Some days i just wish my heart was ripped out of my chest, leaving a gaping hole unable to be filled. The blood flows draining my body of all emotion and removing the inconsistancy and hypocracy until I am empty and at last, free.

He's going to be alive and well

Many a day has past since I heard from him last
Terror grips their hearts, but mine holds fast
Waiting for the blessed assurance to come at last

Oh where have you been my distant friend
When tragedy strikes and life ends
Where are you now my far away friend

Not far from my mind do you wander,
And closer yet I hold you to my heart
I mourn for the tragic past and pray for the uncertain
future
For the days of yore and mosaic culture

I'd give you my life, my soul, my all
But when the time comes it won't matter at all

My Protectorant will give you strength against all ill
And keep you from terror's mighty thrill
Hold him close, my Dearest Friend
And keep him safely to the end

He will be alive and well
and free from all pain

If i never hear the freedom call
Nor recieve the blest news of all
I know that when we meet again
We will walk together on streets of gold
With pearly gates and scenes untold

My last dying wish, may it ever be
Is to meet you in eternity

For those of us who love to travel, domestically & foreingly, this online article I stumbled upon is a godsend. Great idea, just wonder how it really works.



Couchsurfing: Room & Not Bored
Get a Room by Couchsurfing
For travelers looking to find a place to stay beyond hotels, hostels and even apartment swapping­, a growing couchsurfing community is connecting online. (By Stan Choe, AP)

Jim Stone, a 29-year-old from west Texas, has been traveling nonstop since March of 2004.

Sometimes in a pickup truck and other times on a motorcycle, he's trekked through much of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. But he's slept in a hotel just one night over that stretch of nearly 1,000.

That's because Stone is part of a growing network of people online who've gone a step beyond hotels, hostels and even apartment swapping in their travel planning: They sleep on each others' couches.

A number of Web sites have sprung up to help pair travelers searching for a place to crash and hosts with a spare couch. Sites like hospitalityclub.org, couchsurfing.com and place2stay.net are often free, serving only as middlemen and offering tips on how to find successful matches.

The sites aren't moneymakers. They're largely the creations of 20-somethings bitten with wanderlust and the hope to help bridge together people from different cultures. They often depend on volunteer administrators to help manage the Web operations.

Among the biggest is hospitalityclub.org, a site founded in 2000 by Veit Kuehne, who was then a 22-year-old business student. Kuehne wanted to use the Internet's reach to help foster the ideas of a group called Servas, an international peace organization that encourages cultural exchanges through travel.

The site grew to 1,300 members by 2002, 100,000 members by January 2006 and 200,000 by September.

From his home in Dusseldorf, Germany, Kuehne said hospitalityclub.org funds itself through online advertisements, which pitch student-exchange programs, Thailand volunteer opportunities or cheap tickets to west Africa.

"We're not really soliciting donations yet," he said.

Kuehne said he doesn't get a salary from the site and has been depending on volunteers to help develop and operate it. Living off savings recently, he found a cheap, $200 plane ticket to India, where he plans to spend the winter working on the site and benefiting from lower living costs.

The west Texan Stone uses another site, couchsurfing.com, where membership has catapulted to above 128,700 since launching in January 2004.

Its members, like hospitalityclub.org's, stretch across the globe: Although the United States is the country with the largest number of members, making up about 25 percent of couchsurfing.com's total base, Europe overall boasts 41 percent. The average age is 25, though 43 percent of members are between 18 and 24.

Couchsurfing.com got its indirect start years ago, when New Hampshire native Casey Fenton found a cheap airplane ticket to Iceland. In the few days he had to find a place to stay, Fenton happened upon the student directory of the University of Iceland.

Fenton sent e-mails to about 1,500 students, asking for a place to crash and within 24 hours received dozens of responses. Through staying with a local, Fenton said he was able to see their Iceland rather than merely the tourist's view.

Couchsurfing.com depends largely on member donations to pay the operating bills. When it falls short, administrators send requests to members asking for more assistance. Recently, the site raised $8,000 it needed after e-mailing 6,000 members.

Aside from asking if the services are really free, one of the top questions on most of the sites' Frequently Asked Questions is some variation of: "Is this safe?"

Eric "Rico" Lesage, a 35-year-old from Montreal remembers hearing that question from his mom when he told her about couchsurfing.

"She was not all into it," said Lesage, who had his first