Grateful for smiles

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky
you'll get by.

If you smile through your pain and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun shining through
For you.

Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying.
You'll find that life is still worthwhile-
If you just smile.

I've realized these past couple of weeks that I have a lot to smile about and be grateful for.

I have parents who help me so much and watch out for me all of the time.
I have a wonderful family . . .when we get together its like nothing you've ever seen.
I love that Jake and Olivia choose to sit watch a documentary about WWII
I love that I have such a great opportunity to learn at a good school
I can make people laugh
I love listening to India count when we play Hide and Seek-one. . two. .. one. . .two
I've have a good job where I meet people and have funny conversations.
I've discovered that there are things that I can teach my parents.
I have wonderful friends who are so sweet to put up with me and listen to my craziness.

Fahrenheit 451

If they give you ruled paper, write the other way

So I haven't read this book since 9th Grade. I forgot how much I enjoyed it. Fahrenheit 451 was written in 1953 I believe. Yet, as the New York Times reported "Frightening in its implications, Mr. Bradury's account of this insane world, which bears many alarming resemblances to our own, is fascinating."

Here are a few parallels that I can come up with.

-people are more shallow, expressionless. They are kept so busy with mindless or tedious tasks they have to time to sit and really think or have a real conversation. They talk without really saying anything.

"People don't talk about anything"

"oh, they must!"

"NO, not anything. They name a lot cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell! but they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else. And most of the time in the caves they have the joke boxes on and the same jokes most of the time, or the musical wall lit and all the colored patterns running up and down, but it's only color and all abstract. And at the museums, have you ever been? All abstract. that's all there is now. . . A long time back sometimes pictures said things or even showed people."

"We must all be alike. Not everyone is born free and equal as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man, the image of the other; then all are happy. . . What do we want in this country above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right? Haven't you heard all it all your life? I want to be happy, people say, well, aren't they? Don't we keep them moving, don't we give them fun? That's all we live for, isn't it? For pleasure, for titilation? and you must admit our culture provides plenty of these. . . . "Colored People don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs?

The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book."

"Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year. Cram them full of non combustible data, chock so full of "facts" that they feel stuffed, but absolutely brilliant with information. Then they'll feel they're thinking, they'll get a sense of motion without moving. And they'll bee happy, because facts of that sort don't change.

A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink Deep or taste not the Pierian Spring. There, shallow draughts intoxicate the brain. And drinking largely sobers us again.

Next, the people in this book watch t.v. on they're "parlor walls". There t.v.s are so humongous that they take up the space and replace an actual wall. This just reminds me painfully of our big flat screen plasma t.v's.

" If you're not driving a hundred miles an hour, at a clip where you can't think of anything else but the danger, then you're playing some game, or sitting in some room where you can't argue with the four wall television. Why? the television is real. It is immediate, it has dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so right. IT rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions you mind hasn't time to protest.

Throughout the book, there are various ear insects and ear seashells used by different characters. Montag's wife uses her "shells" to listen to the radio, news, music. This is just like our attachment to our earphones and earbuds as we listen to our Ipods. These ear seashells are also used to communicate back and forth like walkie talkies. You can use them for 2 way communication, to talk and to listen. Because they are worn in the ear, it reminds of all the people I see that have their blue tooths permanently attached to their faces.

Now, I know a lot of this applies to me and I am not perfect but I think this is something to think about.

I SAW THE WAY THINGS WERE GOING, A LONG TIME BACK. I SAID NOTHING. I'M ONE OF THE INNOCENTS WHO COULD HAVE SPOKEN UP AND OUT WHEN NO ONE WOULD LISTEN TO THE GUILTY. I DID NOT SPEAK, AND THUS BECAME GUILTY MYSELF.

Young Talent

So I wanted people's opinion. I think these girls are awesome dancers. They are spunky and have major attitude. I do however think that these moves paired with the outfits they are wearing are completely inappropriate. They are only 7 years old, but I think the whole program is a bit suggestive. I don't think I would ever let my nieces or my kids dress like this. I hope I'm not being judgemental.

This kid, Greyson MIchael Chance is 12 years old but already brilliant. I think he is very talented. Enjoy!!

List: My Lexicon

This is a list of words that i like and that are fun to say

pulchritudinousphysically beautiful; comely.

licentious:unrestrained by law or general morality; lawless; immoral

supererogatory: greater than that required or needed; superfluous.

antediluvian: very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive

senescent: growing old; aging.

censorious: severely critical; faultfinding; carping.

obsequious: servilely compliant or deferential: overly submissive and eager to please

cupidity: eager or excessive desire, esp. to possess something; greed; avarice.

diaspora: any group that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland, or any religious group living as a minority among people of the prevailing religion.

expurgated:to amend by removing words, passages, etc., deemed offensive or objectionable: To purge or cleanse of moral offensiveness.

Busted!!!

Okay I had an awesome experience at work the other day. Some guy brought a check to cash. It was only $30.00, and it was his wife's account. Two problems. He was a not a signer on the account, and his wife's signature on the front of the check did not match our signature card.

I looked at copies of other checks she'd written. All of her signatures looked the same; identical to the signature card: letters were all straight lines: very plain without any curls or frills. Then, I examined the check and the husband's endorsement. The husband signed their last name with a tail on his cursive T and a loop on the H. And it looked surprisingly similar to the wife's "signature" on the front of the check.

So I tried to call the wife but she didn't answer her phone or her phone at work. I explained the situation to the husband. I told him I couldn't cash the check until I got a hold of his wife and she gave me the okay. He tried to call her a few times. He was kind of smiling to himself. He was rubbing his face in a very frustrated manner and muttered something about it being a "long story".

So I sent him back the check and told him to come back after his wife got home from work and she gave us the okay.

Long story short, I totally caught the guy forging his wife's signature.

Voicemail. . . . . What!!!!!??

So I was awoken this morning at 8 o'clock when my phone rang. I looked at my caller I.D and I didn't recognize the number. It wasn't in my phonebook. So, like I usually do to strange numbers, I ignored the call. A few seconds later my phone says I have a voicemail.

Let's keep in mind what my voice mail greeting is.

"Hi, this is HILLARY. Please leave your name and number

and I'll get back to you as soon as possible".

Now, I called my voicemail and listen to my message. It went something like this. "Hi, I know you said you were Hillary, but if this is Stephanie Hammond's phone, please call me back".

Pretty sure I don't have Stephanie's phone, and I'm pretty sure i'm not lying about my name.

Anyway, it made me smile.