Three Cups of Tea

Tonight I had my very first book club meeting, where we discussed Three Cups of Tea. I didn't enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed the topic, if that makes any sense. It started out kind of slow, and trying to keep everyones name strait kind of gave me a headache. But the thought that you can get lost deep in the mountains and stumble upon your place in life just blows my mind. I'm not going to sit here and review the entire book because... it is quarter til eleven and I have to work in the morning. But suffice to say, the process that this man took to create over 50 schools in poor villages in Pakistan is inspiring.
It was really exciting for me to actually attend a book club meeting, since this has been a sad little goal of mine for a long time. I'm not sure why, but it always sounded to me like something that cool young women do- drink coffee, wear horn-rimmed glasses and discuss the latest best seller.
So tonight, I was one of the cool girls. And it felt really good to be out with people that were not related me, and had more to discuss than the abnormal bodily fluids coming out of a cat. (The second would be co-workers, in case anyone missed that!)

The Love Light

When I was a kid, I read this book about a girl who was caught stealing a bracelet and was sentenced to community service- some ungodly amount of time volunteering at the local humane society. This was the story of a a "typical teenager;" jaded, getting into trouble, hater of the Strict Stepfather and Overlyathletic Mother. Overall this was a pretty depressing book- getting into trouble, court dates, the mother's heart attack and the way that Strict Stepfather aggravated every situation. But the worst was the dog. Oh, the DOG. When Miss Shoplifter starts at the shelter, she develops an unexpected bond with a dog. This dog reacts immediately every time Miss Shoplifter comes into the room. He follows her everywhere, and they grow to love each other. One day, she comments on the way this dog looks at her. The sage humane society says, "Ahh, yes. He's got the love light in his eye. Very special thing, comes along only once in a lifetime. Means he loves you, and only you. There's a very special bond there." Well, soon this special dog's time has expired in the shelter- he is given one week to be adopted or he will be euthanized. Miss Shoplifter begs to take him home, to which Strict Stepfather replies, "We are not here to provide a home for every damned dog you see." She puts posters up, goes door to door- everything in her power to find this dog a home. Finally, two days before the deadline, she finds a family that will take him in. When she shows up at the shelter with the good news, she is told that he had been put down only an hour before. The love light is out forever. Miss Shoplifter falls into a deep state of depression over the loss of the dog who appears to be the only character in the book who loves her and Strict Stepfather says, "well, it's not MY fault- we can't save every dog in the world just because she asks us too." And the mother replies, "She didn't ask us to save every dog- she asked us to save one." This was an extremely depressing book!

Many people say that animals can not love-that they only use us for food and shelter, and tolerate us in return for these amenities. I don't know how anyone who owns a pet or works with animals can think this way, but they do. I feel sorry for these people, these people who can not see the love light in their pets eyes. Who can not feel the warmth emanating from every pet. I see this light in nearly every dog and cat that comes through our doors. I feel this most poignantly during euthanasia, which is the most difficult and loving moment in any animal to human relationship. During these last moments, the love between human and animal fills the entire room. Sick as this animal may be, that love light is still in her eyes and only goes out in that moment when the soul leaves the body. The human-animal bond is absolutely overwhelming... how can anyone not describe this bond as a loving one?

As further proof of the loving (not necessity) bond between humans and animals, I am not the one who feeds the animals in my household. This task falls to Jon 99% of the time, yet I am the one that the cats prefer. They know the sound of my car, and go running for the font door as soon as I pull into the parking lot. They follow me from room to room until I settle down and they can climb into my lap. At this moment, Kody and Tabitha are laying next to me, gazing at me like I am the center of the universe. I can feel all of the stresses of my day melting away under that gaze- who cares how bad of a day/week/month I've had? At the end of the day, my cats are still here, showing that unconditional love. I honestly can't even remember the last time that I was the one who scooped food into their bowl, and yet here they are by my side. If they were only hoping for food, they would be clamouring around Jon, and ignoring me in my uselessness.

Proof that the purest form of unconditional love comes from the animal kingdom.

Why I love Postsecret

Last night, I had the opportunity to see Frank Warren of Postsecret speak at the University of Kentucky. Check out the website, but for those of you who don't know, Postsecret is a community art project where people create a postcard with a secret, and mail it to Frank. The website is updated every Sunday, and as of a month ago, Frank has put out four books of secrets. Because they keep coming. I love Postsecret for two reasons. The first is therapeutic. When I recognise myself in someone else's secret, whether it be a secret or a fear they've never voiced aloud, I feel strangely relieved. Content. I am not the only one!!! There is a feeling of community and understanding; revealing myself without ever actually revealing myself. I know, I'm a dork, but I'm not the only one!

The second reason is Postsecret's affiliation with Hopeline, which is a national suicide prevention hotline and an information resource for suicide and depression. Countless lives have been saved by Hopeline, and without the monetary support received by Postsecret fans Hopeline probably would have gone under due to lack of funding. Because, unfortunately, there is not exactly a lot of money in saving people's lives. Look at firefighters, police officers, even ER doctors. They don't bring home even 1/16th of the cash that a pro-athlete or a ditzy Hollywood 'star' does. And what good influence do the big money earners have on society? You know, besides not wearing underwear and paying visits to rehab five times before the age of 21? Classy, right?

But I digress. About 30 minutes into Frank's talk last night, he mentioned that (statistically) in the time that he had been speaking, one person had been the victim of homicide. Two people had been the victims of themselves. Suicide occurring at twice the rate of homicide. Depressing. But you can see how this might happen. Depression, anxiety, bipolar, etc- untreated mental illnesses are fatal. Certainly more and people are seeking treatment as the stigma of mental illness are starting to lift. But then comes the vicious cycle:

• I feel like shit
• The shitty feeling is not going away
• I admit my problem, so I seek medication
• The shitty feeling lifts!!!
• I'm happy!!!
• Why did I ever seek these medications, I feel fine!
• I'm not taking any more medications, I don't need them!
• Medications stopped
• Hmmm, I feel like shit.
• Shittier.........
• Shittier..............
• And worse................
• I need help
• Medications obviously don't work, since I tried them and am feeling shitty again.
• There is no help for me

Without intervention, suicide is often the next bullet (no pun intended). If there's no friend or family member to step in (or if they are willing, but uncertain on a course of action), this person's only hope is either a personal awakening or a third, safe party to intervene. This is why Hopeline is necessary. So, support Postsecret, support Hopeline, and by extension, support life! (And dirty little secrets!) :)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hacker!

As usual, some moron thought that it would be a good idea to leak Harry Potter spoilers to the world. Yesterday, I saw the fateful headline, "Final Chapter of Harry Potter Leaked!" I immediately closed my web browser. This morning, my favorite radio station exuberantly announced that they had read the last chapter of Harry Potter, and would be reading passages later on in the show. I immediately switched off the radio, foregoing my weather and traffic report, not to mention my music. Get the picture?
I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!!
Call me a nerd, a dork, a loser, whatever you want, but I happen to love books. I hate having them ruined. In fact, many of my pet peeves involve reading. People interrupting me while I am reading. People asking me what the book is "about." People reading over my shoulder. People telling me, "the movie is better." People SPOILING my reading experience by informing me of key, exciting details: "Well, this way, you don't have to bother reading the book." I want to read the book. That's why I chose to read the book to begin with.
Yeah, I am a little extreme here, but I have been looking forward to the final Harry Potter book for years now. Not a couple of days or weeks. YEARS. A LOT OF YEARS! And there is a reason that I do not pre-order the book. I look forward to the experience of going to the store at 10:30pm, waiting in line with other excited people. I like the costumes, I like the atmosphere. But most of all, I LOVE settling onto my couch a little after midnight, under my blanket, cozy with my book, my cats, and some milk and cookies. And in dead silence, I stay up all night with my new book. The story unfolds before me, and it is new and exciting and completely thrilling. And above all, it is COZY. When book six came out two years ago, I was sad to realize that there would only be one more *NEW HARRY POTTER* book excitement EVER. For the rest of my life. Book seven is IT. I doubt that there will ever be another series of books that hold this kind of allure and anticipation for me. So, even though I will have to be at work at 6:30am the day after my midnight Harry Potter release, I will be pulling my usual all-nighter. Because it makes me happy. And if there is one thing that you learn as a grown-up, you have to cram some happiness in between the working and the bill paying.
SO, shortly after midnight on July 21st, I will be cozy on my couch, nestled in with my cats and cookies. And I will be discovering the Harry Potter conclusion for the FIRST TIME. And if this night is spoiled for me by some dumbass hacker, I will be PISSED OFF. I might join the folks at http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/ who have made some very nasty threats against anyone who spoils this long-anticipated, exciting book for them- I hope this hacker fears for his life. He should have aimed for hacking the F.B.I. database or something; believe it or not, I think that pissed off Potter fans are scarier and more dangerous.
Now, I know not everyone feels this way. You just want to know what is going to happen, and do not feel the need for my kind of new Harry Potter book ritual. This is fine. Spoil, spoil, spoil away for yourselves. The key word here? YOURSELVES!!! I don't want a hint, a clue or inkling. In fact, if you read the final chapter, please refrain from even thinking about it in my presence, in case I accidentally develop some sort of superhero, mind-reading abilities. Some of my friends (ahem, CALLEE. I am speaking directly to YOU here) think it is really funny to reveal the ends/results of books, movies and sporting events for me. DON'T DO IT!!! It will not be funny. I will probably cry and/or become violent. I may even bite!
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo,
NO SPOILERS!!!!!!!


Thanks!
(I'll return to normal July 22nd!)

Oh, yeah, and here is an excerpt from The Leaky Cauldron's article

Spoil Us Not, Sneaks!: A refresher on Leaky's pre-book policy:
Here it is, a refresher on Leaky's spoiler policy:
Ahem.
DON'T DO IT.
Sending us spoilers will get you one place, bucko: sent to Scholastic, Christopher Little, Bloomsbury, and every JoLawyer we can think of. We don't want to see them, we won't post them, and we'd want to stop you. Book revelations aren't to be spurted out in bullet form on a message board. They're to be read, dispersed at the proper moment, given all the context of the story. This is not like the movies, which cannot contain real plot surprises for fans.
If Harry dies, we don't want to know about it until J.K. Rowling decides to tell us. And if you decide to tell us before that, you'll incur the wrath of a staff of almost 200, most of whom have been waiting almost 10 years for these final revelations and can NEVER get back the moment you rob by spoiling them. That's some wrath, right there. We own pitchforks, hot wax and feathers. And we're not afraid to use them.
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/4/28/spoil-us-not-sneaks-a-refresher-on-leaky-s-pre-book-policy
I could not have said it better!!!!