We've all met him...

His name is Murphy, and he's got some really consistent but frustrating laws. Would you believe that last night I actually waited until I got all my homework done before posting? I did...and it was a long, beautiful, thought-provoking post, too. And somewhere in the mess of looking for a link near the end, I accidentally shut down the browser window without posting and now it's lost. Damn you Murphy! The one time I actually post after my work! Argh....In any case, I'll try to recreate it now, because I feel the topic is an important one.

(And, in case you were wondering, yes there is work I should be doing right now, but I'm not taking any chances. Clearly if I don't post to procrastinate Murphy steps in with his silly laws and ruins all my work.)

So my Thanksgiving break was a lovely one indeed. I think for the first time ever (including college and high school) I was able to balance seeing friends, family, getting work done and relaxing. Plus I got back on Saturday so I was able to slowly reacclimate myself to the land of the Red Sox...although it's been pretty warm here, so not much adjustment was needed.

Thanksgiving Day to me always brings to mind elementary school pageants and projects with Pilgrims and Indians, of peace and harmony. But the truth is, for a lot of people, Thanksgiving is a bitter reminder of what we as settlers have done to the American Indians over the past 200+ years. Now, before I get going I'd like to say that I don't know as much as I should on this topic, so I'm going to say my piece, and if you want to correct me, or contradict me, I'm open to that. You can even tell me I shouldn't shoot my mouth off before I do the research. But there's still a First Amendment, and as long as that's in place I'm going to speak my mind.

I took a multi-cultural children's literature class last spring and we spent a week reviewing literature that tries to represent American Indian (as I read this week they prefer to Native American) culture. I was shocked at some of the things we found. Our base book was one found on Oyate that reviewed common children's literature and pointed out the good and the bad examples, and why they were good and bad books. One book that was recommended against was The Indian in the Cupboard, which is a book I enjoyed growing up, and a story which was made into a popular children's movie in the recent past. The problem? It only shows one side of the American Indian life. It provides a skewed vision of American Indians as warrior/savages, and does nothing to represent the rich, diverse culture they have. Many children's books and movies are the same way. The book we used also had some essays written by American Indians, expressing their rage at the discrimination and persecution they face, especially at Thanksgiving each year.

My question is this: how has this gone on for so long without raising an outcry from the American public? How did we get through the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Liberation Movement and look over these injustices? We've taken these people's land, their rights, and we misrepresent them in common culture. How is it that it doesn't get more press? Why don't our children learn more about the American Indian culture and history? Why don't they learn more about the injustices we've done and think of ways how to fix them? I just don't get it...I was in the dark for so long about the whole affair, but ignorance is not an excuse. How do we start to fix this? To right the wrongs?

If you think I switched paragraphs because I have an answer, you're wrong. I don't. I guess one of the reasons more attention isn't paid to this is because it involves a willingness to really accept that one has been wrong, and be able to live with that to start to be right again. It's easy, but it's hard. It's like my friend Michelle's blog about helping the homeless: why don't we? It only takes a second of your time to stop and ask the homeless person their name to give them some dignity, to make them real, to find out what it is they really need...but most people don't because they don't want to face the guilt of having comfort and food and a warm house when this person is out on the street. It's easy, but it's hard. And I'm not saying I'm exempt from this, nor am I saying we should go out and invite all the homeless into our houses, or that stopping to talk to them is going to solve all homelessness...but it's a start, you know? You have to start somewhere. And it's the same with the American Indian culture: you have to start somewhere. I don't have time to read right now, but maybe I'm doing my part by bringing this to light and one of you will want to read more, and maybe next time you'll speak up when someone glosses over this issue unknowingly. Maybe you'll approach your child's reading teacher when she assigns The Indian in the Cupboard and offer her the Oyate website. Or maybe you'll go to Oyate yourself and read up on what you can...it's a start. Or maybe you'll do nothing...who knows?

So, that's not as eloquent as yesterday's version, but it's the same stuff basically. I'm not saying I'm right, or you're wrong...I'm just commenting on something that seems to be widely ignored, and pondering how it got that way and how it stays that way.

In other, lighter, and totally unrelated news, Target has adult sized footie pajamas! No lie. I looked for them online so I could link you to them, but I got nothin'. But I saw them with my own eyes in the store yesterday, so they're out there! They're flannel, and they look so warm and cozy. Go out and get yours now and satisfy your inner child!

OK, it's time to get some semblance of work done before the girls I nanny for wake up from their nap. Remember: it's OK to be thankful, but also be conscious at the same time. And get some footie pajamas for your inner child!

Bringin' it back....

OLD SKOOL STYLE....

I almost forgot I promised Emily I'd do this:

I'm going to start a trend here...I want all of you to start using the word "Grody." (Pronounced "Groh-deee." Meaing: ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Gross! Can be used in reference to someone who has "The Cooties.")

That's right. It's a fun word, and YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO USE IT.

Grody.

GRODY!

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Grody!

Hop on the trend today, before it comes a bandwagon and you're just passe.

Spin Cycle

Today I have been awash in memories.

This morning I woke up, and I was fairly cold as my dad is a polar bear and keeps the house pretty frigid. (OK, maybe it's because my parents program the heat to turn down during the day when nobody's here...it's pretty economical really, but I'm still going to blame my dad, who is indeed a polar bear.) I went to look for a sweatshirt in my old room (now "The Lounge," also known as the cat's room...only bearing slight resemblance to my bedroom from high school) and opened my old closet. It was as if a football team of memories tackled me. I found old prom dresses, old halloween costumes, old favorite outfits. I found a long-sleeved tshirt from when UVA won their 4th NCAA title in a row in men's soccer. I found sweatshirts from when I went shopping for colleges before senior year and bought a sweatshirt at the places I fell in love with (one in particular: Revelle, a sub-college of UCSD, where I got in but ended up not attending). I probably stood there for a half hour just filtering through the old clothes, recovering old memories and smiling.

For dinner this evening, my mother invited her pastor to dine with us. Elizabeth is very cool, with a great sense of humor, and we ended up getting my parents to reminisce about their wedding. This in turn led to a photo album being brought out, and I got to see pictures of my parents when they were younger than I am today. They told stories from before I was born...one that stands out in particular is when my mother went to the emergency room for a fish bite. That's right, a fish bite. My dad had a piranha, and my mom had an unfortunate incident while cleaning the fish's tank...and subsequently became the first person in the history of the University of Virgina's hospital to be treated for a fish bite. Can you just imagine? My mom calls my dad and says, "Honey, I'm going to the hospital. The fish bit me." Unless you know that my dad is crazy and has some sort of man-eating fish, it sounds a little bizarre. I suppose this explains some things about me, though, eh? =)

I rounded out the evening at a local brewery/restaurant with some friends from high school. Some of these friends I've recently reconnected with in Boston, some I've kept in touch with over the years through college and these years of "real world" life you hear so much about. But, as is the case in a small town like Charlottesville, there were others we knew there. I'm 99% sure my best friend from elementary school was there with her sister, but I was too timid to approach her and say, "Hey, Audrey, what's been happening the past 17 years?" I mean, REALLY, where does the conversation go after that? There were a few guys from our high school there as well, some who recognized me and some who didn't...one who was a few years behind me and once offered me $20 to make him his own personal batch of the cookies I made the boys' lacrosse team each week...he tried to pseudo-hit on me. Very amusing.

In the end, today was about reminiscing, I suppose. Can you really avoid things like that when you go home? Do I have any profound thoughts to share? Probably nothing that you haven't seen in a movie or read in a book or thought yourself...what a difference 10 years makes...so much changes and yet, then again, so little at the same time.

I guess one of the things I've really come to grips with this year is just this simple fact: whatever happens today, there will always be a tomorrow. If you can really embrace this fact, and all that it entails, the little stuff just slides away. I lost my purse at the hospital a few weeks ago, and was an hour away before I realized it. In the end, I tried several ways to find it through contacting people on the phone, and when those efforts proved fruitless I just surrendered to the fact that there was nothing I could do that day...I would be there tomorrow to check it out, and in the meantime, why let it ruin my evening? I'm not saying I can do this with everything, but I'm trying really hard to gain that ability.

Tonight, I'm going to take all these memories from the day, and as I sleep they'll mix in the spin cycle and create their own special meaning for me. In the meantime, have a happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Hey Y'all!

That's right, folks, I'm back in the South. Let me address a couple of things here:

First, YES, Virginia is the South. It lies South of the Mason-Dixon line, and it also held the capital of the Confederacy for much of the Civil War.

Second, NO, I don't have an accent. But I can sort of pick up a twang depending on the accent of those around me. And I *do* use the word "y'all", which is indeed an official dictionary-sanctioned word.

Alrighty. So I'm home for Thanksgiving, and I totally can't wait for my parents' stuffing! It's not like what many people think of as a "traditional" stuffing - it's potato-based rather than bread-based. From what I understand, this is a cultural thing, more seen in the north (both my parents are from the NorthEast.) I honestly don't care where it comes from, as long as it ends up in my belly! It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. AND, my mom puts it in mushroom caps and covers them with cheese and broils them, and then I AM IN HEAVEN. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. Mmmmm.....

In the meatime, it's not all eating, dear readers. There's also drinking to be done! Hee hee! Fear not, I also have massive amounts of work to do, so the drinking will not be too heavy. But drinking does involve hanging out with old friends, an activity I can never get enough of, so the next few days will be full of bliss - family, food, friends. Oh, and free laundry.

I had a whole slew of ideas to blog about but I left them on my desk in Boston, so for now I'll give you the one I can think of and I'm certain more will pop up as I try really hard not to work on the projects due when I get back. My interesting tidbit for the day is this:

Did you know that cashmere comes from goat hair? Who knew? I just find it interesting: cashmere is such a luxury item, you'd never associate it with a scraggly creature such as a goat. No offense to goats everywhere, I think they're really cute and all, but I've had the opportunity to pet one before and they feel nothing like cashmere. And they're pretty common, although not as hairy as sheep...is it some sort of special processing that makes the hair from goats so soft and luxurious, and thus because of the special processing it becomes expensive? Boggles the mind...I'll attribute this fascinating information to my source: my string cheese that comes individually wrapped in packages with trivia questions on them. Nerdiness and nutrition...what's better than that? I highly recommend them to everyone.

And now it's time for the aforementioned drinking. Rest well, eat well, live well and love well over these next few days. I'll post when I can....

Sure there's something else you should be doing, but why?

In the spirit that originated this blog, I offer up two wonderful ways to procrastinate today:

1. Clean. If you're not in the mood to clean your stuff, I have loads of laundry to do, an apartment that needs vacuuming, and a bathtub that needs cleaning (I took care of the other bathroom stuff earlier this week in another fit of procrastination). You're welcome to come clean my stuff.

2. Go play an online game. I find Yeti Sports to be particularly addicting. If you have more time and are feeling especially cerebral, find an online crossword (I like the Boston Globe's online version) and do that.

In the meantime, I'll be reading. Happy dawdling!

Rest in Peace

You know how they say that the elderly often die after major events, as if they were waiting for something important and once it happens, they let go of the will to live because they are now satisfied? It's the reason that the number of elderly deaths spikes after the holidays, or after graduation (waiting to see their grandchild be the first to graduate college in their family) etc. I'd love to see how many elderly Red Sox fans have passed away in the past month. I'd also love to see if there is a spike in the number of births to Red Sox Nation members nine months from now. =)

Is it nap time yet?

Good morning lovely readers!

Last night my plan was to come home, make some dinner, and read read read. What happened was I came home, made some dinner, and slept slept slept. People don't believe me when I tell them I'm a champ at sleeping but it's true. Last night I effectively went to bed at 7, and got up...no, dragged myself out of bed at 10 this morning. And I'm ready for a nap now, it's 11....is it too early?

Ah, but there's work to be done, and if I want to reduce the aforementioned stress level, I must get down to it. But, of course, the fact that there's work to be done at all motivates me to blog, and so I will update you on the week you've missed.

First...two shout outs in the blog today: one to Aaron, a friend from high school with whom I have recently reconnected. He's put my link as a sidebar on his blog (not sure how he found out I have a blog...I'm still getting around to telling everyone I have one), which to me is a big honor. Aaron's so incredibly intelligent...I love reading his blog because it makes me feel smarter and it inspires me to think. The fact that he at all would admit to being a part of what I put here (really now...pee like a racehorse?) humbles me. Another shout out to my friend Laura, who has been a dear and wonderful twin to me since our middle school days. I say any two girls who can be friends through middle and high school and still like each other at the end of those crazy "Mean Girls" days are bound to be friends for life. Laura started her blog based on reading mine (I think) and in case you weren't counting, that's TWO blogs I've inspired now. Hee hee! I find little ways to feel important. =)

Alright, what happened this week? It's all a blur. Some time spent in Providence at the internship, some time spent at work with the twins, some time spent at school, and some time spent working on various projects. Dull, dull, dull. Things I thought about this week: oh, they are aplenty. Let's see....

I have been thinking a lot about loss and bereavement this week. This is normal, as I'm taking a bereavement course at school. My professor is well known about the country (and possibly the world) as one of the leaders in bereavement/grief/death and dying work. I was really excited to take the course, as my work with children and families in hospitals inevitably leads to some sort of experience with loss or death. In the beginning of the course I was frustrated, as I didn't feel like I was learning ways to help people with their loss, which in the end is all I really want to do. Again, it's the liberal, bleeding-heart, want-to-save-the-world girl in me, but I hate to see people in pain and not be able to help. To not be able to do the right thing. But Paul (my prof) said something this week that was so profound, and has really got me thinking even more, and has lessened my frustration with the class: he was talking about the different ways that people teach bereavement courses, and most of them teach lots of theory, and give lots of steps and answers, and then let you go out into the world and try it. Paul, instead, spends a semester teaching us how much we DON'T know...because it's only when we understand how much we don't know that we are really willing to sit and listen to someone experiencing loss, and that's really the best way to begin to help anyone. This explains why I leave every class with more questions than answers, and I spend a lot of time thinking about it. And it got me to thinking...I wanted to leave this class feeling comfortable with helping people with their grief: I'm a planner, and before I encounter difficult situations I like to have an idea of the things I can offer, the things I can do, how to help. What I've realized is that it will never feel comfortable helping someone with grief - it just shouldn't, grief is not an easy thing - and so the faster I realize that, the faster I realize that maybe in this situation it's better to have more questions than annswers, and the faster I realize that each situation is different and I'll learn how to handle each one as I wade through it with the bereaved...the better a practitioner I'll be. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there.

I have also thought a lot about love and relationships this week. Again, I'm a planner. I like things to proceed in an A, B, C, D order in my life, and when I'm at B I like to have a vague idea of what D is going to look like. I find myself in a relationship now where I *think* we're at B, but I'm not sure and I definitely couldn't tell you if C is next or if it's X. And I can't tell you what anything in the future looks like. This scares me to death. Am I the only one who likes to have an idea of where things are going? Is that just a little too neurotic? In the end, does it matter? It's me, and I can't change that really. I can just learn how to deal with it a little better. Being so stressed hasn't helped the clarity of our situation, and to top it off my Bit of Stuff is also incredibly hosed. So we talk about it a fair amount, we try to plan times to be together that don't add any stress to our lives (e.g., don't cost much because we're both broke or don't go to places that are so loud we leave feeling like we didn't really spend any time together since our time together is sparse these days), and we plow through. But it's something that weighs on my mind a great deal.

It hasn't been an entire week about death and stress, readers. Fear Not. The girls I nanny for, despite being in their terrible 2s full force, are still ridiculously cute and loving. Nothing beats the feeling of sitting down and having two beautiful children run to you and throw themselves on you giggling. I also had an interview for a potential internship placement for the spring on Friday and I think it went well. I'm getting to a place where I feel really good about my skills in the Child Life profession, and so interviews are now fun...as I'm not worried that there will be a question I'm unsure how to answer anymore. I love feelings like that: little signs that you're coming into your own in something. Sometimes it's when you're single and you just have those moments where you think "I rule! I rule, just as I am." (Reference Michelle's blog.) Sometimes it's those interview moments where you just think, "I'm definitely the person for this job, and I know it and I can tell that these people are realizing it too." The funny thing is, when I was younger, I thought that you got past a certain age and didn't have these moments anymore, that you just became an adult and then existed. Does anyone else remember that? When you saw the future as a little kid, you saw a certain age past which you had the job you wanted, the family you wanted, you knew everything...that was what being an adult was, right? Oh, it makes me laugh to think of it. How did I not realize how boring that would be? Even if I had the job I wanted, the family I wanted...there's still so much more I'd have to work for. Some call it never being happy with what you've got, I call it a constant search to improve, to be better. Because if we don't have that, well...what else is there? Stagnant, boring lives. Be it a quest for more knowledge, better skills at something, the best mac and cheese you've ever had...whatever it is, there should always be something to which you reach. If you get to it, reach higher...again...the subject of the blog: ClosER to Fine.

OK, enough of the preaching. That's my week as I remember it. Lots of introspection, lots of hazy memories and not at all enough sleep. However, my books are whimpering as I haven't paid nearly enough attention to them of late, so I'm off to appease the academic gods.

music: an assortment of melodies by Taylor Hayward. check out his music - free to download - here. Ambient classical music. GOOD, good stuff.

Putting it to rest

I love, love, LOVE that all of you tried so hard to figure out how to answer my frivolous question. It's great! Several of you have commented on my stress level...it's still there, but hopefully after spending a weekend nerding out and just doing lots of work, it will drop some. This also means I'll probably post a few times, since we all know how much I love to avoid work! Hee hee!

In any case, speaking of work, there are some things to be done now, so we'll save posting for later....but I wanted to inform all of you who worked on that question that I've found a site that could possibly have finally made my life complete.

This is the site that I found answers similar to the ones offered up by my loyal and wonderful readers.

Lots of interesting info there. No clue how reliable it is, but most of the answers seem to make sense. Or, at least more sense than a bad pun in a high school reunion potato factory dream. (Thanks, Em. That CRACKED ME UP! The rest of you, if you want in on the joke, read the comments!) In any case, most of you who offered up answers matched with the page:

Horses really only pee in their stalls, because they are uncomfortable peeing anywhere else. So show horses and racehorses are often out of their stalls, and may feel an urgent need to urinate until returned to their stall. The alternative is the reference to offering racehorses a diuretics to help them lose weight, making them pee a lot.

So there you go! Fear not, since you're so good at assignments, I've got all sorts of crazy quandries like this, so I'll give you some more in the future. In the meantime, I thought I'd put the issue to rest and ease all your minds, since you're obviously as neurotic as me. =) Have a lovely weekend...will blog again soon.

Changing the world, one blog at a time....

OK, I wasn't going to post because I'm totally stressed out this week, and right now what I need to be doing is going to bed so I don't lose any more sleep than I already have, but I'm so, SO, SOOOOOOOOOOOO very excited about the ideas that are coming through on this blog. Keep it up, my socially conscious readers! Seriously, if there are other issues you'd like to discuss, I'm totally open to this being a forum. I'll tell you what I think on issues you want to discuss, and you can tell me I'm an idiot or I'm brilliant. =)

Anyhow, I'm going to go from high-brow, solving-the-world's-problems blogging to low-brow, this-is-really-random-but-I'm-curious blogging for tonight, as I don't have time to really get into much else:

Anyone know where the phrase "I have to pee like a racehorse" comes from? Is there something special about the way racehorses pee? Is it super-fast? Or just a lot? And is it more than other horses? What in the heck is that phrase all about?

I'm serious, folks. No lie - I can be introspective and somewhat deep, or I can be silly and have frivolous thoughts such as the one above. Today we're on the Silly. Tomorrow? Who knows?

On a side note, check out my friend Michelle's blog. She's got some fun stuff to say, too...especially for the late 20's single crowd. I can relate to some of her single-ton thoughts. Not now, per se, since I am involved with someone, but just in general. Anyway, she rules, and you should check her out.

Don't expect too too much in the way of posts this week. I'm barely keeping my head above water right now, so although this is a great procrastination tool, I'm past the point of being able to procrastinate. But I just couldn't help posting tonight, as I was feeling so inspired by the level of responses. I love that some of you really want to help me change the world, and some of you just love my sense of humor. That's great, because it's what this blog is all about: my thoughts, my personality. Sometimes it's proactive political/societal change, sometimes it's all about fun. YAY! By the way, if you're so inspired, feel free to let your friends know about the blog, even if they don't know me. If you think they'd be struck by something I've posted, and especially if you think they'd be so struck they'd want to respond, I'm all about sparking conversation and connection.

OK, just a few more things to do and I'm hitting the hay (she said as her phone rang). Have a lovely week!

music: Music? Who has time for that? I'm too hosed to take time to find a CD and put it in my computer and pull it up and play it. I can't even be bothered to find something on my Itunes to put on repeat. However, I *did* just get the special edition CD of Howie Day's "Stop All the World Now," so I'm yearning for the time in just a few short hours when I will be able to put it into my car CD player and bask in the loveliness that is Howie Day as I drive the crazy commute to my internship.

For a good laugh....

And to make any of you out there who are disheartened by the election results feel better...visit these sites:

First, go to

www.sorryeverybody.com

then visit

www.apologiesaccepted.com

Maybe Bush is uniting the world more than we thought! Or, just in a way we hadn't thought of, at least. =)

Procrastination is your friend.

Welcome to the Sunday edition of Kristy's blog! This blog is brought to you by the mountains of reading I should be doing right now. =)

I'm both very pleased and humbled at the same time right now. I sparked some conversation with my blog! Not just conversation, either, but intelligent conversation! I'll grant you it's a small one, really between my mom, myself, and some other anonymous person, but it's fun to put stuff out there and get a response.

I'd like to make a request before I continue, however....if you're going to comment, and you're not already signed up for blogger, please add a line in your "anonymous" comment to let me know who you are. If I don't know you, feel free to just give your first name and maybe something fun like what state you're in. I'm not looking to hunt you down or stalk you or anything, but it would be nice to have a name to respond to. And it would be kind of fun to know where people are reading my blog!

Alrighty...so I'm going to start with addressing my comments from the last blog. My mom had a good point when she pointed out that we can't disqualify people for having sub-standard housing...but maybe we could work harder to provide them with up-to-code housing. Actually, it shouldn't take having a child to get quality housing, that actually would exacerbate the issue here in that some folks would have children just to get better housing. That's Not OK. So then we really should address the housing issue, which is an entirely different problem than the parenting issue, and makes it more complex to solve. So how do we address that? I don't know. I'm not trying to imply that I, with my minimal political science knowledge, can solve the problems of our nation with my tiny little blog. But it *is* an issue: there are so many kids that develop allergies, asthma, and other diseases from living in housing that has mold, bug infestations, and other such sub-standard issues. I just feel bad because that's not their fault...they're suffering from something entirely preventable. It also might not be their parents' fault...wow, I'm starting to get overwhelmed with the idea of trying to make the world a better place. Maybe that's why I like what I do: I make my difference in small, manageable, immediate-results ways. It's very gratifying. Anyhow, I also liked the comment about poverty:

Whether it be poverty of spirit, poverty of those things needed for basic survival, or poverty of knowledge (how to parent), we need to find a way to stop it so that we can focus on those who are our future.

That's really deep. And so very, very true.

As to my other anonymous comment...I am humbled by your thoughts. You're very right in assuming that I don't have kids (maybe you know me?), and I'm also completely unaware of what it's like to have children. It must be incredibly difficult. I had a week this summer where I was babysitting for twin toddlers long hours (breakfast to bed), and I was exhausted. And I didn't have to get up with them in the middle of the night, or go to class, or do really much of anything else. It frightened me a great deal, really, because I want children and I just can't imagine how people do it. Some people tell me that it's different when it's your own children, that you find the strength easier, but still...WOW. I have such respect for parents. I *love* the idea of time management classes to go with the parenting classes. But again, how many classes can we ask expecting parents to take, considering they are likely already to be tired and busy with their own lives? Again, these problems aren't going to be solved in two blogs, or really probably not in this blog alone, but it's interesting the questions that are getting raised.

My previous blog wasn't really in reaction to the abuse I had heard about in the Child Protection Team meeting...that's a whole different issue with different needs to fix. It just reminded me of the whole idea of how to teach people to be better parents, which is something I've thought about a lot since I started working with children. It's a touchy subject, and a hard one to solve, because when addressing it you have to make sure you make objective comments, realizing that your way of parenting is not always the best one. Each person has their own parenting techniques, and just because I don't like someone else's, say, it doesn't mean that they are wrong. And I'm not trying to knock all parents...I know that it must be tough...and nobody's perfect. Everyone has off days, everyone takes different shortcuts. And that's OK. Really, in my heart, the best way to be a great parent is to really really love your kids. When your intentions are in the right place, most of the other stuff usually falls into place.

So, anyway...I feel like I might have more questions than answers now, but I'd still love to hear more thoughts. Or, if there's something else you'd rather discuss, bring that up in the comments feature too! And the key here is to keep questioning, and keep bouncing ideas off of others, and sharing ideals and ideas and someday, as a group, maybe we can all come up with an adequate solution. Thanks for reading and taking me seriously! =)

In other news...the weekend was GREAT! Birthday parties, hanging out with friends old and new, and yes, Mom, smooching. I didn't come out on top in the bowling party, but I held my own, and in the second game I did better than the first, so I'm pleased. It ended up being candlepin bowling, which I've never done before. I've been duck-pin bowling, which is similar in that you use a small ball and the pins are not normal size...but candlepins are tall and skinny and duck pins are mini-sized regular pins. And in duck pin bowling you still only get two turns, it's basically mini-regular bowling. But in candlepin bowling, you get THREE turns, and you don't clear in between turns, so you can use those you've already knocked over to knock other pins over. That is, you can do that if you have skills, which I don't really have apparently. A good time was had by all, and if you're in the Boston area I can highly recommend the Milky Way Lounge and Lanes in Jamaica Plain. Also good is the food from Bella Luna in the same building. The pizza was deeeeeeeeeeeeee-licious! A good time was had by all. Happy Birthday to Michelle!

I think that's enough of yet another novel for today. My reading calls, and I think I can no longer ignore it. In the meantime...share the love and hug someone you care for this week. =)

music: "Keep Me in Your Heart" by Warren Zevon, "Hole in the World" by the Eagles, "Unwell" by Matchbox Twenty (for the philisophical, world-problem-solving section); "Where is the Love?" by the Black Eyed Peas feat. Justin Timberlake (for the personal update)

Teach them well and let them lead the way

warning: having some trouble with spacing and paragraph breaks...not my fault, blogger is being testy. tried to fix some of it with html code, but it may not fix all of it. apologies in advance!

OK, business first.

As to my mom's comment on the lack of blogging: yes, I'm more likely to blogwhen there's work to do. I've just been taking a break, busy with school,insert general excuse here. I'll try to keep up with this, but those ofyou who have been emailing me for a while know that I start strongand end up being a slacker. However, when I do put up/out my thoughts, it'susually good, so keep checking, and feel free to harass me to blog, it mightwork.

In the meantime, today at my internship I attended the Child Protection Teammeeting. The CPT is made up of doctors from the hospital, social workersfrom DCYF (can't remember what it stands for, like the Department of SocialServices or the Department of Children and Families), someone from the AttorneyGeneral's office, and other social agencies in the area that provide supportfor abuse victims. We discuss abuse cases (sexual and physical) that havecome through the hospital.

Wow. The world is a Sick, messed up place. There are some really Sick and Wrongpeople out there. In one sense it just made me sad to hear the stories weheard, but in another sense it made me want to go out and do my job evenmore: to be that one bright, normal spot in these kids' lives. They cometo the hospital after experiencing something so traumatic and scary, andI can be the person who helps them find a spot of normalcy when everyoneelse is treating them as different - that way they get both what they need,and maybe a little respite from the harsh reality they are now facing. Erin,my former supervisor, used to say, "There are days when you go home and youthink, 'I could work at the Gap and not have to deal with this stuff.' Andit's true. You could. But this stuff is going to happen whether or notyou work at the Gap, and if you decide to do your job, to remain in the hospitaland help make these children's lives better for even a split second, thenyou've made a difference. And that's worth everything else you have to put up with." I'm inclined to agree.

Related: One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affectionof children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayalof false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leavethe world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to knoweven one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!

So there you have it.

But this got me thinking on the drive home, and not to get all Whitney Houston on you or anything, but I believe the children areour future. And how we raise them determines what kind of world they createfor us when we're not in charge anymore. And there are so, so, so many childrenout there who are just not being raised. Forget raised right, just not evenbeing parented. Loved. Educated. It's really sad, and I feel like thereis so much more we could do, but I just don't know what. But I know we'renot doing all that we can, and one of the problems of adults is that we tendto focus on the problems of the here and now, the problems that affect usas adults, and we forget that if we worked more on the problems of children,then maybe they wouldn't have to work so hard on their problems as adults,and perhaps they could work on making the world a better place rather thanjust playing catch-up. Don't get me wrong, I know that the adult problemsneed attention, but I just really believe that there isn't enough focus onthe problems of children.

In that vein, I used to say that I would run for president, and one of my platformswould be instituting an application process to be parents. Now, I'm sureI'll get reamed from somebody on this one, so let me give the disclaimer NOW before you read the rest: I *know* this is not a perfect solution, butit's an idea...and maybe if I put it out there maybe it will spark an ideain someone else and they'll use part of my idea and add to it their idea,and someday we can come up with a good idea, using pieces of everyone's ideas. OK?

I fully believe that everyone has a right to be parents. I'm not suggesting we take that away from ANYONE. But people should have to apply to be parents first. There should be testing on knowledge of how to parent (meaning thingslike changing diapers, developmental knowledge, etc....NO POLITICAL TESTING,EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT TO THEIR OWN OPINION). And if you fail, or your housingis sub-standard, or something, then you should have to fix the problem beforeyou parent. Like take parenting classes (they could even be free) or gettingbetter housing. You could sign a contract saying you'd follow the law, provide adequate housing, proper nutrition, etc. And then if you were in breachof contract, we could prosecute for bad parenting. Punishments could bethings like more parenting classes, or something. Not necessarily separation from your children, only in cases of true abuse or continued neglect, etc.

I know, I know. I KNOW! Funding would be a huge issue. Who gets to judge who is a good parent? How do we check up on this? I KNOW! It's a total pipe dream. But I really want people to be better parents. And I thinkthat some people don't even realize that they are being bad parents in the first place, and if there was some way to show them how to do it right, they'd do it in a heartbeat. Some people want so badly to be parents, and they just have no idea how to do that. I want to help these people.

Of course, I'm a bleeding-heart, wear-my-heart-on-my-sleeve liberal, as my friendWade would say, so take that into account. In the end, I really want tohelp everyone. But kids hold a special priority in my heart. Anyway, ream me if you want. I don't care. The point is, I know that the idea is imperfect,but the sentiment behind it is a good one. I'd love to hear your thoughts,especially those who think they could build on this, or those who totally disagree with it on every level, including the sentiment behind it. I invite all opinions, as they force me to think about it more...and that helps me to really solidify what I believe. I'll either wholeheartedly agree with you, and alter my thought process accordingly, or I'll find something thought-provoking,as it has a good point or is something I never thought of, or is a good reason to disagree with me, and perhaps I'll adjust my opinion accordingly. =)

Alright,enough of the novel. It's been a long week of driving to Providence, paperwriting, and working. Tonight is a friend's birthday party with bowling (I granny-bowl, and I'm super good, so I'm looking to kick some major ass tonight), and my Bit of Stuff has been away all week, and returns tonight. Things are looking up! There is much fun to be had: good times, with good friends, and maybe a little smooching action. Hee hee! Don't worry, there's much work to be done on Sunday, so there's a high probability I'll blog again soon. =) In the meantime, keep it real, folks.

music: "Pictures of You" by the Cure

Free at last, Free at last!

That's right, folks. I'm done with my paper. FINALLY. I have sent it as an attachment to my professor, and there's no turning back now. YAY!

Now there's the simple task of catching up on more than a month's worth of readings and starting my final projects for the semester. Where does the time go?

Speaking of, I once lived with a woman in Florida who told me that time moves exponentially faster the older you get. I am inclined, from my brief experience, to agree. I think people my age (27, that's right, I'm not afraid to admit it, or bring all those who claim me as a fellow classmate down with me) tend to get caught up in how old they are - how many years they've lived. It's a phenomenon that seems to start just after college graduation, say around 23, and builds until...well...I haven't seen it stop yet. I've seen two approaches to getting older that I much prefer. The first comes from a friend's sister. This friend was devastated on her 24th birthday about how old she was getting, and her sister looked at her and said, "That's right, get upset! You only have 51 more years until you're 75!" Kinda puts things in perspective, no? Also, I once told someone in my family when they turned 50, "Congratulations! You're 50 years YOUNG today! And that's A LOT of young! So much more young than my 22 years of young!" In the end, it's not the amount of time we have, but what we do with it that matters. Cliche, but true.

As a final note, I will thank my mom for using the comments feature. As a show of my appreciation, I will pick a different color in which to publish this post, as the blue apparently hurts her eyes. I mean, if I'm only going to have one reader, I should really step up the customer service here, no? =)

Keep it real, folks.

music: "32 Flavors" by Alana Davis

Oh, the weather outside is frightful....

OK, I *swore* I wasn't going to post again today, since that would technically be three in one day, and that's a little nerdy, even for me. But tonight was so fun, I just had to post.

First of all, shout out to my girl Erica, who provided me with a lovely evening of giggles and good conversation. She reminded me yet again that I have the best friends on the planet, and I'm very lucky. Thanks, girl!

Second, Erica and I went to Downtown Crossing tonight to see Jon Ondrasik of Five for Fighting fame. He performed live at the Borders there, and it was suprisingly sparsely attended. All the better for us, though, as it was a great mini-concert and he had a fascinating question and answer session. I love intimate concerts like that, because it makes the songs more real...to see them not only performed in person but also to hear the stories behind them and know more about the person who writes and sings them. This Jon Ondrasik is a real, funny, passionate human being and listening to him talk and sing tonight was just fantastic. Plus he signed my CD (I already owned it), and he signed it, "Kristy: All my love, John-" That's right folks, ALL his love. For me. None for his wife and kids, or any of the other fans. Well, except for maybe Erica, to whom he wrote the same thing. But just us. Nobody else. I'm sure of it.

As a sidebar, I learned the origin of the Five for Fighting name. I had always wondered, because I think it's a band of three, definitely NOT five...kind of like Ben Folds Five. Of course I don't know the origin of the Ben Folds Five name, so if anyone else does, feel free to edify me. I'd love to know, as I enjoy their music as well (there's only three of them, too). Anyway, Five for Fighting is a reference to a hockey penalty: five minutes for fighting. Apparently (who knew?) Jon Ondrasik is a huge sports fan, in fact he writes a column for Sports Illustrated. Go figure! Anyway, he explained that the reference is not meant to only refer to hockey, but also to refer to having a passion for what you do so much that you'd fight for it despite the costs. Pretty darn cool.

Finally, the third cool thing that happened tonight (which was the catalyst for getting me to blog the uber-nerdy third time) is the source of the entry title. That's right, folks. It's snowing here in Beantown tonight. Nothing that will stick, mind you, or even accumulate, but it was a nice little shower of snow as I walked home from the T. It was really pretty...just cold enough to snow, which is not that cold at all really, and I'd much prefer a little snow shower than a little rain shower as I walk home from the T. Welcome winter! Please be kind this year.

And that's it. Are you wondering about the progress of my paper? Of course you are, you wonderful, devoted folks. How thoughtful of you! It's getting there, I'm done with the reference part of the paper and now only have to write my own thoughts, sort of the reflection portion of it, and then I'm done. I'll do that tonight, then let it sit tomorrow, edit it and send it in. And, of course, then I'll have to start up on the next project, due in a few weeks. It never ends! Ah, the life of a student...

Wishing you all a lovely evening...

music: "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!" by Sammy Cahn and Julie Styne

Favor Request

I know, I know. I *just* started this thing and now I'm going to ask you for a favor? I suppose it's the only child in me coming out...but since you're here....

I'm curious to see who finds this and reads it. Eventually I'm sure I'll send it out to all my friends, and I've already sent it to my parents (so we'll see how edited this gets...hee hee!), but I'm not going to force anyone to read it so if you would, please use the comments feature and let me know who you are, or if not who, then where you are, and any thoughts you might want to share.

So it's really only been 9 hours or so since my first post, I don't really have much to update except that my paper is not yet done. Fear not, readers, for I have a Plan. I *will* get this paper done tonight, even if it means staying up super-late. Somehow this project just completely surprised me: it's turned into more than I thought it would be, and while I feel like I'm doing a good job, I'd really like to be done, and moreover I had expected to be done by now. It does not bode well for the rest of my days as a student that apathy has taken hold so strongly this early in the year...if anyone has a sure-fire cure for apathy I think I'd be willing to pay for it at this point.

Now, don't get me wrong: I love my work. The beauty of grad school is that you get to focus your studies on only that which you want to do, and if you're going to school for a degree in something you really love, then it's not so much of a chore. I like my classes, I find them engaging and fascinating and I'm learning a lot. However, I'm lazy. I'd rather just research a topic and know the information than research it and then write a paper to prove that I know something about the topic. Of course, knowing me as a lazy individual, I suppose I might need the paper assignment to get me to do the research in the first place. =)

In any case, this isn't really a gripping topic, and I'd like to keep this fresh and engaging, so my final comment for the moment will be

The End.

music (in my head, as I'm in a computer lab at school, but i have this song stuck in my head so it really is the soundtrack to the blog): "Kid Fears" by the Indigo Girls

Uhh...is this thing on?

Alright folks, here we go...jumping into the blog scene. I'm not going to lie to you, the original purpose of this blog is to avoid writing a paper that is already overdue. (That's right, I'm a master procrastinator. If you're in need of lessons, let me know, I can provide them on a case-by-case basis for a small fee. Of course, if you're reading this, odds are you're already pretty good at it, because REALLY, who absolutely has to read this thing? Nobody. So there's probably something else you should be doing right now. And may I say, good for you for not doing it! Anyway...) In the end, my idea for this blog is a lot like my goals for my own life: I'll be constantly searching for a purpose and new meaning in it, and looking to share and connect with others. Plus, it'll probably be a great way to just unload sometimes. =)

In the meantime, I should get back to the aforementioned paper. BOO! However, I'll leave you with some basic info about the title: the Indigo Girls are my all-time favorite music group. They have such an amazing harmony and sound, and after attending five of their concerts, I can honestly say that they always sound better live than they do on their albums. Not many artists can say that. On top of a great sound, their lyrics are intelligent. Their love songs aren't drivel, they really seek to find the true intricacies of love. But that's not all they write about either: they write about political action and reincarnation and finding purpose in life. And I just think that's pretty damn cool. Intelligent lyrics melded with an amazing sound...to me there's nothing that can top that. So...the title for the blog is the title of one of their more famous songs, and it sort of rings true in my overall life: I'm always trying to get a little closer to fine. The subtext is a line from another of their songs ("Least Complicated") and I just find it so very true - usually the hardest lesson to learn is really the simplest one. So that's my meaning behind the blog title; and really my life: I'm out there learning the lessons the best I can, and trying each day to be a better person. Some days are steps forward, some are steps backward, but in the end, I think I'm doing alright.

I suppose it would be a step forward to work on my paper, eh? =) OK, back to it.

music: "Collide" acoustic version, by Howie Day