Thousand Foot Krutch

Thousand Foot Krutch
I love this band. I listen to them daily. Even though we are looking at another camera, we all look like we're alert for it being a fan signing and it's 11:30 p.m. on a Friday.

28 November 2012

Ruffled Scarves for sell!

Hey everyone! I'm making and selling ruffled scarves. I am selling these scarves for $10. Other people who sell these scarves are charging $18 a scarf, but I want to keep the scarves affordable for anyone who wants to use them as Christmas presents or for themselves.

These scarves are great with all kinds of outfits.

The scarves can be long, medium, or short. I recommend medium. 

Also, the proceeds from the scarves will go toward my education, since I'm a poor college student.

Email me your order, which includes length and color, at rmweatherford1s@gmail.com, leave it here, or find me on Facebook.

An example of the scarf. These can be tailored to many different colors.


Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

27 November 2012

I love Revolution - there's some depth to it!

So, my roommate and I are just hanging out and I start to look up people involved in the American Revolution. There are a lot of similar names to "Revolution." Samuel Miles (Miles Matheson), President Monroe (Sebastian Monroe) War of 1812, Benjamin Franklin (Ben Matheson), Aaron Burr, Aaron Ogden (Aaron Pittman), Rachel Revere (Rachel Matheson), Grace and Rachel Martin (Grace Beaumont and Rachel Matheson), William Beaumont War of 1812 (Grace Beaumont), The Battle of Charlotte, Charles Lee (Charlie Matheson), Daniel Morgan, Daniel Shays, Daniel F. Bakeman (Danny), Joshua Clayton (Nora Clayton), Margaret Corbin (Maggie is a variation of Margaret), John Neville (Tom Neville Family), Stephen R. Bradley (Bradley Jaffe), Jacob Randall (distant connection to Randall), Jason Russell House (Jason Neville), as for Nathan, Jason's fake name, there a lot of men whose names were Nathan or Nathaniel involved in the Revolutionary War. In fact, every name has something to do with someone who was involved in either the American Revolution (the first war for independence) or the War of 1812 (the second war for independence).  Just because the name is used doesn't mean the person is really like that, though. Their name is just used. I think it's more than coincidence. What do you all think? I'm learning so much about the people involved in those times while I did this. I don't even know where the idea came from. Just happened on looking all this up.

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

13 November 2012

'The Crucible' performed at Southeast last week

“The Crucible” was quite engaging. The black walls of the Wendy Kurka Rust Flexible theater made the scenes even more intense. With creepy music playing in the beginning, I knew this was no light-hearted Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale.

Dalton Riddle, who played John Proctor, was brilliant as the angry, guilt-stricken adulterer determined to save his wife. He shone forth as the best. We find out quickly that Abigail Williams, played by Sami Gross, is in love with John Proctor, and for some reason, in her twisted rationale, she believes if she gets the other girls to help her accuse Elizabeth Proctor, portrayed by Hannah Lundy, of being a witch and has her hanged, John will marry her. I knew that was absolutely ridiculous, especially once we find out that Abigail is lying about seeing others with the Devil.

She even admits her scheme several times when she declares her love for John. Abigail becomes not only an adulteress, but she’s also a scheming murderer when John rejects her to remain with his wife. This play’s tagline should be: A Woman Scorned.

The play was absolutely gorgeous, and truthfully the acting, especially the actors who played Elizabeth, John, and Abigail, was heart-wrenching. The only part I found unrealistic was that the actress who played Tituba, who is from Barbados, was Asian. I would never have imagined Tituba, a slave, being Asian. The deputy governor was also African-American. These are not historically accurate because, unfortunately, only white men were in charge of the government in the 1600s. Slaves in North America that era were of African descent.  

Reverend Parris was an overbearing, crabby, greedy man who was never satisfied in life. His daughter was Betty, who was ill in the beginning before she began to accuse people with her cousin Abigail Williams. His part as the accusing, hypocritical reverend was portrayed well.

Danforth had a moment where he couldn’t rise from his seat because his coat was caught in the chair. The coats were long and black - easy to see how they’d be annoying. The costumes, understandably, were all very clean. I was distracted by wondering if they’d really be that clean if they had been around in 1692.

There were two exceptionally well-performed scenes. The midnight scene between John Proctor and his former mistress, Abigail Williams, in which she reveals all her reasons for the accusations, and John tells her to give it up, that they will never be together. He also tells her he will reveal their affair, ruining both of their names, if she does not stop accusing Elizabeth. I could literally feel Abigail’s insane passion and John’s forceful and angry determination to save his wife, especially when he threw Abigail on the ground to make his point.

The scene near the end between John Proctor and his wife made me want to cry, it was so emotional. Elizabeth Proctor struggles to forgive her husband throughout the play for his adultery. The children who accuse her and John of witchcraft want her to get John to confess. When they stare into each other’s eyes I wanted to cry. Love seemed to pour off of them. She tells him to do what he wants, standing there with a straight back as he at first confesses it, then denies it, then is hanged. At the end, Elizabeth, who is saved from being hanged because she is pregnant, says, “He has his goodness. How can I take that away from him?” She stands there straight as a board, sounding as if she’s decided to forgive John. Such the heroine Elizabeth is, and John the tragic hero!  

There were also red lights between each of the scenes. I may be reading into it, but they are probably symbols from the Red Scare of the 1950s, in which many people were accused of being communists by Joseph McCarthy. In fact, when the girls were calling out the names of the accused, Arthur Miller’s name was mentioned as well, a tribute to the play’s author Arthur Miller, who himself was accused.

Misplaced love, a manipulative teenager, an affair, murder, hanging, accusations, betrayal and religious hypocrites against the backdrop of the historical Salem Witch Trials made for a play like something from a Lifetime movie, only better.


Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

12 November 2012

Revolution Update

OK, so I feel I haven't really posted about Revolution in my excitement over Once Upon A Time, which is just so twisted even I don't know quite how I feel about it sometimes.

I adore Revolution. My roommate and I watch it together - or we have been watching it together, other than the past couple of weeks, when I've been watching it in Grauel Building at my school, unfortunately. Watching that show in a room of computers is much different than watching it with my roommate in our room.

Revolution is pretty clear cut, with hints about the blackout and getting the power back on, and spending half the season on them trying to get Danny back, which is the actually the only motivation of four people.

For some reason, being around Charlie and trying to find Danny is making Miles and Nora better people. I guess because it's more than just personal survival, it's about helping someone else now. I've noticed in the opening credits they say they've been waiting for someone to light the way? I'm thinking Charlie is that light. The people who've been hanging around Charlie seem much more charitable and giving.


Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

11 November 2012

Religious aspects of Once Upon A Time

Okay, I'm not saying the show is touting any religious meaning, but I can't ignore the obvious: Prince Charming.

His name is David, he's the son of a shepherd, he became a king when a man lost his son, who was David's brother, and he's heroic. But he had a tragic flaw: he had a moment when he was married and "cheated" on his wife in this world with Snow, even though she was really his wife in Fairy Tale land. David in the Bible cheated with Bethsheba. They both ended up with the woman they really wanted, I suppose.

Um, does anyone see parallels with David in the Bible? Katherine could be Michal, the daughter of a king, and Michal was the daughter of King Saul in the Bible. Michal and Katherine were both whiny and high maintenance, and eventually left their husbands (Katherine sort of left David). King George wants to destroy David's reputation in the eyes of the people in their kingdom, just like King Saul was jealous of how the people of Israel viewed David.

Emma, David's daughter, is meant to save the fairy tale characters from their curse, inflicted on the world by a clever snake (Rumple) who used a woman (Regina) to do it.

David's descendant, Jesus, was meant to save humanity from their curse, inflicted on the world by a clever snake (Satan) who used a woman (Eve) and a man (Adam) to do it.

Fairy tales were always meant to be like morality tales. I guess you just can't take the symbolic meaning out of fairy tales!

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

10 November 2012

Stand Up Stand Up

Yes, we have running water, electricity, and food. But think about it. People don't just give us those things. We work hard, sometimes really hard, and earn money and buy them. We have to wake up everyday, get ready, go to work, show up on time, do what we're supposed to do, and not complain. We have to be friendly and helpful and supportive, but confident and determined. We have to work as a team. People who do that get a job and earn money and provide for themselves and their families.

Yes, we should help each other as human beings and brothers and sisters, but it's not just luck that we have running water, electricity, and food. Sometimes it is; some people are born into a family where someone's worked hard or done something to earn enough money to last forever, or what seems like forever. But most of us work hard, be faithful, do our duty, and go home to a warm (or cold, depending on the time of year) house and family. We need to stop glamorizing luck and realizing it's partial luck, mostly hard work.

Same thing as a country. People in America have had to work hard to be successful, it doesn't just come to us, it is putting our needs and desires into action - and on hold sometimes - and craving out something beautiful and powerful. We sacrifice, we get involved, we stand up. Our leaders care somewhat about the people they're serving, and that's why we are where we are. Pick people who will care about the masses. Success will arrive then. Be willing to stand up for what's right, no matter what - even if you're standing alone.

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

08 November 2012

Tony LaRussa

So I got to meet good old Tony LaRussa, the former manager for the St. Louis Cardinals, at a press conference, the very first official press conference I ever got to attend. Hands-on, I finally know how to cover a  press conference! Haha. Joanna Shaver, who coordinates all the speakers, brought him out of the back room. I wish I could have gotten a picture with him! I have one of Michael J. Fox but not him. I know he talked about his pet rescue operation and gave an awesome quote on leadership skills and developing them, which I'll update this post with the exact quotes. He seemed very nervous and freaked out by the press conference, but at least he showed up, unlike Mr. Bill Nye the Science Guy. I wasn't at that one, though, but no way would I miss this one. He was like super late but we supposedly got all 15 minutes with him, even though I'm suspicious as to whether we really did or not. He had beautiful rings, three of them. They were so shiny and sparkly.

Of course, Dobbins had a beautiful speech welcoming La Russa to the stage and how glad Southeast was La Russa was here, and how 100 percent of the profits of the selling of tickets go to the endowed scholarship foundation to fund students' scholarship. La Russa even called the president by his first name, Ken, and called him out, asking him where to send people with questions. Dobbins looked flabbergasted, but recovered quickly

I also attended his actual event, with his speech. The man is super long-winded with his stories! Nonetheless, I was interested. He has to be my favorite speaker. For being old, he is a rather goodlooking man. I bet he was a lady killer in his glory years. 

Now I'm sure that he always says this, but he swore that the Cardinals were his favorites to manage. He also confirmed he and Chris Carpenter were close, and truthfully, I'd say they were probably the closest. I'm sure it's a friendship and a father-son relationship, as Carpenter is 37 and LaRussa is 68. When he first started to talk about Chris and how close they were, his eyes sort of shot to the right like he was sorry he'd just admitted it. Why would he be sorry, though? Oh well. He, for a moment, had a thoughtful expression on his face. Some people would try to make it seem creepy, but it really isn't. Everyone sort of finds someone to mentor or be mentored from. Best friends can be years apart. It's not the years that matter, it's how much time you spend together and what you both get from the relationship.

I'll update this later. He didn't say much, but what he said was powerful. Trust, respect and character were the core of his speech, and expounding on managing a team. I think the man had some insecurities. Everyone does, even the most put together people. He was pretty cocky and arrogant, as if he knew he was the coolest kid on the block (he really is). Really, the man shouldn't be so nervous. He's a very wonderful speaker, actually. I'll post a picture of him, too - when I get it updated. He was so inspirational. Here's one of them, talking about dealing with pressure, which he really emphasized in his speech. I took lots of notes.

"I looked at each player as if he were the pressure, go-to guy in any situation."

I really wish I had been on La Russa's team. I really do.

"Make pressure your friend," La Russa said. 

Pressure is a tough subject to tackle. Some people are calm and cool under pressure, some people get excited and make mistakes, he pointed out. Personally, I want to be in the latter category.

"We made pressure our friend on my teams. We prepared for situations over and over, which reduces the pressure the players perform under. I also taught players to think of the process, not the result. When David Freese went to the plate in Game 6, I can tell you he was only looking to have a good at-bat, not hitting a home run. He was able to totally tune out the pressure."

He said that everyone could be the top of their field, if they had respect, character, and trust. What will I remember from La Russa's speech? Prepare ahead of time. Keep practicing, eventually you'll get it right. Make pressure your friend. Just like from Ryan Blair the most life changing truth for me: Don't let anyone steal your milk.

He had a very long Question and Answer forum. What did he tell everyone about asking questions? 

"No guts, no glory."

I love that man.

People asked strange questions and almost everyone prefaced it with, "I love you, the Cardinals, or I'm from St. Louis." Of course you're from St. Louis - you're at Southeast and attending an event with Tony LaRussa, who insisted we call him Tony, and 40 percent of the students are St. Louis transplants.

I got guts and glory. I love it. I love his voice too. It's a perfect voice, sharp and focused, gravelly and cool. When he talked, you knew he wasn't talking out of his butt. He had something to say. He was serious. He wasn't blowing out hot air to make himself look better. He looked good already. He was good. And he was a person to look up to, to admire. He made jokes, some rather funny ones, considering he said he didn't think he was a very funny guy. OK, he shouldn't become a standup comedian by any means, but he wasn't too bad. He kept it humorous yet serious. I could tell he was used to managing rowdy guys and inspiring people. "Every year I get older and the players get younger." It was a joke I heard from my American Literature professor before he retired. He made it work, though, and I laughed. It's really funny.

He really cared about students, too, and tried to encourage us with his words, telling us he hoped we'd get something out of it to carry with us. At least he knew his audience, considering our student fees brought him here. They always have to talk about being leaders at the Speakers' Series thing. I think I agree with my uncle when he says a lot of successful people feel inadequate on college campuses and around college-educated people because they haven't gone to the university. It's hard to believe, but with my degrees, I'll technically be more educated than people three times my age. They have way more experience than me, though, but they are older and have been around a lot longer than me. La Russa is 46 years older than me. I can't believe it!

I wanted to ask him, after his I'm-old comment, how old he thought I was - I love asking people that question because everyone thinks I'm like 16. He probably would have said the same thing. I also should have asked if baseball is rigged. Shoot. I just know it is. He dodged questions he didn't want to answer, though, and he'd have dodged that one no doubt.

The great question: If I'm a blogger, does that count as being a journalist? Some people think it does, others don't. What do you think? Does blogging count?

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

04 November 2012

Emma kinda had true love...until August interrupted it!

Attention, please.

Henry is most likely half-human, half-fairy tale creature.

We can now assume that Mysterious Man, aka Neil Cassidy, will show up in Storybrooke someday for Emma. How delicious! I can see that scene playing out in my head already, can't wait to see what the writers come up with! Someone actually sent him a postcard letting him know that the curse was broken. Drama, please!

August promised to do it, but remember he was wooden when the curse was broken, and we never saw him un-wooden.

Plus, it was delivered via a white dove. August doesn't deal with white doves, does he? Wasn't Regina the one who threw the white dove out the window with a message? Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Okay, my question is, since the show wants to go on that line of thinking, how did Henry get to Storybrooke? Gold can't leave, none of them can leave other than Henry, Emma, and August. Mr. Mysterious doesn't seem to know about Henry, so he's out of the question. Emma didn't drop Henry off. That leaves August. Whoosh! Which quite possibly means that August had to deal with Mr. Gold, aka Rumple, at some point. Yum!

I can't believe Emma abandoned Hook after saving him from the giant. I really can't. I suspect that means Emma's now incurred Hook's wrath, too. Hook may have been her best shot for defending the group against Cora - if he was trustworthy, which he probably isn't.

Seriously! Emma was caught stealing WATCHES! No way. NOT what I was expecting. Sheesh. Watches. Seriously?

Explains Mr. Mysterious' watch collection. It does NOT explain how he had a picture of the clock from Storybrooke in his apartment, though. Yet it relates to the overall theme of the story, time.

Did anyone notice that once those two hoodlums (Emma and Mr. Mysterious) got away from each other, their lives got better? Mr. Mysterious left Canada and moved to New York City, and Emma went to Boston. Mr. Mysterious actually loved Emma, and Emma believes - present tense because she still does - he betrayed her (can we say that the person who called on Emma was August, that snake, and can we also say that money probably didn't get to Emma).

Now who gave her the keys? I'm guessing Mr. Mysterious just couldn't stay away. Emma seemed to understand the symbol behind it. Did you see her face? Of course, Emma just found out she was pregnant and in prison. NOT a great combination. The guard didn't seem overly upset. Am I reading into her comment? "Well, when you get out, you'll have a car. And a baby." Emma got eleven months. Was she implying Emma was going to have the baby in prison, and get out soon after? Maybe Mr. Mysterious isn't really Henry's father - we don't know what kind of hanky-panky Emma was up to between the time she was arrested and the time we found out she was pregnant. Hurt people do all kinds of crazy stuff.

Well, truthfully, while I knew it was a long shot that Mr. Mysterious was actually Bae, I was quite disappointed. I want to re-meet Bae and see how he likes a world without magic (we're assuming it is this world he's in).

Did anyone notice that David seemed to know what Henry's dream was about? Snow seemed to know exactly what Aurora was dreaming about, too, and didn't look like she believed her own words about the nightmares going away.

Yup. Everyone who is given a dream spell all dream the same creepy nightmare - apparently the person staring at them is a person of the opposite sex, though. Aurora saw a man and Henry saw a woman. Ahem! Am I the only one assuming that the nightmare is really another world accessed through being given a sleeping potion? David didn't have the same nightmare because he was in acoma, not sleeping under a sleep potion/poisoning (Henry and Snow=apple, Aurora=spinning wheel, we're assuming). Soooo creepy! Just what kinds of worlds are there?

This episode opened more doors. I hope we will actually get an ending. Then again, the creators sure know how to drag something out. If they'll all dead or sleeping, Ima be pissed.

Did I miss anything from this episode?

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

03 November 2012

Abortion

So in Western civilizations, if women have abortions because they can't afford it or don't want a baby, it should be legal.

In other countries, if women are having abortions because they want girls, it should be illegal.

It's murder when they do it because they want a boy. It's choice when Americans  do it because they don't want to deal with another child.

Give me a break.

I just saw the most horrible video, where a woman admitted to killing her eight girl children because she wanted a boy. Eight! That's a gender-preference serial killer.

Another couple mentioned that they had their baby, and the doctor took it, and killed it because it was a girl. They were horrified. The doctor killed their own daughter without even asking! That's a murderer masquerading as a healer.

A third woman said she was pressured into having an abortion - and she had twins. She wanted to save her daughters, but how could she?

No matter what people say, it's killing.

Murderers masquerading as healers.

If you get up in arms about people in other countries doing it but you think Americans have the choice whether or not to do it, you need help.

Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel