a.k.a. Pterodactyls
I had a random memory this morning on the way to work, but it gave me a big, BIG smile. So here it is:
My freshman year of high school I got involved in the Thespian Convention that happened for high schools every year. We went to the State Convention; it was in Abilene of all places (bear in mind this was Alex's senior year, so he must have looked around and thought, "Hm, yes. This lovely, thriving metropolis is PERFECT for my higher education!" Of course, I went there, too, so...)
We didn't usually take shows for the mainstage, but we alwasy participated in individual events. I was in the Group Musical category, and we performed "The Night that Goldman Spoke at Union Square" from 'Ragtime', and if I may say so, we were incredible! We even had a few 'immigrants'; for the confusion and the 'panicked crowd' aspect, we actually had two of our girls speaking in foreign languages (Spanish and Polish). Anyway, it rocked so hard we got to go to the International Competition in Lincoln, Nebraska!
That year, I had befriended a senior, Libby, and since we were both in that event we decided to room together at Univ. of Neb. Now, long story short, we had an inside joke that we were pterodactyls..... very long, stupid story short..... and as the girls all decided to have a room decorating contest, our room was Dinosaur themed. We went to the dollar store and got some of the COOLEST stuff (or so it seemed at the time). My favorite was a tub of food labeled "Dino Snacks". We had the best food and stuff in our room. Plus, we found a cheap shower curtain with a sort of 'prehistoric playground' on it that we used as a rug. There were little dino figurines all around. OH, it was just awesome.
It makes me wish there was somewhere to do that sort of thing. In college, the closest I came to that kind of situation was probably going to ACTF in Hunstville, and that wasn't the same. Actually, the mentality is closer to the dorm situation in Kilgore, but that was for a while summer instead of a week.
Anyway, I miss that kind of thing. Like camp. Camp rocks.
Anyway, now I'm rambling, but I really want to do a rockin' dollar store run and see what cool stuff I can find...
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Banana Hammock
Just Because Its Funny
No really, this blog has nothing to do with banana hammocks, it just makes me laugh...
Anyway, I am having a good week so far. I had a great weekend with Brad, played dominoes, got to hang out with Kelly, etc. Last night Kelly and I went shopping with my 17 yr old cousin, which was lots of fun. I bought a cute new purse and I found some shoes to wear with my Betsey to the wedding! My dress looks just like this pic, except it is navy blue with a copper silk underneath. I found the cutest bronze/copper colored shoes! Thanks to Kelly and Cori for helping me find them.
Brad and I are taking a short trip for the holiday weekend, and it will be so nice to get away! We are always at my folks house or his folks house, and while our parents' are great, we definitely need a little time away.
My good friend Lauren Gragert has deserted me for greener pastures in Ft Worth. I miss her, but she seems excited about her new jobs and roommates. She is going to send me pics soon, and I am mucho excited! Check out her blog. Please pray for her as she starts a new life.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Memories
Sad Days
I have been missing people a lot lately. Specifically Rob. I must have spent well over an hour last night, crying softly into my pillow and thinking about the events around his death.
It was April 15th of my freshman year. I had just gotten a cell phone (as in three days previous - my first ever). I was walking from the cafeteria back to my dorm when Lacy, in her little car, screeched to a halt in front of me. She seemed like she wanted to be angry that it had taken her so long to find me, but anger was not it.
She took a gentle but firm hold of my shoulders and told me that Robbie had been killed in a car accident. She must have known I would begin to fall to the ground, or else she wouldn't have held me so securely. She ushered us into her tiny car and took us to Katie's house (if that gives any indication of how long ago this happened). We walked in and found more than half of the theatre department sitting, pacing, calling everyone they could think of to call.
People were crying, some even wailing, a few laughing. Laughter seems to erupt at the most inappropriate moments, which in and of itself made me think of Rob's weird sense of humor. We sat on a couch. I just sat there and observed it all for a short while. The picture in my head is of Ben clutching onto Annika, both of them absolutely wailing with grief. And it was at that moment that I realized I wasn't crying.
In case anyone reading this does not know me very well, I cry at everything. No really, I cry over small, silly things all the time. But for some reason nothing was happening. It was probably just shock.
I am sorry to admit it now, even though these feelings are long since passed, but I remember looking at these people, these Greek masks of misery and thinking, "You people didn't even know him. You have been in his presence for less than one school year, and most of you didn't actually hang out with him. I went to high school with him, and even I don't have an extremely close relationship with him!" It made me angry for some reason, like I thought people were faking it. I realize now, of course, how silly and selfish that is. I know now I was wrong. But it made my emotions so unpredictable that night.
I remember Alex and Lara showing up as everyone piled into Katie and Paula's den to circle up, cry and pray. I remember wondering cynically how many people here would really miss him. It was so petty, such a waste of precious emotion.
I was so exhausted, emotionally and physically, the next day from crying. I remember the services on campus. I remember people wearing backwards caps for weeks in rememberence. It must have been sometime my senior year when I could finally sing "There's a Stirring" without crying. Maybe other people found it as appropraite as I did, maybe it was simply new and popular around the time of Rob's death, but all I knwo is that we sang it a lot at his services and in theatre chapel. It was more than two years before I could get all the way through that song without choking up. Even now I think of him almost every time I sing it.
It seemed appropriate to me. Many people speculated over why God would take someone like Rob from this Earth so quickly. I believe, as do many others, that Rob was in so many ways pure light, and God didn't want to see him ruined by this world. So the words "Is he calling me? Is he calling me? I will rise up" have always moved me.
I spent a good deal of time that night on the phone. I had to call all of my friends from high school theatre who knew him. It was dreadful, because every call started with people being excited that I finally had a cell phone, and ended with shocked silence and doubt.
There just aren't enough people like Rob in this world. He wasn't the smartest guy in the room, he had an endearing lack of social graces. He always smiled; it was his default. Just simple, uninhibited joy to be who and where he was. It was contagious, most of the time. He was one of the most truly genuine people I have ever known. He never lied; sometimes it seemed he didn't have the sense to cover his own tracks. If I called him at 2:30 am saying I had cut my leg shaving and needed a BandAid, he would sneak out of his dorm, drive to Wal-Mart across town (because back then, the only 24 hour Wal-Mart was on the other side of town, by the mall), paid for the BandAids and found a way to get them to me on the second floor of my dorm.
He was truly a blessing to the people around him.
My favorite Rob story still makes me laugh. Well, I have two. The first one wouldn't be as funny if it were someone else. Someone else might have sensed the potential danger and made it scary. To be honest, anyone else would have avoided the situation by reading the street signs. I was complaining after Bible one day that when I used the ATMs on campus, I got a charge on my account, and had, on multiple occassions, overdrafted doing so. I needed a Bank of America. Well, Rob told me he had the same bank, and knew where an ATM was. Great - we set off in his old pickup. It was just on the south side of the tracks, somewhere between Treadaway and Teri's dance studio. Well, we turn down the street, seeing the bank about 5, 6 blocks away. A car comes towards us, switches lanes and politely honks at us as he passes. Confused, we look around and find that we are going the wrong way on a one way street!! Well, being Rob, he just cracks up! We pulled into a parking lot and manuevered our way to the bank from there, laughing the whole time.
My other favorite took place before we ever met on Abilene soil. Towards the end of our senior year at Creek, we realized we were both going to ACU for theatre. We were talking about it, fears, joys, etc. Rob looks me dead in the eye, with all seriousness and a slight bit of begging, and says, "You have to follow me around all the time, so that when I talk to a chick and say something wrong, you can go 'No, no, he didnt mean that, he is a nice guy'". I will never forget how muched I laughed, and how I looked right back at him and said, "You are going to need it, aren't you?" We laughed and went on with life, such as it was.
I realize this was random and long winded, but I wanted to share these. I miss him. He was a true friend to anyone who would let him hang around long enough. He is a reminder of God's love and mercy (and sense of humor).
Be thankful for the things you have, the people who love you, the breath you take.
I have been missing people a lot lately. Specifically Rob. I must have spent well over an hour last night, crying softly into my pillow and thinking about the events around his death.
It was April 15th of my freshman year. I had just gotten a cell phone (as in three days previous - my first ever). I was walking from the cafeteria back to my dorm when Lacy, in her little car, screeched to a halt in front of me. She seemed like she wanted to be angry that it had taken her so long to find me, but anger was not it.
She took a gentle but firm hold of my shoulders and told me that Robbie had been killed in a car accident. She must have known I would begin to fall to the ground, or else she wouldn't have held me so securely. She ushered us into her tiny car and took us to Katie's house (if that gives any indication of how long ago this happened). We walked in and found more than half of the theatre department sitting, pacing, calling everyone they could think of to call.
People were crying, some even wailing, a few laughing. Laughter seems to erupt at the most inappropriate moments, which in and of itself made me think of Rob's weird sense of humor. We sat on a couch. I just sat there and observed it all for a short while. The picture in my head is of Ben clutching onto Annika, both of them absolutely wailing with grief. And it was at that moment that I realized I wasn't crying.
In case anyone reading this does not know me very well, I cry at everything. No really, I cry over small, silly things all the time. But for some reason nothing was happening. It was probably just shock.
I am sorry to admit it now, even though these feelings are long since passed, but I remember looking at these people, these Greek masks of misery and thinking, "You people didn't even know him. You have been in his presence for less than one school year, and most of you didn't actually hang out with him. I went to high school with him, and even I don't have an extremely close relationship with him!" It made me angry for some reason, like I thought people were faking it. I realize now, of course, how silly and selfish that is. I know now I was wrong. But it made my emotions so unpredictable that night.
I remember Alex and Lara showing up as everyone piled into Katie and Paula's den to circle up, cry and pray. I remember wondering cynically how many people here would really miss him. It was so petty, such a waste of precious emotion.
I was so exhausted, emotionally and physically, the next day from crying. I remember the services on campus. I remember people wearing backwards caps for weeks in rememberence. It must have been sometime my senior year when I could finally sing "There's a Stirring" without crying. Maybe other people found it as appropraite as I did, maybe it was simply new and popular around the time of Rob's death, but all I knwo is that we sang it a lot at his services and in theatre chapel. It was more than two years before I could get all the way through that song without choking up. Even now I think of him almost every time I sing it.
It seemed appropriate to me. Many people speculated over why God would take someone like Rob from this Earth so quickly. I believe, as do many others, that Rob was in so many ways pure light, and God didn't want to see him ruined by this world. So the words "Is he calling me? Is he calling me? I will rise up" have always moved me.
I spent a good deal of time that night on the phone. I had to call all of my friends from high school theatre who knew him. It was dreadful, because every call started with people being excited that I finally had a cell phone, and ended with shocked silence and doubt.
There just aren't enough people like Rob in this world. He wasn't the smartest guy in the room, he had an endearing lack of social graces. He always smiled; it was his default. Just simple, uninhibited joy to be who and where he was. It was contagious, most of the time. He was one of the most truly genuine people I have ever known. He never lied; sometimes it seemed he didn't have the sense to cover his own tracks. If I called him at 2:30 am saying I had cut my leg shaving and needed a BandAid, he would sneak out of his dorm, drive to Wal-Mart across town (because back then, the only 24 hour Wal-Mart was on the other side of town, by the mall), paid for the BandAids and found a way to get them to me on the second floor of my dorm.
He was truly a blessing to the people around him.
My favorite Rob story still makes me laugh. Well, I have two. The first one wouldn't be as funny if it were someone else. Someone else might have sensed the potential danger and made it scary. To be honest, anyone else would have avoided the situation by reading the street signs. I was complaining after Bible one day that when I used the ATMs on campus, I got a charge on my account, and had, on multiple occassions, overdrafted doing so. I needed a Bank of America. Well, Rob told me he had the same bank, and knew where an ATM was. Great - we set off in his old pickup. It was just on the south side of the tracks, somewhere between Treadaway and Teri's dance studio. Well, we turn down the street, seeing the bank about 5, 6 blocks away. A car comes towards us, switches lanes and politely honks at us as he passes. Confused, we look around and find that we are going the wrong way on a one way street!! Well, being Rob, he just cracks up! We pulled into a parking lot and manuevered our way to the bank from there, laughing the whole time.
My other favorite took place before we ever met on Abilene soil. Towards the end of our senior year at Creek, we realized we were both going to ACU for theatre. We were talking about it, fears, joys, etc. Rob looks me dead in the eye, with all seriousness and a slight bit of begging, and says, "You have to follow me around all the time, so that when I talk to a chick and say something wrong, you can go 'No, no, he didnt mean that, he is a nice guy'". I will never forget how muched I laughed, and how I looked right back at him and said, "You are going to need it, aren't you?" We laughed and went on with life, such as it was.
I realize this was random and long winded, but I wanted to share these. I miss him. He was a true friend to anyone who would let him hang around long enough. He is a reminder of God's love and mercy (and sense of humor).
Be thankful for the things you have, the people who love you, the breath you take.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Wish List
For No Reason
They say money cannot buy you happiness, and that is true. However, money can buy you stuff, and stuff has been known to make me pretty dang happy. For example, here is a list of things that would make me happy (in no particular order, and for no particular reason) :
*"Celtic Minstrels" by James Galway - When I was younger, around 8th grade, I used to fall asleep to this album almost every night. I lost it because I took it to school for a project, and I miss it. The gentle lilting music would bring back that smile.
*"House" Season Three on DVD - there is no need to explain this one...
*A plane ticket to Lubbock - I miss Morgan, and I know she needs to unwind right now. It would be great if we could have a nice girls night out, maybe a Margarita and a chick flick... I'm thinking "Sweetest Thing"...
*Tickets to the parks in Disney World - the traveling is not the expensive part, it's the parks passes. I used to go here all the time with my family, and it is the source of many happy memories. Plus, now I could really appreciate Pleasure Island!!
*An apartment - I love my family, and I actually don't mind being at home. It's just that it is hard to feel like an adult when you live at home. Plus, I don't have any 'real' privacy. On nights when I want to be alone, just to relax, it feels like I'm sulking in my room. I'd rather just have my own place. Plus, it would be great if Brad and I had somewhere to go where we didn't feel chaperoned.....
It's a short list, but a beautiful one. Obviouslt there are more things, but some are too personal or silly to put on the world of blogdom.
They say money cannot buy you happiness, and that is true. However, money can buy you stuff, and stuff has been known to make me pretty dang happy. For example, here is a list of things that would make me happy (in no particular order, and for no particular reason) :
*"Celtic Minstrels" by James Galway - When I was younger, around 8th grade, I used to fall asleep to this album almost every night. I lost it because I took it to school for a project, and I miss it. The gentle lilting music would bring back that smile.
*"House" Season Three on DVD - there is no need to explain this one...
*A plane ticket to Lubbock - I miss Morgan, and I know she needs to unwind right now. It would be great if we could have a nice girls night out, maybe a Margarita and a chick flick... I'm thinking "Sweetest Thing"...
*Tickets to the parks in Disney World - the traveling is not the expensive part, it's the parks passes. I used to go here all the time with my family, and it is the source of many happy memories. Plus, now I could really appreciate Pleasure Island!!
*An apartment - I love my family, and I actually don't mind being at home. It's just that it is hard to feel like an adult when you live at home. Plus, I don't have any 'real' privacy. On nights when I want to be alone, just to relax, it feels like I'm sulking in my room. I'd rather just have my own place. Plus, it would be great if Brad and I had somewhere to go where we didn't feel chaperoned.....
It's a short list, but a beautiful one. Obviouslt there are more things, but some are too personal or silly to put on the world of blogdom.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Insomnia Cookies
And How to Get Them
This company is a stroke of pure genius entrepreneurship. Insomnia Cookies is a website where you can order cookies and have them fresh-baked and delivered to your home in about 30 minutes! They are a fairly new company. So far their main focus is college campuses (wheee), which makes sense, but you can also order them from Manhattan.
I want one here.
On their main page is a link that says "CLICK HERE FOR FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES". This simply sets up an email to send them. It takes them a short while to respond, but I want everyone who reads this (specifically those in Houston) to write them a quick letter, asking them to set one up down here. All of their current locations are North and North-East, so we could really open up their market. I'm thinking Brad could manage it, and we could find a few happy bakers and drivers - I'm in!
I read about these guys from this article about young entrepreneurs - inspiring, isn't it? It makes me want to start an online company, making and/or delivering something, you know?
We salute you, Seth Berkowitz, for your ingenious manipulation of the need for sugar at all hours!
This company is a stroke of pure genius entrepreneurship. Insomnia Cookies is a website where you can order cookies and have them fresh-baked and delivered to your home in about 30 minutes! They are a fairly new company. So far their main focus is college campuses (wheee), which makes sense, but you can also order them from Manhattan.
I want one here.
On their main page is a link that says "CLICK HERE FOR FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES". This simply sets up an email to send them. It takes them a short while to respond, but I want everyone who reads this (specifically those in Houston) to write them a quick letter, asking them to set one up down here. All of their current locations are North and North-East, so we could really open up their market. I'm thinking Brad could manage it, and we could find a few happy bakers and drivers - I'm in!
I read about these guys from this article about young entrepreneurs - inspiring, isn't it? It makes me want to start an online company, making and/or delivering something, you know?
We salute you, Seth Berkowitz, for your ingenious manipulation of the need for sugar at all hours!
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