New Issue of Shebytches.com is alive!!!

Hey Everyone! The new issue of Shebytches is alive. Please swing on over to www.shebytches.com to check it out. Below is what is hot off the presses!

GUEST WRITER

Oneal Walters - Poetry - Picture of Love, Untitled, Can’t Find Love In Arguing (The Age Begins)


WHAT'S NEW

Carolina's - Bytch Two Journeys - I am about to start two very different journeys; one involves a possible move and the other a four-legged ten-year-old fur ball. Both are going to be tough and likely expensive, but one won't stop the other from happening or vice versa.

Cindyloohoo So long fat girl! - After a lifetime of being overweight (and many years of being "morbidly obese"), I decided last year to get rid of this massive chip on my shoulder (and off my ass) and have gastric bypass surgery. Nine months later and I feel great.

Nancy Drew - "On Living Bravely" - I was at Moonbean Café the other day with a friend whose life is going really well. She just moved out of her parent’s house after living with them for three years while in school for naturopathic medicine. It was a grueling three years.

Heather Wood - I've read this story before - Much as I like to claim that I am only 29, I was actually born in the "Swinging Sixties"—that progressive era when it was perfectly acceptable to fire a woman just for being pregnant.

Pixie Says - Stand Up for Judy Blume -- and, while I have your attention, ask the Japanese government to ban video-game rape simulators - When I was 13, I was hauled up before the headmistress at my school because some of my friends' parents had found them reading my copy of Judy Blume's legendary novel Forever (with the *important* pages dog-eared, of course).

Romy Shiller - People seem to abhor ‘difference’ - I was so mad when Adam Lambert didn’t win American Idol (2009). It is just a TV show but it says a hell of a lot. He wears nail polish, eyeliner, some people say he is gay and he is called by the show a “glam rocker.”

Is the strike finally over?

I made a decision today to start doing something again that I promised myself I wouldn't. No, I'm not taking up smoking or eating meat again. Against my better judgment, I decided to... deep breath, wait for it... start dating again. Yikes. Is this a good idea? I guess I'm about to find out.

It's been a while since I've been on a date. I stopped dating early last summer. I decided to stop because after one horrendous misadventure after another, I had become discouraged with what options were available to me. I also found that I had stopped dating my 'type', simply because I thought that was the issue. After talking it out with a friend and thinking out loud A LOT over the last few days... it's not the 'type' that is the problem, it was the type of men I was dating.

I like artsy, edgy, tattooed, rock and roll loving, outgoing men. I use to date this type all the time and had a blast. One day, and I wish I new what the hell I was thinking, I decided I needed to start going on grown up dates, date men with 'good' jobs and a future. Grown up dates? 'Good' jobs? What the hell! Not to worry, it was just a phase and that phase is OVER.

In life we are drawn to certain things for a reason. They fit with our personalities and our lifestyles. I realized how much I missed the type of guy I use to date when I went with a friend to a ball... I was dressed to the nines, in pain due to my bling shoes, attempting to see if there were any potential, grown up men in the crowd... I looked around and all night long my line of vision kept going to the same person. My 'type' was there with his girlfriend, and every time I glanced over at him I got a pang of nostalgia. I went home, peeled off the terrible shoes I was wearing and made a promise that I was NEVER going to go against type again. I'm attracted to that kind of man for a reason. That reason is called 'having something in common'.

This girl is a horror loving, zombie knowing, writer, sucker for animals, who does too much for others and never asks for anything back. I like edgy boys with tattoos, was a punk rock, goth music loving, black wearing kid growing up, who never fit in. So why the hell am I trying to fit in with the wrong type of people now? I have a crowd of ghouls that I belong to and it's time that I get back to where I belong.

Yes, I am going to start dating again. I am going to go back to my picky ways, dating only my 'type'. This time around though, I am going to be tougher. I want to find someone who wants to be with me for who I am and not for what they can get from me. I maybe re-entering a world that I really didn't' like the first twenty times around, but at least it gives me great fodder, not to mention a creative outlet I can use in my stories.

I am about to dive back in again... wish me luck... I forgot to attach my safety rope... again...

addendum:
After much consideration, and lack of inspiration by what has been offered up to me of late, I'm back on strike. I know, I know, that sure didn't last long. It isn't due to impatience, it is due to all that is out there is the same ole, same ole all wanting the same things. I'm just not up for it and lack the energy to continually have to explain myself. So, it's just easier to say, 'I'm on strike, till conditions improve.' I just don't see the strike ending any time soon...

The Journey Begins

I am about to start two very different journeys, one involves a possible move and the other a four legged 10 year old fur ball. Both are going to be tough and likely expensive, but one won't stop the other from happening or vice versa.

Today my dogs vet confirmed that my little blondie boy indeed has Cushings. For those who are unfamiliar with the illness it affects humans, dogs and horses. Believe it or not, dogs and horses have many of the same illnesses as humans.

Cushing's disease (hyperadrenocorticism) is a condition that results from the chronic overproduction of too much glucocorticoid in the body. In the normal dog, the pituitary gland produces a hormone called ACTH, which stimulates the adrenal gland to produce the steroid hormone glucocorticoid necessary for the function of many systems in the body. If something goes wrong in the pituitary gland or adrenal gland and too much glucocorticoid is produced, then Cushing's disease develops. This is a very complicated disease with a wide range of symptoms and causes. This article will try to give a concise description of the disease, its symptoms, how it is diagnosed, and its treatment.

(for more info please go here

The little guy was subjected to a bunch of tests last week and this friday even more. A days worth actually. So far he hasn't shown any symptoms so I am hoping he is early enough into the disease that I won't yet have to subject him to hoards of meds. It also means I will have him around much longer!

This news, though it stresses me out and makes me really, really sad, isn't affecting my plans to potentially move to New York City. I am still continuing on. It won't make a difference if he is sick there or here. What matters is that he gets the best care I can possibly give him.

The thoughts of my 4 legged blondie being sick, makes me... ill to my stomach. He is adorable, loving, sweet and never complains. Every morning after my female dog mauls me while licking my face and demanding all my attention, he patiently waits, belly exposed to get his morning belly rub. How is it that such good dog ends up with such a shitty disease.

In his case, rather both my dogs cases, they have me. Many call me a sucker, but they don't understand the unconditional love of dogs. They call me sucker because to them dogs are dogs and who is insane enough to spend thousands of dollars on vet bills to keep them happy? Me that is who. On many occasions I make sacrifices if they need medical attention. They are my responsibility, when you become a pet owner you have made that unconditional promise to your four legged friend. Many choose another route, preferring to put their animals to sleep rather than care for a pet. I could never be that kind of a person.

When I was a teenager I was considering becoming a Veterinarian, but when I realized one of the responsibilities was to put down a sick animal, I deferred. I knew I would never have that in me.

I've started to do my homework, reading everything I can find on Cushings so I understand what is ahead and what signs to look for. This isn't going to be fun or easy but, my life has never been easy. I am constantly being tested, but like all the other tests I've passed with flying colours, this is just another that I will figure out all the answers to.

Two different journeys and one fearless journey woman! Let the adventures begin!

New York City Here I come?

For some time now I've been considering moving to New York City. It's been a dream of mine since I was a child. I've been living in Toronto since I was 18 and I feel that I want to spend the next phase of my life in The Big Apple. I know there are lots of recently transplanted Canadians out there and am hoping some of you would be willing to pass on to me information on what you had to do to move to the US. (Process/contacts etc)

The funny thing is when I tell people what I want to do they go on and on about how hard it will be for me. They never bring up the expense of moving, no their concern is I won't know anyone. When I moved to Toronto, I didn't know anyone then either. Being a loner, not knowing people doesn't worry me, eventually I will meet people. I think it takes a certain type of personality to be able to pick up and go and well, that would be me and considering everything that is going on in my life right now, it is definitely time for this girl to pick up and move her ass outta here!

May issue of Lipstik Indie

Hey Everyone! The May issue of Lipstik Indie is up!!! In this issue:

Our Featured artists is Bryan Byrne, reviewed by Nik Beat. Nik also reviews David Martel's I Hardly Knew Me.

Our newest reviewer Matt Gilbert Reviews the indie movie Homeland Insecurity.

Viki Ackland reviews Richie Bookers Shine the Light.

Laurie Roberts reviews ezines Xstream and EK's Writing Blog.

And I reviewed Devon 'The Split' Jones Spoken Word CD, Pleasure In Pain.

Fly on over to lipstikindie.com and enjoy!