Massachusetts!!

Just a few things to know about Mass or what you already got down if you are from the "Spirit of America." Well, that's what it says on the license plate.
So here it goes:

If you are from Boston...

-You'll know who the cahdnal is, how to take the T to JP and what the blinking red light atop the old Hancock Building means in the summer (in winter it means snow is due).
-If you're smaht, you'll never get cahded at the packie.
-You only eat Italian sausage outside Fenway Pahk before a Sox game with mustid, peppahs-n-onions.

You might be from Boston if...

-You think of Philadelphia as the Midwest.
-You think it's your God-given right to cut someone off in traffic.
-You think three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heat wave.
-All your pets are named after Celtics or Bruins.
-You refer to 6 inches of snow as a "dusting."
-Just hearing the words "New York" puts you in an angry mood.
-You don't think you have an attitude.
-You always 'bang a left' as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it.
-Everything in town is "a five minute walk."
-When out of town, you think the natives of the area are all whacked.
-You still can't bear to watch highlights from game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
-You have no idea what the word compromise means.
-You believe using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
-You don't realize that you walk and talk twice as fast as everyone else. (haha, sorry peeps)
-You're stubborn.
-You think if someone is nice to you, they must want something, or are from out of town.
-Your favorite adjective is "wicked."
-You think 63 degree ocean water is warm.
-You see people like Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Dicky Barret (The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones), -Tracy Bonham, Evan Dando (The Lemonheads) and Ric Ocasek (The Cars) in the local supermarket and it doesn't phase you.
-Paranoia sets in if you can't see a Dunkin Donuts, ATM or CVS within eyeshot at all times.
-It's the Sox, The Pats (or Patsies if they're losing), the Seltz, the Broons.
-You keep an ice scraper and can of de-icer on the floor of your car...year round
-If the streets are named after trees (Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets you're in Wellesley.
-You've called something "wicked pissa"
-You drive 45 minutes to New Hampshire to save $5 in sales tax
-You've pulled out of a side street and used your car to block oncoming traffic so you can make a left.
-All avenues are properly referenced by their nicknames: Comm Ave, Mass Ave., Dot Ave.
-You've slammed on your brakes to deter a tailgater
-You order iced coffee in January
-Learn to swerve abruptly. Boston is the home of slalom driving, thanks to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.

You know your from Massachusetts if...
-The person driving in front of you is going 70 mph and you are cursing him for going too slow.
-The fact that Route 128 and I-95 are pretty much the same thing doesn't confuse you.
-When ordering a tonic, you mean a Coke...not quinine water.
-You actually enjoy driving around rotaries.
-You almost feel disappointed when someone doesn't flip you the bird when you cut them off or steal their parking space.
-You know how to pronounce the names of towns like Worcester, Billerica, Haverhill, and Barre
-You have driven to New Hampshire on a Sunday in order to get beer.
-You know that there are two Bulger brothers, and that they're both crooks.
-You know what they sell at a packie.
-You knew that there was no chance that the Patriots would move to Hartford.
-You laugh at all the other states in New England.
-You know at least one bar where you can get something to drink after last call.
-You can actually find your way around Boston.
-You have gone to at least one party at UMass.
-The curse of the Bambino is taught in public schools.
-You refer to the New York Yankees as the Devil's spawn, or something worse.
-Colleges are used as landmarks for directions, e.g., Go past MIT until you hit Harvard. Take a right and go past Lesley. Keep going until you get to Tufts (actual directions).
-Doug Flutie is the greatest athlete ever.
-Evacuation Day is a recognized holiday.
-You know at least one guy named Sean, Pat, Whitey, Red, Bud or Seamus, and at least 4 named Bob.
-You think the rest of the country owes you for Thanksgiving and Independence Day.
-You laughed at the kids down south who never got snow days.
-You feel that the rest of the world needs to drive more like you.
-You know The Beanpot is a hockey tournament, not a serving container.
-You have never been to Cheers.
-You can recognize a girl from Revere simply by her hair.
-You remember exactly where you were when the ball rolled through Buckner's legs.
-You know that there is a bigger difference between Roxbury and West Roxbury than just a compass direction.
-Somebody calls UMass "ZooMass" and you take it as a compliment.
-The words "WICKED" and "GOOD" go together.
-You know how to make a frappe.
-You know that "Big Dig" is also a kind of ice cream you can get at Brigham's.
-You actually know how to merge from 6 lanes of traffic down to one.
-You know what "Southie" is. And how it is different from the South End.
-You are proud to drink Sam Adams and think that the rest of the country owes Bostonians a big thank you.
-St. Patrick's Day is your favorite holiday.
-You never go to "Cape Cod", you go "down the Cape".
-You cried when Boston Garden was torn down.
-You think that Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs and Derek Jeter are more evil than Whitey Bulger.
-You went to Old Sturbridge Village, Plymouth Plantation, or both, on field trip in grammar school.
-You're aware that there is a town, somewhere in Massachusetts, named Brimfield where they have the biggest outdoor antique market in the world.
-You can drive to the mountains and the ocean all in one day. (But who'd want to?)
-You have a special place in your heart for the Worcester firefighters.
-If you live in Charlton City, most likely 99% of your family does as well.
-You know that the Mass Pike is some sort of strange weather dividing line.
-You know that PTown isn't the name of a new rap group.
-You know that Ludlow is 90% Portuguese and that Fall River is 90% Lebanese.

And, the final and most important way to know that you are from Massachusetts...
-You do not recognize the letter "R" as a part of the English language.

Adapted From Angelfire.com

Guest Speaker

It’s snowing outside. It bothers me that it is snowing and tomorrow is April Fools. I am planning some good jokes, except if I told you I would have to kill you. Just kidding, I can’t say what the jokes are because they have yet to be created. Actually, I have never participated in April Fools. I consider it to be an adolescent day, and I am trying to abandon the stage of adolescence. Time to become a young adult, well, not that there is that much of a difference, except I am majoring in human development. Therefore, I am learning about all the different stages that occur through life. I am beginning to think that deep down no one every leaves one stage for another, but rather just adds to the stages. That is my theory.

On the topic of human development, in class today we had a guest speaker. He talked about Alcohol. I am getting a little sick of hearing about alcohol on college campuses, but this guy was HA-larious. Not only did he convey his message well, he brought himself into a character that the audience could relate too. I love listening to people who don’t talk to you like you are stupid and/or not as good as they are. We are all going through life together, some people are just farther along than others. That doesn’t make them any better than the next person. This speaker had humor and seriousness intertwined with each other. Made class fly by! I always know class was good when it goes by wicked fast. I re-learned a lot of stuff I already knew, but it was fun and I had a lot of good laughs.

I hit my homework this week with a massive hammer. Which translates too, I got a lot done already, which could mean that I could work ahead. Ha, chances of that happening are pretty slim, but I cannot say that I won’t try. I will take a whack at the easy stuff. With that said, I am going to get up on that.

Windy

I went for a walk today. Before I went I knew it was windy, but did not think much of it. However, the farther away I got from campus, the more windy it got. By the time I got to the ISU cross country course, my ear phones had blown out of my ears at least 20 times. All I could imagine was people trying to climb up Mt. Everest and getting blown down as they are trying to climb up. It is completely intense walking in the wind. Don’t get me wrong; it is an invigorating work out, but still, wow.

As I was walking I got to thinking. First of all, one reason I like walking so much, is that I can think when I am walking. The main thing I was thinking about was how I enjoy walking, but not to class. When I have to walk across campus to class, I dislike it greatly, but when I can just go out and walk, I like it a lot. Riding horses is much more of a mind clearer, and even more fun, but walking is my second choice when it comes to clearing my head. Too bad I have to pay attention while walking or riding, because if I did not have too, I could study at the same time. Wow, I would learn so much more. Now that I am thinking about this, I would do so much better on tests if I could take them in the barn. Too bad I can’t.

Other than going out for a nice walk, my day was good. I got a project done, and other homework as well. I always like it when I get homework done, because then I feel like I have more free time. This is only a feeling though because as soon as I am done with one thing, something else is assigned. The wonders of college. This week I have been trying to decide what to take for classes next semester. Also, I hope I can get into them, classes fill up quickly around here. I definitely want to take an equine class that would be fun, and an easy A. I don’t know if an easy A is worth it though, maybe, maybe not. I have lots to think about.

Weekend

This weekend has been relaxing, which is good, because the way I figure it, weekends should be “chill” so to speak. I did my normal chores at the barn, and the weather held up for it beautifully. It makes it so much nicer when it is raining cats and dogs or snowing. There was a clinic this weekend, so the barn was occupied by some visiting equines. They were easy to work around, the ladies that accompanied them were a little on the annoying side, but I guess I may be like that when I am older. I will jump that hurdle when it comes.

All the horses behaved themselves. Hank was still mean, but he did not kick or even attempt to kick me again. However, he was very mean to his other pasture mates. A way to picture this would be to imagine a bunch of kids in middle school. More specifically imagine a group of friends that are always with each other, and enjoying each other’s company. But then terror strikes. The bully walks in and takes everyone’s lunch money and locks the weakest link in a locker. Hank, is that bully and my horse Dancer is the poor kid who gets shoved in a locker. Not cool. The semester is almost over though, and Dancer will be able to come home and not have to deal with Hank, for a summer. I love having all my horses at home, because then I am in complete charge of them and everything that happens to them. Also, I can feed them what they need, and when I want. It is the life.

Joe is also getting the hang of entering and exiting the barn. He doesn’t get lost anymore. This is fabulous! I don’t have to get him out of corners when he gets stuck. It is really nice to see him learn. Kevyn is back too. He left at the beginning of this semester to get some more training under saddle. Poor Kevyn. He has a full body clip, which means his body is shaved. Except, on his butt, he has a patch that isn’t shaved which is in the shape of a heart. This could be cute, except Kevyn is clearly a boy, and the heart just girls him up too much. Kevyn is also bullied like no tomorrow in the pasture. I guess that comes with being small, and new. It will get easier for him, hopefully.

Other than doing horse stuff, I took the weekend off. To be honest, my weeks are so crazy full that when the weekend gets here I am so tired that I sleep most of the day on Saturday. Yes, it does kind of waste a Saturday, but it helps me prepare for the week to come. This semester has been better than last semester by far, but I am so ready for it to be over. Time will fly though, it always does.

Being the Baby, Not so BAD!

My brother Stephen’s 21st birthday is tomorrow, and I am so excited but I have not decided how it makes me feel yet. Should I feel younger or older? Should I wonder where the time went? Should I wish I could be there to celebrate? All these questions have been burning in my mind all week. I have not found substantial solutions, but I have decided that all these questions apply. I mean, why wouldn’t they?

For a little background; I have two older siblings. Christina who was born January, 9th 1986, and Stephen who was born March 27th, 1988. Just so you know, I was born November 11th, 1989, the day the Berlin wall was knocked down, but that is beside the point. I am really close to my brother and sister. However, our relationships differ. I am closer to Christina when she is not near me, therefore I call her and talk to her frequently. Stephen on the other hand, is the opposite. When he is visiting we are tied at the hip, but when he is not, I don’t talk to him much. This is ok with me because we both don’t really enjoy talking on the phone. A good text message a couple times a week is just enough. Anyway, let me answer my burning questions.

Should I wish I could be there to celebrate?
Duh. It is his 21st birthday, who wouldn’t want to celebrate that? Going out and getting some tea and milk would be fun. Besides, I love birthdays. If you are not cool, I am the person who calls you at midnight to wake you up and say happy birthday. If you are cool, and I don’t have to wake you up, then I will sing. Since, I my brother and I are not big phone talkers, he can expect a very good text message.

Should I wonder where the time went?
Absolutely not! Life comes at you fast, be prepared. Not to mention, I do not miss the time when I was getting picked on, or hockey pucks chucked at me when my brother was practicing his shot. It is so much better now than it used to be, even though I see my brother a mere once a year. That’s a stinker, but with Skype, I can see him every night. I know, not the same, but when you live 1223.4 miles apart from your big brother, almost anything would suffice.

Should I feel younger or older?
Ok, this is a toughie. I have friends that have already turned 21 or even older, but it is different with them. It is cool to see my brother get older, but then it makes me feel older, but at the same time, I feel like such a baby. I have celebrated my sisters 21st, and four of my other friends 21st birthdays, and let me tell you, nothing makes me feel more “little” than that. However, I can always come back with, “I will be celebrating 50 later than you.” Yeah, lame, but when the day comes when they are all “over the hill” I won’t be. Feels good to be younger. I am going to embrace my baby sister and friend status.

7 Days of Grace

I am recovering from spring break quite well even though I have a cold that is nagging away at me. Getting back into the groove of things is going smoothly. What gets me is that I have two tests this week. Why didn’t we take them last week? Sometimes I wonder about professors. Then, I come to the conclusion that they just do what ever floats their boat. However, this can work out to the benefit of students. For example, getting what I am going to call “the seven days of grace” in order to revise a paper. That is pretty sweet. This is really helpful, because my paper is crazy long. Having an extra week will give me time to tear it apart and shorten it. Thank goodness. My advice is to never leave a paper to write until the day before it is due, even if you had two projects, and two tests before break, and no computer access during break. Wow, that was a mouthful. I am glad to be back though, studying, writing, and knocking down my “to do” list once again.

As I was working on breaking down my agenda, a crisis hit. I had decided to get my biology review sheet downloaded and filled out, but had trouble accessing it. Great, the Internet in my building was down. I guess I can be glad that this has happened only once this year, but still, ALL my homework is on the Internet. I could not just move on to another assignment because that assignment called for the use of the Internet. This got me thinking. I spent all of spring break without the Internet, and it was not a problem. But, I get back to school and I cannot even do anything without it. I do have reading assignments, which I was, the better person, so I started the reading for my quiz on Thursday, but still! Not having the Internet was so inconvenient. Just imagine if it was down for more than one hour, 23 minutes, and 34 seconds. I would have gotten so behind. Now, I have even a greater amount of sympathy for those who have sketchy Internet. It is a pain in the badonkadonk. When it finally came back on, it felt like Christmas morning. Santa had emerged from the chimney and put twice as many pretty, shiny, and wrapped presents underneath the tree. Such relief ran from my head and jingled in my toes. The part that still sucked was, that once it was working, I was so tired from complaining, that all I wanted to do was sleep. No worries though, I got my biology review sheet done. I did sacrifice studying though to write this entry, but I needed some deserved chill time. Biology can be a little overbearing sometimes. Well, my eyes are heavy, by leg muscles are sore, and my cold is nagging at my senses. Imagine getting into a warm bed that is soft with three pillows, and lots of blankets. That will be me in a few minutes.

BIg Break 2009: Panama City Beach Florida

So, I am bummed that spring break is over, but it was a total BLAST!

I went to Panama City Beach, FL for break, and it was warm, sunny, and absolutely gorgeous as expected. Seriously though, it was Florida, and it is March, there is a big difference between Florida in March and Iowa in March. Substantial. Anyway, I went to the Big Break Conference with Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru). I had signed up for this, only knowing one other person that was going, but it turned out to not matter at all. I do have to say, that the drive down was a little awkward, because I rode in a van with strangers, but it got less and less awkward as the 23-hour road trip went. So, I am going to summarize my whole week, so be prepared, this post will be rather lengthy.

March 13th
The trip began around 5:40 p.m. Danger and Adam, two Cru staff members, in front of MWL, along with two of my new friends Austin and Emily, picked me up. We jumped into the van and headed to meet the other travelers at a near by gas station. Once we got there we had to meet some other people at a Burger King near Adventureland in Des Moines. Finally around 6:45 p.m. we all got on the road and headed for Florida. The ride was a little odd in the beginning, and was filled with some small talk, and name that tune. Soon we watched some Kung Fu Panda and I drifted into dreamland.

March 14th
I did not really sleep that well, seeing how I was in the back of the van, but I do remember stopping frequently for gas and bathrooms. Once daylight had returned we continued with some name that tune, and observed Austin and his awake but sleeping persona. He cannot sleep in a car, so he was awake for, well, a really long time, hence his slightly unorganized speech. We continued driving, without any car trouble until “Topper” (one of the vans) had knocking in the engine. Turned out to be bad gas (fuel), so we made it to Florida safely and around 5 p.m. We all went to Sonny’s BBQ joint and got dinner, and there I began to put names to faces and faces to names. I was becoming more comfortable with the crowd around me. We all got some food for the week ahead, and crashed in the apartment. However, this was after the staff gave the ladies the speech “don’t go anywhere without a guy with you after 6 p.m.” I found this funny, but as the week progressed and I experienced being “barked” at by strange men, this speech made complete sense. Be careful at Panama City beach homeskillets, it is straight up CrAzY!!

March 15th
Today was a free day, at least until the kickoff meeting at 7:30 p.m. Basically we all lounged around on the beach, and sat on our butts watching TV. Once we got to the meeting, the conference center was packed with 962 other college students from universities all over the United States. However, the ISU Cru band were the lucky ones to get picked to lead the meeting/worship. They totally rocked it, total awesomeness.

March 16th-19th
Everyday began with a meeting in the morning, lunch, telling people about God on the beach, dinner, and an evening meeting. It was fun. Telling people about God on the beach wasn’t tough, at least it was not as scary as I predicted. I talked to a lot of drunken people, but it was spring break, what else can you expect, sadly. I participated in a lot of deep conversations and learned one vitally important fact. If you are offered a beer by a group of people, you know you are in good with them. I got offered 5, so I must have been doing a good job. Just kidding, that was not a vitally important fact, but it is indeed a fact. No one was rude and everyone was open to talk. I had initially expected to have sand thrown at me, and be turned down. But, that didn’t happen at all or to anyone in my group. One highlight was I was almost on MTV. Totally ballin’ too bad I couldn’t look in the camera and say “hi mom.” Well, I wouldn’t do that but maybe next year. Throughout the week I got to know everyone a lot better. No more awkwardness. The boys made us ladies a delicious dinner one night and sang “My Girl” to us. It was cheesy, but adorable. We even made a tower in the pool. I dubbed myself photographer for this little endeavor. Overall, these few days were amazing, and a really good experience.

March 20th
Today was our day off. So, we chilled on the beach did some shopping, and went to a pirate ship for dinner. Yes, a pirate ship. I got some really yummy salmon there. After dinner, we went mini golfing. We went in teams or groups of 4. In my group was Lee, Andy, Emily, and of course me. The first hole I took like 4 shots (?) to get the ball in the hole. I thought it was going to be a bad night. But, on the second hole I impressed the crowd by getting a whole in one while saying “I suck!!” It was pretty sweet; I won a free game because of it too. We continued on completing the 18 holes, and got into some good conversations. Bonded as a team. I was winning for a while, until Andy (total cutie) decided to pull ahead and be cool. I guess he couldn’t live with being beat by a girl. But in the end, I was the one who won the free game. SO THERE! Just kidding, it was a blast. Made some good memories and discovered that Lee totally sucks at mini golf.

March 21st-22nd
This was the trip home. Took us 22 hours this time. Topper, the weakest link, had no trouble this time, and we made it safely back. I slept all day and was navigator from 2 a.m. until 7 a.m. that’s a tough shift to stay awake for, but I did have some more good conversations with the staff guys Jeff and Adam. I made it back to Ames at 8 a.m. Went to my room, checked my 100 unread emails, took a shower, and CRASHED! Let me tell you I was tired, and had finally gotten ride of the road trip funk, if you know what I mean.

I had one of the most fun weeks of my life. I learned a lot, made some good friends, discovered the art of map reading, and didn’t use a computer for 7 days. And the surprising thing was, I didn’t even notice.

Week 8: Assigned Post

I have been running for so long through the forest, that my heart is still pounding, and I am trying very hard to slow my breathing. Finally, I was able to stop, and sit beneath the leaves. They are damp and the atmosphere is very humid. All I can smell is must, and trees. The sound of the brook is calming me down, and soothing all my senses. I can no longer hear the sound of the men. All I can hear is the brook, and the leaves blowing in the wind. It is so peaceful; there is no disturbance, no violence, just nature. There is so much green, but that is not a bad thing. The leaves I am sitting on and under are huge. They look as though they could be used to fan an Egyptian pharaoh. As I am imagining palaces, and pyramids, I become very thirsty. I can hear the babbling brook, but cannot see it.

Following the sound of the brook, I pass so many interesting looking plants. Everyone has a different feel and color. One tree I pass vines that looked like angel hair pasta. The vines are small, and weak and have the consistency of yarn, but feel like bark. It seems as though I have been walking for hours looking for the brook. Sometimes I can hear it get louder, but I am so consumed with the different things I am seeing, I wander off track. One tree has dark purple leaves; another has leaves that look like it has leaves printed on them. Midst all the green, other colors shine through. I could see pastel pink, yellow, white, and light blue, orange, and red. Soon, I realize that I need to find the water. I devote myself just to listening. The damp leaves brush against my arms giving me chills up and down my spine.

I continue pushing through the leaves, and having their sand papery feel rub against me. Then I saw it. The brook was finally right in front of me. I can smell the water. I put my fingers in the water and watch the orange fish swim away from me in fear. Looking up from the brook, I see a plant that had pea pods like pitchers. I plucked the pitcher from its vine and collect water with it. The water hitting the back of my throat is so refreshing. It reminds me of times when I was little and my mom would bring out lemonade to my friends and I. I keep drinking the refreshing and cool water, but then the sound of footsteps came to my ears. I can hear them getting closer, my heart began to pound, and I am terrified. Voices began to reach my ears, and I drop the pitcher and I see it slide into the brook. I began to run in the opposite direction of the voices. The ground is so slippery; I try to keep my footing while running on slug like slim. I want to stay silent, but all the branches hit against me as I run. The voices still kept getting louder; I look behind me, trip over a tree root as a result. The ground is so cold, and wet, I cannot grab onto anything around me to stop my falling. The rocks are tearing up arms and legs and I feel bruises forming.

A tree finally stopped me from falling. The voices definitely found my location and I must act fast. I look around only to see an old tree trunk. Acting on impulse I push through the fallen tree branches and jump into the tree trunk. Quickly I place my hand over my mouth, so my breathing cannot be heard. I listen, as the footsteps keep getting closer. They begin pushing the fallen branches around, and get closer to me. I move my eyes to look up. A hand is placed on the branches covering me. My heart stops.

Eclipse

So far, I have mentioned my horse Dancer and the horses at the farm that I work at. I decided that I wanted to share a story about my first horse, because he is extremely special to me. He was a large contributor to my horse craze.

Throughout my entire life, I have had many different pets, but the pet that is super special to me is my pony Eclipse. Yes, I have a pony, well actually I have four of them, one of which I brought to Ames with me. However, Eclipse is the only pony, by definition. It is hard to pick which horse is actually my favorite, because I love them all, but I have owned Eclipse since I was eight years old, and we have grown up together.

I started riding horses when I was seven. Many people say that riding horses is a phase that every girl goes through, however, I am 19 and my phase never ended. Eventually my parents decided that my sister and I were so enthralled with riding horses that it was time to look for one of our own. Together we looked up some horses and ponies and picked several to look at. We went and looked at every one, but the first one we went to see was truly extraordinary.

My parents, my coach, my sister, and I all went to look at Eclipse, and try him out. He was only three and half years old at the time, very dark gray in color, and was on the skinny side because he was so young. I watched my sister ride him, and my coach, but then it was my turn. I was so nervous because I had not ridden many horses yet, but still I got on him. Eclipse walked around so slowly and carefully as if he was trying not to scare me. As I was walking around, a giant bee seemed to get very irritated with our presence. This bee was a white faced hornet, and was buzzing all around the two of us. Soon, the bee landed right on Eclipse's stomach and stung him. Most horses would run, jump in pain, or essentially become very uncomfortable, but Eclipse did something completely different. He stopped, twitched, shook his head, and continued walking. My coach was shocked, and so was I. I was sold, from that day on I knew that Eclipse was going to be mine and was going to be the perfect teammate.

For the next decade, Eclipse and I built our relationship. He was so young and inexperienced when I got him, but so was I. We learned everything together. Soon we began going to local competitions, eventually to bigger ones, and finally to compete at the national level. Only after a couple years Eclipse and I became known as the pair that could not be beat. Together we were unstoppable. However, in the midst of competition Eclipse and I still knew how to have lots of fun. We would go bush whacking in the woods, or even sit in the pasture eating candy, specifically Swedish Fish.

After a decade together, Eclipse got older; his hair turned white, and he had so many muscles he could pull me clear across a corral. I also got older and therefore taller, and became too tall to compete Eclipse. That is when I got Dancer, who came to college with me. Even though Dancer is my current competition horse and teammate Eclipse was not replaced. Eclipse is still his mischievous self, and is teaching several kids how to ride. Anyway, he is at home and I am at school, but every time I go home, he is on the top of my list of things to visit.

Eclipse was my first horse, my pal, and taught me everything I know about riding horses. He is unforgettable, and together we have so many amazing memories.

Toddlers

Today I went into the human development lab to observe infants, toddlers, and four year olds. They were as expected very cute, but I noticed one thing about many of them. The toddlers specifically were quite interesting. None of them could speak in full sentences, or even using more than one word at a time. However, the sounds that came out of their mouths were comical. I never have seen a real dinosaur, therefore I have never heard what a dinosaur sounds like, but in my imagination, the toddlers sounded just like pterodactyls. They were all rawring, growling, and squawking. I am so sad I did not have a tape recorder or something along those lines.

Whenever I think about language now, I think about the dinosaur toddlers. Each of them only knew a few words each, but they found ways of communicating. Whether that was speaking tyrannosaurus rex, or smacking each other, forms of communication were evident. I laugh when I imagine if people never developed, and still wandered around groaning and smacking each other to talk. We would all be cavemen, sounding. I am so glad that humans learn and grow because it would be impossible for industry to take off with wild people walking around. Funny, but no commerce or inventions.

Flair

This morning I was rummaging through Facebook and chatting with people, when I received a notification. My friend Bunmi sent me a Piece of Flair. Flair is a Facebook application that I actually like. Basically it is a way for friends to send little button looking memos from one person to another. I have been given several pieces of flair, most of them given to me by Bunmi who always seems to find ones that are completely applicable to our group of friends or myself. Bunmi sent me two today. They both gave me a giggle, but one was just so true that I could not resist sharing it.

The flair read, “Warning: may change topics mid-sentence.” I find that when I am writing or chatting online I don’t change subjects in mid-sentence. However, when I am in an oral conversation I am so easily distracted that I can be talking about snow peas and switch to the subject of mud pies. This is an everyday occurrence. Random is a good adjective that can describe me. In fact, Bunmi keeps a “quote book” and I had a streak of ten quotes in it, before someone broke my record. I love this, because I never think about what I am going to say until after it comes out of my mouth. With the help of the quote book I can look back and see all the good, crazy, random, and dumb things that come out of my mouth. This makes me wonder about how and where I think of or obtain the things I say. I definitely did not inherit this skill from a parent, or anyone in my family that I know of. If I did inherit this it must be from a great, great, great, great, great grandfather or something. Anyway, these random bursts of words lead to some fantastic inside jokes (which there are far to many in our small passé). Still, when I opened this piece of flair, I immediately thought about how I do change topics mid-sentence. This is just me, but I should probably work on keeping the same topic the whole sentence through before I go on formal job interviews. I think it would probably be a bad thing if I started answering a question about my strengths with “I am reliable” and ending it with “I want a pinecone.” Just a little thing I need to work on throughout my college career. It is going to be a pretty hilarious ride.

Equine Update

I am sure that I have mentioned that I love horses and going to the barn is a total thrill. It never seems to get old, in fact, the more I get to go the more I like it there. I have not given an update on the status of the horses in a week or so, so here goes nothing…

Joe is still a pain in the butt. For a little while I thought it was because he was trying to make my job harder. However, after the constant occurrences of his stupidity I have come to realize that he is not acting. He is definitely not the brightest crayon in the box. I find it hilarious that he is always the last to enter the barn at feedings, but can never find his stall. Just to bring this to the surface, he is the last one in therefore, there is only one stall door left open, yet he looks around as if there is no where to go. Maybe there is something wrong with his eyesight, because he hit the epitome of LOST last Saturday. Instead of following the other horses and finding an empty stall, Joe decided it would be a good idea to wander into the dark corner of the barn and get stuck. He wandered into the smallest, darkest, creepiest corner that I have ever seen. What drew him in there, I will never know. I just watched him get stuck, and then get himself out. He seemed quite perturbed that I did not help him, but why help him if he always is not helping me? I know it is a horse, but still, why return the favor? I spread hay out in the pasture while he worked to get himself out of his own made pickle.

Besides Joe, the other horses are doing quite well. They are enjoying the warm weather similar to the rest of Ames. Unfortunately, it is March and Sangha’s training contract has been completed. This is no big deal; one less horse for me to feed five days a week, but Sangha was my favorite, besides Dancer [my horse] because he is the “bomb diggity”. Sangha was so friendly, approachable, and drop dead gorgeous. Just for some insight, it is indeed true that there are pretty horses as well as ugly ones. There are smart horses and dumb ones, young ones and old. Some are ugly and smart, and some are like Joe, a handsome devil but crazy stupid. They come in all shapes and sizes and all have distinctly different voices, scents, and personalities. Sounds a lot like people does it not? Anyway, I wanted to ride Sangha so bad, but did not get a chance. Oh well, there will be another horse that is like Sangha that will come around, but there will never be another Sangha. The little things I must accept against my will.

Other than that, Sidney left too. This is a good thing because Dancer always got into little arguments with Sidney. I guess their relationship can be described as two little kindergarten boys fighting over the Tonka truck that is buried in the sandbox. The only reason they both want it, is because the other “seems” to want it. Therefore, they will always be in some sort of war. It is amusing until one of them kicks the other and then stitches are the result. I hate it when that happens, because vet bills are not exactly the cheapest things. Well, that is all I got for the equine update for now. Spring fever has risen and cabin fever has deceased. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens at the end of the week.

Week 7 Reflective Essay: Rhetorical Elements

In the article You’re Short, Besides! written by Sucheng Chan, Chan successfully argues that handicapped people are reduced to a low level in society and are not created equal. She uses character development, imagery, and tone to describe and present her struggles with being handicapped.

At a very young age, Chan was struck with polio and pneumonia simultaneously. These two illnesses left her handicapped for life. In her article Chan describes her own feelings, but also describes how her father felt when he returned from the war. She introduces her father, and develops his character by discussing the impact his feelings had on her. “Throughout my childhood, he sometimes apologized to me for having to suffer retribution for his former bad behavior (Chan 3)” is an example of how Chan’s father affected her. Even though her father had been absent through a lot of Chan’s treatments, the reader can still follow Chan’s examples and develop a view about her father. “He took me out often, carrying me on his shoulders or back, to give me fresh air and sunshine (3).” The character of Chan’s father develops from being guilty about his daughter’s condition to doing whatever he can to make it easier for her. By using simple character development, Chan makes he article so much more powerful. This is because she makes it more personal and gives insight into her family life.

Chan also uses imagery to describe her feelings and conditions. She describes how she felt in the ocean. “On the land I was a cripple; in the ocean I could move with the grace of fish (3).” When she states “grace of fish” the reader can understand how the water took her from her crippled reality and brought her into her own world. Swimming helped her to escape public scrutiny for being handicapped. By drawing the comparison of a fish’s grace an image of her is implanted into the reader’s mind.

Tone is also an element that Chan uses to prove her argument and describe her personal feelings. There are a few instances where she seems to be a little annoyed with others, but uses that annoyance to show that she is not incompetent because of her condition. “’If it makes any difference, I want you to know I’ve won a number of speech contests in my life, and I am not the least bit self-conscious about speaking in front of large audiences (4).’” Her tone in this passage is snarky, but brave. She has no fear to point out her achievements and describe her adequate self-esteem. This is subtle, but substantial point in her article because the reader can really understand that being handicapped does not take away all your intelligence or abilities. Chan uses her own experiences to prove her point.

Throughout You’re Short, Besides! Chan uses character development, imagery, and tone to present and prove her point about how handicapped people are equal to those who are not cripple. The character development of her father, presents how relatives affected her everyday life. It also gave a very personal aspect to her article. Chan’s use of imagery allowed the reader to picture how Chan felt in the certain places she encountered, and help the reader to see what it is like to be crippled. Finally, Chan’s tone gives personality to her article as well as makes her point even stronger.

Is it Home?

These past two weeks I am sure I have mentioned that I have been a little worn out. I am glad to say that after a weekend home and doing absolutely no homework I have recovered from the college blues. It was good to go home, but I have to say, home does not really feel like home anymore.

Summer of 2007 my dad got a job at Cono Christian School. As a result, my parents packed the horses and I up and we all moved to Walker, Iowa. On the contrary, my dad and I actually did all the heavy lifting. Together we packed the horse trailer full of all our needed furniture. My arms were totally ripped at the end of that summer. We filled the horse trailer so that it was bursting at the seams six times. Yes, my family moved our own house and drove from Massachusetts to Iowa on five round trips and one, one way trip. It was really hard, and honestly, it has never really felt like home. I am so thankful that Cono gave my parents jobs, and I love the church there, but it just is not my home. When I say I am going home, I always second-guess myself by saying, “is Cono really my home?” I know I have been there almost two years, but if home is where the heart is, and my heart really is not at Cono, then I suppose it is not my true home. Going to Cono is great, I can see so many people who I have grown to love, but I feel more at home at school. Still, I did get to see my best friend, and my dad. That was the best part.

Anyway, I did no homework all weekend and I am paying for it now, but I did really need a break. Cecelia (my sister of no relation) played in the basketball tournament at Cono this weekend. I was so proud of her, but I watched so much basketball that I thought my eyes were going to fall out. Game after game after game, but it aroused some good memories of last year. Even though the memories were fun, it really fulfilled the expression “That’s so high school.” Still, there were a good amount of smiles and story telling.

Going back to Cono also means some mentoring. However, I love doing anything along the lines of helping people. I even felt accomplished when I was asked by a few students for help on their AP English papers. I guess being in college automatically makes me worthy to do such a thing, or maybe it is because I took the class senior year and thought it was awesome.

As the weekend came to end, I spent some time talking to Cecelia. We were catching up on lost time, and I kept looking at the clock, knowing that I should get back to school. I kept saying how I had to go, but really I did not want to leave. Staying and chatting was really what I wanted to do. In the end, I did end up going to a choir concert, which once again brought back some “that’s so high school” feelings.

Overall the weekend ended well. I dumped the college blues, but came back to school almost as tired as when I left. The good news is I am going on a mission’s trip to Panama City for spring break so I will not be totally bored. I am pumped. The warmth will be so nice. However, I will be missing out on some horse fun, but that’s okay, s’all good.