I haven't blogged in a while so I feel I have to address my last blog entry-- turns out the first woman who was attacked was a big huge faker...but I'm pretty sure all one of you who reads this already knew that.
Anyway, I shouldn't be blogging, but I'm in the last two weeks of my first semester of grad school and I'm coming up with more & more creative ways to procrastinate on the mountain of work I have to do. Actually, I'm waiting to go to a meeting & I've decided that I don't want to start on anything I can't finish in the next 30 minutes before the meeting begins (it sounds logical in my head).
I wish I had something funny to blog about--like my preschoolers that used to call the ever popular breakfast pastry a "Hop Tart"...or that time when one of them woke up from his nap and loudly asked "What's that f#ckin' noise??" (there was no noise...I think he was dreaming)...or when one of my little boys informed me that he wasn't taking a nap that day because he "Just don't feel comm-ter-ble on that mat" (I gave him our oversized turtle pillow to sleep on instead that day & he went right to sleep). But I don't have anything funny. I haven't seen my preschoolers in months and I miss them terribly.
But I can rest easy as I try to plow through the remaining two weeks of school because I will get to see my preschoolers' sweet little faces after that as I plan to fill-in as their teacher during Winter Break. I only wish my current students were as funny as my preschoolers were, but college freshmen seem to only come up with funny excuses for a number of things pertaining to why they couldn't keep up with certain responsibilities.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Random Acts of Violence
I have been known to suffer from irrational fears in my day. In fact, I'm dealing with moving past an irrational fear as we speak, but then I hear horror stories in the news or online that stops me in my tracks and I start to think maybe this fear isn't so irrational after all.
After hearing about the random act of violence on Bethany Storro of Vancouver, WA, in which a woman simply walked up to her, said "Hey pretty girl, you wanna drink this?" and threw a cup of acid in her face, I can't help but feel sick. Why anybody would commit such an atrocity is absolutely beyond me. Thankfully, strangers quickly rushed to Bethany's aid after the attack and made sure she got to a hospital. While Storro seems to be in relatively high spirits in the days after her attack, I am not.
Everyday since I heard of the attack, Bethany has crossed my mind at some point. I know she didn't wake up thinking "Today's the day that my life is going to change forever...and it's not going to be pleasant." Nor did Derri Velarde of Mesa, AZ consider how her life was going to change on the day she was attacked (on Friday, September 3, 2010), in what officials think is simply a "copycat crime" of the attack on Storro. She was as unsuspecting and completely helpless as anyone else would have been in the same situation. Scary.
No, I don't worry that I'll have acid thrown in my face or anything of the sort. However, these two attacks have exponentially increased my awareness in the fact that I am a woman who shouldn't go for walks outside too late at night, needs to keep my guard up as I turn onto a dimly lit street when I walk home, and look over my shoulder when I walk out to my car before getting in the driver's seat. As if I needed this reminder.
My heart goes out to these two women and I pray that their attackers are brought to justice very soon.
After hearing about the random act of violence on Bethany Storro of Vancouver, WA, in which a woman simply walked up to her, said "Hey pretty girl, you wanna drink this?" and threw a cup of acid in her face, I can't help but feel sick. Why anybody would commit such an atrocity is absolutely beyond me. Thankfully, strangers quickly rushed to Bethany's aid after the attack and made sure she got to a hospital. While Storro seems to be in relatively high spirits in the days after her attack, I am not.
Everyday since I heard of the attack, Bethany has crossed my mind at some point. I know she didn't wake up thinking "Today's the day that my life is going to change forever...and it's not going to be pleasant." Nor did Derri Velarde of Mesa, AZ consider how her life was going to change on the day she was attacked (on Friday, September 3, 2010), in what officials think is simply a "copycat crime" of the attack on Storro. She was as unsuspecting and completely helpless as anyone else would have been in the same situation. Scary.
No, I don't worry that I'll have acid thrown in my face or anything of the sort. However, these two attacks have exponentially increased my awareness in the fact that I am a woman who shouldn't go for walks outside too late at night, needs to keep my guard up as I turn onto a dimly lit street when I walk home, and look over my shoulder when I walk out to my car before getting in the driver's seat. As if I needed this reminder.
My heart goes out to these two women and I pray that their attackers are brought to justice very soon.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Climbing out from under a (Round) Rock
Well well... it's been quite a while since I've posted here. I've decided to pick it back up as much as I can because I'm not taking any writing workshops this semester.
"But wait!" you say. "What do you mean you're not taking any workshops this semester? Of course you're not taking any workshops this semester! You graduated college already, silly!"
Yup, I did. And now this girl's all grown up and in graduate school! Yee haw!
One month ago exactly, I left Round Rock, TX to move to Lawrence, KS. I'm currently an MFA student at KU and I must say that I absolutely adore this place. I love the people-- not just the locals. I mean my colleagues in the English department, the professors, the staff...everyone. I love my students (oh yeah, I'm teaching English 101). I love the campus. I love the near 60-degree angle hill I have to climb everyday to get to that campus.
And by "love the hill," I mean I hate it. Oh well, I should be in pretty decent shape by the end of my program.
Lawrence is now my home and I couldn't be happier. Okay, that's a lie-- I could be a little happier if I could catch a UT football game on tv every once in a while (hey--those burnt orange roots run deep).
Don't get me wrong, now. I fully support KU and will especially be doing so tomorrow at my first college football game (of many), but perhaps I should get some rest before I set out for such a long day tomorrow. The hill climb was particularly awful today & my calves are aching. Until next time...
"But wait!" you say. "What do you mean you're not taking any workshops this semester? Of course you're not taking any workshops this semester! You graduated college already, silly!"
Yup, I did. And now this girl's all grown up and in graduate school! Yee haw!
One month ago exactly, I left Round Rock, TX to move to Lawrence, KS. I'm currently an MFA student at KU and I must say that I absolutely adore this place. I love the people-- not just the locals. I mean my colleagues in the English department, the professors, the staff...everyone. I love my students (oh yeah, I'm teaching English 101). I love the campus. I love the near 60-degree angle hill I have to climb everyday to get to that campus.
And by "love the hill," I mean I hate it. Oh well, I should be in pretty decent shape by the end of my program.
Lawrence is now my home and I couldn't be happier. Okay, that's a lie-- I could be a little happier if I could catch a UT football game on tv every once in a while (hey--those burnt orange roots run deep).
Don't get me wrong, now. I fully support KU and will especially be doing so tomorrow at my first college football game (of many), but perhaps I should get some rest before I set out for such a long day tomorrow. The hill climb was particularly awful today & my calves are aching. Until next time...
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