so here i am blogging for the next two minutes on my life in a nutshell like i'm so apt to do. i've finally sent in and paid for my phone claim and have my new lg phone. super! i missed my qwerty keyboard. sigh. school's ok. i guess i won't be graduating until next year in may but my classes are done. next term will be fun classes just to take. i will be transferring to a school about 30 minutes away from here. hopefully all goes well. i tried to touch base with some of you and left some comments but once again, hopefully, i'll be able to get on soon and spend time.

so today is my birthday and so far so good. i definitely can't and won't complain about a thing. i got to volunteer at my daughter's school for the book sale and before the book sale i seen my boyfriend and then took her into school. i got birthday love and then came into work to find flowers and a desk plant from my boyfriend. tonight we're getting everyone together to have a birthday dinner he is cooking for me. things are good and i am happy. tomorrow night is my halloween party. can't wait! it WILL be fun!

so my dog has been found! i got a call telling me about an advert of a missing dog. turns out, it's mine! so toby's home now. yay.

well here i am sitting at work and typing in between getting things done. i have had so much to blog about but i never got around to logging on and blogging. so, here i go. i figure i'll just throw out some topics and comment on them.

let's start with school.

violin: going well. probably my most favorite class of them all. i'm not too bad at it and that's neat.
cultural anthropology: it's alright. i haven't learned too much from it. it's an online class and i tend to NOT do the reading but have managed making it through with an A up to this point. funny how we can slide through the cracks and still come out like a bright shiny new penny.
orientation: admittedly i haven't paid too much attention to this class. it started slow and i've missed turning in two assignments. completely my fault for not being prepared.
humanities: love this class. the teacher is really nice and makes class fun. i'm doing my final project with assistance from the president of the company i work for, which hopefully gets me an A.
computer fundamentals: i've got a B in that class only because i have turn it in late-itis.
i can't seem to get the assignments in on time partially due to the fact that it's an online class and i have to go into school to use the computer which defeats the convenience of it being online. yeah, i know.

so that's it on that front. in other news, i'm missing my doggie. the one that's on my page in the pictures wif his glasses on. he disappeared from my boyfriends house. i have no idea where he went but it's been almost a week. i made some fliers and contacted the animal shelters and vets so hopefully someone is honest and turns him in.

about two weeks ago i went to indianapolis for a concert and short vacation. it was SO relaxing and i was glad for it. i bought a gps receiver (tomtome) and it helped SO much! i downloaded some new voices to make the directions more fun. after the concert we were able to meet the artist which was a once in a lifetime experience. he's a handsome guy and i LOVE his music. here's his website, watch the volume because there's music that plays: http://www.myspace.com/citizencope

my birthday is coming up in two days...i'll be 29...*sad*...maybe i'll get flowers sent to me...we'll see how considerate my sometimes inconsiderate boyfriend is. i'll let you know. i am however, having a birthday/halloween party on friday which should be fun! can't wait!

well as i'm sitting here listening to radio 4 and realizing how bad all the banks are doing all over the world i'm looking across the street at the gas station and am happy that the gas prices are finally going down. hopefully they stay down until i get paid tomorrow afternoon so i can fill up at the cheap rate. with my luck...that might not happen.

so there's a quick chapter out of my life. hope all are doing well. hugs and kisses.

oh, not to mention the fact as well that he has a picture of his new dog up on his myspace page and despite me sending him an email of 5 pics the other day...nice ones mind you...he can't seem to put them up but instead lets girls flirt with him on there. i'm just pissy now. ugh!

today is a very gloomy and cynical day for me. i terribly wish it could be a little more up beat and alot less gloom. i had a break with my boyfriend and he can't understand why. i'm not one to really air out my personal dirty laundry, mostly just the good stuff. but here goes...he thinks the world revolves around him. we've been off and on since i was 16, i'm 29 in october...so it's been awhile. i'm not married, never have been. our relationship moves slower than a snail in slow motion. he thinks we've progressed and i agree, about as much as a new relationship in its first year of life. we should be ages along but we aren't. there's me, then there's him. there's no US. if i ask a question about where he's been i'm nagging. if i ask why there's a hair tie in his home that isn't mine i'm snooping. if i tell him i don't think he should have a picture of a girl, who is a friend, that tried to date him once and has made here interests known then i'm jealous. the things that matter to me shouldn't according to him. this morning he explained to me that he was wrestling around with some mates at work. when he got out of the shower i noticed he had scratches all over his back...he said it was probably from wrestling. then a bit later he mentioned something about last night and said, 'when i got home from....' which was somewhere out of town about 40 minutes away. when i told him a few minutes later that i had travel plans thursday he immediately asked, 'what are you going there for?' i replied, 'why were you there last night? if you couldn't divulge any information freely then why should i?' so he got pissy and said, 'that's fine.' and i replied, 'what? what's wrong?' he said, 'if i didn't tell you then you shouldn't have to tell me i guess.' he went to ironing his clothes and it immediately got quiet and uncomfortable so i left to take my daughter to school saying goodbye and have a good day....i got not so much as a goodbye in return. he wants me around when it is convenient and i fall for it everytime because i hope that one day he will be what i catch a glimpse of at times...a family man, who is open, around, and considerate. not perfect, just has common sense about relationships enough to know that i'm a girl, with girl feelings, i'm not a guy and i'm not tough all the time and things matter to me that may not matter to him. so...today, i told him i wanted time to myself for a bit. immediately he said it had to be because of someone else. i told him no, it was about he and i, not anyone else. he doesn't seem to believe it and said he'll find out who else i'm seeing. honestly, there is nobody. hell, if i can't be honest here, where can i be? so, i tried to call and he said my calls weren't welcome anymore and there you have it. he's an imbecile. a complete imbecile.

so i was listening to bbc4 and heard about the collapse of xl and all the stranded people on holiday. wow! i hope they're able to make it home safely.

in other news...yes, i've once again been away for a bit. but i have stuff to report on. hehe. last night i made a splendid greek cucumber and tomato salad! tasted SO yummy! grilled chicken, roasted potatoes and my salad with cake afterwards. it was a dinner straight from heaven. in the school front...busy! violin is exhausting. i'm practicing tons and my fingers hurt SO bad! my other classes are easy so far. i've decided to do my term project on leadership development on the president of my company and he's agreed to help me! i'm excited about that. he seems to be a very intelligent person so my project should be thorough.
on the love front...heh. things are ok. typically typical. bickering...making up...bickering some more. not entirely healthy but i've been wrapped up in it for 12 years now so getting out of the routine is a little tough. anyhow, back to listening to bbc4 and doing work. later.

well, i have two minutes before i have to get to work and i have no time for a formal post...not that any of them are ever formal...but a thorough post rather. gotta run...be back soon to read all my friends' lovely blogs and do some more catching up...again.

so again i've been gone for a bit now. but, i'm back!D

i've shut down my myspace page and well...here's a quick copy + paste of a blog i had typed up for you all...

so i haven't blogged in awhile....again! guilty as charged. so much to talk about, where to begin?

well, i've closed down my myspace blog and have had withdrawals from blogging so i needed to get back into the swing of things...get stuff off of my chest. so, here i am. the reason for closing my myspace blog being that there are much too many nosey people in my town and apparently when i thought i was the most quiet and keep to myself type of person, there are people criticizing my every move. small towns, where everybody knows everybody and their business. so...i have a truth box up on my page...completely anonymous. a few people have felt it was necessary to enlighten me in regards to my choice of boyfriend or male interest by way of anonymity. never good for the ego you know. pretty frustrating as well considering they decided to be anonymous in their accusations. super. so i have no way of venting my frustration on a specific person. so, i took my truth box down, made my page private, and then decided to put my box back up. don't know know i have had no problems since i made my page private? apparently it wasn't myspace friends but rather lurkers. nice...and strange.

what else? oh yes, workplace lurkers, spies. watching my every move. probably getting ready to tattle on me now while i write this up on my word pad before i post. *sigh* people that feel they should be allowed to sit back and 'supervise' others, look down their noses, and point fingers to discipline even though they have no real power except to tattle. idiots. so when i have down time...nothing to do...i must be wary because someone out there feels i should be doing work to equal theirs. even though she's a forklift driver and i'm an office coordinator! helllllooooo!!! jackass.

topic three, i've been listening to bbc4 at work daily and i've noticed a stabbing pretty much every other week. what's the deal? pretty scary stuff. an older woman was pushed on tracks just for asking two teen boys to put their ciggy's out. wow!

soo....yeah, i'm back.

i uploaded some new pics as well. enjoy. blogging soon....

so...does anybody have a myspace page? if so...check me out. http://www.myspace.com/melaniegurl.

anyhow, that was just a little idea i thought i'd put down before i blogged. so...(again with the so....), i'll be going out tonight. i haven't gone out in a very long time. usually if i'm not working or going to school i'm at home or hanging out at a couple different friend's houses. pretty much i'd sum it up to the fact that i'm a routine sort of girl.

we're going out to the local dance/drink spot which isn't much but a hole in the wall. nothing impressive by far. but it's something. after you weed through the people you don't want to be around there may be somewhere around 3 or 4 desirable people to hang out and conversate with.

in other news, abnormal psychology is going quite well. i'll have to get back on and post a blog i put up on my myspace page regarding a diagnosis is gave for an online class discussion. *whisper* i think someone stole my diagnosis. gaw! cheaters!

then there is my music class which is going swimmingly (sp?). i'm stuck on a report i have to give about a concert performance i attended. we have to us music jargon, ie. accelerando, duple, triple, tempo, rhythm, pulse, etc. so, my critique on the toledo symphony concert band will offically be done tomorrow. as well as my reference page for my abnormal psychology report. next semester i'm taking five classes. shakespeare on film, humanities, orientation, applied violin, and computer funadamentals. wish me luck. i'm most excited about the shakespeare and the violin classes. i do graduate in december of this year which i'm so excited for. can't wait!

well...gotta run, get some other things done. hope everyone is enjoying their weekends. fish and chips.

been gone for awhile. forgot my password, got a new one. i've been hanging out on myspace for awhile...blogging about all kinds of things only because i forgot my password on here and it takes a long time for this webpage to load at work so it's kind of inconvenient when i have 30 old hens watching every move i make. anyhow, i'm only going to put up this little blurb now and come back tomorrow to do some more 'damage.' haha. see you all soon.

once again, bad, bad dominique. i have neglected my new blogging community and i've strayed to that bad land of myspace. i've also been 'mooing' alot on lambda (see previous posts). it's so convenient to post on myspace because i can do it straight from my mobile...i suppose i can do it here but i haven't really gotten into investigating that yet. i'll have to do it soon. so...apologies to neglect, this isn't a one way thing like, 'read my posts and tell me what you think but i'll ignore yours.' that's not really in the good spirit of blogging now is it?

well i've title my blog fifi and the flowertots because i'm trying to find dvd's of those shows to purchase online. i've only been able to find songs, books, toys, and party favors. help?

alright well, i must go. i have work to get back to. take care all and i'll be stopping by your blogs soon.

well...that's pretty much what i did. my sister is home from the navy and we did SO much shopping this weekend. i can't even begin to imagine how much money i spent as well as the two charge accounts i opened to make good on the discounts they give for doing so. i got suckered in. eek!
we all went to see the new movie 'sex and the city.' i loved it!!! i cried and laughed and laughed and cried. excellent movie!
well, i've gotta get back to work...update later.

arianna and her brother shopping for toys

arianna and toby

one that i can get along with
one that isn't unusually close to his child(ren)'s mother
one that sees nurturing a relationship as a priority
one that takes the time to call when it isn't necessary, just because
one that likes to spend time just watching movies
one that can actually watch girlie movies from time to time
one that shares my interests but also has some of their own
one that doesn't do drugs like it's their job
one that has ambitions
one that doesn't sit on their duff all day and go out to the pubs as soon as i get home
one that thinks friends are important but not more important than family
one that communicates
one that is able to live independently but can succeed in an environment where we work 'together' to get things done
one that is considerate
one that is understanding
one that can be sensitive when necessary
one that isn't a jerk
...mind you all these qualities i want wrapped up in one man, not a separate man for each.

don't mind me, just ranting and raving like a lunatic because of 'a man.' bah!

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i think i've fully caught up on everyone's blogs and comments i've been left. i've neglected the blog community for about a week or so and was in terrible need of catching up. consider me caught up...and back to blogging.

k...gotta run. need food.

so it's been awhile since i've posted...or really been around so here's a new blog from me that i wrote up yesterday:

aside from running around like a chicken with my head cut off yesterday and dealing with familial drama, the day was good. lots of laughs. lots and lots of laughs. my brother joined my little sister and i, my mom and arianna at my parents house and we had fun. after my mom burned the chicken i went out and finished up the porkchops on the grill and did the chicken thighs. we ate tons of food and if anyone knows us when we are together, we are a bunch of comedians. classic bustos/reyes good times. i've posted a couple pictures of yesterday. we also went to see my grandma over at countryside. today i'm stopping off to put some money on her account to get her hair and nails done. i'm sure she'll like that. we took her some flowers and sat with her for awhile. she has dementia so she really doesn't too much remember who we are but she still thought we were a funny bunch. she laughed at us while she was eating. then i showed her my tongue ring...an older mexican woman seeing a tongue ring on her granddaughter...let me tell you!! she told me to take it out. haha. so i did. then she kept looking at me so i would show her my tongue with the bar out. lol. she's so cute.

we left there around 6 o'clock and then i went home. arianna hung out upstairs watching movies on her new bratz tv. she says her bedroom is like her own little living room, "it's so cool!" i'm glad she likes it. i put up a picture of her and her brother deshea while we were at toys r us shopping. they had SO much fun! arianna wanted to "spend her money wisely," she said. wow!

i get a three day weekend this week which is good news for me. i will be going with arianna to her field trip monday in castalia to a place called 'back to the wild.' that should be fun. on friday it's off to the movies with arianna and deshea to see prince caspian. i'm excited about that. other than that, not too much going on except hanging out with friends, relaxing and waiting for my summer session to start in june.

i'm just going to go character by character because it's so much easier. this is the first episode i've watched this season...i totally skipped last season because i hated watching meredith's sister and now i'm picking up again after last night. so, here goes:

meredith/derek: stupid. i'm so tired of seeing meredith not be able to make up her mind on whether she wants him or not. obviously he's a great guy on the show dummy so be with him already. derek seeing the other chick...dumb. but i guess if derek moves on then meredith can move on at some point and then it creates a new 'jealousy' storyline or something. all in all, they should just be together already!

christina: annoying and a cry baby. that's all i have to say about her.

izzie: she's cool. no problems with her other than it sucks to have george in her group of interns but you figured that would happen right?

alex/rebecca pope: did i even get her first name right? aw, who cares? she's the crazy lady that is obviously starting the 'i'm gonna be crazy stalker' storyline. she wants alex and she's lying about the pregnancy to get him back...da da duuuuummmm....all i know is that now izzie knows the lie and she'd better tell alex asap and not do the whole 'should i tell him or should i let him find out on his own' thing.

george: for some reason i see him and meredith's little sister getting together. i dunno, we'll see. anyways, he bothers me. probably because he's with a new group of friends and it seems wierd. it seems like he's intentionally extricated himself from the group because he wants to lick his wounds with the other interns. so when he becomes a resident does that mean he'll want to be friends with the old group again? i say you're friends with who you're friends with. that's it. he's a cry baby.

dr hahn/callie: hilarious! that's the best way i can describe it. i could see the 'lesbian' storyline a mile away. they were too touchy. callie obviously had no clue. i loved the way she's all over dr. sloan's nuts though. super. dr. hahn's totally gonna be jealous now and i can see a 'friction' and 'jealousy' storyline developing there.

dr. sloan: he's cute and all and i usually have no issues with him other than he's obviously the hospital whore. i was getting very annoyed last night at his extreme overuse of calling himself God. it got a little dumb after awhile.

did i miss anybody?

oh yeah, the short doctor....FECK! i forgot her name...they called her the nazi back in the day. bugger, it's gonna bother me now.

anyhow, i feel sad for her. she seems to have nobody. all alone. *sigh* that's too bad. she's really nice.

so what have i concluded after all of this grey's anatomy observation? i still LOVE this show.

oh, and a complete aside that has absolutely nothing to do with grey's...i cut toby's ear last night on accident while trimming his hair. it bled like a motherfucker! i felt so bad. even though he was stinky and needed a bath REALLY bad i felt so guilty i held him and put a cloth with pressure to his ear until it stopped bleeding. he's better now though...and still stinky. definitely needs a bath before tomorrow.

i've been pretty busy towards the end of last week and haven't blogged on here much or kept up with anyone else's blogs but today...i'll be doing catch up. here's my blog from earlier this week...

on my blogs. sunday was a pretty quiet day at home. i'm still trying to get used to the idea of not having to go to any classes. later that day i got off my duff and went to a cookout with friends old and new. that was loads of fun! felicia, you make me laugh. angel was raving about the ribs and i didn't even get any. smiley was waiting for his buddy chad to show up. i saw joe, swam in his pool back, back in the day when his cousin lived with me. and a couple new people, one i got to finally put a face with the name after all these years of hearing stories about him.

i also got to hear a voice from the past, yes, mr. grant. good hearing from you man!! you'll have to call me back when you get a free chance. i'm free every afternoon just waiting around for things to do...mostly, i'm just chillin' reading a book or being a veg infront of the tv. as far as that trilogy is concerned, yes, yes, yes, i definitely want to get it. arianna has a field trip to the library on thursday so i might venture out there with her and pick up book number one. i'm sure it's stacked with WAY more info than the movie, like why people get certain demons, if they're suited to character, personality or what?

onto other things....i'll be going shopping this weekend with kenny...and amanda if she can make it. arianna and deshea will be with me. we're doing the mothers day thing and arianna's going out and spending her gift cards. she got about $250 in gift cards not to mention how mommy spoils her anyways when we go out. chances are i'll end up spending my money and tell her to save her cards. she's a good kid, she deserves it. we're gonna go see nim's island i think...not sure. next weekend though is prince caspian...erica, you game? let me know.

yesterday just went over to angels house and hung with felicia, chad, erica and angel. good times, good fun. gotta love picture mail. completely inside joke but three other people know what i'm talking about so it's all good. all in all, life is good and i am genuinely happy. alrighty, gotta go, call me, i've got TONS of free time until june 9th!!

my grades have been posted and my spring semester is done!  i got that 4.0 i've wanted since i got my first b.   but all is well now and i'm happy.  i can finally enjoy my time off...until june. gotta keep the nose to the grindstone, gotta make it happen.

 

i used to watch a show called 'the worst witch' about a young witch named mildred. i wonder if they still show that? i don't know what made me think of it...just popped right into my head this morning for no reason...maybe i miss my childhood.

*aaahhhh...siiiiggghhh* it's enough to get me through my day. thought i'd share what my desktop looks like.

enjoy.

well i've changed my desktop wallpaper. it's a collage of matthew macfadyen as mr. darcy. heavenly. :) today's been an absolutely boring day. nothing really going on here at work. atleast i have dane cook to keep me company. if you haven't heard of him you should search him out on imeem. imeem is God's gift to a boring desk worker. so dane cook, gorgeous and funny. i went to see him live last year in october for my birthday. i nearly wet myself he's so hilarious! lol. -- on a more sour note...management here at work sucks as usual. our fearless leader seems to have a 'tmi' problem (too much information) and loves to spout off at the mouth about his managerial stresses. hearing about them everyday makes for disgruntled employees when we have to sort of undertake his worries because we hear about them everyday. it's really a very toxic manager/employee relationship. much like that friend you have whose problems turn more into a personal burden because you have to hear about them constantly. you almost feel as if you're actually in the situation and it brings you down. bleh. however, this job is flexible with my schooling so i keep it for now and at the first break of light at a job in clinical psychology i'm outta here. i need a new job. definitely. -- until then...i will sit here at my computer staring at matthew macfadyen...*sigh*

spring term is officially over. i couldn't be happier. it felt so great to get my last two papers in to the professor last night. i have time now to do things like just be lazy. wow can't wait!

a couple things i forgot to mention...some friends came by saturday night and we had tacos and chips and salsa...good times, good fun. this weekend coming up my daughter turns 8 years old so we're having a big to do for her birthday. lots of planning and lots of money, i'm going broke! having a daughter isn't cheap!!
i was able to catch up on a few shows this weekend. i watched bridget jones' diary twice, the vicar of dibley, and a whole lot of movies i'd been wanting to watch. i was a couch potato saturday night with my friends but i managed to do a full house cleaning saturday during the day and on sunday did a ton of homework and worked out on my eliptical and used my weights. finally! they were starting to collect dust. time to get in shape! that's for sure. ok...gotta run now for sure.

today is a very busy day for me i'm barely squeezing in time to do this blog. i have to get some stuff done for a friend of mine on the internet that i'd promised last week. procrastination seems to always find me. i have to get my paper typed for sociology and still have yet to write my final paper for that same class. i finished my final for anatomy yesterday and have two finals today. after tonight though this term is finished! yay me. with any luck at all i've managed to get a 4.0. wish me luck. i've done the best this semester but retained the least...go figure. ?? well, the weather is crummy out. it's chilly and raining. looking gloomy and nasty. boo. i have tons of work to finish here at my job and still have yet to touch it. i have no motivation today so hopefully that will pick up. my blog today is really just a bunch of long winded rambling that i just wanted to get off of my chest. so yeah, here it is.
my term will be over after today but next month begins summer term and abnormal psychology. i'm actually excited about that.
on another note, i've been away from the computer all weekend and today tried catching up with everyone's blogs....wow! it's so hard to keep up with everyone. especially when you all post a few times a day. i tried getting around to everyone so now, i'm off...to do work. bleh.

well i've recently been dipping in my past. i've found a couple of old friends from back when i was 16 and 17. two of my friends, simon and marius, are from switzerland. i haven't heard from marius since highschool and simon i hadn't heard from since i was in college. we had written a few times, he sent a picture, we lost touch. i found simon today on the internet. i was digging through old boxes and found his old letters prompting me to 'google' him. lo and behold, he's a very popular name to google. all sorts of stuff about him. google 'simon libsig' and you find out that he's a slam poet, a radio personality in baden and an afficionado of political science...well, when you muddle through all the german this is what you learn. marius, i haven't heard from him yet. i did contact him on facebook...we'll see if he returns contact. another friend phil, living in the uk, whom i haven't heard from in quite a number of years other than one sporadic email in 06 or 07, i was able to locate him on a digital photography forum using his full name. what are the odds?? i met phil while mooing (see previous posts) when i was 16 and we hit it off and became fabulous friends. He came to visit me back when my daughter was 2 or 3 but i haven't really kept touch since. i've known him since i was 16 so it's been 12 years!! wow! well, phil must have been led to check his email one day after i contacted him on the forum and got my contact information via an email i had sent awhile back. i answered my work phone and there was that lovely accent i so missed from my dear friend who'd been missing for so long. we talked for a second but when i gave him my mobile number he tried to contact me through it and apparently it didn't work. my carrier's network was down, go figure!? i was irritated to say the least. so, long story short, he couldn't get through and i haven't heard from him in a few days. i hope he tries me back soon. i didn't get to ask him for his number.
then there is my friend tony, who passed away earlier this week. we met at the same time i met simon, marius, and phil. tony was a really good friend who turned out liking me as more than friends back, back, back in the day. it's such a small world that he ended up marrying my old roommate whom i had a nasty falling out with some years ago when she moved out and left me high and dry. i've since recuperated and all is splendid. i lost track of tony. he was my right hand man at one time. we both loved, loved, loved the beatles and had that as our common bond. he was funny, nice, cute and loyal. i ran into him a couple of times and now i wish i'd have said something to him the last time i seen him with my ex-roommate, no matter how awkward it might've been. tony's visitation is today and the funeral is tomorrow. well, i've found three friends this week and lost one...life has a funny way of handing out situations like that.

before i start my day, i've taken some pictures from my other page and put them up for everyone to see and get to know me a little better. enjoy.

well thank you to the friendly welcomes. i appreciate it.

so here's a blog i lifted from my myspace page. of course i'm blogging instead of doing my homework...typical me.

i am a mooer. most likely none of my friends know what this is...except jed and gerald....

but i've been a mooer since i was 16 and was introduced to it by my student teacher my senior year, mr wolcott. he was the mchottie teacher all the girls tripped over but yeah, we were cool. he introduced me to rivermoo and that's where the love affair began. i've been mooing ever since. it's actually how i met my friend phil in the uk.

really it's more a dying breed, mooing. but if any of you get a chance and are up for something new, try it out...just once. rivermoo is a nice place to visit but it's really dead these days...needs new life, a new population. i'm mainly on lambda where i'm just a player but i'm a programmer on river and i'm very rarely there. so what is it?? text based virtual reality. here's an article:

Before there was World of Warcraft or Facebook or even MSN Messenger and ICQ there was LambdaMOO. An online community unlike any other and ahead of it's time…and in a way, still ahead of the game. Ahh the memories…the all nighters connected when I should have been studying. Making more friends in the virtual than I ever made in the real…it was a good time.

Now, for the majority of you out there and likely everyone younger than 30, I know you have no idea what I'm talking about. Here is a bit of a history lesson. LambdaMOO was, well, a MOO (Multi-user Object Oriented or MUD Object Oriented) and a MOO is a text based virtual reality / community / rpg system on which hundreds of users can connect simultaneously and interact in real time. Oh, but don't think it's just chat…no no no my friends, it is much more than that! It is also a complete object oriented programming language which members can use to create and / or manipulate the virtual world. The best analogy I can give is to think of World of Warcraft meets Second Life…but completely text based.

There used to be literally hundreds of different MOOs in existence, but LambdaMOO was by far the largest. On any given night there would be 300-400 people connected. It had every type of feature you could imagine…and if it didn't, you could create it. All this for free. Guest characters were welcome and to have a registered character all you needed was a valid paid or institutional e-mail address.

Ok, great…so why should you care… well, you probably don't have to. This is all just me reminiscing. Cleaning out my software folder, I found the old client I used called SimpleMU and fired it up…I logged into my old character on LambdaMOO and was amazed to see that it was originally created almost 13 years ago! I hope LambdaMOO continues on…it is the grandfather of Web 2.0, Second Life and all the Massive Multi-player games out there today.

I wrote this article for the kids of today. for those who grew up with the Internet and not knowing there was a time before graphical browsers and MySpace and Instant Messaging. This is the beginning and the foundation of your online world now. This is legacy and legend.

How to connect

Connecting to LambdaMOO is easy. Open any Telnet client or a dedicated MOO / MUD client and go to the address lambda.moo.mud.org port 8888
For more information

LambdaMOO Wikipedia Entry
Rachel's Super MOO list (the most comprehensive listing of all MOOs that ever existed)
Pavel Curtis' Blog (the founder / creator of LambdaMOO)
Download SimpleMU (a freeware MOO client, better than telnet)
If anyone out there used to, or still does, connect to LambdaMOO or any other MOO, leave me a co