Atheism is scary. It took me a long time to say "There is no God and it doesn't matter how good, bad, smart, dumb lucky, you're going to die". As for those pine needles, is this something of an art form, like creating fishing lures?

Guess what?! I finally broke that damn plateau!! I've been sitting in the 260's for what feels like forever...and today, BAM!!! 257!!!!!! Now for all of you believers that have been praying for me, I humbly say to you: god didn't do this, dammit, I DID!!!! (I'm kidding, DUH!!! You're all too busy working your butts off to lose your weight to waste time praying!!!) I get a hell of a lot of support from people on the OH boards, and I want to say, thank you for every single word of encouragement. I need it: I still have 80 more pounds to lose. But beween hard work at the gym, sticking to this Adkins thing, and making myself a priority, this weight has to come off!!! Jessica 302/257/175

"Fascinating" is right Tek! You just hold on to your hat sir! One need not scour the forest looking for basket weaving supplies. The finest of pine needles--the "giants" from Florida and even exotic specimens from England---can be purchased online, dyed even! The Mother of Pine Needle Basketry is Mrs. M J McAfee who did her pioneering work in the field in the early twentieth century.

Christian radio amuses and scares me because of the utterly ridiculous things these people are willing to believe (pray to Jesus to solve your tax problems, Princess Diana is in hell because she consulted her horoscope) but they will also mobilize to write letters, send faxes, carry signs, boycott corporations, and harass politicians to force their religious agenda on the rest of us. The oddities of the Book of Genesis---In chapter 1, verses 26-30, god makes "man" on the SIXTH day, "Male and female he created them" and does the whole giving them "dominion" over the earth stuff. Tells them to "be fruitful and multiply." But then in chapter 2, god's week is OVER, the seventh day is passed and he hasn't made it rain because "there was not a man to till the ground." NOW god gets the idea, hey I should make a man! But he doesn't get the idea to make two people AND after Adam is made, god is just concerned that he seems lonely and needs a "helpmate." Hence the very clear message that woman's purpose is just to keep man entertained thank you very much. Interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve is intriguing to me however. If Adam's the guy in charge, why does Satan choose Eve to make his pitch? Because he didn't think Adam would be able to convince Eve to eat the apple? Yes, it takes no less than Satan himself to pursuade Eve and she takes a lot of persuasion! But Adam? Hey, he does whatever Eve tells him to. So what is the message here? That women are the instruments of Satan for the purpose of misguiding men? What little of the Bible I have read, I noticed a frequent message that seems to say that women will deceive men if given the chance so guys, keep 'em down or you'll be their helpless victim. In the Old Testament especially, women are all about guile and deception. Nice.

Okay, I gotta ask, What the fu** is Pine Needle Basetry?? WEIRD! Jessica