"And so, my fellow Americans; ask not what your country can do for you-- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world; ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."  

--John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1917-1963 Presidential Inaugural Address Jan 20, 1961

As an American, born and raised, I can not help but be affected by the attack on America. I have recently updated my "Tribute to America" in the coffee break inspiration part of this website.  My heart goes out to the families and  friends that were caught in the midst of the attacks. I encourage everyone to do all that you can to help in our efforts to recover from the horrific acts, as we stand united as a country. 

. . . . 09/16/2001

"Time is a fixed income and, as with any income,
  the real problem facing most of us is how to live 
  successfully within our daily allotment."
                                    --Margaret B. Johnstone

It's been a long time since I updated anything at crumpled papers or any other personal sites for that matter. Real life has intruded into the year 2001. Priorities have changed. Time for playing at crumpled papers.com is at a minimum.  The site continues to flourish despite me.  In a shocking moment to discover --HOW "Design Ideas at Work" has listed crumpledpapers.com in their "2001 International  Design Annual" as #5 under "stuff we bookmark"  (ok check out pg22).   Thank you Budda for bringing this to my attention and thank you to HOW for the honor of even being included. <insert shock here>

 Great Link: "Soul is breathed into the web by individual men and women creating their own individual sites.  Nestled into the corners and other hidden places, the web holds her treasures. Soul of the Web celebrates and introduces all of us to these sites." 

'til another time . . . value all that life presents you. 
. . . . 03/07/2001

I have discovered that a few people actually read the ramblings on this page, so rather than update you on all that I haven't accomplished on this play site because I have been to damn busy with life, work and other things in general,  I am taking this time to jump on my yearly holiday soap box.

If kindness is a language that anyone can understand, why is it that we see it most often only 1 time a year? The phenomenon fascinates me.  During the holidays most people dig down into  deepest personal reaches of their humanity to make a difference.  To me,  that's kind of like going to church on Sunday and asking for forgiveness for all stupid, mean and ugly things that you may have done during the week --only to drop back into the same pattern come Monday morning. 

The gifts of touching some ones life,  kindness, caring and sharing should be part of  life everyday, not just when a holiday strikes.  So rather than fade to the background once the holidays are over,  why not serve your community, friends and family by simply offering a few good strokes and soothing words through out the year.  Yes, it's that simple.

Jumping off my SoapBox ...  til next year.
. . . . 12.21.2000

Sarah Morton , Managing Editor, HOW: Design Ideas at Work writes:
Hello from HOW magazine!  I just wanted to write and let you know that we at HOW magazine were so taken with your site that we have listed it as one of our Web site's "Top Ten" sites to see this month. We've provided a link that takes our visitors straight to you. Check out our site--we're pretty proud of it too. You can find us at www.howdesign.com.  (I'm flattered to say the least)
. . . . 11.29.2000

From one holiday to the next, this is the time of year that just speeds by. Recent updates are located at Crumbled Cookies. Dubs and I ("the brat" --betcha, that was a hard guess) have added a bunch more recipes to the cookies and candy sections, as well as started the additional misc. section. This weeks featured recipes are Got Turkey?

Looking for some Christmas Graphics?  Well ...  in the most neglected area of all my webstuff you'll find last years Christmas backgrounds and images for your personal use in the trashcan graphics section. Yeah, yeah, yeah ... one of these days I'll get the new (as always coming soon)  trashcan graphics site finished and loaded.  In the meantime, HO3
. . . . 11.28.2000

Thanksgiving in the United States is a time for families, a time for memories and a time for sharing .  This is the time a year when the novice turkey cooking chef wants to know if the yellow netting and wrapper around the turkey should be removed before roasting; when Aunt Harriet pinches your cheeks and kisses you with red lipstick, while crowing "Look how much you've grown!"; when grandpa forgets his teeth and teaches the children how to suck cranberry sauce through a straw; when Uncle Joe has his best fart fights at the dinner table; when little Michelle wants to know if she can use the turkey carcass for new cavern for Barbie to explore and little Matt wants to use it a blunt object to fend off pesky cousins.  AH!  the memories .  .  . 

If you want to know how to keep a turkey in suspense, I'll let you know later. Here's wishing you all a wonderful and sane Thanksgiving.
. . . . 11.12.2000

Good News is I didn't lose any data. Bad news is that it's currently sitting on my hard drive in a plastic bag.  Good News is my new computer parts are on order. Bad news is I need to find the time to put it together.  Good News is I have use of a temporary computer. Bad News is I am way behind schedule on client work, so it's a priority over CP updates. Good News is I have kept my sense of humor and will be back as soon as possible making changes and updates to the CP site and odds and ends areas as soon as possible.  -Bobbie O in the story of my life.
. . . . 08.07.2000

*Internet Brothers (one of my favorite sites on the net) has most graciously interview me for their series on *"Interviews with the Masters." Although I don't believe myself to be a master, calling me a mistress seems just a little a little kinky to me. <grin> I certainly am flattered and would like to tell you . . . the bro's are definately on the top of my list in my mutual admiration society list.  To Jeff - Tag you're it!
. .. .07.07.2000

I spend 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week at a job I love. I am a  "jane of all trades" in a testosterone shop of IT junkies for a local internet service provider. I spend another 2-4 hours a day reading e-mail, sorting out my real email from the 100's of spam/junk mails that come into my multiple email boxes and then . . . evenings and weekends, most of my friends and family know they'll find me online with chat open, playing with web work. People that know me well, also know that most likely I am chatting with them the same time I am playing with graphics work and don't feel neglected when I often disappear from the net on a regular  basis.

Why am I telling you this? It's almost summer and I think I have come down with a bug. It all happened after a *weekend away from the computer. It's a inconvenient bug for a net nerd. Rest assured , it's not a computer virus or a fatal illness, but it's symptoms do affect my thought process as well as my ability to be agile on the keyboard.  It snuck up on me with warning and I should have known it was coming.  The name of the bug is "iwanttobeoutsideenjoyingthesunshine". I understand the recovery process may take months. So, please excuse me while I kiss the sky.
. . . . 06.01.2000

With *my new job, I have begun to take on site design clients, so time has become limited lately for additional work in the CP site sections.

The month of June will be bringing many new teen poets to the teen graffiti section, as well as welcoming  *Mitch Speed of Mending Fences to the "poets showcase" of the coffee break inspirations section. Be sure to come back to check it out!
. . . . 05.15.2000 

• Lesson #1  - Involve your visitors. What makes a good personal web site is *the people! You know the ones, they *love the net and I am pleased to call them net friends.
• Lesson #2 - Be open to feedback. If your open *to feedback, there is always a lesson to be learned in web site building, often times on a personal level.
• Lesson #3 - Always remember to *play and have fun. Keeping a *positive attitude will do wonders in personal page creating. Do you enjoy building webpages?
• Lesson #4  - Never, never name sections of a site, what you plan on creating as a www.address later (If *imitation is the best form of flattery . . .  well then, I guess I am now *flattered!)  and if you can't beat 'em, why not promote 'em! but,  (DoH! the lesson 4  was a hard one . . .)