reality, lisashea: I would like to know why you assume that because I say the movie is good that I thought it had anything to do with the book. I saw the movie before reading the book.....Book is awesome...if you don't compare the movie to it the movie is too. I never said they were the same or even alike. Please use at least a small part of your brain the next time you want to bash someone's opinion of something.

And technicolor movies are the worst...weird tones of color make me go crazy!!! :P

jonas: for many bums drugs and alcohol are the only way they survive on the streets...many of them cannot get jobs and have no choice about the streets.

lisashea: many homeless don't want to admit they can't do it on their own...that's for those who go to the charities and shelters. They may stop on soup kitchens for a decent meal, but usually they think that depending upon the generosity of others directly instead of through an organization makes it seem like more people care there is a problem and makes them feel better about themselves.

lisashea: again read the first line....they try to do it themselves. I myself am not far from this type of thing (luckily I have a fiance who understands me and will help me if this ever happens). I have multiple Personality Disorder and it affects me when I'm on an assembly line or computer or anything too long. But I love doing this kind of work. I work as long as possible and most companies will make an effort to move me around so I don't flip to an alter who cannot do the work. There are some people with these kinds of mental disorders that the state hospital cannot or will not treat or house so they must live out on the street.

doom, jjg, steve, lisashea, daver: I understand that personality has nothing to do with the stars....speaking from a purely scientific point of view we should be looking at each other under the astrology of the doctors, nurses, and other people in the room when we were born (that is if gravitational pull really does affect us psychologically....which I personally beleive it does in the most minute amount) astrology assumes that the total pull of gravity from other objects and beings around us when we are born is equal in all respects for everyone and that everyone is raised the same way so that behavior is only affected by the stars. Astrology is just a hint into the person's life and a suggestion as to what will make you happy, sad, and essentially what makes you tick. Astrologists work on the same principle that Psychologists and behaviorists do....that all other things in human life are equal except what they study.

elijahblue, daver, milktree, emily, Lucy: these are extremely simplified to fit easily into this survey....a real simple overview of how I interpreted what I read about each sign. BTW, that's all astrology is...interpretations, just like reading a book or watching a movie, it's significance in your life depends upon how you view it.

I myself am the typical taurus...I always get my way if I have to kill to do it I would...thank god it's never been necessary though :)

emily: Literally speaking most books on tape are exactly as the author wrote it....sometimes there's a few omissions but those are usually not important to the story anyway. books-on-tape are good and bad. Instead of concentrating on the words themselves (I'm slightly dyslexic so it's hard for me to read sometimes) you can simply concentrate on what the words are saying.....but it's hard to stop the story long enough to really visuallize what's going on (you know, close your eyes, count to ten and now you're nancy drew!!!) if you like to do that kind of thing.

Jody: letting them choose is well and good, if and only if they've done something they already know is bad. A child does't know not to slam the door until you tell it not to...then a swat is perfect... however stealing and lying is a good occasion to let them choose....it just depends upon the "crime"

lelle: I like your idea a lot....never in anger and always an explanation....a child cannot learn unless he's told what he does right and what he does wrong (he meaning a child of either sex). Spanking and punishment is a way of learning. Wish my parents had told me every time they saw me doing something...whether they liked it or not...I might know more about the "real world" today.

lisashea: that is a good question....the answer is simple, no. It takes more effort to sit down with a child and tell him/her stealing is wrong, and many times the child seeing the upset in your eyes has more of an effect than a swat. BTW, I think you ex's idea of attention was not the child's attention to him, but the child's attention to what the child was doing or has done. Not the best way to give a reminder, but certainly effective....in the short term.

lisashea: no in as few words as possible....you're saying hit when it's apporopriate (like stealing slap their wrist) but when you don't know what else to do hit is definately not the answer. I agree...as a pediatrician soon to be in internship I agree completely....and as a teacher of new mothers-to-be that's the hardest lesson for america to learn.

elijahblue: not hard, I'm a volunteer for the Red Cross....they teach new mothering courses and many times I'm allowed to sit in and walk around with the pediatricians....but you're right...I meant to say soon to be in internship (couple of years), thanks for pointing that out :)