Profound and Beautiful

Hey all.
Don't know how many of you have heard of Shane Claiborne.
He was featured on a program on NPR not too long ago, so I was perusing through the web and came across this video that has the most beautiful and profound image of love and compassion. It's posted on my blog-- click on the link to your left when you have some time.

Peace!

Why?!!!

Why can't this man just leave school and start his NBA career already? His draft stock only drops with each year he stays, and the chances of winning a national championship are so small every year. There's too much luck and tons of variables involved.

Of course, if he was at Duke, I'd be thrilled, but unfortunately, he's at that other school. I thought we were the school that got the unathletic white boys that just worked really hard and stayed for 4 years. Isn't UNC supposed to have all the super-athletes that stay 1-2 years and then get picked in the 1st round of the draft?

Well, at least I can hope that Lawson and Ellington go pro, although I can't quite see that happening with their questionable draft forecasts.

At the zoo

Random Thoughts

Brian is so great about keeping us posted about ncconnection posts that I wanted to contribute to give him a shout out and to say thanks for being so earnest in keeping us connected. I admit that I have absolutely no interest in the basketball posts since NC State is never a part of the conversation although even if they were, I would probably still show little or no interest. The days when I enjoyed watching the same sports center multiple times with you guys on ESPN is alas a thing of the past---Still enjoy watching games from time to time, but more b/c I’m jumping on the bandwagon and rooting for the Lakers or the Angels, so won’t post about that. However, I can make comments about American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. I’ll save Dancing with the Stars for another time, but a brief rundown of my opinions re:Idol. Last night Mariah Carey guided them—so funny to see her try to make nice comments about the contestants whom she clearly felt were mediocre or even bad---“ they are making this song their own, singing from their heart”….what does that mean? The judges ended up saying that this night was all about the boys, but I totally disagree.


David Archuleta: Okay, I adored his rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine”, even if Paula’s comments and hysterical crying almost ruined it, but am I alone in thinking that every song he sings sounds almost exactly the same? I think he’s a cutie, but clearly too young to handle the pizzazz of being a polished performer. He is starting to bore me.

Carly: Gotta love that Ihy-rish accent, and her voice reminds me of Hart—definitely a great singer with great potential—the camera seems to love showing shots of her husband with his nose-ring and many tattoos---they scare me a little, but I can deal with it.

Syesha: Syesha, Syesha…I actually thought her “Vanishing” was really, really good, though she only changes her version from Mariah’s by stretching out the “vaaaaaaaannnnnnishing” instead of the “yoooooooouuuuuuu'rrrrrrrrrreee” which is in the original. Have to admit that I got suckered into buying Mariah’s first CD off Itunes after the show and listening again to the original definitely makes Syesha’s look “ehhhh.”

David Cook: O dude, I know he is everyone’s favorite, but while the judges’ opinion was that his interpretation of the song was so original and “haunting”, I just thought it was weird. Maybe I am too much of a pop queen to appreciate his “artistry.” Whatever, I so don’t believe that.

Brooke White: I felt bad she had to miss her sister’s wedding, but I bet she felt worse that she missed it for that performance. Why does she always have to have those sad, pleading puppy dog eyes when she sings? Is she really that unhappy or is she convinced that this is what saves her each week?

Kristy Lee Cook: This girl in my opinion should have been booted a long time ago, don’t even let me get started on Micahel Johns leaving last week when it should have been her. Lucky (or clever) girl—b/c she appeals to the mass of squealing little girls (whom I think are so cute, but what do they know? They love Miley Cyrus and have made her a superstar). I know, her voice isn’t that bad, but come on, I could sound better on Karaoke.

Jason Castro: Ahhh, I save the best for last. The judges love him. I don’t get it. The dreadlocks. I don’t get it. Doesn’t he realize that this works for black hair which doesn’t need to be washed, but once a week? As far as I know, white people’s hair don’t work that way. I find his appeal so odd.

So I confess that when American Idol first aired, I had a dream that I was in the final six. No joke. I remember being backstage, with the lights glaring, I got on stage, sang, and got voted off that day. It was terrifying and heartbreaking, so maybe I should ease up and be more sensitive… :)

Oh and another big “thank you” to Sandra for putting the slideshow for the NCKPC together. It was great and I know it took a lot of time and effort to pull it all together. It looked great, though seeing some of those old photos of me gave me a little bit of the shivahs…made me very thankful to have grown older. ….enjoy the day folks and peace.

Clueless but incensed over matching yellow t-shirts......

Hey all. I am posting to hopefully get all of your insights regarding a topic that is sort of fuzzy to me: the US economy. I have to begin by confessing that I don’t know a lot (probably the main reason for writing to you guys). I tend to leave financial “issues” (like where to invest our money) to my husband, and my part is basically just to make sure the bills get paid on time.
Although I like to think of myself as a fairly well educated woman, I confess that I lack good knowledge about economics, and what sort of things drive the market to go up and down. But I CAN say, that I am feeling the pinch at the grocery store, which of course is concerning. And all this news regarding the state of affairs of the housing market was sort of background noise to me for a while, but as I paid more and more attention to it, I found myself feeling strangely angry about it all. That festering sort of came to a peak after the Bear-Stearns fallout. I was watching the news one afternoon and they were showing a bunch of people in matching yellow t-shirts picketing inside the Bear-Stearns building. The picketers were angry that the government had bailed out Bear-Stearns instead of bailing them out…….these were individuals who were knee deep in the mortgage crisis, and wanted to be bailed out.
Now I may not know much, and again, I underscore that I REALLY don’t understand a lot about money and finances, but I was really upset at these picketers! Putting aside the government’s $30 billion bail-out of Bear-Stearns……my thought was, if these people have the time to get matching t-shirts made and make signs and plan to put together that sort of “rally,” don’t they have the time to go out and WORK to try to help themselves out of their situation somehow?
And of course, in the midst of this all, it is an election year. There is a good chance that Senator Obama may be the next president. Hearing his plans for what he would do about the housing crisis upsets me too! Is it selfish and mean-spirited that I don’t want my (or rather, my husband’s) hard earned dollars (tax money) to go toward bailing out those yellow-t-shirted picketers and others who chose to live beyond their means?
Anyway, I’d really like to hear all of your opinions, especially since I’ve probably over simplified the whole situation based the little knowledge I have. Maybe I don’t know enough, so I shouldn’t be upset? Maybe all of these thoughts are so obvious and you all are sort of thinking, “so what?” I don’t know. What have you all been thinking or asking or questioning about the state of economics these days? Please comment, or write a new post so I can learn more!