Sometimes, Melissa runs her legs. Sometimes, she runs her mouth.
This song has been stuck in my head for the past three days. Also, I cant’ sleep. So I thought I would share.
I am on the cusp of big life changes. Or taking more control over a bad situation and making it good.
There’s so many unknowns in my life right now. gah
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
Sam: Why don’t have breast like Crystal’s
Melissa: When you have pecs like Pablo, then you can ask me that question
Conversation with my boyfriend at the time in 1990 or 1991
I met Pablo at a summer camp for gifted and talented kids in 1990. He had a tendency to go topless, which showed off his dedication to physical fitness. He had a girlfriend to whom he was faithful and that unavailability made him the most desired young man at camp. He was kind and never had a bad word to say about anybody.
Ten years later, it was around the time that people were wanting to have a 10 year reunion for our gifted and talented summer camp. I was in New York as a law clerk at Legal Aid and he was working for Sun. He traveled a lot but his office was in one of the World Trade Center buildings. I was in Brooklyn. We met for lunch in Brooklyn and ended up somewhere on Montague street. We chatted and caught up on old times. He had two kids. He had also lived in the DC area. He had good memories of our summer camp those many years ago. We talked about how amazing New York City was. We talked about plans for the future. Then almost as quickly as it began, lunch was over and we went back to our lives.
Life moved on. I went back to DC to finish my third year of law school. He went on raising his family. That fateful day I had already graduated law school and had been away from DC for about a month. I remembered my friend Becky mentioning that one of the towers had been hit by a plane. It was stunning. I remembered Legal Aid headquarters being near the towers. I was watching the tv when the plane hit the other tower. I don’t remember exactly when I remembered that Pablo worked in one of the buildings. I spent the rest of day in shock- trying to find Pablo. I had went out to eat dinner and spent the evening driving around. I came home to find a message on my voicemail from Pablo. He had changed jobs and was working on Long Island.
I remember this united sense of shock and grief. People wanted to know why. Then they wanted those who did it to pay. Then they wanted to make sure something like this would never happen again.
Along the way, I think a lot of people got lost and blinded by their fear. When I thought about what to write on this page regarding today, I was reminded of the Yoda quote that I put above. I wonder if the fear of a violent and sudden death on American soil has been exploited. There is no one hundred percent safe place. Life is full of risks and there are no guarantees for everything. Ultimately, we (or the US government) did find the “people who did this” but there is a question of cost.
Today, I am reminded today to cherish my friends. I am reminded that life isn’t fair nor does it always make sense. I am reminded that people are far more good and far more heroic than I can ever imagine. I am also reminded that people are far more evil than I ever thought. Also, life is short. I have no idea how much time I have here and I should make each moment count.
As an Arkansan, I remember hearing about this case on the news when it happened. It was a Satanic killing and there was torture and it was all kinds of spooky. Later after I moved to DC in early 1996, I saw Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hears at the Key Theater in Washington DC. I had just moved to DC and read that the filmmakers were going to be there. It was about Arkansas and I was very interested in how Arkansas was going to be portrayed.
As you know by now, Arkansas does not come out looking very good in this movie. The murders of the three young boys and the subsequent conviction of three teenagers might be one of the biggest injustices in America today. The West Memphis 3 were convicted on innuendo, speculation, and a fear of the devil.
Later today, the West Memphis three will have a special hearing in Jonesboro. Each member took all of his belongings from the prison when he left. Now rumors are speculating that they will be freed.
So they might get to go home.
Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence? Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day.
(Author: Liz Danzico)
Travel by Chris Guillebeau
If we live truly, we shall see truly. – Ralph Waldo EmersonNot everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?
(Author: Chris Guillebeau)
(I got in a hurry and didn’t fully answer the question so I am re-answering. It’s like a director’s cut in a movie — more goodies)
There’s so many places that I want to go that I can’t even list them all. I would love to go on one of those around the world trips. If I had to pick one place, I would go back to Africa.
I spent 3 to 4 weeks (I don’t remember how long now) in Kenya during the summer between my junior and senior year of college. I helped build a school. This was before the internet. It was during the summer that O.J. Simpson may or may not have killed his wife and drove a white bronco. When you’re out of the country and something happens like that, it is very surreal. It was also a summer of the World Cup. I was in the mountains. Every night, the locals, my college companions, and I would watch it on this very dinky color TV in the cafeteria. I spackled. I dug dirt with a shovel. We had tea twice a day.
There are many things I learned on that trip and I am so surprised at the short length I was there because so many of my memories of that time seem so vivid. I remember the brightness of the full moon. I remember the thorn trees and ducking to avoid them on safari. I remember the hospital and the clothes line where they hung the clothes and linens. I remember the most beautiful waterfall I have seen in my life.
I would like to go back and do work with the African Prisons Project.. The organization seems to fit my career interests. I’d like to stay a while and do some good. (and see some monkeys)
#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Find out more at http://ralphwaldoemerson.me
Travel by Chris Guillebeau
If we live truly, we shall see truly. – Ralph Waldo EmersonNot everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?
(Author: Chris Guillebeau)
There’s so many places that I want to go that I can’t even list them all. I would love to go on one of those around the world trips. If I had to pick one place, I would go back to Africa.
#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Find out more at http://ralphwaldoemerson.me
Today is Mother’s day and many people are putting pictures of their mothers on their profile page but I am not doing so. She doesn’t like having her picture taken. So I figured on the day to celebrate her that I would respect her wishes in this regard. I have learned many things from my mother: some of these things she taught me purposefully and other things I picked up by following her example or watching how the world treats her.
I learned all sorts of useful things like how to read and how to tie my shoes. She is kind to everyone whether they were black or white or green. She is even kind to those who don’t necessarily deserve it. She has more patience than I will ever have. She is not afraid to embrace the silly. This year she gave me the peace, love, and tacky Snuggie for Christmas. She manages to give stuffed animals for pretty much every other holiday. She likes to laugh, sometimes at my expense. She is an amazing listener.
She was a stay at home Mom and sometimes I wonder if she was happy with her decision. Sometimes I wonder who she was before she became a mom. She got married in her early twenties and by the time she was my age, my brother and I were already in school. I know that she has said that was young and naive when ti came to kids but I’ve never asked for specifics regarding the sheer fear of having two kids with a husband who traveled for business.
She has always been my biggest fan. She was a band parent. She was at pretty much every dance recital, every piano recital, swim meet, girl scout meeting and whatever else I managed to dream up to do in my spare time.
I am grateful that she is still here. Some of my friends don’t have that luxury.
Apparently there is a lot of cool things in my near future so this Friday for the Friday Five, I am going to list them.
I love running. It is on my bucket list to finish a marathon. I love traveling. It is on my bucket list to go back to Africa and to travel to a whole bunch of places. So I imagine my sense of anticipatory glee when I saw this book about a woman who runs seven marathons on all seven continents. IT has travel and running. Oh I will definitely LOVE THIS BOOK!
Except I didn’t love this book.
While the author believes that long distance can helpful spiritually and psychology as well as physically, she also uses phrases like “my inner divine,” “My inner warrior,” and “my inner bitch.” Something about this fragmentation of her soul in this language annoys me. I know that some of her language and description of her spiritual journey is from feminist spirituality writings. I am also very certain that she has read “Women Who Run With Wolves”
Something about her voice just bugs me. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it did lessen my overall enjoyment of this book.
Second Wind: One Woman’s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents
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