School and Other Updates

And so another semester is upon me—I’d rather it get off me. It has left me with little time to blog about my life. I never know if anyone is reading but something is therapeutic in typing down a bunch of stuff and hitting "post." That being said, in light of me being tired, it being late and all my recent posts having some sort of opinionated agenda, I'll go with a simple update. Cause people love and care about me, right?

Ready or not...

The first day of school I fell down in the parking lot. It was the ice, gets me every time. I figured this was a clear sign from God that I should drop out of school and go somewhere safer. Instead I opted to drop two classes instead- giving me 14 credits rather than 20. 20 credits are, by the way, INSANE. The stress/ice combo made me fall, really.

I finally got a new mattress. When I moved to my apartment I took the “guest bed” from the basement. My parents bought that bed 20 years ago at a farm auction. They estimate it's between 60 and 100 years old. It's old enough to have straw in the box spring... yeah, straw. It was so impossible to sleep on because once you lay down, the springs didn't bounce back so it folded up on you like a taco (which is how it earned its nickname.... "The taco"). During a fabulous mattress sale at Slumberland, mom and I traded up from the taco to a "plush" Sealy. When the delivery guys brought it here, they took the taco away and were freaking out the whole time, "DUDE- STRAW!"

Let’s see, what else…. This morning I woke up and my glasses snapped in half. Lame. I was on campus and had class in 20 minutes so I had to make do with what I have (I am BLIND BLIND BLIND without glasses). So during my 11 am class, I sat there wearing prescription sunglasses. Afterwards, several classmates asked how "hung over" I was--- oops, guess sunglasses inside does send a bad signal.

I have driven to Minneapolis and back twice in two weeks. First for a women's seminar on "making a difference in public policy" and secondly for a wedding. Both were awesome.

SEMINAR: My dear friend, Hunter Jones accompanied me to Minneapolis for the seminar and was an excellent driving buddy. He brought a comedy CD that nearly made me run off the road (for funny reasons, not cause the guy was bad) and even shared a king sized bed with me at the hotel (scandalous!). We ordered room service and were very embarrassed when the sweet looking old man insisted on coming into the room to deliver it. When he rounded the corner and saw Hunter in bed I could swear he gave me a look but it was a purely friendly bed-sharing evening. We even had a line of pillows separating us-- STOP JUDGING! I tipped the guy really well so he'd think I had SOME morals.

WEDDING: The wedding was a friend from high school, Andrea. She's a seriously awesome gal. She's so cool; you have no idea-- to give you an idea… She's the type of cool gal who has a giant inflatable device at her wedding reception for kids (and adults--- oh yes, see the picture of me and Ainsley) to jump in! Whoo hoo! My English professor recently told me "over 60% of first marriages end in divorce." That super duper depressed me but I don’t know, I have a lot of friends recently married or about to be married and they seem happy and devoted and I say to hell with statistics! Maybe all they surveyed was Hollywood anyway!

SCHOOL NEWS: Well class-wise things are cool. I am revolting from last semester’s literature (all 17th/18th century crap about corsets and virtue) and taking purely modern, DIFFERENT stuff. So I’ve got American comedies of the 20th century, history of drama, women in religion and a class in science fiction. Yeah, I feel a bit out of place there. Sometimes folks go off on tangents about “warp speed” and “worm holes” and I feel lost. But reading something radically different is refreshing and H.G. Wells is pretty sweet.

I just got back from seeing the film “Brokeback Mountain” (it finally came to GF). It was worth the money and was an amazing film but I feel my emotions are still too raw to appreciate it fully. Plus it really bummed me out. Hope that doesn’t ruin any plot twist but come on, it’s a movie about gay cowboys—you think they have it easy?

Okay, I’ve gone on long enough. It’s time for shut eye. Please send me a comment or an email. I’d love to hear from you… whoever you are. Unless you’re mean, then don’t bother. I strongly dislike mean people.

All for now,
~Em

If I had one wish for 2006...

Jason

Every so often you meet someone who changes your whole life. In my case, I was lucky enough to meet a whole family of them. Through my internship at a college television station, I met Jason (pictured above). At the time he was a high school senior who had been given one year to live after being diagnosed with a stage 4 brain tumor. My job was to meet the family and do a story on them. But it quickly became evident to me that I couldn't possibly cram so much love, positive spirit and courage into just one story.

Jason's whole family is so kind to everyone they meet. At a time when so many would be lost in grief, they were strong in their faith and love for each other. Several different times, Jason was so ill that doctors couldn't even find his pulse... but he never quit fighting. He made it past the one year mark and didn't looked back. At one point, a medical scan showed the cancer had all but vanished. But this good fortune has once again been cut short.

Jason is very sick again. I received an email telling me that the family is once again very worried. They are all on their way to Mayo clinic for a monthly checkup. Jason's cancer is back and he is literally taking chemo on top of chemo. He is very physically ill and experiences periods of time when parts of his body becomes paralyzed and he cannot speak. Through all of this, I know that he is fighting and smiling whenever he can. His family is with him as well... smiling right back and praying.

Throughout all of this, the family has asked one thing of all the people they know.

"Please pray for us."

I have no idea how many of you out there read my humble little blog but if you are reading this, please make it a point to include Jason and his family in your daily prayers. Pray for healing and a full recovery. He deserves a cancer free life and I believe he will achieve it.

Miracles happen.
Please pray for this young man and his family.For more on Jason and his amazing family:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/annualreport/jasonstadstad-2004.html

Change of Heart

IMPORTANT...

I have to change my vote for a "Tobes Award"!!

Best Movie of '05 has to be Pride and Prejudice. No contest. (To the left you see Matthew MacFadyen, who played Mr. Darcy in the film and did the part quite delightfully I may add).

The story is so well adapted and is shot so beautifully. It's proof that the sexiest scenes need no dirty talk, no exposed flesh, no real overt sexuality at all. The sexiest thing in the world is a man walking up to you, exposing his feelings and vulnerability by saying,

"You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love... I love... I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on. "

Now, I know Jane Austen is to credit for that wonderfulness but the movie is just so good! Makes modern day romance pale in comparison and makes me wish I was a woman in the 18th century- (which is an insane thought by the way).

It seems unfair, because "Cinderella Man" still rocks. Maybe P&P can win the Tobes Award for '06, since that's technically when I saw it... had to travel all the way to Fargo because the lame movie theater in G.F. apparently needs two screens for Saw 2.

Word to Carmike Cinema... STOP SUCKING.

And word to all of you reading this--- GO see this movie.

The Year That Was...

2005

So it’s a brand new year. And we all have a fresh start. I have a new calendar that is clean and unmarred by messages like “WRITE YOUR PAPER OR DIE” although I do have a “dentist appointment” Wednesday– damn cavities.

I thought it would be appropriate to look back on 2005. What I have created is a retrospective/my own award show. The following “Tobes Awards” for 2005.

2005 “Tobes” Awards

The saddest breakup: Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson (but….I watched your show!)

The breakup that should have been: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (save yourself, Katie. There’s still time)

Best song of ’05: "Gold-digger" by Jamie Foxx and Kanye West. (This song spoke to me—and you will notice, I use its lyrics in my blog title—“go head get down girl, go head get down”)

Worst song of ’05: “Laffy Taffy” –a rap song that recently came out but wins this category no contest. Sample lyrics: ‘Shake that laffy taffy, cause girls call me Jolly Rancher/ I stay so hard you can suck me for a long time.” Such poetry. I mean seriously. Now my female assets are being compared to convenience store candy that costs 10 cents?

Best quote (and proof that supermodels aren’t Stupid): Melania Knauss, wife of Donald Trump was asked “Would you marry the Donald if he wasn’t rich?” Her response, "Do you think he would have married me if I weren't beautiful?"
(For more great quotes of ’05 visit: http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=114&sid=648953

Biggest Comeback: Green Day with “American Idiot”

Rising Star: Jamie Foxx (the man went from “Booty Call” to “Ray”)

Coolest Technological advance: I was going to say the Ipod Nano, because that thing is just teeny but instead, I’ll go with the launch of Discovery shuttle- little more impact.

Best Movie of ’05: Tough call, since I haven’t seen that many but my fave would be “Cinderella Man” with Russell Crowe. Roger Ebert said his performance reminded him of Jimmy Stewart, I couldn’t agree more.

Over hyped movie: King Kong. Sorry, it’s a good movie but it was 3 hours and at least some of the icky-creature footage could be deleted. The best character was a computer generated ape… I enjoyed the movie but it didn’t rock my world as much as people said it would

Crazy political news: It’s a tie. Major historical figure, Deep Throat’s identity was revealed (Mark Felt). And Bush and Co. came clean and confessed, “By the way we’ve been listening to a few phone conversations here and there...” Apparently eavesdropping isn’t rude, as long as the President is doing it.

Worst event in general: I could be bitter and say Inauguration day (Jan 20). That was a bummer day for me. But let’s face it… between Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami aftermath and the earthquake that hit Pakistan, Afghanistan and India killing 87,000 people… natural disasters as a whole take this award.

Great Loss of 2005: Rosa Parks (Also lost in ’05: Peter Jennings, William Rehnquist, Johnny Carson, Pope John Paul II)

Biggest Press Circus of ‘05: A multiple win…
#1 Terri Shiavo. Poor woman could not pass in peace.
#2 Michael Jackson is found innocent after wearing pajamas to court. He should be locked up for that alone.
#3 Martha’s ankle bracelet… and yet sex offenders roam free.

In summary...2005
It was not the best year for sports… we lost the NHL to salary disputes and congress had to have “time out” with baseball players hopped up on steroids (guess that was less depressing than the war). However the White Sox did win their series first in 88 years.

Entertainment-wise: The box office was dismal but Harry Potter sold 11 million copies.

Hard-news: We got a new Supreme Court chief justice and Israel left the Gaza Strip in August ending a 38-year occupation. Gas prices hit the ceiling and Saddam Hussein went on trial. London was terrorized by bombings in July and Pairs burned in riots in October. The bird flu is still a menace.

Also a huge event in 2005… I turned 21. Ha… kidding. Not huge at all.

2005 was an amazing year. But in 365 days on this planet, amazing things are bound to happen. Hopefully 2006 promises more amazement, less sorrow for the world.

Since the holiday season isn’t officially over till mom and I take down the tree tomorrow, allow me to wish EVERYONE “Peace to you on earth and good will towards all humankind especially in this coming new year.”