Notorious

Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Alfred Hitchcock.

I just have one question: Why in the world have you not seen this movie yet?

I feel like people are trying to make me feel that I'm not doing enough

People keep asking me what I'm doing this summer.
And I answer:
"working"
"oh really, that's nice"
"Yeah, I'm excited."
"Where do you work?"
"Where I've worked for the past year and a half." (usually I just insert the name of my glorious job here)
"Oh, huh, that's cool, what else are you doing?"
"relaxing, working, eating, sleeping, reading." (in my joking voice)
"Oh, well that will be nice."

No matter how they say it, I get the feeling that I'm not doing something right.
What do they want me to say?

"I'm going to travel for the school this summer." (that wouldn't be good)
"I'm going to Argentina for a trip." (apparently that fills up your whole summer)
"I'm going to work at a camp. (even camps don't start until June)

Do they want something else, should I be offering more information?

Should I read them my anti-list list of things I want to do this summer?
Should I explain what working means?
Should I explain what summer means?
Should I tell them all of the ministries and activities that I'm involved with this summer?
Should I be in an "organized" ministry/job that they recognize as such, and therefore they can believe that it takes up your whole summer?

Should I be doing something more?

I look at my summer, and it looks full. I see weekends that are already filled up. I see extra jobs/one-time fun things/friend lunches/weddings/church functions/special projects, all throughout my summer. In fact, I don't see a week where something will not be abnormal(from what I would consider a regular summer week). And yet, every time I tell someone that I'm working, I feel like they think I'm not doing enough. And I don't know why that is.

You don't want to know.

I should probably tell you that this is completely random. I don't really know where it came from. I had the greatest reservations about posting this, but I figured you guys know me anyway, so this shouldn't be too much of a stretch for you to imagine coming from me.

A question has been plaguing me for sometime:

If somebody with a popular anonymous blog died, how long do you think it would take before people stopped checking it? Or how many people would comment with those annoying comments,
"Post or I'm going to find you, and make you post."
"Why aren't you posting?"
"You are the best writer ever!!!!! Please bless us with your glorious words again!!!
"Dude, bring the words back."
"Please post again, please, please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE"
"post I red all of your'e writings, I luv them and u bring them bak."
"you idiot-say something."
before they realized that this person was never going to answer? Which brings me to another problem; If one friend knew who this anonymous blogger was, and after the funeral he wanted to let his friends loyal blog-readers know that they needed to move on to another blog, how would he tell them? By posting a comment on his friends blog? And what would that comment look like?

"Dear friends of "insert anonymous blog name here". I am a good friend of "insert anonymous blog name here", or maybe I should say I was a good friend of "insert anonymous blog name here" I regret to tell you that he has passed on into the hereafter. He went peacefully between a truck and a car - and did not emerge so peacefully. The funeral was a great success. I regret to make this matter known to you, because this means that his blog will no longer be used. His last post "Taken with Cheerios" is the last time his words will ever be published. I suggest you take a moment and review some of your favorite posts (may I suggest "Todd and I", "Choo-Choo Train", and of course everyone's favorite "Aloe-Vera for the soul") I hope all of you can take these truths that you have learned from "insert anonymous blog name here" and learn from them. "inset anonymous blog name here" will be greatly missed, and loved, and cherished, and never forgotten. May I steal from this great blogger and close this sad comment with my personal favorite quote, "Pain is ripping through my soul - I search - I seek - I find relief. I look down upon this relief and search for a name - a truth - an explanation for this sweet, sweet relief. And there I see, in my hand, a bottle full of green. And then, I realize that the name, is not all that it seems, the name is just a cover, covering what truth the bottle holds. The name is not important, oh no, the only thing truly important in life - is only the relief - only the feeling of relief. I wonder why I cannot explain it, why I cannot make you understand, I only know what I feel, I only know what I see, I only know the sweet, sweet relief of Aloe-Vera for the soul."

I hope we can all find our own Aloe-Vera to help with "insert anonymous blog name here" 's passing.
To Aloe-Vera,
"insert name of friend of anonymous blogger here"

How many people do you think would actually buy that?


-The above is to be read in a highly sarcastic form.
-Aloe Vera for the soul quotation is to be read with the great poetic voice of Professor G.H. Dorr

I'm disturbed by myself,
Joanna

121 days

A Man for All Seasons

This is one of the greatest movies of all time.

5 Reasons:

1: It's true - movies that revolve around a true story always make you slightly more interested. (At least that's the case for me)

2: The cast is incredible!


We've got Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More:



Incredible actor - he died this year. Philip, RuthAnn, Bethany and I were heartbroken.







Robert Shaw as Henry VIII:



Actor from Jaws, From Russia With Love, and The Sting






Orson Welles even has a cameo as Cardinal Wolsey.
Not only are the actors great, the acting is fascinating. You watch the story unfold, knowing how it will end, how it has to end, and yet when it ends, you can't help but hurt.

4. The screenplay and dialouge is awesome.

5. The camera angles are telling.

Favorite line, "I trust I make myself obscure."

Watch the movie. I don't have anything else to say.

Movies

I'm learning new things.

I figured out how to add an image to my blogs - happy times.

I'm very excited about my new knowledge.

Over the summer, I would like to show you some of my favorite movies. Well I can't show you, but you should watch them, because they're all good. I can give you pictures, and my personal movie reviews.

Enjoy,

Joanna

Afterthought - these picks are NOT in any particular order. Wait, that's not true. These movie picks are in the order that I think, watch, talk or am reminded of.

21 Days Later

I know. It sounds like a horror movie. Is it? I try not to remember cheap horror movies.
Now for the news that you've all been waiting for. Are you ready? Here it is.

I AM DONE

Hard to believe I know. At this moment, I don't even really believe it myself. But it's true. I sit before this computer with not one more final to take. With not one more assignment to turn in. With not one more class to attend. With not one more day of not being allowed to wear flip-flops. (You thought I was going to say nylons)

I AM DONE

Now what? What am I supposed to do now? I have 3 months in which no school is required of me, what should I do with it? I should probably tell you right now that I am not a goal person. I don't make new-years resolutions. I don't write out pro/con lists. And so, here I sit. Thinking of the coming summer, and not knowing what is in store for me. Not even having a plan for what I want to accomplish this summer. I know some of what I will do this summer. I'll give you a list with explanations.

1. Get Drivers License - high on my priority list. I love driving. I just need to work on my parking skills (pray every time I parallel park) and drive a little bit more before I go take the test.

2. Read - I'm sick and tired of not picking up a book because I know I have schoolwork that I should be doing instead. I plan on reading widely and often this summer.

3. Spend time with Bethany and Philip - Important thing to accomplish. I want to be able to hang out with them a lot more than I usually can. P and I do library, but B and I don't have a lot we do. Maybe running, or biking, food, or movies, these are all viable options.

4. Work - I should be able to get quite a few hours this summer. And I mean quite a few. I'm not technically full-time (which means I can take days off), but I'm not just part-time either. I ususally end up doing about 40-50 hour weeks. But I'm not set on that number, which is nice. I'm also supposed to be learning 2 different aspects of my job. Which means I'll get even more hours - yay for money.

5. Help with Craftsmen Colloquium - no explanation needed

6. Blog - I'm going to try to blog at least once every week. I really, really want to write. I have tons of mental posts saved in my mind, all I should have to do is pull them out one by one and write them down. Some of them are good.

7. Spend time with Melanie - also no explanation needed

8. Read - I've given up on explanations

9. Watch movies - many, many movies

10. Sleep

I don't like lists. I don't like the fact that I just made one. I don't want to go through the summer mentally checking things off in my mind. I don't want to think of this summer as just another semester with tons of things to do. I want to enjoy this summer.

Joanna

Finishing thoughts that are too disjointed to actually make sense.

- I plan on composing a post (at some point in time), using my earlier list of "things every freshman is required by law to do" and sharing my freshman experiences.

- It's 126 days until the NFL Kickoff (have you been paying attention to the draft? I have)

- I did well in school, just thought you would like to know. My final grades haven't all come back, but I passed all of my classes and I'm pretty sure I made Deans list.

- I love that I'm posting this, while knowing that I have no school to do, no homework to worry about, no tests to take and no papers left to write.

Heres to summer and flip-flops.

20 days

I count down to very few things. The NFL kickoff is of course one of them. (147 days to go) But today the number 20 is very, very attractive. In 20 days, I will have finished my last final. That's all I have left. 20 days. While that number is looking incredibly attractive, I must admit that it is also an incredibly scary number. I have to finish everything that's due in 20 days. I'm not even sure that's humanly possible.

As much as I hate to admit it, I am homework-obsessed. One of my greatest fears is walking into a classroom, and not having completed the work that is due for that class period.
Subsequently, I have never turned in anything late.
Subsequently, I have never walked into a class unprepared.
Subsequently, I think about homework all the time.
Subsequently, I never, ever feel like I can completely relax while school is in session.
Even when I plan ahead to give myself a few days off, I still think about school in my free moments. During the normal school week I still plan what I should be doing in the next few days. Every morning at work (for all of you who don't know, I go to work before school every morning, I go in around 5) I plan out what I'm going to do with my free hours. What I want to accomplish in them. I think about what's do for each class. I plan lunch times and visiting, but the schoolwork is always there lingering in my mind. I wish I could get back to it, I wish I could have days to just do homework, and then let this burden fall off my shoulders. In case you're totally worried about my state of mind, rest assured that I do have plenty of fun during the school year, but I always wish that I could stop thinking about homework all the time.

And I will in 20 more days.

I wonder what I'll feel like when I walk out of my last final, when I leave that room and head on home, when I go upstairs and put away my schoolbag for good. Joy, contentment, loss of purpose, relief, despair, assurance, bored, excited, empty, thrilled. I have no idea which of these emotions I'll feel, but whichever it happens to be, I'll be sure to let you know.

-You probably won't be hearing from me for about um, I don't know maybe 21 more days.