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December 1st, 2006

12:20 pm - Workstudy: An Introspective Well,I finally found an opportunity for employment that is: A.) Close to my house; 2.) Not fast food; and III.) Forgiving of my hectic class schedule. "What is it?" you ask? Well, Work/Study, what else? After a friend told me about beginning work study here at the school, I thought that it might be something that I would be interested in, so I applied and turned in a resume. I'm apparently poor enough, so they've allowed me a little time each week (< 20 hours) to get some extra cash. It isn't much, but it's more than nothing, and it isn't fast food. Right, so I began Wednesday. I must say, Work/Study is a cushey [read: boring] position. My friend, Amber, works down in Student Services, so she is constantly busy, but up here in Health Sciences, there is nothing to do. Sounds good, right? Naw. :( When you aren't working on something, you're expected to be studying or working on assignments, but I don't usually have access to a computer lab, and my study and assignments get old real quick. For the most part, I've been getting paid to stare at the patterns in the carpet/on the wall in the spare office. >.< But today is different! As you can see, I brought in some books from my web classes and requested some computer access, so she sent me back here to the lab. Muahaha, the fool! Now I'm getting paid to write journal entries and look up entertaining articles. It's still hella boring, though. But it could be worse... I could be hella busy in Student Services. --- Phew, Shirley just came in here while I was typing up in my journal, but she just smiled at me and walked away. Maybe chillin' in the computer lab can happen on most days. That would be nice. Also, Work/Study is giving me that extra time to focus on school work without being distracted by temptations of playing WoW or watching TV or doing anything in the world other than study/do work. Well, I say that, but I'm surfin' the web instead of doing work right now. Whateva. I'm just glad that I have something that gets me out of the house and puts a miniscule amount of money in my pocket. After I make out a fixed schedule with Shirley, I'll know better when I'll be required to be here, and I'll be able to still help Dad when he needs someone for some extra easy easy cash. Right, sooo tonight I have to call Josh to see if he wants to do something. We talked about maybe doing some DnD stuff [Nerd alert!] tomorrow at either a friend's or his brother's house (not sure which Jason he meant), so I might just end up going there tomorrow. Or, if he wanted to do something tonight, maybe go there tonight and crash at his house so I don't have to drive back tomorrow. We'll see, I guess. Will be nice to get out of the house. Right, so I need to get ready to go to lunch. Much lublub! Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: hungry

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12:13 pm - O.o Tampons: A new, dangerous way for teenage girls to drink By Maria Castro Milagros Rios, a 35-year-old waitress and single mother of two in New York City, thought she’d seen it all. But when she walked into her bathroom about a year ago to find her 18-year-old daughter Nicole laying down on the floor and sleeping with a battle of vodka and a box of tampons in her hand, it was a sight she’d never envisioned. Nicole had been experimenting for the third time that year with a new method to become intoxicated. She had soaked tampons in vodka and then introduced them into her anus and vagina as though she were having her period, in the usual manner. She claimed her body absorbed the alcohol faster that way than if she had drank it. Soon enough, she lost control and couldn’t even make it back to her bedroom. She did it to avoid having the smell of alcohol on her breath. “I didn’t want to ruin my minty breath,” she remembered sarcastically about her first time using the method. “I was worried about getting home smelling like beer and mom flipping on me, but I wanted to get a booze, so I did it.” Both Milagros and her daughter, now 19, prefer to remain anonymous; their names in this article have been changed. They say it would be embarrassing if neighbors and other family members found out about her experiment gone wrong. But while some believe media attention to this problem could serve to promote it, Milagros thinks it’s important that parents become alerted to this unusual way of “drinking.” One teenage girl, who’d previously described using the tampon method during an interview about her gang affiliation, declined to comment when asked specifically to talk about tampons and vodka. She said it was something she didn’t feel comfortable discussing, although she acknowledged having seen it done at house parties and dance clubs in New York City. One of Nicole’s friends, La Chula--as she introduced herself and who taught Nicole how to use “drunk tampons”--said the method is very common in Barranquilla, Colombia, her hometown. Oxford University scientific journals first reported this practice of alcohol consumption in the 1990s; by 1999, in the Oxford University Journal, the Medical Council on Alcoholism mentioned this method as “one of the unusual routes of alcohol ingestion that have been reported.” Although some gynecologists doubt it has achieved the status of a trend--no hard research data exists to support the idea of one--many agree that it can be an efficient way to get drunk fast. “Yes, alcohol and other substances can be absorbed from the thin and vascular mucosa of vagina and rectum,” said Dr. Sorosh Roshan, a Board Certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist who maintained a private practice for more than thirty years in Summit, New Jersey and who is currently President of the International Health Awareness Network. “It’s also true that the effect is faster than drinking, because the substance immediately enters the circulation by fast absorption into the vascular mucosa, not through stomach and dilution with gastric fluids,” Roshan added. Although tampons are designed to retain liquids, they’re also used to deliver medications in the vagina, particularly among patients with vaginal infections or patients who may develop cancerous cells in the uterus. “Tampons, as any other material has only a certain level of absorbency and when that level of absorbency is saturated, the excess substance in it will be released and absorbed by the surrounding tissue,” said Andrea Villegas, a patient being treated by gynecologist Mario Chaparro, in New York City, with tampons soaked in Aldara, a medication used to treat skin cells that can become cancerous, among other illnesses. The use of tampons soaked in vodka to become intoxicated appears to have been out in the open for at least three years and it has been spreading quickly throughout Europe and the United States. In the United States, the most notable reference is a popular song released in 2003 called “Band Camp” by Georgia folk singer and song-writer Vic Chesnutt. In the song, Chesnutt details a teenage infatuation , and tells of a girl getting drunk by wearing to school a vodka-soaked tampon: “Once you soaked a tampon in some serious vodka, wore it to school, second period science lab, you feel right off your stool.” The University of Bristol organized several seminars in 2002 on “Alcohol, Education and Young People.” The topics included young females inserting tampons soaked in alcohol, and young people injecting alcohol. DrugScope, a Ukrainian non-governmental organization working with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, has also begun investigating the matter. Meanwhile, Nicole continues to struggle with alcohol and life in general. After her mother busted her in the bathroom that night, she called the Alcoholics Anonymous offices in Manhattan, to make her mother feel better; but she never went. She said she hates to put her mother through this, because she doesn’t deserve it. One way or another, Nicole always ends up hanging out with the same people and doing the same things she’s been doing since that day at a house party where her best friend, La Chula, thought her how to use “drunk tampons.” “I don’t know if I got used to them, messed up myself down there, or if my dependency has grown so big that I feel no pain anymore,” Nicole said. “It does make me feel disgusted with myself though, when I am sober.” La Chula, on the other hand, said people shouldn’t be so alarmed about it. “It doesn’t really matter how it gets in,” she said. “Alcohol in your system is alcohol in your system. El fin justifica los medios, which means, the aim justifies the means.” _________________________________________________________________________________________________ z0mg Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: Frankly Diane, I'm shocked.

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November 21st, 2006

12:30 am - Ugh, gay people... For clarification, a rant and a hopeless spewing of insecurity mated to create this post. Firstly, as the subject of my post might suggest, I'm frustrated with gay people. I understand that the very definition of what makes someone gay revolves around sex and sexuality, but that doesn't mean that every interaction among gay people has to! Examples are fun. Open, pool party amongst gay friends. While it was still warm enough to swim, I was invited to a party(ish) type event(ish) gathering for some holiday that I've forgotten. Everyone in attendance was a gay man - nothing against lesbians, of course. In any event, what I hoped would be a relaxing evening with people around whom I could be myself turned into some kind of vulgar, cheap matchy-matchy dating service. Ugh, I don't even know - I might be giving it too much credit. It's just... my god, we have places where gay people congregate in droves in search of stimulation of naughty parts - they're called clubs. >.< And any chat room on the internet with gay people in it is just to hook up and meet somewhere for some anonymous sex or something. On some level that I don't like to visit in myself, I can truly understand why people believe that homosexuals don't deserve the right to marry. I mean, what's the point if all homosexuals are just sex addicts that find dark alleys with people that they can't even name? And if that isn't the case, then where are the groups that are stepping forth to put a sane face on homosexuality? Sure, there are activism groups, but those are special interest groups. I mean a true community of homosexuals who aren't drugged-up sex fiends. Maybe the problem here is that I want to have experiences that are nonsexual with a group of people who are defined primarily by their sexuality. Or maybe it's just that I want to hang out with people and believe that my best bet for such interactions without rejection lies among the gays. Hmm, is this a breakthrough? See how the ranting and insecurity mated? Do you see? Told ya. I don't even know anymore. It seems like things are so hectic now that I'm an adult, and everything happens so quickly. Friends fade away into the eddies of their own hectic world, and things seem to fall apart as if by design. I know that everything living will die, and that anything constructed with fall, but I had hoped that it would stay together a little longer. I guess that's where I need to contemplate renunciation. If nothing else, this stage in my life has given me a greater understanding of the nature of death and rebirth. On a somewhere-in-the-middle scale, the person that I used to be and the life that I used to lead has died, and now I've been reborn into this new life. Maybe instead of mourning the death of what used to be, I should be focusing on learning to walk again. But, of course, we die and are reborn in each instant with what we decide and the inclinations of our minds. Hmm. I'm not sure how my post went from ranting about gay people to figuring out that I'm just frustrated about not having nonsexual outlets to the world (a.k.a. "friends") to accepting that things go away and that bitching about it only prolongs the discomfort of those partings. Part of me wanted to just delete this post away as silly nonsense, but I'm going to keep it here to remind myself how silly I can be when I get entangled too tightly in emotion. Also, I'm not sure how I've found myself somewhere between wanting badly to have people to talk to and never having anything to say. I think that I'll bring up that question with Ms. Skipwith. It might sound silly, but she's wise in that, "wise, black, church lady" kind of way, and she's always encouraged us to come by and talk with her whenever something is bothering us. I would look it up on the net, but I'm not sure where it would be listed. Cat-person Hermit Syndrome? Lack of Personality Disorder? Be well, Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: Hmmmm Current Music: "Purple People" - Tori Amos

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November 19th, 2006

05:40 pm - Journey Beyond the Porch! Friday, I ventured beyond the confines of the house to meet little Josh [LJ] and his brother, Jason, at Starz on Valley. It was a blast! It was great to go out somewhere, it was great to see Josh, and it was great to just be out having some fun. Starz is for kareoke, so there were a lot of highlights, but my heart was clinched when a little black girl got up there to sing "Since You've Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. "WTF?", you ask? Well, she sang it all pretty-pretty up to the chorus where she busted out some grunge. (lol) I asked her to marry me later that night. I also met an alcoholic named, "Marsha". She seemed like a nice enough woman, and she hit on Josh's brother. xD Oh, and I also got to meet a long-time friend of Josh's named, "Martha" who smelled very nice in addition to being very nice. So it was goodtimes at Starz drinkin' and hangin' out. From there, we went to "The Ironhorse" or something like that per Jason's request. Once there, it was, of course, more drinkin'. I only managed to knock one beer over, so I feel somewhat accomplished in that arena, but I'm unsure if I did anything throughout the night to make an ass of myself. We were all surfing around the same plateau of drunkinness... drunkiness... drunkenness... Anyway, we were all pretty "there", so even if I did, no one probably noticed. Not sure what else to write about the situation - I was thrown for a loop to see that someone might read this, and you're never supposed to write down what you wouldn't want the whole world to read, so I'll leave it at that. After a little while to sober up some, I returned home, content that I had gotten out and had a great time amongst good company. The next morning, I really regretted how much I had drank, but it was nothing that a handful of aspirin couldn't fix. Yay for venturing out of hermitude! Gropes, Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: cheppytimes Current Music: "Virginia" - Tori Amos

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November 18th, 2006

10:27 pm - Relativity If you've ever watched television (especially after 9 p.m.), then I'm sure you've seen the commercials for the Christian organizations that collect money to help indigent people overseas. These people have limited access to running water, much less media access. So my question is, did they know how bad off they were before we told them? Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: "Where Soul Meets Body" - Death Cab For Cutie

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November 16th, 2006

10:34 am - WTF Penguins... Okay... I just have to ask the universe here, because it is completely escaping me... what the hell is up with animated penguin movies? O.o When March of the Penguins came into theatres, I kind of thought, awww, penguins are cute, but no part of me was interested enough to pay money to sit down and watch an animated movie about them. In any case, I figured that was the last that I would see of penguins trying to make their mark on the bigscreen, but it turned out to be a huge success. [Who watches these?! Children?! Why?!] Okay, then if my confusion over March of the Penguins wasn't enough, along comes another animated penguin movie that adds to its unappeal with a really stupid name... enter Happy Feet. O.o Dancing... animated... penguins. O.o ..... O.o And please, oh please, Lord, don't let them tapdance. If they do and it becomes a popular movie, I'll end my life. The only way that I am conceiving of the popularity of these movies is through children, but I have the haunting suspicion that this isn't entirely the case. Maybe there are some things in life that we aren't meant to understand. Pax, Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: confused Current Music: "The Mayor" - Rasputina

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November 15th, 2006

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November 14th, 2006

10:10 am - The Second Coming! Well, it's been a while, but this is a resurrection of my loyal Cellowhore livejournal. MySpace was nice and all, but it might have been too accessable. Now I can write little thoughts and the such in here instead where no one will read them. I don't have much time, so I'll just post some one-liners below to summarize an update: 1.) Yay, Democrats have the majority now. 2.) WoW is becoming increasingly mundane and repetitious. 3.) I still don't have a damn job. 4.) I've become a full-fledged hermit. 5.) I'm working to renounce my hermitude. 6.) I'm becoming a crazy cat man. 7.) The older I get, the more unsure I am about my future. 8.) Starting today, I'm going to try to start eating right. 9.) I've probably given up all drug contact (my sleepy pill doesn't count!). Alrighty, well that just about does it. I'll have more time for a full write up when I'm not supposed to be getting ready for class. Know peace, Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: just woke up Current Music: "Personal Jesus" - Johnny Cash

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November 28th, 2005

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October 21st, 2005

10:56 pm - Philosophy Phone!!! *music* I found this quote on a friend's journal. He didn't consider the author, so I'm not sure who to credit, but I liked it. :) "Matter is only energy condenced into a slow vibration. We are all one conscienceness experienceing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we are an imagination of ourselves." Also, here's a Zen Koan for your contemplating pleasure from Ashidakim.com: "Zen students are with their masters at least ten years before they presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After greeting him Nan-in remarked: 'I suppose you left your wodden clogs in the vestibule. I want to know if your umbrella is on the right or left side of the clogs.' Tenno, confused, had no instant answer. He realized that he was unable to carry his Zen every minute. He became Nan-in's pupil, and he studied six more years to accomplish his every-minute Zen." Kay - need to sleep for Ren Faire tomorrow. (so excited!) <3<3, Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: fat ol husband walkin' over Current Music: Randy Newman Spoof (lol)

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October 4th, 2005

07:54 pm - Look out, Guild Wars - here I come. Wooo! Well, after many roadblocks, I now have my very own Guild Wars account. I shall explain. My idea was simply to log onto EQ and give away my belongings to people. If I was quitting EQ, then I wanted to make someone very very happy before I deleted my characters. So, I logged onto Gwianna and sold her things to make enough money to remove the augments to sell back DoN armor for crystals (geek speech translation: I turned stuff into money). Then, I gave it *all* away to a necro named, "Imurhukaberry". Apparently it's some line from Tombstone. Whateva. So then I logged onto a character that no one in the game would know and went to the Baz. In auction channel and then auction custom channel, I auctioned that I wanted to trade my EQ account for a Guild Wars account, but I recieved no reply. So, I zoned into PoK hoping to give more stuff away to low level people. Well, I did my auction in PoK that I wanted to trade for a Guild Wars account, and someone sent me a tell. After talking for a little bit, we traded account info. Soooooo, now there is no temptation to go back to EQ since I no longer have an account, and I now have a Guild Wars account to start playing with everyone else who plays and make an uber, killin-yo-ass Necro to kill stuff and junk. It's patching now (12mb downloaded so far on dial-up), so I should be in the game in not too long. Right, so excited!! And no more EQ!! Blarghyblargh! Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: I'ma kill yo' ass! Current Music: "Inner Universe" - Ghost in the Shell Theme

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October 2nd, 2005

11:52 am - Random_Update_001 How cute is Vince Vaugn in Psycho?! Just wanna squeeze 'em. :D Right, so homosexual ramblings aside, I left the house yesterday! :D Miranda took Brooke, Tatur, and I to see Serenity (thanks, Randa!). I haven't had the pleasure of watching the actual series yet, but if the movie is indicative, then I'm gonna start watching it. Fridays at 6 - goodtimes. I didn't sleep long last night, so woke up early this morning and have been feeding random animals outside. The goats are getting a lot more friendly now that I'm bringing them their favorite kind of leaves to eat. They can't reach anymore of them from the fence, so I've been breaking off branches and just holding it out for them to eat. Sooooo cute! Right right, watching Psycho so going back to that. :D /dance Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: weeeee Current Music: "Dear God" - Tricky

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September 27th, 2005

12:15 am - Livejournal: My Anit-drug Okay, this is an all-out rant, so if you don't like rants, please skip. Now, I know you all have seen those "Responsibility: My Anti-drug" commercials where "Sarah" steals money from her grandmother or where "Sam" forgets his little brother at school all on the premise that these two characters were either under the influence or out to score some more drugs. This is absolute propaganda bullshit. They purposefully make ads that make you sympathetic to the person in them, and therefore feel compassion for their cause. I felt bad for the sad-looking grandmother, and the little sad boy with the one balloon was very heartbreaking, but their use as an image to induce feelings of sympathy for an ambiguous subject is just wrong. If you want to educate people about the effects of drugs, then do so with facts. Show them the effects of the particular drug to the mind. Show them the effects of being caught with the drug and the legal consequences. Show them the social ramnifications of their decisions to use the drug even, but do not show a sad picture and say, "Drugs made this old woman cry" or "drugs made this little boy stand on the side of the street for hours". Now, to make this even better, there is a website address in each commercial - www.freevibe.com This site is about "drug information" targetted at teenagers. The drug information is as vague as the commercials themselves. Marijuana is listed as an addictive drug. In the hands of the right people, food is quite addictive, but we don't have any commercials showing little Timmy stuck on a street corner because his mother spend too long at Hardee's. The point is that anything can be addictive if someone developes an emotional attachment to it, but to state in a "facts" section that the particular substance/item is addictive beyond all circumstances is misleading and reaks of propaganda films in the early 1900's where Timmy gets high on marijuana and beats his mother to death with the frying pan. The worst thing about the propaganda campaign is that it's working! If you were to go to Freevibe.com, there is a section entitled "Our Ads" where visitors are encouraged to leave feedback about what they think about the commercials. Not-so-amazingly, the comments are monitored, and only the comments that are sympathetic to their cause are listed. If you look through them, you start to realize that most of the people commenting are young teenagers, meaning 13-17 or so. These being rather maleable minds, of course the commercials are successful in relaying what they want them to believe. One comment was literally, "The grandmother commercial was the saddest thing I had ever seen. It seriously made me want to cry." This has nothing to do with drugs or the effectiveness of the commercials in general. I suppose they were happy that the campaign of inciting sympathy and then using it against drugs was working. Another comment was by a boy who said that he was caught doing drugs, and that his parents kicked him out of the house. Having no other place to go, he now lives in a theraputic homeless drug house or something or other. I think they are really missing the point here. Maybe the problem is parents who don't love their children enough to talk things our or try to help, but simply kick them to the streets with nowhere to go on an angry whim. I'm sure the boy from that comment was standing alone on the street just like the little boy with the balloon in the commercials, but we don't see a commercial against stupid adults who have children, do we? Am I alone in thinking this? I left quite the comment myself, but I'm sure it will never reach the page with the rest. Just so one person reads it to filter it out, I can be happy in making my point. The rest of the site with the "drug facts" have statistics that are stupid. They put something like "18% of all auto accidents that killed teenagers 15-20 were drug-related!" Well, how many of those were alcohol-related? Since we're sticking to the facts, how many of those were caused by woman drivers? Are women dangerous? In the same tradition as these wonderful statistics, I have pasted some statistics from my fake journal below. Check this out. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PICKLES will kill you! Every pickle you eat brings you closer to death. Pickles are associated with all major diseases of the body. Eating them breeds wars and communism. They can be related to most airline tragedies. Auto accidents are caused by pickles. There exists a positive relationship between crime waves and consumption of this fruit of the curcubit family, for example: * Nearly all sick people have eaten pickles. The effects are obviously cumulative. * 99.9% of all people who die from cancer have eaten pickles * 99.9% of soldiers have eaten pickles * 96.8% of all communists have eaten pickles * 99.7% of people involved in auto and air accidents ate pickles within the 14 days preceeding the accident * 93.1% of juvenille deliquents come from homes where pickles are served * Of the people born in 1839 who later ate pickles, there has been 100% mortality. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Health: My Anti-pickle" Let's get real folks. Mass media is turning into nothing more than a medium for social control.It saddens me that a big chunk of America doesn't see through these commericials as a petty attempt at propaganda for what it is. Government in action folks, soak it up. Infuriatingly yours, Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: angry Current Music: "Been Caught Stealin" - Jane's Addiction

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September 26th, 2005

10:19 pm - MMORPGS-A-PLENTY Well, today I had my first taste of Guild Wars. I must say, I very much enjoyed the time that I spent playing it! With Everquest getting on my nerves increasingly more daily, I think it might just be time for a change. :P Now, before any of you get excited that I may quit EQ and play Guild Wars, this all depends. The game costs $60(ish), and I'm basically a hobo, so that doesn't help. Fortunately, I have a rather sexy EQ account to sell. I'm pretty sure that I could get $60 for my account at the very least, so provided that I can sell my account, I'm getting the game. I will be looking around playerauctions later to scope out the market for accounts. Wish me luck. Plus, if I sell my account, I won't have any temptation to go back and play anymore. :P Will be something for people to be able to get ahold of me again. :P Rawwrr! Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: bouncy Current Music: "Across the Universe" - Fionna Apple

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September 12th, 2005

12:28 pm - QQ I found a few grey hairs today on my left temple. Probably only about 3 or 4 of them, but they're there, and they're grey. QQ I'm only twenty-frikkin-two. O.o That is all for today. I haven't slept at all - getting delerious. Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: delerious Current Music: FFXII Soundtrack (Chandler Playing)

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September 8th, 2005

01:21 am I sat thinking for the longest what to write about for my post when a vision came to me. The vision was of my goats, Stevie Nicks Goat and Crazylegs playing in a field of blooming flowers in spring time - chewing cud - doing other goat stuff. It really teared me up. In honor of their glory and beauty, this post is dedicated to goats everywhere. Some people think that goats can only have four legs and look like other goats, but this simply is not the case. One of the best known goats of all history is singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks. Here, you see her using a primative ATM in her native land: "But, Adam," some say, "isn't that just a goat's body with Stevie Nicks' head on it?" ...... "Touche," I reply. But how do you explain this?! And then there's *THIS*! I just deal with the facts as they exist. If you're too close-minded to believe that Stevie Nicks is in fact a goat, then that's your problem - not mine. Now, to finish off this post, I would like to provide you with a little treat from our friends over at www.goatworld.com. Yes, it exists, and if you haven't gone there, you should. They're my corporate sponsor. Introducing, an extensive compilation of GOAT FACTS!!1!one!<3 Origins of the Goat Goats were one of the first animals to be tamed by humans and were being herded 9,000 years ago. They are a member of the cattle family and are believed to be descended from the wild goat, bezoar. Breeds of Goats There are over 210 breeds of goats with an estimated 450 million goats in the world (2001). Of the 450 million goats in the world, it is estimated that approximately 6 to 8 % of them are in North America (2001). The majority of the world goat population can be found in the Mideast and Asia. Eating Habits Goats are ruminants or cud chewing animals that eat cracked or ground corn mixed with oats, hay and grass. Most breeders and producers prefer to limit the amount of corn in a goat's diet, preferring to feed specialized goat feed mixes with the majority of the diet being made up in a mixed, grassy alfalfa and other weeds, browse and shrubs known to be compatible with a goat's nutritional needs. Goats also have specific mineral and vitamin requirements that determine their overall health and production. These requirements often vary between breeds of goats and coloration of the goat. Most people believe that goats will eat almost anything and this is simply not true. The goat has very sensitive lips and their natural curiosity gives them a habit of "mouthing" and "smelling" for food that is clean and tasty. Goats will not eat soiled food (unless they are pushed to the point of starvation - often preferring to starve). Teeth Goats have a lower set of teeth which meet a hard pad in the upper jaw, and 24 molars on the top and bottom in the back of their mouths. Kids have 8 small, sharp teeth in their lower front jaw, and like children, when their baby teeth fall out they are replaced by permanent teeth. The age of a goat can often be closely determined by their teeth. Health The overall health of a goat is largely determined by their environment, genetics and nutrition. There are a number of illnesses that can affect a goat both in chronic and curable form. Some of these illnesses can be passed to humans and other animals while some illnesses are specific to goats. Much research is being done to provide more drugs that are approved for use in goats. Two illnesses that can bring sudden death to a goat are coccidiosis and pneumonia. Of most concern to breeders and producers are worms and parasites. A goat that is ridden with parasites and worms and left untreated will most likely suffer a rapid decline in health, production and often result in death. Weight and Physical Characteristics Depending on their breed, female goats weigh between 22 to 220 pounds, whereas male goats weigh between 27 to 275 pounds and are bigger and shaggier in appearance than females. Male goats are also endowed with beards that grow longer as they get older. Female goats are also capable of growing a beard. With the advent of the Boer or "meat goat" in the United States, these standards are becoming somewhat variable. Cross-breeding and genetics have begun paving the future for new breeds of goats which will undoubtedly exceed current standards. Many a breeder and producer will share that their particular line of goats will often be bred for a specific characteristic or feature. It is important to understand that a "desirable" characteristic to one producer may be "undesirable" to another. Coloration Widely accepted as a "standard", depending upon the breed, goats may be cream, white, black or brown in coloring. However, as more cross-breeding and genetic enhancement is achieved, the results are often dazzling sets of colors not previously seen. In my experiences, cross-breeding can often result in the offspring displaying both sets of colors from the original breeds. These cross-bred goats are often referred to as "Brush Goats". Eyes The pupil in a goat's eye is rectangular in shape instead of being round like those of other animals. It is believed that goats have excellent night vision and will often browse at night. The actual color of the goat's eyes is varied with the most common color being yellow or brown. Blue coloration is a bit rarer and often a characteristic many breeders will try to achieve. Lifespan Goats generally live 10 to 12 years. There have been cases of goats living up to 15 years. Behavior The behavior of a goat can vary widely based upon a number of factors such as breed, surroundings, and size of the herd. For the most part, goat behavior is often summed up as: goats are very sociable, lively, inquisitive and independent animals. They are also quite intelligent and can learn how to open latches on farm gates. Goats are also herd animals. One particular behavior of goats that is intriguing is that while they are independent, they often prefer to surround themselves with goats of their same breed in a mixed herd. Another example of goat behavior is that the kids will prefer to remain nearby their mother, even if separated for years and reintroduced. Physical Capabilities Goats can climb, run, crawl under fences and some breeds of goats are able to jump heights of over 5 feet. It should be noted as well that most goats will also stand on their back legs to reach tree branches and shrubs. Produce The main products associated with goats are milk, cheese, meat, mohair, and cashmere. Large dairy does produce 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of milk each year. (On a daily basis they produce 2 or 3 quarts of milk). With the emphasis on genetics, it should be noted that breeders and producers are beginning to surpass previous levels of milk and meat production with daily yields often exceeding one gallon of milk per day. Goat Names and Terminology You will often hear goats referred to by the following: "Buck or Billy" - a male goat. "Doe or Nanny" - a female goat. "Kid" - a young goat. "Wether" - a castrated male goat. "Hermaphrodite" - a goat showing both female and male characteristics, most likely unable to reproduce. "Herd" - a group of goats. "Wattles" - little round balls of fur on a goats' neck close to its chin. Not all goats have wattles. Keywords: goat doe nanny buck wether wattles genetics caprine behavior bezoar milk meat mohair ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, looks like I'll have to make an EQ character named Bezour. :D I hope you've all found this post to be very educational and mind-blowing. More to come. Adam B. Peffer: King of Goats and all that is Wild and Free Current Mood: artistic Current Music: "Evolve" - Ani Difranco

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September 3rd, 2005

04:08 pm - I LIVE!!1!11!!one! Kids and elderly alike, I haven't updated in quite a while, so I figured I would do that. Absolutely nothing has been going on. I'm more or less confined to the house and the immediate area surrounding said house due to transportation issues. Well, not so much transportation issues as much as the laws requiring certain things to be out and about on the road ways. Thankfully, I haven't yet gone insane. Everquest gives me a much larger area to explore than the immediate area of my house, so I've been on there most of the time. Yea, I know - shaddup. :) Hurricane Katrina (which I'm sure no one is tired of hearing about) knocked out my power for 4(ish) days, so that was quite a treat. We have a generator, so the important stuff had power (i.e. TV's, Computer, Fridge), but it still felt a lot like camping out until they turned it back on. Lots of exploring with a flashlight, etc. Other than that, not a lot of damage to me other than having to hear everyone's opinion about what people are doing in LA and gas prices. Everyone loves a disaster. I've decided to start saving up this very day for my initial trip to Thailand. So far, I have $1.34, and that's rising everyday! Only need a little over $1,000 for roundtrip ticket and some spending money (I'm sure the American dollar is worth at least 4 choice cattle there), so I'm well on my way. Mother and I discussed it today on the phone, and she's almost convinced me to auction off a wooden frog imbued with the undead soul of Elvis on Ebay to raise the cash. I still like my idea of putting a picture of one of my goats on a plastic jug at the gas station, citing that it's my terminally face-crippled aunt in need of radical surgery. Both seem equally able. Oh right, the goats. I have two goats now. They aren't so much in a special farm-like area as much as they live in the back yard. The mother goat is named, "Stevie Nicks Goat" with the baby being, "Crazylegs". They really are quite cute. I was a bit apprehensive when Dad brought them home, but then I found an anonymous skull in the back yard, so I figure they're voodoo goats with extraordinary powers and shouldn't be questioned. Well, this turned into quite the update. Guess I had more going on then I thought. :) Brooke and Tatur are going to rescue me from my house-dungeon later, so I need to get ready. Who knows - I might do more of these updates things a bit more often pending interesting happenings. "Who's this, your frikken motha?" - Carl (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: content Current Music: "Gangsters and Thugs" - The Transplants

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June 23rd, 2005

03:07 am - Court Day! Guilty Plea $1,150 fine/restitution 2 years probation 60 days suspended sentence (if I fuck up in the next 2 years) Terms of Probation: Don't do crimes, Pay restitution, Don't go into any DG stores. (lol) Hmm, think that about covers it. Maximum penalty for what I was *accused* of doing is $1,000 fine and a year in jail, so I figure I got out pretty easily. I was turned down for court attorney, and waited 4 hours to talk to a prosecutor who had nothing better to do than presume he knew everything about my case already, so whatever - I got off easy. Anyway, I saw Andrea, Joanna, *and* her husband, Phillip at the courthouse. O.o When I got there, I noticed Joanna was there. Well, Marc (district manager) showed up curiously as well. Joanna was up there because she supposedly had a warrant from two video tapes that were stolen from her house. :P Well, when she got there, they were like, "Oh yea, and you're being prosecuted for Theft of Property." hahaha Anyway, I played all buddy-buddy as she explained that she was going to subpeona me and we were going to go in together, etc. She ended up spending about an hour in jail until she could get the bail bondsman to get her out. Oh, and I saw Phillip because he was *already* in the jail for failure to appear x 3. Since Marc said that he had 3 cases up there, Kerry (Andrea's boyfriend) called her and told her to come up there to turn herself in just incase. Well, she gets up there and there isn't a warrant for her. This is obviously because her crime was a felony, and Sumiton court only deals in misdemeanors. If she goes to county, she'll find a warrant for her there. Anyway, I ended up having to talk for sooo long to her and her mother, but I doubt I'll have to talk to them anymore about it since I've already finished up all of that. Right, so there's my update on my big day. Didn't get out of there until about 10:30, so a total of 5 1/2 hours spent there today ... don't wanna go back soon. The judge was unusually nice to me, though - when I got my speeding ticket 4 years ago, he was a bastard. :P Kay, bed bed. Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: not in jail Current Music: FFX2 Music

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June 5th, 2005

12:40 am - Stuffs Well, figured I should update or something. I've began to play Everquest again. Yes, the super-addictive pixel candy that enslaved me for five years is back in my life. I'm determined to disallow it to so grip my life as it did before, but can already see it trying to take a toll. I'll have to keep that demon in check. :P Hmm, searching for a job. Security position kinda didn't happen for reasons, so on the search yet again. If there is anything I hate soo much, it's a jobhunt. Well, that seems to be about all. :P You kids be good, and I'll see you all later. Hugs-n-love, Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: here Current Music: "Path" - Apocalyptica

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May 24th, 2005

08:28 pm - My Lord... Well, suffice to say that I've been through a lot getting my computer fixed. Three consecutive trips to Jasper, the theft of restoration CD's, many calls to Dell, and a courrier later, my computer once again works. I'm just now beginning to download my music again ... all those songs. >.< But, I'm tooo happy that I'm back online and all that jazz. Oh, and Thursday I start as a security guard. :D They taught me how to shoot a gun! Only two classes this semester due to scheduling and class availability. I have Lit with Ms. Hultgren again. Can we say "Easy A"? :D Oh, and a math class, but whatever. :) Kay, must do more downloading. Just wanted to come on here and update that my computer is back up and running and that I was taught how to weild firearms. :D Woo-woo! Adam B. Peffer Current Mood: HOLY GHOST! Current Music: "Jolene" - The White Stripes

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