headlines that seem like twists in movie plots...

Zoo Officials Serve Poison Instead of Syrup in Sno-Cones
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523340,00.html

Couple Thrown From Motorcycle After Bike Hits Mattress
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523367,00.html

Dozens of Animals Die in Petting Zoo Fire
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523368,00.html

Giant Blob Found Deep Beneath Nevada
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,522061,00.html


It's a little scary when real life sounds more like a movie script.

freedom in Him

an article worth reading.

So first before I say anything, I'd like to note that blogger has no idea what they're talking of. This is the message accross the top of my screen right now:

Scheduled outage at 4:00PM PDT on Thursday (3/25).

It just happens that in 2009 this day/date combo doesn't exist.


In other news, I knew there was a catch to online quizzes... though technically my reasoning for never filling them out is more pop-ups and time wasting.

This makes me sad.

c'est la vie.

hum ho.
so I technically should be studying right now, but my stomach hurts, and nothing is making me very productive. I spent last weekend down in Virginia (right near DC) at a Photojournalism Conference as well as spending time in the evenings with my cousin, Kevin. Both were fun and a nice break from reality. But, alas, reality cannot stay away forever. Monday morning hit with homework and reading, and the week has just continued. I am finally getting into the shooting phase for my three long term photo projects I will be carrying out over the quarter. I still need to get a lot of reading done and out of the way for my documentary photo class. All in all after I get the stressful part of making contact with possible subjects, and finding stories of human interest, I will be able to fall into a fairly rhythmic weekly pattern.
I think that'll be easier to handle.
Well, at least I really hope so.

Also, I am much looking forward to being done with school at the same time... really??!!!?? Is it really this close? I can't quite believe it. After graduation-ness is somewhat daunting, especially since professors keep urging me on to chase internships that are over 200 miles away. Somehow I think the commute might kill me. Oh well, c'est la vie. With no job prospects at the moment, I presently intend to work on learning Spanish more, create a presentable website for my work, walk lots more and bike, too, get involved in this community, and pursue some photo story/essay ideas I've been holding under my belt (which I fail to wear pretty much all the time, but no matter).

Anyhoo, enough procrastinating. On to phone calls, cleaning up, and studying.

really??!!!???

What the crap?

"How to identify militia members:
People who ... in addition to anti-abortion activists...Other potential signals of militia involvement, according to the report, are possession of the Gagsden "Don't Tread on Me" flag..."

i vote no to this one...

this just gets too weird too fast.

the US calls this choice.

sad and horrifying.

oh veggies.

Probably my favorite St. Patrick rendition.

St. Patrick

http://www.history.com/video.do?name=St_Patricks_Day&bcpid=12040009001&bclid=1675979350&bctid=1455377204

I love St. Patrick, but I am thinking more and more I dislike what America has done to this saint's feast day. A fact I learned the other day was that pubs in Ireland until the 1970s were required by law to close in order to honor the day.

I bind to myself today

God's Power to guide me,

God's Might to uphold me,

God's Wisdom to teach me,

God's Eye to watch over me,

God's Ear to hear me,

God's Word to give me speech,

God's Hand to guide me,

God's Way to lie before me,

God's Shield to shelter me,

God's Host to secure me,

Against the snares of demons,

Against the seductions of vices,

Against the lusts of nature,

Against everyone who meditates injury to me,

Whether far or near,

Whether few or with many.

talk about pricy.

I clicked on some random link on MSN, as I do on occasion, it being the home page (for some odd reason) on David's laptop. Anyhow, the article was about over-the-top hotels you can stay in.
This was my favorite description, and as a side note, I'd never want to stay there.

Your Space or Mine? Spendy romantics have been putting money toward
theoretical trips into outer space for nearly a decade now, but the proposed 3
billion dollar/three-room hotel, Galactic Suite Space Resort, ups the ante.
Designed by aerospace engineer Xavier Claramunt, the pod-shaped suites are
projected to travel around the Earth every 80 minutes (going faster than 16,000
miles per hour). The cost? About $4 million for a "stay" of four days, so we're
hoping that includes fresh towels and turndown service by an actual Wookiee.
Assuming everything goes well, this short escape from the Earth's atmosphere
will allow you and your lover to swoon over 15 romantic sunrises per day, and
maybe even engage in some zero-gravity hijinks. The pods aren't even set to
orbit until 2012, so you'll have at least three more years to save up for the
ultimate un-cheap date.

RIP

Paper versions of newspapers are starting to die off.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/business/media/17paper.html

so apparently

I am training for one of the most stressful jobs in the nation.
http://www.careercast.com/jobs/content/JobsRated_StressfulJobs

simple way to serve.

the love alliance is an awesome non-profit organization. they work to educate people about social justice along with giving ideas on how others can help in the choices they make daily. one thing their website (as well as their mission statement) says that i think is very interesting and neat is:

In today’s society it is fashionable to be socially conscious. The Love
Alliance aims to take social justice beyond a trend by working to integrate
justice into who someone is rather than what they do.

this is their service idea for the month of march. simple, yet blesses others in ways we, as americans, can barely imagine.

psalm 145.

[lyrics by shane & shane]

The Lord is gracious
And slow to anger
He is rich in love
He is good to all
The Lord is gracious
And slow to anger
He is rich in love
He is good to all
Who call on Him
In truth He is near to them
He is hears their cry
And saves them, He saves them!

Every day I will praise
For You open Your hand
And satisfy desires of all things
For You open Your hand
And satisfy desires of all things
My God, the King

heh.

another reason not to use tanning beds.

daily comic.

the only comic i continuously read on a nearly daily basis is calvin & hobbes. i can thank my dad for that one. = )

news.

sad and discouraging... a story from my parent's home area.

hilarious... a headline from the land down under.


in other words, classes began for the last time ever today. i began my last spring quarter. oh RIT, how different it will be without you in my life. the two classes i had today are rather good thus far.

psychological websites.

These things scare me at how right they can be... although I can say they did get me wrong in some spots...

Personality: Moods
Go-getter
You're an adventurous soul with a taste for the good life. You have an eye for style and a creative spirit. You probably like to be the centre of the action. When it comes to art, you are definitely unconventional; you are drawn to the beauty of the human body- and the oppurtunity to express your identity through it. You like how music helps you unwind, and switch off. Music transports you far away from the everyday grind.
Personality: Fun
Conqueror
Family time is top of the pops for you. You want to savor every precious moment. Life doesn't get any better. For kicks, you'll always opt to broaden your horizons. You love the inspiration that exploring new cultures brings. You like to take risks, and push limits. You're confident and brave- life is for the living. When it comes to holidays you like to explore, and immerse yourself in another culture. Always on the go, you take in as much as you can. You find it hard to switch off, as you like to be absorbing new information all the time.
Personality: Habits
Back to Basics
You love the luxury of taking time for yourself. There's nothing quite as enjoyable as relaxing, unwinding and living a pampered life. And why not? You deserve it. Your choice of drink reflects your love of stability and comfort of routine... As for the home, you have an expressive personality with contemporary taste. You like to be surrounded by the precious possessions that define who you are (make this books & photos).
Personality: Social
Nostalgic
You're a bit of a nostalgic deep down. Nothing beats the good times that you and your friends have shared. You're always up for a trip down memory lane. When you think of freedom- you think of living for the here and now (i think this could be half and half). You're open to new experiences and take any opportunity that crosses your path.

True: this
False: this

odd collections

As a child, I always wondered if this would work, but there is no way my mother would have ever let me keep this much stuff in my room. I had less than 1% of what this child had, and I still was constantly throwing mine out. So I guess it turns out odd collections do bring in the money.

this makes me sad.
our country has lost so much respect for the human life.

some news links...

what just two people can do. i always enjoy hearing of motivated people who move within their community to make a difference.

ironic, yes?

7 days

this week.

lent began. so excited. 40 days to look at His dream for us and to compare it to what we are now and what we have settled with. 40 days to ponder, to reflect on a Love greater than any other.

settled several things for my independent study for photo in the spring.

purchased documentary photo books.

passed the CLEP test for Spanish (gives me the 4 credits I needed) with exactly a 50 out of 80. Jehovah Jireh.

updated my flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/sgortiz check it out!

fell in love with this tattoo, but am not this brave.

watched the darjeeling limited. very colorful and beautifully shot.

" 'The times are bad! The times are troublesome!'

This is what humans say. But we are our times. Let us live well

and our times will be good. Such as we are, such are our times."

St. Augustine

Barely ever do these...

So I feel fairly accomplished, and I didn't bother with those I Love. I just wanted to see how many I had read. And if I put (*) it means I own it and plan to read it one of these days.

Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.

Instructions:
a) Look at the list and put an (x) after those you have read.
b) Add a (+) to the ones you LOVE.
c) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
d) Put a ($) next to any you are currently reading.
e) Tally your total at the bottom.
f) Put in a note with your total in the subject

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (x)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (x)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (x)
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (x)
6 The Bible - God (x)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (x)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell ($)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (x)
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (x)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (x)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy(x)
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller(*)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare(*)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier(x)
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (x)
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (x)
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot (x)
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (*)
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (x)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens (*)
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (x)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (x)
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh(x)
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky(*)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (x)
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy(x)
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (x)
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (x)
34 Emma - Jane Austen (x)
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (x)
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (x)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (*)
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres(x)
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (x)
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (x)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (x)
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (x)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (x)
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (*)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert (David read it- does that count?)
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (x)
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (x)
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (x)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (started it and was too disturbed to finish it)
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (x)
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (x)
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (x)
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (*)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (x)
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (x)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce (x)
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath (parts of it)
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (x)
80 Possession - AS Byatt (x)
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (x)
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (x)
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (x)
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (x)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (x)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (*)
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (*)
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint (x)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (x)
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (x)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (x)
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (x)

TOTAL:
52 Read
1 Am in the Process of Reading
9 Own and Need to Read

North Dakota House approved a measure this morning giving fertilized eggs a Right to life. The measure still has to pass the State Senate, but if it does, it would basically place a ban on abortion in the state. I guess I don't follow North Dakota's state politics all that well, but it surprises me that they are apparently making leaps in a pro-life direction. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out and how other States and the US government will take it.

this made me laugh.

AP

Feb 16: This No Kissing sign was unveiled at Warrington Bank Quay railroad station in Warrington, England, Monday in a bid to cut delays. The sign has been placed at the dropoff point.

One baby with extra pickles and a side of fries, please.

A made-to-order baby? It scares me that reproductive technology (it also bothers me that we associate these two words) has gotten to the point where parents can special order a baby with the "perfect" eye and/or hair color. Why can't couples just wait for the surprise and rejoice with what they are given? This quote from the article bothers me: "Reproductive technology is a blessing for families who need it to give them what nature could not — healthy children." Why are unhealthy children automatically keyed off as not being a blessing? Arg. Our country, well, much of our world, really irritates me sometimes.

Any thoughts?

... always perseveres.

An interesting photo essay from TIME on love. Every couple interviewed and photographed has been married a minimum of 50 years. Wow. That seems like eternity at this point. David & I have only made it 6 months thus far, and my parents are not even halfway there. One of my sets of grandparents is already on their way (two more years I believe) to 60 years, and the other set should hit fifty in 4 more years. Now that's what I call Love.

suspicious?

I should think so.

"...David Ogden’s advocacy for the pornography industry goes much further. His position would allow the purveyors of exploitative images to hide their abuse behind a vanishing paper trail. There is some irony in the fact that while our country employs thousands of inspectors to ensure that meat and poultry are safe, David Ogden opposed even basic steps to ensure that the images consumed by pornography users are not of children. While David Ogden’s stated concern was protecting “free speech”—in his confirmation hearing he said that he is opposed to the exploitation of minors, and presumably he is sincere—it is hard to see any justification for a position that has the effect of abetting abuse. In addition to making it harder to prosecute those who sell images of child molestation and rape, Ogden has sought to ensure that pornography can be easily distributed and readily accessed in almost any medium or location.

He has fought cases in Puerto Rico to allow Playboy to broadcast explicit programming on TV. He represented Philip Harvey, a man who runs the nation’s largest mail-order pornography shop out of North Carolina, in his attempt to deflect a Department of Justice investigation of his business. Completing a sort of multi-media grand slam, Ogden has sued to allow sexually-explicit content to be transmitted over the phone. Taking this quest to its absurd limits, he has even claimed in court that there is a constitutional right for pornography to be kept in firehouses. Ogden’s position is good for the industry groups he has represented but bad for female firefighters who could be subjected to humiliating and harassing images in the workplace. With an equal disregard for the comfort and protection of children, in 2000 Ogden sued to allow pornography to be accessed in public libraries."

To read the entire article from thePublicDiscourse.com, go here.

Radical Love.

May I just say how much I love nuns?
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2009/radical_love/

funny?

I saw this through my Google RSS feed, and thought it interesting...

Geva Comedy Improv Presents: Be My ValentineTime: 10:30 PM
(US/Eastern)Location: the Nextstage at Geva Theatre Center
Roses are red, violets are blue, some love-crazed lunatic is gonna kill you.
Be My Valentine: An Improvised Blood-soaked Slasher/Romantic Comedy Join the Cast of
Geva Comedy Improv for a special run of shows wholly dedicated to the “Slasher
Movie” genre. Each performance will be a unique live action “movie” based upon
suggestions from the audience. Be sure to catch this heartwarming/horrifying/hilarious evening of entertainment. Enjoy thrills, laughs and warm memories with that “special someone” in your life. Woo your date with cheap drinks, or snare someone who has already enjoyed a few - we're not
judging. It's simultaneously the most AND least romantic date night in Rochester!
(Studies have shown that people are more likely to make out after watching scary movies, just tossin that out there…) Oh yea, there will be blood. Stage blood. Gallons of it. You may get splattered. Does the blood wash out? Yes. Will the psychological scars heal? Probably not. Will someone find
love? (We’re hoping it’s Ted)
Friday February 13th 10:30 PM Saturday
February 14th 10:30 PM
Thursday February 19th 7:30 PM Friday February 20th
10:30 Saturday February 21st 10:30 PM
All shows are in the Nextstage at Geva
Theatre Center, and they only cost $7! Get your tickets at the Geva Theatre Box
office, online at http://www.gevacomedyimprov.org or
by calling 232-Geva (4382).
Sometimes love hurts. Other times love murders you…

http://rocwiki.org/Events_Board

obsessions of the week.

my hot water bottle.




















m. ward.

twinings. blackcurrant.

This quote below was in Chaos Theory, which I watched the other night with David & Christin. The movie had it's laughs and interesting turns. I wouldn't count it as a great movie, nor one to add to a movie collection, but it wasn't bad for the $1 Blockbuster fee. This quote, however, I thought interesting... it was right near the end of the movie after a story that did show relationships that overcame dirt and sin and betrayal.

"Ever heard Chaos theory Ed? Its a science, tries to determine
underlying patterns in chaotic systems like weather, ocean currents, blood
flow sort of things. But it turns out that are few things more chaotic than
the beat of a human heart. Its beating up, slowing down. Pretty face, flirty
stares. Its always changing on whats happening to ourselves out there its
erratic sound... But underneath all of that bump to bump mess,
there is in fact a pattern, the truth, and its love. Most important thing
about love is that we choose to give it, and we choose to receive it. Making
it the least random act in the entire Universe. It transcends blood, it
transcends betrayal and all the dirt."
and makes us human.

maybe i'm just too skeptical.

This seems like a perfect example of loving generosity... but a side of me wonders if there is a catch, if these people are possibly just the victims of another exploit... I don't know. I guess the right approach wouldn't be to judge right away and to not assume that someone who is giving what they have is automatically a horrible person out for selfish gain.


Man hands out cash in New York
By Sima Kotecha Newsbeat US reporter

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/newsbeat/newsid_7869000/7869277.stm

"Imagine getting £35 for doing absolutely nothing. Well in New York, a man is
giving away stacks of cash to anyone who's prepared to stand in line for it.
The mystery man, who calls himself 'Bailout Bill', says in the middle of an
economic crisis ordinary Americans who are struggling to make ends meet deserve
a bailout.
In order to get the money people have to go the 'Bailout Booth'
in the heart of Manhattan's Times Square.
It's a small cubicle, a couple of
blocks away from the massive Virgin Megastore.
The minimum anyone can get is
$50 (£35). The maximum is $5,000 (£3,513).
No matter who you are or what you
do Bailout Bill guarantees that you'll get something if you just show up and
tell your story. "

biscuits and honey made for a lovely breakfast.

"The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of." Blaise Pascal

the office had wegmans cereal on its shelf.

Lord, teach me how to have a heart that is pure.

silence.

I've been reading (well, re-reading I guess) Mother Teresa's book No Greater Love recently. Here is a passage I've been pondering over:

"We cannot find God in noice or agitation. Nature: trees, flowers, and grass grow in silence. The stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence. What is essential is not what we say but what God tells us and what He tells others through us. In silence He listens to us; in silence He speaks to our souls. In silence we are granted the privelage of listening to His voice

Silence of our eyes.
Silence of our ears.
Silence of our mouths.
Silence of our minds.
... in the silence of the heart, God will speak.

Silence of the heart is neccessary so you can hear God everywhere- in the closing of the door, in the person who needs you, in the birds that sing, in the flowers, in the animals.
If we are careful of silence it will be easy to pray. There is so much talk, so much repitition, so much carrying on of tales in words and in writing. Our prayer life suffers so much because our hearts are not silent.
I shall keep the silence of my heart with greater care, so that in the silence of my heart I hear His words of comfort and from the fullness of my heart, I comfort Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor."

Silence. It's almost an anomaly.

primero.

I have started many a blog, and seldom do I actually keep up with them very long. I am hoping this one might be different. Technically I see this one more as a carrying on of my old blog of the same name, also hosted by Blogger. The other one though was started under my old name, and therefore, I had to keep my old gmail account alive and well just to be able to tweak that blog. This may end up being just ramblings, hopefully though it will be a bit more consistent.
So to begin in this entry, I shall explain further regarding my chosen name for this blog as well as his predecessor. Dum Spiro, Spero, which is Latin for "While I breathe, I hope," was first discovered by me on a trip to Scotland I made my freshman year of college. I was visiting a friend of mine for 5 days or so in the little town of St. Andrews, and this quote is the town's motto. I saw it somewhere while there, and wrote it down in my journal, only for it to be packed away and rediscovered a year or so later. Hope is a word that I have really made one of my Life words in a way. It's a word God often reminds me of when I am down, tired, fearful, worried, stressed. It's a word that promises so much more. In this saying, Hope is something we have while we are here on earth and while we breathe this air. I believe that when we reach heaven we will have come to a place were we no longer need to hope because our hope will have been fulfilled.
And thus another blog of ponderings and whatnot begins.