I never thought I would have to delete a blog because it got to much attention, but I did.

The topic wasn’t anything signifigant, but the comments sent to me were–well strange and forgein. No not your ordinary spam comments, but German and Russian. I’m flattered that someone across the world is reading it, however I do not like deleting 20 comments when I log-in and they don’t even make sense.

So thank you everyone who actaully reads and comments, but shame on you spammers.

I am currently writing a story on women’s history for flaire and I find that whenever I mention this topic in front of certain individuals they look at me funny. Usually it’s men who do this or the younger generation.

They often don’t understand why there is an entire month — March — dedicated to the celebration. It started in 1978 in Sonoma County, California as “Women’s History Week.” In 1981, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and U.S. Rep. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., co-sponsored a joint Congressional resolution proclaiming one week in March as national Women’s History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded the celebration to a month.

The reason for month-long event is that textbooks often left out information about women. The news was more about political facts and figures rather than the sociological impact or daily lifestyle. Subjects such as education, birth control, housework, marriage, sexuality and child rearing were not considered to be important enough to be included in publications.

Women have always influenced history, but it wasn’t until society started telling “herstory” that we learned how important it was. The once overlooked topics tell an abundance about the way women once lived.

If you’ve got a great story to tell about women you know or think people should know about go ahead…..I’m listening.

When my son was born more than 14 years ago I never imagined that his hair would be a big deal. I mean most boys keep their hair short and use minimal hair products — not mine.

Cole is a throwback to the 1960s. He likes the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Rolling Stones and Cream and yes his hair is long. For the past several years he’s been growing it out and until Monday he didn’t have his hair cut in six months.

He is particular about his locks too — I mean that’s a girl thing, but he’s been blessed with thick natural curly hair. Like everyone I know — including me who has natural curls — he hates it. Oh, I have learned to live with my curls through the years, however for a boy it can be horrendous, especially in middle school.

Well this past weekend he went to a friends house and she used a flat iron to straighten his hair. He already does this with a blowdryer, but he liked the way the straightening element worked much better so I took him to get his hair trimmed and bought him a new piece of styling equipment and some hair products.

After getting his hair cut he came home, washed, dryed and had me fix his “do” before bed. He says it saves him time in the morning. It’s odd doing my son’s hair, but I don’t mind. He wants it to look good and so do I.

Lately there are people that have commented to me about his “shaggy style” and then question why I would allow it. OK let’s set the record straight I realized a long time ago I never wanted his hair or clothing choices to be a battle. I remember what it was like as a teenager when people commented about my style choices — I didn’t like it.

Long hair on boys is often seen as symbol of rebellion against the cultural norm. It signals a separation from structures and rules.

The naysayers often say boys with long hair grow up to be irresponsible, carefree, wanderers, who don’t know how to hold down a regular job. They are easily influenced by the wrong crowd and will be disadvataged in “adult” America.

I believe it’s not the hair that makes the difference, it’s the upbringing. It’s what you expect from your kid, and what he is expsed to. Hair has nothing to do with personal responsibility or success. So I will continue to support my son no matter what length he decides to keep — after all it’s his hair.

It’s another Monday. Yippee. It’s not so bad, because it’s my second work day of the week, but I’m lucky because an incident last night could have changed that.

My son and I have dinner at a friends house in Hartford every Sunday night. As we were driving home on in the northbound of Illinois Route 3 and about to approach the intersection of St. Louis Avenue in East Alton my son asked what the two lights were in our lane of the highway.

“I don’t know,” I said.

As I got closer I noticed it was a car driving right at us. I started blaring my horn and slammed on my breaks to keep from hitting them. I then called East Alton Police Department and reported that someone was driving erratically for whatever reason. I gave police the license plate number on the car and told them the driver had just turned into QuikTrip.

I called police today and asked if anything came of the incident and they said “no,” but they were able to trace the owner to Collinsville resident with the license number I had given them. The notified Collinsville police of the incident as well.

I don’t know if the driver was lost or drunk, but I know I am thankful that my son spotted the lights as early as he did. I also appreciate the East Alton police for quickly responding to the scene even though the vehicle was long gone.

We were fortunate because it could have turned out worse. Remember that driving on the right side of a northbound highway is wrong.

I’m going to admit that I have a guilty pleasure. Every now and then I like to watch mindless television. You know the type, it’s so stupid or strange, but you can’t help yourself — you got to watch. For example, the second season of “I Love New York 2″ on VH1 ended. It’s a bizarre show, but for some reason I find myself drawn to it. I don’t know why. I guess it’s the same reason that I watched the first season of “Rock of Love” with Bret Michaels and I’m looking forward to the premiere of the second on Sunday.

I like all kinds of TV, but there is something about shows that have no meaning — they’re not informative at all — that relaxes me after a long day of work. I know some people like Jerry Springer, but give me “New York” or the former Poison frontman to ease my mind of worries.

Oh don’t worry I think everyone needs to watch something mindless every now and again. I get enough news everyday so once in awhile I need something else. So tell me what do you enjoy watching as your guily pleasure?

Every now and then I write a story that makes me feel good.

This week the Wood River City Council approved the request from Diana Howland to get a kennel license. No she isn’t going to be breeding dogs, but rather she will be able to keep hers. (Check out the story at The Telegraph)

The city’s 1960 ordinance states residents can only have two, or else they must get a special use permit. Diana has three.

On Tuesday I went to Diana’s house and talked to her about how she felt and got to meet her “little angels” — Toto, a 4-year-old Cairn terrier; Dorothy Gail, a 3-year-old, Shih Tzu; and Winkie, a 3-year-old, Pom-a-poo.

The smile on her face said it all. She is thrilled and thankful that the city is allowing her to keep the beloved animals. It’s been an difficult five months for Diana not knowing whether or not she would get to keep the bundles of fur.

I could also tell there was a difference in the way she looked from the first time I met her. Before she looked as though she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and now her smile would light a room.

As a dog owner and lover I know it must have been difficult for her. How would you feel if you were asked to get rid of your dog?

OK, I now know people are out there and reading The Telegraph blogs. Thank you so much for your responses.

I asked if there was anything that you would like me to write about and one person said they would like to see some articles about area nurses. I hope to write something soon on someone so stay tuned.

Since it is a New Year and there are No Smoking rules in place, how are you handling it? I’ve written several stories on the topic and can debate both sides of the issue. I honestly understand why people feel the way they do about the subject.

Here it is my dirty little secret. I smoke from time to time. I know it’s the the poliically incorrect thing to do, but so far this year I’ve not had one. It’s not all that often that I light up anyway and with the ban in place I have less of a reason to do it.

I didn’t smoke until I was 18 and then I would only smoke in my car as a drove to college in St. Louis everyday. I would get stuck in rush hour traffic, which made me nervous. I never smoked anywhere but my car and never in front of anyone.

I stopped when my dad, who at the time was a heavy smoker, asked if he could bum one. I never knew he knew and it floored me that he found out. He stopped smoking soon after my son was born in 1993. I started smoking again following my divorce. I smoked maybe few a month at best.

I know it’s a nasty habit so when the state passed the ban I realized it would be easier for me to kick the habit.

However I understand why many business owners feel that their rights have been taken away. They put blood, sweat and tears into their business and now the government is telling them that they cannot make the decisioin on their own to be smoke free.

Because it’s the law I hope people will respect it. I hope that they follow the rules because in the past week I’ve witnessed several violations including one in Alton bar where the employee lit a cigarette and said he didn’t care and had enough money on him to pay the $100 fine. I wonder if his employer would feel the same way about his secret?

Click here to file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Is there anyone out there? I often wonder if anyone is really reading our blogs. Why? Well because it seems the only responses I get are from spammers. And who wants to respond to such stuff.

So I would like to start some kind of dialouge about women’s issues. I want to be able to talk to real women about what they want. Is there something out there you would like to see me write about?

I hope everyone had a good New Year. I did what I always do — nothing. This year I spent my holiday sick. I woke up the morning of New Years Eve without a voice. I don’t think there is anything more horrible than not being able to speak.

Anyone and everyone who knows me knows that I have the “gift for gab.” It wasn’t too bad at home for the past two days, but now that I am back in the office the problem is a little more pressing. I have dozens of people I need to call and can’t because I sound horrible. The few people I did speak to reaffirmed it was true, but what can I do? Hope to be talking to you as soon as I’m over my Laryngitis limbo.