So Very Carrie

My New Life

2007-11-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Read all about it at:

www.minnesotawestons.blogspot.com

Trust me-- it will be worth your while.

Mini Vacation

2007-07-23T07:43:00.001-07:00

My birthday is this week. Unfortunaely, Jim has to be gone from today till Wednesday and my birthday is smack in the middle. We are mainly celebrating this coming weekend, but a few days ago we decided to take the opportunity to travel up north a little bit. One of the places we stopped was the amazing little town of Empire where the Philip A. Hart Sleeping Bear Dunes Visitor's Center is located. I've been there with my parents when I visited them while they camped up there. The wonderful thing about the beach is that it is within sight of the Sleeping Bear Dunes, but not that many people go there, which is such a nice change compared to South Haven. we were able to walk right out onto the beach and pick any spot we wanted. We relaxed and took a nap in the sun and listened to the few other famililes that were out there. we didn't have time to go to the dunes, but definetly will later on.

The scenery was so beautiful and the day sunny and warm, but not oppressively so. We even encountered a bunch of turkeys wandering down the road. We're hoping to bogart one of my parents fishing and camping trips that are coming up so that we can go kayaking on some of the small lakes in the area and go to the dunes. There are also some wonderful restaurants in the area that are not too expensive.

This weekend we also got to see my friends Angie and John who were visiting from England. I got to see their new baby, Andrew John, for the first time. It was great to get to see their uber cute baby and catch up on things in their lives. It was also great to see Jessica, a friend of Angie's who I hung out with when Angie was here. We even ran into Lisa on her way out and saw that her scrapes from her bike accident are healing nicely. She really is evidence that helmets are a necessary thing when riding a bike or roller blading. I was happy that Angie and John were able to meet Jim, because she's been hearing a lot about him. as we left, she said, "You take good care of her," which made me laugh but he answered with a serious, "I will."

My New Job

2007-07-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

I was just recenlty hired by Calico Corners Preschool and Daycare in Kalamazoo!!! I get to work with wonderful, exhausting, delightful children once again. It is part-time during the summer, but in the fall it will turn into a full-time position. I am excited because of the work, but a little trepedacious because after 5 years at St. Mike's there are many small things that are ingrained in me that may be different, will likely be different at Calico-- such as the proceedure for clean-up time, or how they do lunch, that sort of thing.

I am very excited though because my mom actually knows the owners because she does their payroll for them with the CPA she works for. My mom likes and respects them so it is a relief to know going into the job that they are upstanding people and to not have this vague fear that they may be psychos and hiding it.

The place is housed in Second Reformed Church, a congregation of mostly elderly people who have plentiful space left over. It is near the Congregation of Moses on Stadium near the campus of WMU. Another blessing is that I can still freelance with KWeekly and with any other places I want to when I am not working. Hopefully this will allow me to appeal to local small daycare centers and do some communications consulting with them.

Jon Burns

2007-07-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

My work was closed last week. Unfortunately, one of my co-workers decided to make a bad choice, which resulted in the loss of his life. Jon decided to mix painkillers and alcohol and had a very adverse reaction.

Accoring to the online comment from our boss and Jon's roomate Wrifton, "Jon Burns went into the hospital today because of a bad cobmination of pain killers and alchohol. His kidneys have failed, liver has failed, and lungs have collapsed and more." He died on July 9 and last Sunday we attended the funeral after church. Our offices were clsed for the whole week becuase of Jon's passing and when we went back to work Wrifton had us change some of the furniture around and made some other changes.

I will remember Jon as a happy guy, humming away in the vault as he worked, who was so excited about making signs (a new part of the business.)

Please be safe everyone. Jon decided to party one night and sinply didn't realize just how over-the-limit he was getting. Everyone has commented upon how tragic it is--how the loss of a 21 year old is so futile, and I pray that none of you will ever make the same choices.

Victorious Lumina

2007-07-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was driving up Milham toward Westnedge and I was just passing Circuit City and Old Navy when a car made an unexpected left hand turn from oncoming traffic toward the Southland Mall entrance and in front of me. I slammed on my brakes and laid on the horn, but still ended up crashing into the right rear bumper. The good old lumina performed admirably and has barely a dent, while the other car was losing its bumper.

What was a little bit crazy was that when I got out, the first thing that the girl that turned in front of me asked after if I was okay was how old I was. Curious. She was from Indiana said another curious thing having to do with this. There was some preexisting damage on the back of her car, and she said, "This happens every time I come to Michigan." She tried to tell this to the police officer that came to investigate the crash and it ended up sounding more like, "She didn't do all this to me." The officer then asked what had happened and of course he knew right away that she was at fault. She was apparently on her way to Circuit City to buy a cell phone charger, and the officer ended up letting her to get it because: the car wasn't hers, she was staying with people in Indiana who were on vacation in Europe or something, teh car wouldn't start after she had parked it near the store.

The officer was extremely polite and professional and directed me to rest in my car and gave me all of the information necessary to claim the accident on insurance. When I left he was trying to help the girl start her car or get ahold of the real owners.

I was working that day for my mom's boss doing punching and binding and sorting of old tax returns. It is not very exciting, but the plan is to put all of the money toward paying down debt, which is much needed, and I am happy to be a help to my mom as they just lost a co-worker there.

My Dad's Retirement

2007-07-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

At long last my dad has retired from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. After 25 years on the force he spent his last week getting 72 hours of overtime and visiting most of the stations serving Kalamazoo.

His last day they had a ceremony for him at headquarters and he had cake at Station 7. Before Jim and I got there the Griffioen's and Justin's visited the station. Later we looked around the station and my mom took me aside to tell me about the "surprise" ceremony and then Jim and I ran to headquarters to try to get there before my dad in the fire engine. We ended up driving right past him and I hid by pulling down the sun visor and sitting up really high. Apparently I didn't need to because when we talked later he had no idea that we had passed him-- although I guess that means that it worked.

They had the ladder trucks form an arch and a large number of fire engines and police cars. We joked that for the time that the ceremony was going on Kalamazoo was left unprotected.

My dad wanted to end his last regular duty day with a fully involved house fire, but his shift Lieutenant gave him a direct order to not enter any building that was on fire. Instead he worked a grass fire, but that was even mostly put out by the time he got there.

He will still be working a few overtime days before he is really finished, but I think that it is just beginning to sink in that he is pretty much done. His plans are to work around the house and at his mom and sister's houses in Missouri and then to get a part time job doing something else, though he doesn't quite know what at this point. My parents would love to have him have a job where he could work more during the winter when my mom is busy with taxes and then have summers off to vacation with her.

Traverse City

2007-06-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

I am sitting up in Traverse City right now-- or TC as someone likes to call it. I'm Horizon Books, this really sweet bookstore that has free wi-fi in it and also a nice cafe and discount section. I know-- it sounds like Barnes and Noble, but really its a lot cooler and they sometimes have live music-- though never when I've been here. They also have a fireplace where locals like to play chess or cards and such.

I'm working on what I am doing for my reading for Sena and Seth's wedding, but I needed a brain break sincde I'm exhausted. Jim and I have come here several other times, but this time we made one of our $1 bets for who would be ready to go first. He had to be sitting in the car with it idling when I got there. Today when I arrived it was 6:20 am and he was still in the shower. Ha-- I've also won $1 for Eric Bana's nationality-- he's Australian. Several more bets are out there unresolved, and Jim is vowing a rematch tomorrow for this bet.

Tomorrow we are driving to Ann Arbor because Sena is going to be briefly in town and we are going to just have time for breakfast or brunch and for me to show her myself in the dress for her wedding and then turn around for Todd and Jennifer's wedding in Kalamazoo. So once again we need to be on the road at 7 am (this time in our wedding clothes), but this time he'll likely be in the car at 5:30 or something. Oh well, even if he is, I'll still break even on this series of bets, and still have a chauffer to TC and to Ann Arbor.

After we get back and have Todd and Jen's wedding we've got the possibility of dinner with Jim's dad who will be visiting from Ohio and Jim's nephew Joey. I'm geeked to finally meet Joey, who is really close with Jim, and it might be nice because apparently his dad isn't the most talkative of guys. I'm sure if we do have dinner with them then I'll hear some lovely Jim stories. His mom didn't tell me too much, but I think she was afraid she'd scare me off and the possibility of grandkids. After that we need to go running. We have been exercising, but it has only been sporadically and we have been including kayaking on my lake and working outside in the sun on John's house for 4 or 5 hour spurts. We are trying to be more faithful in the actual running on the track. We are using the system where you run for a minute and a half and then walk for 2. It seems to be very effective, and soon we will move up to running 2 min. at a time. I'm excited because I was running up to a mile and a half regularly, but then I got my job and lost my motivation and I was really missing the feeling of physical fitness and the qaulity of sleep afterwards.

Oh well, enough to think about for today alone. We are going to have a picnic and I think Jim'll want a nap because he is battling fierce allergies. Thank goodness there are beautiful parks here and plentiful parking. The next time we'll come will likely be during Cherry Festival, so the parking situation may change a little bit.

Restaurant Recommendations:
Scalawags -- All I have to say is that I tried their whitefish sandwich and loved it and for those of you who know me, you know that that is saying a lot for a piece of fish. The decor is great as well. All of the lights are made out of little minnow buckets.

Noth Peak Brewing Company The building used to be a candy factory!!! That is enough of a draw for me, but also the food is stellar. I had the white cheddar ale soup and they use these yummy garlic mustard pretzel bits for croutons on top of it. I would say that it is in close competition for the best soup I have ever had.

Mmmm- my mouth is watering just thinking about it, so I need to stop because we are planning on grilling hot dogs. Still yummy, but in a food town, for 2 foodies its not quite the same.

The Real Jim

2007-06-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

When Jim first began coming to small group we had this joking email challenge to write who the "real" Jim is, since we didn't really know what his job was and people were speculating that it was all a ruse and he really was a spy or something like that, which was also what people theorized in the emails that were sent around.

Oh, how wrong we all were. I feel fortunate to know the REAL Jim. The guy who saw that my headlight was burned out and bought and put a new one on my car without even being asked. The guy who stands in his doorway every night after we say goodbye and watches while a get in my car and get underway to make sure that I am safe. The one that was so excited after we had lunch with his mother that she liked me and that I could understand her that he skipped. The one that really doesn't want to spend a 90 degree Staurday working on painting John's house, but does anyways because he made a committment to do it. The one that sends me random "Black Hawk Down" themed text messages. The one that loves how the lotion I use smells and saw that I was running out and went and asked one of the Bath and Body works employees for help with buying me lotion. The guy that held up to his committment to not date until after Discovery, but then changed that as soon as possible once it was over. The guy that talked about me to several of the Portage Sears employees so much that when we stopped in to get paint for John's house they knew right away who I was. The guy that spent Father's Day here at my house with my family and also went up in the the ladder truck with my father (where the pic is from-- 100 feet above Oakland and Howard)

I'm glad that we were wrong. It also makes me wonder who everyone else is. I hope that I have the chance to get to know the REAL you. Probably not in quite the same way as I know him or else I'd be cheating on Jim, but to not just know the public face that you put on to show during small group, or church or at work, but the real and faulted, but complete picture of who God made you to be, and where you are in the process of being transformed into a more Christ-like person. It is so easy to live as Public Relations Carrie, and I am sure that I have not been the REAL me with you guys always and I am sorry for that. I look forward to meeting you.

Adieu Daisy

2007-06-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, you assumed right from the title of my blog. I am no longer the owner of one of the most peculiar cats every created. She hated ceiling fans (thanks to one night, a tornado warning and a fan in the laundry room where Annie took her to be safe) she love kitty treats, and being bad. The daisy gate is down in the house and it kind of gives me vertigo when walking down the hall. I am so busy lately that I haven't had that much opportunity to think about it except when I come home and she isn't at the top of the stairs or running up or down the steps under my feet. She was my friend during the stomach flu and man drama-- why did she have to be so bad?

The day that I took her to the shelter was horrible too. It was deadly hot and I only have a fan in my car, no AC and poor Daisy was in her cage panting and crying. Horrible, and then I get to the place where I think I am supposed to give her up-- Calhoun County Humanse Society-- and they DON'T take her. They said they had a waiting list and it would be $100 to take her. I told them I'd called and someone said they would be bale to take her for $50. As I leave I am crying and I call my mom and she and her boss Max direct me around Battle Creek as I cry and Daisy pants and meows and gets quieter because she is so hot until we finally get to the no kill shelter. She was so good when they got her out of the cage and didn't complain as she was handed over. Maybe it was really a blessing because if she hadn't been hot she would have freaked out.

(I know this is a brief post, but if I think to much or go into too much detail then I will begin crying again.)

I am thankful that I have so many people that love me so well. I was feeling better when I got home but still had a headache and my mom came and gave me sympathy and said that after she had hung up from talking to me se had begun to cry because she could hear Daisy in the background.

That night I was supposed to fix Jim this dish that I had been wanting to try, but I called him when he was on his way home and said that I was just going to lay down until he got to his place, and would he mind if I didn't cook after all. He stopped and got delicious sandwiches from Martini's and gave me a hug and rubbed my back. It's kind of funny because he doesn't alwasy know what to say or to do with a crying female, but he is always willing to try, which makes all of the difference.

The next day my dad was napping on the couch and I was working on the computer and he popped up (years of waking up to fire alarms) and immediately began asking me questions to make sure that I was okay.

You know, I may feel like I don't have A TON of friends and I feel like I've drifted away from some of the girls from St. Mike's (not in a bad way, just I never see them-- when I do see them we are still friends) but I really am blessed next to a lot of people to have someone-- no several someones to worry over me. It makes me think about the kind of friend and the kind of woman that I want to be to those I love. Thanks Daisy.

Sena's Wedding

2007-06-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

I finally got my dress for Sena's wedding. It is red, strapless and silky. I'm excited that I get to wear it even though I'm not technically a bridesmaid. I still need to get some cruicial pieces of undergarments to go with it, but already I think that I look pretty good in it. We all also have a cream colored sash that will be tied around our waists that matches the color of Sena's sash. I'm excited also that I will finally get to meet the other ladies. We've all been emailing about wedding stuff, but it will be nice to have faces to go with the names.

It is looking like I will be driving to Atlanta with Jim and Melinda. I'd prefer to fly, but it doesn't look like we'll have money for 2 plane tickets, and splitting the gas costs (despite the high prices lately) between three or more, of us will be more economical. Though then the issue is the wear and tear on the car and all of that. Another big problem could be getting time off of work because I WILL have my dream job by that point.

Since the wedding is at the end of September, things will be cooling off up here and one last shot of warm weather will be welcome. I'm not sure if we'll stay on a hotel or in Sena's place, which has been offered, but I imagine will be very busy.

Jim

2007-05-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's official. Jim and I are dating. When I thought of writing this post I wanted to write just exactly what happened, but there is just so much to say, so I'll leave that for another time. Let me just say that I am very happy.

Last Night's Dream

2007-03-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I had one of my weird dreams, the ones that mean something. Unfortunately this time I don't really know what it means.

It begins like this. I was in a Meijer-esque store. It also for some reason has seat like Barnes and Noble. I hear a man hitting and yelling at a female companion of his that she is worthless and a whore and need to lose 300 pounds (and some other stuff that I cannot remember fully and should not repeat in my blog.) I watch him walk toward me with the woman and another following and I see others looking disgusted but not saying anything, and I, sitting down, say that I think that what he said and did was inappropriate and it should be stopped. He says, "Oh yeah?" or something that could equally be heard from a television bad guy.

I stand up and turn to him and he is HUGE and sweaty and glares at me malevolently. He yells at me and slaps me across the face. I in turn, slap him back. (Yeah, because I'm just that brave in my dreams.) He lunges after me but I get away. I begin to speak to the cashiers and the passers-by to see if anyone noticed what he had done and would be willing to go on record. Curiously not very many people want to have their names taken down (This I can pinpoint as being due to my occupation and the inconvenience of having sources who don't want to be named. Grrr on them.)

I walk around and get some people who will comment and hopefully get this man convicted of assulting at least me and away from this poor woman. I speak to them and say that it made me feel like one of those "What would yo do segments on television, and didn't want to have to answer later why I hadn't interfered." A woman I was speaking to responded that this was interesting and suddenly Tyra Banks appeared like she was on her crap of a talk show and came out to interview me. Then I woke up.

Weird yes, the weirdest dream I've had? Not even close. I can pinpoint several sources of where things came from: I was in Meijer's the other day, having unnamed sources is inconvenient and I nostalgically watched Newsies the other day which has quite a bit of slapping and fighting. As for Tyra Banks, it seems as much as I try to avoid her she is on TV at all times, and always expounding on the wonders of her shows and her modeling career.

Swimming Monkeys and Werner Herzog

2007-03-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Today I was watching TV and saw a commercial which showed a swimming and diving monkey. This, of course :) reminded me of one of the most twisted and greatest movies ever, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes or Aguirre, the Wrath of God. (if you click on the link above, my favorite characters are even referenced in the second paragraph of the "Production" section.) I mean, 400 swimming monkeys!

The film is in German, but is about Spanish Conquistadors and their search for El Dorado. This is also the movie in which the famous incident took place of Herzog threatening to kill his lead actor and himself if he walked off the set. Klaus Kinski, the actor, shot off the tip of one of the extra's fingers in the Peruvian jungle. Said Herzog of the jungle, "The trees are in misery, and the birds are in misery. I don’t think they sing. They just screech in pain. …Taking a close look at what’s around us, there is some sort of harmony: it’s the harmony of overwhelming and collective murder."

I know that I've spoken of the movie before, several years ago on my blog. What really made me write about this was not just the sighting of my little aquatic, furry friends (They play a damn creepy role in the movie though) but the new movie that will soon come out, which features one of my favorite actors in a movie made by one of my favorite directors.

Christian Bale is starring in Rescue Dawn a film based on the ture story of a German man who joined the United States Navy and ended up as a POW during the Vietnam War. Herzog previously made a documentary on this same subject (His interest is probably partially due to his own German nationality.)

I was all excited because the commercial reminded me that the movie was being released on March 30 and I was geeked to view it and review it for work, but then I checked out IMDB and found that the date of release has been pushed back because of a dispute with paying the crew that worked on the film in Europe and Thailand. Grrr. How much money would it be to pay them?

~Interesting Trivia-- Bale's first major role, Jim Grahm in Empire of the Sun he plays an internee during Wolrd War 2 in China. The new film features him as a pilot, but in Empire of the Sun he plays a boy who idealizes flight and admires the Kamakazie pilots who depart from the runway that the internees helped to build. I wonder if the similarities had any influence on his decision of whether or not to take the role. I wish I wrote for a paper that was near enough or influential enough where I could aks him at a press funcation.

Mom's Surgery

2007-02-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

To all of those that have been praying for my mom, thanks. She had her surgery on the 20th and according to the plastic surgeon it went well. The cancer on her eyelid was worse than they anticpiated, so they has to do 2 kinds of grafts-- one from behind her ear and the other from her upper eyelid's inner skin. she is understandably frustrated with not being able to see, and not being able to work and from the pain. Just think, if you had something in your eye, or your contact was lost in your eye how annoying that would be-- she has a bunch of stitches and a bandage sewn into her top and lower eyelid until next Thursday.

After that she goes back and gets the bandage off, but the grafts are still growing for a month and then she will have another small surgery to correct the crease of her eye and that sort of thing. Obviosuly I can't see her stitches under the bandage, but behind her ear where they did the graft looks amazing! Such tiny stitches-- for my knee surgery they were Huge! But I guess that is the difference between a plastic surgeon and someone checking for cancer. Also they were so sure I had it that I think that they just assumed they'd be cutting more of me away soon after. (Yay for enlarged muscle tissue instead of malignant cells!)

My mom would still really appreciate your prayers. But she is one hoss tough woman. Today she decided that she needed to go into work to do a certain project that no one else knows how to do. She called to say that dad is picking her up soon (I'm at the library just in case she needed to call me to get her) but she just is so determined to not let this ruin tax season.

Craig Ferguson

2007-02-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

I stayed up rather late tonight and the Late Late Show was on and I was very impressed with Craig Ferguson's monologue.

He said that he was taking a break from what he typically did and was going to speak seriously to his audience. He said that he wasn't going to make any jokes about Brittany Spears because he understood what she was going through and that he just had his 15 year anniversary of his sobriety. He said that this was his mea culpa and that the media had been irresponsible as far as reporting things like Anna Nicole Smith and that "people are dying," (loosely quoted) to which the audience laughed somewhat nervously and Craig told them that he wasn't joking.

He also said that in reference to this sort of thing he felt like his comedy had been off the mark lately and that he wasn't going to make light of this situation. He encouraged people who might be having a problem with addiction (he didn't specifically direct this at Brittany but mentioned her frequently) to seek out help from people who understood what they are going through saying, "They are easy to find, they are near the beginning of the phone book."

He also described the trend in Hollywood rehab centers that portray addiction as something that can be overcome in a 28 day stint, as opposed to the truth of rehab preceeding a "lifetime of vigilance." He also said, "I don't have a drinking problem-- I could get one pretty quickly-- I have a thinking problem."

He could just be looking for another Emmy nod, but I really appreciate that he would take the time to be serious and make himself vulnerable. His wikepedia article already has the incident mentioned, as well as several other incidents where he has dropped the shield of humor to reach out to hs audience. I caved and sent a short email to the network saying that I appreciated his perspective and his honor in not mocking so easy a target. Ironically, during the break just after the monologue there was a David Letterman commercial and in it he said something about Brittany's head and the cold-- not so funny after a frank discussion of alcoholism and waking up being covered in one's own urine.

Yes I realize that I sound like I have a girlie crush on Craig, but don't worry, I'm sure as a comedian he will say something soon and put his foot in his mouth. Well, the show is over now and tonight he didn't except for maybe ogling Virginia Madsen's legs a little too much, but hey, they were nice legs.

I Covered President Ford's Funeral

2007-02-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I have forgotten to mention this before now! I looked back over my blogs recently and I was astonished to note that I haven't mentioned that for work on January 2 and 3 I had the honor of covering the Grand Rapids portion of President Ford's funeral. It was an amazing and likely once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a State Funeral an hour away from my home, and to be able to have the chance to write about the event was extrordinary.

We drove up on the day that Air Force One landed in GR. We spent many many hours waiting on the footbridge over the Grand River under the watchful eyes of the Secret Service, Army, National Guard, GR Police and some other organizations that are not quite so open about their names.

Blessedly it was not snowy, but the frigid wind still whipped down the Grand and struck us. Nicely we were able to go to the bathroom and visit the cafe in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, and we saw the actress from the movie Signs, Cherry Jones. she is one of those actresses whose name you may not remember, but you would know her by sight. She was very gracious when a few people came up to speak to her-- we didn't-- and was there for something entirely unrelated to the funeral; she was in a play.

We stayed for most of the day, and were allowed in behind the scenes upstairs in the museum to photograph the visitation and to have a space to write and reflect. We also stayed rather late to interview the thousands of people waiting in line to visit the flag-draped coffin. The line stretching through downtown GR was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, as was the attitude of those waiting in line. Nearly everyone was in good spirits and perfectly willing to wait for the 5-7 hours they were told it would take for a few seconds with Grand Rapids First Son.

Someday I will tell you the behind the behind the scenes story, but for now and for the reputation of certain persons I work with, I shall refrain.

Below is the unedited version of my story, and above I pasted in the pic of the page simply so you can see the photograph.

West Michigan’s First Son Home For the Final Time

Community Perspective

The shockingly mild winter that Southwest Michigan has been experiencing has come as an added blessing to the funeral procession for President Gerald R. Ford and the crowds of thousands that gathered through the night and into the morning Tuesday and Wednesday. Some of those who came to pay their last respects were forced to wait in line for 4-6 hours, but for most, it was well worth the wait to show their appreciation for a man who meant so much to the area and to the nation.

The Grand Rapids portion of the state funeral began at approximately 4:30 with the arrival of the motorcade across the Grand River. A brief, private ceremony was held, and shortly thereafter the line began to form of the general public to pass by the casket. Those admitted first were Boy Scouts and former Scouts, in reference to the time that President Ford devoted to the organization and his rank of Eagle Scout.

Soon the line stretched past the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, down several side streets and through DeVos Place. Melissa Kent, a Grand Rapids resident was just one member of the line, along with her three children, Bryce- age 6, Alayna- age 5, and Wade-age 2. Kent spoke of why she had brought her children to pay respects to a President that served long before their birth. “President Ford was known as a moral leader, and there are not many moral leaders left in the world today. I think it is important to show my children someone with high morals.”

While many families chose to bring their young children to the event, many may not appreciate the significance of the event until their adulthood. Hunter Lammers, 8 year old son of Matt and Tisha from Hudsonville, Michigan was excited to attend the event, but said that he was excited “to stay up late and be in the city with all of the people.” The Lammers waited in line for two hours and were then told that they would possibly have to wait 4 or 5 more and made the decision to leave the line, due to their jobs early Wednesday morning and the age of their son. Their choice was the exception among the crowd.

Mary Mast, a nurse who needed to be at the hospital at a quarter past seven had been in line for 2 ½ hours at 10:30 pm and said that she expected to be in line for several more. Mast commented on her reason for staying in line stating, “I met the president three other times and I just had to come down and see him and thank his family for sharing him with all of us. This is what memories are made of.”

Mast’s comments echo the general consensus of the crowd. Most were more than willing to wait however long it took to participate in this historic event. Lindsay Malloy grew up in Grand Rapids, but has since moved to California. While she returned to Michigan with the intent of visiting family, visiting the President’s body as it lay in repose soon found a place on her schedule. “This is possibly my only chance to do something like this. It was either watch a movie tonight or participate in history. This won.”

After those in line traversed the several-mile long path and entered the Gerald R. Ford Museum, they were allowed to briefly view the flag draped coffin, surrounded by a Guard of Honor which was composed of a motionless member of each branch of the military and presided over by an armed Captain of the Guard. Throughout Tuesday night and Wednesday, Guard of Honor members worked rotating shifts attending the body.

Many visitors reacted with suppressed emotion, and quickly shuffled past the body in near silence. The black-banner festooned lobby echoed as passers-by were greeted by family and Ford Foundation members and given a memorial card thanking them for their part in honoring the President’s passing. A large Presidential Seal carved in the wall of the lobby was illuminated by a simple spotlight. Smaller versions of the seal were featured in the center of wreaths that flanked the coffin.

Ford Family and Friends Reaction

A nameless guest of the Ford’s (later possibly identified as James M. Cannon, President Ford’s White House Domestic Policy Advisor, journalist, and author of the essay on Ford, Character Above All,) gave voice to how touched the family and friends were that so many were so willing to wait so long for just a brief glimpse of his flag-draped coffin as he smoked a cigarette near one of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel’s smaller entrances. While this guest and Air Force One passenger declined giving his name, he did suggest that the Starbucks Coffee connected to the hotel should be opened so that the cold line members could have something hot to drink.

He went on to speak of his, and perhaps the family as a whole’s wishing to express their thanks to the crowd, “What would it take, do you think, to provide coffee for all of these people out here? They need some coffee or just something warm to drink. They look cold, but they don’t seem to care They deserve it.” When it was replied that it would take a great deal of money to give a hot drink to the thousands that were gathered, he stated, “Well, I don’t have the money, but it’s all about who you know.”

Indeed, the mood from the Ford family was one a gratefulness to be in their home state, relief to have the events almost over, and appreciation for the estimated 15,000 citizens who flooded the city to participate in the event. Betty Ford was quoted as being “Bowled over” by the attention that her husband was receiving and appreciative of the press’s positive response to the events taking place.

I'm In Recovery

2007-02-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

The laptop that I have had for over 5 years was the floor model and I got it at a discount, which meant that it never quite worked exactly as it should. It has had power problems throughout its life and was on the third power cord and second battery when it finally quit working a while ago.

The new cord is working, and I also have a new battery in it that is functional, just not charged. It had 3% when I brought it home from the store, so I had my computer for the 10 minutes or so that it had left. The problem is somewhere in converting the energy pulled in from the outlet to useable power for the computer.

I am going to use a similie here and I really don't want to offend anyone, so please, please observe the important word LIKE that is being used here. Not having my computer is in a way like having a stroke or some sort of amnesia. All of the things that I have written are there-- I can hold my computer in my hands and know that the stories are contained in the circuits and memory, but I just can't get to them. Eventually I hope to figure out what the true problem with the power wasor at least have the new battery charged so that I can quickly go in and get the most vital pieces that I have written and put them on disk. I was stupid enough to only save a few and I did that far less frequently than I should have.

Now the things that I have poured out my heart into (not just creative writing but letters and old online conversations that I have kept, and pictures.) are trapped there, inaccessible but not forgotten.

I think that this is why I have begun to put some things that I have written here on my blog, even if they are in their very rough forms-- blogger works almost like a separate server. I've also finally put the last of the writings that I do have saved on the wonderful blessing of my graduation laptop, which was a beast of a task since we don't have 3 1/2 disk drives on either our home comp. or my laptop and that is what everything is stored on. Wow, I sound so complainative and meanwhile I'm discussing 2 laptops that I have had or currently have as well as the nice computer here at my house. I know that I am blessed beyond much of the world to even have one computer in my life, and I do appreciate that. I think I am chagrined with myself for the fact that I wasn't more cautious and frustrated at the loss of so many phrases surgically removed lie a piece of my flesh.

Illness

2007-02-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Stomach flu. Paul, me, Melissa, who knows who else eventually. We got sick in that order, and despite this Paul blames me for bringing germs into their house.

I think we all contracted it during the Third Annual Small Group Thanksgiving in February, which we held last weekend. Yes, every year once the holidays settle down we deep fry a turkey (this year it was actually a couple chickens) and have cranberry sauce and a rather traditional meal. For the second year I made bittersweet chocolate cake with white chocolate cream sauce and leaves and rasberry puree. It was better the first year that I made it, but it was still chocolate butter and eggs primarily, so who's to complain if it didn't hold its space quite as nicely as it should.

I feel primarily bad for Melissa since she got it about 2 days after Paul did and so she had to watch him be sick and then feel the flu coming on and know how bad it was going to be. Paul re-scheduled his 30th birthday dinner since Melissa couldn't be there.

Actually it may be all my fault. I should have known better than to read "Empire of the Sun," while eating Chinese food. A story about WW2 Allied prisoners in a concentration camp outside of Shanghi and cheap sweet and sour chicked is sure to incur me that wrath of someone somewhere. That is probably about as bad as at Kati's birhtday at Fandango where I ordered the rabbit and rattlesnake sausage. I think that everyone was watching my first bite to see if I suddenly fell to the floor as my stomach escaped from my body due to teh combination of a predator and its prey in one delicious dish. (Eventually many people tried it and enoyed the combination.)

Freaking Cold!

2007-02-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

It is FREAKING cold in Michigan right now. Last Saturday we had a blizzard that was some of the worst weather that I have ever seen. I think that I noticed it more because I was supposed to cover an Ice Festival in Vicksburg, and I made it to the nearby town of schoolcraft but then had to trun back. In truth I found it rather fun. I had no definite time frame and I was able to drive excruciatingly slowly through the back roads of the south of the county. I was driving safely, but I came across many cars that were stuck in the snow. Eventually I came across one that still had passengers in it, and I lent them my shovel. Initially I remained outside near there car to assist them by digging out the snow with my boots, but then the gusts of wind hit me at a wind chill of -30 and I suddenly decided to retreat to the comfort of my car. we ended up blocking a couple cars going each way and so the man in the car asked to borrow my shovel, which reminds me that I need to return his call to get it back. The pictures that are included in this are from 12th street between Portage and Schoolcraft and on Center and 5th Street. I waited until I was out of the worst of it to use my camera since I was driving, albeit at 20 miles an hour, so this isn't the worst of it.

My favorite is the picture that is at the beginning of this post. All schools, churches and businessed were closed for several days, yes we didn't have church last Sunday, but many of the schools are finally opening just in time for mid-winter breaks and teacher in-service days. I felt bad for my fellow CWN writer Callie since our deadline is Tuesday and she typically stays home with her kids when there is no school. Her hubby stayed home on Monday and she had to bring them in on Tuesday. The wind chill is still down and it has been snowing since Saturday, so I'm hoping once it gets up above 0 to break out my snowshoes and take a hike around the island.

I am such a dork

2007-02-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

I realized once again this morning just how much of a dork I am. I was laying in bed after I woke up (I didn't have to be in the office at CWN today) and I suddenly recognized that I was mentally composing an email that I had to write later in the day. I do this quite often and I get distracted thinking about each line and what turn of phrase will work best with the tone and intention of the piece. Then I realize just how much time has passed and that I could have already written the damn thing three times over and I am still in bed. I think that has confused my family and roomates when they see me awake but just flat on my back doing nothing, until I suddenly get up and make my way to email.

I'm Back

2007-02-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

I finally took the time to reset my password for the new blogger. I don't really notice that much of a difference, but I haven't really had the time to investigate it.

Tell Me What You Think

2006-12-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, usually I am loathe to place much of my writing out here into the unforgiving land of bloggerdom for who knows who to critique, but I am determined to become more accustomed to hearing criticism from many different points of view, so I will let you have at the piece that follows. I am presently in the Portage Public Library, and while I was sitting here marvelling at the speed of the wireless here in comparison to the dial up I have at home, I saw someone for just an few seconds that set off my literary brain. This is REALLY REALLY a rough draft, so don't freak over grammar and such. I'm more curious as to what you will think of the mood and meaning of the piece. Thanks in advance to any who offer their opinions.

Oh- and the working title might help, but also may corrupt your reading. I have been calling it for the past hour or so "Boy as Death." Enjoy.

She looked up and peering at her from around the corner of the magazine rack was the slightly obese figure of a boy of about 11 or12. His rather large head bore a short buzzed haircut first made common by GI’s on their way to fight in foreign land and popularly adopted by prepubescent males who had grander things on their mind than hygiene. Their mothers ordained that they either needed to wash more, or rid themselves of their oily locks, and the latter was thought to be more preferable by far.

It was not his hair however that attracted her. He wore nondescript brownish clothing over his slightly larger than average girth. A t-shirt emblazoned with the faded name of a band popular six or seven years ago cried out for a cleaning and just barely touched the hem of the worn sweat pants covering surprisingly frail looking legs.

Though there was no snow on the ground, and the rain had halted days ago, each twig of a limb was ensconced within a serviceable black rubber winter boot. That is what had let her know that he was on his way, the bump of each foot hitting the floor as he wandered around the edge of the library shelf, followed by the sound of the inner felt lining striking the faded cotton encircling his legs.

It was not his clothing that drew her to him though. His mouth was unsmiling, and the muscles surrounding his face looked as if they were unaccustomed to that emotion, or at least they had learned to school away any visible signs of that feeling that might strike the boy. His lips were slightly parted and she could hear the faint sounds of his breath drawing in and out and as he halted after rounding the shelf. His lips did not move, but an airy cough escaped and echoed in the cherished silence of the library.

It was the eyes, yes the windows to the soul, that drew her to him-- that let her know that she knew him only too well. Deep set and hooded, the fluorescent lights hanging high above shielded their color and any thoughts that might have been floating around within his mind. The curtain that hung over them was so complete that the light seemed to be pulled inexorably into them like a black hole. Yes she knew this boy.

Taking her time, she read the book that she held in her hands, savoring each line, every turn of phrase that the author had so carefully wrought, seeming to think of her, in this time, in this place, sitting in a blue recliner between Periodicals and Mysteries, and then as a tinny voice informed her that her sanctuary would be closing in just a few minutes. She closed her book, walked back to the shelf where she had taken it from and slowly slid it into place until it was indistinguishable from all of the other books that no one had taken from their place that day. Pulling her coat tight against the breeze that enveloped her as she broke the seal of the doorway, she stepped out into the dark. She turned and nodded at the small figure standing near the entryway as she passed, acknowledging him, and that they would soon be reunited.

(Okay, this is Carrie again, and as I have considered what I have written I'm thinking that I will be a little cautious walking out to my car and driving home this evening. I suppose I've at least managed to affect myself as a reader, whether or not I have any of you. So, realistically nothing will happen to me, but if it does, its been a pleasure serving you. See you on the flip side. :) )

Yay!

2006-12-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, may I just say- I am so happy that the holiday season is almost over. For some reason this one has just exhausted me, and I wasn't even assisting with the Christmas programs at St. Mike's this year!

Graduation

2006-12-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

On December 16 I FINALLY got to make thew trip down the aisle to receieve my diploma--er the tube that my diploma may one day be stuffed in. It felt rather bizarre since I have been done for so long to be there and graduating with that group, but even though there was no walking ceremony in the summer, I wanted to be able to look back in 50 years and think of how young I look in my cap and gown, and laugh that I'm wearing honors cords from an organization nicknamed STD (Sigma Tau Delta-- The English Honors Society.)

A couple days before the ceremony I also got to see Dr. Thralls, which was great. I had been feeling rather disheartened in that female hormonal, "I am horrible at my life's work and ugly too," kinda way and, as always, talking to her really raised my spirits. Without my bringing up my discouragement she not only praised my accomplishements with my new job, but also said that she knew that I would be "so successful" because of the talent I had displyed in her Hoss of a class, and she also looked me over and pronounced what I was wearing to be very professional and beautiful. I don't know if my insecurities had been written all over me, or if she just has a sense for building others up, but no matter what the reason I am thankful.

Graduation was actually pretty nice-- no boring keynote speaker, just the two honoroary doctorate recipients-- and at the ned they played "Sleigh Ride" and had a curtain of fake snow falling from above the stage that all the graduates had to walk through. Perfect for the season.

After a flurry of photos my parents and Melinda and I made the trip up to Mezze and ate just about every dish that they make there. Excpet for M'Hancha. Lo Siento, Melinda. You'll just have to stay single a little longer.

I also got the most super sweet graduation gift that an English major could want-- the lovely laptop computer that I am now writing this post upon. After years of struggling on life support, my old one gave out several months ago, and the lack of a proper writing platform was really getting to me. Honestly, it was a good part of why I was feeling depressed an inadequate when I saw Dr. Thralls. That probably sounds kida odd to most of you, but in this technology-laden age it is vital to a writer (at least a new one) to have the proper technology to support her endeavors. I never thought that I would get something like this though-- my family NEVER does large gifts like this, all I aksed for as a grad. gift was the stereotypical briefcase-like bag. Of course-- the comp. is also partially a Christmas gift, so maybe it is a God thing that I had to wait to graduate until this season. If I'd walked in the summer maybe I wouldn't have it-- but then again, my birthday is in the summer, so you never know.

So Long

2006-12-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, once again its been too long since my last post. I am going to blame the fact that I have been on teh computer too much as it is from my NEW JOB to have much interest in sitting in front of a computer screen for leisure. Yup, I have a job as a writer. I'm back at County Wide Newspaper, but where before I was there on a freelance basis, I am now a staff reporter. That basically means that we come up with stories until the paper is full, and get paid the same no matter how long or short that takes.

The first week I earned my money with hardly any effort at all, for I went there for what I thought was an interview and was promptly hired and out to work as soon as my computer could be set up in my curbicle. Yup, I'm a Carrie in a Box, but I have a small area where I can see out of a window, and its really not a bad cubicle overall, as far as those things go. No this is not my aforementioned, "dream job" and no I am not deterred from my plans, but it is blissfully wonderful to have some income coming in from doing what I was meant to be on this earth to do even if I'm not doing where I am meant to be doing it. Oh-- I got the job just before Thanksgiving, so it really isn't entirely accurate to call it my new job, but it is my most recent job. I now also have a different distinction than I had when I was freelancing before, or even this whole time that I have been writing as the "Daycare expert" for suite101.com (Yup, got to get a little plug in each post) For the first time in my life, my primary source of income is coming from my writing. When people have asked mw what I am doing at holiday celebrations or in any of the countless online forms that you have to fill out stating occupation, I can say, "I'm a writer." Damn that's weird.

Success

2006-11-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

I just posted a new blog at Suite101, and lo and behold my widget changed to relfect the new post. The wonders of modern technology. (Actually I'm wondering that I managed to make the thing work.)

Suite101 Widget

2006-11-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Suite has given all of their writers a new "widget" that I placed in the coding of my blog. This allows readers to access updating links to my three most recent blog and article posts. I wanted in to be placed in the sidebar of my blog, but I don't know HTML well enough to mess around with it to make that happen. So, if you go to the bottom of the page, you'll find the links. As if I haven't already plugged it here enough. :)

I also just found something sweet-- blogger now allows you to embed a link in the title of your post, so if you click on this title it will take you directly to my page on Suite101. I'm going to have some fun pairing up posts with interesting choices for links.

Nevermind

2006-11-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

Earlier I said that my pessimism might be good for the game last night, but then they scored that touchdown and, stupid me, I got hopful and jinxed them. Sorry Michigan.

U of M

2006-11-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

I thought that it was over-- I thought that Ohio State had won, but now here we are 8:09 left and the score is UM 31 OSU 35. There's still a chance. I thought U of M would win simply because Bo died, but I think that OSU knows that U of M wouldn't want to win out of pity or a sense of entitlement.

Watching this game I really wish that I had gone to a college where there was as much feeling for a coach and a team as there is for Michigan. I have alsways been soemwhat chagrined that I'm a Bronco since I'm a townie. Typically I'd actually likely be cheering for OSU because of John and his connections and fervor. I can remember sitting in his and Angie's house with the buckeyes sitting on the table and his "brick," I can bet that they are wearing some red and silver today. (Which reminds me of their wedding colors) And I bet that baby Heimlich will have some OSU onesies. I wonder if where they are in England gets coverage of games like this one?

Normally I'm more of a MSU fan, and I actually can sing more of the MSU fight song than the WMU one and I've attended more graduations at MSU than WMU, but Have watched some WMU ceremonies on tv or clips thereof. WMU doesn't have a large indoor stadium to hold the ceremonies in, so they have to restrict them to 4 tickets per student, or you can watch remotelty in the Bernhard Center.

2:25 left now, and it's 31 42. Oh well, no matter what happens, they both made a respectible showing. Holy crap- Michigan just scored a touchdown. Maybe my pessimism is good luck.

Stupid Blogger

2006-11-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

I have just noticed that blogger has apparently deleted two of my posts. One was the story of what ahppened to my mom's friend Vicki and how she broke her neck (she's in a brace, but going to be fine-- she's been doing yardwork and powerwashing, which isn't really allowed by her doctor) and a post about my fav restaurant up in GR Mezze. I'll try to re-post some of that info. ata later time. Peace Out.

Photobucket

2006-11-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

A couple people have complained about not being able to access my Photobucket account so I typed in my first and last name to see if you could see my photos that way if, for some reason, my user name isn't working-- which it always has for me. The freaky thing is that the first pic that showed up said "Miss Carrie at..." which is scary because that was my name from the kids at St. Mike for the past 5 years-- and the chick even bore somewhat of a resemblance to me. Freaky. Y'all should stick to CarrieSoVery_2006 despite the length and annoyance of using an underscore. I think I mentioned it, but blogger somehow erased the fact that I now have many many phots up from North Carolina. One of the photos that I took from the plane is now my desktop image. It was such an amazing day to fly with all of the white puffy clouds and taking off from Detroit over Lake Eerie. I tried to put up one from Pea Island (some of the pylons on the beach surrounded by sea grass) but it got all warped and messed up.

My Self-Imposed Deadline

2006-11-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

Recently I came to a decision that probably dissapoint many of my friends, but I think that they will understand my reasoning. I've been looking for a new job here and have ratcheted down my responsibilities at St. Mike and am only doing very sporadic subbing there. I'm temping and working for the CPA my mom works for-- which is kind of cool, since most recently I've been organizing financial records for an audit of two new apartment buildings, which is something I never thought I'd be involved in, since I am not a math person. I am a logic person, but not a math person.

Anyway, back to my all-important decision. I have decided to give myself a deadline of the end of the holiday season for moving to Atlanta. If I do not have a great job shortly before Christmas, then I will be moving to Atlanta and staying with the lovely Sena until I find a fabulous job there and a great apartment. I have been looking for more information on Atlanta and Georgia in general and looking at information on job opportunities and opportunities in writing and the arts down there and I found something that illustrates so clearly the difference in opportunities for me down there vs. the possibilites here. I was looking through a book that listed arts councils by state, and Georigia's was found at www.gaarts.org. Michigan's reference is found at www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19272---,00.html. No joke.

Sena regularly sends me the classifieds as a not-so-subtle, but not un-welcome hint, and there as well the difference between what is available down there and here in MI is striking. And why not, it's a great opportunity and Sena is going to give me access to all that Atlanta has to offer by allowing me to stay with her for free until I find something permanent. And as I have been known to say-- when will I ever have the mobility that I have now? I'm not married, I don't have a car payment, I don't have a mortgage- all I have is a cat. Unfortunately Sena is allergic and they wouldn't let her have a cat in her Resident Director apartment at Georgia Tech. We're praying and hunting for a temporary home for Daisy, or if it comes to that, a permanent one. Sena thinks that I should just leave her with the parents, but they have made it clear in the past that this wouldn't be cool with them. Now I just need to keep working temp and for Bruce Justin CPA so that I can have enough money to last and to buy or create beautiful Christmas presents for friends and family, and to actually make the move southward. (It sounds like I've already firmly made the decision, huh?)

Speaking of Christmas presents being made, I am happy to say that my bro. still has the painting that I made him up. It's in his bathroom, but that is cool with me, especially since it's a rather humorous piece about vomit. That sounds really gross, and I totally wish I had taken a pic. of it so that you could understand. I tried to explain it a little more, but that really is kinda useless so I deleted it all. I also want to put up some pics of the jewelry that I have made for myself and a few others up here, but that's pretty low on the priority list next to getting a job. And if you're my friend and reading this you'll likely see it at Christmas itself since making earrings and such is something not too expensive, but highly personal that I can do. I guess I'm good at it, because I always get compliments when I'm wearing something I've made. That sounded arrogant. Sorry.

Okay, I have totally drifted away from the above listed topic so that usually means that I should wrap it up. Peace.

Egg Nog

2006-11-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

The first glass of egg nog of the year in my hand right now baby! Dangerous times we're living in, for a person who is trying to eat and live healthier.

More Movie Suggestions

2006-11-07T23:39:00.000-07:00

Hey- I realized that I have found several movies that have amused and enlightened and warped my brain recently that I haven't shared and that y'all might enjoy them as well.

The Manchurian Candidate The original-- not the Denzel rip off. The remake really wasn't that bad as remakes go, which I think was essentially due to the fact that the creator figured that if you want to see the original, you'll go out and get it, as well as understanding that most people would already know what happened to the missing troops so he shouldn't look for tension there. The original though- man, (now I sound like Mark) I've been meaning to see it for so long, and then it was on as part of The Essentials and it was so worth it. There are so many layers to the story, and the twisted nature of what they showed of the soldiers captivity and subsequent brainwashing was all the more shocking for the time that it was created and the fact that Sinatra is in it. Sure he's been in Mob movies set in Vegas, but thats the mob of Guys and Dolls-- the singing, dancing mob that always learns its lesson and would never really hurt anyone that was truly innocent. Angela Landsbury's role is so eerie that it's a wonder that they even considered her for Murder She Wrote many years later. There are movies you like, and movies that make you laugh but you'd never buy. Then there are movies like this one that stay with you like a near death experience, and you find yourself thinking at the oddest moments..."Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life. "

Muriel's Wedding. An oldie (kinda) but a goodie. I watched this movie the night before I went to North Carolina and I was desperately in need of some light entertainment to take my mind off packing and the concept of 4 straight days of interviewing. Toni Collette stars in this ABBA-laden movie and she plays the role of verbally abused small town resident very well. Roger E. speaks about the scene in which Toni's character almost has sex with her new boyfriend, and I agree that it just has to be seen to be understood. Earns its R rating for a lot of discussion of sex, and some naked guy butt, but honestly I'm rather desensitized to the whole butt thing. And as far as butts go, these were rather nice- at least compared to Waking Ned Devine. So, good for light entertainment, and also good for some of the melancholoy humorous yet tragic entertainment that only the British seem to know how to do at its best.

Shaun of the Dead Recently this was shown a zillion and a half times on Comedy Central for Halloween. I'd meant to see it before, but had voted instead to have, I dunno- a life. This time it has just seemed unavoidable. Any movie that features a prim Brit mom describing some invaders in her house and avoiding the reality that they were zombies by merely saying in response to the question of if she is okay with the phrase, "well, they were a bit bitey," immediately has my attention. I think that what I liked about the movie was that the whole zombie killer thing was merely a utility to drive the interaction of the characters. In fact it seemed like the whole movie could have featured other driving forces-- economics, family entanglements, war, as the outside factor and the action between Shaun and Liz would have played out much the same. And thats what's so great. I remember a commerical for it using the tagline, "the world's first romantic comedy zombie movie." It is really true that its more of a romatic comedy than a horror movie. Its a nice strategy too-- women will go for the romance and comedy, men for the blood spurting out of open wounds and the clubbing of numerous zombies with a cricket mallet. Then there's the scene featuring a zombie beaing beaten to death (can that happen- "dead again"?) with pool cues in time to a Queen song being played on the jukebox and accompanied by a light show that is really someone trying to turn off the fuse to the music. Would have earned an R rating for language alone, even without all of the brain squashing, but a lot of that was edited out for the TV version. The British seem to have a love affair with the F-word that I really don't get. And for them other words are considered more taboo. Anyways, all around a good movie, and I found out that my parents like it as well-- odd that such a peculiar movie would appeal to 3 people with such normally opposing tastes. But that was their intention in combining love with darts to the head, fart jokes, and cannibalism.

2006-11-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I went to visit my father at Station 7 in order to do some work on their computers and to hopefully ride along when my father had to go out on any calls. I feel somewhat conflicted about this, because it is fun to have the chance to ride in the engine and blow the horn (I am so five years old about that) but I'd also feel a little peculiar intruding upon some of the most profound moments of people's lives simply for the sake of an experience. Your home and all of your possessions going up in smoke is emotional enough, but if it were a call where someone was requiring CPR or other major first aid, I would feel bad for the family or friends that would likely be standing around. A spectator at that moment would just be an affront to their loss and pain.

I had decided that I would ride along, but likey remain in the engine unless their was a fire or other similar even where I wouldn't be such a tragedy tourist, but I ended up not even having that option because while I waas there my father had exactly zero calls. This is a good thing really. I've grown up speaking to my father on the phone or visiting for holiday dinners when he has to be on duty, and then having him suddenly leave and not know what sort of situation he was leaving for- a fire, a violent crime, maybe just an elderly person who couldn't ge out of their chair (which happened Sunday before I arrived.)

There certainly would have been some calls when he was at Station 6 or back at Station 4 where some of the officers have seen people with warrants out for them walking by the station as the guys eat dinner inside. An aside-- if you have multiple warrants out for your address, you might want to lay a little low, rather than walking by a police station where 6 or so PSOs can come directly outside and arrest your sorry self.

Pictures

2006-10-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

I now have a Photobucket account. Just go to www.Photobucket.com. My user account is CarrieSoVery_2006. Hopefully Ya'all can access the account. If not please let me know.

Right now all thats up is some of the photos from Jeremy's party and play, and some photos of my lovely family and a recent vacation to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, but I intend to post more in the near future.

In the ones with my dad at the fire station I think that I look a little weird, but I'm blaming it on the flourescent lights and the fact that my mom was taking the pics. Sorry mom.

I'm Still Here

2006-09-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Yeah yeah, shame shame on Carrie for not posting. I really will post soon, but I have many photos from trips to Sleeping Bear Dunes, Grand Rapids, Chicago, and just around town.

I promise that I will give an update soon.

A question for you

2006-07-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

Say you had a whale, a beached whale. Say this whale is dead. Say that it is 1970 and for some odd reason the highway repair comission is in charge of getting rid of it. What to do? What to do? A crane? A tugboat? A half ton of dynamite? If you guessed the dynamite then you guessed correctly.

I recently saw the footage of this bizarre classic urban legend. Apparently they thought that the whale would be virtually obliterated except for small pieces that seagulls and other scavengers could eat. What they got were 200 pound chunks of rotten whale meat falling on unsuspecting spectators who had brought picnic lunches to the explosion. Fortunately, a car was the only casualty of the blast, due to its being crushed from a large chunk. Unfortunately, about half of the whale was left on the beach and he was already rotting before he got done blowed up and pretty much spread the smell around the beach.

Odd, but true.

www.TheExplodingWhale.com

I'm Done

2006-06-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here in the computer lab after my last test and worrying about other things, and it just struck me. I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. I never ever have to come back to this place-- well except to graduate and for good things like that. I never have to take another class here- ever again. Right up until the last minute I never thought it would really happen, but it has finally, finally done so. I'm honestly tearing up a little bit. Out of joy-- not nostalgia or anything. I'm done, done done!

2006-06-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

I tried to post something else, but the blogger-lords are angry at my return after so long of an abscence and I would try to re-write it, but I really should finish up and go home and study since i have ONE DAY LEFT and I have a couple exams tomorrow.

Mr. and Mrs. W

2006-06-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

This morning, quite of their own initiation, my school-agers held a wedding. Sarah dressed herself up in a bride outfit using the dress up clothes that are really in there for the preschoolers, but they all secreatly enjoy wearing and occassionally break out when fun overcomes the longing to be "grown up." The wedding was complete with a processional, bridesmaids, rings and ring-bearer, Zac as minister-- using Grace's Harry Potter as the Bible (which seems rather sacreligious and something I intend to rectify so that next time there will be a Bible in our little Christian school room), a bouquet and bouquet toss, flower girl, "father" walking her down the aisle, and annulment a few minutes later when Jake realized that he had done something kinda "girlie." There was also a wedding photographer-me- and I'd post the pictures here when I get them if it weren't for all you sickos out there in cyberspace. Bad sickos, ruining things for everyone.

They left for the school wing discussing what they would do differently in the next wedding that they hold. I really hope this doesn't become a trend, like singing "Who Let the Dog's Out," or finger crocheting. I'd much prefer the finger crocheting to my 5-10 year olds already planning their weddings.

Still Not Used To It

2006-06-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

I'm still not used to seeing something that I have written come up on google.com.

Right now for suite101.com I'm writing a series on illnesses and the daycare, and I gogles "Daycare Illnesses" while doing research for the second article in the series and I readthe number four post and thought Hmmm, that sounds a lot like what I wrote...wait- duh. At that point I realized it was not Like what I had written, but was in actuality what I had written. I' still beat by daycare.com, babycenter.com, and kidsource.com, but I'm beating childcare.about.com, and ibabydoc.com, which despite the odd name seems that it should have precedence over my article. Haha. My article is the fourth entry on google.com. Okay bragging over.

Really, I don't think that it has sunk into me yet that my dream from the time I could write of being a published writer has really come true-- that people will look to my words for advice and insight and humor. I always say it and it really is true-- that words have power and that we need to be careful how we use them. I think it hasn't really hit me after 6 months of being published (first w/ County Wide News) simply because I somehow imagined that I would be published in book form, so thins seems unreal, even though I get statistics every month of how many thousands of people read what I have written, and even though I knew what the circulation of CWN was. It is still a eventuall dream to have a book-- or more than one :) published, but I think that I need to realy sit back and absorb that I have acheived somethingthat I've wanted for so long. Instead I seem to get focused on deadlines and staff/editor/ceo/other staff intrigue that happens. And serch engine optimization. Always the SEO.

Following Tricia's Lead

2006-06-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hi All-

I'm following Tricia's lead in posting a link to an interesting article on the subject of devotions and how Christians are often lead to feel guilt at their inability to remain faithful in reading and praying every day. I want to sya more on it and give my opinion and personal reaction, but I'll leave it to y'all to read it and tell me your opinions. I may post on it later, but I am honestly still reading it, but I wanted to post a link before I left the library.

http://gregscouch.homestead.com/files/Quiet_Time_Guilt.htm

Here's a quote that I think will elicit a response from you:
"“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me” (Jn 5:39). Yes, that’s what Jesus said. Bible study can be a sin. The Pharisees assumed the Bible a book of rules or principles for living, but failed the grasp it as a story about God’s love for his people."

Do you agree- do you think that Bible Study can sometimes be a sin? Let me know.

I just realized that I wrote that last question in much the same way that I do when I'm writing for my work at suite101.com. I guess that shows just how ngrained it is in me now. BTW- thanks again to everyone who has been visiting the site and helping my pageviews. Search Engine Optimization is beginning to become easier for me, and the site has a new owner and site design that will hopefully bring in more readers.

5 days left of WMU!

2006-06-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

I was reading an open letter from Walter Block to Gary Haugen, the president of International Justice Mission, in which he addresses a speech that Haugen gave at Regent University in Vancouver. Among some of his other rather odd claims he writes this:

"In closing, one last criticism of your presentation: lose that film clip showing a child buyer being tied up by the police. You may not have noticed it, but it also showed a television set in the background. But this implies electricity, and a certain minimal level of prosperity – all totally incompatible with your story of people selling their kids motivated by dire poverty."

Television is no longer, nor has truly ever been exclusive to the rich, and its mere presence does not exclude the possibility of a person being under dire financial duress. Also, Mr. Block is an economist and therefore his knee-jerk reaction is to focus only on economic issues and ignore the many other factors that cotribute to human trafficking in his letter. If these issues were simply to be solved with money, then we should all simply begin to give them aid as a disincentive to participate in slavery- the way that we give aid to countries to stop them from developing the atomic bomb, or pay farmers to not produce crops so that the market will not crash. If only it were only economic issues that created slavery. Much of the time economics are an issue, but also at fault is the lower value placed of female lives, the deciet of the few (many women are hired as housekeepers or child care providers and then trapped into prostitution.) Also much of the time race is the primary issue.

In his open letter, which I am presuming was never answered- Mr. Block also mocks someone he assumes is a theological seminar student because, "since his remarks were based on the usual Marxist claptrap taught in such establishments of higher learning," and also says that humainity will never think of others because it is "sociobiologically" ( a word he likes a lot, but really means very little) wired into us from the time we were cavemen to think of our narrow communities. Good thinking there, try to dispute the argument of someone who doesn't believe in evolution on the basis of "evolutionary hard-wiring."

Block also largely quotes "Wealth of Nations" which advocates merit based economic systems where people are allowed to succeed or fail based upon their individual abilities. The flaw in this thinking in association with social justice is first that many of those effected are children who are unable to acheive this economic freedom- unless Block is advocating sweat-shops, which I doubt is his intention, and also that for many of these people there is a societal history of subjugation to the extent that there is no possibility of their gaining freedom through free trade.

While the idea behind this is systematically appealing-- with little effort on our parts, this seems to be the "Baker's Dozen" rule of justice- that if one or two fail and must be thrown out, at least on the whole it works. And the sad thing is, in many of these cases it is not simply one or two that are thrown away, but thousands. The problem is, we are not dealing with economic systems, we are not dealing with the conceptual, we are dealing with real persons. Sometimes there is too much of a false sense of security in statistics.

If you want to read all of the letter, it can be found at:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block41.html

So Long

2006-06-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, shocking. Me. Blogging. I'll give you a moment to recover from the shock. 2 notes-- internet is broken at home, which has kind of thrown a wrench in my blogging and other internet activities, including writing for www.suite101.com-- which I still do. BTW- we've just updated the design of the site and is now a funky green with little round pictures- cool but apparently hard for people wh are colorblind to read.

I only have 7 more days of coming to class here at WMU (I'm sitting in Moore before class) and then I'll be done forever! Its been so long, but it will be so worth it to have that little piece of paper. I also found out that my old college Reformed Bible College is now called Kuyper College. I stopped by their website recently and I found out that I may be eligable to recieve a Certificate in Christian Foundations. Sweet-- that will look nice on my resume. Have I also mentioned that I have a membership now in Sigma Tau Delta (STD-- yes, I know) which is an International English Honors Society. I have a t-shirt that says, "I have an STD" and in smaller letters "membership. On the back it explains it, but I have gotten some funny looks when people only see the front. I just want to laugh because I doubt if I had an STD that I'd be advertizing it on my clothing. Okay, class is about to begin. I promise I'll update soon.

2006-05-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention-- for the two classes that illustrated my example-- for all of their differing demands when all was said and done-- I got the SAME GRADE for them each!

Another Semester Under My Belt

2006-05-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

Well, another semester is over and done with, and done well I might add. I get honestly ticked off when professors demand so little of students that you have no incentive to learn or try. For example, I had two english classes this semester (well I had three but I'm just using the two that illustrate the end of the spectrum) In one of my classes the class-load was probably the most demanding of my college life, and in the other it was one of the lightest. Partly because I needed to complete the work from my other classes, but also just because I knew there would be no consequences, I didn't try my best or do my best work in the latter class. In the class where much was demanded, I turned in my best work of my college life. This is also due to the difference in the focuses of the classes. One was a professional writing class and the other was a class where we workshopped things that classmates had written-- and it is always hard to be totally serious while workshopping something that the whole class really understands to be completed just minutes before the copies were distributed to classmates, and that most of the class is reading the piece as it is being workshopped and writing a hurried note about how they liked the third paragraph, but thought that it ended suddenly ( a common issue when class begins in half an hour, you are still writing the story and still need to run off 20 copies.)

Thankfully, this whole situation has allayed some of my fears about my abilities as a writing, and underscored just how much WMU needs to work on its English program. I suppose it is a common malady, but as my college life is coming closer and closer to being over, I am seeing more what I DON'T know rather than how far I have come. When I talk to other people who are in the same stage as I am they feel very similarly, so that makes me feel better. Also I'm freelancing some more, including some grantwriting, and I subscribe to idealist.com's job service and I daily get about 40-60 jobs which I am qualified to do with varying degrees of aptitude.

C'est la vie. Another semester begins on Monday, so I still have some time to gain more competence in areas where I have found I am lacking.

2006-04-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted a prose poem that I wrote about the Sandhill Cranes that were eating in the field by my house. Later I took it to my Writing Creative Non-Fiction class and had it workshopped. People either said that they didn't get it, or that they thought that is was wonderful, amazing, and one guy said that if he didn't know that I wrote it he wouldv'e thought that it was by Wordsworth or someone equally meritous. I don't knbow about that, but I have been musing on whether I would rather have everyone find it pleasant but not amazing, or have some say that they had to read it several times to understand what it was saying and others think that it was one of the most amazing things they've ever read, and I finally decided I'd rather have the divided opinions, but stong opinions compared to lukewarm across the board.

I guess my point is to preface the pictures that are included in this. I was insipired by my poem's commentary on the simplicity and beauty of nature that I made a piece of art today to go with it. I used paint, decoupage of clipping from the newspaper and magazines, pen and ink, and my scanner/printer to do it.

Fast, Cheap PCBs

2006-03-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm writing a paper right now on PCB pollution in the Kalamazoo River and solutions to the problem. A cool idea, and there really is some shocking information on the contamination of the river (And might explain my big knee :) ) but it sucks because this is my Prof's area of expertise, so I need to be very precise in what I say. (Though I just remembered that usually his grad ass. grades papers.) I was looking up information on PCBs and since I was using Google, the usual ads popped up at the top of the page. The first, "Fast, cheap PCBs" So, you wanna buy some cancer causing chemicals that have been outlawed here in the US? We have 'em for you.

The irony is that we are still consuming PCBs on a fairly regular basis. We are eating fish and other seafood that contains trace amounts of PCBs, and the largest affront of all is that it ISN'T ILLEGAL for US companies to manufacture and distribute PCBs to other countries with less stringent laws on its usage. And where do these lovely devloping nations ship their carcinogen-laden wares? Right back here to you and me. Yum, yum. Why don't we at least investigate the amounts of PCBs in the incoming produce-- the answer is simply one of the money that it would cost for inspection and the added burden of more trade barriers with nations that we want to keep open relations with. I suppose if we told the corporations that they could no longer manufacture PCB in the Unites States, the would simply move the actual production to another country, which would cost Americans jobs-- its an endless wheel of pros and cons.

Speaking of which, I recently found a new website that I really like the concept of-- www.undergodprocon.org. It takes controversial issues and makes them understandable for laymen, and offers both sides of the argument in what tries to be a fair and unbiased way. Ihaven't read enough to know if they totally accomplish this, but I did look at their section on the phrase "Under God" in our government, and they had some interesting stuff to say about the Founding Fathers.
Other subjects they have listed are "Medical Marajuana,"Born Gay?" "ACLU- is it good for America?" and things like that. Again-- don't get pissed at me if it turns out to be either severely right or left wing, I simply enjoy the concept of it, and cannot vouch for the sucess or failure of the mission.

My nose

2006-03-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Oi!! All day today my head has been killing me. I think its a mixture of a cold and the weather front that is coming through. I've mentioned my Old Man weather skills before, but I don't think I mentioned it in reference to my old broken nose injury. With this fierce wind we've been having all day my nose and sinuses have just been aching.

For those not in the know-- I broke my nose at a youth group party out here at the lake when people tried to flip the raft (think aluminum barrells and platform) and I was a little too later to grab the ladder and when they all fell off, the ladder struck me across the face. Angels-- and several other friends were really watching out for me that day.

I am thankful for the 60 degree weather though. Sadly, I'm sure winter will try to reassert itself at least one more time before spring can kick its ass outa here.

Job Interview

2006-03-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited about a job possibility that I have with the CRC in Grand Rapids. I'm going up there on Wednesday. When I applied for it I was really excited, because everything about the job is something that I not only have experience in, but am passionate about. I was all geeked when they called me for an interview, and they also emailed me to ask for an electronic copy of my resume. However, when I called the woman who I spoke to says, "The slots we have open are...." I hate that. That means usually that the job has been extremely popular and that they are going to be much more particular. I wouldn't be able to begin working until after this semester is over (the middle of April) but I had hoped that I could either begin part time or that they wouldn't make a decision until April 1 or so, and I could give notice at my job now and then only have a week of overlap or less. I know, wishful thinking, but its basically a dream job-- working in the Office of Social Justice and Hunger Action, writing things for the website, their newsletter, their youth initiative, and various other projects.
I'm trying to not to let myself get worried-- for several reasons. I do have experience in many of these areas and I am a competent and passionate writer, and I tend to let myself enter into feelings of incompetence and I need to have faith in my own abilities. Second, we recently spoke of faith in our study on Spiritual Gifts in small group and I've realized that I need to work on this. I am convicted that I need to have faith that God has a place and a plan for me-- whether that is this job at this time remains to be seen, but there is a job for me. I was fretting on all of this and I hopped in my car on the way to class today and the CD that was playing was my old fav' Caedmon's Call, Shifting Sand. The rest of that CD and most specifically that song really speaks about faith. I've never listened to it with that subject in mind, and its a real testament to their talent that this CD that is wearing out and in need of replacement can still tell me something new about life and me.

Things You Do When You Are Bored

2006-03-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

2006-03-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

I was looking at websites of different Christian organizations that are advocating social justice-- or at least their version of it. I founbd this one (copied below) that really surprised me, and dissapointed me for its fundamental misunderstanding of what motivates Hollywood, and how the author simply looks for some difference and grasps the disparity of box office revenue and morphs his logic to fit this difference. He implies that Hollywood is less concerned with box office revenue and more about changing our culture and advancing their political agenda. First, isn't that what Narnia is doing? (I liked Narnia) He only disagrees with changing the culture if it is a change that he doesn't like. He also implies that these movies are impacting our culture in a negative way. Let's look at a couple of the nominees for Best Picture that he takes issue with. Walk the Line a movie about Johnny Cash, who is generally loved by Christians and Crash (the winner) a movie about prejudice and that we need to each be aware of wher we may be at fault and where we need to understand others. Is this a negative?

If a movie doesn 't make money, it doesn't change culture because no one sees it, a film studio cannot keep putting out movies if they don't make money. What other awards should Narnia have won? It was up for special effects, but lost. And really, the special effects weren't the greatest we've seen. I think that we are too picky as film-goers usually, but if you look at a side by side comparison of Narnia and say, War of the Worlds, the latter would win. Best picture-- it was good, but it was good for what it was-- a kid's movie.

"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has chosen its nominees for this year's awards. Predictably, Brokeback Mountain ($75 million in ticket sales) has been nominated for a host of top awards. Other entries include Walk the Line ($117 million), Crash ($53 million), Munich ($46 million), and Capote ($23 million). All these films stand high in the critics' estimation. The Chronicles of Narnia ($288 million) was nominated only for the less prestigious award for makeup. Notice the difference? The critics' choices combined accounted for little more box office appeal than Narnia alone. This year's anticipated Oscar-winning movies, reviewed in light of their box office appeal, reveal Hollywood's true motives. They are far less concerned about entertaining people than they are with trying to shape the culture and advance a political agenda. "

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA06C06#WA06C06

I agree that Hollywood is often polluted with sin and wrong in it's stereotypes of middle America, but I also agree with George Clooney's acceptance speech, where he said that yes Hollywood is out of touch, but that it also has brought issues like racism and equality of women into the light when they were never talked of otherwise. Personally, I know that Crash has meant a lot to me and to many of my friends and made me reexamine my own opinions of others.

Grr.

My Grandma

2006-03-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

Recently we got a letter from my grandmother that enclosed a check. A very, very, very, very small check. My grandma got a refund from their last month of "Cablevision" and it was addressed to my deceased grandpa-- Alfred-- which also happens to be my dad's name. My grandma started to throw it away, considering it wasn't an amount worth the effort to get the name changed over, but then my aunt suggested that she send it to my dad because "Freddie can cash it!" So, two days ago a check arrived at our door for $2.60 and a note that told my father, "Let your dad treat you to a coke."

Publisher

2006-03-03T19:14:00.002-07:00

This morning at about 9 am I went to Office Depot and bought Microsoft Publisher. It seems like a nice program in the limited amount of time that I've had to look it over, except for 2 complaints that I came up with right away. There is no manual or how-to of any sort that comes along with it. I know that there are tools in the actual program that will assist me, but somehow a printed tutorial is vastly more useful than simply wandering my way around. 2- We have no wireless at home so I've been using my parents' busted old pc for internet, but it won't work with Publisher. So, I've loaded it on my laptop, and I discovered a surprising warning message that told me that if I didn't go online, in 49 more viewings many of the features of the program would be unusable. What the? I paid for the stupid thing, why can't I use it on whatever computer I want? I've misplaced my wireless card so unless I find it I can't even go online to register it. I'm still debating buying myself a new computer so that I can better serve the few "clients" paid and unpaid that I have now and hopefully find more, and also be able to use it without either a) the wireless card not working or simply not having it b) the plug falling out (which it does because tis a replacement plug that doesn't fit right) and the computer going dead, which it does often because c) the battery is old and goes dead in approximately 10 minutes. Its also horribly slow, which really limits me on my creativity when I am focused on my high frustration level. What I really want is a tablet style computer so that I can write notes for myself on documents, edit things for future writing jobs, and share them with the people who WILL be hiring me, because I am magically delicious at writing, though not magically delicious at typing right now because I'm seated at my parents' computer on a table in my living room and its so high that I think I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Maybe.

Man, could I complain more?

(Totally off-topic warning! When I said "magically delicious" earlier- do you know what that is called where I'm not directly quoting someone yet I am inserting another voice into my narrative? Didn't think so. This is my last year of college and I am only learning this now-- and a lot of other important and interesting things that all english majors should know. Which is really a commentary on WMUs quality education standards. Okay, back to the point of my comment on a divergent topic- its called heteroglossia. Don't you feel smarter now? I'm sure it will come up on Jeapordy some day and you can amaze all of your friends.)

Proof

2006-03-03T19:14:00.001-07:00

We're watching Proof right now with Gwennnie Peltrow and Jake G. Why is it that watching movies about crazy people makes the back of my head feel fuzzy? Is this some sort of sign?

No More Fake Comments

2006-03-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

Yay-

Blogger now requires word verification in order to post a comment. This has really seemed to cut down on the number of fake comments that have been posted on my blog-- or maybe they just haven't found my new blog yet. Oh well, I can always refuse them if they come.

Daisy

2006-03-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would post a few pictures of my cat- specifically for you Valie Girl. You knew her back when she was merely "Bug Eyed Stripey Butt's" daughter, and now she a is a fat and weird cat with a proclivity for standing on top of doors and seeing lights on the ceiling. The first picture I put in to show how fat she is, but also how rambunctious. The look in her eyes is her ready to pounce look. In the second one she looks so alert and proud. I tricked her into thinking I was going to throw something for her, but instead captured her cocky look. I did play with her later though. In the third she looks slightly drunk, but I think that's because its and extreme close-up and when I took it she was sitting on my lap on her favorite fuzzy blanket and purring like mad because I had been petting her.

How Many Dramas Do We Need?

2006-03-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Why are so many new dramas lately? First it was the crime shows-- CSI (which I am a fan of) and the spinoffs, Without a Trace, NCIS, etc. and then all of the paranormal investigations-- Surface, Invasion, Medium, Ghost Whisperer, and so many more. Is it really simply that because the world is so unsure, we need some sort of drama where we can be assured of some sort of closure after and hour, or if not closure then at least the illusion of closure that is given by dramatic music and a hero striding purposely down a darkened hallway, or bowing their heads in contemplation as they think about their position in the world fighting against the forces of evil for truth, justice, and the Amer- wait thats another type of show.

Or is it? Comic books and shows based off of them are more popular now that ever because they feature the same struggle of good against evil, albeit in a more blatantly abvious way than these shows, and mysterious lighting and criminals that have secret identities as normal citizens but really have hearts as black as night are common themes in both. We like to belive that there really are people like them, and that we could be them ourselves. Our heros are never simply that, instead they are fallible, tortured, vulnerable, sensetive and vain. Often before the begin their heroic quest they are the weakest of society and in modern incarnations are usually geeks who seek to be something more but are unable to break free of the trap of their own intelligence. However, they rise above these humble beginnings and become something above the average mortal. We all on some subconscious level view ourselves as the underdog, which is why this storyline so appeals to us. We fear being bamboozled by government, ostracized by society, and powerless to defend the ones we love or right past wrongs, and in these stories and heros we see ourselves as having the capability of achieving this goal.

Polka Dot?

2006-03-01T21:06:00.002-07:00

I was just reviewing my blog to make sure everything posted okay and my new blog's background reminded me of a cartoon my brother and I used to watch after school-- The Animaniacs. One of the running jokes featured one of the characters- Dot, and a red dress with white circles on it. Every time someone would see it, they would inevitably say, "Polka-dot?" Dot would sigh resignedly, but dutifully grab the speaker and give a quick dance to the music of an accordian. Did anyone else ever watch that show? It also was the origin of Pinky and the Brain, as well as the songs of all the countries in the world, all the states and their capitals, and all the words in the dictionary. Fond memories. Semi-twisted show, but with reflection I can see all the educational content that they hid amongst the anvil-dropping and adult-annoying.

2006-03-01T21:06:00.001-07:00

From that same site:

Chapter 4: Listen to the Man Who Listens to God

”Listen to no man who fails to listen to God.” ...David warns against the counsel of the ungodly, and Bible history gives examples of men who made a failure of their lives because they took wrong advice.... No man has any right to counsel others who is not ready to hear and follow the counsel of the Lord. True moral wisdom must always be an echo of God’s voice. The only safe light for our path is the light which is reflected from Christ, the Light of the World...."

Tozer is so cool isn't he. I've been seeking good advice this week, as well as attempting to give it, and this has just reminded me of what good advice really is. We are studying spiritual gifts in my small group and I'm always frustrated when people try to wield them like they are some sort of superpowers that they are endowed with in the blaze of a comic-bookesque solar flare of Holy fire. As glamorous and thrilling as it would seem, we are not the X-men, nor have we been exposed to any genetically altered spiders recently. That I know of.

2006-03-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

I was reading this tonight and it so struck me that I was impelled to post it on my blog. This is an area of spiritual growth that it is far to easy to forget about, especially if one has grown up in church and heard many of the stories from the Bible countless times. I am making it my endeavor to not forget even one day of spending a good amount of time in prayer, reading, and meditating on God's Word in the month of March. I use the excuse of my college life as a reason for fogetting to read, or simply being "too tired." Bah on me!

Chapter 2: We Must Give Time to God
(Exerpts From: The Root of the Righteous by A.W. Tozer)

"Probably the most widespread and persistent problem to be found among Christians is the problem of retarded spiritual progress. Why, after years of Christian profession, do so many persons find themselves no farther along than when they first believed? Some would try to resolve the difficulty by asserting flatly that such persons were never saved, that they had never been truly regenerated....
With a few this may be the answer, and we would accept this explanation as final did we not know that it is never the deceived professor who laments his lack of spiritual growth, but the true Christian who has had a real experience of conversion and who is sure that he is this very moment trusting in Christ for salvation....The causes of retarded growth are many.... One there is, however, which is so universal that it may easily be the main cause: failure to give time to the cultivation of the knowledge of God. ... Believing for salvation has these days been reduced to a once-done act that requires no further attention. ...The Christian is strong or weak depending upon how closely he has cultivated the knowledge of God. Paul was anything but an advocate of the once-done, automatic school of Christianity. He devoted his whole life to the art of knowing Christ.
”Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death… I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 5:8,10,14).
...God can be known satisfactorily only as we devote time to Him. ... The Christian who is satisfied to give God His ”minute” and to have ”a little talk with Jesus” is the same one who shows up at the evangelistic service weeping over his retarded spiritual growth and begging the evangelist to show him the way out of his difficulty....there is no short cut to sanctity.... Back of it all is the slow buildup and preparation that comes from waiting upon God."

http://www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/books/faith/tozer-faith.htm

Holding Hands

2006-03-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

Lisa posted recently about her kids crying, and I have a similar post about my kids and holding hands. Every morning we go the gym and often the kids choose to all play a game together. Two of the games this week were Squirrel & Tree and Blob Tag. Something really funny that I have noticed is that the older kids are getting to the point where they don't want to hold hands with anyone while they play the games. The boys just simply don't want to be touching another boy in that way, and if they held hands with a girl, it would look like they liked that girl. Most of the girls are younger, but even the older girls are pretty much clueless as to why this is such a big deal. Common comments are, "Miss Carrie, when he tagged me they weren't holding hands!" or, "Miss Carrie, my tree won't link arms with me!" I really don't miss those days, but then again, they were a lot more innocent than now.

Sunday Lunch at Joyce's

2006-03-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

This Sunday Joyce from church invited a group of us to lunch at her condo. It was a wonderful day. She is beginning a new Sunday routine, where she invites a mix of old and new members of our church over to get to know each other. She used to do this at Third, and they were the ones who remodeled the basement that we were eating in, into a comforable and peaceful gathering place. Probably the best time was when Joyce had us go around the table and share something real about ourselves-- either our salvation story, something we learned while fasting in January, or some other significant life occurrence. There were about 14 of us there, and 2 of the people shared their problems with depression and bipoloarism and how they had been healed by God and appreciated the presence of Godly Christians around them. The last person to share was Robin, and she immediately began to cry as she spoke of how much courage those two people had to openly address this issue in their lives and how beautiful it was that the rest of us were so open and accepting of them. She said that her parents had both dealt with this issue, and at their church she and they could never discuss it when she was growing up, and that had made her feel like they were never good enough to be accepted. "My dad died of a heart attack 4 years ago, and eh would have loved to see this, to see people talking openly about who they are and being accepted for it." When she said this I (and about 4 others) began crying.

Why is it so common in the place where we are supposed to find the most acceptance and unconditional love-- with our church family-- we often find the least acceptance? I'm not going to pretend that the River is perfect, or that every other church is an example of the antithesis of Christ's love, but this really made me think about how my brother might be different, how I might be different if we had been given this same acceptance when we were going to be speaking in front of the church instead of being told to not speak of satanism or spiritual warfare because it would make people feel "uncomforable." Oh no-- heaven forbid people speak of the war for our souls in church, or make anyone feel uncomfortable. Okay, bitter party over. Really I know that my path has always been God-directed, whether I was in an accepting place or one where I felt horribly confined and disenfranchised.

My Hair

2006-02-23T21:04:00.001-07:00

I'll post the pictures when my dad gets them developed, but for now I'll just have to tell you all- my long hair is gone! I went to Great Clips and got it hacked off today for Locks of Love. It was so easy to do- to just not get my hair cut, and it can really help a cancer patient who needs a wig, so you all should do it! It feels so odd to have it gone. I keep trying to pull it back and there's nothing there. That just shows that it was habitual rather than practical that I tried to smooth my hair. It was nice to put on my coat without having to flip my hair out. It gets so static-filled since its so fine and thin. I wanted to get it done this week because I am going up to International Aid for my project tomorrow and I want to present as professional an image as I can. They are trusting me with a big project and I'm a little freaked out by it, and I think it'll help me psychologically to look put together tomorrow too.

I may get lost tomorrow because I'm going to Spring Lake after work, and then I'm driving from their to either Stacie's house to carpool, or to a coffee house in Allegan for Mallory's jazz concert. You may never see me again. I'll simply be wandering up and down the pinky side of the mitten forever.

2006-02-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is going to sound really odd about a blog, but since I've come to "So Very Carrie" and determined to not complanin about things so much, my blog has been rather self-centered. Although the purpose of a blog may be to share your life with others, I looked at the titles I've had so far and they seem somewhat self-aggrandizing. Don't know exactly what to do about it though.

I miss my Super Heros

2006-02-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

This morning i drove to work thinking about a white chocolate mocha. I had decided to stop and pick up some sort of coffee drink on the way home. I was in Before School Program when in pops Miss Lisa with Hot Chocolate! I was so thankful for that warm hot liquid running down my throat. I miss the days that Miss Lisa and I taught our "Super Hero" class of preschoolers. The both of us would be exhausted (for various reasons) and would inevitably make our way to the pop machine for something to help us make it through the long afternoons, or eat some leftover snack. At the beginning of the year I hated that class because I was so used to being with Miss Melissa, and the kids really didn't get the whole school concept initially, but by the end of the year I think it was my favorite. We were more relaxed and our kids were so unique and funny. That was a good time-- I kind of miss the structure of being in a preschool class every day, and I miss Lisa being our daycare director or lead daycare teacher and the little encouraging notes that she would drop us for no reason. I do love the opportunity for publication that working less has given me, and I am so excited to finally be reaching for my calling, but I can't help but look back on those days with fondness.

Carrie, The Brilliant Author

2006-02-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

I am doubly blessed! Today I spoke with Gloria Wiersma from International Aid about my senior project writing for them, and it sounds like a tremendous opportunity. I will be writing information that will go to hospitals and doctor offices here in the USA and to nurses in the Philippines who are prospective participants in their nursing exchange program. Recruiters often travel to the Philippines to find nurses, but often abuse the contracts that they have the nurses sign. Authorities have found nurses working in the recruiters homes as housekeepers and nannies, and they are often duped out of thousands of dollars in their salaries. International Aid is trying to helpend this by providing an alternative agency to work with that insures that they are fairly treated. I will defiently tell you more about this after I travel up there this Friday to look at the facilites and speak with employees.

I also (drum roll please) have been hired by Suite101.com as their new "Daycare Expert" writer to share what I have learned over 4.5 years at CFK/SMLS. I will be writing an article a week, as well as a more informal blog post. I'll also be maintaining my topic's discussion section. The money that I make will be based upon traffic, so if ya'all have some free time, please check it out when its up and running in a couple weeks. Yay!

Campaign For Real Beauty

2006-02-13T15:59:00.002-07:00

Hey-
You may have seen a commercial during the Super Bowl for Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty. They are partnering with the Girl Scouts to increase girls's self confidence and show beauty that is against the sterotypical idea of it portrayed by the media. Its at www.campaignforrealbeauty.com. Its a really cool site, but I was suprised to see a picture featuring nudity (albeit small nudity) in their gallery of "Real Beauty" I suppose it comes down to the freedom of artistic expression. It isn't in a showy way, but the site is supposed to be appropriate for girls to visit as well, so some moms might take issue with it.

Edited Later: Okay, now I've looked at more of the photos, and there is at least one of close up, completely nude woman. The caption says that the subject is the photographer's daughter. My mom and I are close, but not that close.

My Old Blog

2006-02-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

I forgot to say that my old blog is at:

www.soapychick.blogspot.com

(I know you can find it from here, but I'm making it easier on you)

Le Premiere

2006-02-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hey-
I got tired of having to explain the name of my other blog to people and why it references soap ( i make glycerin soap) Also, its a little out of date because I rarely make soap anymore. I'm now mainly expressing myself through my writing (duh, for those who know me) making jewelry, painting, decoupage and cooking. So here it is: I'll try to redirect people to this site, but I may end up back over there.