Kira: The Blog!

Wait...the church is wrong about something, since when?

2010-10-07T19:35:00.002-06:00

So on Pride Utah's Website, which I was looking over while being sad that I couldn't attend their protest, I came upon a very well written letter (from a church member) supporting homosexual rights. Here you go.

DAVID ECCLES HARDY

October 7, 1999

Elder Boyd K. Packer
President of the Council of the Twelve
47 East South Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150

Dear Elder Packer:

Although we have met briefly before, it is through the context of my family that you would be able to place me. I am the younger brother of Ralph W. Hardy, Jr. and Clare Hardy Johnson, and the son of Ralph W. Hardy, Sr. and Maren Eccles Hardy. I most recently served as bishop of the Salt Lake University 29th Ward, Salt Lake University 5th Stake. My wife, Carlie, is the granddaughter of the late Elder Franklin D. Richards, and the great-granddaughter of President Heber J. Grant. I provide the context of our families and heritage for no purpose other than establishing the solid upbringing in the Gospel and the Church that my wife and I have both had. If you know the devotion to the Church of my brother Ralph and my late sister Clare, you know mine.

I write this letter out of the realization that to maintain my own personal integrity, I need to inform you of the personal heartache and damage you have to some degree been responsible for visiting upon my immediate family as the author of To the One. Although originally delivered by you as an address in 1978, the pamphlet To The One remains to this day the Church’s most current and definitive written statement by a General Authority on the issue of homosexuality. It is available to the general Church membership and the public, and my wife and I have been referred to it numerous times as we have come to grips with this issue over the past few years. As one who has always been mindful of my Temple covenants, an unwavering believer, and a follower of my Priesthood leaders, this is not an easy letter to write. For me it represents an anguished “Crossing of the Rubicon.” I hope you will take the time to read it, for in it I have invested my very soul.

Early on a Saturday morning six weeks ago, I watched as our car pulled away with my wife driving our eldest son to a new city, a new community, and a new school to complete his senior year of high school. Ever since that morning, I have grown progressively angrier that to protect our son’s life and sense of self worth, we are compelled to send him away from our home and family. You see, this community of “Saints” we live in is so steeped in ignorance, fear, loathing, judgment and qualified “love” towards our son and those who like him face the challenge of homosexuality, he twice arrived at the point where he was devoid of hope and felt he had no alternative but to take his own life. Fortunately, he did not succeed. My son is not manic-depressive, nor was he ever before suicidal. He simply understands too well the Gospel and believed what his Seminary teachers and Priesthood leaders taught him about homosexuality, based upon the doctrine set forth inTo The One.

My wife and I are the parents of six children – two daughters and four sons – ranging in age from twenty-three to eight. Our oldest son at age thirteen had the courage to come to us with his growing fear that he had no attraction whatsoever to girls – the thought in fact disgusted him – but that he was very attracted to those of his same sex. That he would come to us without fear or shame, confide in us, and seek our counsel attests to the strong relationship my wife and I have both always had with our son. (This is ironic in light of the “parental causation” theories routinely hauled-out by the Church’s LDS Social Services counselors and Evergreen as the primary cause of homosexuality.)

This son was always spiritually mature for his age. He is the finest young man I have ever known – giving, loving, supportive, honest, reliable. Most definitely unselfish. A leader among his peers in his school and primary classes and in his Priesthood quorums. Since he was old enough to talk and walk, we were very much aware of certain differences that concerned us. He carried himself differently, walking and running. When we could get him to pick up a ball, he threw it differently. He spoke differently. He was not in the least interested in sports (in spite of countless practices and Saturdays we spent supporting him in sporting events that utterly disinterested him). He loved dolls and playing house. He loved music, literature, drama and poetry. He made friends easily with girls, but very rarely with boys. Carlie and I listened with hope to LDS counselors and leaders who dismissed or downplayed all of this as merely a “phase.” We believed in and relied on them.

The years passed, but the “phase” didn’t – this in spite of our doing everything recommended to us by LDS counselors, Priesthood leaders and, of course, the teachings of the General Authorities such as you (scarce as they are is on this subject). While we were assured by LDS counselors that this was little more than a correctable Pavlovian response and that “nothing could be easier to cure,” and took hope in your confident statement in To The One: “When we understand fundamental moral law better than we do, we will be able to correct this condition routinely. . . ,” matters went from bad to worse. One evening in 1997, while I was out of town and my wife was being assured by our well-meaning Stake President at his office that “if we just keep it quiet – the same as if someone in your family had committed adultery [our son had done nothing]- it will all be just fine, trust me . . . ,” our son slit his wrists in his room at home. Earlier in the day, it had been the ” Sodom and Gomorrah” lesson in Seminary.

As bishop of a student Ward at the University of Utah working with homosexual returned missionaries, I came to the painful realization that the “reparative therapy” practiced by LDS Social Services and organizations such as Evergreen (whose board of directors I then served on) was not merely ineffective, it was terribly damaging. In every instance I found that this “therapy” accomplished little more than driving these earnest brothers and sisters, desperate to believe that they would “change,” deeper into self-loathing and despondency.

Their failure to “change” as promised them by you and other Priesthood leaders – a failure ultimately arrived at by each and every one of these young men and women who were honest with his or her situation – left only three realistic alternatives: (1) practice deceit as long as possible to remain in good standing with Church and family, (2) give up completely, abandon Church and family, and turn to the only community that will accept you – the gay community, or (3) commit suicide.

By your own admission, it is obvious that neither you nor the Church as a whole has yet arrived at “a better understanding of the fundamental moral law,” because your understanding of it is leading and guiding the Church in this matter, and this “condition” is anything but “routinely corrected.” In To The One you make the summary statement that “some forms of these treatments [reparative therapy] are of substantial help in about 25 percent of the cases” without offering any authority for this statistic. Where did this amazing (though still disheartening) statistic come from? Undoubtedly it came from the experts at LDS Social Services. Unfortunately, however, LDS Social Services must not follow-up on their patients over any extended period of time. My experience as bishop of a student Ward, the father of a homosexual son, and a friend and confidant to the many LDS homosexuals I have since become acquainted with, would indicate to me that in some few cases, the terrible guilt associated with reparative therapy and the strong desire to remain in good standing with the Church and one’s family has brought about an ability to repress one’s homosexual desires – for a season. Usually just long enough to get married and ruin a family. Perhaps this is the 25% you spoke of. The current publication for ecclesiastical leaders Understanding and Helping Those Who Have Homosexual Problems seems to recognize the realistic lack of curability in its statement:

“Marriage should not viewed as a way to resolve homosexual problems. The lives of others should not be damaged by entering a marriage where such concerns exist. Encouraging members to cultivate heterosexual feelings as a way to resolve homosexual problems generally leads them to frustration and discouragement.”

However, the Church’s confusion and struggle to make sense of this issue, and its tendency to downplay the lack of any real answers with a summary “and they all lived happily ever after” is apparent in the publication’s utterly conflicting closing sentence:

“In some cases, heterosexual feelings emerge leading to happy, eternal marriage relationships.”

Which is a Bishop or Stake President to do? Discourage cultivation of heterosexual feelings and marriage, or lend encouragement to and sign the Temple marriage recommend for the “cured” homosexual that is entering a happy, eternal marriage relationship? While I know from experience that much is left to the discretion and inspiration of the ecclesiastical leader, I also know that they are to look to an official publication specifically directed to them such as this for direction and guidance and give it much weight. But what is the counsel being given in this publication? Isn’t it a bit confusing?

At the crux of the issue of homosexuality and the Church are the three great interrelated beliefs: (1) there is an element of choice involved in becoming and remaining homosexual, (2) it can be cured, and (3) our children and youth can be recruited or enticed into homosexuality. Every time we have sought out help for our son and family on this issue from Priesthood leaders or General Authorities we have been summarily referred to the experts at LDS Social Services. Because the lives and well-being of so many trusting individuals and family members are at stake here, it would seem that much stock is put in the expertise of LDS Social Services in this matter. Isn’t it fairly obvious, though, that the “experts” you rely on at LDS Social Services to professionally corroborate and support the doctrine and policy of the Church would support whatever position you have mandated to be the only correct one? Such is the level of respect for and faith in the office you hold. In all honesty, to disagree with a member of the Twelve on a matter of doctrine is tantamount to heresy. I’m sure you are aware that the American Psychiatric Association has denounced “reparative therapy” for treating homosexuals as both ineffective and damaging. I find it ironic that when a fundamentalist religious group shuns sound medical intervention as a doctrine we find it appalling and backwards – yet when that same sound medical advice denounces the practice of “reparative therapy” we call it “worldly” false doctrine. I guess it all depends on just whose ox is being gored.

In To The One you preach that homosexuality is not innate, but is a curable condition. Your fundamental proof: God wouldn’t make a mistake like this. By preaching this, you set the impossible goal of “cure” as the standard to which my son must hold himself responsible, as must his family and all other Church members. Until he chooses to do what he must to be “cured,” he hasn’t done enough. He will never have done enough. He will always come up failing in the most fundamental aspect of his entire existence as a child of his Heavenly Father. He is a pervert, an aberration, and an abomination. There is nothing left in this life or the next. How would you deal with this if you were him? Homosexuality is not a “condition” that can be “cured.” My proof: I have yet to meet even one venerable grandfather with a fine posterity (or anyone else for that matter) who says he was once homosexual but was long ago cured – and my experience as a father observing my son from birth.

Perhaps the most hurtful aspect of To The One is your revelation that the fundamental reason why my son has not been “cured” is because of his selfishness. When I inform other people that this is actually what you preach in To The One, they are incredulous (members included). They respond “Obviously you have misread or misconstrued what Elder Packer said.” You are well aware that this is precisely what is said. As one who knows my son and his heart better than you, your doctrine that my son’s selfishness is at the core of his ability or inability to be cured of his homosexuality is offensive in the extreme, and evidences the lack of any meaningful inquiry into this issue beyond the application of pure dogma. In saying this it is not my intent to offend you. It is, simply, incredible that you could hit upon anything quite so insensitive and ignorant of the facts. Indeed, my son is the most unselfish and Christ-like person I know. This holds true for most of the LDS homosexuals I know well. They have to be to keep trying.

Your doctrine of “choice” and “curability” is also at the core of why the Church and its members in reality view my son and those like him as latter-day lepers. If homosexuality (1) is not inborn, (2) has an element of choice, and (3) can be cured – then it must be able to be taught or suggested. Others must also be susceptible to being enticed or recruited. Our children are capable of being infected by these people and not becoming mothers and fathers. It is, therefore, a frontal assault on the family. The “hate the sin but love the sinner” platitude cannot disguise the fact that in reality the members of the Church are taught to loathe and fear our son and those like him. This qualified and synthetic “love” is nothing more than the few alms hurriedly and begrudgingly parted with to salve the Christian conscience, while never once entertaining the idea of actually descending into the leper pit. We would never expose our children to this for it might infect them. If sexual orientation is a matter of choice, when exactly did you choose to be heterosexual? When and how often did you reaffirm your choice to stay that way? Why aren’t my other children, who idolize their brother, even the slightest bit interested in adopting a homosexual “lifestyle” or in homosexual experimentation? Why would anyone choose to be an abomination and an outcast? It defies reason.

Last week a dear friend (formerly a bishop) reassured us that he still loved our son “even if he has made a choice to be this way.” My son did not choose to be this way. This type of “love” born of duty and pity for his abominable choice acts like a slow but virulent cancer on our son’s self-esteem. It is for this reason we have found it necessary to send our son away from the community of the “Saints.”

As the Church “progresses” on this issue, what we are hearing more and more from Priesthood leaders today is the idea that our son is acceptable so long as he practices life-long chastity. That is, of course, actually called celibacy, and while it’s a convenient idea to advance, in practice it is virtually impossible to live. The distinction between chastity and celibacy seems always to be overlooked by Church leaders. You may recall that in his somewhat recent newspaper interview in California, President Hinkley compared the plight of homosexuals to that of the single sisters in the Church. To paraphrase, he said that the Church doesn’t ask homosexuals to do anything it doesn’t also ask of its other single adult members – to live chaste lives. But this simply isn’t true. As a former bishop I have firsthand experience. We openly love and support our single brothers and sisters. We give them important callings – especially with out youth and children. We urge them to date, to flirt, to get crushes, to fall in love, to marry. We sponsor Ward and Stake activities and dances to get them together to accomplish this. We ask them to be chaste – until they find someone to share their life and intimacy with. We go out of our way to give them something of immeasurable value in the struggle to keep the law of chastity – hope – hope that no matter how difficult this emotional and physical loneliness is, it is temporary. For those with the least control over their situation, our single sisters, we give special encouragement and hope that they will find love, emotional intimacy and fulfillment in this life – and if not, certainly in the next.

We do not knowingly give homosexuals important callings – especially not with our youth or children who would be at risk of being infected and recruited. We forbid them ever to flirt, to date, to get crushes, to fall in love, to have a legally-recognized monogamous relationship. The image of a Tri-Stake Gay and Lesbian Gold-and-Green Ball is amusing. We ask them to be chaste – forever. No hope at all. The question of sexual intimacy aside – can you imagine having being denied the ability to become attracted to, flirt with, get a crush on, hold hands with, steal a kiss from, or fall in love with you wife? With all trace of romantic love and emotional intimacy denied you, with what would you fill the void to hold at bay a life of loneliness, emptiness, and despair?

We do have at least one historic example to look to. The Catholic Church has attempted to enforce celibacy on its clergy throughout the ages with success at some level (although we will never know what level). With what did they replace the emotional void? They had the love and adulation of the church membership, and authority and power. They were, in fact, the Bishops, Stake Presidents, and General Authorities. They were held next to deity – and their record is less than stellar. Imagine the celibacy success rate of a group defined by a loathsome and abominable “condition.”

Imagine also, for a moment, if you were to stand up in front of the freshman class at BYU and announce that everyone present was being given a special calling to live a celibate life from then on. How many do you think would really be able to do it? How many empty and guilty lives and suicides would result? The Church has never taught the principle of celibacy. As a parent, I don’t have the slightest idea how to begin teaching it. There are no manuals, no courses, no “For the Strength of Celibate Youth” cards to carry. There are no Priesthood, Relief Society, Sunday School, or Primary lessons on celibacy. On the other hand, following the teachings of the Church, we have raised our children in a home filled with open love, intimacy, loyalty and commitment between a couple. Our children know Carlie and I adore each other, and they want and need the same thing in their lives.

I never thought I would say this, but as a father given the choice between (a) my son’s suicide, (b) his complete abandonment of the Church and embracing of the extreme gay culture with its emotionally debilitating and physically dangerous practice of anonymous casual sex, or (c) living in a committed, monogamous relationship for the rest of his life practicing the Gospel virtues of love, commitment, and fidelity we have taught in our home, I would have to pick the latter. The Church, however, is now doing all in its power to prevent that. Presumably, it has a better alternative – one that works on something other than a dogmatic and theoretical level.

Then again, perhaps my son is simply a casualty of war – acceptable “collateral damage” in an eternal plan and struggle in which by the luck of the draw he has no relevance or place. The Gospel has always been easy to have faith in and follow because it made real sense and worked in our lives. This would make no sense. And the current doctrine, as set forth in To The One is not working for our family. I can’t tell you how strange and difficult this is. It’s like we woke up one morning on a different planet. In our greatest time of need as a family, the Church has failed us and abandoned us – and through the convenient but hurtful doctrine of parental causation, complicity and guilt it directly promotes (evidence the article in September’s Ensign), it kicks us while we are down! I know this is only one of many issues that the Brethren deal with, and certainly not at the top of their list, but for us it has become our universe. We live in this issue twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and must raise our children through it by our best lights. And there are many more like us in the Church. Parents like us are ultimately forced to make a hopeless decision: abandon our homosexual children, or turn from the Church. “Not so,” you say. You would never know unless you walked in our shoes.

My brother, Ralph, asked me at one point “What would you have the General Authorities do about this issue?”

I wish that someone in authority would have the compassion and the courage simply to own up publicly to the fact that this is a difficult issue about which we just don’t have many answers.

I wish someone in authority would publicly urge the members to withhold their judgment and condemnation, accept those like my son into their midst, and have true compassion and love for those who through no choice of their own will deal with the issue of homosexuality all of their lives.

I wish someone in authority would publicly assure the members that by withholding their judgment and condemnation and showing acceptance and real love, they won’t get leprosy, nor will their children be at risk – that the divine concept of Family will not be compromised or weakened, but that real families with real issues will in fact be strengthened.

I wish that someone in authority would recognize that To The One was an effort twenty years ago by a very good man to address a difficult issue in the context of the time in which it was written, and pull it from circulation.

Elder Packer, I have never been one to question, demand, or “kick against the pricks.” I am a follower, a believer, an obeyer. But I can no longer wait patiently while the Brethren try to figure this issue out at the cost of my son’s life, and the lives of others like him.

Respectfully,

David Eccles Hardy

Things People Say

2010-05-17T21:42:00.000-06:00

The following quotations are taken from official court records across the nation, showing how funny and embarrassing it is that recorders operate at all times in courts of law, so that even the slightest inadvertence is preserved for posterity.

Lawyer: "Was that the same nose you broke as a child?"
Witness: "I only have one, you know."

Lawyer: "Now, Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage terminated?"
Witness: "By death."
Lawyer: "And by whose death was it terminated?"

Accused, Defending His Own Case: "Did you get a good look at my face when I took your purse?"

The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in jail.

Lawyer: "What is your date of birth?"
Witness: "July 15th."
Lawyer: "What year?"
Witness: "Every year."

Lawyer: "Can you tell us what was stolen from your house?"
Witness: "There was a rifle that belonged to my father that was stolen from the hall closet."
Lawyer: "Can you identify the rifle?"
Witness: "Yes. There was something written on the side of it."
Lawyer: "And what did the writing say?"
Witness: "'Winchester'!"

Lawyer: "What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?"
Witness: "Gucci sweats and Reeboks."

Lawyer: "Can you describe what the person who attacked you looked like?"
Witness: "No. He was wearing a mask."
Lawyer: "What was he wearing under the mask?"
Witness: "Er...his face."

Lawyer: "This myasthenia gravis -- does it affect your memory at all?"
Witness: "Yes."
Lawyer: "And in what ways does it affect your memory?"
Witness: "I forget."
Lawyer: "You forget. Can you give us an example of something that you've forgotten?"

Lawyer: "How old is your son, the one living with you?"
Witness: "Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which."
Lawyer: "How long has he lived with you?"
Witness: "Forty-five years."

Lawyer: "What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke that morning?"
Witness: "He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'"
Lawyer: "And why did that upset you?"
Witness: "My name is Susan."

Lawyer: "Sir, what is your IQ?"
Witness: "Well, I can see pretty well, I think."

Lawyer: "Did you blow your horn or anything?"
Witness: "After the accident?"
Lawyer: "Before the accident."
Witness: "Sure, I played for ten years. I even went to school for it."

Lawyer: "Trooper, when you stopped the defendant, were your red and blue lights flashing?"
Witness: "Yes."
Lawyer: "Did the defendant say anything when she got out of her car?"
Witness: "Yes, sir."
Lawyer: "What did she say?"
Witness: "'What disco am I at?'"

Lawyer: "Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?"
Witness: "No."
Lawyer: "Did you check for blood pressure?"
Witness: "No."
Lawyer: "Did you check for breathing?"
Witness: "No."
Lawyer: "So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?"
Witness: "No."
Lawyer: "How can you be so sure, Doctor?"
Witness: "Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar."
Lawyer: "But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?"
Witness: "Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere."

Lawyer: "How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?"

Lawyer: "And you check your radar unit frequently?"
Officer: "Yes, I do."
Lawyer: "And was your radar unit functioning correctly at the time you had the plaintiff on radar?"
Officer: "Yes, it was malfunctioning correctly."

Lawyer: "What happened then?"
Witness: "He told me, he says, 'I have to kill you because you can identify me.'"
Lawyer: "Did he kill you?"
Witness: "No."

Lawyer: "Now sir, I'm sure you are an intelligent and honest man--"
Witness: "Thank you. If I weren't under oath, I'd return the compliment."

Lawyer: "You were there until the time you left, is that true?"

Lawyer: "So you were gone until you returned?"

Lawyer: "The youngest son, the 20 year old, how old is he?"

Lawyer: "Were you alone or by yourself?"

Lawyer: "How long have you been a French Canadian?"

Witness: "He was about medium height and had a beard."
Lawyer: "Was this a male or a female?"

Lawyer: "Mr. Slatery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn't you?"
Witness: "I went to Europe, sir."
Lawyer: "And you took your new wife?"

Lawyer: "I show you Exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize that picture."
Witness: "That's me."
Lawyer: "Were you present when that picture was taken?"

Lawyer: "Were you present in court this morning when you were sworn in?"

Lawyer: "Do you know how far pregnant you are now?"
Witness: "I'll be three months on November 8."
Lawyer: "Apparently, then, the date of conception was August 8?"
Witness: "Yes."
Lawyer: "What were you doing at that time?"

Lawyer: "How many times have you committed suicide?"
Witness: "Four times."

Lawyer: "Do you have any children or anything of that kind?"

Lawyer: "She had three children, right?"
Witness: "Yes."
Lawyer: "How many were boys?"
Witness: "None."
Lawyer: "Were there girls?"

Lawyer: "You don't know what it was, and you didn't know what it looked like, but can you describe it?"

Lawyer: "You say that the stairs went down to the basement?"
Witness: "Yes."
Lawyer: "And these stairs, did they go up also?"

Lawyer: "Have you lived in this town all your life?"
Witness: "Not yet."

Lawyer: (realizing he was on the verge of asking a stupid question) "Your Honor, I'd like to strike the next question."

Lawyer: "Do you recall approximately the time that you examined the body of Mr. Eddington at the Rose Chapel?"
Witness: "It was in the evening. The autopsy started about 8:30pm."
Lawyer: "And Mr. Eddington was dead at the time, is that correct?"

Lawyer: "What is your brother-in-law's name?"
Witness: "Borofkin."
Lawyer: "What's his first name?"
Witness: "I can't remember."
Lawyer: "He's been your brother-in-law for years, and you can't remember his first name?"
Witness: "No. I tell you, I'm too excited." (rising and pointing to his brother-in-law) "Nathan, for heaven's sake, tell them your first name!"

Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in New York?"
Witness: "I refuse to answer that question.
Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in Chicago?"
Witness: "I refuse to answer that question.
Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in Miami?"
Witness: "No."

Lawyer: "Doctor, did you say he was shot in the woods?"
Witness: "No, I said he was shot in the lumbar region."

Lawyer: "What is your marital status?"
Witness: "Fair."

Lawyer: "Are you married?"
Witness: "No, I'm divorced."
Lawyer: "And what did your husband do before you divorced him?"
Witness: "A lot of things I didn't know about."

Lawyer: "And who is this person you are speaking of?"
Witness: "My ex-widow said it.

Lawyer: "How did you happen to go to Dr. Cherney?"
Witness: "Well, a gal down the road had had several of her children by Dr. Cherney and said he was really good."

Lawyer: "Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?"
Witness: "All my autopsies have been performed on dead people."

Lawyer: "Were you acquainted with the deceased?"
Witness: "Yes sir."
Lawyer: "Before or after he died?"

Lawyer: "Mrs. Jones, is your appearance this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?"
Witness: "No. This is how I dress when I go to work."

The Court: "Now, as we begin, I must ask you to banish all present information and prejudice from your minds, if you have any."

Lawyer: "Did he pick the dog up by the ears?"
Witness: "No."
Lawyer: "What was he doing with the dog's ears?"
Witness: "Picking them up in the air."
Lawyer: "Where was the dog at this time?"
Witness: "Attached to the ears."

Lawyer: "When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?"
Other Lawyer: "Objection. That question should be taken out and shot."

Lawyer: "And lastly, Gary, all your responses must be oral. Ok? What school do you go to?"
Witness: "Oral."
Lawyer: "How old are you?"
Witness: "Oral."

Lawyer: "What is your relationship with the plaintiff?"
Witness: "She is my daughter."
Lawyer: "Was she your daughter on February 13, 1979?"

Lawyer: "Now, you have investigated other murders, have you not, where there was a victim?"

Lawyer: "Now, doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, in most cases he just passes quietly away and doesn't know anything about it until the next morning?"

Lawyer: "And what did he do then?"
Witness: "He came home, and next morning he was dead."
Lawyer: "So when he woke up the next morning he was dead?"

Lawyer: "Did you tell your lawyer that your husband had offered you indignities?"
Witness: "He didn't offer me nothing. He just said I could have the furniture."

Lawyer: "So, after the anesthesia, when you came out of it, what did you observe with respect to your scalp?"
Witness: "I didn't see my scalp the whole time I was in the hospital."
Lawyer: "It was covered?"
Witness: "Yes, bandaged."
Lawyer: "Then, later on...what did you see?"
Witness: "I had a skin graft. My whole buttocks and leg were removed and put on top of my head."

Lawyer: "Could you see him from where you were standing?"
Witness: "I could see his head."
Lawyer: "And where was his head?"
Witness: "Just above his shoulders."

Lawyer: "Do you drink when you're on duty?"
Witness: "I don't drink when I'm on duty, unless I come on duty drunk."

Lawyer: "Any suggestions as to what prevented this from being a murder trial instead of an attempted murder trial?"
Witness: "The victim lived."

Lawyer: "The truth of the matter is that you were not an unbiased, objective witness, isn't it? You too were shot in the fracas."
Witness: "No, sir. I was shot midway between the fracas and the naval."

Lawyer: "Officer, what led you to believe the defendant was under the influence?"
Witness: "Because he was argumentary, and he couldn't pronunciate his words."

Visa

2010-05-13T21:37:00.001-06:00

I read this article a few days ago, although I'm sure it's been around for a while but it's worth reading.

How to make Visa obey your every desire!

I really want to get this card now, but I don't like Chase :(

Facebook in Real Life

2010-05-12T21:32:00.003-06:00

I saw this earlier and it made my day so I figured I better share :D

Microsoft Uses Macs For Their Work

2010-04-27T12:19:00.006-06:00

At a recent Microsoft conference about improving their product a friend of mine snapped this picture. Clearly Microsoft's products work so well that they now use Apple. So for everyone trying to use convincing arguments that Microsoft is better, I think you're going to have to work harder. Best of luck! Also, it wasn't edited at all.

Children's Literature Poetry and Comic

2010-04-21T12:00:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I had Children's Lit. it's one of my least favorite classes (next only to intro to teaching) anyways we got to do a nice unit on poetry. I liked a few of the poems so I figured I'd share them.

Risks-Sorry I don't know who the author is

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying,

To hope is to risk despair.

To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

Those who risk nothing do nothing, have nothing, and are nothing.

They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.

Chained by their attitudes, they are slaves, they have forfeited their freedom.

Only a person who risks is free.

Distant Hills-Gary Larson

Anyways, hope ya'll have a great day!

Disability Simulation

2010-01-21T14:32:00.003-07:00

Sorry if the video is hard to hear. I was getting weird looks.

Holiday Wishes!

2009-12-25T01:10:00.005-07:00

xoxo Ki

Ps the puppies birthdays were on the 17th.

English Draft

2009-11-21T10:38:00.003-07:00

I'm excited to be writing about the health care reform. For those of you who read my blog and wonder why this is up it's for an English assignment and I'm glad I'm getting the opportunity to bring politics into my writing.

Since President Obama became a proponent of a public option for health care, it has been attacked by both conservative politicians and some Americans. I believe that the main reason for this is because they are uneducated as to what the bill actually says, and what would happen as a result of the bill. A large portion of people are basing how they feel about the bill off of what specific media sources tell them. For instance, the commercials that are being ran against reform and a public option are being paid for by insurance companies (i.e. the only people who a public option would hurt). In order to help clear the air on some misconceptions, I found a great video on the White House's website that explains what the health care reform actually is.

Of course the video only shows the basics, but you can read the entire thing at the White House website. As many of you know, this is a really important issue for me because if it passes I would be able to get insurance on my own and not have to worry about outrageous medical bills. Also important is the fact that, under current insurance guidelines, companies can choose not to cover rape survivors as being raped is a 'preexisting condition' in several states; reform would make it illegal to discriminate health care based on if a person was sexually attacked by someone else.

In my opinion, the only people who have something to lose because of health care reform are the insurance companies. People have said that it would not be fair because they would be unable to choose if they want health insurance or not; they would automatically have to pay for it. In the video, however, Obama points out that it is an option. Besides, who does not want health insurance? Diseases and illness will always be around and therefore we are always at risk for catching them. I would like to have the comfort of knowing that when I go to the hospital I'll be taken care of and my bills won't be expensive. No-one deserves to die, or become poor, simply because they happened to get sick from something outside of their control. The idea that you should lose everything you have on random chance goes against the ideals of hard work, dedication and perseverance that made this country great.

Poli Sci Assign 1

2009-09-08T17:20:00.001-06:00

The current issue I chose was the speech President Obama gave to children grades k-12 about the importance of education. After reading two articles telling about the event one from CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/08/obama.school.speech/index.html and a similar story from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8243909.stm This speech has been a controversy over the past week. When I read the speech two of the five questions come to mind. First Qui bono? Several conservatives are or were concerned as to what the message to the children of America would be. By the same hand several people could see the positive affect this could have. Everyone benefits from this situation, the speech wasn't meant to lead anyone in a specific direction. Simply to tell the kids they control their future. In his speech President Obama says, "Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future." I believe we can all benefit because this encourages children to become what they want, and that they can achieve their dreams. Second, How is this related to that? By the president encouraging children to further their education this one speech and one event can lead to children becoming inventors, engineers and entrepreneurs. This will only help the economy and lead to new discoveries. These questions and the answers that were provided makes me sad, realizing that several of the people who may be against the speech are close minded or do not care to stay informed which means they are making decisions based only on emotions without checking the facts.

Here Comes Another School Year

2009-08-16T16:06:00.000-06:00

So the fall sememster of school starts for me on the 26th so I really don't have that much time left to get things in order. This is making things even more stressful because I have to try and get stuff dealt with for SLCC all the way from St. George. The government has been so amazing in working with me and I also found out that there is a rehab division down here so my case load can just be moved. Yay!

Facebook Jealousy?

2009-08-14T15:42:00.002-06:00

I always love reading the little stories that msn has for your when you sign onto messenger. Today's topic was Facebook and the jealously it can cause in relationships or in just amongst friends. Personally I find it to be very true and also very sad.

www.tinyurl.com/qnfrx8

Read it!!

You Know You're Mormon If...

2009-07-27T12:40:00.000-06:00

You Know You're Mormon If...

-its not "the early bird catches the worm" its, "the seminary student gets into college"

-you say "provo", "salt lake", or "palmyra" without the state and automatically assume that the whole world knows where those places are

-there is a son on a mission and mom is pregnant with another.

-you know what a "fireside" is

-You go to a church potluck and there is every type of jello imaginable

-8 kids in a family is "average"

-your 14th and 16th birthdays are the best birthdays of your life

-you think "heck" is the place for people who do not believe in "gosh"

-you know how to pronounce and spell Mahonri Moriancumer

-you know what ZL, DL, AP, PPI, BYC, SYC, YSA, GA, EQP, EFY, YC, CTR, and BYU all stand for

-Modest is Hottest

-Youth Conference, EFY, and Girls Camp are the best 3 weeks of the year!

-mormon movies are amazing and Kirby Heyborne is your hero

-you drive into the church parking lot and at least half the lot is filled with 12 passenger vans

-you "Bless this food to nourish and strengthen" your body before eating doughnuts

-going 24 hours without eating is no longer a challenging thing

-a "Caffeine High" is eating a king size chocolate bar

-pick-up lines are the greatest things ever!

-"How many wives does your dad have?" is often the first question asked when someone finds out that you're mormon

-parents are disappointed if their kid "only" got into Harvard

-buying a prom dress is the most difficult thing of your life

-"Mormon, mormon, mormon, mormon,
Mormon, mormon, mormon, mormon.
I know a mormon boy,
He is my pride and joy.
He knows most everything from Alma on down
WOO!
Someday I'll be his wife,
We'll share eternal life.
Oh how I Love that mormon boy!
WOO!

We are the mormon girls,
We wear our hair in curls.
We love to laugh and sing and have a lot of fun
WOO!
We are the biggest flirts,
We don't wear mini-skirts.
Oh how we love our mormon boys!
WOO!"

-you have more than one aunt/uncle that is younger than you

-the "EFY Medley" is your favorite song

-"Is the spirit telling you what its telling me?"

-writing in your journal is a daily event

-"I can't...I'm Mormon" has been an excuse on more than one occasion

-piano was your first instrument

-your mom is pregnant at the same time you are

-you have 3 or more BYU sweatshirts/shirts

-John Bytheway is your favorite comedian

-you refer to the Cougars as "we"

-you're the fastest one on the road

-a keg party consists of rootbeer

-BYU has been you're dream school since you were 5

-you either live in, have many friends from, or are from Utah

-"So, what color is your toothbrush?"

-being a "rebel" is drinking Mountain Dew more than twice in one week

-lumberjack, the newspaper game, and ride that pony are your 3 favorite games

-there are more women pregnant in your ward than not

-you consider a great date watching The Princess Bride!

- The laying on of hands has nothing to do with physical violence.

- Your hobby is work for the dead.

-you've ever pushed 120mph in a 55mph zone on the way to a church dance

- You've ever had your alarm set for 4:45 am

- Your first date was when you were 16 to a Church Dance and your parent was a chaperone.

-all your dishes have your name written on them with masking tape

-you think Jell-O is one of the basic food groups

-at least one of your salad bowls is at a neighbor's house

-you have never arrived at a meeting on time

-you have more wheat stored in your basement than most third world countries

-you've already got your order in for volume 50 of "The Work and The Glory"

-you think it's all right to watch football on Sundays as long as a direct descendant of Brigham Young is playing

-you have to guess more than five times the name of the child you're disciplining

-you automatically assume that BYOB means, Bring Your Own Burgers

-you go to a party and someone spikes the punch with Pepsi

-you arrive to an activity an hour late and are the first person there

-"Oh my Heck!" is your idea of swearing

-before "The Discussion" in fifth grade you think people get pregnant by praying for babies

-You say "the scriptures" instead of "the bible" and people are confused

-You knew how to iron your own white shirts/dresses before you were ten

-Quadruple combinations are passed down through generations

-The best present on your eighth birthday is a set of scriptures with your name EMBOSSED on the front cover

-You are the only person in your high school's theatre department who knows how to tie a necktie . . . and have to do so for every guy wearing one on stage . . . and you're a girl

-An evening's hi-jinks involve "heart attacks" or "forking"

-You go to college and only know how to cook dishes in amounts of seven portions or more

-You think that spending more than three hours at church on Sunday is normal

-You think that the deacons, teachers, and priests in your church are either cute or really obnoxious

-You know exactly what Beehives, Mia Maids, and Laurels are, and have to explain what those are to your friends

-Your family owns a wheat grinder, bread machine, and vacuum packer

-you think the only sensible way to buy groceries is in bulk

-You know how to make brownies/cookies/frosting/muffins/p

ancakes/waffles from scratch

-You know what "from scratch" means

-Your family's satellite subscription package includes BYU Radio and BYU-TV

-You have more than one religious picture/statue in your home including in your bathroom and the rooms of you and your siblings

-You have never had your own room and will never have your own room because you go from home to college and college to marriage

-You think that sharing your dorm room with only ONE roommate is a luxurious arrangement

-You carry a military size Book of Mormon in your purse so that you have something to read if you get stuck waiting somewhere

-You think it's rude to call or come to someone's home unannounced on Monday night

-You look forward to yearly temple trips with Christmas-like anticipation (and then when a temple is built ten minutes from your house you drive by at every opportunity)

-You know that the "golden dude" on top of the temple is NOT doing a karate kick, but is holding a trumpet

-Your family spends more than 500 dollars on groceries each month at Costco

- Boys in your family are not allowed to drive until they reach Eagle Scout rank

-You think foreign language class in high school is good practice for your mission

-Your home room class (which was Seminary) raises more money during the Penny Drive than the rest of the school . . . combined

-You feel like you've really missed out if you get sick on Sunday, especially if it's BYD Sunday

-You plan on spending your retirement years on missions

-Your favorite lunch hang-out is the Seminary building

-Your life is not complete without 1) passing off all six years of Girl's Camp 2)Earning your Young Womanhood Recognition award 3) Graduating Seminary 4)Graduating Institute and 5) Getting married in your favorite temple

-The only experience you've had with a Margarita is getting baptized for ten of them on your first temple trip

San Francisco Day 3

2009-07-12T11:30:00.000-06:00

Sunday. Sunday, Sunday...I don't want to go home yet here I am sitting in the Oakland airport which scares me greatly by the way. I guess it isn't as bad during the day as it was the other night. However I sort of feel like the people around here move in slow motion. It's nothing like SLC.

The trip was fabulous I'm not at all ready to go home, I mean who ever wants to face responsibility, right? By the same token I miss my family.

San Francisco Day 2

2009-07-11T23:59:00.000-06:00

So today is my birthday, I'm officially 19. What makes the day even better is that I get to spend it out of state! Anyways, today was pretty great all around the family spent part of the day in China Town, followed by getting music at Amoeba. We then went to dinner at a very nice restaurant. Afterwards Adam came to hang with us and we went and got chocolate and shakes. Mom, Dre, G, Adam and I went to Coit tower and Adam took a bunch of awesome pictures. Overall the day was really amazing and I had a fabulous birthday.

Also thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. l love you all!

San Francisco Day 1

2009-07-10T00:34:00.002-06:00

So first day in San Fran ate at in and out burger. First burger in 4 years. Also first ever earthquake for me yay.

Birth Control

2009-06-23T10:49:00.001-06:00

Haha if I knew someone who actually did this they would probably be my favorite person.

Weekly Quote 6/22 to 6/28

2009-06-22T10:44:00.003-06:00

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

We are the change that we seek.

~Barack Obama

Apple Bottom Jeans

2009-06-09T09:21:00.007-06:00

I love watching little kids dance, so I thought you might too.

I don't recommend visiting the site this came from, I did that to try and find it without downloading it, just don't do it.

Cosmos Guy Theory

2009-06-08T15:56:00.002-06:00

So the magazine Cosmo posted an arctile as to why they think men dump the women they like. You can read the article here http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/articlecosmomatch.aspx?cp-documentid=19563905&page=2 Or if you're lazy like me just save yourself a click and keep scrolling down.

Chances are, you've had at least one breakup that left you wondering, "What the heck just happened?" The guy dug you, you dug him, and the whole thing felt destined for a fabulous future — at least the foreseeable one. Then, out of nowhere, he bailed on the relationship.
So what went wrong? The sad truth is, maybe nothing.

Here are five completely ridiculous reasons guys kick you to the curb. Warning: For the most part, it ain't pretty.

1. The Timing Is Off: Women get serious when they meet the right man. Men get serious with whomever we happen to be dating when we're finally ready to settle down. That means after every other aspect of our life is in order — whether it's finishing grad school, finally pulling down a good-size paycheck, owning a car outright — or when our friends start dropping like flies (that's guyspeak for getting married). But if you catch a guy before he hits that magical stage of his life, then he's liable to bolt — like Patrick,* 28, who dumped Bridgett after two years, then got engaged to the next girl he dated after only 10 months. "When I was with Bridgett, all of my friends were single and I was still an intern with nothing going on in my career. So every time she'd bring up our future together, it felt like she was jumping the gun," he says. "I didn't break up with her because she was wrong for me. I ended it because I didn't want to commit to anyone right then. But by the time I met Elizabeth, I was in a settling-down frame of mind."

2. We're Not Finished Playing the Field: Men are natural-born one-uppers. If there's a possibility of upgrading what we already have for something better (that'll make our friends drool), we say, bring it on! So we wind up always wondering if you're really as good as it gets. (I know, scumbag mentality.) "Whenever I meet a new hot chick, I consider what it would be like to date her, even if I have a girlfriend at the time," says Andy, 30. "The grass is always greener. No matter how great his current girl is, a guy doesn't want to feel like he's missing out." In addition to our opportunistic tendencies, most guys feel compelled to put as many sexual conquests under their belts as possible. "I admit it — I know the exact number of girls I've slept with, no mental calculation required," says Dan, 29. "That's how aware I am of how many notches I have. And I'd never commit until I felt like I'd experienced enough different women."
Every guy's definition of enough is different, so there's a chance he wrote you off just because you didn't come late enough on his own personal hit list. The moral of the story: Until we grow up, mark everything off our sexual checklists or have too many friends convince us that we can't do better than you, the flight risk is real.

3. We're Fixated on the Worst-Case Scenario: From the times you chastise us for leaving a wet towel on the bed to those nights you rip through a pint of fudge ripple without stopping to breathe, we file each incident in a mental folder labeled "Evidence She'll Change for the Worse." We flip through that file whenever we're trying to decide if we want to hang on to the relationship. Blame our married friends who took the plunge before us, but many single guys are hyperaware of what could go wrong down the road.

Even if we're crazy about you now, we panic that you'll pack on the pounds, want sex only once a month and nag us day and night. So we secretly flag certain things we're scared might be a harbinger of bad things to come. "I've seen it happen to too many of my friends," says Elliot, 29. "All they do is complain about how the sex takes a total nosedive after they get serious with a girl. So sometimes, even if the woman I'm dating is a saucy little minx, I freak out and bail."

4.We're in Like, Not in LoveIt's harsh but true. In fact, it's probably the most common reason we bolt. Just because a guy likes you a lot isn't a guarantee that it will evolve into love. And we're surprisingly intuitive when it comes to figuring out a girl's potential on this front. "I stayed with one woman for two years because the sex was great and she never pushed the issue, but I knew the minute I met her that she wasn't The One," says David, 30. So why do we invest any time in a relationship that we know will ultimately end? Because we're able to live in the moment for a while and chalk it up to a good experience. But once you show that you're way more into us than we are into you, we'll dump you out of guilt. "I dated this girl for about a year, but as soon as she started using the L word, I had to end it," recalls Jay, 29. "It was hard. I cared about her and didn't want to hurt her. But I knew that if I stuck around, she'd have been happier at first but miserable later on. After all, she deserved to be with someone who loved her as much as she loved me."

5. We're Too into YouJust when you thought it was all bad news, here's a hard-to-fess-up admission: Guys are protective of their emotions. Translation: We're scared spitless of being hurt. So, if we start to feel like we're getting into a situation where we'll be destroyed if you dump us, we might launch a preemptive strike and yank the plug first.
For Gary, 27, showing his girlfriend of two years the exit felt like the only choice. "She was the first girl I was serious with, and I didn't like letting someone have that much power over me. I was starting to feel emotionally needy, and that was uncomfortable for me," he recalls. "So I ditched her to save myself!" Sounds crazy, but cut us some slack. Think about how vulnerable and paranoid you feel when you're nuts about a guy, and realize that we go through the same thing with girls we really like. But our friends aren't as good at helping us get over an ex as yours are, plus being openly heartbroken makes us look like wusses. Nope, it's better to act like a winner before you turn us into a loser, which is when our natural self-preservation may come into play. Before the real humiliation and pain assail us like a plague, ending the relationship seems like a good option.

Are You About to Be Jilted? Signs that your man's getting ready to bail:
His cell phone is always off. He might be spending time with someone he doesn't want you to know about ... or he just doesn't want to make himself available.

He's reluctant to make plans. If he hems and haws about committing to anything — even if it's in the semi-near future — he's thinking about making a break for it.

He's meaner. The passive-aggressive breakup is a guy standby. Some men intentionally turn into a-holes to make sure you break up with them.

He's not into sex. He doesn't want to feel connected to you — or he's getting his needs filled somewhere else.

Well there you have it. Now the only reason I post this, and half of the other things I talk about is for feedback, which I rarely get. I would really like to know if this is how it is. Not so I can judge anyone but simply because I only have my brother to ask these questions to, and while he is a big help it is always nice to get multipul views on a subject so someone please help me out here.

Weekly Quote 5/18 to 5/24

2009-05-18T11:11:00.002-06:00

"Give me such courage and I can scale the hardest peaks alone,
and transform every stumbling block into a stepping stone."

~Gail Brook Burket

Weekly Quote 5/11 to 5/17

2009-05-11T09:24:00.001-06:00

"People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself.
But the self is not something one finds,
It is something one creates."

~Thomas Szasz

Questions Answered W/ An iPod

2009-05-07T10:47:00.000-06:00

I'm sure several of you have got the e-mails where you put your iPod on shuffle then answer the questions. Well here's one of those. So you should do it and post your answers as comments.

1. If someone says "Is This Okay?" you say: Gimme Whatcha Got ~Chris Brown~
2. What would best describe your personality: Broken (Live) ~Seether~ *wow that sounds so emo but I love that song haha*
3. What do you like in a guy or girl: Helpless ~Lidobeach~
4. What is your life's purpose: To Struggle With Light Colors ~Daphne Loves Derby~
5. What is your motto: American Gigolo ~Weezer~
6. What do your friends think of you: No One Will Ever Love You ~Magnetic Fields~ *how ironic you tell me that all the time Austin*
7. What do you think about often: Today ~Smashing Pumpkins~
8. What is 2 + 2: Where Your Eyes Don't Go ~TMBG~
9. What do you think of your best friend(s): Holler Til You Pass Out ~3OH!3~
10. What do you think of the person you like: From The Bottom Of My Heart ~Mury~
11. What is your life story: I Survived You ~Clay Aiken~ *ha ha ha*
12. What do you want to be when you grow up: Paper Tiger ~Spoon~ *It's what I've always wanted to be*
13. What do you think when you see the person you like: Get Happy ~Bowling For Soup~
14.What do your parents think of you: Bleeding Love ~Leona Lewis~
15. What will you dance to at your wedding: Everybody Dance Now ~C + C Music Factory~ *I will play this at my wedding!*
16. What will they play at your funeral: Lighthouse ~Stillife~
17. What is your hobby or interest: Signs Of Life ~Every Move A Picture~ *Does this mean I'm into aliens or other life forms?*
18. What is your biggest secret: Everything I Am ~Ultraviolet Sound~
19. What do you think of your friends: Step Up ~Yung Joc and 3LW~
20. What's the worst thing that could happen: Nothing Could Come Between Us ~Theory Of A Deadman~
21. How will you die: Scarlet Pimpernel ~ Scarlet Pimpernel Original Cast~ *Oh my gosh he could kill me as long as he's attractive.*
22. What is the one thing you regret: Worry A Lot ~The Like Young~
23. What makes you laugh: Madame Guillotine ~ Scarlet Pimpernel Original Cast~ *That's really not funny at all.*
24. What makes you cry: High Hopes In Velvet Ropes ~The Cab~
25. Will you ever get married: Not That Kinda Girl ~JoJo~ *See I probably won't get married~
26. What scares you the most: Dead Cell ~Papa Roach~
27. Does anyone like you? Jessie's Girl ~Rick Springfield~ *I'm a little worried now*
28. If you could go back in time, what would you change: Narcolepsy ~Ben Folds~
29. What hurts right now: Someday We'll Know ~Mandy Moore and Jonathan Foreman

Medical Exams

2009-05-06T09:50:00.001-06:00

1. A man comes into the ER and yells, "My wife's going to have her baby in the cab!"
I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady's dress, and began to take off her underwear.
Suddenly, I noticed that there were several cabs and I was in the wrong one.
~Dr. Mark MacDonald ld, San Antonio, TX

2. At the beginning of my shift, I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's
anterior chest wall. "Big breaths," I instructed. "Yes, they used to be," replied the patient.
~Dr. Richard Byrnes, Seattle, WA

3. One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died
of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to
the rest of the family that he had died of a "massive internal fart."
~Dr. Susan Steinbergm

4. During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with his cardiologist,
he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble with one of his medications.
"Which one?" I asked. "The patch, the nurse told me to put on a new one every six
hours, and now I'm running out of places to put it!" I had him quickly undress, and
discovered what I hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body. Now, the instructions include
removal of the old patch before applying a new one.
~Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Newfolk, VA.

5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, "How long have you been bedridden?" After
a look of complete confusion, she answered, "Why, not for about twenty years when my husband was alive."
~Dr. Steven Swanson, Corvallis, OR.

6. I was caring for a woman and asked, "So, how's your breakfast this morning?"
"It's very good, except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can't seem to get used to the taste",the patient replied.
I then asked to see the jelly, and the woman produced a foil packet labeled KY Jelly.
~Dr. Leonard Kransdorf,Detroit, MI.

7. A nurse was on duty in the emergency room when a young woman with purple hair
styled into a punk rocker mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing
strange clothing, entered. It was quickly determined that the patient had acute
appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery. When she was completely
disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been
dyed green, and above it there was a tattoo that read, "Keep off the grass."
Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient's
dressing, which said, "Sorry, had to mow the lawn."
~RN, no name

8. As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB , I was quite embarrassed when
performing female pelvic exams. To cover my embarrassment, I had unconsciously
formed a habit of whistling softly. The middle-aged lady upon whom I
was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me.
I looked up from my work and sheepishly said, "I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?"
She replied, "No doctor, but the song you were whistling was, "I wish I was
an Oscar Meyer Wiener."
~No Name

Comic Corner- George Price

2009-05-05T09:08:00.002-06:00

Sorry but for today's comic I don't have a link for you to follow. I was looking through my communications book for my final and I found this. I thought is was kind of funny, but then again I find a lot of stuff funny that really isn't. Anyways it's by George Price and I don't know where to find it except page 179 of "Communicating at Work".

Just a little preface: A detective is questioning a guy in his apartment...

"Next question: I believe that life is a constant striving for balance,

requiring frequent tradeoffs between morality and necessity,

within a cyclic pattern of joy and sadness,

forging a trail of bittersweet memories until one slips, inevitably,

into the jaws of death.

Agree or disagree?"

So now I want you to answer the question, ready, set, go!

Weekly Quote 5/4 to 5/10

2009-05-04T09:06:00.001-06:00

"Guided by my heritage of a love of beauty and a respect for strength

in search of my mother's garden I found my own."

~Alice Walker

Weekly Quote 4/27 to 5/3

2009-04-27T23:44:00.000-06:00

"Being defeated is often a temporary condtion.

Giving up is what makes it permanent".

~Marilyn vos Savant

Weekly Quote 4/20 to 4/26

2009-04-20T11:39:00.000-06:00

"It gives me a deep,
comforting sense that
"Things seen are temporal and things unseen are eternal"

~Helen Keller

Believers Never Die Part Deux

2009-04-14T14:32:00.002-06:00

So, the Fall Out Boy Believers Never Die Part Deux concert was yesterday. It was out at Great Saltair. I had a really good time but it was absolutely crazy!

Anyone who has been to a concert, especially where there is no seating knows how crazy it can get. I've been to my share of concerts but never one that the moshing was so insane. One of the friends I went with failed to inform me she had never been in a mosh. So I had to try and keep her safe because she was freaking out. Furthermore, a mother had brought her 8 year old daughter and was close to the stage like we were. When the shoving and punching started the daughter started to cry but we were being pushed on so much that she couldn't move.

I really did try to help the mom while trying to protect my friend. Needless to say, I ended up on the ground and was missing both my shoes. Some guy who I don't know pulled me up and but me on his shoulders until he helped me find my shoes. My wrist is a little bruised and scratched up from being stepped on but I didn't break any bones and kept the girl and my friend safe.

Unfortunately I lost my license somewhere in the mosh. After the concert My friend and I got to meet and hang out with some of the guys from Lido Beach. Scott Waldman (Vocals and Guitar) Signed a cd for me. Then he sang a song directly to me and pretty much ignored everyone else. That in itself was pretty great!

Weekly Quote 4/13 to 4/19

2009-04-13T12:21:00.000-06:00

"Remember the two benefits of failure.

First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn't work;

and second, the failure gives you the opportunity

to try a new approach."

~Roger von Oech

Phantom

2009-04-09T00:05:00.000-06:00

So my grandmother decided it would be nice to take all the women and girls in the family out for a night. We all went to Cracker Barrell and then to Hale to see Phantom. Yes it's called Phantom not Phantom of the Opera. So that makes me wonder why everyone in my family with the exception of my cousin Shawnee and I thought it was going to be like the play by Andrew Lloyd Weber.

Anyways, dinner was good. I had some blackberry pancakes which were so covered in blackberries that I couldn't even see my pancakes and it looked as though I hadn't even eaten any. So them my cousin and I were wandering around the store looking and stuff and just talking. When we stumbled upon these...

Animal hats!! These things were amazing hers was a pig and mine was similar to the suit that Lane's mom buys his dad for christmas in "Better Off Dead". So it was pretty fun and although some parts of the play were a bit cheesy it was good overall.

Halloween

2009-04-07T22:34:00.000-06:00

As promised these are the previous years pictures...yeah they're pretty great.

Weekly Quote 4/6 to 4/12

2009-04-06T23:35:00.000-06:00

" An ounce of action
is worth a ton of theory."

~Friedrich Engels

Bugs Bunny

2009-04-04T00:50:00.001-06:00

I don't know why but for some reason I am really proud of this. Sorry it's light I didn't have the option to darken when I uploaded it.

Halloween

2009-04-02T01:04:00.000-06:00

So the comic I posted on the 24th made me think of what I was going to be for Halloween. Anyone who knows me is aware of just how much I hate the holiday. However the past couple years the family as been dressing up in themes and sending out cards. If you haven't seen them I'll post them sometime in the future. Anyways our theme for 09' I believe is Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel based costumes. Here's what I've narrowed my options down to. They are all so different and yet all so awesome.

Illyria as the villain in season 5 of Angel

The original costume Willow was wearing in the episode "Halloween" in season 2 of Buffy or...

Drusilla who is a semi villian at various times in both Buffy and Angel.

Anyways I want your thoughts on who I should be so let me know.

Weekly Quote 3/30 to 4/5

2009-03-30T23:28:00.000-06:00

" I have learned to live each day as it comes,
and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow.
It is the dark menace of the fture that makes cowards of us."

~Dorothy Dix

Pablo Neruda- Ode To Broken Things

2009-03-26T01:34:00.001-06:00

I decided as of late this is probably one of my favorite poems. However, if anyone knows where to find it in Spanish so I don't have to translate it into English let me know.

Things get broken
at home
like they were pushed
by an invisible, deliberate smasher.
It's not my hands
or yours
It wasn't the girls
with their hard fingernails
or the motion of the planet.
It wasn't anything or anybody
It wasn't the wind
It wasn't the orange-colored noontime
Or night over the earth
It wasn't even the nose or the elbow
Or the hips getting bigger
or the ankle
or the air.
The plate broke, the lamp fell
All the flower pots tumbled over
one by one. That pot
which overflowed with scarlet
in the middle of October,
it got tired from all the violets
and another empty one
rolled round and round and round
all through winter
until it was only the powder
of a flowerpot,
a broken memory, shining dust.

And that clock
whose sound
was
the voice of our lives,
the secret
thread of our weeks,
which released
one by one, so many hours
for honey and silence
for so many births and jobs,
that clock also
fell
and its delicate blue guts
vibrated
among the broken glass
its wide heart
unsprung.

Life goes on grinding up
glass, wearing out clothes
making fragments
breaking down
forms
and what lasts through time
is like an island on a ship in the sea,
perishable
surrounded by dangerous fragility
by merciless waters and threats.

Let's put all our treasures together
-- the clocks, plates, cups cracked by the cold --
into a sack and carry them
to the sea
and let our possessions sink
into one alarming breaker
that sounds like a river.
May whatever breaks
be reconstructed by the sea
with the long labor of its tides.
So many useless things
which nobody broke
but which got broken anyway.

Comic Corner-Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

2009-03-24T12:28:00.001-06:00

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Weekly Quote 3/23 to 3/29

2009-03-23T16:47:00.000-06:00

"A man of genius makes no mistakes.
His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery."

~James Joyce~

Baby Panda

2009-03-20T15:36:00.001-06:00

This is really awesome. I want a baby panda!

Redneck Carnival Ride

2009-03-17T22:40:00.000-06:00

I really want to try this out!!

Weekly Quote 3/16 to 3/22

2009-03-16T23:47:00.000-06:00

"Whatever you want in life, other people are going to

want it too. Believe in yourself enough to accept the

idea that you have an equal right to it."

~Diane Sawyer

Why does this quote make me think of slavery?

Kid's Stories Part II

2009-03-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

A kindergarden pupil told his teacher he'd found a cat, but it was dead. "How do you know the cat was dead?" she asked him. "Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move," answered the child innocently. "You did what?" the teacher exclaimed in surprise. "You Know," explained the boy "I leaned over and went pssst in its ear and it didn't move."

A little girl goes to the barber shop with her father. She stands next to the barber chair, while her father gets his hair cut, eating a snack cake. The barber says to her; "Sweetheart, you're going to get hair on your twinkie." She replies, "Yes I know, and I'm going to get boobies too."

An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him, "How do you expect to get into heaven?" The boy thought it over and said, "Well, I'll run in and out and in and out and slamming the door until St. Peter says 'For Heaven's sake Dylan, come in or stay out!"

One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked her with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear", she said. "I have to sleep in daddy's room." A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice, "The big sissy."

It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for the children's sermon. All the children were invited to come forward. One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress, and as she sat down the pastor leaned over and said, "That is a very pretty dress, is it your Easter dress?" The little girl replied, directly into the pastor's clip-on microphone, "Yes, and my mother says it's a bitch to iron."

When I was six months pregnant with my third child, my three year old came into the room as I was preparing to get into the shower. "She said, "Mommy, you are getting fat!" I replied, Yes, Honey, remember Mommy has a baby growing inside her tummy." "I know," she replied, "But what's growing in your butt?"

One day a first grade teacher was reading the story of Chicken Little to her class. She came to the part where Chicken Little warns the farmer. She read, "... and Chicken Little went up to the farmer and said, "The sky is falling!" The teacher then asked the class, "And what do you think the farmer said?" One little girl raised her hand and said, "I think he said: "Holy shit! A talking chicken!" The teacher was unable to teach for the next ten minutes.

Apples and Wine

2009-03-14T21:42:00.001-06:00

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy.

The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Now men...men are like fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

True or False?

2009-03-13T23:34:00.000-06:00

Which of the following are true?

1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button.
3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 years.
4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors a lot more.
5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart!
6. Only 7 per cent of the population are lefties.
7. Forty people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.
8. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until they are 2-6 years old.
9. The average person over 50 will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.
10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.
11. The average housefly lives for one month.
12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.
13. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.
14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.
15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than any other time of day.
16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.
17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to search for water.
18. The only two animals that can see behind themselves without turning their heads are the rabbit and the parrot.
19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in 'An Officer and a Gentleman' and 'Tootsie.'
20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State anthem.
21. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.
22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same airplane, just in case there is a crash.
23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle, built in 1903, used a tomato can for a carburetor.

24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery.
25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana . They were 7th cousins.
26. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

They all are...weird

40 Things You'd Love to Say Out Loud at Work

2009-03-12T23:07:00.000-06:00

1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of shit.
2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
3. How about never? Is never good for you?
4. I see you've set aside this special time to publicly humiliate yourself.
5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see it my way.
6. Who lit the fuse on your tampon?
7. I'm out of my mind at the moment, but feel free to leave a message.
8. I don't work here-I'm a consultant.
9. It sounds like English, but I don't understand a damn word you're saying.
10. Ahhh, I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again.
11. I like you. You remind me of myself when I was young and stupid.
12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
13. I have plenty of talent and vision-I just don't give a damn
14. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.
15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
18. Any connections between your reality and mine are purely coincidental.
19. What am I? Flypaper for freaks?
20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant
21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of karma to burn.
22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
23. And your cry-baby whiny ass opinion would be?
24. Do I look like a f'ing people person to you?
25. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.
26. I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.
27. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.
28. If I throw a stick, will you leave?

29. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.

30. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.

31. Oh, I get it. Like humor. Only different.

32. A cubical is just a padded cell without the door.

33. Can I trade this job for what's behind door number 1?

34. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

35. Nice perfume, but must you marinate in it?

36. Chaos, panic and disorder-my work here is finally done.

37. How do I set a laser printer to kill?

38. I though I wanted a career; turns out I just wanted a salary.

39. I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.

40. Wait a minute- I'm just trying to imagine you with a personality.

80's Face Workout

2009-03-11T22:22:00.000-06:00

This is not a joke.

Weekly Quote 3/9 to 3/15

2009-03-09T20:44:00.000-06:00

"Content thyself to be obscurely good,

When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway,

the post of honor is a private station."

~Joseph Addison

Kid's Stories

2009-03-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

I received this from a friend

1. While I sat in the reception area of my doctor's office, a woman rolled an elderly man in a wheelchair into the room. As she went to the receptionist's desk, the man sat there, alone and silent. Just as I was thinking I should make small talk with him, a little boy slipped off his
mother's lap and walked over to the wheelchair. Placing his hand on the
man's, he said, "I know how you feel. My mom makes me ride in the stroller too".
2. As I was nursing my baby, my cousin's six-year-old daughter, Krissy, came into the room. Never having seen anyone breast feed before, she was intrigued and full of all kinds of questions about what I was doing. After mulling over my answers, she remarked, "My mom has some of those, but I don't think she knows how to use them".
3. Out bicycling one day with my eight-year-old granddaughter, Carolyn, I got a little wistful. "In ten years", I said, "you'll want to be with your friends and you won't go walking, biking, and swimming with me like you do now." Carolyn shrugged. "In ten years you'll be too old to do all those things anyway."
4. Working as a pediatric nurse, I had the difficult assignment of giving immunization shots to children. One day I entered the examining room to give four-year-old Lizzie her needle. "No, no, no!" she screamed. "Lizzie,' scolded her mother, "that's not polite behavior." With that,
the girl yelled even louder, "No, thank you! No, thank you!"
5. My wife left the car unattended for only a minute, but it was long enough for our two-year-old to climb in, throw the car into reverse and crash into a lamppost. He was fine, but the car wasn't, and I had a hard time explaining who was behind the wheel to the insurance company. After a pause, the adjuster asked, 'Do you let him drive often?'
6. One afternoon while I was visiting my library, I noticed a group of preschoolers gathered for story time. The book they were reading was There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. After the librarian finished the first page, she asked the children, "Do you think she'll die?'"
"Nope,' a little girl in the back said. "I saw this last night on Fear Factor."
7. My sister had been ill, so I called to see how she was doing. My ten-year-old niece answered the phone "Hello," she whispered. "Hi, honey. How's your mother?" I asked. "She's sleeping," she answered, again in a whisper. "Did she go to the doctor?" I asked. "Yes. She got some medicine," my niece said softly. "Well, don't wake her up. Just tell her I called. What are you doing, by the way?" Again in a soft whisper, she answered, "Practicing my trumpet."
8. On a brutally humid day, I walked past a miniature golf course and saw a dad following three small children from hole to hole. "Who's winning?" I shouted. "I am," said one kid. "Me," said another. "No, me," yelled the third. Sweat dripping down his face, the dad gasped, "Their mother is."
9. On the way back from a Cub Scout meeting, my grandson asked my son the question. "Dad, I know that babies come from mommies tummies, but how do they get there in the first place?" he asked innocently. After my son hemmed and hawed awhile, my grandson finally spoke up in disgust. "You don't have to make something up, Dad. It's OK if you don't know the answer."
10. Just before I was deployed to Iraq, I sat my eight-year-old son down and
broke the news to him. "I'm going to be away for a long time," I told
him. "I'm going to Iraq" "Why?" he asked. "Don't you know there's a war
going on over there?"
11. Even though the toddler was having a furious tantrum, his mom was unfazed. "You may as well give up on the crying," I heard her say as she led him to the store exit. "You're stuck with me for 18 years."
12. Paul Newman founded the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children stricken
with cancer, AIDS and blood diseases. One afternoon he and his wife, Joanne Woodward stopped by to have lunch with the kids. A counselor at a nearby table, suspecting the young patients wouldn't know that Newman was a famous movie star, explained, "That's the man who made this camp possible. Maybe you've seen his picture on his salad dressing bottle?" Blank stares. "Well, you've probably seen his face on his lemonade carton." An eight-year-old girl perked up. "How long was he missing?"
13. Like all growing boys, my teenage grandson, Jermon, was constantly hungry. I went to my refrigerator to find something he might like to eat. After poking around a bit and moving the milk and juice cartons, I spotted a bowl of leftover chili. "Hey, Jermon", I called out excitedly. He came running into the kitchen. "Look! I found some chili." Struggling to be polite, he said, "If you're that surprised, I'm not really sure I want it."
14. My last name is a mouthful, so when my three-year-old niece learned to spell it, I was thrilled, until my cousin burst my bubble. "You can spell Sczygelski any way you like," he pointed out. "Who's going to know if it's wrong?"
15. For the first time, my four-year-old daughter Kelsey was coming to my office to have me, a dental hygienist, clean her teeth. She was accompanied by her grand-mother. When they came in, I greeted them warmly, seated Kelsey and, as usual, put on my gloves, goggles and mask. About ten minutes into the procedure, she got scared and cried, "I want my mommy!" I quickly pulled off my mask and said, "I am your mommy." Without hesitating, my daughter yelled back, "Then I want my granny!"

Church Bulletins

2009-03-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

1. The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
2. The sermon this morning : 'Jesus Walks on the Water.' The sermon tonight : 'Searching for Jesus.'
3. Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.
4. Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

5. The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
6. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love.
7. Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.
8. Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
9. Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I Will Not Pass This Way Again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
10. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
11. Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
12. The Rector will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing : 'Break Forth Into Joy.'
13. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24th in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
14. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
15. Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
16. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
17. Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
18. The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
19. Potluck supper Sunday at 5 : 00 PM - Prayer and medication to follow.
20. The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
21. This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
22. Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S.. is done.
23. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
24. Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM . Please use the back door.
25. The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM . The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
26. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use the large double doors at the side entrance.
27. The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday : 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours'

Weekly Quote 3/2 to 3/8

2009-03-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

"Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,

And robes the mountain in its azure hue."

~Thomas Campbell~

Anyone care to enlighten me on exactly what this means?

Comic Corner- Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

2009-02-28T13:47:00.001-07:00

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Surgeries

2009-02-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I am now home. I'm glad to be home but unfortunately I won't get anymore of the pain medication that was working for me. Oh well I'll deal.

On the plus side it's Friday which means the weekend and I won't have to go back to school until next Thursday.

Surgeries

2009-02-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

The surgeries went well but this has probably been the hardest of them all. I pretty much spent all day yesterday throwing up, it's gross right. Then the doctors told me tht for every time I did I couldn't eat for two hours after that.

I finally got to eat after I'd pretty much starved for 24 hours and 48 minutes. Yes I kept a close eye on the clock.

Anyways, I get to go home tomorrow, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came to see me. It was a good show of who my actual friends are. It isn't as much that they came to see me but the fact that they checked in and texted me. I heard from more friends out of state than I did from friends that were much closer. So thanks to everyone who showed support I really needed it.

Surgeries

2009-02-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well boys and girls today is the big day. I haven't been able to eat since last night. I don't get to eat until I wake up from surgery later tonight. Needless to say I am starving. Anyone who has been looking at my myspace can tell that. I'm not really nervous about the surgery I'm just hungry.

I'll keep you updated as soon as I can.

Surgeries/Austin's Artwork

2009-02-24T22:44:00.002-07:00

I checked in today. I'm really excited to be here. It's hard to explain but this is one of the few places I feel like I fit in. I've got to see so many people that I haven't seen since the last time I had surgery over a year ago.

Austin decided to draw the doctor's and I some pictures. I'm not going to lie they make me smile every time I look at them.

This is the view from my room. Thanks to Austin for taking the picture.

Surgeries

2009-02-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I wanted to compare my scars from my last surgeries to the ones that I'll be getting soon. So here are the ones from before, and the new ones will be up as soon as I can uncover them.

I tired to circle some of them so it's easier to see, it really didn't help. Sorry.

Weekly Quote 2/23 to 3/1

2009-02-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

"I wanted you to see what real courage is,

instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.

It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway

and you see it through no matter what."

~Harper Lee: To Kill A Mockingbird~

Surgeries

2009-02-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

So the countdown to my surgeries continues. I'm very excited about it. At first I was a bit shocked because really, six days notice? About now I'm very glad it's that close, each day is getting worse so the least amount of time the better.

Anyways I will keep everyone on here updated with video footage and I'm going to try and convince my doctor to twitter the surgery as she does it. So, if you haven't added my twitter alerts be sure to do so.

Free Time With Food

2009-02-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

So I got these in an e-mail. Their pretty amazing!

I personally like the watermelon alien.

Surgeries

2009-02-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

So, as many of you know I was scheduled to have the interlocks on my legs taken out in August. Well over the past few days I've been having some leg pains where my scars are. I really thought nothing of it except that it was cold. Well yesterday and today got a lot worse.

I called the hospital to see what I could do. One of my care coordinators Angela said my doctor's next clinic wasn't until March 2nd. I figured I'll tough it out. About two minutes later I get a call back from Angela, she says that she talked to my doctor and I need to come in immediately and my doctor will meet me at the hospital.

By now I'm kind of a little nervous this is all very sudden. I head to the hospital and say that I need to check in. The lady at the desk says you have no paperwork it just says go to radiology for x-rays. So I walk in there and they say oh Kira come right in.

My doctor meets me in a room after the x-rays and explains that I have some problems with my legs. I am apparently going in for emergency surgery in 6 days.

Mindwalk

2009-02-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Today in English we watched the movie Mindwalk. The movie was released in 1990. It is absolutely amazing, and very deep. Most of the class when it ended was really speechless. I think that it really has the ability to make you question a lot of things and look at the world in a whole new light.

I would highly recommend seeing it!

Weekly Quote 2/16 to 2/22

2009-02-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

"I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms,

until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal."

~ Abraham Lincoln~

So very true.

Baby Sings Hey Jude

2009-02-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

So today I was watching some videos on Youtube. Anyone familiar with the site knows that when the video ends it shows others you may like. That, is how I came across this. It is possibly the cutest thing ever!

Jerusalem Syndrome

2009-02-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Austin believes that this diagnoses me as a child when I went to visit the visitors center. So if you know what I'm talking about tell me if it seems accurate.

The Jerusalem Syndrome is a name given to a group of mental phenomena involving the presence of either religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions, or other psychosis like experiences that are triggered by, or lead to, a visit to the city of Jerusalem. It is not endemic to one single religion

The best known, although not the most prevalent, manifestation of the Jerusalem syndrome is the phenomenon whereby a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of psychopathology becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. The psychosis is characterized by an intense religious theme and typically resolves to full recovery after a few weeks or after being removed from the area.

The religious focus of the Jerusalem syndrome distinguishes it from other phenomena, such as the Stendhal syndrome, which is reported in Florence, Itally, or the Paris syndrome, which has been reported predominantly in Japanese individuals.

Dr. Yair Bar El claimed that there is a specific syndrome which emerges in tourists who have no previous psychiatric history. However, this has been disputed especially by Dr. Moshe Kalian and Prof. Eliezer Witztum. They stressed that nearly all of the tourists who demonstrated the described behaviors were already mentally ill prior to their arrival in Jerusalem. Further, of the small proportion alleged to have exhibited spontaneous psychosis after arrival in Jerusalem, there was no evidence presented that they had previously been well.

History:

The syndrome was first clinically described in the 1930's by Jerusalem psychiatrist Heinz Herman and pertains to behaviors exhibited by some visitors to Jerusalem. Whether or not these behaviors specifically arise from visiting Jerusalem is debated, as similar behaviors have been noted at other places of religious and historical importance such as Mecca and Rome. It is known that cases of the syndrome had already been observed during the middle ages, since it was described in the itinerary of Felix Fabri and the biography of Margery Kempe. Other cases were described in the vast literature of visitors to Jerusalem during the 19th century.

One cause often mentioned in relation to the syndrome occurred in 1969, when an Australian tourist, Michael Rohan overwhelmed with a feeling of divine mission set fire to the al-Aqsa Mosque. His act was followed by citywide rioting. These events helped form the premise of a movie called The Jerusalem Syndrome.

Bar-El suggested that at the approach of the year 2000, large numbers of otherwise normal visitors might be affected by a combination of their presence in Jerusalem and the religious significance of the millennium, causing a massive increase in in the numbers of Jerusalem syndrome admissions to the hospital. Despite a slight increase in tourists hospitalisations with the rise in total tourism to Jerusalem during the year 2000, the feared epidemic of Jerusalem syndrome never materialized.

Types:

The classic Jerusalem syndrome, where a visit to Jerusalem seems to trigger an intense religious psychosis that resolves quickly or on departure, has been a subject of debate in the medical literature. Most of the discussion has centered on wheather this definition of the Jerusalem syndrome is a distinct form of psychosis or simply a re-expression of a previously existing psychotic illness that was not picked up by the medical authorities in Israel.

In response to this, Bar-El classified the syndrome into three major types of reflect the different types of interactions between a visit to Jerusalem and unusual or psychosis-related thought processes. However Kalian and Witztum have objected, saying that Bar-El presented no evidence to justify the detailed typology and prognosis presented and that the types in fact seem to be unrelated rather than different aspects of a syndrome.

Type I: Jerusalem syndrome imposed on a pervious psychotic illness.

This refers to individuals already diagnosed as having a psychotic illness before their visit to Jerusalem. They have typically gone to the city because of the influence of religious ideas, often with a goal or mission in mind that they believe needs to be completed on arrival or during their stay. For example, an affected person may believe himself to be an important historical religious figure or may be influenced by important religious ideas or concepts (such as causing the coming of the Messiah or the second coming of Christ).

Type II: Jerusalem syndrome superimposed on and complicated by idiosyncratic ideas.

This does not necessarily take the form of mental illness and may simply be a culturally anomalous obsession with the significance of Jerusalem, either as an individual, or as part of a small religious group with idiosyncratic spiritual beliefs.

Type III: Jerusalem syndrome as a discrete form, uncompounded by previous mental illness.

This describes the best-known type, whereby a previously mentally balanced person becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. This psychosis is characterized by an intense religious character and typically resolves to full recovery after a few weeks or after being removed from the locality. It shares some features with the diagnostic category of a "brief psychotic episode", although a distinct patten of behaviors has been noted:

1. Anxiety, agitation, nervousness and tension, plus other unspecified reaction.

2. Declaration of the desire to split away from the group or the family and to tour Jerusalem alone. Tourist guides aware of the Jerusalem syndrome and of the significance of such declarations may at this point refer the tourist to an institution for psychiatric evaluation in an attempt to preempt the subsequent stages of the syndrome. If unattended, these stages are usually unavoidable.

3. A need to clean and pure: obsession with taking baths and showers; compulsive fingernail and toenail cutting.

4. Preparation, often with the aid of hotel bed-linen, of a long, ankle-length toga-like gown, which is always white.

5. The need to shout psalms or verses from the Bible, or to sing religious hymns or spirituals loudly. Manifestations of this type serve as a warning to hotel personnel and tourist guides, who should then attempt to have the tourist taken for professional treatment. Failing this, the two last stages will develop.

6. A procession of march to one of Jerusalem's holy places.

7. Delivery of a sermon in a holy place. The sermon is usually very confusing and based on a plea to humankind to adopt a more wholesome, moral, simple way of life.

Bar-El reported 42 such cases over a period of 13 years, but in no case were they able to actually confirm that the condition was temporary.

Prevalence:

During a period of 13 year (1980-1993) for which admissions to the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Centre in Jerusalem were analyzed, it was reported that 1,200 tourists with severe, Jerusalem-themed mental problems were referred to this clinic. Of these, 470 were admitted to the hospital. On average, 100 such tourists have been seen annually, 40 of them requiring admission to the hospital. About two million tourists visit Jerusalem each year. Kalian and Wtiztum note that as a portion of the total numbers of tourists visiting the city, this is not significantly different from any other city.

So Austin claims that I have type III, I think it sounds reasonable. Also all the information came from Wikipedia.

Reasons why I like Salt Lake Community College

2009-02-13T23:33:00.000-07:00

So my school just keeps getting better and better. I have no clue what goes on here or where these ideas come from I walked in and there is a guy doing magic in the lobby. I continue walking and there are people with balloons and a kid playing a mini drum. Sorry the picture is sort of blurry I was walking away as I took it.

Believers Never Die Part Deux

2009-02-12T17:25:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention that Friends and Enemies is hosting the Believers Never Die Part Deux Tour!!!! It is going to be amazing. Not only do I get to go with Dita and Camrin, two of my best friends but let me give you a rundown of the bands.

Mainly Fall Out Boy, my second favorite band (Next to P!ATD.)

Corba Starship, Hey Monday, All Time Low and Metro Station.

Excited yet? Well you should be!

Comic Corner- The Jokes On You

2009-02-12T16:46:00.001-07:00

So I came across this panel comic today. Personally I don't think it's half as good as SMBC but that's just me.

*Side Note: I just noticed that as the saying of the day on the page it said "Everything but

Urine-O's, Amazing Kingdom reference.*

Anyways, the panel is called The Jokes On You. You can only find them on The Funny Pages, enough talk here it is.

Ok I lied sorry you'll have to scroll to the bottom of the link below to see it.

Comic Worth Seeing (I Promise)

Rules of the Modern World

2009-02-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

1. A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
2. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
4. He who hesitates is probably right.
5. Never do card tricks for the group you play poker with.
6. No one is listening until you make a mistake.
7. Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.
8. The colder the X-ray table, the more of your body is required to press on it.
9. The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
10. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
11. To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to If at first you don't
succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. rise above your principles.
12. Two wrongs are only the beginning.
13. Work is accomplished by those employees who are still striving to reach their
level of incompetence.
14. You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive. (The corollary is:
15. You never learn to pray until your kids learn to drive!)
16. The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
17. Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7th of your life.
18. The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up. (Project Management at its best).

Weekly Quote 2/9 to 2/15

2009-02-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

"If there's delight in love, 'tis when I see
that heart, which others bleed for, bleed for me."

~William Congreve~

So I know this one is a bit abstract, but I like it. It gives you the ability to take from it what you want. Happy Valentines Day this week everyone!

Best Man Speech

2009-02-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

This video is really funny, you need to watch it all the way through though. Sorry I tried to get the video on here but they don't let you make an linkable video to it.

That being said the best I could do was give you the link. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Best Man Speech

Reasons why I like Salt Lake Community College

2009-02-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

In between my classes at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a 3 hour break which is great to get most of my work done. I was sitting at a table working today and I heard this loud gong noise.

I got up to go see what it was and some people were dressed up as a dragon, like the ones you see on Chinese New Year that it takes like three people to work. Following them was a guy dressed as a tiger and then finally a girl with a gong. I really have no clue what it was for because Chinese New Year was on the 26th of last month.

It was strange but I have come to learn that SLCC is anything but ordinary.

The Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart 2/2/09

2009-02-03T10:16:00.001-07:00

I don't usually watch The Daily Show that often but it was on yesterday when I was at school. I think yesterdays episodes was one of the best I've seen thus far. I feel Jon Stewart is very talented. He has the ability to bring to light the important issues at the time, but at the same time not make them seem so serious. Since yesterday I keep thinking back to what he said relating to where America as a country stands and several other points he brought up. Having the issues seem a bit lighter helped me to think about them more and now that it's the day after I have really been considering them. It's really important that you watch the whole show for the 2nd, if not watch all the small clips.

The Daily Show

Full Episode for 2/2/09

Enjoy!

Comic Corner-Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

2009-02-02T13:10:00.001-07:00

So I totally read these and decided that they needed to be shared.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Weekly Quote 2/2 to 2/8

2009-02-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

I decided it's about time we had a quote from a woman so here it is.

"Changes are not only possible and predictable,
but to deny them is to be an accomplice
to one's own unnecessary vegetation."

~Gail Sheehy~

Weekly Quote 1/26 to 2/1

2009-01-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Black history month starts this Sunday February 1st. So why not have a quote from one of America's most influential African American leaders.

"No, no we are not satisfied,
and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down
like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

~Martin Luther King Jr.~

Weekly Quote 1/19 to 1/25

2009-01-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

So with America having a new president, which I am very excited about. I can't believe all the changes he has already put into effect and it has not even been a week. Anyways this quote seemed perfect for this week.

"Often do the spirits of great events stride on before the events,
and in to-day walks to-morrow."

~Samuel Taylor Coleridge~

Weekly Quote 1/12 to 1/18

2009-01-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

So I really like this weeks quote, I think not only does it apply to everyone in their daily lives but also to bloggers or anyone who enjoys writing.

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead,

either write things worth reading or do things worth writing."

~Benjamin Franklin~

Body Worlds/Stupid Things I Do In Life

2009-01-11T12:58:00.001-07:00

So last night I went and saw Body Worlds at the Leonardo here in Utah. It is really amazing and I had a great time. If you didn't get the chance to see it... I don't mean to make you feel bad, but you missed out big time.

There was really so much you could have learned from it and really I don't know how to express just how great it was.

Also as promised I'm keeping you updated -- Garrett (the guy from Chili's) texted me last night while I was at the exhibit. I'm very happy about that being that since I really wasn't expecting him to. So yay! Much love Garrett!

Stupid Things I Do In Life

2009-01-09T23:48:00.001-07:00

So tonight my family and I went to Chili's, we're waiting to be seated and this waiter walks by and oh-so-obviously checks me out (like, I'm pretty sure no one missed it). I was like, "All well, that was sweet, what girl doesn't love getting checked out," right?

So we get seated and our waiter walks over; lo and behold, it's the one that checked me out. I sit there thinking "Well this should make for an interesting dinner." So anyway he waits on us and brings us pretty much extra of everything we ordered. We ask for food and he brings it so fast, like it's better than any service I think I may have gotten at a restaurant. Totally awesome.

We eat and get ready to go and I'm like, "You know, I might as well give the kid my number, I'll just work my way around the Chili's male staff," haha. I pay the bill and as we walk out pass the kid my number.

*Note to girls: Always carry a note pad and pen in your purse... it comes in handy. :)*

So I hand it to him and say: "Thanks, have a good night."

He replies: "Yes ma'am and thanks! I was hoping you would give me your number."

This is where it gets good -- I'm already walking out and really not paying too much attention because:

1. I don't usually give my number out to guys, I either get theirs or someone I'm with gives it to them.

2. I usually don't make the first move in these situations, *guys cut girls some slack we get nervous around you more than I think you know*.

So I reply, "Yeah, I know you were." By the time that lovely line has escaped my mouth I'm thinking "Oh man, oh man, where is the nearest exit?!" Honestly, I'm not really sure why I said it or what the hell I was thinking, oye ve!

Now I'm waiting to see if he calls tomorrow. Let's pray I don't ruin it then. Also, I'm wondering, do I apply the 24 hour rule or cut some slack? If he doesn't call, then oh well, it was funny and rather entertaining no matter the outcome. I will keep you updated oh the whole situation.

If by any chance you're reading this in the future for some odd reason, there is the explanation of why I did what I did, Garrett, haha.

Comic Corner-Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

2009-01-09T14:02:00.001-07:00

So I wanted to say thanks to Austin for showing me this strip. It's pretty amazing, and it's called...

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

That one is possibly my favorite so far. There are so many levels of hilarity to it and besides the fact that the comic itself is amazing, there are always inside jokes. Good times!

These ones are pretty great as well...

Life

2009-01-08T13:00:00.001-07:00

The family stood at the casket of their dead father, crying. Was it out of joy that he was finally out of the pain or pain that he was now gone? The day their father left the earth changed the family's life forever. Mom got married only a short time later to a man that my brother and I did not like; she claimed to be happy but was she? Would he be leaving next, we could only hope. Maybe not through death but just get up and go. Let me cling once he is gone to what little of my past I can now remember: the times when I found joy in life and in the things I did; when every day I had no worries but to know who could play with me that day or when my dad would carry me on his shoulders and take me to get ice cream.The days when I had those problems and he would spend his time working with me and helping to make me stronger, It's funny how the little details seem the least important and how life just seems as though there is nothing good in the world until you go through a traumatic event. Until you realize how lucky you are and were, to be where you are today. Sometimes people ask me about the events in my life and how I deal with them today, and I have no answer to tell them. I think it was because of God, but how do I convey that to a person who does not believe what I do? There was this day that will stand in my mind for all time, overriding all thoughts and feelings to the point that it becomes unbearable.

My father, grandfather and I stood at the cool dusty ranch getting the horse ready to be ridden. I remember as I stood there waiting patiently for everything to be finished it seemed very arduous and as though I would be there for days on end. I did not expect what was coming next: the horse not liking the idea of being ridden started to run at me. The last thing I remember was falling to the ground, tasting the dry dirt in my mouth and feeling the weight of something on top of me. Until after the ordeal was over I did not realize that my father was the one who had jumped on me after my horse had knocked me over. Had he not done that I would have died from the horse stepping on my head and the force that was exhausted.

I sat in the cold, hard chair shaking people's hand and accepting their apologies, and as I sat I thought of the time when all of this began. I had gotten the day off of school to go play cards with some of my grandmother's friends. My father had been sick lately and my mother had taken him in for some tests. My aunt got a phone call and suddenly a stressed look came across her face. She hung up and immediately told me that I was to go with her to the hospital to see my dad. I did not think much of it but that my mom wanted me to see him. As I came into the room I was informed that he had cancer and the doctors did not know how long he would live. Still I got a most comforting feeling that came over me, and I knew that it would be alright for now. He was to start chemo therapy as soon as possible, and the next part of our lives would be complete hell. Did we know that less than a week later he would be put in intensive care because he was not doing so well? Why was it that we had so many questions that could not be answered? After months of being in intensive care and no one in the family being able to see him, father came home on mother's day, what my mom said was her best gift. He continued chemo therapy and was constantly sick; there were so many nights when I awoke with the loud noise of paramedics running past my room to get to where my father was lying in bed, and you could hear the sirens outside my window. Life was changing so fast and there was absolutely nothing that I or anyone else could do about it. Everything and everyone seemed so distant and as though they did not understand me. Was I alone in the world to face everything by myself? What had happened to everyone I was once so close to?

After being home only a short while my father was put back into the hospital because his situation was getting worse and he now had a tumor on his brain that was eventually going to kill him if nothing was done immediately. He was taken in for an evasive and very horrendous surgery to have a shunt put in his head to help blood flow and the tumor to shrink. He no longer could remember basic things and thought people were coming to get him. He once again recovered and came back home through every day we never knew how much longer we had with him, or if today would be the day he would die. On a cold rainy October day he became paralyzed from the waist down. My mother could barely handle what was going on in her life at the time, and now this was added on. Where was her luck? He now had to move about in a wheelchair and we always had to be around to help him reach things he no longer could. All I could think was if it was so hard on our family how it must have been on him. To have to go through all of this pain and suffering, and rely on people to do everything for you and your family, or to know that you may die today and not see anyone you loved ever again. The road had already been long and hard and who was to say it wouldn't be harder in the days and months to come? We did not know what lay ahead of us; all we had was our past, which is all I have now. The memories, the photos, the videos he used to love to make, and my family.

Harder times were still to come; my father was out of work because he was going through chemo. My mother had never worked since she was a teenager, but how many years ago had that been? She suddenly had to go back to work while still supporting my father and trying to be the best mother she could. She would come home at night and just lie in bed crying, until two in the morning when she thought no one was up; asking God what she had done wrong in life to deserve such a fate. The agony that my father suffered was obvious, and you could see him struggle to get from the bed to his wheelchair, which now imprisoned him. He rarely ate and when he did he could barely keep it down for more than a few hours or long enough to do his body an good at all. Still he got up one day determined to fight and went to his work. They had told him they would keep his job free in the hopes that he would quickly return. When they saw him in the wheelchair unable to use his legs and not getting around as fast as he used to, that was a different story. On the spot he was fired and came home discouraged more than ever before. The family did not know what to do for him now, we had tried our best to cheer him up, but although we had hoped it would, it sadly did not work. Nothing we did seemed to help; my mother made his favorite foods and we spent time together as a family, but it was no use. He had no work and slowly as time went on, no life.

Then, on a cool December night my brother and I went to take my cousin home, when we returned we could not have expected what was about to happen. As we walked in the door my mom told us that our father had passed away. The news came to us as a shock, and yet all along we were waiting and knowing it was going to happen. By this time many friends and family members had arrived to comfort us and to just be of support. Although they may have thought their apologizes and kind words such as "I know how you feel", or "everything will be alright," would help, it only made the situation even harder to bear.

Emotions were mixed that night and no one knew how to feel or how to go on with life. We all knew it would never be the same again and that quite a few things would change. I did not know how to handle what was going on, there were so many people. The line of people who came to pay their respects never seemed to end, and hours dragged on and on. A man came in carrying chicken nuggets for the children who were waiting patiently for their parents to get through talking with people, they all hid behind a curtain to eat. I ask you this, who brings chicken nuggets to a viewing? Apparently that man and I will never forget that either. So many people knew him in so many different ways, different relationships, work, school and other things he did throughout his life, it amazed me. Finally the day of the funeral came and everyone was in a hurry. We got to the church to set up early and there was a line of people already waiting for the doors to be opened. All this meant to me was more agonizing torture of standing in line listening to people. Everyone spoke of him, their memories and sadness. Finally my turn came, I walked up to the stand slowly, never thinking I would be in this situation at such an early age. I spoke and heard my voice shaking. I told of what I knew of my father, his love for his family, how we always spent time together and how much he loved to ride his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

If a viewing and funeral were not hard enough to deal with then you have to watch the large wooden box with remains of a loved one be put in a Hearse and follow it to the cemetery, where just days ago you chose a final resting spot not only for a father but for the rest of your family when their and your own time comes. As you watched a casket being put into a freshly dug hole, leaving a mount of dirt which will soon cover the box and be buried underneath layers of snow, as a cold December comes to a close with Christmas just around the corner. How could people find such joy in this time of year, as all I see in place of a holiday of gifts is depression and sadness? Gifts no longer matter to me as that is not what Christmas should be about.

That day was the day I decided to block out all emotions and to not hurt anymore. Yes, it seems cold and wrong and it probably is but it helps, now as I walk down the store aisles or see something he would have liked it stops the tears and the pain. It seems my whole family has blocked off their emotions, nothing ever gets said about our past unless it is the more recent past. You will find that music and constantly keeping busy help you to not have time to think. But is it really good to block what you feel, to block who you are? People will never get to know the real you, no matter what kind of person you pretend to be on the outside.

Anyways all I can say is that no matter what people tell you, you will never get over the pain, it never gets any better. Yes that sounds depressing but I cannot lie to you. There will always be the good and the bad or happy and sad but take one day at a time like I do and you will get through it in the best way that is possible. Remember though to always look to the future but keep your past with you in one way or another.

A big event can change you in so many ways and in so many aspects of your life that what seemed important in the past like nice cars, money and always getting what you want are no longer important. What matters is the time you have with your family and how you choose to spend it. How you treat people and what kind of service you do. It also matters how people think of you and what kind of person you will be remembered as. All you can do is live life and love it.

*Side Note: This story was written as a paper for English in high school, thanks for reading!*

Weekly Quote 1/5 to 1/11

2009-01-05T11:48:00.001-07:00

So each week I am going to put up a new quote, if you have any that you think are really good let me know. Thanks.

"Life is constantly providing us with new funds,

new resources, even when we are reduced to immobility.

In life's ledger there is no such thing as frozen assets."

~Henry Miller~