Eating My Words (Go Rangers!)

For my loyal followers, you may remember this post from last year where I pretty much bashed the Texas Rangers organization and called them a bunch of "losers" and went on about how I couldn't enjoy baseball because our team sucks and how I would never experience the exciting feeling of watching my team play in the World Series.

Until now.

Yes, I am currently eating my own words. To an extent.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I was wrong or that I take back all my ranting (it did take them 39 years to get here), but I will admit that they've had a great season and they really have been very exciting to watch. All day I've been catching myself thinking about the game tonight and noticing a growing butterfly feeling in my stomach at the thought that the RANGERS could be in the World Series!!!!! The buzz seems to be everywhere; everyone is talking about them around here. There are status posts galore on Facebook, along with a rather interesting rendition of the Lord's Prayer (Our Rangers, who art in Texas, winners be thy name....). I've also heard many "loyal" Ranger fans complain about the "fair-weather" fans who were once, like me, bashing the Rangers but are now kissing the ground they walk on. While I am excited about the Rangers season and their potential World Series berth, I currently do not consider myself a "loyal fan"; I haven't even gone out and bought a t-shirt. I am not running around rewriting prayers or proclaiming that "my team" is God's gift to baseball and whatnot. While I will cheer for the Rangers tonight and (hopefully) in the Series, don't expect this "fan" to be converted to Ranger-dom so easily as the rest of this fair-weather city. If these guys can continue to make the playoffs and win championships and prove that they are indeed a good ball club and not just a once-every-thirty-nine-year fluke, then yes, I will buy my red and blue t-shirt and become a die hard fan. Until that day though, I would keep your "holier-than-thou" attitudes about the Rangers to yourself....I would hate for you to have to eat your own words next year.


Oh! Also. What, exactly, do claws and antlers have to do with Rangers or baseball? I just don't get that one.....

Freedom to Read

“Everything I know about life, I’ve learned by reading banned books.” This is a quote on a pin my mom has in her kitchen. I love it because it’s so true!

This week (Sept 26 - Oct2) is National Banned Books Week, sponsored in part by the American Library Association, which celebrates the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. The movement started in 1982 because of the sudden increase in the number of challenges of books being reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom. Since 1982 alone, more than one thousand books have been challenged. Books are challenged because of many reasons including: sexual content; violence; profanity and slang; offensive portrayals of racial or religious groups; positive portrayals of homosexuals; etc. The range of challenged books includes new novels examining contemporary issues to beloved American classics. While many ideas in these books may be unorthodox or unpopular, it is important in our free society to ensure their availability for all who wish to read and access them.

Some people may think challenging or banning books was a thing of the past and doesn’t affect our literature today. However, in 2009, two of the most challenged titles included the Twilight series, by Stephanie Meyer (for being sexually explicit and its religious viewpoint) and My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult (for sexism, homosexuality, offensive language, drugs, suicide, and violence)

In support of this week, I started reading 1984 because I haven't read it yet, and I plan to reread The Catcher in the Rye. This is a list of 74 of the most popular challenged and/or banned classics. I’ve highlighted the ones I’ve read (23). I've seen movies for 9 others, but I don't think that counts, does it?! How many have you read?

1984, by George Orwell
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Blubber, by Judy Blume
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer
Carrie, by Stephen King
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
Christine, by Stephen King
Confessions, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo, by Stephen King
Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
Decameron, by Boccaccio
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
Forever, by Judy Blume
Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin
Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Grendel, by John Champlin Gardner
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling
How to Eat Fried Worms, by Thomas Rockwell
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
Impressions, edited by Jack Booth
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
My Friend Flicka, by Mary O'Hara
Native Son, by Richard Wright
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People, by Judith Guest
Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
Silas Marner, by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
The Living Bible, by William C. Bower
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare
The Pigman, by Paul Zindel
The Shining, by Stephen King
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
Then Again, Maybe I Won't, by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare
Ulysses, by James Joyce

Sunday Evening Diddies

I'm supposed to be studying right now but I decided instead to write. I don't really have alot to write about as far as an opinion on some important topic or anything....just some more updates and random thoughts.

Lou and I went camping last weekend and it was so much fun! I haven't camped in forever, and while I don't doubt my ability to survive the wilderness, I was a little concerned about certain things, like how many people would be around, and how many eight-legged creatures would be stalking me, and how many psycho killers would be lurking in the woods... The first and third issues weren't issues at all. The second, however, was almost a deal breaker. They were everywhere! Especially on our hike. They were scampering all over the place, running out in front of me and looking at me with their beady little eyes and then scurrying back under a rock to laugh as I screamed and ran by with my head in my hands. Stupid arachnids. I hate them. Other than that, it was a great trip, and one I hope we take more frequently (preferably to an arachnid-free zone).

Our tent was awesome!


Beautiful sunset over Lake Texoma.


Makin s'mores over the campfire.


After our 5 mile arachnid-infested hike.

As Lauren has already posted, our ten year high school reunion is coming up in October and I have to say, I am actually looking forward to it. As much as I loathe most of my high school years, there were some good times had and great memories made, and I really am excited to see some people. Most of them I could really care less about though, but I'm sure that's how it is with everyone. I can't honestly think that people change so much as to give a rats ass now about someone they didn't give a rats ass about 10 years ago... I'm more interested in just seeing what happened to people; not so much to make fun of them, but just to see how life's ironies played out. Did the popular kids marry each other and have beautiful children and buy a mansion? Is the nerdy kid still nerdy or is he a smoking hot business man? Is the girl who tried to beat me up in middle school still a bully? These are things I wish to find out. I know that alot of it is going to be, "Oh my gosh! HOW ARE YOU!" kind of bullshit and people will pretend to care for the few hours we're together, but the reality is that once its over, these people will return to real life and forget how, for just a few hours, we were "besties" again. That might be a little cynical of me but hey, I'm a realist. I do think it will be fun though. And I really AM excited to see some people. The plan is to go to our homecoming football game and then have drinks at the Fox and Hound afterwords; Saturday will be more formal with dinner and dancing at the Branding Iron at Firewheel. I hope they play Far East Movement "Like a G6" as I walk in. That would be my theme song of choice. HAH.

In other news, my brother, Eric, left a couple of weeks ago for his Peace Corps assignment in Morocco. He'll be there a total of 27 months; the first three of which involve training in Casablanca, I think. After that he'll be assigned to a smaller town or village where he'll be in charge of youth development and business development. He is really excited about it and I know he'll be making a huge difference in those peoples' lives. He is supposed to be documenting his adventures on his own blog; as soon as he gets that together I'll post a link to it here. Before he left, I had some pictures taken of us to give to our parents and family, etc. I think they came out pretty good :-) (Thanks Mindy!) Here's a sneak peak:


Big sister, little brother.





P.S. GO COWBOYS!!!!

Changes and Updates

Loving this crazy weather we're having! It's a nice change from the constant warm sunniness we've had the last part of this summer. Change is good. Freshens things up a bit. So I hope it pours s'more over the next couple of days so I can wash all this stale funkiness off of me and start the fall nice and freshhhhh. So fresh and so clean, clean. ;-)

Speaking of change, there are lots of changes happening lately. To name a few:

• changes at work....hopefully for the good, but we'll see how it works out
  
• new classes in school! looking forward to finance...ironically
• graduated to "high blue belt" in taekwondo...only 4 more to black!
• Bubba leaves for Morocco in 5 days for his 27 month Peace Corps assigment :-(
• starting a 28 day "detox" beginning next week...need to cleanse my system
  
• started working out/running in the mornings (eww)...its been interesting....

In other news, I've been a busy little bee going here and going there and doing this and doing that. We took a family vacation to Cedar Creek Lake and it was ah-mazing and very relaxing. We rented a boat one day and went tubing and water skiing, and that pretty much made the entire vacation for me. That and the awesome volleyball game we had the last evening.

my silly daddy


lou going fishing


total relaxation


everyone!

Took another sewing class at City Craft with momma. We learned how to make decorative pillows with cording and invisible zippers. We had a great time and our pillows came out very nicely! I like hers better!!! So fall!


Flew out to Ooooodessa a few weekends ago to visit my friend Angela. We pretty much did everything there is to do in Odessa in a few short days: saw Ratliff stadium; ate at a BYOB italian restaurant; went to Music City Mall; ate at Jum Burrito; wore cowboy boots; saw dust blow; drank the best milkshakes (bring all the boys to the yard) at Texas Burger; ate the best pizza at Patrino's; saw about 100 exotic animals including elephants, giraffes, buffalo, cheetahs, a skunk..... It was a great time!!!!

cowboy boots


chocolate malt


brunch


RICH.

Dallas Heart Walk 2010

It's that time again!

On September 11th I'm going to once again participate in the Heart Walk sponsored by the American Heart Association to raise money and awareness for heart disease and stroke. This disease has not only affected my family, but hundreds of others as well. My personal goal is to raise $400 for the cause. By making a donation, you can help increase funds for research and education to stop heart disease. Please visit my webpage to make a donation and learn more about heart disease.

Thank you for your support!!

Let's Hygge

My brother has been involved for the past 2 years with an organization called Children’s International Summer Village (CISV). They are a global group of volunteers who create cultural diversity experiences through educational programs. They operate on the belief that peace is possible through friendship and that the real difference can be made by starting with children. The organization was created after World War II by Dr. Doris Allen as an initiative to build and maintain peace. The first summer village took place in 1951 in Cincinnati, Ohio with delegates from 8 countries. Today they have chapters in over 60 countries around the world and host around 180 programs a year. Since its inception, more than 190,000 people have participated in over 5,000 international activities. The Summer Village program is the cornerstone of the organization’s education philosophy and is reserved for 11 year olds. It is a unique 4 week international camp where children (delegates) from 10 to 12 other countries participate in educational, cultural, and sporting activities with emphasis on “cooperative global and intercultural living.” Each delegation is made up of 2 boys and 2 girls with an adult leader and is coordinated by a staff of Junior Counselors ages 16-17 years. (cisv.org) The USA chapter's website is here: http://www.cisvusa.org/

Last year Eric took 4 kids to Prague. This year, he is in Denmark with 4 new kids. He absolutely loves it, maybe more so than the kids! The camp this year has a blog site where they are posting pictures and accounts of their daily activities, so I have added it to my blog roll and will post it here in case any of you are curious. It sounds like a really fun opportunity and I am considering applying for next year!

This is the camp’s blog: http://letshyggevillage.blogspot.com/

And in case you're wondering what the heck "hygge" means:

Hygge -
One of the fundamental aspects of Danish culture is "hygge", which, although translated as "coziness" is more akin to "tranquility". Hygge is a complete absence of anything annoying, irritating, or emotionally overwhelming, and the presence of and pleasure from comforting, gentle, and soothing things. Hygge is often associated with family and close friends. (taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Denmark )

So yes, let's hygge. :-)

Save Our Coast

This post was borrowed from my friend Danielle's blog, "Doggerel and Prose". Thanks Danielle for showing us an awesome way that we can help out the folks in the Gulf!

Here in Austin, we truly have an amazing community that genuinely cares about others. There is a company here in Austin (also has stores in Baton Rouge and New Orleans) called Storyville; they sell unique locally designed T-shirts. They have started a new line and will give $5 of the profits for each T-shirt sold to the gulf coast fisherman and their families that have been affected by the BP oil spill. You can purchase these T-shirts at the store or order them online!

Product Description

For years to come, the Gulf Coast will be feeling the effects of the BP Oil Spill. Giving to charities such as the Greater New Orleans Foundation can, in a small way, help speed up the Gulf Coast's recovery and, in the meanwhile, provide aide to victims of the oil spill.
For every "Save Our Coast" shirt sold, Storyville will make a donation to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. One hundred percent of all donations to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund will be granted to organizations working tirelessly in the effected areas. The Oil Spill Fund's focus is to help fishermen and their families in the following Louisiana parishes: Plaquemines, St. Bernard, lower Jefferson, Terrebonne and Lafourche.

"Save Our Coast Burnout" is printed on a dirty water-colored, 50% polyester, 50% rayon Alternative Apparel Topango Heather Burnout Crew top with black ink. The top is made of a burnout material, which means that it is a super sheer fabric that has been put through an extensive process to reveal years of weathering. Therefore, no two tops are exactly the same. This top is only available in the unisex cut. If you'd like to see an Alternative Apparel sizing chart, click here and refer to the "women's size chart." This Storyville Original was created by Natalie Naquin Harvey and is modeled by Alicia Schulz and Fredy Garcia. To see more Storyville Originals, click here.

"Save Our Coast Tee" is printed on a 100% cotton, American Apparel blue tee shirt printed with white, navy and dark red ink. This Storyville Original was created by Sara Silvestri and is modeled by Alicia Schulz and Fredy Garcia. The t-shirt is available in both the unisex and female-specific cut (go here for sizing charts). To see more Storyville Originals, click here.