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INTO THE MAW

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<----ROOM TACTICS---->

by MackCat

RP player says what?

What do you do when someone says "Hey I want to RP, but don’t know what to do", well that’s simple put on your tighty whiteys, get your character that you love to RP with and tell them that they have nothing to fear, because I’m hear to RP with you . . .

Well okay maybe not that exactly,but the Council and Admin are here to RP with you if we’re in an RP and you pop on you’re more than welcome to join us, unless of course it’s a "specific role RP" which doesn’t happen very often. But still if you want to do something and aren’t quite sure what to do seriously, just ask a Council/Admin person to RP with and we will be more than happy to help you and perhaps get you your own RP to flow from that and allow others to help.

Okay so that’s it in a nutshell, right, wrong . . . remember when I said a while back that RP is what you make of it, well you’re always welcome to start your own RP if you can’t think of one that you want to join, something that tickles your fancy and if you want you can always ask or seek the Council's help and we’ll be more than willing to help you out, get something started and of course get you through it. But you will need to have a start, middle and end on your own we can’t do everything . . . well some often can, but that’s debatable at this point.

So now you have two options of RP again – feel free to RP with anyone that’s a Council/Admin in the room or start your own thing, bet you didn’t think that you could do that could you, well now you and knowing is 1/4 of the battle, the other 3/4 is you actually just doing it . . . like we do.

Remember RP is about having fun so make sure that you have fun for yourself, and make it fun for the others. The more the merrier and that’s what the RP is all about and this room too . . . ask anyone and they’ll tell you . . . or I’ll THWAP them!.

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

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<----A TINGE OF BEAUTY---->

---PSP/PS TUTORIALS---

By Dot

GLASSY BAR SIGNATURE

You can make this as big or small as you wish, smaller ones are a little harder to work with at first. You can even use this to create buttons and icons!

--Step 1--

I start with a document that is 468 w by 60 h. I then choose the rounded retangle tool. (to get that go down to rectangle tool, hold it down then select the second one from the top.) Now make your rounded rectangle...you can move it using the move tool ( crl + v ).

--Step 2--

Now go into your layer blending options and select the gradient overlay. I'm using the first gradient in the pulldown. Rasterize the vector mask, then rasterize the layer (right click on the layer). Now duplicate that layer.

--Step 3--

Now on the duplicated layer go into your blending options again and select Color Overlay, set the color to white and the opacity to 50%.

--Step 4--

Now with the marquee tool select the lower half of the rectangle on the duplicated layer and delete it. Now you should have a whiteish half and a half in the gradient color you chose.

--Step 5--

Change your Marquee to the circular one, then make a selection under your white portion of rectangle. Move the selection to be halfway between the two. Right click and select feather, put in 10 pixels, and hit delete. You won't notice a big change, but there is one!

--Step 6--

Holding control, click on your first layer...Mine is red, so I click on my red layer. Now go to Select>Modify>Expand in the box put in 1 and hit okay. Now you have a little selection around your orginal one...Make a new layer and drag it under the the orginal. With "Layer 1" highlighted, use your paint bucket and fill with White. If you don't notice any difference make another layer.."Layer 2", put it under "Layer 1", and fill it with black.

--Step 7--

With "Layer 1" selected, use the circle marquee to make another section at about halfway, feather this just like you had the white layer at 10 pixels. Now hit delete ONCE.

--Step 8--

Repeat Step 7 but at the top.

--Step 9--

Control + left click on the original layer, select>modify>expand and type in 2, put a new layer between "Layer 1" and "Layer 2". This layer will be filled with black and be the frame.

--Step 10--

On a new layer, that's on top of everything put in your name, or the name of others. Use the style of your choice (double click the layer, select styles, then select the little icon of your choice with no drop shadow). Now click the little eye on "Layer 2"; this makes it go away, remember to save as a PNG, this will make it transparent and have the background of the boards or room!

Adapted from COOL GLASSY ICON CREATIONS

For more glass affects GLASS-EFFECT

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<----CULINARY COOK (Recipes)---->

By Mouse

CHICKEN ROLLATINI

Simple and easy so you can spend more hours in the sun then working in the kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:

6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic finely chopped
4 teaspoons butter
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
10 ounces sliced whole milk mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pinch black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Pound chicken breasts flat and lay them on a hard surfice. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese on both sides.
Place a pinch of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon butter in the center of each breast.
Cover each breast with a layer of prosciutto and mozzarella cheese.
Reserve some of the prosciutto to place on top of the chicken.
Roll up each chicken breast, and secure with toothpicks.
In a 9x13 inch baking dish, combine white wine and olive oil. Arrange chicken rolls in dish. Place a small piece of prosciutto on top of each roll, and sprinkle with pepper.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink, an juices run clear.

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April Healthy Living

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<----HEALTHY LIFESTYLE HINTS--->

By Cricket

8 Fun Ways to Manage Stess

Courtesy of the Planet Green

Being “stressed” seems to be as trendy as being “on a diet.” Everyone’s doing it, throwing the terms around as if it’s an excuse for a bad mood or short fuse. Problem is: stress has some serious side-effects that can be detrimental to your health and happiness if it isn’t addressed. Of course there are lots of pills to help you ease off angst, but we prefer to do it green – naturally. No drugs, no chemicals, just good natural cures. Our favorite and the most fun by far: Kissing!

1. Reduce Stress with Touching, Kissing, Hugging

Touching, kissing, and hugging (or any other affectionate activities) are activities that stimulate the brain’s release of the hormone oxytocin. If you want to take it up a notch, get a room! Recent studies reveal that the surge of oxytocin released during orgasm can lower blood pressure, calm nerves and tame tension. In fact, according to the British Medical Journal, sex is so good for your heart that it cuts your risk of heart attack and stroke in half when performed three times a week.

2. Reduce Stress by Swearing it Off!

Swearing has been shown to minimize stress and increase workplace camaraderie. That’s according to scientists at East Anglia Norwich University in England

3. Reduce Stress by Eating Garlic

The main ingredient in garlic when digested is organosulfur allicin, which triggers your body to produce hydrogen sulfide. The combo creates an internal reaction that relaxes blood vessels and encourages blood flow. Translation: garlic is good for your heart and your head and helps manage stress.

4. Reduce Stress by Eating Chocolate

Balance isn’t just for yoga. In fact, a little bit of chocolate can go a long way when it comes to your diet. Dark chocolate has been shown to be filled with antioxidant flavonoids (which can minimize your risk of heart disease and reduce blood pressure). Some scientists have gone so far as to claim that the sweet stuff has more flavonoids than any other food (including blueberries). According to research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, those said flavonoids help blood vessels relax, helping calm overall stress. Word to the wise, choose the lower fat dark chocolate to milk chocolate. It has a higher count of the good stuff. And of course opt for organic chocolate.

A Few Organic Chocolate Options to Salivate Over:

Dagoba Eclipse 87 percent Organic Extra Dark Chocolate. We are getting crazy here now with this souped up super dark chocolate bar that offers flavor elements of tart and only slightly sweet citrus. Your taste buds start playing tricks on you once you reach this intensity! We also love their annual Seed the Day campaign that supports urban greening activities and encouraging volunteerism.
Shaman Chocolates Organic Dark Chocolate with Acai, Lemon & Orange is Certified Organic, Fair Trade and souped up with superfoods like Acai berries (containing more antioxidants than blueberries or pomegranates).
Amano Artisan Handcrafted Single Origin 70 percent Dark Chocolate—Montanya is, like a fine wine, all about the terroir. Each variety comes from a specific place or origin, which imbues the bar with subtle hints of flavor reflective of the area. Montanya is made from cocoa beans exclusively from the mountains of Venezuela. It has natural flavor notes of apricot, nuts, marshmallow, and spice. This is the art of chocolate.

5. Reduce Stress by Rubbing your Hoku

Your “hoku” is that flap of skin on your palm that connects your pointer finger to your thumb. It’s also an acupressure spot related to upper body tension that, when squeezed, can minimize stress by up to 39 percent—that’s according to scientists at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

6. Reduce Stress by Watching YouTube

Laughter is a proven way to ease stress. Even the mere anticipation of something funny has the ability to calm us down thanks to the release of stress hormones like dopac, cortisol and epinephrine. More than easing angst, short funny film clips have been proven to increase blood flow to the heart according to scientists at the University of Maryland.

7. Reduce Stress by Gardening

Research has shown that having plants and flowers in your presence can elicit a positive mood and reduce stress levels. Connecting with the Earth by sticking your hands in the dirt and tending to the plants yourself even further imbue you with an energy of calm.

8. Reduce Stress by Embracing Clutter

For years, neat-freak moms have been insisting on orderly bedrooms for the sake of productivity, sanity, and just seemingly to pester. Not anymore! Eric Abrahamson (a Columbia School of Business Professor) and David H. Freedman (a journalist) have found that moderate messes can actually enrich creativity and minimize anxiety.

Goal for the Month

ALWAYS…ALWAYS….ALWAYS….try to end every situation with a positive thought.

Even if the only positive you can come up with is the fact that something bad happened but now it is over with.

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<----RESCUE ME---->

By Jafo

-DOGGIE DOG WORLD-

A recent story in the news has gotten my attention and gave me a cause to champion. In Austin Texas a police officer who was dispatched to the wrong house. Drew his side arm upon the owner and then when the owner’s dog came up barking from the back yard shot the dog. So this month my articles are about those wonderful faithful creatures that people have as pets and members of their family.

Now if that article does not tell you I am a dog person then well some of the exploits of my dogs will. I do have a few dogs but a few of them just have that persona that you cannot forget. I should start off with my favorite Lady also known as Lady Bug. When I first found her she had a funny personality and elegant one hence her name. When she would laydown she would actually cross her forepaws looking just like a proper lady crossing her legs. Lady is a Basenji mix, though looking and acting very much like the breed itself. The breed and Lady are very smart and do not bark much and they use visual more than smell in their hunting, though all of that is boring facts.

Lady by far is not the biggest dog that we have in the house and that goes to Chief our Dalmatian whom Lady has bested since he was a pup. I will not forget when Chief got to be as big as Lady he was playing with her and managed to pin her to the floor. He then got up and started to walk away with the proud puppy strut like he was the dog. Lady waited for him to get down the hall and then came at him running all out, and then jumped up in the air all four paws still pumping air till she came down on Chief and flattened him to the floor sending him sprawling all four paws in different directions spinning across the floor looking around in a daze. Lady no sooner did she floor him just turned and went the other way like she had done nothing. Then when they got older the dogs would all play and yes chase the Dalmatian was the game of the day many times as he was the youngest of the dogs we have. One time they were running and we had a pool about four feet tall and Chief went to run around the pool. Well Lady only standing a little over a foot at the shoulders jumps on top of the pool and ran across the cover to then jump down on top of Chief’s head driving him into the ground and rolling him.

All the dogs in my house were either street rescues or came from the Humane Society, well save one the oldest one, which my mother sent with me when I left Illinois. There are many more stories that I can tell about Lady and the others but those two are my favorite ones, about Chief our big baby and our smart little Lady Bug.

Dogs and cats are wonderful gifts that we are blessed with for such a short time. They should be cherished and seen as the members of our family that they are. It is hurtful when we lose one and even more so when it is an accident, or worse an act of violence, which makes no sense. We as a people should work to give these gifts a safe place to call a home and enact laws that gives them the protection they deserve from wrongful acts of violence. People need to be held accountable for their actions no matter if they are public officials/servants or the common vagrant upon the streets. Though I have a feeling that will be too much to ask for, for there will always be those that will find a way to make themselves above the law, either by the money and power they wield, or the position they hold.

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<----COMMUNITY SERVICE---->

By Dot (Ali this month)

Most who know me and know My MSN the title I chose is Knight. I chose it as I do like the idea and principles of being a knight; to defend those who cannot defend themselves.

This month I ran across a link to a Facebook page and it upset me, it also gave me a cause to champion. It is a story about the Austin Police Department showing up at the wrong address and shooting the dog at that address. The dog wasn't shot accidentally, but by an officer who had gone on a call at the wrong address and intentionally shot the dog, who was a beloved pet. We have the links to the page and the cause is called: Justice for Cisco. We hope that you will join us in this cause and if you have any other such causes which you feel that the voiceless need a voice, please feel free to contact us and we will add them to our Community Service section.

Go to Justice for Cisco to find out more about Cisco and what happened, and Petition to sign the petition to stop the senseless killing of innocent animals like Cisco.
. This is the article telling about the wrongful death of Cisco: APD reviews Policy*

News 8 Austin

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