Guest Article from Deb Hamilton-What to do with your Weiner at the Gym

Today's guest article is from Deb Hamilton. It is a piece of writing I enjoyed very much. I hope it makes you smile and enjoy the humorous side of Deb. Deb is a middle-aged woman married to a trophy husband, a guy she just calls “Scotch.” Deb has three young adult children, three dogs, one cat, 137 pet peeves, and a fish named Goldengate. Deb loves to travel to funky places that require a passport and plenty of antidiarrheals. A “woman of a certain age,” she’ll readily tell you what she thinks or what you should think. Or maybe just tell you off. You’ll get used to it.

FAQ: What To Do With Your Weiner At The House Gym

Semi-nude photos of Representative Anthony Weiner taken at the House Gym on Capitol Hill have been recently, um, uncovered. This has caused the staff here at the gym to reconsider some of our guidelines. Many people don't know what to do with their Weiner while they're working out. These FAQs should help clear up any confusion and help you appropriately handle your Weiner:

1. Can I just leave my Weiner at home? No. Some Weiners get lonely if you don't take them out enough. They might chew the sofa or get on Twitter without you. Always take your Weiner wherever you go.

2. Does my Weiner have to pay a separate entrance fee? Please see the wall chart posted by the main desk. Only Weiners that are shorter than the height of Nancy Pelosi's outstretched arm can get in for free.

3. Who is obligated to watch my Weiner while I work out? Anyone may watch your Weiner at any time but the staff here at the House Gym cannot be held liable for any physical, emotional, or psychological damage caused by your errant Weiner. It is best to keep your Weiner close at hand. Unruly Weiners cannot be allowed on the premises.

4. My Weiner has needs; who is responsible to meet these needs during my workout routine? Please ensure that your Weiner is content prior to arriving at the gym. Exceptions cannot be made for sick Weiners, for Weiners following Kosher dietary laws, or for Weiners allergic to nuts.

5. Does my Weiner need to have a separate towel? Staff members are not permitted to make this determination. If you feel comfortable sharing a towel with your Weiner, this is allowable. Please be advised, however, that some Weiners require the use of two towels.

6. What should I do if my Weiner gets tired before I do? This is a sensitive issue for some of our clients. You may want to discuss this with your family doctor, after sending her photos of your Weiner.

7. Could my Weiner feel shy in the shower area? Yes. Just assure your Weiner that it is normal to have these feelings.

8. What if my Weiner doesn't feel shy enough in the shower area? Some Weiner behaviors just have to be ignored. Try not to make any sudden moves or draw undue attention to your Weiner.

9. How much time should I give it if my Weiner is having a hard time following the House Gym rules? Members who have Weiners continually breaking the rules should resign themselves to the fact that this might not be the place for their Weiner. Accordingly, they should secure alternate arrangements as soon as it is feasible.

Please visit Deb Hamilton blog at http://debutopia.blogspot.com

Guest Article from Michelle Dragoo-Five Tips in Battling Depression

Today's guest article is from Michelle Dragoo. She is one of my favorite authors in the ViwesHound community. Michelle Dragoo is a retired Air Force Master Sgt, who currently resides in St. Charles Illinois. Wife, Mother, and graduate student at Florida Tech University. She currently works at Edward Hospital in Naperville, IL as the Supervisor of Anatomic Pathology. Writing has always been her passion.

Finding peace, after years of depression.

Since I can remember, I have suffered from some sort of depression. Be it severe, or just the blues, I often battled with simple things like getting out of bed, playing with my kids, paying attention to my husband, or just enjoying day to day life. I wish I could pinpoint the start of the symptoms, if nothing more than to better understand the disease of depression. As quoted from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, depression is defined as:

“Feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods. True clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or longer.”

Many things can lead to depression, such as major life changes, divorce, certain medical conditions as well as chemical changes in the brain. I lost my uncle to suicide when I was just 15, and remember trying to understand what it was he felt during his last days. Now, as an adult I understand completely, but have battled with trying to find my peace in life so I can battle this disease.

I have been on various medications, therapy, you name it. I’ve tried it all. But until last year I never could truly find my “place” in life. Often times, it takes hitting rock bottom to be able to pull yourself out of that never ending spiral of sadness. I hit my rock bottom when my career in the Air Force was nearing its end. I thought I had no meaning in life, and separated myself from my family, friends, and even my children. Most days would be spent going to work completely exhausted after a night of fighting insomnia, only to end the day laying on the couch with my eyes closed. Eyes closed to the world, my children, more so my life. I suffered weekly migraines, had various other health issues, and felt like I was on a one way road downhill.

I realized one day, when I was at my lowest that I could lose my family. They didn’t want to be near me, and admittedly I didn’t want to even be around myself. I just wanted to close my eyes, and feel sorry for myself. It was then, I KNEW I needed to find peace, and let go of the past. What was it in life I enjoyed? Sadly I forgot, but was determined to find IT again. So for me, personally, I re-evaluated my life, and what it was I needed to pull myself out of that deep dark hole.

1. Work is work

Not everyone can do what they love, but you can put your passion, heart, and soul into what you do to make it the very best product you can be proud of. After the eight hour day, walk away and open the front door of your house and find JOY.

2. Recall your passions in life

Mine are writing, reading, music, cooking, my kids, and being outdoors. I had forgotten these things for so many years. So I picked up my pen, dusted off my whisk, and began dancing in the kitchen with my kids while we all laughed until tears filled our eyes.

3. Don’t regret the past—learn from it and move forward

Move forward always. Learn from the past, but don’t hang on to past hurts, mistakes, or even failures. We are all human and are entitled to hurt every now and then. If you need to, cry, let it out, and move FORWARD.

4. Remove the negative aspects from your life

Be it negative people, situations, or things that simply bring you down-avoid them! Often times we get in the mode of wallowing in self misery. This does nothing good for our health, or for our family and friends. If someone constantly brings you down, simply step away. If you have a job you hate, look for another one! If you feel down on yourself, go back to school, start working out, or find an outlet to build yourself back UP.

5. Don’t forget you!

We all get caught up in daily life, and forget to take time for ourselves. Even if it means going for a 30 min run a couple of times a week, or playing your music a tad louder than you should so you can sing along and not feel embarrassed. DO IT. Find your peace, be it in nature, exercise, or hobbies. Never forget to take care of you!

Since doing these things, and committing myself to ultimate peace no matter how hard the journey, I can honestly say I have never been happier. Is my life perfect? Of course not. But I take each life situation, and do my best to digest it in a healthy manner vs. feeling sorry for myself.

And ultimately, when I am feeling stressed, a bit low, or just not myself, I grab one of my kids, and we dance like rock stars in the kitchen. Or I’ll send my husband a text just to remind him I love him…there are so many things we can do to bring ourselves out of depression, but it’s our choice.

References:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001941/

Memorable Excerpts from Articles and Poems from my favorite Authors in ViewsHound

image from divatauniablog.com
Memorable excerpts from my favorite authors at ViewsHound | ViewsHound

Cloyne Court- Excerpt 28

Sather Gate, UC Berkeley, CA

Cloyne Court, Episode 28
By Dodie Katague
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Rated "R" by the Author.
A creative memoir about Cloyne Court in Berkeley, California in the late 1970s.

Thanks,” she replied. “No, it was a dropped down tuning in E. Do you play guitar?”

“Not as good as you.” Her voice reminded me of Joan Baez, but her music reminded me of home. When the country relatives came to visit, they’d bring their guitars, banjo, fiddle, and mandolins, and we’d sit around and jam, each musician naming a song to play and leading it. The youngsters would bring out their instruments and follow along. The cousins who couldn’t play were given a jar of beans or a tambourine to keep time with the beat.

“All it takes is practice and desire,” she said.

“And the ability to form barre chords.”

“Everyone has that within them,” she said. “Look at your hands.”

They were unblemished with the fingernails neatly trimmed. They hadn’t experienced what it took to compose music that moved people with emotion. “You’re good enough to play professionally,” I said, still staring at my hands.

“Thanks for the compliment, but that’s a far cry from playing at Cloyne parties.”

“All it takes is perseverance and desire,” I said, mimicking her.

She laughed. “You’re funny.”

“You should see me play guitar.”

“I’d like that. Let’s get together sometime.”

With her encouragement, I practiced my guitar in the privacy of my room every evening before dinner. I forced my hands to form the barre chords until they ached and my fingertips were raw and bleeding. Alan would sometimes come into the room and hear me strumming.

“Was that John Denver you were playing?”

“Yeah. What do you think?” I asked.

“I hate John Denver. If you sing Back Home, Again while I’m around, you’ll be leaving on a jet plane.”

It took several months before I played barre chords that resounded with unity. My tender fingertips hardened into calluses in the same way my adolescent views changed into adult thinking, microscopic and imperceptive.

On the second-story balcony, Dick Fine was watering the plants, while talking to his newest love interest, Tina Weston. She was leaning out of his second-story porch room window, which meant she was kneeling on the mattress of his bed that took most of the floor space. She was a student reporter for the Daily Californian, and wrote muck-racking exposés on the University’s financial ties with multinational corporations doing business with the government of South Africa.[1]

I watched her staring at him goo-goo eyed, her cheeks flushed pink in anticipation, waiting for him to finish pulling the dead buds off the marigolds that lined the porch as camouflage for the cash crop and come deflower her.

Casey, the house-manager, came out to the backyard and addressed us. Because the house members had elected him to be the titular leader, he expected he might have some influence and respect.

“Hey, guys, I’ve noticed not all of you are up-to-date on your housework shift hours. If anybody would like to earn an easy two-hour work credit, the signup sheet has a work shift starting now to hand out flyers at Sather Gate. Anybody interested?”

Nobody had the courtesy to stop playing basketball or put down their textbooks and look at him. He waited.

“Ok, I’ll do it,” I said, needing another two hours of work credit for the week, and it sure beat cleaning bathrooms.

“Great. Go meet Betty Sue at Sather Gate. She’s at a table with the flyers. She’ll update you on what needs to be done.”

Sather Gate,[2] a Beaux-Arts archway between four columns, designed in 1910 by John Galen Howard. Embedded on top of two stone columns were blank stone tablets on each side of the pillar.

I arrived to discover that workmen had cordoned off the area with caution tape and were using a cherry picker to install eight bas-relief panels of four nude men representing the disciplines of law, letters, medicine and mining and four nude women representing the disciplines of agriculture, architecture, art and electricity. The panels were recently discovered stored in a warehouse where they had been for the last sixty-seven years. They had been dispatched after public outrage over the nudity caused Mrs. Sather to demand their removal from the original design.

Betty Sue was sitting behind a flimsy card table near the gate. Several other card tables were in rows on both sides of the bridge that acted like a funnel channeling the foot traffic through the narrow passage. It was the prime place for an ambush or to have a flyer shoved in your face.

Betty Sue was a fat, bespectacled, curly-haired woman. She was unattractive and knew it. To compensate for the horrific treatment (she told me after smoking two reefers) she had endured in high school, she set out to be involved in politics, social issues and the Co-op student internal structure that included the Co-op Board of Directors, the Judicial Administrative Committees and the Future Planning and Building Endowment Board. She was the assistant house manager under Casey. She aspired to become the house manager.

“Hi, Betty Sue. I’m here for my work shift,” I said.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] She would graduate with the highest honors in journalism and earn her master’s degree from UCLA. Decades later, she would win a Pulitzer Prize for her work on a presidential candidate.
[2] Originally the gateway to the South Entrance of the University, where Telegraph Avenue ended and trolleys coming from Oakland turned around, Sather Gate now divides the beginning of Sproul Plaza with the original university north of Strawberry Creek.

______________________________

An early Christmas Gift-Voice Recognition System

The Software that I received as my Early Christmas Gift

If you are a regular reader of this site, you might have already seen or read a number of my work published. You might also surmise that I must love to write due to the huge amount of work I have written. I hate to brag, but yes, I admit I love to write and express my thoughts on many topics.

My family can attest to this. Though I try to hide my so-called uncontrollable writing compulsion in the guise of net surfing, they have an inkling of my conspicuous writing activities. Time and again, I spend copious amount of time hunched back on my keyboard, focused on work, and oblivious of the events transpiring around me.

Writing is one of my favorite passions in life, but I detest the actual typing portion. If there was technology available to make a writer’s work much easier, I would definitely be the first one to utilize and promote such a breakthrough contraption, and eventually resolve my predicament. My mind would then be free to wander, bring out more of my exquisite thoughts, and be able to create more masterpieces without worrying about the drudgery of typing.

I have never learned to type properly during my elementary or high school days. I must be one of the slower typists in the world, because I merely use my two index fingers to type one letter at a time. A respectable typist manages with the use all ten fingers comfortably, and produces a substantial amount of work fast and efficiently.

Through all the years of regular typing and then keyboarding, I have improved on my typing skills, though not as substantial as I would have wanted, but slightly less than passable. Moreover, whenever my grown up children see me striving hard at work on my computer, they witness a wise old man who types at the speed and skill level of a 6 year-old child, slow and pathetic.

Last month, my son presented me an amazing early Christmas gift, something very useful for the keyboard challenged individuals. The gift I received was a Voice or Speech Recognition System software for my personal computer. It was the "Dragons Naturally Speaking" software made by Nuance Communications.

I was jubilantly telling myself, there is a God, he is good and technically gifted, and he has finally answered my prayers. I could now fully satisfy more than ever, my obsessive compulsive writing disorder.

It was software designed to make a computer listen to human voice dictations. The computer would then put down in writing the speech that it hears. It also follows voice commands for computer operation and formatting one’s writing. In short, it mimics the actual keyboard typing through the use of the human voice.

Its use is a huge advancement for individuals with less than acceptable typing skills. I was thrilled with this gift, like a little boy excited to rip open and discover his birthday presents. I wasted no time, and had it immediately set up and utilized.

My son installed it in my personal computer with the Windows 7 operating system, and it worked delightfully. In order to use it properly, I had to train the software to recognize my voice, and be able to figure out the words as I spoke them. Due to the variety of the speech accents worldwide, it includes several options on the type of English that one would prefer the system to recognize.

Some of the options are: standard English (American), southeast Asian English, Spanish Accented English, British English and three other choices. First, I tried the standard English, and the system worked fairly well, which was about 90% recognition. I was satisfied with the results.

My son suggested that I train the system using the southeast Asian English. The use of this option was definitely a success; the recognition rating was almost 99%. I finally had on my hands a clever machine that fully understands my speech, and simultaneously solves my typing shortcomings. I was also very pleased that the software system recognized my undeniable Filipino accent.

I’m aware that I still have a Filipino accent when I speak English, even though I have been a resident of the US since 1960. I can distinguish fellow Filipinos who were born or grew up in this country, versus the ones who came over as adults based on their English accent. I immigrated to the US when I was already 23 years old, and by then, my speech pattern and accent have already been ingrained in my mind and my tongue.

No amount of training in diction or pronunciation could erase a trace of my Ilonggo accent. Ilonggo is the dialect in the province of Iloilo, Philippines where I grew up. Both the Tagalog national language and English are used as medium of instruction in the Philippine school system.

On the other hand, except for my eldest son who came here as a toddler, my three younger children were all born here in the US. They all understand and can speak a few American accented Tagalog phrases, the language they grew up hearing from their parents. They all have enviable American accents, and if ever they need to use the same Voice Recognition system, it would be best for them to choose the standard English option.

The software is not perfect. It cannot recognize some proper names, technical, medical and legal terms. It is exemplary in formatting, such as paragraphing, deleting words or sentences, and opening the Internet, office writer, and Facebook. I found it useful to first dictate my thoughts, and then do the editing by actually typing the correct words.

During the first few times I used the system; I was awed and amazed of how incredible it was in recognizing my Filipino accent. I would giggle and it would even type my giggling as “at, at, at, at, at”. However, based on my experience, the software can never recognize the word "incredible". It always types it as "and credible". I tried changing my intonation, pronunciation or diction by saying the same word repeatedly, but I was still unsuccessful. In this specific case, I had no option but to type the correct word.

Writers with disabilities can benefit from speech recognition programs. Similarly, the software will be helpful for individuals who are deaf or have hearing difficulties, or for writers having typing issues. I am having fun using this application, and I continue to take advantage of the convenience it offers. And today, writing for me has become a double pleasure; I get to express myself while someone else does the typing.

Moreover, speech or voice recognition system is also useful for people who have difficulty using their hands, ranging from mild repetitive stress injuries (RSI) to serious disabilities that prevent them from using conventional computer input devices. Writers, secretaries, lawyers, and medical transcribers suffering from RSI are ideal customers of speech recognition soft wares.

This subject reminds me of the late author Philip Carlo, a chronicler of the New York mafia criminal activities which he depicted in several of his books. In his final years while dealing with the debilitating ALS disease, a terminal illness that causes the muscles to atrophy over time, he had to use the services of a personal secretary who wrote down his thoughts for his final book entitled “The killer within”. At the latter part of their lives, ALS sufferers are helpless, and can no longer do even the most mundane everyday tasks in life. He could have benefited significantly from the use of this brilliant device.

Speech recognition is also used in deaf telephony, such as voice mail to text, relay services, and captioned telephone according to the Nuance Communications, Inc. brochures. Individuals with learning disabilities who have problems with thought-to-paper communication can also benefit from the software according to advertisements from the software developers.

Have you ever heard or used any voice recognition system soft wares? The available technology provided us with this incredible piece of equipment, and I have found it appealing to use. I would recommend its use, because it has been helpful in boosting my writing activities, and it has helped make my life easier by using my voice alone to operate the computer.

Here's a list of Voice Recognition Systems from Wikipedia:

Dragon Dictate for Mac – From Nuance Communications, released as a new version of MacSpeech Dictate in 2010.

iListen – Product from MacSpeech, developed and supported for PowerPC-based Macintosh until ca. 2009.

MacSpeech Dictate – By Nuance Communications. Dictation product for Intel-based
Macintosh. Renamed and upgraded as "Dragon Dictate for Mac" in 2010.

MacSpeech Dictate Medical – Dictation product for Intel-based Macintosh with included vocabularies for 54 medical and dental specialties. Developed by MacSpeech; acquired by Nuance Communications in 2010.

MacSpeech Dictate Legal – Dictation product for Intel-based Macintosh with a vocabulary of legal terms. Developed by MacSpeech; acquired by Nuance Communications in 2010.

MacSpeech Scribe – By Nuance Communications. Transcription product for automatically transcribing recorded dictation into text.

Speakable items – Included with Mac OS X or higher. Apple's speech synthesis and recognition technology is collectively called PlainTalk.

ViaVoice – Product from IBM, developed and supported until ca. 2007.

Voice Navigator- First voice control system for a graphical user interface by Articulate Systems in 1989

Why I keep writing for ViewsHound

Positive comments and feedbacks to my articles are the reasons why I keep writing for ViewsHound (VH). However, if by a twist of fortune and luck, I win a couple more awards, it will be icing on the cake and will be highly appreciated.

I started writing for VH last August. As of today, I have submitted more than sixty articles and photographs. I have over 19,000 views, 23 followers, 8 badges, a gold and bronze winning articles. My target goal is to write 75 articles by June, 2012 and perhaps 100 articles by December, 2012.

The following are my favorite commentators and their comments: M. Abott, D. Hamilton, G. Maoli, L. Arota, J. Bird, S. Ozmore, D. Page, D. Reynolds, J. Willoughby, S. Powers, S.C. Joy, L. Silverman, M. Dragoo, F. Lachica, V. Vizarra and G. Buesnel.

Mark Abbott.UTEP- Comment to, You have to fail on order to succeed.

I think this is the most positive thing I've read all week and possibly even all month. I wish everyone had the "can do" attitude that you have. I've been struggling like hell to perfect it for some time now and as discouraging as it can be at times, I think I've made a great deal of progress. I remember reading someones quote once (can't remember who it was) that said if you fail 999 times out of 1,000, you actually succeeded in finding 999 ways NOT to do something. Thanks so much for posting this. It makes a world of difference to see the necessary little reminders in the work of other writers.

Deb Hamilton · Top Commenter · Chicago, Illinois- Comment to, The best Christmas gift I have ever received.

I really loved this story! You must make friends easily... or I don't think your support system would have been this strong. You deserve some of the credit here, for sure. Very sweet tale.

Gianandrea Maoli · Top Commenter · Freelance writer at ViewsHound- Comment to, Am I a born or made writer?

Wow! One of the most encouraging pieces I've seen on VH! I would say that as far as great writers are concerned, I think there's a combination of being born to be great and being made into one. I think that even if your are born into it, it does take a writer a lot of time, patience, and even courage to keep writing and learning until they find the right way to express themselves. I do agree with you that it has great therapy tools to express your thoughts which is what I try to do with short stories in general. You did that very well in this work and I hope to see others from you in the future.

Lorna Paroginog Arota · Chinese Gen. Hospital school of nursing -Comment to, Childhood memories of the Japanese-American war in the Philippines-Part 2


You captured the WWII story through your wife's perspective in such an emotional and personal way. Your mother in- law lost a sister very dear to her heart from the hands of merciless Japanese soldiers who by no means will not spare any lives if you're in their way. I don't blame your mother for hating the Japanese, as my mother also did. That is the cruelty of war. Great article! you deserve another gold prize Dave.

Jan Bird · Top Commenter · College of Ripon & York St John -Comment to, Am I a born or made Writer?

This is the first article I've read today, David and it's a good one! I'm flattered to be quoted but I've never thought of myself as a "born" writer. I'm not fishing there, it's just not how I think of it. I think you can always learn and that we're all learning, constantly, from everything we write and everything we read, whether it's fiction, other writers' articles or mainstream journalism. We learn both how to do it and how not to do it. It is a craft and we can spend a lifetime perfecting and refining it. That's going to be one of life's pleasures for me for the rest of my life. I'm delighted for you that you've discovered such a love for writing and such a talent for getting your personal thoughts into words. You followed your heart and it shows. Your pieces are always deeply personal and reflective and I really enjoy that.

Susan Ozmore · Top Commenter- Comment to, I have an inferiority complex writing for ViewsHound

I really enjoyed your article. I'm a math/science person and also feel a sense of inferiority when compared to people who have spent far more time writing than I have. Although, I've done quite a bit of technical writing and have been told I do a very good job "translating" complex things into understandable prose, I still haven't gotten up the nerve to write for ViewsHound. I have started a blog though, and knowing that I'm not alone in feeling inadequate, maybe I'll get up the nerve soon to write for VH. The only thing is that your article is Excellent! I don't know if I can compare :-) Keep writing!

Dennis L. Page · Top Commenter · Onondaga- Comment to, Childhood memories of the Japanese-American war in the Philippines

You have presented the reader with a gut wrenching and true to life experience that only those like you, who experience such things can relay to the rest of us. My deceased father served in the United States Army in combat during WW II. First he was in New Guinea and then in the jungles of the Philippines. He was also taken from the front lines to learn how to do the initial land invasion of Japan. That, of course, never happened, but my dad always spoke highly of the Filipino people.

Debra Copley Reynolds · Top Commenter · Consultant at Princess House, Inc. -Comment to, Childhood memories of the Japanese-American war in the Philippines

A fascinating read, thank you. My grandfather served on a supply ship during WWII and told a few stories, I wish I had listened closer. Consider writing your tale in book length, please!

Jessica Willoughby · Top Commenter · Hard to Define at Developmental Skills Center-Comment to, Why I have an inferiority complex writing for ViewsHound

David, thank you for your kind words in your article. I love that you wrote this from such an authentic and honest viewpoint of how you felt. However, I want you to know that you are not alone in that feeling. To be completely honest, I think we all feel that way about something at some point. The very people you were so kind to put me in the company of, leave me in awe with their words. I could only aspire to someday write half as well as them. I think that you are a good writer. I write about topics which feel comfortable and creative for me. I love to read the work of so many others people because I can gain knowledge on topics that I am naive on. I enjoy reading about the things you write about, and there is never a need to feel inferior to anyone else. Easier said than done, I know. I am much better at giving that advice, than living that advice. Thanks again for your kind words. Nice piece, and keep up the good work. The more we write, the better we become. You know the old adage, practice makes perfect :) Have a great evening David!

Sarah Powers · Milwaukee, Wisconsin- Comment to, Domestic abuse against men: the battered husband

Thank you for writing this article, I know of a lot of people who don't believe, excuse, ignore, or even laugh at abuse of husbands. It's unfortunate that society feels this way about the abuse, and even rape of men. Hopefully articles like this will inspire people to think critically about these issues and what equality really means.

Susan Creamer Joy · Top Commenter · Works at Freelance Artist- Comment to, Memorable excerpts from the writings of my favorite authors at ViewsHound

Leslie is correct, David. We'll need enlarged exits from VH now:)) As for me, I am flattered and thrilled to be among this talented bunch and am equally inspired by and impressed with the many other wonderful writers here, yourself included:) Now, will someone call my driver and fetch my wrap? :)) Thank you, indeed!

Leslie Silverman · Top Commenter- Comment to, Why I am writing for ViewsHound

As always, David - honest, and direct well stated. Thanks for the mention. Keep writing for viewshound so we have the pleasure of reading you!

Michelle Dragoo · Top Commenter · Supervisor, Anatomic Pathology at Edward Hospital-Comment to, Memorable excerpts from my favorite ViewsHound authors

I have never been recognized, so, thank YOU. This truly brought tears to my eyes. I feel blessed to be in this esteemed group of writers.

Fernando Ceballos Lachica · Top Commenter · Works at Triond-Comment to, I have inferiority complex writing for ViewsHound.

Your writing style is great and I loved it! I can relate to your article actually. A Gold for you today! Cheers David!

Vic Vizarra · Top Commenter · Technology Consultant/Managing Owner at Viz-Mart Int'l. Computers-Comment to-Afterglows in the sunset of our lives.

I am now beginning to follow your articles and blogs. Hopefully you could lead me to your article about the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. I was then an electrical engineering student in 1977 when I visited the nuclear power plant as part of our field trip requirement for graduation. I was pretty much impressed by the design and set-up of said power plant and was just sad to know it just got wasted and not utilized as intended.

**Gail Buesnel · Top Commenter-Comment to, Childhood memories of the Japanese-American War in the Philippines**

David thank you for this aspect of the war. My uncle wa a British POW held by the Japanese and freed by General MacArthur the same day the Japanese sent in death squads to murder all prisoners. He has written a book and a portion of it deals with his POW experiences. It would be fascinating to have all aspects recorded in a book, yours as a civillian, the POW's, the liberating Americans and even a Japanese soldier. I am going to try to send this article to my uncle via my cousin. Congratulations on winning the prize.

I have several more positive comments from my other articles for the ViewsHound community. But this article is already long. May I reiterate that the above comments had inspired me to continue writing for ViewsHound-one of my favorite writing site. If you read ViewsHound, please continue your feedbacks and I will continue writing for ViewsHound.