Happy Tidings!

     Just a two weeks ago my younger sister sent me a text while I was at work. Unfortunately so did all the rest of our mutual friends. My sister was trying to tell me the wonderful news: her boyfriend asked her to marry him! While I'm completely ecstatic for my sister, I am a little frustrated with everyone else's responses. They ranged from "I thought she said they weren't getting married" to "How do you feel about this?".
     I am kind of stunned that my friends would want to talk to me rather than just wish her congratulations, but at the same time I understand that they might want to confirm what they're seeing on Facebook and other social media. Not only am I not the expert on their life together, but I was supposed to be pleasantly surprised by the news. A surprise that was ruined because of this instant communication we now live with.
     The one surprise they couldn't ruin was her request upon seeing me for the first time: "Hey, will you be my Maid of Honor?". I have never been so proud of my sister as when she started behaving like the adult she is with a request rather than expectation or demand. And I am honored to be asked to share such an important part of her most anticipated day.

Congratulations Kaitlyn & Robert!

Graduation!!

      Yesterday was Graduation Day for my university! On one hand I'm ecstatic to be finished with my undergraduate years, but on the other I'm going to miss all the friends and the experiences and I'm terrified of the "real world." These last four years have been some great times, starting with my freshman year and learning how to function again after tearing my knee apart and having surgery to fix it and finishing with this last year and the insanity of Capstone and preparation for today--my first day as a college graduate.
     There's that worry and stress about "What are you going to do after college?" Well, apparently I'm going to sit on my computer and talk to the world... I don't have a long-term job lined up like some of my classmates, but I'm positive about discovering what I enjoy and working toward the goals I've set for myself. I'm willing to let those goals change, and move with where the world flings me. I'm not exactly just letting it happen, as my family thinks, but I will look around and maybe do something a little unconventional for a while.
     What will I do after college? I will have fun, make people smile, read for pleasure, do my own research on topics that fascinate me, and I will cultivate the relationships my undergraduate years have allowed me to develop. But I will start all of that by packing up my apartment and moving back home until I have that semi-permanent job and can afford my own place.

     I want to say "Thank You" to all of my wonderful friends, my crazy family, and the myriad of professors, mentors, fellow students, and other people that have supported me, pushed me, and been the person I prove wrong when I accomplish the impossible--you have helped to create the person I am today.

Just a thought...
Stephie

Thyroid Cancer Prevention?

     I was talking to my grandmother recently and she was reading one of those forwarding e-mails, I don't know how true it is, but it sounds plausible. The info originated on Dr. Oz or some such television show.
     When you go to the dentist and get X-rays most people don't realize that your thyroid is right below your jaw. We're told that constant exposure to radiation can cause cancer and it makes sense that regular exposure to radiation at the dentist (or during mammograms for women) can increase your risk, or cause cancer. But there is a guard to protect you; a flap on the apron at the dentist's office and a "thyroid guard" to wear during mammograms are available, but most people don't know about it or don't use it.
     Why don't we know about it? I don't know, maybe it's just a lack of information. If so, let's spread the word.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Sequester: Air Tower Closures

     I was stunned to learn that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is closing down several of their locations because of the sequester. I went searching for information and according to a Forbes article even though air traffic makes up only 20% of the Department of Transportation's budget, it is taking 60% of the cuts to transportation. I would like to see some reasoning behind this--Why is the FAA getting the lion's share of the cuts?
     The cuts will close 149 air traffic control towers that are run by subcontracted employees, meaning that the controllers are employed by outside companies rather than the FAA itself. Out of 250 towers nation-wide, the FAA originally planned on closing 189 towers but changed the plan because of "national interest."
     My shock was mainly at the scale of the closures. The 149 towers are in 46 states, they are in small towns and the outskirts of large cities alike. But the closures aren't really closing down the entire facility, instead they're pulling the air traffic controllers and closing the towers. Some "have likened the tower closures to a city suddenly losing its stoplights. It doesn't mean that crashes will happen, but pilots will have to be that much more vigilant" the article said. 
      As someone who travels to small towns and has family and friends in aviation, the closures are concerning; there are ways to deal with an empty control tower, but a location that has been functioning with personnel will be handicapped at least initially by these decisions. I just hope we don't have to hear about a tragedy because of the FAA's cuts. 

Just a thought...
Stephie

A Compliment a Day...

     So today was not a good day; I planned to get up early, finish my homework, clean my apartment, maybe go to my parents' and play with my dog. None of that happened: I slept much later than I had hoped, managed to spend the entire day washing dishes, feeling all alone, and discovered that my roommate's boyfriend had left egg all over the lid to one of my pans. After an hour of scrubbing it is still not clean. To say the least I was not in a good mood.
     But then I checked my Facebook. I attend Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA and recently a student (at least I assume it was a student) started up a Facebook page called Pacific Lutheran Compliments where students may anonymously submit compliments to the administrator and they will appear on the page. I've been following it since its founding and it's been wonderful to see several of my friends complimented, and to just see how kind everyone is, but I was starting to feel left out when today a friend tagged me on a compliment. Needless to say my entire day turned around. It's wonderful how something so small could make my entire day better.

Just a thought...
Stephie

Back to the Grind

It's 2013!

     It was a crazy year, 2012: at least four "apocalypses", a Presidential Election, and some very influential decisions made in Washington State. Yet, we're all still here. What are some of your favorite memories from 2012? Did you ever keep those New Year's Resolutions that we're always making? What are some of the things you wouldn't change for the world?
     I'm back to school after a wonderful Christmas Break full of friends and family. New Year's was great, the party went as planned, and we had a great group of friends there. We counted down that last ten seconds to the new year and watched the Seattle Space Needle firework show on the local news. Then there was the NYC celebration, the flurry of text messages and phone calls from family and friends, and the midnight toast. Overall it was a great time and a fun way to ring in the new year.
     But now we're back. I learned yesterday that my entire January schedule was wrong: my class starts at 11:30 rather than 2:30 and goes Monday through Friday instead of starting Tuesdays. That doesn't seem like much of a change, except that it's right during the time I was scheduled to work. The frustration of figuring out how to balance all of our schedules and have someone on duty at all times is starting to get annoying, simply because January has a completely different schedule than the rest of the year. Anyway, everything is piling up, and homework is still a huge factor in what all of us Lutes are doing this month, but it's great to be back and have everyone else around.

Just a thought...
Stephie

New Year's Eve

     Every year I celebrate New Year's Eve with my family, everybody does their own thing while keeping the dogs calm as our neighbors set off fireworks. Occasionally my sister and brother and I will go over to the neighbors' house, but for the most part we don't do anything more than watch the fireworks and listen to the music on the news--kind of like the Fourth of July. But this year is going to be different.
     This year I am going to attend a party for the first time, well, a party that isn't a family get-together. And that's just kind of sad. Our party is going to be New Years themed, and I'm sure there will be an insane number of people being idiots, but what's a better reason to be silly than the end of the year? There will be music, movies, and the requisite game of beer pong. We've all made the decision to have fun and ring in the new year with some of our favorite people.
     I'm excited, Happy New Year!

Just a thought...
Stephie

End of the World

     Why is everyone freaking out about the end of the world? I'm only twenty-two and I've lived through more "end-of-the-world" scenarios than nearly any other era of history: Y2K and the electronics apocalypse of 2000, 9/11 and the terrorist attacks on the United States as well as the ensuing war, about twelve different dates for Armageddon, and now this--the end of the Mayan calendar. Is it that we have a fascination with death and destruction? Is it that we see something morally wrong with where we're all going? Or is it that it's really entertaining to propose a world-wide event and make believe that it'll happen?
     When I took a class on Fairy Tales, we discussed the stories as ways of coping with the moral dilemmas of our daily lives. The stories allowed us to live through these terrifying and traumatizing events without actually being physically harmed in the process, they were entertainment for the dark side of the human psyche. Is that what we're doing now, with these end of the world, death and destruction stories? Movies like 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow have become manifestations of our fear of the end of the world, and turning it into something that fascinates and entertains us. Decades ago, these same stories would be the Grimm versions of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Iron John, and so many more myths and legends. They've been extended beyond the individual level--a single person's world is falling apart--to the destruction of all peoples and their worlds.
     Long, rambling, story short: these stories of Earth's destruction are the modern stories that help us deal with the problems of society and the fear of what's coming next. There is a place for such stories, but we, as everyday people, do not need to believe them in a literal sense.

Just a thought...
Stephie

PS. We're still here.

School Shooting--Make Your Own Decisions

     This past Friday, there was a terrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut: a classroom of kindergarteners and fourth graders, as well as some of the professionals at the school were killed. Now everyone is taking stances on the American Constitution's second Amendment--the right to bear arms. We seem to think because there is gun violence and people are going to abuse their right to protect themselves that taking away the ability for the average person to have a weapon is going to stop the people breaking laws.
     Here's my question: If people are going to use guns in the process of breaking the law, what makes our society think that the illegality of possessing a gun will stop gun violence and the breaking of law? If someone is going to break the law, making gun ownership illegal is not going to stop them. For example: one of the main arguments for why pot (marijuana) should be legal is that people are not going to stop using it.
     Yes, what happened Friday in Connecticut was a tragedy, twenty-some people lost their lives, parents lost their innocent children, and there will be a generation of children terrified and traumatized because of this experience. But, as sad as it is, this happens every day around the world: that same day 22 children and an elderly woman were stabbed in China outside an elementary school; July 20th of this year 12 people were killed and an additional 58 were injured when a gunman released teargas in a crowded theater release of the new Batman movie, then fired shots into the audience; a man near Newport Beach, California opened fire at a mall both Saturday and in a similar instance November 16th; and December 11th a man opened fire at the Clackamas Town Center mall near Portland, Oregon killing two people and severely injuring another.
     We live in our own little worlds, ignoring all the unpleasant things in our society until the media brings them to our attention. The local news may pick up on more of the tragedies that effect us directly, but this "head-in-the-sand" method of dealing with the dangers of life in a world where people don't respect each other is what will get us into real trouble. Be aware, not only of the 'crazies' that are out there killing people, but the people who are doing good in the world. Be aware of where you are and what you're doing. Be aware that the greatest dangers are of letting someone else make up your mind for you.

Just a thought....
Stephie

Sasquatch

     I live in the Pacific Northwest, I have my entire life, and I still don't understand how people can't believe that there is something out there that we don't understand. I'm watching whatever this is on the History channel about Bigfoot. They keep talking about skunk apes and mutant gorillas, or even the missing link between humans and the apes. They've gotten a group of "experts" together to look into whatever the sightings might really be.
     They wonder what Bigfoot eats, where he lives, why he is secretive or hides, where did he come from, and what is he doing? They look at what Bigfoot had to evolve toward in order to survive. They mapped out where sightings have been reported, they're focused along the western coast in North America, and the experts compared that to what they believe to be the best climate for a large omnivorous ape. Supposedly they match almost perfectly. The sightings describe a tall, broad, hairy-looking man that walks on two legs, can run like a man or an ape, makes calls into the night and hunts in the forest.
     The scientists compare the Bigfoot sightings they're researching to the Loch Ness monster and to the Yeti as mythic creatures. When they compare the Bigfoot to creatures we know to exist they usually compare them to humans or to chimpanzees or gorillas. They talk about the Yeti living in the snow fields and being compared to the Mande Burung and the Yeren in Asia, and to the Oreng Pendek in Indonesia. These are creatures that have been seen for thousands of years and match a human ancestor called Heidelbergensis.
     The name Sasquatch is a native american term and the tales match up with each of these different ancient human examples. There is another theory that the Bigfoot creature is a modern human that has become the "Wild Man" and evolved to live in the wild. It wouldn't necessarily be a future example of humans, but a parallel species. They cite the similarity to humans in diet, shape, possible rituals, and purported sexual desire (apparently Sasquatch has an attraction to human women and the tribes of the Pacific Northwest take care to protect their female guests) to draw lines between human ancestors, giant apes, modern human cousins, or even modern homo sapiens.
     I'm just interested in what's out there. Is it a spiritual location for the native tribes where the shamans become wild people and transform into a completely different kind of person? Is there a cousin or ancestor to modern humans wandering the forests? Or is it just a trick of the eye? I think there is something out there; I know of at least one person who has seen something like the typical image of Sasquatch, and I'm sure there are more.
     There is some magic in the mystery of Sasquatch and the other Bigfoot, as well as in the Loch Ness creature. I don't understand why we, as a human collective, insist that there isn't something in the forests and waters of the world. One day we might know what's out there, but I hope that we still have some of the mystery that pervades our planet when we do discover what it is.



Just a thought...
Stephie

Patriot Day

     Today was an interesting day: eleven years ago four air planes were hijacked in flight and used as weapons in an attack on the United States. Now, I know that most of what I truly know about 9/11 is filtered through a childhood lens and what I've since been told by the media and my parents, but I did live through one of the most traumatic events of the last thirty years.
     Everyone says you remember where you are when it happens. It's true: I had just turned eleven years old,  my sister and brother and I were at daycare while my dad was at work and my mom was in Turkey on a trip for work. We were just getting to the "big kid center" when our supervisor/teacher got a call. It was the daycare's main base--where the younger kids stayed while the school-aged kids waited for time to leave--telling her to check the news. She turned on the television and the image of the smoking towers was everywhere.
     We stood in shock: what happened? What did that mean for a bunch of kids living three thousand miles away? What was going to happen next? It was a bigger question for my sister and me; what would happen to us? Both of our parents were in the military and any attack on the United States meant they could be sent anywhere around the world. The most difficult part for us was that neither of our parents could be reached... All military bases were on lockdown--nothing goes in or out (people, equipment, non-military communication)--and even they couldn't get a hold of some places overseas.
     It turned out that my dad wouldn't be going anywhere (he had three children at home and his wife was overseas) but my mom wouldn't be coming home either. Mom ended up coming home several weeks later than expected, and no one knew how long anyone was going to stay. My siblings and I ended up going to school as normal, going home, and staying with an aunt while Dad worked.
     We later learned that there were more than just the two planes we'd seen on the television: one landed in the Pentagon wiping out thousands of lives, and another was commandeered by the passengers, who diverted the plane from its destination in the White House to a field in Pennsylvania. Those passengers are now considered national heroes and are remembered for the lives they saved.
     It's sort of terrifying to think that all of those events, events that have driven our country into a decade-long military conflict and caused a significant change in how we live our daily lives, were so long ago. I am now twenty-two and have spent half my life living in a world where the people are scared to death of anyone different. If the attack on the United States hadn't happened, would we have moved beyond caring about what a person looked like or where their ancestors lived? Or would we still ignore the actions of truly amazing people just because they look or speak or come from somewhere different than us?

Just a thought....
Stephie

SWAT Standoff

    So, a couple weeks ago I was driving home from dropping my sister off when I ran into a police roadblock. So I went around and tried to get home the back way and ran into half the neighborhood standing in the middle of the road. At this point I gave up, parked and walked the rest of the way home.
     I got home and shared the news, apparently they had heard some explosions. So, we looked it up--according to the paper's website there was a SWAT standoff. Apparently some guy beat up two women a couple weeks ago and escaped when the police tried to arrest him. Somehow he landed at his mom's place in our neighborhood, somehow the police found him, and everyone just had to stand in the middle of the road to watch them work.
     That night the SWAT team picked the guy up after filling the house with gas.
Justice is served!

Just thinking....
Stephie