Places You'd Like to Visit

Ahh, vacation. How I love thee. Here are a few places I desperately want to see...

1. Machu Picchu: I can't imagine a more intriguing place to visit. Unless Atlantis is for real...
2. Italy: I've always wanted to see Venice ever since I saw the movie Only You.
3. Egypt: Ancient Egypt fascinates me! I love learning about the pyramids, pharaohs, hieroglyphics, etc.
4. New Zealand: I once had a plan to study in New Zealand for a semester. That never happened.
5. Ireland: Truth is, I want to run into Bono!
6. England: Another semester abroad I never achieved.
7. France: Who doesn't want to visit France? Oh, and Johnny Depp lives there...
8. Washington State: Twilight-induced.
9. North Carolina: I haven't spent much time on the Southeast Coast.
10. Germany: I want to visit the Holocaust memorials/museums.

Leaders You Are Inspired By

"Leader" and "inspiration" seem to go hand-in-hand. What's a leader who isn't inspiring? And if one is an inspiration, then is he/she not a leader if some way? Of course.

Rosa Parks--She was tired on the bus that day--that's why she didn't move. And I admire the fact that she never kept that a secret.
Martin Luther King, Jr.--A wise man of peace. So much to learn from him.
Nelson Mandela--Talk about a man of integrity.
Rep. Gordon Hintz--He convinces me that there are politicians who CARE!
Mary Daly--An amazing feminist and author.
Bono--His dedication to causes stretches over decades and has never been a publicity stunt.
Ryan Milbrath--He's practically perfect in every way. (It's kind-of sickening.) His writing, teaching, and general intelligence astounds me.
Deborah Ellis--A writer who exposes the atrocities of Third World countries.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton--Stoic, articulate, and grounded.
Gloria Steinem--Another woman of courage.

Things Beyond My Grasp of Understanding

I'm not a fan of this list topic what-so-ever. Probably because I have a hard time not being good great at anything I attempt to do or learn. This could account for why I quit cheerleading after my freshman year. (Or it was the anxiety... probably both.) So, making a list of things I can't understand sounded positively dreadful to me. I rebelled by listing only nine things, instead of the mandated ten. And you won't find any links in this post. (Like I'd want you to research the topic and actually know more about it than ME!)

1. Geometry. O, how I loathe this subject. Thank God Mr. Teska passed me with a D for "determined", though he probably intended the D to stand for "dumb".
2. Men & the Maid of Honor Curse. I took a dating-personality test once and it told me I'm the "Maid of Honor"--literally and figuratively. This is the woman men want to marry, for she is nearly perfect in every way (ala Mary Poppins), but she ends up being perpetually single (ala Mary Poppins). Oh my God...I just realized...I'm MARY FRICKIN' POPPINS!!!!
3. Mental Illness. The cruelest joke nature ever played. Nearly impossible to "fix" and so incredibly misunderstood by so many.
4. Mortgages, Investments, Loans, etc. How do people learn about this stuff? Do your parents sit you down and explain it? Did I miss this course in college? Totally clueless in Arizona.
5. Philosophy. Is this a chair because it's a chair? or because I call it a chair? Who cares. It's a chair! By the time I unravel the written mess you've created, I've forgotten the question.
6. Religion. I'm curious, shocked, and puzzled all at once.
7. The Holocaust. As best as one can who hasn't experienced something first-hand: I know what happened; I know why it happened. I still can't understand how it happened.
8. 'isms. Racism, sexism, homophobic-ism (okay, I made that last one up, but it needed to fit-in with the rest of the "isms"--pun intended.)
9. Morning People. WHAT IS WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!

Books That Made Me Cry

I cringed when I saw the list topic. "List books that made you cry." Really? Can't I have an....easier topic? Well, here's why I balked: I didn't think I could do it! And if I couldn't list ten books that made rivers run down my cheeks, what kind of avid-reading-language-arts-teacher would I be?! The irony is that I'm a total bawl-baby; I weep just thinking sad thoughts. I sobbed through the last half of Titanic and the entire half-hour drive home! But sad sob stories in books just don't do it for me... Imagine my surprise when I did, indeed, list ten reads that made me misty. *sniff, sniff* In fact, I threw in another five just to prove I AM a book-lover!

1. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I remember next to nothing about this book except for this amazing friendship between a boy and his two dogs. Oh, and the fact that I cried big crocodile tears toward the end.
2. The Pact by Jodi Picoult. I read this book during Spring Break of 2007. I was broken-hearted, and maybe that added to the pain of this story, but I vividly recall sobbing throughout parts of this.
3. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. Note to Self: Do not read break-up stories when suffering your own break-up! As depressing as it was, Meyer captured Bella's pain perfectly.
4. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. The oppression and abuse torture of women in this book is almost unbearable, but it is a heartwarming story in its own way. It's one of my all-time favorites.
5. PostSecret by Frank Warren. I've been fascinated with Warren's books and postcard blog for the past six years. I was starstruck when I met him at Changing Hands Bookstore in the fall of 2007. The first book he published contains a postcard of a flower with missing petals. I loved the secret and completely identified with it. The postcard inspired a priceless artwork I created for a literature course. I lost the piece... :(
6. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. Any book related to the Holocaust can bring me to tears, and this fictional story was no exception. My heart literally hurt when I finished this story. Note: The movie doesn't do the book justice.
7. I Am Not Your Victim: Anatomy of Domestic Violence by Beth Sipe and Evelyn J. Hall. This book was required reading for a college course I took titled Domestic Violence. One of the best courses of my college career, though also the most exhausting. Sipe's book is her own story of survival, but the journey to "survivor" was horrific.
8. Survival by Magda Herzberger. Herzberger's account of surviving several death camps during the Holocaust is rich with vivid details. Her spirit is just...incredible. Knowing Magda personally and having her speak at my school twice has been one of the most amazing experiences. I'm so fortunate to have met her!
9. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. There are a few moments in this book that pull at one's heartstrings, but there's one part, in particular, that just takes one's breath away.
10. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. Another one of my all-time favorite books! I just LOVE this book! So touching...
11. A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer. I read this book in one sitting and cried my eyes out.
12. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (aka Linda Brent). I've read this book several times and I even wrote part of my English thesis paper on it. It's heartbreaking that Jacobs was forced to live in a garret (i.e. crawlspace) for years to escape slavery and torture.
13. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. Excellent book and one of my favorites as a kid. The friendship between Jess and Leslie is unforgettable.
14. The Pigman by Paul Zindel. I couldn't help but think of Stella, an elderly woman I delivered prescriptions to in high school, or my grandpa, who doesn't have any "friends" to my knowledge, while I read this book. Another of my favorites as a kid.
15. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The movie doesn't do this book justice, and it's almost difficult to follow the movie if you haven't read the book. This story stayed with me long after I closed the book.