So far, we're having a really nice, happy holiday season, and I hope you guys are too! :D I hardly ever log on here, and I know my friends who have journals here rarely do so as well. It's nice to hear what old friends are up to from time to time through this medium, which I still prefer to other forms of social networking even though I use it more than LJ for the simple fact that everyone else has also seemed to switch over to things like Facebook, Twitter, etc. for the most part. Anyway, this time of year makes me miss a lot of people, including my old friends I was once closer to. I still consider anyone who comes on here a great friend, even if we don't talk a lot or see each other much these days. I wish everyone the best of the season, and a wonderful New Year in 2013!

Much Love!

Amy

I think that everyone should at some point read Carl Sagan's book, Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.

The reason I feel as though everyone would benefit from at least a read, if not two or three, of this spectacular book, is that I feel it's a manifesto for the importance of a scientifically literate, free-thinking, and critically-thinking society in terms of maintaining freedom, democracy, and preserving human rights. It also breaks down how scientific inquiry and intellectual advancement has worked over human history to improve the way we live, but gives a definite caveat that should we fall prey to our past tendencies again, history can very well repeat itself, bringing forth a new "dark age" once more. It's essentially a combination of the history of science, the history of human civilization, a focus on the advent of enlightenment, some amazing science facts, and a good bit of philosophy all rolled into one. I think that this book is a masterpiece, mostly for the reason that it's a successful culmination of many of the ideas and concepts he'd tried to convey in many of his previous books.

Sagan's style of writing is amazingly digestible while being dare I say romantic, even for people who are ambivalent about science or science literature. He had the unique capacity to write about science in an engaging, and even heartfelt way, for the general public, without dumbing things down or pandering to his audience. I highly recommend that most people read any of his books, but if I had to choose just one, I'd say this one would be the most important.

I write this just two days before Sagan's birthday, which is this coming Tuesday. He would have been 76 years old. He died of pneumonia after a long and difficult battle with a rare form of leukemia called myelodysplasia in 1996. He was 62 years old. I sometimes just have to marvel that someone so completely amazing was one of OURS, a human being, on the planet Earth, in the Milky Way galaxy...*sigh*

*projectile vomits* Now that I have that out of the way, I'll just offer my piece about faddish teen-lit turned films in general.

I'm 27 years old, therefore about 13 years too old to be getting excited about it. I would've thought this was dumb when I was 14 as well. From what I know, everything centers on a very flat protagonist that any teeny bopper could fill with her own personality, since the character herself has none. The objects of her affection, the wussy sparkling vampire boys, are described in great detail and made to sound like Adonis incarnate. It's the perfect fantasy for dumb, teenage girls.

I'm really sick of this nonsense about how reading something is better than reading nothing, and if it gets kids to read, then what's the harm? If it gets kids to read nothing but crap that does nothing to stimulate them, then I'm not going to like it. That being said, I'm not the type to say we should ban or burn any books, no matter how stupid or wrong they may be. If one book could be banned, they all could be, so I still go with the route of saying people have a right to consume all the garbage they want.

The thing I'm annoyed by is the encouragement of rampant mediocrity in all aspects of our popular culture. What happened to GOOD books? Film adaptations of books always leave something to be desired simply because you can't cram hundreds of pages worth of story into 2 hours. That being said, the young adult fiction of today is so dumbed down for the lowest common denominator. It's kind of sad.

Also, vampires shouldn't be wusses and sparkle. As a horror fan, I think that's blasphemous! Vampires should be evil, soulless and ruthless, and die in the sunlight, damnit!

It's been, once again, a long time since I posted an update. I'm not sure if anyone but my sister reads this anymore, but I like to update every so often since it's the closest thing to a "diary" that I keep these days.

Two sad things...my uncle Brad passed away this past Sunday. It happened so fast. He was admitted on Easter Sunday because he couldn't breathe. Then they found out he had pneumonia, then they found out he had lung cancer, then they found that the tumor was pushing on his heart, then the cancer kept growing at an alarming rate. At first they thought if he were to be able to kick the infection he could have 1 or 2 months to live with some chemotherapy, so he could go home for a bit and enjoy some of the summer with my aunt, cousins, and his grandkids, and of course the extended family. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and one week after he was taken to the hospital, he passed away at around 3 pm. He was a great man, one of those people who would do anything for anyone. He was funny, and the life of the party. He was always manning the grill in the summer time, doing crazy backflips in their swimming pool, setting off an arsenal of fireworks on the 4th of July that put the town's display to shame. A really genuine and beautiful person, and he's very much missed.

The visitation for his funeral was Wednesday afternoon. When we got back to my parents' house Wednesday evening, our dog Slinky, who we've had since the summer before my freshman year of high school (I was 14, Shannon was 7 when we adopted her as a tiny puppy from the shelter), was lying in the floor having seizures, panting really hard, not able to keep her eyes open, and her heart was beating very rapidly. She was unable to move, and it seemed like she couldn't see. She wasn't very responsive to us. Mom had told me that the Friday prior she had gone through a bout of this, but had come out of it. Mom thought she may have been having a reaction to the pain medicine the vet had given her for her arthritis/hip dysplasia. I had Jay and Shannon take me home because it was getting late and we had to get up early to go to my uncle's funeral in the morning. I had a feeling it might be her last night, so I cuddled her and told her how much I love her. My mom stayed up with her until about 1:30 am, and my sister stayed up with her later, until she passed away from what we think is heart failure. She was 13 years old, which is a good age for a lab/basset hound mix to live to, but it was still such a shock because aside from the pain of her arthritis, she was thought to be mostly healthy. She did have a lot of extra weight on her, though...

She was the coolest, sweetest, most affectionate and loyal dog I ever knew. She was also very funny, and would "talk" to us by barking, responding to certain words she could understand. She knew our names, and my mom would say things like, "Amy is coming home," or "Shanny is coming home," and she would know what she was saying and eagerly await our visit. She always cocked her head to the side in a really adorable way if you asked her a question using words she didn't know...suuuuper cuuuute! She loved everyone, it seemed. Any time anyone would come over, she was so incredibly happy to see them. She was almost always wagging her tail and had a happy expression on her face. She barked like a hound dog and took pleasure out of howling to nobody in the back yard. I will miss her snuggles, and her greeting me with a doggy smile and wet sloppy kisses and wagging tail every time I go to my parents' house. I had a dream last night about her when she was a tiny puppy - reliving a memory from when we first adopted her, the first time she snuggled on my chest. I brought her into my bedroom to explore it (we'd only had her a few days at this point), and put her with my on my bed, and she got on my chest, curled up, and fell asleep. I will never forget her. What a sweetheart. Me and my sister are of course really upset by losing her, and my mom who is always greeted by her happy face every day after work is devastated.

So after the funeral, we had to come back home and Jay and Shannon carried her out to his truck so he could take her to the vet, so they could send her to be cremated. I petted her head one last time and she was chilling cold of course, which honestly freaked me out and I recoiled. I feel really bad about that, but I had to go hide in Shannon's room while they took her outside. I had been insulated from the previous times that our childhood pets passed away. When our dog Zach was put to sleep when I was 7 or 8, I hid in my room (he was a huge dog and our vet at the time came out to our house, then he put him in his van and drove away), when the two cats from my childhood passed away, I wasn't living at home, and wasn't present for when it happened. Our rabbit Snowball died I think while I was visiting my dad one weekend. Slinky was the first instance of me actually witnessing one of our pets being taken care of after passing away, and it was really hard for me to take. It broke my heart to see Mom and Shannon crying, too. My heart is still broken.

After Jay took Slinky away, he dropped the truck off at the dealership for a repair, and my mom and Shannon were on our way over to get him and then go pick up a few things, then go to my aunt's house for a wake/party in my uncle's honor. On the way to the dealership, a woman speeding in a minivan lost control and was swerving crazily towards the car in front of us, then us, then the people behind us, and nearly hit each one of us head-on. She luckily got control of it, but kept speeding off so no one could get her license plate number. It was really scary and we were of course grateful and relieved nothing happened because it would have at the very least and most benign led to a trip to the hospital and possibly being in traction, if not the "unthinkable" which would of course been really fucked up for our family. Ugh. It really freaked me out and shook me up and took me a few good hours to recover from. I'm already paranoid enough about driving, damnit. Thanks, crazy speeding bitch, for making it worse. Anyway, after picking up Jay and going to the store to grab sunscreen and a few other things, we made it in one piece to my aunt's house, where we all celebrated Brad together, telling stories, toasting him with his favorite beer, and eating copious amounts of a veritable smorgasbord of food. We left at around 7 pm or so.

So it's been a rough-ass week. I will hopefully get over to the rents' early tomorrow afternoon and see my sister for a bit before she gets back to school. I love my family, and I'm grateful to still be alive and breathing myself. I just really miss those who've passed away, and always will.

been a long time since I actually wrote in here. I checked lj around new year's ish, and haven't been back since until now. I actually do have quite a bit of life changing news of late, but I'm very burnt out from my day, and not in a mood to write at length. If you're a contact on Facebook, you know what's going on. If not, then call me!

I think this is pertaining to a new drug that the FDA was either trying to pass as safe or had already given the green light. From what little I know about it, it's not really intended for anyone, it's more intended for people who are bedridden for one reason or another to help them maintain their already existing muscle mass (as muscle tends to atrophy when not in use). I'm not sure about its capabilities to actually build new muscle. Either way, if it could work for people who are unable to exercise so they could keep their muscle mass and strength, I'm for it.

For people who are perfectly capable of getting up and moving on their own, I think it's a dangerous and stupid idea. I would personally not partake if I were able to exercise on my own. If I were ill and stuck in a bed for a long period of time, I can see myself being okay with the drug because it would allow me to keep my current level of muscle mass and strength (hopefully) until I get better. But if I don't need it, I won't use it.

For one, the pill can't stimulate aerobic exercise, so if one were to take this pill as an exercise replacement, one could still be in terrible cardiovascular shape even if they did have muscle (a lot of extreme body builders who shun cardio in favor of exclusively lifting heavy often have a hard time walking up stairs or running to get somewhere in a hurry). Nothing can replace cardio exercise. Also, for anyone who is a seasoned exerciser, the feeling of being tired, a little sore, and a little out of breath is a GOOD feeling. Most of us who are into fitness actually find these sensations to be pleasant. The post-workout "buzz" is kind of a rush, and most of us like it. Even people who aren't used to exercising or have no interest in fitness will usually admit that they feel good after a nice walk, or after dancing to a favorite song. It's because your brain gets a nice endorphin rush. A pill can't replace that feeling.

Furthermore, and this is me admitting my own pretentious nature regarding this subject, but it's kind of cool to be in a bit of an elite club or sorts, of people who are capable of doing more physical activities than others. The fitness enthusiasts in the US and other Western countries are sort of part of a counterculture of health in a society that encourages sloth, convenience, and a disregard for health in general (although it's getting slightly more trendy to be "healthy" a lot of it is faddish and has to do with obtaining a certain figure as opposed to actual *health*).

Well, I can't narrow it down to just one, so I'll start from when I was younger to present day who my favorites were over the years, and why.

3rd grade, Mrs. Chamness. She was really into hands-on learning, and she was more challenging than other teachers on that grade level. We played a lot of fun games in that class, as well as read a lot of good books. She also had no tolerance for bullying and wouldn't allow kids to be mean to each other.

4th grade, Mrs. Harvey. A former archaeologist and anthropologist, as well as an artist and amazing writer. She had traveled the world and had so many amazing stories. She was also a complete sweetheart. We did the coolest things ever in her class...we had a mock archaeological dig, an invention contest, book-making workshop, and "International festival" in our classroom. She had a loft in her classroom and silent reading time - it was fun to go lie in the loft and get comfy while reading. She let us move our desks around rather freely, as well. She was kind of an eccentric to the other teachers, but I can guarantee our class had the funnest and most amazing year. I really feel like that was the most creative and intellectually stimulating year I spent in elementary school.

5th grade, Mrs. Stockwell. She was just super nice and sweet. We had the biggest 5th grade classroom, so we had room for a "greenhouse" - I didn't like her class as much as Mrs. Harvey's, but I have a soft spot for Stockwell because I know her kids as acquaintances and she never put up with bullying, much like Chamness

Jr. and Sr. Year of high school, Dr. Grady. Anyone who had Dr. Grady can attest that she was an amazing human being. She was a former college professor, and while at North she taught Creative writing, Indiana folklore, and Jr. and Sr. English classes. She would have us move our desks to the side of the room and allow us to sit on the floor campfire style, around a mock campfire made with candles and incense, and tell our various stories in creative writing. As an English teacher she was very challenging and expected a lot of work from her students - she was one of the few teachers I really felt was trying to prepare us for college coursework. My sister Shannon can attest to the fact that her English teachers in high school gave assignments like making posters or drawing pictures...in and ENGLISH class. Grady taught me how to write a real, college-level research paper.

Sr. Year of high school: Mr. Walsh....he's eccentric, loud, opinionated, crazy-smart, and hilarious. He taught Political Science and I think history. I had him for Poly Sci, and while I'd already cemented my political leanings at the time, he helped teach me to argue why. We had real debates in class. We also played fun games, and at the time he was still allowed to have coffee in his classroom, which he let us drink if we wanted. My Sr. year was a hard one personally, and he was a good listener and always had some interesting perspective to offer. A good guy, I always like running into him on the street as an adult because he's so fun. I wish we could hang out, honestly...heehee

College:

Mark Stalcup, W131 (and English class that focuses on argumentative writing)...fun, spirited, interesting, and amazing human being. Was working on becoming a lawyer at the time he was teaching at Ivy Tech. The most challenging, stimulating collegiate course I've taken to date. We listened to Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, George Carlin, and Henry Rollins in class and as assignments. He was a critical teacher because he wanted his students to try hard. He gave honest and constructive/helpful feedback on papers and other assignments. Also, my friend Keith was in that class with me, so I have a lot of happy memories of that course. I'm now Facebook friends with Mark, and he was very sad to hear about Keith's passing away because we all used to hang out after class and have lengthy discussions about philosophy.

Martin Wolfger, Lifespan Development. The class itself was easy, but he is from Austria originally and told a lot of really cool Euro-stories. He was funny and fun, and a very nice guy. I enjoyed him. He and his wife had a new baby during that semester and she was wicked cute. Cute baby pictures + stories of growing up in Austria + nice = WIN.

My sister Awbrey turns 21 today - happy birthday sissy, I love you! xoxoxoxoxo

My sweet childhood cat, who's name started out as Sugar but evolved over the years into Booger (because we kids thought it was funny that she still responded to it even with it being Booger), passed away a couple of days ago. She was 18 years old, and she was put to sleep after experiencing heart and kidney failure (she was suffering greatly, and the vet told my mom that she didn't have much time left anyway). She'll be missed by my whole family and many friends. I don't have any digital pictures of her as all photos I have of her are actual snapshots, otherwise I'd post a photo of her, but this little tribute will have to suffice for now. I lived as a kid on some land on the far outskirts of Bloomington, and we had random strays wander onto our property from time to time, but this cat stuck around because my sister and I fell in love with her, followed by our parents. Me and my sister played with this scraggly stray in the yard who kept coming back because I kept putting cat food outside and me and Shannon gave her lots of attention. She had kittens, too. After that, my parents got her fixed and we kept her indefinitely. She was pretty young (still kind of a kitten herself) when she had her babies. After we took her in permanently she grew into a gorgeous lady cat. She's a wonderful, sweet, and loving kitty full of personality and character. Sugar...Booger...I love you and miss you so much!

Hey guys...I haven't found a job yet. I'm still looking for work, and I need to start earning some kind of income sometime very soon. I'm just kind of putting this out there just in case I have friends who may be able to afford to pay me to do stuff around their homes that they might not feel like doing themselves. I won't ask for a ton of money or a regular gig, but I'm getting a little antsy in this job search thing. You'd think that finding a menial, crappy job would be easy, but it's not in this economy. Anyway, I'm in the middle of an outdoor project for a friend that's obviously being interrupted by the weather. It's been a particularly rainy spring, making outdoor work kind of a "work around the weather" thing. As soon as I finish that job, I'll let you guys know!

If you have lawn mowing (bear in mind that big hills and such are harder for me due to my scoliosis - so having to mow at a really funky angle might put a strain on my back - but a normal lawn is no problem!), weed-eating, weed pulling, house cleaning, and other stuff like that which you don't feel like doing yourself and you have a few extra bucks to throw my way for providing such a service to you, please leave a comment here or call me (please use the land line first as my cell phone is prepaid and I'm trying to conserve minutes for obvious reasons). Compensation is of course always negotiable and up to you in the end. Think of me if you have gruntwork you don't feel like doing! When I do find a steady job, I'll take this down.

Lots of love!!
~Amy