Reality Lately.

Wow so I just looked on here, and I have two half written drafts trying to get back into blogging. I left both unfinished. Now that I really think about it and look at those drafts though... I know why they didn't make it to get posted. They weren't real.

Reality lately... has been hard to say the least. A couple months ago the Lord told me I was going to need to trust Him in this season. As I was praying through what I needed to trust and surrender to Him, I pictured myself jumping. Really that's what Trust/Love/Surrender is... it's jumping and it's such a beautiful risk, that I'm realizing sometimes I can only learn by literally falling on my face.  I wrote this poem a couple months ago when I first moved back home, and it explains life recently. PS = It's a big deal for me to share my writing on here by the way, I have LOTS of  journals that have not been read by anyone but God and I, but I feel though that as I step into a new season of life, which has been hereby named the "healing season". Blogging seems to be a good way for me to process through thoughts and be transparent.

So that being said, this is my poem, be blessed!

Lighter <3

The longer I hold on,

The more comfortable I get.

All this starts to bottle up…

     …. Inside the destitute depths of this tattered soul.

Finally my fingers…

They slip…..

                One,

                   Two,

                      Three…

                                There they go, and there I am.

Bare… Surrendered …. Naked.

I erupt in the friction of it all,

The tears start rolling…

                                One,

                                   Two,

                                        Three…

                                                They fall, and I …

Well, I float …

Lighter.

                Freer.

                                And I realize…

As this baggage falls, a mask does as well…

And I never have to leave His hands.

It’s a process, it’s a journey,

… and grace… it becomes more real each time.

Thank you Father… thank you Father for entrusting a living legacy … to me, to us…

May I/we always be faithful.

Score or Snore?

Internet Movie Database says that the 2010 movie, Secretariat, "grossed over $51,000,000 in the box office". I took a 12 year old to go see this movie, and they snored all the way through it! Going into the movie I thought that this movie was definitely geared towards the younger crowd, but as we were getting ready to go I was asked if we could go see other way more explicit movies. At first I was caught off guard, but then I realized that that the younger generation is exposed to way more explicit media than ever before in America... so should I really have been surprised? Anyways, that's just a side note, my thoughts are that this movie was geared to the younger crowd but because of it's historical content was more of an interest to the adults. I personally thought it was a great movie, however... I nudged the 12 year old I took about 3 times because they were snoring so loud. While Secretariat seems to have done decently at the box office, and I enjoyed it. If the producers were hoping to bring in a young audience, I say - epic fail :)... but they did a good job bringing in our parents grandparents!

A Lifesaver Media Review

Ok, ok so the title of my post maybe a tad exaggerated. However, after pulling an all-nighter almost every Thursday night this semester for my English 102 class (even when spacing assignments out throughout the week), this website really did feel like a lifesaver! I'm totally a science nerd, & used to be a lab rat, all that jazz even though it may not seem so ha-ha I do love science. On the flip side, I have a really hard time in English, especially Shakespeare. I feel like I look at it and my mind just melts... For my media review I want to introduce something that can really benefit others as well. It's called "No Fear Shakespeare", a special sub-division of Spark Notes. com.

We've all heard it. "Don't use that, you're cheating yourself from the whole story, or spark notes is a paraphrase that will hurt you more than help." I would like to clarify that in this particular case, that assumption is false :) No Fear Shakespeare is geared to the college student, like you and I who needs the whole picture, but just can't understand. They have two columns of text when you go to the site. One is the original Shakepearen text, and the other is modern day english... it's really a beautiful thing when you have 2 or 3 research papers due in the same week.

Following this link will take you the Act 1 of Hamlet, which I am working on in English 102 right now, but from there you can see the set-up I am talking about: "No Fear Shakespeare - Hamlet"

As you can see big time brownie points go out to students all over, as well as a big thank you, because with out this resource... well I don't really want to think about what would happen... I'm sure I would not get close to writing my research paper though that's for sure.

Enjoy!
Anastasia

Wikipedia Contribution

Prior to this assignment, and actually during this assignment as well, I was really nervous about posting contributing to an article on Wikipedia. Sounds silly I'm sure, but in my mind prior to this assignment I thought of Wikipedia as something that only publishers or writers would contribute to (even though it is open to everyone to publish). After contributing to the Mercy Ships (follow the hyperlink to see the article with my updates) article on Wikipedia, I realized that I was actually nervous for nothing. However, I think this does say something about culture because I know I'm not the only one that was nervous to post something on Wikipedia. Even though it is a "peer edited" form of encyclopedia, it shows that people still have a hard time shaking the idea that there isn't an overarching authority controlling the press.


I chose to contribute to this Wikipedia article because I felt that it would be best for me to contribute to something I am passionate about and already have a good knowledge of the organization. My goal was to help make the article more reputable, adding to what a Mercy Ship was like, what jobs were available, and what types of health care were provided. Finding the information was easy as it was all available to the public at http://www.mercyships.com/.


When I went into the article there were barely any citations for the statistics listed in the history section, as well as the information provided was minimal and really didn't give a whole lot of insight on what Mercy Ships was or did, it really seemed to narrow its focus on how it started. I'm glad I was able to add more, because it really is a noteworthy organization. 

I was able to find the published document and cite the sources accurately, as well as update the information to be the following text:

"Some of the more notable statistics include:

• more than 32,500 surgeries such as cleft lip and palate, cataract removal, straightening of crossed eyes, orthopedic and facial reconstruction;^[6]
• treated more than 212,000 people in village medical clinics;^{[citation needed][7]}
• performed more than 194,081 dental treatments;^{[citation needed][8]}
• taught over 14,629 local health care and professional workers, who have in turn trained many others in primary health care. ^[9]
• taught 100,021 local people in primary health care. ^[10]
• trained local medical professionals in modern health care techniques;^{[citation needed][11]}
• delivered more than $60 million USD of medical equipment, hospital supplies and medicines;^{[citation needed][12]}
• completed more than 900 community development projects including construction of schools, clinics, orphanages, water wells and agriculture programs;^{[citation needed] [13]}and
• visited over 550 total ports in 70 different nations.^{[citation needed]"}

As well as I added the following paragraphs:
"Mercy Ships often needs people for jobs not just of the medical nature. While positions for surgeons, dentists, and nurses are often readily available, because of the nature of the ship, jobs such as hospitality hostess, mechanic, and teachers are also often in high demand.^[1][2]


Mercy Ships provides surgeries and health care to correct or otherwise aid blindness, corneal growths & crossed eyes, deformities, tumors, cleft lip/palate, congenital abnormalities, burns & leprosy, oral disease, dental, extractions & procedures, oral hygiene education, and childbirth injuries.^[3]


When deciding whether or not to work on Mercy Ships, you are able to commit to a short-term (two weeks to two years) or a long-term (minimum two years). Preference is given to those who are able to commit for a 4-year term.^[4]


On a Mercy Ship it can literally seem like a town on a boat. There is a weight-room, 24 hr internet café, satellite phone (US Phone number), library & video library, crew galley (kitchen for crew use), free standing swimming pool, academy (for children of long-term crew), snack bar, Starbucks café, playground for kids, and crew clinic.<sup>[5]"


I felt very accomplished with my contribution to this Wikipedia article, as well as enlightened to the fact that it's not that scary. I even have an account now, so who knows maybe I'll edit some more?


Thanks so much,
Ana V.</sup>

Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking through websites like del.icio.us makes the bookmarks on your brower seem "old-school". Currently I don't have a need anymore to be bookmarking sites daily or worry about thembeing lost. However, when I was an intern at genetics lab, research was a crucial part of my every day job, so bookmarking made things easy. Before talking about it some in class, I did find myself wondering if there was a way to store tags/favorites/bookmarks online so they wouldn't get lost. I set up an account with del.icio.us  and started bookmarking some of my favorite things or articles needed for classes. This seems to be a time saver and a much needed security for many people very useful! Here is the link to my bookmarks: http://www.delicious.com/valentino_a.

Thanks for reading!
Anastasia

CMM 101 - Media Challenge

In my CMM 101 (electronic media) class, we were asked for one of our assignments to keep a journal of all our media intake throughout one week. Then to compile it all into charts and graphs while analyzing in in a paper. I found that music related media such as radio, itunes, or youtube music playlists accounted for the highest amount of media I had "consumed" throughout the week. I was surprised at first to find that I has listened to music in some form for about 28 hours throughout the week. However, when I think about how much I multitask throughout the day and how music is always involed it made more sense. Music has always been a part of my life, whether it be in children's choir at church when I was in elementary school, show choir in high school, listening to music while doing homework (when I was younger and now), and even listening to while commuting to work or friends houses (typically an hour spent in car total for one trip).

In concluding my paper, I wrote "relevant life would not be possible without the media". I think many times media is given a bad rap... but in actuality it is really a huge resource for so many of life's needs for many of us. I personally would say it's more a blessing than a curse, when we look at the possibilities!

Sincerely,
Anastasia

literally "drawn from water"

"Drawn from Water"...

When I first heard the name of this organization I looked into it more because the name peaked my interest and I wanted to find out what it meant/stood for. When I looked into it further I was brought to tears, because I was so glad to see children rescued, but deeply saddened to hear what they were being rescued from. I don't think I would give them the credit they're due if I tried to explain it, so please go to the website here: http://www.drawnfromwater.org/the-story and definitely watch this video when you have a chance: http://vimeo.com/10055676. I actually just found out that friends of mine just  adopted Endale who is shown in this video! I love this, and success stories like it. It makes me want to go back over there SO much more!

Sincerely & God Bless,
Anastasia