stacey

To Kiera:

2009-09-21T21:02:16Z

"When twilight drops her curtain down
And pins it with a star
Remember that you have a friend
Though she may wander far."

Love always,
Stacey

2008

2008-11-12T20:15:51Z

I have two names for you: Maya Angelou and Barak Obama.

I've seen both of them speak this year. : )

We're making history, baby!

A little piece of me

2008-09-30T22:53:32Z

"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows." -Sydney J. Harris

I think of this as a metaphor for the transition you undergo as you learn. Once you've learned a little about yourself, you can start looking out and really seeing the world around you.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -Aristotle

I love love love that one. Think of the things we would never have discovered if we allowed church doctine or tradition to become absolute. There should always be room for change, for new perspectives, and for deep, reflective thought.

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." -Andy McIntyre and Derek Bak

This pretty much relates to all aspects of politics. Need I say more? Umm....vote Obama.

"Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire." -William Butler Yeats

Education cannot simply be a passive endeavor where adults and teachers pour knowledge into our brains until we overflow or let the knowledge sit stagnant until it evaporates away. Education should light a fire in the student. It should get them pumped about learning and set them into action.

"If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job. -Donald D. Quinn

That one pretty much speaks for itself. : )

Fall is coming. Its beauty inspires me.

Love to those I love and especially to those I miss.

DANGER!

2008-08-11T22:02:42Z

Dave and I road co-karts during a thunderstorm yesterday. It was Dave's first ever ride and oh man, was it a crazy one. :)

Recent events

2008-06-14T05:37:14Z

I got a haircut.

I also saw Prince Caspian, the new Hulk movie, and Iron Man.

I went cliff diving with various people and climbed Mount Tom with Dave.

I even traveled to the beach with my best friends.

I've seen a lot of my freinds that I hadn't seen in far too long.

Dave and I have hung out a lot. We've played tennis and scrabble and such.

Camp starts Monday.

Life is good.

: )

iaproveofhippos @ 2008-05-31T10:59:00

2008-05-31T15:03:13Z

I've been having the strangest dreams for like the past 5 consecutive days. I hope this doesn't last all summer.

Summer 2008 begins

2008-05-21T14:01:53Z

Katie and Trish are both working at camp with me this summer!!!

The semester is over. There were a few minor hurddles along the way such as sleeping through my HDFS final, but all's well that ends well. That particular final was an 8 am, and Rachel accidentally shut off my alarm. I scurried off in a panic at 10:15 to go find my professor, showed up at the right office number but in the wrong building, and proceeded to scamper across campus to a building I didn't even know existed. When I finally found the room, nobody was there. I was just about to give up in desperation when I saw my TA. About thirty seconds later my professor showed up, and being the awesome hippie lady she is, she gave me hugs and a lolipop and sent me off into the other room to take the exam. I seem to luck out in times of crisis. We'll see what happens next year once I actually start in the School of Ed.

I had lunch with a couple of awesome boys during finals week. I got the chance to eat with Dave T. who I haven't seen or talked to much in quite a while. I miss him, and it was a super awesome time. I also ate with Jon who I'm excited to know is indeed coming back to UConn next year despite his senior status because he's super crazy and is a bio major on top of marching band and countless other musical extravaganzas. Shane, however, will not be returning, and I enjoyed one of our last lunches together up at school. Bill and I shared some steak tacos one Friday night after work. He was chivalrous and gave me his umbrella for the walk home and drew in some Japanese number characters for my project. We tried to get the slinky to go down the stairs, but the little guy just couldn't reach. We decided perhaps we'd make a book tower for him sometime in the future. Michelle, Olivia, and I continued the end of the semester tradition of dinner at Chuck and Augies, and Rachel and I got to check out their room in Charter Oak since we'll be living there next year. I didn't end up going to Mount Washington with Marisa and Chris, but I have done some pretty awesome things already while the summer is still young.

Dave and I tested our baking skill and ended up with some pretty decent apple and cherry pie. We also got attacked by ticks! We had gone for a delightful stroll in the woods and discovered about 15 ticks crawling about our pants between the two of us on the way back! We flicked them off as best we could, and Dave even removed his shoes to make sure none had made their way inside. It was quite the adventure, but we made it through alive. We watched The Fox and the Hound, and let me tell you, the movie was still excellent. The music on the other hand was super corny, and it made us crack up hysterically at times. Dave is also teaching me violin. I pretty much suck so don't ask me to play for you yet. I've only just learned Mary Had A Little Lamb, Hot Cross Buns, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and When the Saints Go Marching In. I've been practicing though, and I'd say they're bareable to listen to now. Dave's been working on a Sibelius piece that I'm super excited about. I was hanging out at WestConn before his conducting final, and it was pretty funny to be sitting in a hallway surrounded by boys counting and waving their hands in rhythm around you. I also got to help Dave move out, and he took me to this neat Mexican restaurant where I tried enchilladas covered in a strange, spicy green sauce. We even hung out in Bristol a few times, ate at Applewoods and played some tennis at the court down the street. I was defeated in chess AND in Scrabble. I would like to point out for the record, however, that I had that Scrabble game no problem if Dave hadn't played Zoo with Z on a tripple letter score or Quack which was worth 60 points alone. In chess on the other hand, I got poned aka eaten and spat out. It was good times.

Kiera, her new boyfriend Brian, Kiera's old friend Natalie from Eastern, and I went out for ice cream a week or so back. It was fun times. Kiera even gave me a book of poetry by my favorite, Robert Frost. I've also been hanging out with Steve L, Josh, and Katie again which is awesome. Steve bought a moped which amuses me greatly, and Katie brought home some amazing artwork. She decided to repaint the mural downstairs. I was a little sad because of all the memories and signatures, but as Katie, Susie, and Kate always tell me FUCK MEMORIES! Katie and I also watched this movie with Lisa and Andrea that was pretty much La Catrina meets Phantom of the Opera meets Ricky Martin. Speaking of hilarious, I finally got to see Susie after what has seemed like forever and a day. We had a delightful lunch and then headed to the dollar store with Katie and bought coloring books. We also made a pit stop at Starbucks for fuel. The first page that I colored had 4 birds and a flower and instructed me to chose the item that didn't belong. I feel this is discouraging individuality among our youth.

I'm reading Dune. It's delectable!

Lester pitched a no hitter....just in case you hadn't heard.

Love to those I love!

Steve and Josh make my heart smile

2008-04-22T00:06:51Z

g22222222g: did you know you can survive for like 1-2 minutes in space without a space suit
laylaBExcountry4: no :-)
g22222222g: yeah
g22222222g: no irreversible damage either
laylaBExcountry4: lets do it
g22222222g: ok
g22222222g: you find the ship
g22222222g: i'll pack lunch
laylaBExcountry4: deal
laylaBExcountry4: might take me a couple years though
g22222222g: oh...
laylaBExcountry4: ive heard they're kind of expensive
g22222222g: just a sec
g22222222g: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/phx/578467547.html
g22222222g: k?
laylaBExcountry4: can this thing serve as a car...cause i plan on spending my 3500 on one of those relatively soon
g22222222g: lol idk it looks a little shakey

laylaBExcountry4: wanna come to space with steve and i?
PaleSN0Wman: yes
laylaBExcountry4: excellent
PaleSN0Wman: when are we leaving
PaleSN0Wman: i have an exam
PaleSN0Wman: quite apropos on astronomy
PaleSN0Wman: so ill navigate
laylaBExcountry4: once i round up the 3500 for the spacecraft
laylaBExcountry4: might be a little while
PaleSN0Wman: ill be waiting by my space suit
laylaBExcountry4: g22222222g: did you know you can survive for like 1-2 minutes in space without a space suit
PaleSN0Wman: no way
laylaBExcountry4: g22222222g: yeah
g22222222g: no irreversible damage either
PaleSN0Wman: imma google that shit
laylaBExcountry4: hahaha
PaleSN0Wman: well ill be kicked in the balls he is right

<3 = :-D

iaproveofhippos @ 2008-04-07T12:58:00

2008-04-07T17:05:00Z

I want this cat.

This guy is totally sitting like Buddha.

Skipping in the rain

2008-04-04T16:03:47Z

I would like to share the story of my Peanuts calander picture for April with you all.

Snoopy is lying on his doghouse as per usual. The only trouble is, it's raining! So consequently, 7 woodstocks are chillin' on top of him. One is sideways on his head, defying gravity as Elphaba might put it. He obviously has the blue umbrella because he is the the most awesome. There are two woodstocks with pink and red umbrellas respectively trying to imitate him further up on Snoopy's head. Directly on top of Snoopy's nose is my second favorite with the green umbrella. There's another dude with a red umbrella right on Snoopy's tummy and another with a pink one on his feet. That's seven. Together they completely shield Snoopy from the rain pouring down around him. The message at the top of the calander reads "Love is looking out for your friends." How true.

: )

Sidenote: Dave's recital rocked my world. I'm so glad I got the chance to go. He's truly an amazing violinist, and I know he'll go far. Then I'll be able to look back and say "I saw it happen!" Not to mention I love his friends at WestConn, and Shane and I had an awesome adventure together as well. We listened to delightful music, sang lots of disney songs together, and even did the duet for a Whole New World. We need to hang out more for sure. The other night we had awesome discussions on eating koalas, giant pigs, and how many ideas throughout history have been truly novel. We're planning a movie night soon. Join us! (*cough Kiera cough*)

Dave and I have a challange for you: Ride a tomato!

iaproveofhippos @ 2008-03-03T13:45:00

2008-03-03T18:51:36Z

Do you ever have an assignment or simply for the sake of comparison a task, that although hardly difficult, you can't quite seem to carry through with it. You might sit there staring, or struggling with the words, or keep coming back to it only to leave again.You question yourself saying, "This should be simple," yet at that moment in time its seems like you're trying the carry a full grown elephant across an 8ft deep raging river.

An update especially for Courtney

2008-02-22T17:05:50Z

So a lot has happened since my last ramble, but I'll start with today! Snow day!!! For me the effects were minimal since I still had to get up at 7 to go to work, but at least I didn't have to hurry over to my discussion afterward or take my psychology exam at 3pm. I am definately glad I'll have extra time to study for the exam this weekend. As for today, however, Im planning on taking a nap after this entry or sometime between now and my 5:00 shift.

Yesterday was a pretty sweet day. I got up early for my 7:00 shift, but the sunrise on the walk over made it all worth while. The greatest surprise of the day was when I got a call from Chuck saying he was coming to visit me with Sam on their way back to Maine. I obviously called up Meg right away and got my meeting time moved up so I'd be done in time to have lunch with them. It was an excellent lunch, and I even got to meet Chuck's new kitty. To my delight, I found out shortly after that my 2:00 discussion was canceled! This gave me a little time to study psychology before it was time to leave for geography. After geography, I grabbed some dinner and then headed over to Taiko drumming. That's right. I joined Taiko drumming. Jealous? Diana would be proud as I can now count to 8 in Japanese. We even get to hop during practice! Its awesome. I can't wait to see the group perform for Asia Night tommorrow. Hopefully its not canceled. The snow didn't wimp out like I thought it would, and we might actually get a couple inches of accumulation today.

As you can probably tell, I've started working at South Dining Hall this semester. I have four shifts a week. One on Thursday mornings form 7-10:30 and one on Friday mornings from 8-10. I also have Tuesday and Friday shifts from 5 until close. I like the job so far. It varies from day to day, and in the mornings I get to help the chefs prepare food. There's this one chef named Linda who has been calling me Mary ever since the first day, and I simply don't have the heart to correct her. The music they play is excellent. So far I've heard Fleetwood Mac, Beatles, Eagles, Clapton, and a bunch of other good stuff. We also listened to the Greece soundtrack, usually only when you haven't heard it in a long time. Night shifts are out on the floor or in the dish room. I have yet another friend named Chris at work now for those of you already confused when I use the name. We rack bacon together on Friday mornings. I'm not sure if that sounds dirty or just disgusting, but working together is fun times. My favorite shift so far has been making pizzas. Mike is by far my favorite student manager. ; )

In other news, I have been hanging out with some friends from Mississippi. We even have group dinners every so often. I've also gone to Jason's for a party and hung out with Andrew quite a few times. We played Nintendo at his place, and I've met some of his friends from Coventry. There're all awesome. We even went to the Barack Obama convention in Hartford the monday before the primaries. It was awesome! People were lined up several times around the building to get in, and Lady Kennedy gave the introduction speech. My favorite line from the ralley was "Hope, education, love," and I hope that on the chance that Obama does get elected he sticks with his campaign principles. I've been drawing some ties between the Progressive movement that we're learning about in history and the current campaign. Obama took Connecticut which to me was unexpected. Who knows what could happen?

Dave surprised me after breakfast the other weekend when he brought me to Walmart and bought me a new Guitar Hero game after Chris accidently knocked my playstation off the tv and scratched the disc. What a sweetheart. He also got accepted to play in Rome this summer. I'll take this oppurtunity to brag about how awesome that is as well.

I'm officially done applying to the School of Education now. I had my interview a couple weeks ago, and I'm not really sure exactly how it went. I'm going to go with alright. Now I just have to wait until March 1st to see officially whether I get in or not.

I cantored for the first time up at school this past weekend. I was super nervous and messed up some things I had down before mass. Still, someone awesome reminded me that performances are rarely perfect and you should just aim to get as much out of them as you can, and so I'll call my singing decent. My choir director is having me cantor again this weekend. We'll see how that goes.

Don came up the other weekend and hung out. It was good times as usual. Colin, Luke, Steve, Don, and I even sang Dont Stop Believing kareoke style. It turns out Steve can play Layla on keyboard. It was friggin' sick.

I picked up some of Descartes' works at the library. They intrigue me, and I plan to check them out if I ever find the time.

A lunar eclipse was the other night. Good stuff.

The power in our building went out for quite some time last Wednesday. Rachel and I had to make our way over to Whitney for dinner. Steve was also super aweosme and let me stay at his place to work on some history homework and spend the night over at South so I didn't have to walk there for my 7am shift. I miss hanging out with him.

Katie had a birhtday! I'm sad we couldn't spend it together.

Tons of my cousins are having babies. When I say tons, I mean Gillian, Lauren, and Erica. I'm pretty excited to be bombarded with cuteness.

I haven't been getting much sleep lately. My schedule is super busy, and not too long ago I had a week where practically every single night I had a paper due. I stayed up until 3 or 4 every night, even the nights where I had to get up early for work the next day. Hopefully it's not like this all semester. I'm going to have to seriously start doing more reading on weekends.

Now for some fun I'll throw in some Wizard of Oz ties to the Populist Movement in America:
Silver (changed to ruby slippers in the movie) slippers: the way home
Yellow (gold) Brick Road: not the way home
Emerald City: Chicago (represented the fraud of the Gilded Age)
Oz: America (name from Baum's second drawer labeled "O-Z")
Dorothy: American people if they would only use their power to bring change (Obama's campaign slogan anyone?)
Scarecrow: American farmer shown to be smarter than folks think
Tin Woodsman: American factoy worker (not a worker but a man, called "hands")
Cowardly Lion: American politician who needs to find courage in change
Wizard: Bryan (Democrat posing as Populist)
Wicked Witch of the East: Wall Street
Wicked Witch of the West: mining/railroad corporations
Flying monkeys: Native American tribes

Other interesting facts:

America didn't enter World War I until the last 6 months, and 3.9 million men were sent over.

The contagious yawn people talk about has been statistically shown to occur most commonly when you see the other person's entire face rather than say just their eyes or mouth.

John Muir was this awesome Progressive who lived out in the mountains, advocated an appreciation for nature, and established one of the first National Parks at Yosemite in the Sierra Nevadas.

Mary Jones was this awesome Progressive Irish lady who is known for holding up her hands at gunpoint during a strike and saying "Go Ahead and Shoot." She also organized the wives of the mine workers in jail with their babies and got them to sing lullabies loudly and off key until they got let out of jail. She later led the March of the Mill Children where she brought these young kids who had been laboring hard in the mills from Philadelphia to the Bronx Zoo in New York and compared the treatment of the children to that of the animals. She then brought the kids to a senator's hotel for breakfast and charged the children's meals to his tab. How awesome does she sound?

"The House of the Rising Sun" Are you familiar with the song? Can you guess where it came from? It was actually a folk song from the rural South about a bar. The song promoted the temperance movement and talked about what alcohol can do to you.

There's only two weeks until Spring Break. I'm pretty excited. I'll get to see Mark's recital and then before I know it, it will be time to see the Lion King on Broadway.

Love to those I love and epecially to those I miss!

iaproveofhippos @ 2008-02-06T08:46:00

2008-02-06T13:45:38Z

Carpe Diem.

If the world was made up of only 100 people...

2008-01-28T19:03:34Z

Proportionally there would be:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 North and South Americans
8 Africans

The world is also:

51% women
70% non Caucasian
70% non Christian

Of the world's inhabitants there are:

80% in substandard housing
70% illiterate
50% malnourished
1% college educated
<1% who own a computer

Interesting isn't it?

Biloxi Mississippi 2008

2008-01-26T16:44:01Z

1-17-08

Today we went back to the same house and cleaned up the giant pile of sheet rock and debris with wheelbarrels and dropped it in the dumpster. Jason made us an awesome ramp. We also moved some doors out of the house nextdoor. After lunch I went with Jason and Chris to help Jim dig. We had to find the waterline, and Jason and I dug down under the house using a small shovel, my hammer, and a pickaxe. We ran into this stump that puzzled me because it wasn't rooted into the ground. For dinner we had very yummy salad bar and baked potato bar. We also played a game with the whole group called Four Corners where you went to a different corner depending on whether you Agree, Disagree, Strongly Agree, or Strongly Disagree. It was surprising the choices some of the people made. Maggie was very optimistic. Ryan totally opened up and made this awesome comment in response to someone saying Bush helped out after the hurricane. He was like, "Yeah, so he helped out that day..." Chris and I won a couple rounds of setback later, and he beat me in rummy. It was good times.

1-18-08

Today was kind of slow starting off. We went back to the house with all the doors, but there wasn't much to do once we got there. We ended up moving a couple tools then emptying canned water that wasn't fit for drinking. I got myself out of that one by volunteering to go digging with Jim again. Maggie, Sarah, and I came along. We picked up and dropped off sheet rock first and then started on digging a hole so we could place the cement foundation for an old lady's elevator. She was really nice and even gave us cranberry juice. We took a picture with her and her 93 year old mother at the end of the day. After lunch we mixed and poured cement into our hole. We got back just early enough to shower before the others. After, the teams worked on their jingles and ate dinner. Though I didn't eat the pot pie, I had an excellent salad. Andrew''s lyrics for the jingle were bangin'. After dinner we had shout outs with the entire group. People said the most amazing things, and I almost cried several times. Next came superlatives which were hilarious. Mine was boring as usual. It was about being positive and always smiling. My goal is to one day have a funnier superlative. Next were team jingles, and I must say I've never seen any of this quality. I absolutely loved them all. After the jingles was a dance party at which I was a bit uncomfortable not because of the company but just because dances aren't really my thing. The bus ride tommorrow should be fun, and I'm truely going to miss everyone on this trip.

I like Biloxi and I can not lie
You other cities can't deny
When a girl walks in with a tool belt on her waist and sawzaw in her hand
You get built

Me and my teamates
We're a little misunderstood
Each of us stands for something
We're trying to do some good
We see everything that's going wrong with the world and those that lead it
But blue team's got the means to rise above and beat it
Cuz we're changin' Changin' Changin' Biloxi
Yea we're changin' Changin' Biloxi Mississippi

Lets get down to business to tear down these walls
We brought our nails and hammers and our paint stained overalls
We're the baddest crew we've ever met
And you can bet before we're through
Mr. I'll build a duplex for you!
To be the best
We must be swift as the shooting nail gun
To be the best
With all the force of a Chevy truck
To be the best
And strong enough to demolish houses
We lost gladiator games but we don't give a (list group names here)

Royal blue
We're quite fine
We'll build a house
Get it up in no time
We show up Burgundy
Anchorman's the only reason you're funny
I'mma build you a house until then
You can come home with me
I'mma build you a house
Brian, we can handle Bohn
FEMA gave you a sweet mobile home
We're in the home like bang (x6) Fade out

1-20-08

Yesterday morning we got up bright and early and packed up all our belongings after breakfast. It was pouring rain so getting our things outside was a mad dash. The plan was to sit with Maggie, but by the time either of us got on the bus there were no double seats open. Before we left we got a farewell talk from Joe, Maddie, the couple who run the Village, and Jim. Matt also said a few words. Jim's speach stood out the most. He again brought up how there are two kinds of angels. We were reminded again to bring back our experiences to the people at home and that we are the top of our generation for giving up our break and even paying to come down and help out. Jim also called me sweetie when I hugged him goodbye. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I ended up sitting with Marissa from blue team which was cool. Although we had worked together a lot and had been in the same room, the bus ride was probably where we talked the most. It was raining as we set out and someone, I think it was Mike who sat behind us, pointed out that it made it easier to leave and not want to stick around and work. We watched How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, the Shawshank Redemption, and part of When the Levies Broke. I also read some from the Golden Compass and talked to Marissa. We went to the back of the bus to sing with Phil and Andrew and talk to Maggie. I also sat in the seat with Chris for a while, and we shared headphones, listened to my ipod, and sang Beatles. For food we went to Jimmy Bob's Chicken for lunch in Alabama. I got 12 chicken wings which I finished with the exception of the two Andrew ate. Marissa and I also shared some mozerella sticks. For dinner we stopped at this huge mall that I think might have been in the Carolinas. I had yummy spaghetti and garlic bread and bought some nuts for the ride. Chris won a bear at the claw machine and left it for some little kid to find. The major event of the bus ride didn't come until 4:30 am. The bus driver got off an exit to find the bathroom and must have taken a wrong turn because we had to turn around. I'm not sure where we were, but there were a lot of tunnels, and you sort of felt like you were in a parking garage. Anyway, the bus driver hit a pole and scraped a dumpster as he was turning around. It was very loud and most of the bus woke up wondering what the heck was going on. We kept on driving fine and ate at a Mcdonalds in Stamford for breakfast. We were in the middle of watching Anchorman when the bus driver stopped, pulled over, and got out to check on the back of the bus. We kept driving a little after that, but then it was announced that we would have to get out and switch to another bus even though we were only like 45-30 minutes away from Uconn. The transition moved pretty quickly though, and we were on campus by noon. We unloaded the bus then split off into vans to take us and our belongings to the dorms. Chris drove the van with Ryan and I up to Towers. I found out Ryan lives in my building on the 4th floor. Who knew? The trip is over, and the experience was far better and more worth while than I ever dreamed it would be. I have so many new friends, and I truely did help some people out toward moving into new homes. Now all that's left is the refleciton dinner. I'm excited to read the warm and fuzzies everyone wrote for one another. I love everyone I met!

Biloxi Mississippi 2008

2008-01-26T15:53:51Z

1-15-08

Today Chris, Andrew, and I were put on a special job but this time with Jim. We were also joined by Marissa from the blue team. We were in charge of digging a hole and filling it with cement for a sign in front of the office. In the truck on the way over Jim was telling me about himself. We talked about his wife's brain tumor, and he mentioned how he knew the surgery would go well when the surgeon joined his family and friends in prayer. I thought that was pretty powerful. He also told me how he could pretty much drive around the entire country without paying once for housing with all the freinds he's made. That's pretty amazing. As for the job itself, the work was fun, but there was a lot of downtime, and I even called Matt once. Jim had us start off digging two holes in the wrong spot, but once they were situated we finsihed digging two six feet holes with a one foot hole in between. Next we screwed together a wooden cement frame to put in the hole, and I learned how to wire together some metal. The boys had to bend and split the metal, and they had a hard time with it so it must have been difficult. After all that was done, we mixed the cement and filled in the holes. I did a bit of everything, but my main job in the process was carrying the cement bags over to the wheelbarrels. They were mad heavy too. Tonight I played ultimate frisbee. It started off CO members versus non, and we got crushed. Afterward a lot of Uconn kids left, and we played with the people from the other school. The boys liked my Mets shirt. Afterward I played knockout with the kids from the other school. Marissa and I ran again today. I talked to my parents and Dave on the phone. I also got to play setback with some people and did some laundry. Its strange to think that we only have three work days left.

1-16-08

Today was our first rainy day on the job. Fortunately, my group worked inside. We're in the process of clearing out a house barely touched since the hurricane. We knocked down walls, carried large windows, ripped nails out of wood, swept, and pried off flooring. It was fun work. I mostly cleaned up all the fallen sheet rock, swept, took out nails, and helped Chris tear down the ceiling. Marissa and I were awesome at tearing down nails when we worked together. The only problem I had with the job was the masks they had us wear to keep out the dust and debris from our lungs. They were uncomfortable and hard to breath in. We'll be back at the same house tommorrow. Dinner was tacos and nacho chips. It was very yummy, and I even grabbed a piece of apple pie before I got into line so they didn't run out. After dinner I had a chat with Maggie, and she creamed me in checkers. I taught her the rules of chess. Apparently she's in honors and lives in Charter Oaks. She's a business/political science/spanish major which I think is pretty intense. She also loves theater. Next was my group's reflection where we got into a pretty intense discussion over racism and whether or not low income housing developments should be split up. Afterwards I did laundry and watched a bit of 300. Then Andrew, Chris, Cecily, and I played setback again. Chris and I lost but won the next game after Meg and Hannah joined. Now I'm waiting for Dave to call and my laundry to finish so I can go to bed. I'm pretty tired, and I think I'll read some Golden Compass as I wait. There's only two work days left.

Biloxi Mississippi 2008

2008-01-24T00:55:58Z

1-13-08

So this morning I woke up to a 6:30 alarm instead of 7. It was the first day that I set my own alarm for church, and I forgot my phone is still set for home time. Still, I didn't mind being up because I had ample time to do things like eat a bagel and cheerios for breakfast. One boy at breakfast who is always playing guitar (Fred) let me mess around on his and tried to teach me bar chords to play 7 Nation Army. It was to no avail. After breakfast I was stupid enough to reformat my memory card and erase all my pictures trying to make room for New Orleans. I'm pretty sad and upset about it, but I figure I did make lots of room and there's plenty of time to take more pictures. The priest at church suprisingly had an Irish rather than southern accent. Church was very similar to back home aside from the dude singing being hard to match and the warm welcoming recieved during and after mass. After church we got a tour of Biloxi. I didn't get much out it aside from seeing the memorial, but it wasn't a bad time. After the tour we went to some restaurants for lunch. I naturally had to try the Sonic which is a restaurant chain Dave had told me about which is mostly in the South. The waitresses are on rollar skates, and I got an excellent bacon cheeseburger and strawberry smoothie. After lunch it was off to New Orleans for the evening. We got to see the Ninth Ward. It was pretty sad. We saw the areas were the levies had failed and the memorial nearby. They set up pink tents to represent the houses lost. After that stop we got dropped off in the city. We browsed the markets first. I was with Chris, Marisa, Andrew, and Matt. Andrew and I enjoyed the hat selection. We saw lots of cool jazz bars, even a dude with an accordian. We even saw a stripper in one shop with a skimpy outfit. Some of the shops were particularly interesting. One where we stopped to go to the bathroom turned out to be a gay bar. There was a dance floor, flourescent lights, a video of a man dancing in his underwear, and no door on the men's bathroom. It was pretty scetchy. I found Dave a postcard and some playing cards at one of the shops. For dinner we went to Bubba-Gump's Shrimp which was based around the movie Forest Gump. It was pretty neat, and I had fish n' chips and one of Andy's $20 stack of ribs. The waiter was missing teeth and drunk. He fit right in. After dinner we walked by the water then got some coffee at a famous cafe. It was pretty cool to be able to say I was on Bourbon Street, and it was an awesome day in the city. I even got to talk to Dave on the way home. Now I'm ready for the week of work ahead.

1-14-08

Today was probably my favorite work day so far! I got put at a house with a special team. It was Andy, Tom, Chris, Katie, Phil, and I. The lady whose house we were working on told us she was only given FEMA money if her house was built at the right height, and so the first floor was basically a story up. She showed us a tree limb where she said the water had reached, and I agreed with the FEMA restriction. The house was also really cool. It was almost like a tree house. Our job was to insulate the floor. We got to climb on the scaffolding and swing on the supports. Andrew was a real monkey. Chris taught me house to use a saw. We put in insulation cut at the right measurements with a staple gun. Then we covered that with netting so animals couldn't get in and finished that off with wood strips and a nail gun. The job basically took all day, but we finished right as Matt was pulling in to pick us up. We also moved a car over so nobody would rob the house at night. This dude who came by let me play with his puppy. I ran a couple miles with Marisa, and my group got into a pretty heated argument over whether they would bring a map or a photo album in the event of a hurricane. I'm pretty sure I'd bring the photo album but maybe I'd change my mind in the actual situation. We had fried chicken for dinner, and I was a little amused by the fact that they got it from Walmart.

Biloxi Mississippi 2008

2008-01-23T01:52:29Z

1-11-08

Today we passed out monthly newsletters to the Biloxi community telling them about loans and other resources available. To distribute them we were dropped off at different streets by group. We joked that one of the few laws in Mississippi is that you can't touch people's mailboxes. We met some neat people as we walked around. Two in particular stand out in my mind. The first was a fellow who told us the story of how he took refuge in the upstairs room of his church with his family and friends while everything around him was flooding. He lost everything just as he had during Hurricane Camele. Now his church is being rebuilt for the second time, and he will never have things like his children's graduation pictures back. He had lots of hope and told us how he had simply power washed his house and tried to carry on. At the same time, he also talked of how there was nobody left on his street and how other areas of town had even less left. The other man we met had surrounded his restored house with fake flowers and garden ornaments. It was like a beacon of hope looking at the yard. The man talked about how much of a blessing people like us who volunteer are. The other thing that really struck me as we walked around were the empty foundations, particularly the few covered with dishes and other china. They had an eerie feeling to them like the porcelain face they show in Titanic but real. Its amazing how much is still left destroyed after this long. You really wonder about the people. Some of the houses had signs saying "Do not destroy." Those were really sad to see as well because in a way you felt like people were just hanging on. Alyssa pointed out the markings on most of the abandoned houses. They were in the shape of an X with the top section telling the date the house was searched, the left telling whom it was searched by, the bottom telling how many animals were found dead, and the right tell the human death count. On a much happier note, we also found some really adorable puppies with their mama. In the morning before we left I also tried grits for the first time. They tasted a lot like oatmeal to me. For lunch I had two vegetable wraps. After lunch we headed back to the cite we worked on yesterday in the back of Jim's pickup. I got to measure and cut all the insulation for the house. I had fun and got to use a knife. People were rattling off measurements, and I had to meausure and cut them their pieces quickly and correctly. It was pretty intense at times. After we finished I headed over with the rest of the group to the other work cite. There I got to use a sawzaw to cut through some wood on a window frame. That was pretty cool. I also scooped up some of the trash Andy was sweeping up and brought it over to the dumpster. Meatloaf was for dinner and as I am opposed, I just ate mashed potatoes and greenbeans. They were very yummy. After dinner we had another reflection. People were getting really opinionated. We also read this awesome account of a man's experience with the hurricane. I say awesome not for the content but the strength of will that the man displayed. Even after he had seen his family floating in front of him he was still carrying on with his life. That's real strength. I think I may have really busted my knee. It kills. A stack of sheet rock fell on it. Stories of people like that man make me not want to even consider the pain though.

1-12-08

This morning was a continental breakfast. I had cheerios. After that I went with my team to deliver more fliers. Sarah, Andy, Jason, and I set off down one street while the others branched off. We happened to get assigned the appartment complexes and ran out of fliers quickly. We sat around and talked a bit. Once we finally finished off the fliers the bus picked us up by the shore. The houses there were really nice and the view was beautiful. Its amazing the scale of difference wealth can make. The bus brought us back and we cleaned up at the Salvation Army Village. I swept under all the tables, and it felt like it took forever with me having to move out the chairs. I also put bags in the bathroom trash and took some other trash to the dumpster. They boys cleaned their bathroom. After that we played a blue team round of Apples to Apples. Lunch was next, and I naturally ate two veggie wraps. After that I headed to my room to finish off all my letters. In the afternoon we went to an assisted living home for the elderly. It was another great experience. I talked with a few old ladies about their hurricane experiences and themselves in general then Chris and I switched tables. We ended up being taught how to play dominoes by this awesome lady named Ola Mae. It impressed me how awesome she was at the game especially with all the adding. Its easy to forget that older people would be great at things like that. I got creamed at the game of dominoes and so did Ryan, but Chris and Ola were neck and neck the whole game. Chris was a sweetheart as usual and let her win in the end by adding 10 extra points to her score when she didn't notice. After we left it was time for pizza and wings. On the ride back this kid named Kevin who lived in a nearby air force base in Biloxi was telling us about how different the shoreline was as we drove past. Nothing was left as he remembered it. I bet being in Biloxi was way more intense for him than I. After dinner I worked a bit more on the letters and then it was time for some gladiator games. I started of the second rotation with a sprint but there t he rotation before me had left our team behind even before I started. When I finished, Chris and Andy wheel-barreled, two other teammates 3 legged-raced, and Huma ran the rest of the way backwards. After that the team had to assemble a puzzle. Next was passing a ball over-under to the whole team 12 times. Then we had to solve a math problem and alternate places on the bleachers. I didn't like the alternating places because Andrew picked me up. Lastly we solved a clue that led to the scoreboard where the missing blue bandana was hidden. Our team ended up in 3rd out of 4 teams, but I was satisfied with how we did. Our team might not be the most athletic but we had spirit. Most losers say that you might argue, but in this case it was very true. After the games Marisa and I hit the track for some running. We did like 2 miles and then some situps. It felt good even with my knee bothering me and pretty black and blue. After the run I took a shower, finished off the letters, and wrote in this journal. I also got to talk to Dave a bit on the phone which was awesome. Now I think its time for bed. I'm excited for the tour tommorrow and New Orleans. Its cool that we get a little time to ourselves even on a meaningful trip such as this one.

Biloxi Mississippi 2008

2008-01-21T18:04:53Z

I warn you that these journal entries are in a stream of consciousness format. I simply wrote my thoughts, and recorded details about what went on during the day so some are quite long. I think I'll post them in twos.

1-9-08

Dad and I set out early Tuesday morning so we could move all my stuff into the dorm by 8am. We made it with time to spare, and surprisingly I didn't even forget anything aside from my roomate's christmas present. I also had to leave the plant from Dave's mom behind. Hopefully it survives. We met the bus at the Student Union, and Dad and I got our pictures taken for the Chronicle in Willimantic right off the bat. After that the gang took a group picture and set off with the Biloxi or Bust lunchboxes we recieved from the president of Uconn. They had fruit and chips and a water bottle. It was a pretty awesome gesture on the president's part. Props to him. I was a little nervous about my seat on the bus I won't lie. When I went to put my stuff down nobody was on yet though most of the seats had been claimed with bags. I had no idea where anyone was sitting never mind the people I knew. So I decided to go for an empty seat and this just so happened to be at the back, not the three seater but the other side. The bus ride actually turned out to be quite awesome. Though the seat choice got to be quite smelly from the bathroom by the end of the ride, the company was quite pleasant. A random boy ended up sitting next to me which made me quite nervous at first. After about two minutes however this wore off and we were engaged in more conversation than those around us who knew each other. His name was Tom, and he's a junior transfer student from East or West Haven. He had an awesome tan hat as well. He's a political science major so we talked a little bit of politics. We played some fun games and wrote a pretty awesome back and forth rhyming story about a car crash and a swallow. We also played hangman and rummy. I taught him Egyptian-Ratscrew which he loved. We tried to play the checker set he bought at the dollar store but the thing was missing pieces. You get what you pay for I guess. We both got pretty good at hangman, and he even guessed George Washington without any letters once we started played with categories. It was cool to meet a new friend, and it turns out he's on my team which I found out was the awesomest color, royal blue. Chris, Andy, and some other cool people are on my team as well. We watched some decent movies including I Am Legend, Knocked Up, and Big Fish during the bus ride. I also got to see the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial for the first time in DC. We went through Jersey, Delaware, DC/Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia followed by Alabama and Mississippi to the West. We went through 3 bus drivers which we met up with at hotels on the way. We also made some food stops for lunch, and I had fried chicken at Roy Rogers. Dinner was a burger at Wendy's, and breakfast the next morning was at Waffle House. The Roy Rogers was in Jersey I do believe. Wendy's was in Virginia. I got Chris a superball, and we got a bunch of people to toss it around with us. We also went for a walk with a group of people and got honked at by some Virginians. The Waffle House was in Alabama. I couldn't help feeling giddy about being in Alabama after My Cousin Vinny. The Waffle House was also next to a Mcdonalds and a baptist church which amused me greatly. The food was actually really good. I had never been to a Waffle House before that, and I had a chocolate chip waffle with chocolate milk and a side of bacon. We also found a puppy who had no collar that was clean and well trained. I hope he wasn't abandoned. We were served lunch once we got to Biloxi. I had a yummy wrap with hot peppers, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. We ate out on the bleachers because it was already crowded, and afterwards we played a bit of frisbee. Next we had a group meeting and were introduced to the people at the head of our Salvation Army site. They went over the rules and told us about our rooms and stuff. The rooms are pretty nice. Mine is called Cottonwood. There are 4 bunk beds to a room and on the two sides of the common room are the boys and girls sections. In my room with me I have Kristen and 6 other girls whose names escape me because its late and only the 1st night. I'll have them all in a few days I'm sure. (Maggie, Marissa, Allison, Jill, Leslie, Krista, Lindsey...got them now!) They're all asleep now I'm pretty sure. I'm writing this entry by flashlight up in my bunk. I got decent sleep last night despite the fact I was on a smelly bus. I even slept through the bus driver switch in Atlanta whcih I'm a little disappointed about. Marissa and I ran 3 miles on the track. I haven't run in quite some time so it felt good. Afterwards I shot around at the basketball hoop. I even stopped Chris one time during a 1-on-1 drive to the hoop. After that I took a shower. The bathroom is really nice but showering is a little awkward because there's no place to put your stuff, and you can't wear a towel over to the room. After the shower we had another quick group meeting, and some people headed to Walmart and other to the beach after our stuff was unloaded from the bus. I on the other hand played ping pong, did a puzzle, and played air hockey with Chris. It was fun. We started a chess game but were interupted for distributions of bandanas and t-shirts. After that was dinner. I had a cheeseburger, baked beans, and potato salad. I guess I don't have much to worry about in the food department. It seems like it will all be yummy. After dinner we had this silly introductory activity where you had to come up with a song that describes you and sing it with or to the group. It was pretty funny, and I chose "I believe I Can Fly" as my song. After that we broke into our small groups and did an activity with a worrybag. I wrote how I hoped I'd know enough about my assigned task not to screw up anyone's home. After the activity we played capture the flag. My team didn't have as many faster guys, and the game was hard with like 50 people and a small field, but I still had fun. After that Chris finished beating me in chess and then went on to beat me in another game. I'm determined to beat him over the course of the week. We seem about evernly matched. I made some silly moves though. After that Alyssa, Andy, and some others joined us for a game of Apples to Apples. Andy's cards were hilarious. I actually did pretty well at the game because I picked funny answers as well. We played until about 12 then I talked to Dave for a bit and started writing in this journal. Even though we're in the Central time zone its still getting pretty late, and I have to be up bright and early tommorrow for breakfast. I'm genuinely really excited for the work we'll be doing. I'll write lots more about it. My last comment of the night will address the Southern accents which I love. Everyone around here has one. Its awesome.

1-10-08

Today was another awesome day. I had cheerios, bacon, and a hashbrown from breakfast, and then it was out to the bleechers for a pep talk from the coordinator of our building projects. He had us sign so our pictures can be taken, and so we can't get sued and people can't sue us. He also reminded us to listen to people's stories about the hurricane, to do our best work, and to be safe. Apparently there were some drive-by shootings at a store called JR's close by. It was an ongoing joke throughout the trip that people would be sent there. Infection, Staph in particular, is also common in the area. The man giving the talk, as Meg pointed out, had a last name very similar to Spiderman. We hopped on the bus after that and then split off into groups and respective work sites. My group worked with Jim and Derek who were both really cool. Jim had a neat cowboy hat, and I loved his accent. Our first mission was to tear down the wall supports which extended out to the middle of the house. I found this really fun and was surprisingly good at it. I'd say I even got a lot accomplished. We went back to the Salvation Army Village by bus for lunch. I had another wrap. Back at the site we unloaded and carried sheet rock. After that I pretty much helped Derek out for the rest of the the day. Chris got a lot done on the closet in the middle of the house. Sarah and I nailed some extra supports on the ceiling. The wood was tough to get through, especially the older stuff, but Derek was patient with us. One part of the day that struck me was when I overheard Jim talking about the lady who owned the house's old door. It had broken windows yet we weren't supposed to get rid of it. Apparently it had been in her family for years, and she even brought it with her when she moved into the house. This was a powerful story to me because it showed how it wasn't just the things lost but the memories and sentiments behind them as well. Jim and Sarah were also talking on the way to pick up the new door about how there were two kinds of angels: the kind like us who come and help and the kind that inspire that help like the lady we were building for. We all got to ride in Jim's truck on the way back. It was cool because we sat in the back of the pickup and could see the neighborhood really well. Some houses were still in horrible shape, and there was a lot of vacant lots where houses used to be. On a more positive note, I'm an expert at pulling nails our of wood now that's for sure. The other groups did some cool things too. Some did mold removal, others flooring, and another group put up some walls, not bad for a first day if I do say so myself. Dinner was really good tonight, chicken alfredo pasta of sorts with Italian bread and salad. I was quite pleased. I played a bit more chess and ping pong with Chris. I also finished quite a bit of the Golden Compass and played some Apples to Apples again. We also had our small group reflections. People gave me shout outs for all my nailing and Jason called me Derek's apprentice. It was pretty cool. Andy drew a sweet picture of Mulan with a power tool. I love that kid. Plus he knew the song lyrics to Lets Get Down to Business when we were on site. I'm in bed at a better time tonight, and the light in the room was left on. I think that's all for now. Tommorrow perhaps I'll write letters.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T18:23:47Z

So I got to spend New Years with Dave, and it was awesome. I got to know his parents a bit more too. Dave, his dad, and I went for a pretty sweet walk in the dark while it was snowing, and I even beat them both in a game of scrabble. Dave's mom and I hung out for a couple hours while Dave was at work and playing a wedding. We went to this neat little tea shop where they sell imported tea from all over the world. Even though it was closed because it was New Years Eve, I still got to see the awesome view outside with the lake and rock ledge. I also found a honeycomb that Dave's mom of course decided to keep. She bought me caramel apple cidar and almonds, and we stopped at TJMax. We found some tea cups for her friends, and she found a ring with a pretty stone for herself. It was lots of fun. Our last stop was the grocery store to buy food for Dave while her and Dave's dad will be away. She insisted I should make a salad, and we got some supplies. I also found out that she petted a lion cub once in a store window over in Europe somewhere (I think she said Spain or maybe it was France?). We discussed some books, and she was telling me about this one book that tells the story of Merlin's early life. I plan on reading it. When we got back to the house, I made the salad, and she baked cookies. We also drank this tea from Nepal that she had found out of this really pretty blue Chinese teaset her friend had given her. Pretty cool, eh?

As far as Dave and I are concerned, we got smashed. In our case this term involves not alcohol, but scrabble, pictionary, chess, mario, games with suicidal hopping kitties and prozac balls that dave can beat in a one sitting even though they're ridiculously hard, star fox, southpark, the special features on the Lord of the Rings, a little Star Wars, random walks down the street, going out to dinner, guitarhero, cards, Beethoven, Mahler, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky, and hang outs at dans....and that's just a sum up really. Most of this is decided in a rock-paper-scissors type fashion. Do you love it?

I'm working on my resume as we speak.

Love to those I love and to those of you with whom I haven't yet spoken: Happy New Year!

iaproveofhippos @ 2007-12-19T13:10:00

2007-12-19T18:11:11Z

Do you ever feel really stressed during the times when you're supposed to feel really relaxed?

End of the semester

2007-12-18T16:06:18Z

Sunday was pretty awesome, and since I haven't rambled about my day in a while, I feel it wins that honor.

The roads were quite icky so my mom didn't think that we should try to make it to church, and we figured even if we did they might not even be having a mass anyway. This meant I got to sleep in! This excited me because I hadn't gotten this oppurtunity in quite some time. I didn't have classes this week, but there still wasn't a day when I didn't set my alarm to get up and study or make it to an early exam. Once I did get up I read a bit of The Golden Compass and then made the family lunch. We had left over pork chops with some green beans, rice, and applesauce. It was delightful. I was pleased to have a meal at home. A bit later I got a call from Katie telling me that Josh and Steve L. had challanged us to a game of Italian risk. I naturally got quite giddy as I do whenever I am offered the challange of taking over the world. So Steve came and picked me up, which I was glad about since I didn't want to drive in the snow quite yet. Then the games began. I started off mainly concentrated in N. America and Asia. I had to fight Katie a little more than I would have liked to since we were pretty much unpronounced allies, but she was blocking my bonuses, and I couldn't have that. So it turned out that Steve and Katie were reduced to a few troops and naturally ended up battling each other to the death. Since we were all hungry at this point, Josh and I declared world peace, and we all headed our seperate ways for spaghetti dinners at home. Mine was excellent. Dad made basil sause. Afterward the family played cards, which I also love. We went through two games, and in perfect timing, I got a call from Josh saying that they were on their way back to Kaite's. Once we got there we watched this video called the "Matchstick Girl." I still can't believe they put that on the Little Mermaid dvd. Maybe they just wanted to kill all the little kids' joy. Watch it, and you'll understand. Anyways, after that we watched a bunch of South Park from Steve's laptop until late, and then it was time to go home to bed.

I think I'll go into yesterday while I'm at it. I went to the big kid doctor! Aren't you proud?! I got a tetnus shot for the trip, and I didn't even have to get blood taken. It was a good visit aside from the itchy lady at the front desk who was very rude about the forms I was turning in. Back at home, Dan and I made the left over spaghetti sause. We also watched Superbad, which was quite funny mind you. After watching the special features I could have done with a few less drawings of penises but whatcha gunna do. Next, I did some stuff around the house, and then got a call from Kiera asking if I wanted to go to Borders at 4:30. I naturally accepted since Kiera and Borders all at once is like a double awesome. Following that adventure we stopped over at her house, and I got to see her mama. Then we headed out to do some church things and afterwards it was off applewoods. We were starving. During the drive over I called up Katie, and Josh and Lisa came along as well. Lisa got some chocolate chip pancakes in before her wisdom teeth today. Kiera and I got burgers, and Katie got cheesecake with blueberies. On the way home we stopped at Kiera's and picked up her violin so I can begin my studies. When I got home, Don had returned home from his final and requested my assistance. I naturally accepted, and so he came and picked me up. He was working on a pretty awesome paper on Santa, and I think it will be even better once he's done editing it. I also quizzed him on a few literary terms. I hung out there til around 2:30 or so and then it was home to bed.

Goodnight moon.

iaproveofhippos @ 2007-12-08T22:32:00

2007-12-09T03:33:30Z

Don and I are starting a school that's centered more on open learning and less on assessment. Who's in?

Broadway

2007-12-05T02:04:08Z

Anyone else ever get excited when they realize that they've expanded their vocabulary by listening to Broadway shows all the time?

Like today for instance, I was in Nutrition, and my professor used the word "tandem." I was like hey! I know what that means cause Glinda uses it in Defying Gravity.

: )

iaproveofhippos @ 2007-12-03T20:32:00

2007-12-04T01:47:47Z

It snowed today which would have been delightful...if it wasn't icy and slushy. My 9:00 class got canceled and I was grateful for the extra time I got to study for my Geology lab final. I missed my favorite class though, and we're skipping sonnets altogether now. I don't mind so much I guess since that's one less topic to study for on the final. *shrugs*

I'm officially sick now. It's only bad off and on, but the runny nose sticks around. I've run out of tissues and have now gone through my role of paper towels as well. I opened a second role tonight.

I'm also getting to that point, because I'm a bit nerdy, that I don't really want my classes to end. Most of the time I find them really interesting, and I like all my professors. I mean don't get me wrong I'm extremely ready for break to come, and I'm getting really excited for my trip. Still, there's that disappointment in the back of mind.

AND GET THIS: Snuffalufagus isn't real. He's been Big Bird's imaginary friend all along!!!! :' (

Love to those I love.