All the papers keep showing her more recent pictures, but knowing what she did with the Special Olympics I like to think that no matter her age or outside appearance, Eunice still had the heart and drive of the young woman pictured above.
In today's RedEye there was a piece where world leaders expressed their thoughts on the passing of Mrs. Shriver. Her brother, Sen. Edward Kennedy said
"She understood deeply the lesson our mother and father taught us - much is expected of those to whom much as been given. "
Too often that saying would fall flat when those of us regular folks are hit so hard by the economy and we look at the lavish lives the Kennedy family lead. However, with Mrs. Shriver I can see that she truly took this to heart. If you don't believe that, would we ever see pictures of joy and inclusion like the ones below without her?
I had the opportunity to work with the Special Olympics once and these people feel as joyous as Olympians!
Hi Everyone, So sorry I've been absent. Between work and life it's been hard to keep up with the blog. No excuse I know, but part of what's kept me from regular posting is I'm actually writing! WOOHOO. I can hear some of you now screaming to see what I'm writing, but patience is a virtue. I will never show you raw writing so you have to wait for me to write it, review it, make some fixes and bring you an almost complete passage. Not that there's not editing suggestions I'll take once I put it out there, but as Stephen King said the first draft is written with the door closed. The door is closed people!
I will say that I've been surprised that some of my fears about writing have been alleviated. Some instructional books and famous authors say that they spend time writing out character profiles, outlining the story then filling in the detail after all the pre-emptory homework. Others (like my new BFF Stephen King) say that they just start writing and it comes. Mr. King said he doesn't write the story as much as his characters create the story and tell him about themselves and he trusts them, the characters, to tell him about themselves. When I initially read that, I thought it must be a trait that comes after years of consulting the writing muse. Just yesterday I started writing a new piece and surprisingly the story just started unfolding. I see the story happening in my imagination and I've been surprised to see the story taking turns that I hadn't thought of on my own. It's quite exciting!
So stay tuned for some short stories that will either appear here or in a brother-blog.
Even though I've been writing, I've still been annoyed enough to post my rants here so let me catch up on some.WHO
THE F*CK CARES????
Why are we still paying attention to these baby factories? They divorced, someone cheated, the kids squeal, eat and poop? WHO CARES? This morning as I was watching the NBC news they said NBC staffers in New York stated that when Kate was a guest on the Today show she was one of the worst guests, that she cursed like a drunken sailor and when the camera was moving to take a shot of her entourage she threatened to walk off the show. Merideth Viera denied this, but I have a feeling there's a little truth in there.
I can't wait til their 15 minutes are LONG since over!
I've never watched Gossip Girl. Even before it started it sounded sophomoric. I have absolutely no clue what the show is about. I couldn't name one person who stars in it. The only thing I know that came out of it is the OMG phenomenon and how every product or service aimed at tween and early teen girls has used it somehow.
and now I will too, but in a completely unrelated way. (its my blog, just go with it)
Several weeks ago I wanted to find an image that was related to Clemson University (where I went to college if you didn't know) or Tiger Band to use as my profile image on Facebook for a change. I came across a picture that was impressive; a tattoo on a guy's back in the shape of a tiger paw with the tiger face inside it.
Nice art work, right?
So today (even as I type this) I'm on a conference call where my only contribution is to start the call and then convert oxygen into carbon dioxide. I've been surfing the web for the past hour and I found a site with about 50 + lists ranging from 15 Worst Plastic Surgeries, 20 Unbelievable Human Medical Conditions to 15 facts you didn't know about your body (did you know the human body can produce aspirin on its own? It's a FACT!)
When I got my tattoo it was illegal to get tattoos in South Carolina. (I drove an hour north and was in North Carolina.. so there you Bible thumping blue law freakshows!) But now the laws have changed and you can. Perhaps they may have needed a spelling test for certification.... I don't know... .but the only reason I could possibly think of for a South Carolina person not to be able to spell Clemson properly is that they were a USC GAMECOCK FAN! (Clemson's century old rival) or really hated this poor boy.
Perhaps he went out of state... perhaps he went west of the Mississippi or however far you have to get away from the southeast or eastern seaboard to not have heard of ClemSON. Hell, even the name Clemmons has two "m"s in it.
The back piece is beautiful, the tiger paw still has me in awe of the artwork. But this child is scarred for life and I KNOW the University won't change its name to help him.
I've been doing my due diligence with my writing and learning what I can where I can. I've learned a lot and hope to be successful from taking the advice of people who know, even if they seem an unlikely source for that knowledge. I've discovered something through the advice though;
Like the TLC show "What Not to Wear" I think there should be a show called "What Not to Write". Sadly, many of the people who need this valuable lesson probably see themselves as too professional to need the advice.
Such is a writer for the Los Angeles Times, Shari Roan.
Shari wrote a piece that appeared in today's issue about a little boy, born deaf, that has received cochlear implants . While her article offers hope for the boy, and I'm happy for him, she apparently was absent the day they taught the lesson "make sure your article and title don't piss off people" The initial title on this article is "The Sound of One Boy Healing". The subsequent title is "Cochlear implants open deaf kids' ears to the world"
Lesson 1: Healing. Was his hearing loss due to an injury? Nope, he was born deaf. It happens. He's healing from surgery yes, but the title alone, as it always has, makes deafness sound like an illness. If you believe that, I have about 8,000 people in the Chicago area alone that I can text and have them share with you how wrong that is.
Lesson 2: This is nitpicky, but I'm pissed so I can be nitpicky. "...open deaf kids' ears to the world" If you paid attention to the "how the implants work" section in your own article, Ms. Roan, you'd see that the technology bypasses the ear entirely. So there! NYEAHHHH!
Lesson three: Not a "What Not to Write" but just a point to my readers who may not know. The father of the child says:
"We just want him to hear," says his father, Michael, 38, a registered nurse, on an October day at the couple's town house in Harbor City. "We want him to be independent."
Talk about pigeon-holing your kid early?!?! I guess I had better tell my Deaf friend Raymond who owns the largest interpreting and Deaf services agency in Chicago who just purchased a vacation home in Michigan, owns a gorgeous condo and just bought a nice new Lexus that he better give it all back since being deaf means not being able to fend for yourself. And a NURSE said that....
Lesson Four: Wouldn't it be simpler to say...? This reminded me of a bit in "Auntie Mame" when she's writing her memoirs with a wordy ghost writer:
"I wonder if the general public is going to understand all this symbolism. (She reads) 'Like an echo from the caves of Coccamaura, I came forth whilst Deirdre wept cool tears.' Wouldn't it be simpler to say, 'On the day I was born, it rained in Buffalo?'"
Yes, Ms. Roan, instead of your sensationalizing with "some sliver of the racket... can penetrate his brain" wouldn't it be simpler to say "He can hear"? (thanks Just Kevin for the reference!)
Anyway, I will tip my hat to Ms. Roan for one thing. As I found out in my short and ill-fated job when I lived in Southern California, nothing is a complete waste. If nothing else, from that job, I learned what NOT to do in convention & event planning. As with Ms. Roan, (and as if I didn't know this already... called common sense) I have strengthened my knowledge of What Not to Write!
I've always been amazed at people who've been at their jobs for 15, 25, 30 or more years. My personal best was 5 years at Roper Hospital in Charleston, SC. That's not to say I'm flighty with jobs, but between downsizing, changing careers, etc. I've just been a bit of a nomad.
While security is a great thing, I think I was meant to be one of those people who wasn't necessarily meant to stay in one career path or one place for good. I may have had a longer tenure with a company if I hadn't had such a burning curiosity for a variety of things. Even growing up this was the case. I couldn't be in band and on day one play the tenor sax and end my musical life on tenor sax. I explored everything and now I've played (or played at) tenor, alto, soprano sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, Irish fiddle, didgeridoo and had a fun stint with rifle/color guard.
My career has seen the same multi-interest translate into new careers. Sign Language interpreting, medical technology, nursing, convention planning, etc. And now, while this isn't a career change, I am finally looking to pay long-absent attention to a creative skill I've seemed to always enjoy, but didn't realize I was always enjoying it. I like writing.
I don't plan to hash out the great American novel or even have writing a novel as a goal, but it could happen. As with any new topic my mind sparks an interest in, I first started with the Dummies books. As usual, it was a great overview and skimming of not only the writing process, but the business side as well. There were references to other books galore, but one that stuck out in my mind was Stephen King's On Writing. I started reading it this past week and I'm really impressed and surprised by this book. It's so conversational you feel as if he's sitting with you.
If you like Stephen King's fiction in the past get this book if you haven't read it already. The first nearly half of the book is almost a biography, but you see in his biography where his past created his future. The portion on where the idea(s) for Carrie came from out of his being a janitor in a high school were informative. Especially how it almost wasn't written.
So building on his very first bit of advice from writer and fellow blogger SueBob (who I get the extreme pleasure of meeting face to face this week while she's attending BlogHer here in Chicago!) I'll be adding Stephen King's fun and not so fun advice. I hope to start sharing some work, both old and new, with you soon.
This was posted over at Neatorama. It's got a little bit of the "Watch out... white boy dancing" feeling to it, but still... What a way to get down the aisle vs. the usual, overly somber, march of death?!?!
I've been off-line for a while but I'm back(ish). (yeah, that's all the explanation you're getting)
I was a couch potato yesterday as I was home sick from work yesterday. There wasn't anything on TV and I've seen every movie in my DVD collection at least 10 times. I had 3 movies from Netflix, but being sick and down, I didn't really feel like I was in the mood for the downer messages they all seemed to have. One I had seen, Milk with Sean Penn, and while it was the beacon of hope, he still dies and that seemed a little depressive to me for yesterday.
The other two I had not seen and now I kind of wish I hadn't. By the way, possible spoilers ahead. Look at the pictures. If you have not seen these movies and plan to, don't read on... be warned in more ways than one.
DOUBT I can hear everyone getting up in arms for tagging out this movie with all it's power house actors and award nominations. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, whom I respect as an actor, but haven't really cared for since his icky part in Flawless (can you say acting every stereotype? I mean, he put an S in "Cracker") But to his credit, he was, from what this Southern Baptist turned Lutheran understands, the proper character for a priest and did the part proud.
Meryl Streep was great, as always. I think after watching her performance I've learned that it's not that I think actors can't do well with accents, it's just I hate the accent they're portraying. It must mean that they're doing it very well!
My problem with the movie you ask?? After so much set up and character build and silent shots of that blond boy with a self inflicted nose bleed, the story almost seemed chopped. And after an entire movie showing how Meryl Streep's character had a bigger penis than Philip Seymour Hoffman's did, it's at the END.. and I mean the LAST friggin' line of the movie, that she breaks down and says "I Have Doubts". I didn't read the book, but it felt like the writer was scribbling furiously through the last chapter and it was 4:58pm and the final product had to be in the producer's hands by 5pm or the deal was off.
Performances: 10 Storyline: meh
The other movie I think you'll agree with me on...
"Why the hell did you rent it in the first place?"
I knew it wouldn't be as good as M.NS's other movies. Each as been a grade lower than before. But the most vocal opponent of The Happening (yes, you J.Kev) was also a very vocal opponent of The Sixth Sense, which I liked. I thought maybe it wasn't that bad.
yeah it was
The grass? The trees? Let me get this right..... Not only can the plants produce a toxin that causes humans to NOT ONLY lose that self preservation part of our psyche that keeps us from allowing ourselves to be harmed, but it also makes you seek out a way to off yourself at that moment!
And that's not all!
They can apparently count also and really stick to that law about how many people constitute a mob... which is apparently 6 and up... 5 if one of you is a little girl. And, if you think that all this cognitive ability is just way too out of line for the photosynthesis crowd, they can apparently control the wind too. It's just too coincidental that when the plants wanted to off that group of 12 people, the wind JUST happened to whip up when they finished their tally and farted their toxins to kill.
One site gag that I had a laugh at was when two smaller groups of people converged, they exceeded the allowable limit of humans so the plants pooted their "go f*#k yourself" pollen and one man had only one choice for offing himself.... laying down in the path of a riding lawnmower. I can hear the grass blades laughing their asses off over that one!
I will give the plants this though. They hit New York City first and then they hit the French.... at least they know good targets when they see them. To quote my friend Stephen, 'atta girl
When looking around for The Happening I saw the heading The Happening 2 for a sequel. After my jaw dropped, I found this.
