Friday, July 12, 2013

untitled - work in progress


Prologue

     Rain came down in torrents, soaking Lauren from head to toe. She was unable to see much farther than 5 feet in front of her on the dark deserted road. While trudging along with a single suit case Lauren cursed herself for being so impulsive and setting out on her trip without checking the weather or her map first.

     Just my luck, Lauren thought, to be stuck with no gas in the middle of a sudden down-poor, at least 10 miles from the nearest town, and lost in the dark to top it off. She had merely wanted to get an early start to her trip and now she was in a very fortuitous situation with no one to help her out.

     As Lauren rounded yet another bend in the road she spotted a light in the distance. Steadily, she made her way toward the only sign of civilization and help, wondering the whole time if it wouldn’t have been more prudent to have left her belongings behind in the car. As Lauren got closer to her beacon of hope she realized she was nearing in on a farm. While Lauren’s attention focused on the canvas of her surroundings she failed to see the drop off in the road ahead of her and slid down a quarter mile of the road hitting her head as she went and blacking out.


 

Chapter 1

Jack smiled at his 5 year old daughter, Natalie, as she prattled on and on about her day. Keeping his eyes on the road; however, had become a recent priority with the sudden deluge they were caught in.

“And then Bess said that they were going to have new kittens, so I was thinking it would be a good idea for us to have some around the farm.”

“You were, were you?” Jack replied mildly.

 

Article on Micro Nations for Jeremy's web site for Larsonia


Micronations on the rise

By Jessica Moser

2-1-13

 

Can you locate Aramoana on a map? What about Talossa? No?  Have you ever heard of New Atlantas? If you can’t and haven’t don’t worry. These places do not exist on any atlas as of yet. They are what have commonly become known as micronations.

 As we see a rise in the popularity of dystopian novels such as the Hunger Games series or the Divergent series we also see a rising trend in the formation of micronations. Micronations are usually classified as nation-state simulations, modle countries/ utopians, or self-proclaimed entities that claim to be soveregin states which have not been recogonized as such by any recogonized soveregin state or supernational organization.

So, why create a new country? And, are the people who do actually serious? There are several answers to these questions.

Some micronations are created out of necesity or desperation, others out of creativity and still others for theoretical experimentation, political protest, artistic expression, personal entertainment and the conduct of criminal activity. A micronation most often seems to be an ideal environment for those who are interested in politics and communities to meet a diverst range of interesting people and experiment with different types of governments.

Citizens of micronations have been known to participate in voting, creating currency and national flags, writing for newspapers, running ministries and even waging civil wars (in which they hack into another micronation’s website and destroy it).

The seriousness of their creators ranges in varying degrees from very serious to that of someone playing a game such as an mmorpg (mass multiplayer o role playing game).

If you research the subject of micronations you will come across a pelthora of information from published books to newspaper articles in the New York Times to documentaries. There are more than 125 known micronations in the United States alone and the numbers are rising every year.

Micronations have been in existance as early as 954 AD; however, they have taken on a huge rise in popularity since the introduction of the internet.

Some of the most noteworthy micronations are as follows.

Seborga founded in 954 AD was a town in the Italian region of Liguria that claims to never have been a part of the modern Italian state.

Llanrwst, a town in North Wales declared a “free borough” in 1276 by a Welsh prince. It applied to the United Nations in 1947 and was unsuccessful.

The Kingdom of Talossa is a constitutional monarchy founded by Robert Ben Madison in 1979. He was a high school student in Milwaukee, WI who declared his bedroom to be a sovereign state. You can find it at www.talossa.com. The site’s citizens have claimed to have inspired the propagation of online micronations.

One of the newest additions to the groing trend of online pledged micronations is Larsonia, found at Larsonia.com. This micronation was Established in August 2012 by Jeremy Larson, self-proclaimed King. It is comprised of “brave souls trying to establish a new country.” The mission statement : “to learn from our pas, creat a model future, and to establish a group of like minded people that want to talk about, plan, create and eventually live on our claimed lands.

Larsonia is a constitutional monarchy with 33 citizens so far. It’s claimed territories include: all areas at or below 60 degrees south on the planet Earth (the entire continent of Antartica), current domiciles of citizens of Larsonia throughout the world,(2010 Tk7) the only known Earth Trojan Asteroid – renamed Thai-Tang, and several other celestial  territories which can be viewed on the country’s web site at www.larsonia.com. 

As this trend of new micronations grows we can expect to see some fizzle out with the enthusiasim of its creators and citizens; however, it is evident that with the freedom of expression there will be many more new countries/ micronations to come before this trend reaches its pinicle or downfall.




Who am I? - children's book


Who Am I?

 

“Zoe, can you tell me who I am?” Momma said.

“Ok.” Zoe answered.

“Arf arf arf. Who am I?”

“No.  Not a doggie!” Zoe giggled.

“Meow meow meow.”

“Not a kitty.”

“Quack quack. Quack quack.”

”You’re not a duck.” Zoe said in a stern voice.

“Mooooooo.”

“Not a cow.”

“Neigh neigh.”

“No. You’re not a horsey. You’re a Mommy!” Zoe shouted with confidence.

“Yes baby, that is exactly right. I’m a mommy.” Momma replied.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Religion VS. Living Your Life

There was a post on my friends face book : A Mormon Woman's Choice - Modern Love www.nytimes.com A single 35-year-old virgin makes a visit to Planned Parenthood...

Being a Mormon raised woman I was intrigued. Don't get me wrong, I am as inactive as they come. I do not and did not follow all of the rules desired in order to be a true Mormon since I was like 17 and yet I still claim it as my religion as it is difficult to turn your back on what you were raised to believe even when you have some issues with it; however, I feel this woman has some other choices than the ones she made.

Yes she was true -mostly- to who she was, but is that really the best course of action? I didn't really see her story having a solution to it's main problem, and a wrap up of what she will do now?

If this story was in the NY Times - why did it read as if she wrote it? was it supposed to be one of those write in stories they run from time to time to raise readership? If so she needs some skills added to her writing background. The concept of the deliema was intriging and somewhat compelling given my background, but couldn't there be other options? I have a 26 year-old virgin friend in a similar boat, but she is able to date and there are single Mormon men. Maybe this woman just needed to move to a more highly Mormon populated area?!! A place with a singles ward. Or maybe she should change religions or just suck it up. She may not see a problem with herself; however, without a picture or actually meeting her I can't vouch for that attestment and usually it never dawns on a person what their real problems are unless they are pointed out by someone else.


What do you think. Take a look at the article and leave a post.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Poem: I AM

I AM

Dead trunk, long forgotten in the forest,
full of life, but not its own.

Hollows are filled with creatures that prey on death.

Wind blows a ghostly song through an empty shaft
once flowing with sap ...
a lifeline, blood now drained.

Emotionless, letting those around it continue on,
pretending to be what they need, want.

In actuality a vacant shell,
devoid of protection.

Left behind, not good enough,
to simply rot.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Busy Bee

Now that my entire family has moved out of Dad's house Brian and I are trying to unpack and spread out. However, the project has become Jessica doing all the work on top of taking care of the girls basically by herself. I don't mind so much doing the work, but then He expects me to be in the mood after basically killing myself all day. What is that?

And, of course, he promised to do things "tomorrow" but when tomorrow came he spent almost 8 hours out of the house with Bret playing Disc Golf in Madison. So, I had to do everything by myself once again, take care of the girls all day, eat alone (with the exception of Zoe), and basically spend a boring day by myself.

I have friends in the area, not many, but some; however, they all work at different times and no one ever seems to be available lately. Brian goes out and plays Disc Golf or hangs with those guys about 2 times a week almost every week, and what do I get? Zip!!! I wish I had something to do and people to do it with on a weekly basis that wouldn't include dragging the girls with me everytime. I just need some time to myself or with friends sans children once in a while.

To top it off, last night was a baby up all night kind of deal and I have been up since 4:30 am with no naps because wouldn't you know it, Daphne decided to be awake while Zoe was sleeping, and of course Brian wasn't home for me to just get a decent nap in this afternoon even after I let him sleep in and then gave him nookie, in which only he benefited from orgasmically!!!!

Maybe I should just talk to him instead of being dissapointed and just giving in and letting him do whatever whenever when it comes to his new found obsession.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Time and Changes?

Where did the time all go?

My baby girl will be a year old in one month and 2 days. Hard to believe.

I have almost been married for 2 years. I still can't fathom the wonders that brought Brian into my life.

I had to move back into my dad's house. Money is rare and it needs to be used paying those pesky things call bills and student loans.

I hate retail ... well, I don't hate it, I'm just tired of working in it. I want the job I went to school for. I want my education to mean something. I want to know that all the money I spent and am still paying back was good for something.

I want to speed up time and change things. I know I am not what I want to be yet and that there are still more options, but with the economy the way it is and the job market I don't see that change clearly in front of me any more.

The path laid out in front of me is now getting smaller and there are more things standing in my way.

I will plow through. I will find a way. I will make the change.

Because...

It is necessary.
It is possible.
It is a chance that is there to be taken.
It is destiny.
It is life and I am living it.

It only takes time, but the changes will come.