I'm so tempted to go to San Diego for Thanksgiving. Should I, should I, oh should I??? Money, homework, time? hmmm.... I have to decide soon.

I would maybe fly into LA because in my price searches so far that would be almost a hundred dollars less. Then maybe I could take the train down after hanging out with some LAer friends...hmmmmmm....I'm leaning towards no but so tempting....

I'm in Baltimore right now. Yes oh yes. Just finished a jog. It was weird. These 13 year old boys were flirting/making fun of me as I was jogging. They were pretending to jog and saying, "Hey lady, come jog with us." And saying other random stuff. Something was weird about that to me. I was like, "Don't they know how old I am?" They should see me as their mom or something.

I needed a break from SIT so I decided to come down to Baltimore for the weekend to visit Sandy. It's been refreshing to hang out with a close friend. Scott thought it was really bizarre that we pretty much studied the whole time. We spent hours at coffee shops this weekend alternating between deep talks and studying. It was perfect because we both had a lot of work to do but also needed to be refreshed.

I was supposed to leave this morning to drive back to Vermont but I got totally lost on the way to the highway. I know it sounds ridiculous but Baltimore is a really confusing city. So it got way too late in the day to drive that many hours in my super old car (that I borrowed from a friend). So I'm leaving early tomorrow morning. haha

Just to give you an update: Joshua is much better now and has been out of the hospital since the 14th. So thanks for your prayers.

Girls and Boys, Men and Women....

Celebrate "Love Your Body" day!!!

Oct. 19th!!!

(It's just coincidence that I went off on these very issues yesterday. Seriously, today is love your bod day.)

http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/

taken from http://www.about-face.org/yv/forum/index.shtml

Jean Kilborne is my new hero! Just got back from one of her lectures/media presentations at a college near my school. wow

Fascinating/disturbing analysis of the depiction of women in advertising. Really got me on my soapbox on the drive home.

This is one of those subjects I've got to blog about. I'm serious this time. No more empty promises. But meanwhile I've gotta go do some reading.... :-)

For info on the issues check out, "About Face" or Jean's resource list.

"About Face promotes positive self-esteem in girls and women of all ages, sizes, races and backgrounds through a spirited approach to media education, outreach and activism."

I should note that I don't necessarily agree with how they do everything but I thought the "make changes" link was helpful.

so now...

yipeeeee, it stopped raining...

we can....

play in the leaves....
:-)

Joshua report:
He's still in the hospital but they're pretty sure it's a viral infection and not the bacterial infection they were initially concerned about. He's breathing better but they still want to keep him overnight. I just talked to Andre and he said not to worry because Joshua is getting better.

I talked to Joshua for just a minute. He sounded terrible. It was heart wrenching to hear his small, sweet voice so raspy.

Thanks for praying.

my sis called me early this morning from the hospital. my nephew is having problems breathing. They've been in the hospital all night. They're not sure what it is but right now they're saying it's possible it could be something serious. It could be a serious case of croup or be a rare bacterial infection. If it's the latter, it's more serious. hopefully, it's not the latter.

please pray for him and my sis's family today!!

ugh, i have so much reading. it's "ugh" because I want to read it all but I know I have to skim a lot of it. it's such interesting stuff. right now i'm reading a book that's totally ripping apart the idea of "development". it's kind of funny because um, that's my major! excuse me, buddy!

like my advisor said in our first meeting, this school tries to "deconstruct" the concept of development our first semester, then kind of rebuilds it the second semester. maybe i'm cocky but that doesn't threaten me at all. i don't have this pie-in-the-sky idea about society's ability to help itself.

anyway, whoops...i realized my post on constant gardener might have given the impression that it's a "feel good" movie. warning: it's not. in fact, it's a very troubling movie.

my favorite prayer/meditation spot...

All these pics are the sights that I soak in as I jog on the dirt roads surrounding my campus. I wanted to put them up before the leaves all change.

I took these pics just last week and already this week a lot of trees are starting to turn their fall colors. (I hope to take lots of pics) I can't wait to see this area in all its beauty!

I love fall.

i was in class from 8:30 in the morning to 10pm today. dang.

my rump hurts...

Constant Gardener is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time!! Absolute must see! Not only is the plot realistic and beautifully woven, its cinematography is fresh and genuine. Not to mention the acting is incredible!

Anyway, can you tell I loved the movie?

note: I just read Ebert's review of the movie and for the most part I totally disagree with his take on the movie. See the movie first then read the review because he'll give you the wrong spin on it in my humble opinion.