tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72997659893923112342024-02-07T14:20:48.029-05:00Joannis' Orange Thinking ChairJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-80093975285765932192010-04-20T12:59:00.002-04:002010-04-20T13:34:18.295-04:00What's new in my life.So I know I have not used this blog in what feels like ages. However I thought it best to use this since I have it automatically update on my facebook profile as a note. I figured if someone didn't know about this blog they should at least be friends with me on facebook. How many people actually read notes on facebook...well if they are like how I have been for the past few months (a Luddite!) well I doubt that it would amount to much reading on the computer. <br /><br />But for any of my friends that I feel as if I abandoned y'all back in NC...feel free to see what I've been up to back home in Louisville, KY. I have been working about 6 months now at UPS here in Louisville. They are awesome for the fact that they pay for your schooling at the local colleges. Including the one I plan to attend in the fall, Boyce College, used to be called Boyce Bible College. (I'm still working on the application. :-P)<br /><br />I have come back to the world of social media mainly because of this prayer group I have joined at work. Saw a friend from my high school Alma mater, Samantha W. She told me about it and invited me to join them. I've never been so sure of God's providence before in my life. And that coming from a self-professed Armenian! ;-) I honestly feel as if this is something God wants me involved with...and I have shared with them, it has been a very long time since I've prayed with hearing people. Ever since I've left Gardner-Webb last year I have been going to my little Deaf church. While I do get fellowship with my Christian family...it was very odd actually speaking a prayer a front of other people, considering how long it has been since I last spoke a prayer in a group. <br /><br />For y'all that didn't know, I had worked at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom last summer in their Food Dept. I thought I was going to work there again, but that didn't happen. But at least I have UPS. I am thankful to God for it. :) <br />I feel like that is the most important stuff that has happened in my life recently. <br />Oh! My church is having a very important business meeting this coming Sunday. We will be voting on some important stuff...(I just thought it best not to post exactly what we will be voting on as not to spread information needlessly, if you're supposed to know you should know.) Please pray for my church, Louisville Baptist Deaf Church, that God will give us guidance in whatever direction He wishes us to go, that the church will be of one mind when we vote and that there be no dissension in the church because of whatever outcome God wills. Thanks! :)<br /><br />If anybody actually reads this and has any questions, I will be more then glad to answer them as best as I can...<br />Jo<br /><br />P.S. To Phillip Mitchell, if it makes you feel better I was hoping that Duke would have lost to make you happy. ;)Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-3787949492915645282009-01-31T16:16:00.003-05:002009-01-31T16:42:04.362-05:00My thoughts on Twilight among other things...Well I have decided on this lovely Saturday to finally type out my thoughts on Twilight. The teenage vampire cycle written by a Mrs. Stephanie Myers. I have been meaning to do so for some time now, just with the hustle and bustle of school I have been far to busy to do so until now. Just so y'all know, I am doing this without an outline or any prompt of some kind....thought it would be nice to warn y'all. :-)<br /><br />Ah...Twilight, well technically is the title of the first of the four book series. All the books were well written, I will give her that much. However the fact that it only took me maybe 3-4 days to read all 4, well I tend to prefer much more "meaty" writings. For example, Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, took me a little over 2 weeks to read. Now that was some good reading! Back to Twilight, I have decided to forgo any pleasantries of trying to not give you plot spoilers, for me to truly express myself I will have to reveal various parts of the plot. So if you haven't read Twilight and plan to in the near future, well maybe you should turn back now.<br /><br />My main problem with Twilight is this: Twilight is an unrealistic portrayal of love. You have Bella a teenage girl, she moves to Fork, MN to live with her father. She meets this guy, Edward Cullen. Little does she know, he is actually a vampire. (A sparkly one at that...won't even go into my problems with that avaunt garde approach to Vampire Lore.) To summarize the first book, she is in love with Edward...why? Because he make her FEEL all tingly inside. Okay...so she is a teenager, I will give her that much, most teenagers don't think to hard when it comes to "love" and things of that nature. But I think love should be more than a feeling. I know I sound like a cold-hearted person, but maybe I am just being even more romantic than Bella. If you love a guy, I think it should be based on something stronger than he makes your body go all mushy. To me, what Bella feels is lust, not love. <br /><br />Another problem I have with Bella is this, she is way to negative about herself. She goes on and on about how she doesn't deserve Edward in the books. She practically sounds like she is mentally depressed the way she thinks in the book. I think this girl needs a spine replacement, and stat. A girl doesn't need to measure her worth by the guy...or in this case, vampire she is with at the time. If Bella was a real live girl, I would want to slap along side the head and try to explain to her how much she is truly worth. The reason being is we are created by God. God determines our worth, not our significant other. If God is willing to give up His only son for us...I think we might be worth more then what we realize. <br /><br />Well the library is about to close...so I am going to post this part now. Hopefully I will be able to put some more of my thoughts on Twilight up here soon. Hope y'all have a good weekend! :-)Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-67765097578485560802008-11-19T07:00:00.003-05:002008-11-19T07:10:33.845-05:00It's Been Long Time...Um, wow, just randomly checked my blog and noticed I had not put anything up in what feels like forever. I'm still not sure if that's good or bad. I think instead of going on and on...I might share some poetry. For some reason recently I have been quite poetic. Well as of late I have been going through a bit of writer's block, but hopefully I will get out of that soon. I haven't wrote titles for all of them yet. Maybe I will make them up as I go? Well here's to the first one...<br /><br /><strong>Who am I?</strong><br />I'm undefinable as a cloud on a windy day.<br />Floating and moving along in an indefinable way.<br />You may try to put me in a box<br />But trust me I will escape<br />Every wisp of me lives to state<br />An uniqueness of my own, all of my own<br />The label of white middle class American, I find never suited<br />Me, a person with such unique proportions<br />Raised in a Deaf church even though my ears work fine<br />A die hard republican with friends of the liberal kind<br />Why God saw fit to make me...<br />I doubt I'll ever know<br />But this cloud will remain undefinable no matter where I go.Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-10929407776475914962008-08-04T23:21:00.003-04:002008-08-04T23:45:11.047-04:00A most eventful day...well out of all the events that has happen to me this summer I felt the need to post about this one the most. Today, at work (yes the lovely Waffle House) my wallet got stolen. Inside was my 2 debit cards, SS #, state ID, insurance card, my GWU ID, and about 2 dollars and some change. <br /><br />I found out about it pretty quickly. The interesting way is how...a deaf lady came into the Waffle House trying to sell key chains for cancer, they cost about $2; well I had just served my first customers and had not gotten any tip money yet. So I went to the back to go look in my purse to get some money. Well when I walked to the back I saw that my purse was unzipped, that was the first hint of trouble tome. When I looked inside I could not find it...then I knew. it was stolen. I immediately freaked out and almost started to cry. Called my mum and tried to call one of the banks to turn off the card. Got that taken care of...but eventually the other bank called my house to verify some purchases that had occurred with my card. my mom gave them my work number and I was able to talk to them. <br />Whoever stole the wallet stopped by a pawn shop, McDonald's, a nail place, and they tried to pay off a T-Mobile phone bill. The last 2 from my understanding got declined. <br /><br />What I feel about the whole issue...I'm not sure anymore. I'm just glad they won't get any of my money that was set aside for college. I don't think I could handle that, it almost being comparable to losing my sight or hands. <br /><br />I'm sure God will take of it. And for this I am thankful.<br />Hope your days are better then mine,<br />Joannis :-)Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-70241889937106520342008-08-03T08:15:00.003-04:002008-08-03T08:19:26.497-04:00Going back to school! Yikes!Just lettng y'all know that preperations are underway for my 2nd year at GWU. School supplies and dorm supplies...things I need like more laundry soap. Also I invested in a computer for myself. Should be intresting this year doing papers.<br />ttyl! :-) JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-12254957598074116872008-07-27T20:11:00.002-04:002008-07-27T20:27:11.429-04:00Waffle House and a bit about SBCDSo it's official, I will be working all night tomorrow night and Tuesday night, I already cleared it with my boss. I can't remember off the top of my head what next week will look like, but as soon as I know, then my momma...then y'all will know. I only have a few weeks left, which I am sad and happy about...I guess this would be one of those times to use the word bittersweet. I wish I could make more money for school, but I am very excited about going back to school at the same time. <br /><br />well anyways...to God's blessings in my life, besides my life in of itself, having a job,some half-swell parents and a not bad brother...about 2 weeks ago when I was at SBCD God watched over me. If you did not know, I consider myself very non-confrontational. Meaning, I rather not get in any kind of argument or debate if I can avoid it...however, when I am very passionate about something...<br />but anyway, to keep everything nice and kosher, I'll just say, I was going to SBCD with the mindset of being prepared for some kind of confrontation. But praise the Lord he removed any chance of that event occurring. He knew I would be stressed out by kids the whole week and wouldn't have any time for such drama. So I thank Him so gratefully! :-)<br /><br />well chat more soon...JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-55227446578744727462008-07-22T19:21:00.003-04:002008-07-22T19:30:07.539-04:00Casa de "Waffle"Howdy, decided to post about my schedule for the week. After getting back from SBCD, I'm kinda ready to make some money for school. <br /><br />I'm only working 4 shifts. And so far not even the entire shift time. I work 2nd Wednesday (tomorrow) and Saturday from 5:00-9:00pm...which 2nd starts at 2:00. Then I'm only scheduled for 9:00pm-2:00am on Monday and Tuesday nights. <br /><br />I'm hoping to talk to my manager about seeing if I can just stay the whole night, or at least until 4ish...and have my dad and brother pick me up. I can't walk home at that time and I rather not have to wake up my mom to come get me. <br />I figure God will take care of it. He really blessed me this past week at SBCD. Maybe if I have time sometime soon I'll talk about it. <br /><br />Chao!<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-37257747568315985352008-07-04T04:01:00.002-04:002008-07-04T04:08:48.338-04:00Waffle HouseSo I forgot to tell y'all the hours I was working this week. At first I was only scheduled for one shift. This Thursday night, my manager thought she had scheduled me some during the day, but she forgot to put my name on the list. So I will be working from 2pm-9pm Friday, 7am-2pm Saturday, and 5pm-9pm Sunday. It would be nice to see more friends there...the food's not too bad, and the service has it's moments. Overall, I think we do an alright job. <br />Joannis :-)Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-8221649942273122372008-06-26T21:07:00.002-04:002008-06-26T21:12:13.887-04:00Ahh...Work.So I decided to let y'all know my work schedule for this weekend. Like my momma says, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise..." Meaning as long as the manager don't call to reschedule me. I should be working Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday night. I will most likely be worn out after this weekend. But as long as I make good tips; I think it will make any exhaustion I might feel...just a little better. :-)<br />Hope y'all have a great weekend,<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-90996735154526007802008-06-24T20:00:00.005-04:002008-06-24T20:23:57.629-04:00Something to talk about...So today my brother and I had a lovely discussion. The cause of said conversation was my father's absence at home. He has gone to visit his brother in Conn. My Uncle, his family and my Dad are staying in some cabin in Rhode Island. Before he left, my Dad charged me with the responsibility of the upkeep of our house. Unfortunately my mother and brother have a tendency to be a bit absent minded about such things. So this past week I've been dutiful in my work. A whole lot more then ever before in my life, my mother will testify to that fact. <br /><br />So anyways, I was telling my brother how I was thinking about cleaning up a little beyond what my father required of me. He just wanted me to make sure it did not become worse. But I have been slowly but surely become annoyed at the disarray of one of our pantries. Also, those little jars of food in the back of the fridge, that we don't use anymore. That has been on my mind as well. When I suggested my idea of cleaning up even more then what is required. My brother basically said don't worry, Dad's not here. Don't let his excessive cleaning bug bother you while he is away.<br /><br />I told my brother,<em> "It's not the big things like world peace that bother me, it's the little things like stuff in the back of the refrigerator."</em><br /><br />Besides, if we all cleaned out our fridges...and many other things(like our lives), maybe we could be a little bit closer to world peace. I like the idea of starting small and working your way up to the big stuff.<br /><br />It reminds me of a graduation speech I heard recently. The young man spoke of a trip to England, he saw a tomb there with an inscription upon it. I can't quote it as well as he did, but it went something like this... <em>"I had hoped to change the world and failed, I had hoped to change my country and fail, and I hoped to change my family and failed, when towards the end of my life I realized, if only I had changed myself first, then I might have influenced my family, from my family, my country, and from my country to influence the world."</em>Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-56392904010807695312008-06-20T15:35:00.002-04:002008-06-20T15:38:54.023-04:00Work...humph.So I just got a call from my boss, there has been a change to the schedule. I will not be working tonight. However, I am still on for tomorrow night. I think it is because Friday nights are absolutely crazy over there...or at least that's what I've heard. I never witnessed it yet for myself. <br />Well...I'll chat some more later,<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-16340457844470428542008-06-18T16:48:00.003-04:002008-06-18T17:00:07.835-04:00Work...ugh.Well, I have been entirely too busy to post much because of my work at Waffle House. I have been placed into the third shift. Which is from 9pm-7am. It makes me very tired, but at least it's honest work and I am making money for college. That is perhaps my only solace. I am also the only person who does not smoke there...which is not that bad in general. If people want to smoke that is their own choice. I'm a supporter of freewill. However, when they leave you alone in the shop...it makes me a little nervous. But at least it's not busy when they do that to me.<br />I am off a couple days, then I'm working this Friday and Saturday night. Hopefully I'll be able to handle it, those two nights are supposed to be their busiest.<br />I'll post when I can,<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-38719232058718535222008-06-07T16:14:00.003-04:002008-06-07T16:18:12.853-04:00Work Woohoo! :-)So I am now officially finished with training! I start my first real shift Monday night, on the third shift. I will be working from 9:00pm until 7:00am. So come on down, and you just might get me as a server! :-) I'll also be working Tuesday night as well...after that, I'm not sure. Should be exciting. Third shift is supposed to be the busiest. <br />Hope y'all have a great weekend.<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-6395598238934218912008-05-29T18:41:00.002-04:002008-05-29T18:44:49.102-04:00More Info concerning work...So, I've officially started training a couple days ago. I go for training during the first shift. That's 7am-2pm. But because I'm a trainee, I don't come in until 9:00am. If anybody wants to stop by, I should be there tomorrow. I don't know about the weekend I intend to ask about that...well if you have any questions feel free to ask away. I'll try to answer them as best as I can.<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-60746869255887527872008-05-23T14:27:00.003-04:002008-05-23T14:36:17.641-04:00Summer Work among other things...So I am happy to say that I have been back in the wonderful city of Louisville for some time now. As my mother was getting tired of me staying at home all day, and with my luck of seeing a hiring sign at a Waffle House down the road from my house...I now have a summer job! If you feel the urge for Waffle House, it's the one on Preston near I-264, also know as the Watterson. I don't start training until Tuesday. But as soon as I know, I'll make sure to let y'all know which shift I'll be working. So if you want, you can order in sign language! :-) <br />I think getting out of school has made me feel a whole lot better stress wise. Also being able to sleep as long as I want is a major bonus. Hopefully, I will be able to come back to school refocused and ready to hit those books. I'm unsure of what else to talk about...well hope you are enjoying this lovely, sunny, beautiful day!<br />much love,<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-43047400472518214482008-05-06T13:17:00.005-04:002008-05-06T13:32:03.555-04:00School and life in general...So as the school year is coming to a close, I felt the need to write what I truly feel about the whole ordeal of it all.<br /> Overall, college has been a wonderful experience thus far. I have made many friends and have learned many things, not only in the classroom but outside of it as well. However, I have discovered that maybe an ASL major is not for me. <br />I feel as if there is a lack of motivation in those courses. Which is not good, especially if I wish to major in ASL. I have to keep my grades up in those classes, and that has been a struggle this year for me. I want to do good, I don't want to dishonor my background. I feel as if I'm a disgrace to my Deaf church if I don't succeed in ASL. Like somehow...I failed them. <br /><br />This year has been a rough year for me. I love Gardner-Webb. It is a great college. But I wonder if what I'm doing, is because I feel that it is expected of me, and not what I truly want to do. But then I get into the mindset of...are my desires what God desires for me? <br />I want to do his will, not my wants, he is supposed to have priority in my life. I know I should be doing God's will, but I have no idea what that "will" for me is. I have grown up "hearing," that God may not talk directly to us, but he can show his will through other people, our life experiences, the bible...but sometimes I wish he would just talk to me, even signing would be fine. A bit more direct conversation would be greatly appreciated. <br /><br />hum...well...I don't plan on giving up on Gardner-Webb just yet. I'm just trying not to give up on the idea of college altogether. I hope y'all are having a great time in Ky and hopefully your thoughts are not as half as contemplative as mine.<br />JoniJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-31970590537731353282008-05-03T10:40:00.001-04:002008-05-03T10:41:49.804-04:00Res-Tech and the DerbySo I have some pretty awesome news! At Gardner-Webb there is a program ran by the Technology Services, its called Res-Tech. They have one Res-Tech for each dorm. The duty of a Res-Tech is just to make sure that everyone in their dorm has internet access. They had an ad a few weeks ago in the Paw Prints asking for applicants. I went in; they copied my id card, asked for my contact information and said they would get back with me. I waited…about a week later I went for the interview. The man who is the head of the program just asked me some simple questions: what my technological experience covers, where I am from, and what class will I be in next year…etc. Just yesterday I found out that I have one of the positions that were available for next year! The best thing about it is…I won’t have to pay for my room next year; just for my tuition and food! <br />But this does give me something else to do during the summer; I need to learn how to troubleshoot computers. The guy was happy with the fact that I am a girl and an ASL major. We have more girls than guys here at Gardner-Webb, if I remember right it’s somewhere around 64% girls to 36% boys. But he did say my technical background is going to need some improvement. I’m just more experienced with the software end of things…not so much hardware and script or anything of that nature. <br />Well hope everybody is having fun watching the Derby back home…this week I have felt the most homesick. I’ve never been out of town during the Derby. It seems almost surreal to me. They have it on ESPN2 out here…but I feel as if it would be sacrilegious to not watch on one of the local stations (WHAS, WLKY, WAVE, WDRB…). Well have good day, and a great weekend! :-) JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-47202802090484806282008-04-27T15:25:00.004-04:002008-04-27T15:36:33.152-04:00Spring Formal 08So last night was Spring Formal here at Gardner-Webb University. It's kind of like a high school prom. The dance was a lot bigger than my high school prom. But I had a good time. It started at 9:00pm and was finished at 1:00am. My friends and I left about 12:30. We went back to our dorm and watched a movie in the lobby. Sweeney Todd, it's a musical with Johnny Depp as the leading man. It's supposed to be a scary movie...but the blood did not look very realistic and plus it's a musical so that to me took a lot of the scariness from it. I'll see if I can get some pictures that my friends took off of Facebook and stick them over here for y'all to see. <br /><br />Also Friday night was the "strike" for the theater stage set. We did two, one act plays by Ionesco. They were very odd, absurd I think they are considered. The names of them were "The Bald Soprano" and "The Lesson." The strike, or basically the taking down of the set started at 8:30 and we worked until 10:00pm. Afterwards, we went over to the clubhouse and had a cast and crew party. It was pretty fun. Got back to my dorm around 12:00 Friday night. So this weekend has been a blast.<br /><br />Just want to send my congratulations to <a href="http://stephennewell.wordpress.com/">Stephen </a> and my momma on their birthdays! Happy Birthday! :-) <br />JoJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-36513843021456049292008-04-11T09:45:00.002-04:002008-04-11T09:49:00.259-04:00A paper I wrote for Comp 102Because I have not posted much...I thought it would be nice to show you what I have been writing instead, and please no corrections. It would do me no good, I already submitted it to my teacher. <br /><br />Joannis Lawlor<br />04/11/08<br />Composition 102<br />Lit Analysis <br /><br />Epilogue: July 14, 2003 (Take Two)<br />It has been several years since the conviction of the men responsible for Michael’s death. My brother Paul assisted Lyle Ferguson in the case; he had completed law school the year before. Ten years, ten long years it took for Michael to get justice. This helped to calm Paul’s nerves down a bit. Then he met Deborah, they went on double dates with Lorraine and I. Though Lorraine and I went to different colleges, we both came back to Mobile. It was a bittersweet day, not even a year after I came home from college…my father died. He raised me and I respected him for that, but I finally had my chance at freedom, my own Jubilee. So I became a teacher at the same high school Lorraine taught Drama at, by 1987 we were married. <br />In 1988 we decided to go to New York City, so Lorraine could pursue her acting career. I became an advisor at a local high school, so other young people would have support in their dreams and aspirations, the support that I did not get. We lived in a light blue house in Milford, Connecticut, life was good. Whenever Lorraine and I go home to Mobile for the holidays, we get to see Paul, Deborah and their two children, Peter and Hannah. We even had some children of our own, they are good actors like their mother, and I seem to believe everything they say. To be able to find peace, I never thought this could happen to me…yes, I have had struggles with faith, but maybe there is hope for everyone to have a happy ending. <br /><br />Now didn’t that sound like a wonderful ending to a potentially wonderful story? If only it were the real one… Like Trees, Walking is one of the more depressing books that I have read recently. I like stories with happy endings. And unfortunately Like, Trees Walking did not have that happy ending that I believe is so picturesque. The book is saturated with death. It begins with the lynching of Michael Donald and ends with Paul, the lead character’s older brother. However, it stands to reason that the lead character Roy is the seventh generation of morticians. Roy’s immersion in the world of funerals gives him a view that can seem so unique compared to the other characters. It’s as if death does not faze him anymore.<br /><br />I had made more trips to churches for funerals than I had for worship, and each time I listened to the words the ministers had used for death. Transition. Home going. Passing. But I had drained the last of the blood from the bodies that lay beneath the flowers. By my lights, dead was dead. I sometimes watched the still baptismal waters and waited for any sign of a spirit that could do the impossible, raise the dead simply by calling their names. (Howard 66)<br /><br />Because death is such a reality to him, it is hard for him to think of anything existing beyond his own reality. <br /><br /><br />As I read this book I tried to view it with an optimistic spirit. Thinking of the death of Michael as way for the town to begin anew, to remember the past and firmly change the future; the end of Lorraine’s last play to be the beginning of her future as an actress. Even the title to me exudes a sense of hope to me. The title comes from the bible, Mark 8:24. Like many verses in the bible if read alone they can be misunderstood. This verse comes from a story of Jesus healing a blind man. The man at first doesn’t see clearly when Jesus put spit upon the man’s eyelids. The man claimed he saw men, like trees, walking. But when Jesus places his hands upon the man for a second time, he is healed. However what is very intriguing is what Gould had to say about this verse, “This is the single case of a gradual cure in our Lord’s life…” (148). <br /><br />I feel that maybe the title is referring the gradual process Roy goes through in life. He is very cynical as a young man. He hopes even with his unbelief that prayers will go answered, “My absence of faith didn’t mean I didn’t have any hope.” (Howard 119) With the impact of his brother’s death, he tries to fathom the power of an entity greater than himself. That he hopes his life will turn out alright, that something greater than him is really keeping the world turning.<br /><br />But it as if every time we have reason to hope for that perfect happy ending, Howard just gives you another reason to give up (Just like Paul did). We see Lorraine’s aspirations to become an actress, but her father is so wrapped up in his work he hardly ever goes to her performances, you can see that it is having a toll on her (Howard 176-177). You may hope that the men who killed Michael are convicted, but they become…‘as free as the rest of us’ (Howard 213). You could even hope that Roy becomes free of his family responsibilities dealing with the funeral home. <br /><br />However, even a long time after his brother’s death, he is still going to church every Sunday, and still burying dead people. <br /><br />I stayed in Mobile to do the only work I’ve ever known. I still stand in those churches on Saturdays, listening to the same scriptures I hear repeated on Sunday mornings. We are for the bodies of the dead. The rest of them-I don’t know. I have more questions than I have faith. A mustard seed, they say. Maybe that’s enough. One day I’ll know. We all will. (Howard 252) <br /><br />Through the whole book Roy is trying to find his way. He is trying to understand his lot in life, trying to find some peace. <br /><br />If the book is any predictor of the future, I believe Roy will never find peace. He may reach astonishingly close, but not what he truly needs. He only wanted out (His responsibilities, Mobile, the funeral business…); he wanted his hopes and dreams fulfilled. Something he wanted, but would never get; Paul wanted justice for Michael, and that was a battle Paul lost. Lorraine hoped for the career of an actress, instead she became a mother and politician. As I read this book, I wanted to hope with the characters, that their own personal goals would be reached and when each subsequently failed, the reality set in…even though this book is fictional it is based on true events and the picturesque ending is extremely rare in the real world. Sad, but true; if you want a nice happy ending, I might suggest reading Chronicles of Narnia, or even Lord of the Rings. <br /><br />Works Cited<br /><br />Gould, Ezra P. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1961.<br /><br />Howard, Ravi. Like Trees, Walking. New York: Amistad, 2007.Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-57707070586673992222008-04-10T23:14:00.001-04:002008-04-10T23:14:47.392-04:00Howdy!So it's been about two months since I've last put something up here...I think it's cause I have a few problems. <br />1. I don't particularly enjoy writing.<br />2. My English professor seems to think that I don't do enough writing in my life, so there is always a paper of some sort to write for her.<br />3. (Not that good of an excuse, but still...) I find myself busy, most of the time too busy to write/type anything down.<br /><br />But I have decided to post something so y'all can at least know I am still alive. In Boiling Springs news, about a week and a half ago the fire alarm went off in my dorm, Decker. I thought someone over cooked something in the kitchen. But a week after the fact, on the front page of our school newspaper, a gas main had been broken. There was some construction going on near my dorm, and apparently they discovered a tiny gas pipe that they did not know was there. <br />I think this is the biggest event that has happened all year, well earlier this semester the whole town lost power. I was like 10 minutes away from my classes being canceled. But they got the lights back on in time. <br /><br />Also in Gardner-Webb news...Dimensions was awesome Tuesday. I went in and sat down like always. Tracy Jessup (The University Chaplin/Pastor/Preacher) said announcements like normal, then he told us a story.<br />There was a northern man who came down to the south and ate at a dinner. He ordered some Ham and Eggs. When he got the plate, there was grits on it too. He asked the waitress, "What is that?" She said, "Dem 'Thar grits." He said, "I didn't order grits." She said, "Grits just come wit' it." <br />Then Jessup said, like those grits...grace comes to you. The speaker they had planned did not watch his schedule closely, and was speaking at another college. So Jessup dismissed us. We sat there maybe...10 minutes. It was great. Usually we have to sit there listening to someone talk on and on...sometimes they are good, sometimes they are not so good. Last semester, there was a guy who said "Do Hugs Not Drugs!" Kinda cheesy to me.<br /><br />Well hope everybody is good back home in Ky! <br />Miss y'all greatly,<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-59249073580933524652008-02-22T15:02:00.007-05:002008-02-22T15:50:18.621-05:00So Much To Talk About...I have been so busy with school...I'm sorry I have not posted in a long time. First off, I would like to thank everyone that sent me a birthday card, believe it or not mail is a great gift right up there with quarters and my mom can tell you how much I love quarters. When in college, quarters...well, unless you can go home to clean your clothes, quarters are very useful in keeping your clothes clean. We have to pay $2.00 a load to wash our laundry around here. 1.25 for the washer, .75 for the dryer.(and the machines only accept quarters!)<br /><br />Anyway, last weekend was wonderful! My brother came all the way from Ky to see me for my birthday. And he only got confused twice! (confused meaning lost) I can tell y'all what happened...He arrived Thursday night about 7:00pm. All we did was empty his car, and I showed him the library.<br />Friday I woke up and went to my math class at 10:00 I told him to meet me at the library and he would go to my ASL class with me at 11:00am. I found him reading some Dumas books, and after ASL class I checked out those books for him. I don't think he got done with them in time. (I think he was reading the Count of Monte Cristo, but you would have to ask him about that...I maybe his little sister, but I don't know everything he does.) <br />I went to the Cafe and we have these to-go boxes, I filled one up with enough food for Jonathan and I both, we went to the basement and ate in the Kennel. There I met my friend Erin Mann. She works with costumes in the theatre department. She was planning to go to a fabric store; Mary Jo's in Gastonia, NC. I asked Jonathan what he wanted to do. And we agreed, I would go to the fabric store with Erin, and he would spend time in the library working on a paper for his college class. <br />Erin and I did not get back to Gardner-Webb until 6:30pm. <br /><br />I went to dinner as soon as we got back, found Jonathan, and forced him to go to a Deaf Performance Night here at GWU. There were stories, funny ones, ABC stories, all sorts of stuff. We have group called Joyful Hands and they performed a couple songs, which looked wonderful. One of the few things Jonathan seemed to understand...well there is this one interpreter here on campus, she is very skilled. She also leads the Joyful Hands group. Apparently the girls in that group made something to challenge her. A melody of various snips of songs put together, she had to interpret them with no preparation or even knowing which songs they were gonna use, they did this twice, once in the beginning and another time later in the night. They used rap, rock, heavy metal, techno, musical, any type of music that you could think of that has lyrics, they had for her to interpret. It was hilarious when she couldn't tell what was being sung. I was finished at 9:30pm, a group of us went to Denny's afterward. Jonathan refused to go, so I went in a car with some friends. The interesting thing, because there was so many of us, and since all the hearing people did not talk, only signed, the tickets got messed up, and quite a few did not have to pay for their meal. I was one of them. Yeah all I got was a dessert, but still that $5.00 I could use for something else. We got back at 1:00 in the morning.<br /><br />Saturday I woke up around 10:00ish, called some friends, found my brother and started baking my cake around 12:30ish. My friends, Matt, Chelsea, Stephanie, Amber, and my bro started watching some anime around 1:00pm in Decker lobby. After Amber got to eat some cake, (the cake was chocolate with chocolate icing) she left a few hours later. We only stopped for one hour for dinner, after dinner Stephanie had to leave, she had to play for the band at the basketball game. She is in the marching band/Pep band. After that, it was just me, Jonathan, Matt and Chelsea. We stayed up until 1:00am watching the anime. It was a great weekend! <br /><br />Well that's all I feel like sharing for right now, hopefully I will find some more time to post more stuff sometime soon.<br />much love,<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-61452709579671131472008-02-07T22:15:00.000-05:002008-02-07T22:43:12.309-05:00Obama 08?Well I really felt like posting about something we watched in English today. Now I am a republican and with my upbringing I really don't there was any way I was gonna become anything else but that, however Barak Obama concerns me regardless of my party affiliation.<br /><br />As a young person on a college campus I can say first hand pretty assuredly that quite a few young people support Obama. I see Clinton getting the old school democrat vote with Obama getting the young ones, but not only young democrats, quite a few young republicans that are not as well connected with their party's platform as the older one, seem to have taken in the belief that Bush has done a most detestable job as a president, now I'm not saying he compares to Washington or even Lincoln, but still I feel sometimes that he is getting a bad rap just because he had the gumption to become more agressive in our foreign policy. <br /><br />Quite a few young republicans seem to be liking Barak Obama a bit much. If he wins the democratic nominee, he very well could be the next president. (I can't believe I said that, but that's my gut feeling, and growing up around politics I feel that I can tell an extremely effective campaign from just an effective one.)<br /><br />But what I wanted to share was a link to this music video made by some musician guy...he is supporting Obama, obviously, but the interesting thing that caught my eye that I was not expecting...the token "deaf" person. I don't know if the woman is deaf for sure, but she does sign what was being spoken in the song. When we watched it in class I was not expecting it, so I was only focusing on the words of the song, but as soon as I saw her hands move I focused. Yes that part only last for a couple seconds. But it was interesting how they threw that in...kind like "Oh, I think I'll try to get some deaf vote by having some one sign in my music video!" I'm just a little bit cynical of politicians who try to use those types of ploys. And Mom, if you notice Si Se Puede is repeated a few times in the song as well. (I think that's supposed to be Yes We Can in Spanish?) <br /><br />Well watch it and tell me what you think, and I'm sorry to the deaf people out there the whole song does not have captions of any kind, but there are some graphics through out the video and I guess they get the main idea across...<br />Here's the <a href="http://www.yeswecansong.com">link</a>...Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-72559186889399755542008-02-07T21:24:00.000-05:002008-02-07T21:45:26.791-05:00Woo-Hoo!So...I am very excited, my brother should be coming to visit me in about a week, the same time as my 19th birthday! <br /><br />In other news, I have moved to a new dorm, unfortunately my roommate and I had a different sense of humor. So now I live in the dorm called Decker and plus the room I moved into was empty, so I don't have a roommate now! I can be sociable, but sometimes I just like being alone. I don't think it's bad, it's just me. <br /><br />Because Decker rooms are a lot smaller, I bunked the two beds to give myself more space. The interesting thing was...when I first moved in, my friends and I could not find any of the metal rods that you are supposed to use when bunking the beds together, so what did my friend Marcus do...he took a pencil and broke it in 2, and used those piece to put the bed together. It stayed that way for about a week. Until I told my friend Ezelis about it, Ezelis is a RA and she is a CODA, she put in a order for the physical plant people to come and fix it. So Tuesday afternoon, I go to my room and find three guys working on my bed. I don't know if they could not get the pencil's remains out or what, but there was some drilling that went on in there, I was chilling in my friend's room across the hall. Wednesday the power went out in the whole town of Boiling Springs for almost a hour. So obviously they did not come back until today, but now my bed is back together again, and much safer to boot! :-)<br /><br />Tonight I went to this bible study we have in my hall, they have in the room that is next door to me, so I don't have very far to walk. we talked about Leah and Rachel, and discuss about how sometimes us women get a bit to wrapped up in our desire to be loved that we are almost willing to do anything to get it. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so Leah had a bunch of baby boys for Jacob in attempts to win his love, Rachel got jealous so gave Jacob her slave, then Leah followed suit and gave him her slave as well...it just kept going back and forth. Our bible study leader Stephanie just said, that as young women we need to remember that not only romantic love, but even friendships with other girls will not always last, only our relationship with God will last through all our years...nice stuff I thought.<br /><br />well hope you got something interesting out of this post. talk to yall later!<br />JoannisJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-34883181439219701132008-01-25T12:45:00.000-05:002008-01-25T12:50:07.337-05:00Super Bowl AdJust a quick post about something I just learned about...in case y'all did not already know...there is going to be an ad shown during the Super Bowl in ASL. It was made by PepsiCo and their employees.<br /><br />Here is the link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrq6cUoE5A <br /><br />Hope y'all enjoy!<br />Joannis<br /><br />P.S. It has captions for all you hearing people out there.Jonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7299765989392311234.post-52299616328568234322008-01-20T16:50:00.001-05:002008-01-20T16:52:01.625-05:00CommentsI believe I changed my settings so that anyone can post a comment...you don't have to sign up with Google, or have a blog, or something like that...thought y'all might like to know. <br /><br />JoJonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09446338845905541318noreply@blogger.com3