Wow, all you people are amazing and interesting.....gotta love that BN it brings us all together

What Kris doesnt tell you is that she's also Steve Franks' favorite forum goer. Steve being the creator of Psych, another forum She haunts.

But enough about her. About me:

I'm Austin, I go by the nicknames Linc(Die Hard Legend of Zelda Fan), and McLovin ( I apparently look a lot like the movie character, I cant see it). I've lived in Houston, Texas for about 22 years, and before that I lived in my mothers ovaries...well half of me anyways. I work for Starbucks and Home Depot while going to school for my associates in Mechanical Drafting, hoping to work for one of the many many companies in Houston doing CAD. (Computer Aided Design)

I Am currently addicted to like 5 shows on USA, those being Burn Notice, Psych, NCIS, LO:CI, and Monk (to a lesser degree)

Umm, I live at home, but will be getting my own place soon with my wonderful girlfriend, Michelle. I WILL Get a dog, and it WILL be a black labrador, and he WILL be named Jack. These are must haves in my life.

I live and breathe music, and play trumpet, guitar, and piano; the latter two are sub-par. I've played the trumpet for about 13 years, and guitar for about 1 year. and piano, as a supplement to my guitar and trumpet practice.

ummm...I prefer Sam Adams Light...and I abhor any sort of smoked substance including cigarettes. I read like it's going out of style and enjoy McAlister's sweet tea a lot.

Oh, and I live for comedy. In my opinion, if you cant laugh, then theres no point in living.

How funny Frenchy that you would ask if our husky talks, yes he does!! He was a rescue dog and had "issues" from some sort of abuse. My late husband did some research on Huskies when we first got him and found that they like "communal howls." So my husband, son, who was 14 at the time, and I start howling and sure enough Chukchi lifted his head up and start singing. He loves to sing so much that the kids in the neighborhood come by and stand at the fence and he'll run up and they'll all start howling together. Unfortunately our lab hasn't mastered howling so she just runs in circles wagging her tail and barking!

Blessed to be here!
Although I have traveled and worked in many places like El Paso, Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, Detroit, North Carolina, Atlanta, Alabama, Louisana, Arizona, Texas, my home base is New York/New Jersey.

Older kids and a hubby that continually lift my spirits and love me without unrealistic expectations.

I work hard for a living in order to support my family, but I found Burn Notice to be my escape. It has become one of my hidden treasures that I actually enjoy - the fascination with this series, cast and crew is very refreshing.

I am a big, big music fan - no specific genre, no specific style. My Ipod is an extensive collection from jazz, native tribal sounds, rock, spoken word, Latin, Josh Groban to the Andrew Sisters. I enjoy any sound as long as I "hear" the underlying rhythm within the music.

I am a big fan of puzzles - crossword; boggle; Scrabble.

I love creativity, arts and craft projects, collectible dolls and writing. I love classic movies. I love good movies with a story. My second favorite actor is Jet Li. I have seen every movie that he made. His earlier work from Hong Kong was better than his American, mainstream films.

I have enjoyed reading the backgrounds of some of our BN members. From our thoughtful comments on the threads, I knew we were a special brand, intelligent and diverse. It's a pleasure to share this site with you all.

LOL!!! So true. I can hardly wait for my summer league to start up again.




Wow! I thought I had a lot of pets We'd probably get a cat or two, but I don;t think they'd like living with all the dogs.



I'd love a baseball thread. I'm always up for talking baseball, especially if I'm talking about my Yankee's.

I agree!
Frenchy--this is a great idea. It's fun to get to know people a little better.

Trigger Happy--I lived in Melbourne, Australia for a year as a kid (my family moved there for 1 year b/c of my dad’s work). We traveled all over Australia on vacations—it’s a really incredible place; I’ve been wanting to go back and visit ever since then. I hope you haven’t been directly affected by all the terrible fires recently in Victoria!

Otherwise, I grew up in Seattle, went to college in Boston, grad school in Chicago, and for the last 1.5 years I’ve been doing biology research in New York City. I like (but don’t *love*) NYC, and will be happy to move back to Chicago or further west when my current (non-permanent) job ends in 3-5 years.

I’m a crazy baseball fan (Go Seattle Mariners!!), which has been rough lately since the Mariners have been pretty bad for the last several years. But, as I say every Spring, maybe they’ll be better this year!

What else?... My family had an Old English Sheepdog when I was growing up. She was the sweetest, most loving dog. Not so smart, but that was just part of her charm. ;) I’d love to have a dog someday, but it’ll have to wait, since I currently live in a small studio apartment. In my free time (and there’s not a lot of it, since I’m a bit of a workaholic), I go running, swing dancing…and I read a ton (usually 2-3 books a week), mostly Sci-Fi and Fantasy fluff (it makes a great escape!), though I try to throw in some more quality lit. every once in awhile (I’m just finishing up Barack Obama’s “Dreams from my Father”). Hope to hear from more of you soon! --m

OK I'll join in. It is interesting reading about everyone here.

I live in Houston, Texas and have for about 2/3 of my life. I was born in a small town in Southwest Louisiana (Cajun country for sure). I've there until I was 7 then moved back at 14, then left again at 21, so that makes for a different accent. Both places have hot and humid summers, and as they say it's not the heat it's the humidity that'll get you.

I'm also a baseball fan, it's my favorite sport...so Go 'stros (that's the Houston Astros). OK they haven't been doing that great during spring training, but hey they're still my team. Of course my all time favorite Astro has retired now...Craig Biggio, but the team is still my team.

I do still have a job, the company I work for has been laying off people, and since I worked for the company that was bought a couple of years ago we were already losing people due to the merger, then with the economic problems kicking in it's not been pretty. Since I work in the back office in a support position our workload has increased while our pay is being cut...fun huh?

Hey Catreona! Nice to meet a fellow New Englander. I llive in eastern CT so get to RI a fair amount. Any other New Englanders out there? It's fun to hear about everyone and we all share the BN bond.

Curator - I spent many years working in the field of librarianship and literary scholarship and was given the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Library of Virginia when it first moved into its new location in downtown Richmond (about ten years ago or so). It was very state-of-the-art, very high tech, and very cool. The thing I remember being impressed with the most was the “inner sanctum” of the special collections/archives department. There were these huge vaults, like, steel bank safe kinds of doors, and biotech security and all of that. We donned white gloves and were then led into the first vault, which contained shelves of books and other items from Virginia’s history. The book I remember the most was a copy of an Audubon book. It was one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever seen in my life. Then at the other end of this vault, was ANOTHER vault with another huge bank safe looking door. There was additional biotech security on this room. Inside this very, very small room (which if I recall correctly was completely encased in steel and was fireproof to an insanely high temperature) was Virginia's copy of the Bill of Rights, along with a flag from the Confederacy and a sword that I believe belonged to Robert E. Lee? But don't quote me on that...it might've been Stonewall Jackson's sword. I think it was Robert E. Lee's...but I digress. Anyway, the Bill of Rights was behind glass of course, and I believe there was a similar system of protecting it like there is with the US Constitution in the NARA building in DC. Anyway, It was amazing. I stood there staring at the Bill of Rights...just - there it was. It was awesome; truly, I was in awe. I actually leaned in and peered directly at it and sort of closed my eyes so I could sear it into my memory. And I’ve never forgotten it. It was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen in my life.

Thank goodness for curators.

[also - there was this awful incident in the library where I worked, where a bibliophile had managed to steal a signed first edition of The Great Gatsby from the special collections department. It was really just awful and of course the bibliophile "went to ground." Then there was this entire network of archivists/rare booksellers/special collections experts that got involved. It reminded me of a librarian version of Interpol, lol. It was very, very impressive, the work they did. The last I heard, the book hadn't surfaced. Hopefully it has by now...]

I plan on dropping by to say hello to each and every person who's left a note about themselves over here. It may take a bit of time, but only because you all are such remarkably interesting people and I don't want to miss anyone. Thank you for continuing to post over here, it's been great "getting to know you all."

Okay, I had just a quick moment to post one more note over here...

Nato - it’s been so much fun getting to know you and I’ve gotta say, I’m so happy to hear about another Virginian Burn Notice fan! Indeed it seems that a lot of us have connections to Virginia - huh, go figure! For those who don’t, we’ll grant honorary Virginia status by way of our founding fathers, so many of whom hailed from Virginia (as we are all descendents of their efforts as Americans). [And they were descended from England, so the Brits on the forum can claim them as their own as well. ]

And StewH - that’s so interesting about your daughter training military working dogs. And wow, teaching Chinese - I’m impressed! I took Japanese for three years in college and couldn’t *believe* how complicated it was. There were three separate written languages, in addition to “modes/styles of respect” in communication which depended on a number of factors (i.e., you would address your boss differently than you would a coworker; you would address a male coworker differently if you were a female coworker, etc) - is this true of Chinese as well?

Thanks again for the great thread, Frenchy! I'm looking forward to meeting more Burn Notice colleagues.

Thank you very much Go Cubbies! Let's see what they can do this year!



Well, I'll be 20, soonish. Does that make it better? Yes, theatre is amazing. It's the immediate response and sitting through rehearsals watching it develop that really intrigues me. Stage management is quite the challenge, but really fun and rewarding in the long run. Nice to meet you!



Nahhhh!

Thanks for the honorary Virginia status, Philippa. As a matter of fact, however, the Hobson family goes all the way back to Virginia and N. Carolina in the 1700's--Halifax County, in fact. As the years went by, my part of the Hobson family moved to Kentucky, Ohio, S. Dakota, Oregon and finally California. There are still Hobsons in Virginia and N. Carolina, as far as I know...


Chinese is no longer as complicated as Japanese (or Korean, for that matter; my wife is Korean...) when it comes to speech levels, courtesies, etc. It has a lot to do with the societal changes brought in by the communists in 1949.

Well, I just got back from New Orleans--my big sister turned 50 and all she wanted was a road trip!!! Whew--I survived!

So, I'm living in Wisconsin now, but my family moved 14 times when I was a kid, so I call a lot of places home. My husband and I met in NYC 23 years ago (GO METS!) and my daughter goes to a university there. I have a son graduating from high school this spring (has been accepted to schools in Maryland, Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey to play soccer) and my youngest is a junior, so we'll be doing the college thing all over again!

I teach Drama and Performance Speech at a Choice high school in Milwaukee (very rewarding). My husband is in money management so he travels to Europe a lot (sometimes I get to go). Our children's favorite place in the world is either London or anywhere you can ski!

A BIG dog lover--lost our 13 year old golden, Sam, two years ago--heartbreaking--my (then) 16 year old son was with me at the vet when we had to make the decision, it was a dreadful scene. Sorry for your loss, Phil Now, I have a beautiful Great Dane--she's a real joy.

Loved reading everyone's story.

Ah, thank you for the info on the Chinese and Korean languages, StewH - that makes perfect sense and it hadn't crossed my mind how much of an impact Communism would've had on their languages (although it really should've, as I've read 1984 many a time)...

Again I have to say that I am amazed by how many animal lovers we have on the forum. So many dog lovers, but also people who have cats, ducks, chickens, rabbits - quite a few rabbits, actually! I loved Kirpez's relating of how her rabbit Lou thinks he is a dog, lol!

GAJazzy, I'd love it if we could get an OT baseball thread up and running! I'd never followed baseball and had only been to one game in my entire life - I saw the NY Yankees play the Oakland A's back in the early 90s. It was a heck of a lot of fun and I had *such* a blast, even though I hadn't a clue as to what was going on. It was the energy in the stadium - I just loved it. Anyway, fast forward to last fall - I got introduced to the game by fellow member (and apparent daredevil ) Siggy26. It was all pretty remarkable, because it sort of just came up in the course of conversation that she was a sports writer...and then she mentioned the Phillies being her team (as she's from the area). This was right before the World Series, so I decided to root for her team...and then the next thing I knew, I was watching the World Series and I'll be darned but they won!! I was like, wow - I sure know how to pick 'em. *LOL at self* Ah, it just was all so serendipitous, it was completely random but totally on the mark. I loved it! So now the Phillies are my team and I am still poring over my book called Watching Baseball Smarter by Zack Hample. My goal is to be able to know what is going on by the time this summer gets here, so Siggy and I can take in a game.

BooJr, you mentioned being half cajun. My parents moved to Louisiana when I was a little girl (as I mentioned, my dad is a professor there)...anyway, they got divorced and eventually my mom and I left for Florida. Well, my mom's boyfriend followed us there - he's a cajun. They eventually got married and he became my stepfather (and he's always been my father to me, which has been great). I love visiting his family in Louisiana...it is *such* a uniquely beautiful place and the people are just amazingly friendly and cool and yes, they do walk a little on the wild side. It's definitely a "let the good times roll" kind of place. And the food! Wow, SUCH amazing food. My stepfather's gumbo is OUT OF THIS WORLD. Amazing stuff. He now makes a vegetarian version of it for me, which obviously isn't as good but hey, it's better than going without it!

I decided to break this post up because it was so lengthy - I apologize for how wordy I've gotten, ahem...

A couple more notes, and then I've gotta head back out and run some errands...

Soonerlover, it’s nice to see you and I hope you are enjoying your time on the forum. It’s been very interesting to hear your story and I appreciate all of your thoughts on the DC meet-up. I hope your schedule opens up so you can be in attendance!

GolferGal - it’s been fun getting to know you (why do I have a feeling I’ll be saying this repeatedly thoroughout this post, lol)! It seems like there’s also a Connecticut connection among a number of members, doesn’t it?

Saqqara, what kind of dogs do you have? Are they all one breed? Are they working dogs on the ranch? I think my golden would’ve loved to have been a ranch hand. He loved open spaces and visiting with other animals. I think I mentioned once in a chat one night about how across the street from my mom’s house there’s a couple who owns some horses. One horse really, really adored Cyrus and would get so excited when we stopped by to visit and bring him a carrot or two. I always had to bring Cyrus a carrot to eat as well, lol. They’d both eat their carrots and then Rebel (the horse) would lean over the fence and they’d lean in with both their faces - one time Cyrus gave him a lick on the nose. Do you have any horses?

Also - Dramamama, I'm so sorry to hear of beloved golden Sam's passing. I'm happy to hear that you have a sweetheart of a dog in your life right now, that's just wonderful.

Okay, so I thought some of you animal lovers might find this photo funny - here's a photo of my golden retriever and in the background is my mom's neighbor (who passed away this past February at the age of 93). A couple of years ago she invited me and a family friend to come over to her house to learn how to make sorghum. I brought Cyrus with me, who really just wanted to lie down on top of the discarded sorghum stalks and take in the rural Virginia countryside. *lol*

Man Samfrench, this thread is taking off like a ROCKET (Well done you and everyone who is participating)!! Great getting to know everyone a little better. I must confess I've been tardy on reading the forum, so have sort of speed-read this thread -- I need to go back and read it for clarity again.

Yes, So Cal has fine weather and sites to see. The Zoo is phenomenal and so is Sea World (love Shamu)!
I am convinced that animals help people live longer (and more enjoyably).

I want to visit England some day -- thare is so much history and sites on your Island Nation -- it would be hard to do it only once. I'd love to explore London and Whitechapple (scenes of the Ripper's exploits), to see Cambridge, and Oxford (land of Newton), the Tower Bridge, and the Palace of coarse and see the many, many site -- Stone Henge, especially, or the White Clifts at Dover. Scotland too, gotta look for Nessy!!

I should have taken the chance while I was in Ireland years ago, but I ran out of time. But it's another excuse to travel




Siggy, I wanted to say, YES, if you get the chance visit Ireland and plan to stay a while -- I was there with a friend in '96; we stayed three weeks and I wish I could have stayed three months, there is just to see and doo there. And the people are the friendliest on the planet!! We stayed in Dublin for a few days then rented a car and did a road trip around the Island (learning to drive on the right side was fun the first day ) We did the bed & Breakfast thing and each area has their circular one-day tour. They give you the hightlights and route to cover points-of-interest in a local day trip. Loved the pubs and pub-grub and music. And castles, ya' can't swing a leperacon without hitting a castle; it is a country rich in history, culture and warm people.

... I could retire there.


And to all you *many* golfers in BN land, I am so jealous that you can play -- it looks like soooo much fun, but every time I go to the driving range (which is all too seldom) it only teaches me how very technical it really is. I need to sign up for some lessons; maybe this summer. But finding a partner may not be too easy, since none of my friends (close by) play. Oh well, nothing good is easy ...

When I lived in Louisiana, there was a McAlister's in the area and I was addicted to their sweet tea. Reading your post, I had to go to the next best place around here, South Street Under in Leesburg. They give you unsweetened and the sugar syrup and you make it to your taste. I always make it extra sweet!

Mac, I love that you drive a Mustang and that it's the Steve McQueen Ltd. Edition Bullitt car! That's awesome.

Catreona, that's really interesting that you have a degree in Oceanography! I've always thought it seemed that there hasn't been as much public interest in the study of the world's oceans as there has been of outer space. I hope that things continue to work out in your work. I've heard that it's getting harder and harder to get tenure these days, even with a terminal degree...

'kay, I think I've hogged this thread long enough, lol. Again, it's been great getting to know everyone and I've enjoyed reading your posts.

Philippa--Did I catch somewhere in here that you are a vegetarian? I think it was in a post referencing cajun food. I've been veggie (but not vegan) since '03, but I was still eating seafood when I went to New Orleans, and I just remember that it was spectacular.....

As to your suspicion that even a PhD doesn't guarantee a job(or tenure) in higher education anyone, you are quite right. We are one of the few college science departments that is actually hiring for next fall, and we've had almost 200 applicants for the position, from all over the world. And our school is mostly known as a business school, not a science institution, so we wouldn't normally be particularly attractive to scientists. Not anymore. Even Brown has instituted a hiring "freeze," so I've heard. So we've got our choice of candidates, unless the position "evaporates" before we make an offer.....

Cargram, I spent most of the day in eastern CT--at the Mystic Aquarium....I'm part of their marine mammal/sea turtle stranding "first responder" network, since I live on the coast, and Mystic is responsible for all of RI as well as the CT coast. I was there for an advanced class on seal I.D. and handling. I've responded to strandings of dead whales and seals, and healthy animals (that didn't need transport to "rehab") so I've yet to try out my "kenneling" technique. Apparently seals get quite cranky when you are trying to push them into a big plastic crate!

Thanks Phi, I love my car, it is so fun to drive. Steve is one who left us too soon, but left us with memorible moments. [que the Cheryl Crow tune, "Like Steve McQueen, underneath your radar screen ...."]


... And, it's not hogging, it takin' an interest , which you do very well. I think other's appreciate your responses; I do.

Hah! TexasScaper is from Houston too!

And guess what. I did go to school for drafting too, but never did work in that as when I got out of school the bottom had fallen out of the oil market and many, many people with experience were out of work (this was all before you were even born). A couple of years later I did go back to school to pick up the CAD classes, but then got busy with the work I was doing, and never did finish that up. So I now work in an entirely different line of work. Of course living in Houston my job is still somewhat tied to the energy industry in that many of our clients are someway involved in the energy field, be it drilling, production, exploration, or something else along those lines.

Jees, next you'll say that you like Sam Adams and McAlisters sweet tea.

I guess Houston has that effect, what with all the production oriented businesses.

Catreona, that is so great. I love Mystic Aquarium and they do wonderful work in marine mammal rescue. You are so lucky to be part of that. Wish I could do some of that, do they need volunteers?

Phi I loved the picture of your dog, so cute.

This was a small horse ranch, but we converted the barn to house dogs and take overflow from the local shelters when they need it. We have 1 each of English pointer, daschund, German shepard and a rottweiler/sheltie mix, and we have 5 beagles. Some of them are dogs we've rescued, but the beagles are therapy dogs and we take them to the local VA hospital once a week to work/visit with patients.

Here's a pic of most of my babies (with their toys scattered every where). I Can't believe I actually had a pic with 8 out of the 9 in it

Oh my gosh, saqqara, your dogs are beauties! Amazing that you could get so many of them calmly in one shot...lol. It's not only awesome that you take in overflow from shelters, but also that you take your beagles for patient therapy at the VA. There's nothing like the comfort of a sweet dog or kitty...

No worries...I am so not a grown up. I'm 26, but look about 16, and act 12! In fact, just today...My new neighbor asked when my mom and dad were coming home haha. Wonder how the boy felt about being mistaken for my dad? lol. Also noticed, you're european...I lived in Spain for a while a few years ago. It was definitely good times. (it was pre Beckham on Real Madrid days...) We traveled quite a bit, but never did get to England. So I guess my point is...I'm not grown up, and kind of Europeany-ish just like you

...did i mention i'm currently taking a lot of pain medication haha

[/quote]

Lol um ok hope you feel better, I've never been to mainland spain but I've visited the canary islands




Hey pleased to meet you my dad does CAD work, has done for many years he tries to explain it to me but it's very complex lol. Labs are great if I had the room I would have one, my uncle has been breeding them about twenty years so i'm very familiar with the breed.



They do don't they that's so sweet your poor lab is probably a bit confused bless him. My dog is a rescue too they are so deserving, the circumstances of them being there are not their fault and that just makes me so sad.



Thats the beauty of an iPod isn't it, you can mix it up as much as you like mine's the same quite a combination of different genres.



Hey wow you read a lot!! I read too but not to that degree I work a lot which keeps me pretty busy.







Sorry to hear you're having lay offs where you work that must be very unsettling, feeling kind of left out here about the baseball seems like a fun sport though This is so fun, we're like a BN family now!

And they were descended from England, so the Brits on the forum can claim them as their own as well

Aw thanks Phi, not our proudest moment in history but thanks all the same lol.



Fourteen times!! omg thats a lot of moving, London's nice I go maybe a couple of times a year to see a show or go shopping or to a museum but I prefer a rural location, I love my dirt lol.



Why thankyou kind sir just nice to give back to the forum as you've all been so welcoming to me I've been to marineland in antibes in the south of france which is similar to seaworld in fact some of the orcas came from there. I think they share the breeding program. I guess living in England you get a bit blase but there is a lot of history here, we have a castle in my home town http://www.colchestermuseums.org.uk/castle/castle_index.html and I live in the oldest recorded town in britain. I have never been to ireland would bery much like to though perhaps this year for a holiday, there's an idea....





I would love to work with marine life only one problem though I cant swim lol. You must see a lot of heart wrenching things though I've read about whales who become stranded call out and the whole pod gets stuck and there's no way for them to get back to sea I worked with seals a little when I was a zookeeper, watch their teeth they bite and they're very strong. Went dolphin and whale watching when I was in tenerife a few years ago, such amazing creatures we must do more to protect them!

i'm gonna try and to a 'Philippa Connors' and reply to everyone this has been really cool and I thankyou for your participation By the time you guys meet up you will know everything there is to know about one another lol.

Since this to be the hot topic let me join it.

I lived several of my early years in Europe (due to my father's work, and no it was not in the military).

I then spent the jr/sr HS years in lower New York State, getting to enjoy the big Apple while going to school just out of the 5 boroughs.

I then went to college on a full ride thanks to the fact that I was able to tackle people. It's not a joke, it's the way I look at it really. There are so many kids nowadays that should be going to school but just don't have the grades, but others, because of their athletic abilities get that opportunity.

Not having the talent of going in the NFL I followed my heart of wanting to keep playing and went to Europe (Italian league) for about 5 yrs. Finally the heart stopped being what I listened to and began using the brain (as my father would say, better late than never) and came home and began using what I had gone to college for (journalism) and began to write what I love, sports.

I am married (no kids), but have 4 dogs (all mixed breeds, and all big, smallest weighs 83 pounds) and 6 cats and that surely cuts back on going anywhere for long. Fortunately we have a nice yard for the dogs to have fun in and the cats are all in house ones.

I do love reading and writing, and that might be another attraction to BN, because of the good writing that it has. The story about the young man that played football was awesome for me as it brought my world into BN's.

AEM

Samfrench25--I can only speak for Mystic, but swimming is not required to be a volunteer responder! We're not expected to get into the water with the animals at any time. As to whale/dolphin pod strandings, just hearing about it is extremely distressing, but I've never responded to that situation--all of the cetacean (whale/dolphin) strandings that I've been called for were dead before I arrived . As to the teeth on seals, this danger has been drilled into us repeatedly, with lovely descriptions and photos of seal pox and seal "finger"--two nasty diseases humans can get from seal bites. The board is lucky that I haven't a clue how to post pictures here ! "Kenneling" a seal involves using specially designed panels with handles to gently "herd" the animal towards the open end of the crate, while protecting the handler from "attack" by a freaked-out animal. Most common mistake made by handlers--instinctively raising the panels to protect the face if the seal lunges, only to discover 3 seconds later that the seal's sharp canines are firmly embedded in your ankle.......

Cargram--to my understanding, Mystic has two groups of volunteers--those who work at the aquarium itself (I don't think these volunteers are involved with rehab, though, I think once a injured/sick animal arrives on site it is taken care of exclusively by the vet staff); and the "First Responders," those people who live along the coast in the coverage area, and can get to a stranding quickly and assess the situation. I'm not sure how far from the coast would be TOO far to fit into this category.

Saqqara--loved the photos of all of the dogs, and love that there are so many animal lovers on this board. When my boyfriend's mother died 10 years ago, she left us 6 dogs and 16 cats (on top of the 3 cats we already had) with a death bed promise that we would keep as many as possible, and adopt out only if certain of a good home. Since most of the animals that went home with his mom (who volunteered at a shelter) were animals that were NOT easy to adopt out (sick, feral, or old) we had many of them for the rest of their natural life span. Ten years later, the animals are down to 4 cats, and the boyfriend is now a "housemate." C'est la vie!

I really loved hearing about your family, sister776 and how they love you unconditionally and bring you such joy. It sounds like you've got a great deal of serenity on that front in your life - it's wonderful to hear that.

Also - there's another Andrew Sisters fan on the BN forum, WOW!!!! I LOVE the Andrew Sisters! Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen is parked on my iPod and I play it quite regularly and like to tap dance and sport my "jazz hands" while dancing around the house. *lol* If you haven't heard these fantastic singers, click here to listen to it!




On the hot and humid summer front - Amen to that, sistah! It definitely is the humidity. The two most humid places I've ever been: southern Louisiana, and Jamestown, Virginia. I couldn't BELIEVE the humidity in Jamestown. Whoa, that must've been stunning to the first settlers there...

Okay, I'm definitely thinking there are enough of us baseball fans to get an OT thread up and running! I'm still learning baseball but like I said, I've got my goal fixed in mind and am steering myself towards having a working knowledge of how the game works by early summer.

I continue to be very concerned about the "boots on the ground" economic reports coming in on this thread. Things are really...they're not good and there seems to be no end on the horizon, not anytime soon at lease. Try to hang in there, everyone, sigh...

Yay! Beagle pics!

Your pups are great, Saqqara. My baby was a beagle, as will be my next one.

And yours must either be really well trained or someone was holding food next to that camera. Once I tried to photograph a beagle, Bassett, and two dachshunds together. It did not go well, even with food.

Phillipa, thanks for strolling me down memory lane!! Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen - also on my iPod, along with BBoogie Boy. It's also a very small world because I can remember singing that song at a Mother's Day tea with my school buddies. I'm an alto and have always loved the harmony of the Andrew Sisters. As a die-hard classic movie fan, the video was spot-on. You have such a generous spirit and I look forward to reading more of your posts.

I'm what I guess I'd call a "pescetarian" - I eat seafood a couple of times a month on average; the rest of the time I am vegetarian. I used to be strictly a vegetarian. My whole thing is about the humane treatment of the animals (throughout the course of their lives). I do eat dairy - I will eat cheese made with vegetable rennet. I don't eat eggs. (ptui! ptui! never liked eggs...) The seafood in Louisiana was just extraordinary, I agree! Loved the gulf shrimp. I also loved the seafood in Florida (especially tuna)...




I love this photo!!! You can really get a sense of all of their little personalities. How is the little one who needed to stay overnight with the vet doing today, saqqara? Which one is it in this photograph? You guys have been in my thoughts and I hope there's been an improvement...

Greetings Folks
This has been a very satisfying (if lengthy) read!
I am impressed at the number of professionals sharing their love for Burn Notice.

I spent part of my childhood in New Zealand, and still have family there, and part of my childhood in Santa Barbara, where I also still have family. I don't live too far away from that paradise; in North Santa Barbara County. I must pause here because I have noticed the large number of Psych fans among us. I should like that show, it is the kind of show that I normally would like, Shawn and Gus are great, but it isn't filmed in Santa Barbara and it is such a bizarre disconnect to watch the plot unfold with familiar names in in a place that is so clearly not ANYWHERE around here: I mean everything is too green and there was a crime scene at the beach and the beach was full of pebbles instead of sand!...I just can't watch it, sorry.
Anyway My husband loves sports and Alien stories, he doesn't really see the point of shows like Burn Notice. My eldest is 15 and she enjoys Burn Notice, but lets face it JD is MY age, a little old for her, she would rather obsess on more age appropriate dudes like Dereck Hough and the Efron Boy (who grew up just "up the road" from here, sort of). My 2 younger kids are really too little to be watching stuff with guns and crimes and such, so that is why I am here, where I can think and discuss Burn Notice with others who love it, to my hearts content.
Gymnastics is my family's sport of choice; I coach gymnastics part time and both of the older girls compete, and the 5 year old is learning. I think that with the strong Russian/Romanian influence in gymnastics, they should include it in a Burn Notice episode. (I volunteer to write the episode!) I was a stay at home mom, which is a wonderful job, but now that my husband is having trouble finding steady work (he is a carpenter and construction is way-slow) I am back at work as a substitute special ed. teaching assistant. I work with severely handicapped and autistic children and teens. This is my first time as a substitute teacher, but I have worked with handicapped people in one venue or another all of my (adult) life.
We all like music, everyone in the family plays something and we all sing nicely; usually our home gymnastics competitions are opened by one of my daughters singing the national anthem. My eldest has a really special voice and I predict that you will be hearing her on the radio someday if she stays her present course. The older 2 are such limelight seekers and they both plan a career on TV/movies/stage, but I hate performing. However I spend a lot of time dealing with their rehearsals; they are always performing or competing in something!
As for pets; we used to have dog; a pitbull mix that we got at the local shelter as a puppy but she died of cancer last year, and now it is down to 9 chickens and 3 rats. I wont get another dog because I discovered, in the course of Sara's puppy-hood that my husband doesn't really like dogs. He agreed to a dog because he thought we would tie her up in the back yard like his family did to their dogs, but he thought WRONG!!! It was discordant. For the whole 10 years of Sara's life. The kids want cats but we have so many coyotes around here that I know that any cat we brought home would be doomed to a short life. And then the kids would cry.
Its been nice meeting you all.

Have loved reading all your post and getting to know you all....now I guess its my Turn

Well, I was born in Iowa and lived there 99.9% of my life, just recently move to Kansas with my husband for his job. I'm a Nurse with a biology degree, my dad's running joke is it took me 7 years to become a nurse (5yrs at ISU, go Cyclones!! and 2 years of nursing school). I'm 26 but look 16 so I get the "are you old enough to be a nurse?" thing all the time. I'm the oldest and the shortest of 3 kids. My sister and I have the same birthday, just 4 years apart, my dad's other running joke is that we are his twins. Just married my husband last august in Jamaica (it was soo beautiful). We have no children yet, but are trying and I really want to name my first boy Westen!!! My baby right now is my cat, Smitty. He's my "Mr. Mustashe" (see his facial markings below) and my "Lil Tuxedo Man" (You can't see in the picture below but is chest is mostly white but he has a little black streak I call his tie). Not sure what I would do if anything happened to him.



We really want to get a Beagle (so love the pictures, Saqqara) but can't right now since we rent. I've been on vacation to many places (not virginia though...will have to make that trip some day). I studied abroad for a month in London and would really love to go back to England and live there for a year or more (Shout out to SamFrench).

I know that was a little disconnected...just had lots of thoughts running through my head at once.

This is totally random, but since I'm a Proud Aunt I just had to mention I just saw my niece on Good Morning America, singing "Over the Rainbow". She is in the national touring company of "Wizard of Oz". Who knew after all the years of going to dance recitals, school plays and college productions she'd actually be one of the few to make it. Still, it is very weird to see her on tv

Congrats to your Niece Curator, how thrilling for her.

Ok, so I ran through most of these and figured I'd add my little story.


I Live in New York City (Manhattan). Currently looking for a job..temping went the way of the economy.... I have lived in Massachusetts as I did a year at a boarding school there. I also went to NYU (for a year) I have also lived in New Mexico near the border of El Paso Texas where I have relatives. I also have relatives in Southern California and was out there for about a week, as I can't breathe out there but I have relatives and spent summers out there growing up. I have also lived in Florida, east coast of it. I had a yorkie years ago but no animals now. I'm eclectic, not insane. I tend to get bored easily and love to travel places. I have taken lessons in many things and suck at all of them. Currently pretending to be able to swing a golf club but I am good at putting.. I had 5 guitars that once belonged to my grandfather but I had to sell the Flamenco one and a mother of pearl . So, I am left with Three. Two country style ones(handcrafted in Mexico) and a jazz guitar. (I can play the e cord that's it). I'm a quiet person except when around others that are loud....

wow, everyone has such interesting stories.
I think I might be the youngest on here. I'm 16, but apparently I can look anywhere from 16 to 21 depending on what I wear or my hair and make up. a little eyeshadow, mascara, and a bun couple with a really simple dress and all of a sudden people are offereing me drinks. My name is Joella. It's phonetic. Pronounced just how it looks Jo-ella. But Jo is probably easier and most people call me that anyway. I live in a suburb just east of LA in SoCal. I currently inhabit my mother's childhood bedroom and we've never lived more than 12 miles from here. It's just me and my mom and our 2 dogs as my dad passed away about 4 years ago. I have a 10 yr old daschund and a 10 yr old shih-tzu who was inherited from the lady down the street.

I love to travel. Been to 43 states on trains, planes, cars, buses, and boats. I plan on taking a roadtrip after my senior year of high school (summer of 2010) with my friends. I'll be in Miami this July for 2 days before my cruise ship leaves for the bahamas. Sooooooo excited. If I see anyone from BN I will be over there taking pictures and posting them here. I love history and science and writing. I do write fanfiction, if you wanna pop over to fanfiction.net I'm musicforlife101. I love music. I want to major in anthropology in college and i have a list of a few places I'd like to go.

I also watch Psych and I am determined to addict my friend to both Psych and BN. I'm on spring break right now so I've been totally board and have enough time to post. =] What I've noticed is that Michael Westen reminds me of my dad in a few ways. He could MacGyver just about anything and he taught me how to think the same way. And he had a thing for fixing something with duct tape. he would have loved the show as much as i do. especially "guns make you stupid. better to fight your wars with duct tape. duct tape makes you smart"

you guys are so interesting and fun. great idea for this thread!

Hi everyone! I am from Alberta, Canada, not too far from the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I love Monk, Psych, and of course Burn Notice, but because we don't get the USA network, I've had to buy a special cable package just to get BN, and the rest I have to wait until the DVD's come out!
I love photography and have won several ribbons with our local camera club. I also enjoy scrapbooking, gardening, and reading.
Nice to read about all of you - I think we have lots of neat people here!

Hi,
I am Nickie, I am 30 years old. I live in Decatur, AL. I have a 2 1/2 year old son, and am married. I work for the Dept. of Defense.....no nothing glamorous, just an Optometry technician. I have a biology degree that took me 8 years to finish (I had to work my way through) I of course LOVE Burn Notice and have a really varied music interest. Other shows I like to watch are House, Bones, Fringe. It was really hard for me to vote against Seeley Booth in Alpha Male Madness on E but I did! It is so interesting reading about all of you guys.

Hey Jo,

Wanted to say welcome and give a shout-out for your 43 states at your age. I had a similar number when I was 16, although I am not sure of my exact count then. I'm a lot older now and have been stuck at 49 states for, oh about your whole lifetime, because I need to find someone willing to drive to Alaska with me. I have visited the lower 48 all via car at some point (and later flown to them), and only did Hawaii by plane. So, I insist on driving to Alaska. It may be a while.

And I wanted to tell you that your fanfiction is very good. I had read a couple and been impressed before I knew they were yours. I'm even more impressed now. You're a good writer. Keep at it!

Hey wow what a rewarding job, thanks for posting.



Cool you're a nurse, I personally can't be doing with people as they answer back lol. I'll be 26 this year.






Lol your dad sounds just like mine he can fix anything!! Anthroploogy sounds like such an interesting course. Good luck with it.



Hey I would love to visit Canada my aunt has been there nice to meet you.




Hey pleased to meet you, I also like House and Bones.

Wow you travelled around a lot!! teaching sounds like such a rewarding career thanks for posting.



My sister wants to be a journalist, cool that you have four dogs. Thanx for posting.

I've done most of mine by car, as my family and I love road trips. Lately we've been doing more by plane because of time constraints. I'm missing Alaska, too, but we hope to take a cruise there and my best friend lives outside of Anchorage so I get to visit her then.

Thanks so much for the complement on my fanfics. I'm actually working on a longer series type one about some of Michael's jobs before the burn notice, but I keep jumping around. Do you have an account on fanfiction?

No, professional lurker. Takes me ages before I am willing to sign on anywhere, unless I hear something like "Jeffrey Donovan's on Twitter!" Sigh.

Haha. Yeah, that had me thinking about getting on twitter myself. Currently lurking there. I will eventually, but I haven't yet. I'm wondering if you have a favorite story. I usually have my friends read and tell me their thoughts, along with reviews and decide what styles I write the best so I can develop those more.

I like this post, have enjoyed reading about everyone.
I am 48, born and raised in Mystic, Ct (about 5 miles from Mystic Seaport, and the aquarium), except for a 3 year detour to Newport, RI (Dad was a Navy man). Some of my best times in my youth was spent in the Wakefield/Narragansett RI area while visiting with my grandparents.
My husband was a Navy man also, on submarines. We have been happily married for nearly 26 years and in that time have lived in Maryland, Massachusetts (very briefly), Vermont, Virginia, and in So. California for the last nearly 20 years. We have 4 beautiful children. The oldest is forever 15, he is keeping company with the saints in heaven. The 17 year old is a senior, very into music, would like to be a rock star or a high school choir director. He has a few videos posted on YouTube of him doing some cover songs, and recently posted his own song on My Music My Space, which he wrote, sang, played acoustic, electric and bass, and it's pretty darn good! Our beautiful daughters have been a part of our family for almost 2 years now. The oldest will be 14 on Saturday, she is good at being a teenager! Doing well in school, and wants to be a doctor, and will hopefully be accepted into the health occupation academy at one of the local high schools. The almost 11 year old is sweet and goofy, loves school, and also is doing well in school. They have both added more joy and noise to our house.
I work part time at a middle school and enjoy camping, hiking, church, movies, reading and especially spending time with my family. My favorite spot to visit is Yosemite, I think I want to live there!

Glad to meet another fan from Connecticut, Welcome to the boards! I'm from New Britain originally, now live in Eastern Connecticut.