Esprit de l'escalier

Wow, Saturday was a crazy day. I got up, got some work done and was then taken out to lunch at Minnies by my friends Spencer and Gavin. That was a lot of fun. Then my friend Prentice came and picked me up. We had being planning to get together to just hang out for a while. When he comes to get me, he came to the door with a peach colored rose! I was like, oh no! I was flattered, he’s such a sweetheart…but get this, it gets better. He needed to go to Target to pick up a gift for a friend’s baby shower. And he needed help working the registry, so I was happy to help. We went and had fun at Target and we got the gift and I helped him pick out the perfect card and everything. So then we went to his friend’s house. The baby shower was over, but we stayed and chatted for a while and this is the crazy part. He is friend’s with the whole family and the lady having the baby is the mother of Kyle’s younger brother’s girlfriend! So basically, they all knew me! Apparently Kyle’s mom talks about me. Oh boy. So after having some interesting conversation with them. Prentice had another surprise for me. He had reserved tickets to go see Romeo and Juliet at the Seattle Repertory Theatre! The best seats in the house! And we had a great time, even though we were wearing jeans instead of nice clothes. He’d never been to the theatre before so he didn’t know what to expect. He felt kind of bad about it, but I had a blast and I let him know it. After the show, we hung out some more and had great conversation. He took me to Cucina Cucina’s, but by the time we got there, they weren’t seating anymore, so we walked over to TGI Friday’s and that was good.
I’m so spoiled! How in the world is it that I am so blessed with such great friends! I don’t deserve this.
Today after church, Josh came by and took me out for a walk. We went to Discovery park and walked around there. It’s so beautiful. It started raining, but I wasn’t complaining. But he made me take his jacket to cover up my head so I wouldn’t get too wet. haha. He kept telling me the sweetest things and I’d have to keep changing the subject. After our walk, he wanted to take me somewhere else, but I told him I had to get back to finish some work. I have an article that is already past deadline. grrrr…I hate being responsible sometimes. But he insisted on making sure I got dinner, so he took me to Wendy’s and brought me back to school. He was going to take me to the Spaghetti Factory, but naturally it was packed with people and we would have been waiting forever. He’s a really sweet guy. But so far, he’s just vanilla (check previous entries for explanation of vanilla). I’m blessed and I don’t deserve a single speck of it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not thanking God for every second of it. I must be responsible and not get too carried away. Well ladies, now I must go and get work done, blah. Hope your weekends went well!

Balanced. You accept your emotions as normal and
are not overly happy nor depressed. You are
emotionally balanced and should find peace in
the way you deal with life situations. Your
emotions are normal and well understood. You
see the light in the dark.

How Emotional Are You?
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At a private university in Florida a student newspaper published an April Fool’s edition that so upset both students and administrators that the paper was shut down for the year and the staff was fired.

This incident raises many different issues: The responsibilities editors owe their readers; the responsibilities of universities to students; and just what kind of remedies are appropriate when a newspaper steps way over the line of responsible behavior. This incident also illustrates the difference in First Amendment protection between public and private universities.

“Student journalism really pushes it to the limit sometimes,” McKeen said. “(But) freedom of the press allows for irresponsibility. The First Amendment doesn’t require you do the right thing. You just hope they will.”

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/newsH1041103.htm

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-locfired11041103apr11,0,532395.story?coll=orl%2Dnews%2Dheadlines%2Dvolusia

You’re An Intellectual!
You can always be found reading or on the computer.
People always come to you when they need
information. You don’t really care about love
at this point, your only goal is to improve
your mind. After all, knowledge is power!

What Type Of Anime Character Are You?
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I just got back from the first in a series of films that will be showing for the Image Film Festival.
Thelma and Louis was about these two women who were running from the abusive men in their lives, a husband and a boyfriend, etc. After the movie there was a panel and open discussion. The overall theme seemed to be how the movie was symbolic of the time that the film was made, when sexual assault and other forms of female oppression were prevalent and justice was unseen.
Really, when I stepped back and listened to the trends that these people were pointing out…I was noticing something different. When someone stood up and made a comment about how at the end, the two women chose to drive off the cliff instead of surrender, they saw that as the height of the rollercoster ride and as a symbol of freedom. Really, I saw it as the epitome of despair. Through the whole movie…I saw this theme. Everywhere the women went, it was like more trouble and abuse awaited them. Like the truck driver that seemed to pop up everywhere. This to me was symbolic of how there was no refuge, there was no hope. At home, they would get smacked, they go to a bar…they get smacked and raped, etc. This truckdriver wasn’t a funny comedy relief, he was symbolic of how everywhere they tried to run…the gross oppression of male domination and exploitation was following them.
One question that nags me is why were the cops portrayed as such wusses? There’s one part where they’re all staking out at Thelma’s place with her husband and they’re watching soap operas. And when Thelma and Louis get pulled over by the cop and they turn on him and put a gun to his head…he starts crying when they lock him in his trunk. He was crying!? And the only decent man that actually wanted to help them was the PI who kept telling the head cheif not to shoot at them and to lighten up. I’m not sure what they were driving at.
An overall feel for the movie was not so much cutesy as much as it was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I mean, there are tons of parallels. Like the end for instance, you see both heros running full throttle into death…because they would rather die than give in. And in both cases, you don’t get to see the heros actually encounter their fate, you see them at the top of the arch, still going up.
So yea, those are a few of my thoughts about the film…I’m done venting now. The End.

Sarah:

Status is important to you and your ability to achieve success and earn money. You have a need to be noticed and seek status. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life. You enjoy a challenge. You can take thought-directed actions. You have a need to be up front. You work hard to achieve material success through your own efforts.

Elizabeth:

You have a need to communicate and express yourself. You are inclined to over intellectualize, and hate to be misquoted. You have a diplomatic flair to your nature. Equality and fairness are important to you. You are relatively demonstrative in your affections. You enjoy being stroked verbally and physically. You are compassionate, highly imaginative and creative. You have a need to be up front. You are a constructive thinker. You have a need for monetary security. You need to learn to be expressive. You are a person who cannot tolerate being misunderstood. Your privacy is important to you. You have a rich inner life. You need to learn the true value of material possessions. You have a natural protection in life. You are always saved – especially from yourself.

Decker:

Your world, good or bad, revolves around your family. You are determined and loyal, and your word is your bond. You need to learn to be expressive. You are a person who cannot tolerate being misunderstood. You are clever, inventive, imaginative and youthful. You enjoy socializing. You have good recuperative abilities. You are determined. You need to learn to be expressive. You are a person who cannot tolerate being misunderstood. You have a lack of confidence in your mental abilities and do not like being forced into giving your opinion.

Yea, I’m a lazy bum. Today I took the longest nap ever…(well, since like preschool). So even though I’m supposed to be well rested, I still feel groggy. I think there must be an secret to taking naps in order to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to rock. I’ve heard different theories regarding the art of napping. I’m convinced there is a fine line between not getting enough shut-eye and oversleeping…like perhaps there’s a two minute margin of error. Oh well, my take on it is…the more I practice, the better I’ll get at it, hehe.
I’ve got two new stories on my plate this week, plus I get to train one of the rookies on our staff…it should be fun.
Another interesting rumor I heard recently is that apparently I’ve been elected as the most mysterious girl on campus. How in the world is that?!?! haha, I mean, I always thought that the dark haired girl with glasses that works in the library was super mysterious. I haven’t ever heard her utter a word of any sort…EVER. Besides, I’m a news writer…how can I possibly be considered a mystery. Okay, so maybe I’m a mystery to the girls on my floor…but that’s only because I’m never around. Oh well, perhaps THEY know something I don’t. haha – anyway, I sort of like being seen as “The Mysterious Girl”…it’s fun!

Last night I went to Dave’s apartment with a bunch of friends from the bookstore to hang out. We watched the extended version of LOTR. There were some interesting parts in there that really helped explain some things. We ordered pizza and cinnamon sticks…yummy. And we played with Dave’s hamsters and his kitty cat for a while. That was fun too. What was really funny was watching clips from the LOTR animated version. Hilarious! Sam looks sooo goofy! haha.
So tonight a friend is taking me out to dinner and tomorrow Spencer and Gavin are taking me out to dinner as a thank you for letting them stay at my place over spring break. Wow! That’s a lot of getting taken out in one weekend!
I kinda felt bad though because while I was out last night Dan B. called to see if I wanted to catch a movie. I haven’t hung out with him in a while. I wonder how he’s doing.
I also got an email from another friend of mine that I haven’t talked to in a long time. The Lord is doing amazing things in his life right now and it’s soooo awesome! His manager at work came up to him the other day and told him that he was convicted and gave his life to Christ! Apparently that’s a real surprise because this is a guy that was on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. What a blessing!
Today at work I witnessed another example of how God pulls things together when you least expect it. I was ringing this lady up at the register today and I overheard her talking to her friend about having this desire to speak to Christian college girls and share herself as providing an example and so I immediately cut in and asked what church she went to and if she would like to come and speak to my girls. It was totally awesome because I had been looking for an older woman to come and speak to my small group girls and sort of provide an example and be a mentor. She was perfect! So I got her number and information and hopefully I’ll hear from her some time next week. I pray everything works out.

Your good peoples.

Are you Straight Edge?
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My personal chap factor for today (according to lanacane.com) is 1. On a scale of 1 to 10…1 being minimal and 10 being severe. Interesting…