This Deserves Mention

So I'm breaking the silence. This was on the front page of the Washington Times. Woohoo PHC Moot Court!

The Next Week and Then Some

Its been a while. I went home. And came back again. And had three papers due. So it was 5 pages of a Logic critical essay due Tuesday morning. I think it came out to 7 or 8 of a US History research paper Tuesday midnight (don't remember much about that). And another 5 of a Research and Writing research paper Wednesday by 5. Being a freshman of sorts, I happen to think that is a lot for three days. Especially since my Greek prof assigned extra homework that I turned in late...but completed. Turned that in Tuesday around noon.
After that was over my body seemed to think it could just give up on everything. Even my immune system. So yeah, I got horribly ill. So much so that I skipped Logic class.
This morning I figured out my finals schedule. Its grotesque. I have seven finals. I then came up with a study plan. That is even worse. But I am glad I did it because while I knew things were going to be awful, I did not realize just how awful and likely would have put off some things that could not be neglected. (btw, for those of you that object to my use of "but" at the beginning of a sentence, I would just like to say that Greek is superior to our language in that way. In Greek, there is a special word that is less emphatic, so you can use it at the beginning of the sentence as a sort of connective thing and still be within proper and preferred usage.)
I will not be blogging until its over. Which in fact means that I won't be blogging until I get home. Happy finalizing!

Glad That's Over

Yesterday was awful. Still, all things considered, I think I did alright on my exams, I was prepared for Greek class, I got my Moot Court brief in on time, and one of my oral arguments was pretty OK (we won't talk about the other one...it didn't happen *wink*). I accidently slept the whole night on the couch in the lounge of my dorm. Not exactly comfortable without a pillow.
I plan to take a short nap today, clean my room, do my laundry, do my chore I neglected to do on Saturday, write thank you notes, go to the chiropractor, meet with Dr. Farris, work on some homework, work on a couple term papers, and then sleep in my bed.

(7 days till I go home!)

Happenings

hmmm, a lot happened.
1. my b-day. (btw, Zac is great)
2. campaigning. we may not have won the state, but we won a mandate.
3. the rest is a blurr.

now for today...
kimbell (my roommate) discovered this morning that it was 32 degrees outside.

Only in College

Actually, more has happened lately than this, but I'll just tell you this for now. Today as I was eating my lunch, some guy jumped up on a table and got the attention of (presumably) everyone in the dining hall. He announced that it was Saint Crispin's day and in honor of that delivered the Saint Crispin's day speech from Henry V. Dr. Hake (English prof. who happens to be really cool - big gray beard, sleeps under trees in his suit), was sitting at my table. He seemed quite amused/pleased by the whole situation. The most entertaining part was to watch his reactions.
But now that I've said that I need to get back to work. Maybe I'll do an update on what I did on the weekend. Maybe I won't.

Cable and Kissing

I'm in the process of recovering from the past week. The network has been down on and off for the past 5 days or so and as if that weren't bad enough, the cable went out too. So watch a movie, you say. I wish. The only way I can watch a movie is if I do it on a computer which means finding a classroom or some ground somewhere to sit. We can't watch movies in the lounges because schools have been being prosecuted for public showings of movies. I find it annoying. They are working on buying a license so we can start watching movies again, but in the mean time its pretty boring. So yeah, the cable going out is really annoying. It got fixed yesterday so a decent chunk of the evening was spent watching it. We watched Hey Arnold, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Smallville. Quite a refreshing experience.
Today in Bio Lab we took cells from our mouths and then did this thing to explode them so the DNA could come out so we could analyze it somehow. I asked Dr. Gruenke if we really carry in our mouths the DNA of every person we kiss for the rest of our lives. She said we do not. One girl expressed relief as she handed over her sample.
Now its time for lunch.

The Weekend and Then Some

Certain friends have complained that I have completely lost touch with the world. This is true. So the deal I made was that I will blog little updates every day or so. I have no intention to catch the world up on what has happened in the past 2 1/2 months, I'm just going to start with the past few days and keep updated from there.
This weekend was insane. I have been running a fever every evening since sometime last week. Yesterday I had a Biology exam that I needed to do very well on if I was going to save my butt in that class, I had a prospectus due in Research and Writing, I had a quiz in US History, and I had an extra class added to my Monday schedule - ConLaw. Today was a Logic exam that counts for 30% of our grade. That made the weekend stressful and non-fun. Zac and I did get out a couple times on Saturday. First we walked to a couple yard sales after lunch. Then that evening we went contra dancing in Purcellville, but we didn't stay even close to the whole time. We do force ourselves to have fun off campus. I think its the only way to stay sane.
I worked out my life so that I was able to get almost 8 hours of sleep Sunday night. It just might have saved my life. And then yesterday morning in chapel we had a small group prayer time. My request was that I would rely on God for the strength to get through the day. After that it was amazing. The day went by without stressing me out. I didn't even start falling asleep in my classes. And to top it off I was able to have energy at the end of the day to stay motivated and study Logic.
The plan for tonight is to chill out. We might watch a movie.
The end.

Seeing the Sights

Today I went with my wingmates on a tour of the West Wing of the White House. It was very cool. I'll have to write up a full report of it soon.

I've Arrived

Actually, I have been here for over a week now and I am mostly settled in. Right now I am taking a break from homework and I have been listening to Simon and Garfunkel. Virginia is beautiful, so green and lots of trees. I have been taking frequent walks. There is a path that goes through some lovely trees and takes you into Purcellville if you go the right direction on it. For the most part I think my classes are going to go very well. I am slightly worried about Logic, but I'll try to work hard at it. ConLaw started off inspiringly with Dr. Farris challenging us to find a defense for liberty from reformed theology. That could take my whole time here. I think I'll work on it when I can. The challenge is now written on an index card on my bulletin board watching me do my homework. For those who want to know, my classes are as follows:

Greek I
Research and Writing
Biology w/ Lab
US History I
Logic
Constitutional Law

I guess I should tell an interesting story. So here it goes:
Saturday night a group of us decided to go swing dancing in a parking lot in Purcellville (we aren't allowed to dance on campus). So after a little deliberation I decided to wear my flip flops instead of regular shoes. Sure enough, within about 10 minutes of dancing, I landed hard on my foot from a flip sort of move and totally tore up the bottom. It started to bleed pretty badly so I laid down on the grass and got it elevated. One friend was very nice and loaned me her hankerchief to put on it to stop the bleeding and a couple other people ran off and got me stuff to bandage it up with. So I hung out there with my foot in the air watching people dance for the remainder of the evening. I got to come back in someone's car and a friend helped me up to my room. For once I was glad at how crowded our room is because that way I always had something at arm's length to use for support. I have been hobbling around ever since. Today was the first day I could wear dress shoes. Which means first day of school instead of wearing the cool outfit I had planned I had to destroy it with a worn out pair of flip flops. So the moral of the story is not to swing dance barefoot in a school parking lot two days before school starts. College teaches many lessons.

The Political Human Sacrifice, part III

This happened today, wish I had been there. More on it later...

This Week

I would like to think that I'll get another blog in before I leave, but I decided I would do a general update on my life right now. For the first half of the week I did a lot of shopping with my mom. As of yesterday, I think I got just about everything I need. There are still a couple things on my list, but nothing I am freaking out about. I guess I should be freaking out that I don't have a backpack, at least one that isn't held together by duct tape. Today I was mostly lazy. Liz spent the night last night and left early this morning and I ended up sleeping in far later than I intended. I wasted away the morning watching an old version of Pride and Prejudice that was on tv but got bored with it toward the end and wandered off to do nothing. Then I spend the afternoon watching The Andromeda Strain on tv after which Kelli and I made it just in time to see the last matinee of The Princess Diaries II. I liked it, so did Kelli. Go see it, great princess movie. Back at home I started to try to pack. I got a very little way and then could go no further since we don't have boxes or those bags that shrink your clothes. So I started a load of laundry and then wasted the rest of the night. A very nothing day indeed. Now I'll have a punishment of a day tomorrow since we leave Monday morning and I have plans for the whole weekend. Saturday there is going to be a TPCS alumni reunion picnic, then I may go see the TPCS production of The Phantom Tollbooth and after that my friends and I are going out to dinner. Sunday is church and then that evening a small going away party for me.

I hope I can get to the park before I go, and I want to spend more time playing with my dog Lucy. It makes me sad to think that she'll get to her old age while I am gone at school these next few years. I don't understand why dogs live such short lives. I want to spend a good amount of time with my bird Sanka too. As much as he drives me crazy I am going to miss him. I stress about him like he was my own child.

And that should about fill you in. I'll try to blog once more before I leave and I'll blog as much as possible while I am at school.

Dolphin Sightings

I am back again. I went with my family to Carpinteria all last week. It was a great time. And since we saw many many dolphins, I would like to share something.

I was having lunch (or breakfast, can't remember) with my family a few days before our trip to Carpinteria and we were talking about seeing dolphins at the beach and how we like it so much. Then my dad commented that he never saw them as a kid and in fact he doesn't think he ever saw them more than twenty years ago. I started thinking, and really, I can't remember ever seeing them even ten years ago. Now it seems we see them every time we go to the beach. And this Carpinteria trip really confirmed that. So we began to speculate, and it was either my mom or dad, I can't remember which now, that we all agreed found the likely cause for this new boom in the dolphin population. It was banning that certain type of tuna net. It did do a number on the dolphin population and now it seems that they have replenished their numbers. It is nice to be able to see a thing like that work out. I know I LOVE to see the dolphins, it makes the beach so much more....marine. And just so everyone knows, when they say at Sea World that the tricks they get the dolphins to do are all things they do in the wild, they ARE telling the truth.

Or Lets Not and Say We Did....

An old excerpt from The Rough Notes Magazine I just found:
 
Growing up in an insurance family, you're likely to take one of two radically different courses when it comes to choosing a career: You follow your parents' footsteps into the family agency, build a successful career, and carry on the proud tradition; or you resolve to become a stunt pilot, an organic farmer, an astrophysicist--in other words, you decide to do virtually anything except selling insurance to earn your living.
 
I hope you do not require me to explain the humor of this.

Attack of the Blind Moose

I am currently suffering from blurred vision.  As part of the many things I had to get done before I went away to school, I went to the eye doctor today to try out more contacts and to get my eyes dialated.  They had been telling me I  need to do this ever since I was in the third grade.  But every time we said we would call and schedule that appointment and we never would.  So here I am, eleven years overdue, I finally did it.  Now I look like a freak.  My eyes remind me of a cross between an alien and a deer.  Whats left of my iris is incredibly green.  I thought of taking a picture, but my eyes are also bloodshot, so I'll spare you that.  So yeah, I'm getting really annoyed with the blurriness and just wanted to complain to my readership.  Thanks for reading.

The Political Human Sacrifice, part II

An update:
Tomorrow Chris Cox at 4:00 and Dana Rohrabacher at 5:00 will be on John and Ken (640) to plead their case.  This is actually more important to Chris Cox, as he had a higher percentage on the poll.  It was quite interesting.  They were talking about how his press guy was giving the station the run around and finally said that he would never come on their show.  So right as they are talking about this, Rep. Cox calls them and says, "heck yeah I'll be on your show" (ok, maybe he didn't say it quite like that, but you get what I mean).  "I'll be on tomorrow in fact, if I can."  So they said, sure.  Apparently something like this has happened before with his press guy saying stuff and him having to go around it an apologize.  Mary Bono is going to be on next week some time I think.  David Dreier, who needs to come on more than anyone, has only offered to come on for a half hour, and they refused to allow any less than an hour.  My guess is that he'll eventually give in.  If he's smart he will.  But maybe that is asking too much.  I actually don't know anything about him myself.

Geek Convention

Heidi: there was this one guy playing ddr in what looked like a toga
Heidi: that was kinda weird

Heidi did and saw things this week that most of us will never even come close to.  Read about it at Random Ramblings.

Books

I kinda got a kick out of this.  I would never have thought some of these books would be banned.

The Political Human Sacrifice, part I

This is one of the reasons I am giving serious thought about going into talk radio part of my life.  Anyway, I'm not going to blab about this right now, just wanted to let everyone know about it.  John and Ken have taken a poll to find out which republican California congressman should be voted out of Congress in this next election because he/she has not made a firm stand against illegal immigration and made bold enough moves to have the Californians compensated by the federal government for the money we have had to pay because of the illegals due to the federal government's lack of attention to the problem.  The idea is to scare the republicans who claim they are actually supporting our interests but obviously are not. 

I should note that my congressman, Elton Gallegly, for whom I am campaigning this summer, was actually given immunity from this poll because of his excellent work on the illegal immigration problem.

Those that can get KFI (640) can listen for themselves but I think I'll keep a general update going on the status.  Here is something off the John and Ken website that explains what on earth I am talking about.

Political Human Sacrifice
Posted by The John and Ken Show
General -->@ 2:55 pm  

-->
Here are the poll results from the Political Human Sacrifice Phase 1:
1) David Dreier - District 26 - 52.37%
2) Chris Cox - District 48 - 13.35%
3) Mary Bono - District 45 - 10.69%
4) Darrell Issa - District 49 - 6.05%
5) Dana Rohrabacher - District 46 - 4.65%

In the next few weeks, we will invite each elected official to prove to us why they should not be “Sacrificed". We will be asking them to do various tasks, with your input as well, to prove that they are protecting California taxpayers from the illegal alien takeover. Keep listening to John and Ken on KFI AM 640 from 3-7p, because the blue-blazered, Washington elite are being exposed on the issue.

Blowin in the Wind....

I could not help but share this AIM conversation:

Me: i think it would be really fun if like a bunch of students pitched in to buy a vw bus and like painted it with flowers and butterflies or something
Other Person: are you a hippie?
Other Person: do you have long, straight, brown hair

Martha Stewart

I just had to put my two cents in on this one.  See, Martha is now going to appeal her 5 month sentence.  People seem to be of the mind that she should just give up and accept it.  I don't know why they think this, I am pretty sure that if they themselves had the means to continue such a legal battle that they would.  But this is not what I am here to talk about. 

In my opinion, she should not have any jail time.  Why on earth should a person that is not a danger to society be locked away from it at the expense of tax payers?  From what I have heard, her sentence has already been reduced by turning some of it into community service.  I believe she will have to teach classes to women on how to start small businesses.  That is how I think the system should operate.  (btw, so does my mother; the conversation I recently had with her about this is what inspired me to write this blog)  Martha ought to be fined for committing a financial crime and then be sentenced to a certain amount of community service.  In that way, she pays off her debt to society.  Sentencing such people to jail time actually seems to me to work just the opposite.  We hope that the criminal will "learn their lesson", but at our expense.  Backward.  It is backward. 

So yes, it is my opinion that she should not be in jail at all.  From what I heard they hardly fined her.  She should be fined more, perhaps made to do more community service hours (though maybe not, I don't know how many she has to do already), and she should not go to jail. 

Updates on My Life:

Went to the park and fed the ducks.  Most of the ones I fed were young and new to the game, so they were a bit shy.  Then along came those two Canadian geese I wrote about a while back.  Only they had with them a pair of almost fully grown goslings.  Those were not shy in the least and came right up to eat out of my hand.  As I did all this there were a few young girls and one boy that I allowed to share my bread.  It was interesting - they asked me questions about the birds we saw.  I had answers for most questions with the exception of the identity of one bird that has baffled me for some months now.  Seeing it now in its summer plumage I think it may be a blue heron, but I'll have to do some more research before I will stand by that guess.  The whole experience made me feel somewhat odd but very pleased with my apparent position in park society.  I'm sure the hippie-ish skirt I was wearing helped me attain that image much sooner than I otherwise would have. 
 
A couple days later I went beach camping at Leo Carillo with my family and one of my sister's friends.  This we did from Monday to Thursday.  Each day different friends would come to spend the day with us.  I like beach camping.  I'm glad we are going to be doing some more of it before I leave.  We are going to Carpinteria for a week in a couple weeks.  Still, my family pulled a nasty trick on me.  They scheduled to go to San Onofre right after they take me to school.  I absolutely ADORE San Onofre! 
 
Then Friday I came down ill.  Sore throat.  I diagnosed myself as not having strepp throat.  I was right, of course.  I got some antibiotics yesterday but am still bad off.  Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. 
 
Today I skipped church.  I started The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe yesterday and finished it today.  No, I had not read it before.  [GASP!]  I decided I ought to get caught up on my C.S. Lewis before I ventured onto the PHC campus.  Then I watched The Fellowship of the Ring, extended.  (notice a pattern?) 
 
I'm tempted tomorrow to watch The Two Towers.  I probably will, especially if I am still sick.  I would also like to move onto the next Chronicle of Narnia book, but instead I really should spend the majority of the day studying for that Latin midterm that promises to arrive in the mail any day now.  I will be glad if I dedicate a good strong day to it.  That's really all I need and it will clear up the remainder of the week for happier things.  The most happy being the day trip to Ventura my mom and I plan to take (haha, listen to me talking like Ventura is far away or something) in order to find things for the dorm room.  I should also try to do all the things I need to get done before I leave.  I have two lunch engagements to arrange, letters to write, people to call, appointments to make, and a computer to get fixed.  It seems impossible when I realize that I need to finish this Latin course and spend a good deal of time with my family before I leave.  Perhaps I should start praying the prayer I always thought a little silly.  "Lord, multiply my time."  Truly, such a prayer has taken on real meaning to me as my life takes on more complications.
 

$ummer

As I sit here in my house I can hear the screams of girls on carnival rides. You see, the St. Rose of Lima church is right near my house. The front of it is just to the side of my neighborhood and if you drive to the very back of the neighborhood where the turn to my private drive is and just inside the culdesac that is right by my street you will find yourself at the back of the church's property. In fact, I believe that a portion of my street is owned by the church. Anyway, each year in July they hold a carnival. It is just a small one, though the Simi Valley Days carnival is getting so small these days that I think the St. Rose of Lima carnival now rivals it. I am not a fan of carnival rides but I do enjoy the games and prizes and food. But just the same, I doubt that I will go. Carnival prices are out of control. Something that ought to be a great activity for all ages and incomes is really far too expensive for (1) an entire family, and (2) a lone poor college student. So who is left to go? That's what I don't get. Why on earth do carnivals charge so much? Their numbers would be significantly higher if they charged less. I really think its a matter of bad business. After all, its not like you have the great business minds of America running carnivals. Most likely they simply have not taken the time to work out the numbers. I wish they would. I'd like to be able to afford to go throw pennies at bottles in hopes of winning something useless. And you know something, every once in a long while, one of those goldfish does live past 36 hours. I'd like to be able to afford to give a goldfish a chance. Wouldn't you?

Summer Days

I'm turning into one of those non-blogging bloggers. I had never intended to be this way, I think its cause I have not really been spending my time how I would like to. Its truly a battle to spend your summer days doing Greek and Latin homework. And really, for the amount of time I supposedly spend on it, very little is getting done. I can't concentrate. I am one of those people that gets a severe case of spring fever and I have never done summer school before. Now I know why. As far as I know I should never have to do it again.

But I thought I would tell what things I have been doing. I started taking golf at Moorpark College. It was almost entirely a career move. My dad told me that if I wanted to be in politics I would need to learn to golf. He is right, in my opinion. So I signed up for that reason, but I guess also just to get me out of the house on a regular basis. Really though, I am enjoying it although it is slightly frustrating.

I have also continued to press flowers. I am acquiring quite a collection now, I should start making things with them soon.

I have met my roommate, on the phone. She sounds really cool. We have agreed on a decorating theme: "Organic, ecclectic jazz cafe in China town".

I went beach camping for one night this past weekend with some friends. That was fun. The guys dug a hole in the sand.

And yesterday I went to Magic Mountain with some other friends. That was lots of fun. Afterward I spent the night at the Fawcetts cause some of the lights on my car weren't working and we watched the Mexican.

So that has been my life, in case you were wondering. Maybe I'll try to do something interesting and write about it or maybe I'll compose some poetry or something. But I don't think that blog readership is as high during the summer so I'm not going to lose much sleep if I don't keep you entertained. I'll be back full force when school starts I am sure.

The Minority Vote

Just wanted to analyze outloud.
Kerry has said that he will try to ennact a mass amnesty. You should already know how I feel about that. If not, comment and tell me you don't and I'll send you a short paper I wrote on the subject. Anyway, my guess is that he is doing this to swing the hispanic vote his direction. Gray Davis did a similar thing in the recall election. From what I heard, Kerry was having a difficult time competing with Bush on the hispanic vote. So back to Gray Davis. Oh yes, back to him. He lost. Not only that, Bustamonte who is in favor of open borders with Mexico, did not win either. Schwartzenegger, not even in favor of drivers licenses for illegals, won the election. It was my opinion that Bush had had a chance to get California since we now have a Republican governor. Not a great chance, but a chance. But that he lost it with his proposed guest worker program *cough*amnesty*cough*(which I think he may have given up on. if he did, i'm glad). But now, Kerry has one upped the President in going out of favor with the Californians. So in my opinion, this is a bad move for Kerry both with the hispanic community and with California. Now I'm not complaining that Kerry is making a bad political move, but I will complain very loudly if he does become president and then goes through with his plan.

Abnormality

This is about The Day Before Yesterday. The Day Before Yesterday was a very abnormal day. I spent the midday with an old highschool friend. (abnormality #1) We went to Rep. Elton Gallegly's campaign office to volunteer.

Later that day I took Duke, the duck, out to let her play, but the pond had a big chunk of chlorine in the bottom. So I thought about it for a little while and then decided that I'd just let her splash around in the pond while I was watching and then put her back in her cage. Well all of the sudden, she dives down and goes right at that chlorine tablet. She comes up and so does a smaller piece of the chlorine, and she is rubbing her face. So I grab her out right away and put her in her cage where she starts trying to clean her face in her water bowl. I'm totally freaking out. And I started thinking about the possibilities. One big possibility is that she had eaten a piece of chlorine. (abnormality #2) So I frantically ran around the house trying to find the vet's phone number. I couldn't...wait, you say, isn't calling the vet abnormal? well, not in my house... find it (abnormality #3) and finally called information. Talking to the vet, they couldn't always hear me and so I got things like "a cat ate a chlorine tablet and the duck is in the pond?" They even hung up on me once. But finally it was settled, I would have to take her into the vet (abnormality #4, for the duck at least)just in case she had eaten some. So I stuck her in a tub thing and put her in my car. Half-way through the neighborhood she leaps out of the tub and into my back seat. In the process, my car got covered in...well, it was bad. So I stop right in the middle of the road and start trying to stick things over the top of the tub. All the while this group of kids is sitting on their front porch watching me. I get back in and go and discover that I just have to keep my hand on top of her the whole way, but that is no easy task with a stick shift. Then of course I hit traffic. Some car was pulled over to the side of the road and a police car was right behind it. I was in the left lane and all of this was in the right lane. So all the right lane cars were slowly trying to make it over to the left lane. Well as I am driving through, Duke suddenly lurches and so I have to push down harder and she slips, making a bunch of noise. Right at that same time, this girl pull out of her lane RIGHT INTO ME. (abnormality #5) And since Duke was making all that noise, I couldn't tell if she had actually hit me. (weird) So I put on my turn signal to pull over to the side so she can stop too and we can figure out if she hit me. Well she didn't stop and I wasn't able to get out of the car. So I sat there sorta crying trying to figure out what to do as I sit and stare at this duck in my passenger seat. So I start waving to the police officer that was with that car that caused this whole mess in the first place. He just ignores me and so after a couple minutes I gave up and drove away. I finally get to the vet and of course Duke was a hit. I mean, its probably not often (if ever) that they get a duck in there. They took her in the back and gave her some liquid charcole to stop the chlorine from absorbing into her system. I put her back into the car, this time with a pillow case over the top of the tub and that kept her calm. The smell she made in my car was unbearable. This was on Thursday. I have not driven my car since (abnormality #6) and the windows are still rolled down. So Duke is all better now.

I was one hour late for my golf class. (golf class=abnormality #7) I came in and told the teacher that I had just gotten there and he was like, whoa! you are pretty late. And I said, I know, but my duck ate a chlorine tablet and I had to take her to the vet. He laughed really hard and so did everyone who heard. They thought that was the most inventive excuse they had heard in their entire lives. (This was, also, not abnormal. I have had many "most inventive" excuses, and not one of them has been a lie.) He thought it was so funny that he announced it word for word to the whole class, who also had a good laugh about it. Some people actually didn't even think I was telling the truth. Now honestly, how on earth would I think up a lie like that?

Not Bad, Mr. President, Not Bad at All

This is FAR later in coming than I had hoped. Life picked me up and started running.

I wanted to share my experience going to see the casket at the Reagan Library. My mom and I left our house at 9:30pm to leave for Moorpark College where everyone was supposed to meet to take a bus to the library. What is normally a 12 minute trip took 1 1/2 hours and we even took the "back way". When we finally were going over the overpass at the college we were able to see the line of cars on the 118 freeway in both directions. There are few things outside the natural world that can inspire awe within me. This was one of those things. As we looked out both east and west, the line of headlights seemed to have no end. My mom remarked that it looked like the final scene in Field of Dreams. It was like that. The line waiting at the college had a similar affect. So many people. We did not arrive at the front until 4:30am and we had even joined up with some friends that were about 1 1/2 hours ahead of us in line. I would sometimes just pause to take in the mass of people that had shown up. Looking at the crowd I began to think about what I had written about glory in life and being remembered. I think that I witnessed such an event as I could not then even concieve of.

We arrived at the library to a different mood than was found in the line. Everyone was much more sobered. At the entrance to the building is a statue of President Reagan in his usual cowboy clothes; a reminder of his life before you enter. The honor guard stood around the casket. There were times that I could not tell they were real men, they stood so still and tall. They were big tall men and they made the scene literally look larger than life. The casket stood in the middle. Immediately as I walked in I was hit by emotions I could not explain. I felt loss, admiration, respect, sorrow, and joy all in one sudden moment as I stepped into the room with the President. Once again, I began to cry but the heavy silence of the room held it back to a tear soaked face. I walked round the casket, watching the flag, looking tearfully to the soldiers with few thoughts in my mind, mostly just nameless emotions. As I passed by the camera man, I thought I heard him also begin to cry. I held my mom's hand. We left the room and smiled.

The Gipper

Today we remember former President Ronald Reagan. I personally had a very hard time of it today. Cried for a long time. Perhaps it was because I did not have many of my own memories of him, so I was not really able to look back at his life and remember specific things and thereby lift my spirits. My attachment to the president came in later years in my somewhat frequent visits to his presidential library. There I saw video of the great moments of his presidency, I saw the Jelly Bellies in the Oval Office replica, I learned about "Star Wars", I saw all the gifts he had been given by foreign dignitaries, and I gazed at the slab of the Berlin Wall that stands solemn on the back lawn while imagining all the free people tearing it down. I even have a small piece of the wall. I have met Nancy Reagan and I saw President Reagan in 1993(4?) at an event to honor the firemen that rescued his library from brush fires. So although I was too young to remember his actual presidency, I have grown up to admire it in hindsight and to admire him as a great man and a great leader. I will never forget him. May he rest in peace, he is with the Lord now.

Introducing

TheOneWardrobe.net (TOWn) is a website devoted C.S. Lewis and the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia movies. We had the first pictures of the lion that is going to be used as Aslan and are often one of the first to get the latest news on The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (LWW).

Here's a brief description of what our site has to offer:

The Front Page: Has all the latest news on C.S. Lewis' related events and the upcoming movies

The Lion's Club: This shows the variety of the people who have brought TOWn to you more than any other part of TOWn. Here we have summaries of most of C.S. Lewis' major works, from Chronicles of Narnia (written by a mere junior higher) from in-depth summary of Screwtape Letter's (written by a soon-to-be published author)

Mr. Tumnus' Library: This is devoted to the visitors of our site. Have any parodies, fan fiction, art work, or essays you've made that are Narnia related? Send them here!

The Movies: A list of all the major movie news that is known so far

C.S. Lewis: An outline of the man's life who brought us these books

Narnian Trivia: Amatire has a knack for finding out obscure facts about just about anything. I guarantee you, you will find out something you never knew before about the Chronicles in this section of the site.

Major Characters: A short bio on each of the major characters including which books they are featured in and who plays them in the BBC series and in the movies.

Forum: A place to discuss the books and the movies. Have a question about just about anything C.S. Lewis (or Tolkien) related and there's a good bet that one of the regulars in the Forum will know the answer. Feel free to jump right in even if you aren't a Narnian expert!

Links: Other good Narnia sites

About Us: Learn a little bit about the nuts who put this together. You'll see that we're from all over the place! And no...those aren't all self portraits.

Submitted by Heidi

Makeover

No, it still doesn't look the way I want but it is an improvement I think over that blue purple green thing. That at the top is the view out my window. I would prefer that to be the background for my title, but I could not get it to work without resorting to drastic measures.

A Great Day

I think I would like to tell everyone about my lovely day yesterday. I went with my mom, grandma, and sister to the Rose Story Farm. We took a tour and then had a very nice lunch. What a neat place. Afterward, we took Kelli to C Street where her and my dad were going to be having a little surfing trip for the next couple days. Mom and I stayed for a little while and we all walked out onto the pier. Dolphins were swimming over by the surfers and even jumping right out of the water. I love watching the dolphins. Then we saw a sea lion swimming below the pier. Some guy that was fishing threw it a fish. The sea lion, who was just lazily floating around, tasted it and then spit it back out. Never seen that before. And swam off when the guy threw another fish down. Then mom and I left the beach and went to my favorite used book store in Ventura. The Calico Cat Book Store. Mrs. Margenat is very nice and so knowledgable, I have learned quite a lot about collectible books from her. They had a first edition For Whom the Bell Tolls. I could hardly contain my excitement. After many longing looks at the bookshelf my mom broke down and decided to buy it for me. Needless to say, she received many hugs and many thanks from me. My dad called and she informed him that we had made "an investment" in a book. Then we came home and ordered Chinese food and rented Sense and Sensibility. A wonderful day it was indeed. Much needed too, since most of today was spent washing windows.

Death and Glory

A friend of mine (you know who you are) recently commented after watching Return of the King that life always feels less consequential after watching that movie. I agreed. Not that I am saying life in general is inconsequential, just that my life does not seem to be working toward such a pinacle of an end. Nothing I ever do will have such globally important and memorable consequences. The world is too vast a place, there are now too many "unsung heroes" to allow that any one person will step up to such great levels of importance.

I've had ideas about how such a problem could be remedied. Perhaps if we still rode horses and fought with swords. Not likely. And after thinking a long time over the history of horses and swords, there really are very few people that have gone down as incredibly important and to be remembered by all. And did those people really save your world? No. Most went down in history for other reasons. I often feel terribly when I am studying history and cannot remember the name of a great king. "What a dreadful thing," I say to myself, "that this king died thinking he had accomplished great things, and yet I can not for the life of me remember his name nor match his name with his deeds."

Then I began to think, how should it end? Could you honestly hope that at the conclusion of that great deed that you could be contented with your life? Or would it really be like Frodo's return? It would be like those times when you wish you could return to your childhood. So you attempt to have fun in the same ways, you attempt to return to that innocence that made the world so wonderful. But you find that it is lost to you forever except in memory. Would it be better to die with the conclusion? Perhaps this is why we always feel a little unsure about endings. Do we like that the hero died? Do we like that he didn't die and life went back to normal? Somehow both alternatives often leave us uncomfortable. Maybe this is part of the reason that the Greatest Generation is also a quiet generation.

But now to the brighter side of the matter. The side that should give us comfort and hope though we may never have a life that is lived to the tune of a moving soundtrack. In the end, Christ will come and we that are believers will have that glorious ending which will usher in, not a time of let down from greatness but bring an eternity of peace and contentment.

Fans

Ok, about Monday night. I went to Hollywood with Heidi and Jennifer to get Dominic Monaghan's autograph in the middle of the night. Kinda geeky, kinda obsessive, but who cares. I live next door to Hollywood, this is my right. I'm too tired to make this funny. So I'll sum it up. I was #275 in line. We never made it to him. So I have a couple thing to remember it by and Heidi took some pictures through the glass front door of Best Buy. Here is on of those pictures. To see the rest go here and scroll down a little bit.

Rash Action

Here's one wild thing for you. An organization has started up with the design of gathering thousands of Christians into one state at a time to secede from the Union. Its called Christian Exodus. You can go to the site to read up a bit about it, I really don't feel like explaining it here. There really isn't very much information needing to be read at the site anyway. I think the whole idea is ridiculous and here is why:

1. They act as though anyone can just up and secede. I would like to remind them that half the country tried it once and it didn't work. I don't think that one state is going to have an easy time of it. Although their choice of states is probably smart. I've heard it said many a time that The South will rise again. I guess this is their chance.

2. The things they are complaining about, that I do consider legitimate complaints (gay marriage, abortion, and free speech encroachments) will continue even if they leave. Really, by putting everyone that is battling against these things into one state that ceases to be part of the Union, then the problem will become even greater for a greater number of people.

3. This is incredibly premature. If you read the site, they talk about 20 years like it was a long time. In reality, 20 years in the grand scheme of things is very short and in my opinion far too short a time in which to take such rash action. I was a bit upset to see that Fox News got to this story before I had a chance to say my piece about it, but actually because of it I can add another thing to this point. The founder of this organization appeared rather young (under 40). Not that I have anything against young people starting organizations (I happen to be young myself, much younger than this guy, and would not want people criticizing me for starting one) but I think that it explains this rash action. Perhaps to him it has been a long hard battle that he just can't seem to win so he decides that another course must be taken. But he forgets how long those Supreme Court justices stick around. He also ignores the fact that popular opinion about abortion is now turning around. That took a "long time" but it has begun to happen. I think that he is thinking too much in the context of his own timing. Yes, 20 years is an eternity when you are 35, but 20 years is not a long time when you are 230. In conclusion, it is way premature.

I was unable to determine how many people have actually joined up with this organization. As you can see, I do not plan to. What I would like for them to do is to take comfort in the fact that more fresh blood is coming up to continue the battle. I promise them that contribution. We do not need to give up. That is all this is, burning out and giving up. That is a terrible attitude to develop about an entire nation in a matter of just a couple decades.

Nothing, Really

I should soon be getting something up about the unusual (for me) thing I did Monday night. Right now I'm just really thinking hard about life. Yeah....

The Happiest Place on Earth

After we finally arrived at Disneyland the day picked up. We went to buy our tickets and asked if there was a Southern California discount. The man said no, that that promotion ended in April. I was bummed. But I had not expected to get a discount, so it was alright. I was rummaging through the stack of bills looking for 20's and he started asking us if we had been to Disney's California Adventure. We said that we hadn't, we always just went to Disneyland. He asked if we wanted to and we didn't really know what to say. Sure, we wanted to, but we also weren't about to pay an extra $50 each to do it. He kept pressing the issue until he suddenly asked us if we'd like to go for free. My eyes lit up, of course, but I was still confused. Then he asked us to close the shudders of his ticket window. We gave him funny looks. He repeated the request and told us to get out of line and meet him around the back of the building. (This was not as bad of an idea as it sounds. The back of the building faced the entrance to the park.) So we closed the shudders and walked around back and waited. Many things crossed our minds: "Is this under the table?" "What are we going to have to do?" "How much are we going to end up paying?" "Is he allowed to do this?" He finally came out and led us over to the Disneyland park entrance. He was all smiles. We were all confusion. We get to the gate and he hands the girl taking the tickets a pass. She stamps it twice and pulls out a stack of plain blue tickets and hands one to each of us and says that we are free to go from Disneyland to California Adventure all day long. She warns us not to lose them and to be sure to get our hands stamped if we leave the park. Then it hits me. He just got us into both parks for free. Absolutely free. Now our glee was not to be contained. We too were now all smiles and thank you's. The old man seemed very glad to have made our day. We continued to thank and giggle and smile as we walked into the park. It was like winning the lottery. We skipped and smiled and laughed.

The day was great. We got to eat churros and frozen things and coffee to our hearts' content since we had just "saved" $100. We even bought souveneirs and didn't split our dinners. What a day it was. After we would do each thing Kelli would say "We just got a picture with Gapeto, for free!" or "We just went on Pirates of the Carribean, for free!" Yes, what a wonderful day at the happiest place on earth.

Toward the end of the day we wanted to go back and thank the man again for making it such a great day, but he was gone. So, man at the ticket counter, wherever you are, Kristen and Kelli cannot thank you enough for making our day so special and so fun!

Getting There is Half the Fun!

Yesterday I took Kelli to Disneyland for her birthday...which was in March. I got lost. First, I got on the 405 instead of the 5. How? You might ask. Well, it goes like this. I got it in my head that I should take the way that would lead to Grace Community Church. That much was correct. What I did not think of was that that exit looks identical to the 405 exit that leads to the LAX airport. I had been to LAX more recently than Grace Community, so my mind pictured the wrong exit. So I got onto the 405 without thinking about it. 45 minutes later....

Me: *worried look* Find a sign that tells what freeway we are on.
Kelli: Did you get us lost AGAIN?!
Me: I don't know. But this looks like the 405. Find a sign.
Kelli: How did you do this?!
Me: I don't know, I thought I got onto the 5.
Kelli: I'm calling mom.
Me: Don't call mom until we know where we are. There are no signs. I'm going to get off so I can read the onramp signs. *gets off* We were on the 405! Call mom. *gets back on the 405*
Mom: Where are you?!
Kelli: We just passed Sunset.
Me: At least we're still in L.A.
Mom: I thought you knew how to get to the 5.
Me: I do.
Mom: Then how are you on the 405? Turn around and go back.

15 minutes later...
Mom: Where are you?
Me: Coming up on Sunset.
Mom: How far past Sunset had you gone!?
Me: Only one exit. We're stuck in traffic.

After some careful map reading by my mom we managed to find our way to the 101 and then to the 5. So our troubles were over. HA! Fooled you. 1 hour later...

Me: We're coming up on it now. Don't let me miss the exit.
Kelli: I'm car sick.
Me: We're almost there. Ah, there's the exit. *stays in right lane* Wait, what's that sign? *see's a flash of sign containing the words "Disneyland" "exit" and "now"* Ah! *gets off*
Kelli: Whoa Kristen, you are driving like a maniac.
Me: I just got off at the wrong exit.
Kelli: I'm never driving with you again!
Me: Its ok, we're very close, we just have to drive down a bit.

15 minutes later...
Me: *losing sanity fast* Where is Disneyland?! *pounds fists on steering wheele*
Kelli: Should I call mom?
Me: No! We just need to find the 5 freeway and get back on.

5 minutes later...
Me: Where is the 5?!
Kelli: I vow never to be like you.
Me: Ask that man in the Public Works truck how to get to Disneyland.
Kelli: How do you get to Disneyland?
*man gives directions*
Me: OMG, we were just on that street! *makes a U-turn*

10 minutes later...
Me: We're here! At long last we finally made it. *buys parking pass*
Kelli: Finally!
*I drive along where the cones lead*
Me: Why did this send me back out onto the street!? Why can't I park! OMG! *rolls down window to yell at Random Disneyland Parking Attendent(RDPA)* Where do I park?!
RDPA: *says something*
Me: What?
RDPA: *says that same something again*
Me: Thanks. *look of bewilderment* *gets lost again*

5 minutes later...
Kelli: I cannot believe you got lost trying to park.
Me: Its not my fault that they make it stupid!
Kelli: No one else gets lost.
Me: So?! Its still stupid! Look, there's another parking lot. Even if we can't park there we can ask the person in the ticket booth. *pulls up* There's no one in there! *has to back up to get the ticket* *forgets to put the car back in 1st and lurches backward again* AHH!
Kelli: You are driving like a maniac!
Me: So?! Look there, a Real Person (RP)! *frantically waves both parking passes in RP's face*
RP: *takes the useless ticket* To park for Disneyland do such and such.
Me: But I need to park for Disneyland!
RP: To park for Disneyland do such and such.
Me: *crazed look* Thank you!

And so it was that at long last we made it into the parking lot. Once walking inside Disneyland we never got lost. Even finding the most obscure places took not even a thought.

The Best Part of My Day

Today my dad made me a flower press. Basically its two blocks of wood that you stick stuff between and tighten together with wingnuts. He would not allow me to make such a thing for fear I would saw off my fingers or destroy his tools. So I went around the yard and gathered up some pretty little flowers. My dog, Lucy, has an obsession with digging, stomping on, sliding into, walking over, and otherwise destroying whatever flowers I am attending to. Today was no exception. Fortunately my sister came out eventually and distracted Lucy. I just put all the flowers in the flower press. They are very pretty flowers, I hope they come out nice. I have a lot of projects in mind for them, certianly more projects than I have flowers. I plan to go out later this week and buy more flowers to plant in the front yard where we don't have any serious garden growth. That way I won't feel bad depleting those flowers for pressing.

A Moment of Reflection

As I sit here eating my tortilla soup with slices of avocado, I am in deep, solemn reflection on one question: Will I be able to get avocado in Virginia?

Taking Advantage

This article gave me a new perspective on Kerry's call for Rumsfeld to resign. I never agreed with Kerry on this and I thought it was an icky political stunt, but this is worse than I thought. Perhaps it was an error in judgment, perhaps they didn't stop to think of the connection that would be made. But really, if that is the case then they need to apologize to those that reveived the email and make a public apology to the victims of the prisoner abuse scandal. And by the reply made to the accusations, it does not seem that the connection was unintentional. Here's an excerpt from The Washington Times article:

In addition to allowing recipients to sign a petition demanding that Mr. Rumsfeld resign, the e-mail also permitted recipients to donate cash online.
Asked if the campaign was concerned about linking fund raising to the prisoner-abuse scandal, spokesman Chad Clanton initially said there was no mention of raising money in the e-mail.
After he was sent a copy of the e-mail with the fund-raising pitch, Mr. Clanton replied: "John Kerry has made it clear that our men and women in uniform deserve a Commander in Chief that takes responsibility for the bad as well as the good. The bottom line is: We need more than just a new Secretary of Defense. We need a new president."

Homecoming

I suppose it is a good show of real friendship to never forget the words of your friend. And even more so to act on them twenty years later. Best of luck to them though I must admit, I have little hope, and really I don't think he has much either but just wants to act as though he did. What sort of friend would he be if he didn't?

Sage Advice

I just love really old people. You might have to download some little thing in order to watch it, I'm not sure. But yes, it is supposed to be a video thing.

New Feature

If you look over to the right...below the old lady and above the links, you will find a new section called "Role Call". I'm actually not sure if it should be role or roll, so someone please let me know. What it is for is so that I can know who comes here. So its just a one time thing. If you would like to tell me your name you may, if you want to just tell me what country you are from that is fine too. If you want to broadcast your life story (obviously I have no qualms about that) you may do that as well. I really really want first time visitors to say hi. And say how you found out about Bags of Crumbs.

So yeah, its all vanity. All vain curiosity.

The Pro-Life Message of The Cranberries

Much to my surprise and delight, The Cranberries No Need to Argue album has a strong pro-life message. The Cranberries have been around for a while, and I have had that album for a while, but it was only recently that I discovered that not just one, but two songs have a pro-life message. The first that I noticed, The Icicle Melts, was obvious. This is how it goes:

The Icicle Melts
When
When will the icicle melt,
And when
When will the picture show end
I should not have read the papers today
’Cause a child, child he was taken away
There’s a place for the baby that died
And there’s a time for the mother who cried
And she will hold him in her arms sometimes
’Cause nine months is too long
How could you hurt a child
Now does this make you satisfied
I don’t know what’s happening to people today
When a child, he was taken away
There’s a place for the baby that died
There’s a time for the mother that cried
And she will hold him in her arms sometimes
’Cause nine months is too long
There’s a place for the baby that died
And there’s a time for the mother that cried
And you will hold him in your arms sometimes
’Cause nine months is too long


This song was never on the radio that I know of, so probably few have ever heard it. It is Zombie that gave me a big surprise. The only way to actually understand what it means is to have heard The Icicle Melts. Consequently, everyone to my knowledge has always understood it as a sort of anti-war song. It really isn’t and that will become quite obvious in a minute. For an anti-war song, it was rather vague and many portions made almost no sense. Here’s how it goes:

Zombie (go to the bottom of that page to hear a clip)
Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
But You see it's not me,
It's not my family
In your head, in your
Head they are fighting
With their tanks, and their bombs
And their bombs, and their guns
In your head,
In your head they are cryin'
In your head
Zombie
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie
Another mother's breakin'
Heart is taking over
When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken
It's the same old theme since 1916
In your head,
In your head they're still fightin'
With their tanks
In your head they are dying
In your head, in your head
Zombie
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie

Note some parallels:
The Icicle Melts: When a child, he was taken away
Zombie: Child is slowly taken

So we can note some imagery that seems to be being used to denote an abortion.

The Icicle Melts: And there’s a time for the mother who cried
Zombie: Another mother's breakin'
Heart is taking over

Both songs speak about mothers, and we can also assume that the head that hangs lowly is also that of a mother.

These connect the two songs, but there is also more in Zombie that can lead us to the pro-life conclusion once we have established that there seems to be a connection between the two songs.
“And the violence caused such silence” – I have heard that there is a film about abortion called The Silent Scream. This may or may not where this phrase came from, but it makes much more sense that this a reference to abortion than to war. The violence of war certainly is not silent. The whole “in your head” theme also suggests a sort of violence that is less out in the open.

I would like to contact the band some time and try to confirm all this. After listening to the songs many many times, I do not find this a far fetched interpretation, but it would be nice to know I’m right. It is a shame really that Zombie was not understood for what it was, just thrown into the pile of anti-war and anti-violence songs. Perhaps an audience could have been reached that really needed to hear its message.

Sunday Driving

Yesterday I went to Newport Beach my sister and some other girls. That was an awsome time. It was a totally hot day (108 on the 5), but at the beach it was in the high 80's with a great breeze that wasn't too hot and wasn't too cool. The water was clear (well, clear compared to like the Ventura/Santa Barbara beaches) and just lovely. I stood in it for a while just enjoying my life. Then we all went up onto the sand and got tans. I fell asleep. It was wonderful. Afterward we went to Sarah's grandma's house and got ready for a night on the town. Downtown Disney, actually. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe which was totally awsome. We're also now on some teenage guy's home video dancing the can-can to some salsa dancing music. That was highly embarrassing and we stopped as soon as we saw him.

It was a great day and as you now know, I want to move to Orange County. I was doing some thinking today and realizing that that is a better idea than I at first thought. I would be closer to a number of relatives, I'd be near Disneyland, I'd be closer to Mexico, and I'd be closer to San Diego. Those are all great advantages in my mind. I've even developed a sort of plan. Discussed it with my mom today. But I'll spare you all the financial details. Besides, I'm not about to pour my portfolio plans out onto the internet.

Migrating South

I know Ventura County is my real home, but I have decided that when I move back from Virginia I'm going to move to Orange County. At least for my younger years. So that is that. More about today tomorrow. Good night.

I'm not afraid anymore.

Do you like the old lady? The font is back to how I wanted it. I did some messing with the colors, but I don't plan to keep it quite like this. I wanted an earthy look but its very hard to achieve aesthetically with the colors I have to work with.

"Look out, its gonna start raining."

...commented one guest as my uncle and aunt Laurence and Sioux Eaglefeather started dancing. But before I entertain you with the details of the wedding it should be noted that it was a lovely wedding with few real problems. The flowers were beautiful, the weather was awesome, and the bride was stunning. What I am about to tell you might make it sound like a circus, but in reality no one person would ever have noted all that was going on. I had a great time even as a bridesmaid, and so did everyone else. That said, on with the parade!

First off, poor Kenny (my new brother-in-law). During the ceremony all the wedding party came in and then a new song came on for Terri and my dad to walk down to. So we wait and wait and the song comes. And plays. And plays. The bridesmaids start whispering, Kenny starts to squirm. Finally, when all hope seemed to be lost, we were able to make out some white dress passing through the trees far away. So we pass the word up to Kenny just before he's about to pass out or cry or something. Poor kid told us later he thought he had been stood up. Actually the coordinator just was slow about telling Terri and my dad to start walking. And according to my dad, Terri just about hyperventalated cause she was so nervous about everything going off as planned.

Then there were little panics of the ceremony. The little pillow that the ring bearer carries didn't actually have the real rings on it, the best man and maid of honor actually had them. However, the rings that were on the pillow were deceptive. Terri's mom had put one of her big sparkly diamond rings on it along with a random ring of Terri's. So the best man looks down at the pillow and freaks out thinking he's got the rings mixed up. Fortunately he figured it out in time.

During the reception questions started being asked. "Who are the Indians?" Those are relatives of mine, though I should have denied it...they actually sat on Kenny's side. Just so you get a better idea of what I'm talking about, Laurence has long black hair that he ties back, was wearing a leather fringy vest thing with bear claw necklaces and bones, with a big something like a cow skull hanging around his neck made of bone and turquoise. Sioux had a similar ensemble, though a little more feminine and with less bear claws. To make matters worse, Laurence isn't one for smiling. So I would see him walking around with this grave face and he looked like he would pull out a tomahawk at any second.

Then there was the women's restroom and one drunken guest that will remain nameless. My grandmother and one of the bridesmaids, Sarah, were in there at the same time as this one lady. Suddenly she starts yelling in her rhaspy voice "Sarah! Sarah! You have to help me! Sarah! I dropped my dress in the toilet!" The rhaspy, drunken yelling continued for some time. Finally she comes crawling out under the stall door half naked still yelling "Sarah! My dress fell in the toilet! Help me!" She gets out and precedes to take her dress off and stand naked in the bathroom as she washes her dress off in the sink. All the while different people are coming in and out and she continues to yell for Sarah, and I have not heard report that she ever helped her at all. I don't blame her.

I was busy figuring out who I was related to. Kenny's side of the family is similar to Terri's. His parents are divorced and have been each married more than once (more than twice?) and have children. My dad made a chart so he could keep track and showed it to us before the rehearsal dinner so we could be prepared. Terri's mom has been married three times. My dad is married to my mom and was at one time married to Terri's mom. Terri's mom has a son who was a groomsman and he was the son of her second husband and he was at the wedding. So Joey, Terri's mom's son, is my sister's brother, but is not my brother. I met my sister's brother's father's sister, she was nice.

There was much more that happened but I think I'll finish this off with the bouquet toss. Obviously everyone wants to catch it, but there are those that you think ought to and those that ought not. Katie, one of the bridesmaids, dressed in pink and looking lovely was the one to catch it and she was one that ought to catch it. But it didn't end there. She caught it and as her hands were in the air another girl in a red vavavoom dress grabs it out of her hands so hard that some stems were even left in Katie's hands. Turns out, this girl is in Roller Derby. (for the uneducated, Roller Derby is like WWF on roller skates) Immediately people ran up to Katie telling her that they had proof on film that she had actually caught it. She was a bit upset and days later was still talking about how it was stolen from her.

So that was the wedding. I guess that wedding would be boring if interesting things didn't happen. Probably the only way to avoid such stuff is to elope. Not a bad idea...

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

Today it got to about 103 degrees in Simi Valley. It is almost midnight right now and we have the air conditioner on. So in honor of the heat wave I'm putting up this Sesame Street song that I still know the tune of.

It Sure Is Hot!

BOY:
A girl named Rosalita moved in down the block
I think I like her but I'm much too shy to talk
A little bit of conversation is my goal
I'll break the ice with just a little Espanol

Hace calor, mucho calor
Could fry an egg on the cement it's so caliente
Hace calor mucho calor
How 'bout this weather it sure is HOT?!

ROSALITA:
The boy from up the block just totally made my day
But I'm too shy to think of anything to say
A little bit of conversation would be neat
I guess I'll just go right on talkin' 'bout the heat!

Hace calor, (Hace calor) si si senor
Could fry an egg on the cement it's so caliente
Hace calor, (Hace calor) si si senor
How bout this weather it sure is hot?!

Hace calor, si, it's as hot as an enchilada
Si, la cabesa it cooks like a cheese toastada
Hace calor, si, it's as hot as a hot tamale
Hace calor, si, it's as hot as a hot Timbale

Shoulda Guessed

I think this is an exaggeration of my personality and my actual self...as some could attest, but I'm pleased with the result anyway.

"[To] serve God properly we must learn to give up our own wills, thoughts, and desires. Why? Because otherwise we will be wise in our own conceits and will imagine that we can serve God with this or that, and thus spoil everything."

You are John Calvin! You're the most intellectual and thoroughly intense theologian on the block. You know what you're talking about and you recommend people to ignore you at their own risk. Yeah, baby, you know your stuff. You speak in riddles and confuse people for fun. Still, this hurts your social skills a lot... and you end up always appearing arrogant and rude.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

AI

I wish that did stand for artificial intelligence. Then maybe I could cast the blame for all this on some inhumanity. But alas, people are truly idiots. What follows is my letter to Fox about tonight's American Idol results show. I'll try to find a good article on it tomorrow in case you need to catch up on what happened.

To Whom It May Concern:
It was because of sympathy votes and a lack of reflection on whether or not the voter would actually buy the cd of the contestant they are voting for that Jennifer Hudson lost tonight. I have voted for her EVERY chance I have had to vote. I would be among the first to buy her album if she was given a recording contract. Please do your best to set her up with a recording contract and publicity. She represents what current music has almost lost: real divas. I am outraged at the bottom three of this week. Thank you to the producers and to Ryan Seacrest for handling the show the way they did. Hopefully the voters will see that they are being unfair to the real talent and will not turn out more sympathy votes.

I would suggest in future seasons that of the top 12, the first 4 be voted OUT. This would eliminate those such as John Stevens that the general population rather dislikes but simply cannot compete with the crazy voters that vote for 2 hours straight despite talent. I think that by specifically voting people out for the initial first weeks that the best talent will be able to engage in real competition. It would also stave off fanatical voting that generally only comes from the younger, tone-deaf demographic until the whole audience had a chance to get rid of who they dislike.

All that to say, this season seems doomed to failure. The voters do not understand that they are expected to actually wish to buy the album of who they vote for. I, however, do know whose album I would buy. Jennifer Hudson's. So please please set her up with a recording contract that goes beyond just the American Idol top 8? 12? tour and album.

Sincerely,

Kristen Young
(and I am sure many many an angered viewer)
P.S. If possible, please pass this along to Jennifer Hudson.

The Nephilim Gland

This is a really tall guy. He claims its God's punishment, though I never heard of God punishing anyone by making them tall. Apparently this guy is on his way to being the tallest man in history. The article cites the tallest man in history as being 8'11, so my assumption is that they are referring to Goliath. I'm not actually convinced he was the tallest man in history, I would actually be more inclined to think that the giants in Genesis were taller, or at least that with so many of them the odds would be in favor of one being taller than Goliath.

"There were giants [nephilim] on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown." Genesis 6:4

So really it is possible that the nephilim and the children of the sons of God could have been taller than Goliath. Still, as far as documented height is concerned, I guess Goliath takes the cake. I wonder if this guy will ever stop growing. And, if he doesn't, how tall will he get? Will growing too tall kill him? If it was the result of accidently messing with the pituitary gland, have we opened the way for a dangerous new fad? Hehe...for instance, people my height (5'3 1/2) wanting to be as tall as supermodels. Or people with really big egos that was bodies to match!

The Mess

Often in situations like these you would say "pardon our dust." But I am not feeling so polite since this is not my fault. Somehow, someway, without the html changing a lick, my blog started changing in those obnoxious ways I am sure you were all witness to. The current problems are (1) the format is not what it used to be and (2) the lines are spaced very far appart. Both of these things have no cause that can be seen. In fact, in order to put things in the better order that they are in now I had to change the ORIGINAL template. Blah. No, make that BLAH! So I cannot see the light at the end of this very icky tunnel. Check back daily I guess. Maybe I'll continue to blog. Just be prepared to scroll down a bit to read it.

"There's going to be some big changes." "Changes..."

As you can see, I got brave and messed with the HTML. I don't do that often, I'm always frightened that I'll mess something up. But it turned out fine and now everything is much more readable and italics look pretty. I think I'm going to work on making some more changes, but baby steps are probably better in my case. Perhaps new colors. Blue really isn't a color people would probably associate with me. Let me know what you think of the font...after all, it is mostly for the sake of my readers.

(2 points for whoever tells me what movie that quote is from.)

Not the Big One, But Big Enough

This is nice to know. I wonder if they're right. I wonder if this article is legit. I guess we'll find out soon enough. Go buy the water jugs.

.......

Thanks to Shant I just accidently got my first dose of Homestarrunner. I really don't know what to say. There are no words for this.

Civic Duty

Hmmm, these past couple days have been filled with civic duties. Last night I went to the Simi Valley Neighborhood Council #2 meeting. That was cool. I was the only unofficial person there, so I represented the people. That was kind of fun, though it would have been nice to see more participation by the people. Still, I didn't even go until last night, so I'll give everyone the benefit of the doubt that they either just don't know its there or couldn't make it. We heard a liaison report from a police officer and a report from someone in the city planning department. We also gave approval for a new Starbucks with a drive through to go into a really run down plaza that they are hoping to renovate. Normally I would say, my goodness we already have some 9 Starbucks' in Simi, what do we need more for? But in the case of the Mountaingate Plaza, I think that putting a Starbucks in will draw in business to that area.

Today I gathered signatures for a petition. In a nutshell, it denies public benefits and drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. It also requires that state and local officials report illegal immigrants to the feds, it is a misdemeanor if they don't. The total estimated savings that would come of this would be over $100 million annually. Tomorrow is the deadline to get it on the November ballot and they hadn't made it yet, so today I decided to make it a goal to gather 20 signatures for the petition before the post office closed. I made my goal, though I accidently let a guy that doesn't live in Ventura County sign it, so his signature won't count. So I got 19 valid signatures today but if you count my signature from a week ago I did contribute 20. Hopefully it will be a significant enough contribution. I think I made a good effort of it for a last minute job.

Bugs

Today I saw a fat ladybug and was so intrigued by it that I immediately thought to myself, "write a poem". So I did. Actually, I wrote two.

On a Leaf
Little bug on leaf.
Much too plump for his green perch.
Oh fat ladybug.

Contented
Happy rounded red
The very fat ladybug
With a splotchy spot.

Dominion Necessitates Responsibility

This disgusts me. If the claim is true that the seals are depleting the fish supply there are more humane methods of solving the problem that have been implemented in other species. As for a renewed demand for fur, that is no excuse as far as I am concerned. Fur is nothing but vanity taken to a destructive and careless level. Fur is not a necessary clothing item in most parts of the world anymore and certainly is not necessary for those who are buying seal fur. Consider the purpose of wearing fur. Its primary purpose in today's world is to display wealth. Does not anyone else find the use of dead animal as a status symbol rather disturbing? I'm also annoyed with that photo-op with Paris Hilton. Nothing is gained by having that bimbo make fake sad faces. She probably has a fur lined t-shirt that she wears when its considered fashionable. Really, I was so glad that the fur trend had finally seemed to have seen its last days. Then I discovered last year that people forgot why they stopped wearing it in the first place. Its nasty as far as I'm concerned. In fact for years as a child I would jerk away if you tried to have it come in contact with me.
But back to the seals. Here is one serious concern. It has happened numerous times that a country, when they determine that a significant profit can be made, will go against the will of other countries with environmental concerns and will allow hunting to resume resulting in tragic and dangerous depletion of the populations. Don't even try to argue back that these concerns are overdramatized. While things like global warming and whatever do get overdramatized, near extinction and realized extinction do happen. Hunting animals unnecessarily is very suspect in my opinion and hunting near extinction is wrong. God created the animals and gave us dominion over them. However, dominion does not give us the right to remove His creation from existence or to take our responsibility lightly or to do whatever it is that we want with it. Consider that at different times God gave us more options as to what could be done with the animals. It was not until after the flood that we could even eat them! Apparently dominion, which was given to man over the animals at creation, did not necessarily include permission to eat them. What makes us think we can do whatever we want with them for our own purposes under the guise of "dominion"? Sort it out how you will. But Canada's actions seem very motivated by profit and as I consider our responsibility of dominion I begin to wonder if pure excess profit is a justifiable reason. Especially in this case, I would reconsider the wisdom of Canada's actions.

I'm Going on Welfare

Just kidding.
Job hunting is such a chore. First of all, why is it that all these businesses aren't coming crawling to me begging me to work for them because they have heard of my great fame? Maybe I've just seen too many lendingtree.com commercials. But really, I would like to know how it is possible for me to turn in an application to a company that is hiring, that I meet all their qualifications, that I have work experience, and have only 4 hours of the ENTIRE week that I cannot work and yet they never even call me in for an interview. Even more frustrating is that I am usually inquiring of some pierced up, green haired weirdo where the manager is. I am beginning to think that in order to get a job I must have a streak of purple in my hair and wear all black. They just don't hire normal people, oh no, they couldn't do that, that would mean they would be discriminating against people with blue hair. I AM POOR! SOMEONE PLEASE HIRE ME!

As I promised, though a little late, here is how to bug your mom for dinner in Greek.

deipnhsein mellomen, h ti;
You would say that something like "Deipnesein mellomen e ti?"
So that is a little Aristophanes for you, it translates: "Are we going to have dinner, or what?"

Pictures

Soiree 2004 pictures are here (its the TPCS prom). Compliments of Heidi. Some highlights...Heidi and her mom made her dress and it is gorgeous as is Heidi (Heidi is in the middle). I talked her into wearing it to "the soi". Anna is wearing a stunning green number that looks just perfect on her.

I did not go...being graduated and all. No, I sat at home and ate pizza and watched American Idol. Gee its fun to be old.

Comment System

Yes, at long last I talked my dad into letting me get a comment system. Do comment, especially if I don't know you. I find that fascinating, I'd like to find out who from other countries and who that I simply don't know is coming here. Also IMPORTANT: KEEP THE COMMENTS CLEAN. I'm not kidding. Though I imaging that won't be that hard to abide by. So have at it, especially those of you that have been bugging me about this. And thank you Heidi for being the first to comment.

Drivers Licenses for Illegals

It seems the whole Bush family has bad illegal immigration policy. I'm so mad I could spit. Thank you to the Drudge Report for pointing me to this one. Apperently Gov. Jeb Bush is condoning a move in Florida to give illegals drivers licenses. I can't even begin to tell all the reasons why this is such a bad idea. My first question is, does he have an election coming up? Maybe he's motivated by the upcoming presidential election? I just don't buy that safety talk. If someone comes in to the DMV for a license and they turn out to be illegal then it should be reported to the INS. It is really that simple. Now obviously they aren't going to try to get licenses until they are allowed to, but you know what I mean. If a public government type worker identifies someone as an illegal then they need to report it. (actually I'll be talking about a petition about that very thing some time soon) When this happened in California recently it was entirely motivated out of a desire to tip the election. Gray Davis had actually turned down the bill before, but when he was going to lose the recall race he suddenly passed it. Now, I know as well as you that pretty much all you have to do to vote is fill out that registration and then show your drivers license as ID. So basically it made it totally easy for an illegal to vote. Fortunately it had all of California in an outrage and Davis got the boot and as far as I know the law has been repealed or is going to be some time soon. It really is a commonsense issue. They shouldn't be here in the first place, do not reward them for evading the law.

Petitioning, part I

I decided to take these petitions in parts. There are too many to just sit down and write about them all. First off, these are California petitions, so my foreign readers may or may not find this of interest. I also don't have any details or even specific names for these, I'm pulling them out of my head as I remember them.

INDIANS WANT TO PAY TAXES
I was like, that's hilarious. Now what is it they want? They want to be able to build more casinos and have unrestricted gaming. I can't remember what sort of gaming it was, it seems to me that it was hunting type of gaming and it was primarily for that reason that I said NO. Even if that wasn't the case, the taxes didn't make up for more Casinos popping up and they wanted other rights and exemptions and privilages to go along with it. So don't sign this one. Yeah, they'll pay taxes, but I have no doubt that they are asking for much more in return.

INDIANS WANT TO PUT IN SLOT MACHINES AT RACE TRACKS
For this one they didn't ask for much, just the bigger portion of the cut. The state gets certain percentages amounting to an estimated $1 billion a year. There might have been provisions about no tax increases, but it didn't amount to enough to prevent me from signing this petition. The way I figure it, there is already gambling going on at these locations. Let the Indians put the slot machines in at their expense and we can get a much needed cut of the money. If it turns out to have more to it and it makes it onto the ballot, I'll let you know whether or not to actually vote for it. Still, I signed it and I would encourage you to do the same. If it gets voted on and passes but was actually not the best idea, it isn't such a big deal issue anyway and $1 billion would be very helpful.

Yeah, I lied. But I did warn you, didn't I? Anyway, expect the rest tomorrow.

The Fateful Trip, part III

Before my interview, my mom and I drove around Purcellville for a while taking pictures and seeing the sights. (houses and trees and barns) My interview went very well. Mr. Beavin put me at ease while pretending to try to make me nervous. No doubt the many prayers being said for me at home and Mr. Beavin's prayer before the interview made a giant difference. I was very calm, even inside, which never happens. Actually, although I love talking and am a very public type person, I get really tense and shake almost any time I speak to people about anything even remotely important. There was none of that. A miracle indeed.

After the interview we had lunch in the dining hall. Magnus, an old highschool friend and fellow Mock Trial person, met us there and we had lunch with him and a few of his friends. Great people. Not too nice so that they seemed insincere, actually they were sarcastic and such, but very friendly. It was amazing to me how easily I was able to get along with them. Must be a homeschooler thing. We sat in on two classes, Western Lit I and Philosophy. I enjoyed that, it reassured me that the students weren't out of my intellectual range. I needed that. But obviously that they are in my intellectual range means they are all brilliant! Right after Philosophy we went on a campus tour. Got to see what the dorms are like. Spacious enough, especially compared to what I've heard is common for school dorms. We saw Dr. Farris (president of the college) running on the treadmill in the gym. (little little gym) Actually we also saw him during lunch eating with some students.

While in the library I got a little surprise. Professor Vanderpoel, who I had for Western World History I last semester, came walking in the door. Throughout the day everyone I spoke to told me what a wonderful teacher he is and that it was a shame that I would not be able to sit in on his class. This comment nearly made my head spin each time it was made. My experience of his class was nearly completely confined to his tests, quizzes, and the infamous Roberts (author of our main text). Because of this, my opinion of Prof Vanderpoel was not incredibly high since I pretty much only experienced his difficulty. Apparently though, he is a great lecturer and I will have the opportunity to find that out when I take part II of that class. So, to get back to the point...he came walking in the door. The girl giving us our tour introduced us and he said that he remembered me. My mom said my face turned bright red. I mumbled something about "hearing great things about him its a shame I couldn't have you in person." What an awful thing and very embarrassing. Why couldn't I have met Prof Bouchoc or Prof Culberson? I got A's in their classes!

After our tour we wandered about taking pictures. I got a few nice ones and maybe I'll find a way to put them up here. Then we decided it was time to leave. I was very sad to be going, I wanted to stay there. But at that point I also had no assurance that I would ever come back in my life. Now I do. And I am so very glad of it. Do check out my school. The site seems to be down at the moment, but I can't imagine it will stay down for long. Patrick Henry College

More Promises I Can't Keep

I think today I shall catch up on my blogging. Last week was very busy so I couldn't blog anything substancial and actually this week and next are very busy as well, so it looks as though I'll have to do it all today. Therefore, look forward later today for part III of my trip, a synopsis of petitions currently circulating that I have or have not signed, and my "final" decision on the marriage amendment. I also might treat you to an analysis of some Cranberries songs from a while back that may be of interest to many of my readers. But before any of that I have to go send in my "yes please I want to come to your school" check and do some serious homework. So I'll leave you with some trivia. If you want to yell at a telemarketer that calls during dinner say:

"Malus es! Habeo cibum! Vale!" translation: "You are cruel! I am having dinner! Goodbye!"
Not only will they hang up, they might never call you again because they won't have anyone working there that speaks your language (Latin). Tomorrow I'll tell you how to bug your mom for dinner...in Greek.

Philosophy Classes

"Over the history of the human species, a great deal of evidence has accumulated to the effect that dead people stay dead."
-Ronald Nash paraphrasing David Hume

Dude, thats deep.

Unsolved Mysteries

Apparently modern science still has been unable to solve the mystery of faery circles. After testing numerous theories they were left back with the same old explanation: faeries. That is fine with me, we need some mystery in this world.

Money Hates Me

Gold closed today the highest since 1987. I find that depressing since I don't own any and would like to. If you do own it, this is your lucky day and you are now my enemy.

Also my car needed a new tire today and a realignment. I wasn't kidding when I said that money hates me.

The Fateful Trip, part II

Today's entry is about Purcellville and Leesburg.

We stayed in Leesburg. Its a small town a bit outside D.C. and a bit outside Purcellville. Well really Purcellville is a bit outside Leesburg. Anyway, its got a population a bit over 100,000 or so I think I read, which means that Simi Valley is safer than Leesburg. Go figure. Actually it has a bit of a Simi Valley feel in its newer parts. Run of the mill stores in strip malls. If you travel west in Leesburg you will encounter its old townish part. That's the part I liked...actually loved is more the word for it. There is a lovely courthouse which I would like to see the inside of one of these days, old style houses, brick buildings, and no shortage of Italian food. Purcellville was about the same. It had its newer part, which is fine with me, but the majority was old and scenic. Purcellville, however, is much smaller than Leesburg.

A few things that struck me about the area:
-There were track homes and many new areas being built up, but they are nothing like Southern California track homes. They were very spaced out instead of fitting as many houses as possible into one area. Really most houses were like that. There does not seem to be pressure to maximize the value of the land. After observing Virginia it seems to me that clustering people really tightly together does more environmental damage than just letting them roam about the land and end up where they will.
-Zoning laws seem to be a new invention over there. Our first day there we missed a lot of town because we thought we were heading into residential areas. Well we were, but what we didn't realize was that there were resturants and businesses of various sorts occupying that same space.
-Lots of water. That was especially evident flying in but it was also pretty noticable as we drove around. It reminded me of a lot of puddles and I rather liked it. I guess some places aren't constantly battling with nature in order to get a decent supply of water.
-Beautiful. Even though most of the trees were naked, it was still pretty. I like open space and I really like grass, so that must have been what made me love it.

I love Virginia.

To Be Continued....

The Fateful Trip, part I

I haven't fully recovered from my motion sickness of sorts but I decided to blog anyway. As you can see, I was accepted and now I am going to tell you about my trip that got me accepted.

My mom and I arrived at LAX on Wednesday morning looking rather perplexed about what to do with ourselves. This landed us a spot in the first class line which allowed us to get through the airport in 20 minutes instead of 20 hours. We sat behind some smelly people and they weren't speaking English. Don't you hate it when you can't eavesdrop? Anyway, we arrived at Dulles and had about the same experience. It was quick getting through. At Dulles they have these people mover things that look like giant horned (horn-ed) caterpillars. After renting our car we attempted to drive to our hotel.

Since the remainder of my series on my trip will be praises for Virginia I will take this opportunity to voice my one complaint. This may come as a shock to the world, but I prefer L.A. freeways. GASP! (and a few people keel over dead) See, here's the thing. In L.A. the offramps (1) have names (2) warn you about three times before they come upon you and (3) almost always are on the right. In Virginia the offramps mostly just have numbers and lead to different things like toll roads and interstates and highways and greenways and who knows what else, they might warn you that they are coming in 5 miles but you don't know where they are until you've passed them, and you can never predict what side of the road they'll be on. So while there is much more traffic at least in L.A. I can find my destination. (all roads lead to Santa Clarita)

To Be Continued......

I GOT ACCEPTED!

I'm back home again. I didn't want to come back, I really like Virginia. Anyway, the flight made me dizzy and I feel like I spent the day in a hampster ball in a soccer game. I will tell all about my trip once I feel better.

Give Me Admission or Give Me Death

I am leaving early tomorrow morning for Patrick Henry College (PHC). I have my admissions interview on Thursday and I'm rather nervous, after all, THIS IS MY LIFE IN THE BALANCE! Yes, Kristen Young did not apply to any other school. It didn't make any sense to since going to another school would necessitate another year at Moorpark College and if I wanted to go to PHC I would be wasting time to continue at Moorpark since ZERO credits transfer. So yeah, PHC or bust. The bummer is that we (my mom and I) only get to stay for one full day. We arrive in the afternoon tomorrow and go home first thing Friday morning. That does not leave very much time for sight seeing or a trip to D.C., though we will have ample time to see the campus. I'll be sure to blog about it when I get home. In the mean time I need to get packing. Valeo si valetis.

Side Effects Include...[read: you will probably wish you were dead]

This is just too much for me. Ok, these drug commercials always have these long lists of side effects that take up like the entire commercial and oftentimes the side effects are the same problem as the problem you are trying to treat. This latest one really takes the cake. Anti-depressant pills have been linked to suicide. Go figure.