I Gave Her My Heart, She Gave Me A Pen

"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley. I believe he already knows you." --Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), To Kill a Mockingbird.

"What I really want to do with my life - what I want to do for a living is, I want to be with your daughter. I'm good at it"
"She's gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen." -- Lloyd Dobler (John Cusak), Say Anything

"I'm a full-time dad. I'm a working parent. I'm a mother and a father. I'm a guy who reads parenting books and cookbooks before I go to sleep. I spend my weekends buying tutus. I'm learning to sew. I'm Mr. Napkin Head" --Graham Simpkins(Jude Law), The Holiday

"Well, like I told Max... I was trying to cut my way through your wire because I want to get out".-- Capt Hilts (Steve McQueen), The Great Escape

"I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough." --Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), The Notebook

Ok--so what is up with all those quotes? Oh, I'm just sitting here thinking of some of my favorite on- screen characters. On the way to work this morning, I was just thinking about Atticus Finch, and what a wonderful man he was. A "True Southern Gentleman" trying to raise his children to have manners, compassion, and respect for others. I just love when he so formally and respectfully introduces Scout to Boo (Arthur) Radley. Of course, there are many other scenes in that movie that I just love. I also enjoy his conversations with Scout,as they snuggle together sitting on the porch in the evenings.

Lloyd Dobler. I could dedicate an entire blog post to the "favorite" Lloyd Dobler sayings.

"I draw the line at 7 unreturned phone calls."

" How many of them really know what they want, though? I mean, a lot of them think they have to know, right? But inside they don't really know, so... I don't know ,but I know that I don't know"

"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that. "

What is not to love about Lloyd Dobler?

And, even as a little girl, catching glimpses of The Great Escape, while my dad was watching it, I knew that Capt Hilts, with his baseball glove and ball was the coolest guy around.


And, I cant forget to mention Mark Ruffalo, while talking about my favorite on-screen men. His characters in Rumor Has It, Just Like Heaven, and 13 going on 30 are just irresistible.

So, what does all of this have to do with anything? Oh , nothing really. Just sharing, once again, those random thoughts bouncing around in my head. Happy Friday!

St. Bernard Project Tribute

Well, I am back from my trip to New Orleans. It was an awesome experience and I would love to go back again. It has been such a busy week, that I didn't really feel organized enough to be posting yet. BUT--as I was just trying to catch up on some other blogs, I saw that it was Tribute Tuesday on The Seven Clown Circus Blog.

OK--so again--not really organized since I've been back--but want to take this time to do a quick tribute of my own, and to spend a few minutes on my own blog, so it doesn't feel so neglected. So here goes..........

St. Bernard Parish is a community adjacent to New Orleans. Before Hurricane Katrina hit the area in August of 2005, the population for this Parish was 67,000. There were 27,000 homes and 14,000businesses. All 27,000 homes were inhabitable after the storm. Now, almost 4 years later, there are still countless numbers of houses that are still in need of repair so that they can once again become homes for families to move back into this community.

So much has been done in this area, but there is still so much more to be done. FEMA has already started removing the trailers that families have been living in. Some of these trailers have been parked right in front of the homes that the families once lived in. But, when the trailers have to be removed, some people will again be homeless. There are still 1000 families displaced in St. Bernard Parish. 75% of homeowners did not receive sufficient funds to rebuild their homes.

That is where the St. Bernard Project comes into the picture.

This is a non-profit, community based program that is helping to get people back in their homes. The Project has helped to rebuild 221 homes, and are currently working on 30 more homes. I had the privilege of working with the St. Bernard Project last week on a home. And like I said, it was an awesome experience.

So-----My tribute today is to the St. Bernard Project for putting together this awesome organization and helping to get people back into their homes.

Not So Easy Work In The Big Easy

This is the home we are working on. It is already stripped down to the studs. Our job is mold remediation. In other words--every last piece of wood (beams, studs, rafters) must be scraped down with a steel brush. Then it every bit of it gets wiped down with a cloth, and a special chemical that will help kill mold. And then, we will paint on a substance to also kill any mold and to seal the wood. The picture above shows how the home was marked by people who went in to search homes after the flooding. Notice the date they were able to get to the house. 9-18 (Sept 18th). That is 19 days after the Katrina and the flooding took place. Thankfully, there were no casualties in this home. That is what the zero means. The initials indicate the name of the organization who searched the home.

My blogging time is gonna be very limited this week. I left on Sunday morning heading for New Orleans with some members from my church. We will be here this week working on some homes with the St Bernard Project. It has already been such a great experience. I look forward to writing more about the home we are working on and some of the stories I have heard from people who have lived through Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

Happy 4th of July

HOME OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE

Happy 4th of July! Today we celebrate our Country's Independance. We celebrate our freedom.

And I want to thank the men and women of our Armed Forces who have given their time and sometimes their lives to help us to have that freedom.

And, here's just a little something in honor and memory of my dad, who I think was one of the greatest Army soldiers of all time. There may be a smidge of favortism in that statement, but probably not much.

As a matter of fact, lets just honor all the branches of the military.

Marines

Navy

Air Force

Coast Guard

This Gives Me The High-Rise Heebie Jeebies!

The tallest building in the U.S., the Sears Tower in Chicago, has added some new features. 1,353 feet in the air, on the 103rd floor, are some balconies. Not just any balconies. No--these balconies have transparent walls, floors and ceilings. I don't know about you, but just typing those words gave me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. If you dare step out onto the balcony, it gives the appearance, of walking out on air over the city. I don't know about you, but I just felt my legs go weak just thinking about it.

And look at these kids. Just laying there as if its no big deal. 103 stories high, now! I think I'd just freak out watching anyone walk out on a see-through floor like that. Just ask anyone who has been on a ferris wheel with me. No talking--No laughing---don't move--not one muscle.

I couldn't do it. Nope. I would feel like the bottom was going to fall out. What if there was a crack in the floor? What if it wasn't attached onto the side of the building very well?

Pardon my English, but I just have to say, "AIN'T NO WAY! UH- UH. NO WAY!"

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET'S ROCK AND ROLL

And-that is how it began-----MTV---Access to music videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's the way it used to be. First, video killed the radio star, but, then, who killed the video star? At some point, Reality TV shows , dating game shows, tours of celebrities "cribs" , and other programming took the place of the original concept of the station.

I can complain about all of these shows being the death of the real MTV, but actually, I guess it was the only way to keep the channel alive for the younger generation of TV viewers. They wanted to see shows where a guy went out on a date with 5 women at one time all trying to outdo each other to win a one on one date with him. They wanted to see how a group of young adults( I use the word lightly) would act while living together, with no parental guidance, with all the world watching. Or better yet, a show that documents parents throwing a Sweet 16 Birthday party for their daughter and spending more money than the cost of my house, its entire contents, my car and my life savings. Besides, I had really stopped watching MTV several years before The Real World first aired in May of 1992. My real world had taken over and there was little time for MTV. "I want my MTV" gave way to my daughter wanting her bottle and my time and attention.

But, last night, as I watched MTV paying respect to Michael Jackson by playing all of his best videos back to back, I was taken back in time.

When "Video Killed The Radio Star" by the Buggles aired as the very first music video ,in August of 1981, I was just getting ready to start the 10th grade. (guess I'm dating myself here, but--that's ok!) My two favorite VJ's (video jockeys) were Mark Goodman, whom I think I may have had a crush on, and the very sweet and cute Martha Quinn.

The summer after 10th grade I moved with my family to Germany. Seeing as we only got one TV station for our viewing pleasure, and were at the mercy of what the AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and TV Service) chose to air, we were (gasp) MTV-less! Luckily , my brother and mom were able to make a trip back to the States when my nephew was born. It was during Christmas break so we were out of school. My mom didn't think it wise to leave us alone in the house together during the day while my dad was at work and she across the ocean on another continent. So, since I was older, and probably had a babysitting job, my brother was chosen to go along with my mom. My brother used his stateside vacation very wisely and spent most of his time taping MTV on VHS tapes to bring back. We spent a lot of time watching those video's over and over and it helped us to feel connected to everything going on back across the ocean.

I'm sure if I think about it long enough, or get into some conversations, I will remember all of my favorite videos from that time. There are several that do usually come right to mind. I remember that I always really liked Owner of a Lonely Heart. I remembered bits of what was in the video, and knew it had a snake in it and some other weird parts, but when I looked at the video today(for the first time in at least 20 years-wow!), I wondered was a bit, how should I put it, grossed out!

Then there was, of course, the song that paid homage to MTV, Money for Nothing by the Dire Straits. Without a doubt, all of Michael Jackson's videos were great, with Billie Jean being the one that got me trying some of his fancy footwork. Loved the way each block on the pavement lit up as he stepped on it.

Lets see, there was Total Eclipse of the Heart, I Need A Hero, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Time after Time, Borderline, (ditto almost all of Madonna's earlier videos) and Dancing in the Dark (oh yea!) , which featured the cute little Courtney Cox, long before she hung out with Rachel, Joey and the gang. I'm sure I could go on forever, now that I think about it. Oh yeah, cause there's Stevie Nicks in Stand Back (I practiced my dance moves with this song too) , and.......... (ok, enough)

Well, that was a nice trip down memory lane. Hope you liked some of the videos. Do you remember MTV back when there were still VJ's and 24 hour videos? If so, what are some of your favorite memories?

PS--oh nephew, thanks to the help of you and a fellow blogger (who's permission I did not get to put a link to her site) , I think I've figured out this link thing! Now you are going to remind me again, that sometimes less is more, huh? It was just a fun little learning experience. PS again-- I taught you to sing "Stand Back" and do hand motions when you were still in diapers. : )

Getting Used To The Water

Now that I've let my feet dangle in the waters of blogging and even made some little ripples, I've decided that the water is fine, and I'm ready to venture in a little more. I'm getting a little more accustomed to things-----but am definitely still in need of floaties and no where near ready for the deep end!

I've ventured out and read some other blogs. Besides the great writing out there, I've been amazed at the creativity put into the designing of many of the blogs. And there are just so many things I don't yet understand . And I haven't figured out just how people know about all this stuff. There's things like "grabbing buttons" and "Mr Linky" and the most amazing customized blog banners.

I've never worked with any kind of computer graphics or photo editing websites or programs. The most I've ever done is re-sized and cropped! I see that It will take some time to figure all of this out. Especially since I am the kind of person that prefers to have someone right with me showing me how to do something step by step.

I think that I will love my blog home much more, when I have it decorated in a way that I feel expresses my personality. So--today I have been practicing how to do different things. My blog has had several different themes and colors today as I work on the very basic of techniques.

I think having a page set up the way I want it to be will help to inspire me to write and post more too. So far there are only a couple of my posts that I have been happy with. I usually don't have much time to think about things, and when I get some time, I just come in here and start typing. Most of what I have posted is more like a rough draft of something that could be much better.

I will be glad when I feel this is truly my home and and my writing flows more smoothly--and maybe I can say what I want to say using a lot less words. Hmm- not sure about that one------but maybe the more I write, some of the things I learned about writing when younger will come to mind, or other blog writers will inspire me. Regardless, I am glad I decided to take off my shoes and test the waters.