...well you just can't plan anything.

So I didn't get to lust..much, I mean I am not blind, there was one cute cowpoke that caught my eye, but it was brief and not worth going into much detail. For shame!! I will be at the beach this weekend so we will try for a hottie surfer boy post next week. So today's or rather tonight's post, since I have pushed it off, is going to be about envy. You see there was a little drama on the girls night out and it got me thinking about that little green devil, envy.

I am not an envy girl, sure every so often I see someone or something that gets me thinking wouldn't it be nice, but then just as often I see someone or some-many in a position that I am glad I am not in. So all in all I believe life balances out, gives a little here, takes a little there, but in the end its all square. That's just me. But now do I know some envy dwellers, afraid I do, and when I was looking around for some envy quotes I found one that really sums it up.

"Malice that cannot speak its name, cold-blooded but secret hostility, impotent desire, hidden rancor and spite -- all cluster at the center of envy. Envy clouds thought, writes Joseph Epstein, clobbers generosity, precludes any hope of serenity, and ends in shriveling the heart. Of the seven deadly sins, he concludes, only envy is no fun at all."

Yeah I got to agree here with Mr. Epstein, with Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Vanity, and even Wrath there is some enjoyment-at least in the beginning anyway. You see I didn't put LUST in there because I am just not sure I think lust is a sin?!? Envy just makes you miserable and makes everyone around you want to knock you out (ouch there is that wrath again-made me smile though), I am not sure why people would let themselves get caught up in this one. Where's the tiniest bit of gratification in this one, we haven't gotten to how vain I am so maybe that's why I am not gettin it?

The only thing I can really say about the sin of envy, besides the punishment not being that bad supposedly you go to hell and are put in "freezing" water (well give me a break if I am in hell cold water is exactly where I want be! You know now that I think about it I thought hell was not supposed to have ice water isn't that what they are all screaming for? Maybe I should rethink my stance on this one just incase I end up there, I wonder if faking envy is good enough to get the punishment for it?) What I was trying to say, before I got off on that tangent, is that I feel sorry for those individuals that are consumed by this little green devil. Life is too short and too precious to be trying to live someone else's existence, be thankful for the gifts you are given, and chalk the rest up to shit happens. No seriously, for some the hard times can be excruciatingly hard, but if you can make it through and somehow even learn from them, the good times are that much sweeter.

So drop the green devil because you need to make room for the sweetness of the lust angel doesn't that sound like more fun!! I say angel because cupid does not look like a devil to me, and don't try telling me he represents true love, he's naked that is lust! See you next week, I don't know about the time, but the place will be the same.

Don’t forget to check out the other Sin Sisters:

Ssgreylord

Huckdoll

Caffeine Court

Secrets of a Black Heart

CableGirl

April

Technorati Tags: Envy,Joseph Epstein,Lust is better,Seven Deadly Sins,There is ice water in hell

Google Ocean, anyone? Robert Ballard on Ted.com

I have this thing about Ted.com, to me it is like a mini Discovery Chanel meets National Geographic meets Encyclopedia Britannica-I love it! The video segments are short and sweet, sometimes just giving you enough to get you out there searching for more information and sometimes providing enough information to keep you updated and content. Today's video pick is a deep sea exploration. Jules Verne eat your heart out baby!

Ocean explorer Robert Ballard takes us on a mindbending trip to hidden worlds underwater, where he and other researchers are finding unexpected life, resources, even new mountains. He makes a case for serious exploration and mapping.

From an early age, Robert Ballard was intrigued by the deep. He's perhaps best-known for his work in underwater archaeology; in addition to Titanic, he has found the wrecks of the Bismarck, the USS Yorktown, the nuclear sub Thresher (on a top-secret mission for the Navy -- for which the Titanic was his cover story) and John F. Kennedy's PT-109.

His contributions to our scientific knowledge of the ocean is just as awe-inspiring. He was in the first team of humans to view the deep-sea vents, and to understand how life can not only survive but thrive in these deep black waters, under extreme pressure and at extreme temperature.

He's also a powerful storyteller and a passionate scientific educator. He founded the Institute for Exploration and has pioneered distance learning in classrooms around the world. Through his JASON Project, 1.7 million students a year join scientists virtually as they experience the thrill of exploration and discovery.

Technorati Tags: ted.com,robert ballard,ocean exploration,google ocean,titanic,20,000 leagues

Google Translator Widget

Come One...Come All!!

Ok, so I was on Krapsody's blog the other day seeing what's up and looking around I saw this translator widget (if you're questioning what that is, take a gander over to your right, scroll down a bit-yep you got it, that is a Google Translator widget) and as you can see I had to have it. So I Googled it, found it, and then put it on my site. I like the mini version over the big daddy in your face one.

If you do not want or can't put this handy dandy little tool on your blog and/or website there is still the free online translation tool I talked about a while back so you can use that. I just think this tool is less labor intensive and a lot more versatile-just me though.

This is the freak that I am, I have been getting a kick out of clicking on the translator to see my blog in French, Spanish, etc... (probably going to skew my site stats-duh!) I had no idea I wrote so beautifully in those other languages-I am quite impressed with myself!

I am not sure how much it will be used but because I want everyone to be able to hang out on this blog I thought it was a nice addition to the page. As a side note, according to Lijit (check out the map icon also located on the right side) I did have some viewers from Calcutta-sorry no Bengali translation...bummer, Luxembourg-oh yeah we have French and German for you buddy, San Paulo-nice we have the Portuguese for you, Tripoli-dang no Arabic, and so on and so forth.

So we will please some but not all, but well that just sums up life doesn't it.

Alrighty then so on this tech toy I give it 5 out 5 Smart Gals (Oh yeah that's right top ranking-this is mostly because it kept me entertained for a good 20 minutes today)

Cost FREE....entertainment value PRICELESS!

A Trip Down The Rabbit Hole...

For those of who read my blog, I am sorry it's probably a little confusing, this blog for me has been a bit of a brain dump. I write what I want to write about and it is interesting to see who reads which posts. I have techie posts, girly posts, random posts, and even frustrated posts there are some people who read all of them, and then those that gravitate to what suits their particular tastes. I may one day split this into two blogs but we will see if and when that happens.

I initially embarked on The Get Smart Blog for research, to observe the intricacies of using blogging as a business tool. I have written articles, used video marketing, written a blog all for my mortgage business so I know how blogs add value in the real estate world, but I needed to see how it worked out in the less industry specific realm. I have had so much success using technology and the Internet in my business that I started a consulting company teaching others how to do it. I am an emotional person, as you saw in the Wrath post, but I am also a very analytical person and for me I have to have a passion for something before I will take it on, then I have to reason out how it can be done.

So I am always watching and taking mental notes, thinking about how I can use the information coming at me, it can be a little exhausting at times. I am like a sponge and I always want more. I have books, T.V's., and notepads in almost every room of my house. I carry a digital recorder with me (that is no longer compatible with my computer because I have Vista-ridiculous) everywhere I go so I don't forget a great idea. I am a research nut, actually I just love to learn and then I get excited about teaching what I know to others. So embarking on the consulting path, I realize now, was a natural progression for me and something I love doing. What I didn't expect to really take to was blogging, for me a blog was a tool to be used to give depth, and increased exposure for a business, I honestly didn't think I would like it.

It really hit me this last weekend, I needed a break from my computer and a little human (in person) interaction, so after my post on Saturday I spent the rest of the weekend out. The weather was great here, met up with some friends, had breakfast at a great little cafe I love, coffee at another great little place. Went to a quaint local book store picked up some books, I did bring my computer to the coffee shop on Monday, but other than that I was computer free. Like I said before I like to observe, so sitting having my coffee I watch people and their interaction with each other, taking my little mental notes. The realization I came to was that there is more of a sense of community on the Internet then in the "real" world. As I sat there I noticed people were interacting but only in their comfortable little groups not with strangers, for the most part at least-there were a few people that struck up conversations with strangers next to them.

I am not excluding myself here, because I was either reading, listening to my iPod, or so busy watching that I wasn't developing lasting relationships either. I of course wasn't the only one playing research scientist, I think most of us like to people watch, so while everyone there was out in the community we were all in our own little worlds. I was so in my own little world, that when a girl approached me to ask me if I knew that the guy who just left was sketching me, I realized I had been oblivious to someone sitting 10 feet away me watching and sketching me. I had to laugh which made the girl laugh and started us talking, so I did meet a few new people this weekend.

Crazy as this sounds after looking at all of my posts, I am a very private person, and blogging requires you to open up and let people get to know you as an individual not as a business, while you in turn get to know them. Sharing "personal" ideas and experiences freaks me out a little bit but what is even more astounding is how easy it is to get caught up in it. I wasn't expecting to meet people, enjoy interacting with other bloggers, or to actually look forward to that interaction - I am still a little surprised by it all. In the mortgage business my blog was geared towards customers, prospective clients, strategic business partners, and the general public but not on a personal level more as an informational supplement to other marketing pieces. So the nerd in me is enjoying the depth and breadth of what a blog can be and the little extrovert-I didn't know I had in me-is enjoying the aspect of just throwing it all out there for the world to see. Finally, the part I am most enjoying is the sense of community in blogging, and the people I have met and continue to meet here. I have had a great time contributing to this blogsphere.

I love surprises and this whole experience has been a beautiful surprise, and because I am a smart ass I have to make note here that only a woman could rage one day and throw out a mushy post like this the next! So I want to thank you all for reading this crazy blog and I look forward to our future interactions....