Under the Arch

Imagine spending three days in a family friendly environment, with an endless number of things to do and see and learn.

Imagine a county fair of sorts where you have an instant connection with everyone you meet. There are no strangers here because you all have something fundamental in common. You love your Jeep.

An outdoor conference of Jeep enthusiasts, Camp Jeep is an owner event that takes place every year in various parts of the country. We drive hours from all over to get together and play in the dirt.

Have to make this quick since I procrastinated and the next episode is on tonight.

A couple of memerable lines from this ep.:

Sayid, referring to Ben-“Forgive me, but the day I start trusting him is the day I would have sold my soul.” Crap. I really hope he hasn’t sold his soul to the devil. I mean, really, who could have seen that coming? Kind of blows the mind.

Frank, referring to Sayid- "Iraq? Was he some sort of diplomat?"
Jack- "No. He was a torturer."
The look on Frank’s face is priceless.

What we learned in this ep.:

Sayid is one of the Oceanic 6.

He seems to be some sort of assassin in the future. He kills a man on the golf course in Europe somewhere. The man seems to be frightened when Sayid tells him who he is. Sayid calls him by name before shooting him. He uses a woman named Elsa to get close to a target, only she is not what she seems, either. She shoots him and speaks to someone on the phone about getting a name from him. She tells the person on the phone to go to the safe house. Sayid kills her. Elsa is wearing a bracelet just like Naomi's, the bracelet that seemed to bother Sayid on the island.

Sayid has a list. A list of people to kill. It seems that they know he is after them now, and Ben is pleased. Yes, Ben. Ben recruited Sayid to kill people, apparently not good people. Talk about freaky.

Dan Dan, the physics man, has discovered that time works differently on the island. Something is off by 31 minutes. Strange. He tells Frank to take the exact heading out that they used to get in.

Ben has a stash of money and passports in his house at the compound. There's a lot more going on with that guy than I think we can even guess. No one has that many passports for good reasons.

Also, Ben's man on the boat is most likely Micheal. We should see that this week.

Next week, or rather tonight:

We find out how Kate wasn't in jail in Jack's flashforward.

My good friend, Sarah, asked me to read off my url to her last night and when I did she commented on how it has travel in it, but I never talk about travel. Yeah, oops. I always intended to write about places I've been and vacations I've taken, but there always seems to be more interesting things to talk about or I start writing and end up deleting it in frustration.

So, for fun, I'm going to put it out there for debate. What shall I talk about? Which of these trips sounds the most interesting? (or at least the idea of reading about it doesn't make you want to stab yourself in the eye)

1. RockFest '97- I drove to Texas with a four friends in my mom's minivan to go to a music festival.
2. '98- big road trip with my sister and exboyfriend-Grand Canyon, 29 Palms, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and then drove back up through Colorado.
3. '95-High school trip to Texas and Mexico
4. What is Camp Jeep? '02-'06 Includes Virginia, Washington D.C., Niagara Falls, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Wisconsin, and New York.
5.Xmas trip to Florida with the exboyfriend, includes Disney and the Florida Keys

Any ideas?

The book I referred to in the last post is "Silent in the Grave"by Deanna Raybourn. Really enjoyed it, couldn't put it down.

The LOST post is still coming, though it won't be as long as the last one.

I applied to have BlogHer network ads on my blog. Why? Because I am poor, and struggling, frankly. If they accept me and it brings in ANY income at all, it will be welcome. I figured if I'm going to spend so much of my spare time blogging and reading blogs I might as well TRY. I'm not sure that I get enought traffic for their ads, but it couldn't hurt to apply, so I did.

I may have mentioned before that I lost my job on campus due to scheduling. The ironic part is that scheduling was a problem because I was supposed to be student teaching this semester....which has not happened. Mostly my fault, but a bureaucratic nightmare. Soo, I am only taking 3 credit hours at this point which makes financial aid an adventure. le sigh. sucks. So, I'm pretty much out of money and have none coming in any time soon. Good thing I live for a challenge. That and my parents are AWESOME. Yep, I'll admit it. I'm 30 and still need the occasional financial help of my parents. That is so embarrassing. Please don't think less of me. ;) Ok, I think I got off topic a bit.

The funny that I wanted to share was this....in desperation, I combed the craigslist job ads and I will be applying on Tuesday for the position of Easter Bunny at a local mall. lol How awesome is that? I hope I get it, cuz I'm dying to put Easter Bunny on my resume. Ha!

Also, I'm going to look into substituting, because I need to get myself out there in the education community. So, at least the next couple of months won't be a complete loss. Still, crap.

There are some other ideas floating around in my head...as a single, it makes me crazy that many of my friends refuse to go to dinner or the movies alone....and what changes I've made recently to live a little healthier and cheaper.

finally, a note:
spell check is being difficult again, I tried to edit, but spelling isn't my thing, so there will probably be mistakes. sorry.

Hee. Ahem.

Before I post this, I had 123 posts on this blog, I don't know why this amuses me, it just does.

Kendra, I read Silent in the Grave and OH MY GOD, so good, thanks for the recommendation. I would have left this as a comment on your blog, but Blogger was being a whore and wouldn't let me.

There will be a LOST entry for this week if anyone cares, but I'm still sort of in shock and I need to think about it some more.

I spoke on the phone with one of my exs tonight and I was reminded why we are not together. I respect a person's right to have a different opinion about things, we do not need to see eye to eye to be friends or even lovers, but be ye not so stupid as to think that you can belittle my opinon or change my mind about it. I will never understand people who insist on telling me how wrong I am and/or stupid about a topic. Yeah, that'll win me over to your side. Good job. Moron. (I am one of the most stubborn people you will ever meet. Trying to explain how wrong I am will only make me dig in deeper. It's a sickness, I know. Bite me.)

Valentine's Day is over. Time to party.

I am somebody. You are somebody. Go here and sign up for the Great Interview Experiment. I interviewed Red Lotus Mama and it was great fun. You can read our interview here.

You can find all the interviews here.

If you haven't already, sign up!

And check back for the interview of me!

Let me say first, if you have not seen this week's episode of LOST, go see it already! I don't care what's up first on the TIVO, YOU. MUST. WATCH. But, if you haven't yet, may ye not go further, there WILL be spoilers. Oh, yes, there will be spoilers. Let me say second, if you have no interest in the TV show, LOST, this is not the entry for you, feel free to skip this one.
** denote flashbacks


Previously on LOST:
Locke killed Naomi with a machete. Ouch.

The Losties were split on whether or not to take the frieghties up on their offer of rescue. Notably, Sawyer, Claire and Hurley went with Locke to avoid the freighties.

Jack, Kate, and Hurley make it off the island. They are part of the group, The Oceanic 6, which in the flashforwards, are the only people to make it back to the world...so far. So, still don't know who the other three are.

Hurley is seeing Charlie in the present(?). Charlie is dead. Dead Charlie is PRETTY. Ok, I get why Evangeline Lily likes him so much. Still short, though. Bummer.

Hurley feels safer in the mental institution. I would hug Hurley if I could. I get it Hurley, I do.

Hurley apologized to Jack about going with Locke and promised he wouldn't tell. What, exactly, we're not sure.

Scary tall black guy visits Hurley, says he's from Oceanic, and offers Hurley a better institution. Hurley says no thanks. Scary guy doesn't have any ID and asks Hurley, "Are they still alive?" Huh.

So....tonight:
Tonight's episode is freightie-centric.

The freighties' helicopter is going down. They bail out.

*A salvage operation finds Oceanic 815 in a deep trench off the coast of Bali. Since we all know that's not where it went down, we are left to wonder how that plane got there, or rather, who put it there and why? I really can't think of a reason for that sort of hoax, especially something so elaborate. You see later in the episode that they put BODIES in the plane to give the passengers' families closure. Can you fucking BELIEVE that?! That is some evil ass shit and I can't wait to find out why they did it.*

*The first freightie, Dan, is watching the news in Massachusetts as they talk about the discovery and sort of crying. He tells his girlfriend/wife/sister/whatever that he doesn't know why he's upset. Er, okay.*

Sawyer is my boyfriend. Kate's gonna have to fight me for him. (Hey, I could totally kick a fictional woman's ass for the love of a fictional man, but only if he's as HAWT as Sawyer.) Sawyer loses his temper and beats somebody down. I love it when Sawyer loses his temper and beats somebody down. Especially when it's Ben he's giving the beat down to.

That Locke's Dad stole his kidney is what saved him when Ben shot him last season. Can you say awesome?

*The second freightie is a ghostbuster? And a con artist? Ahhhhh, ASSHOLE, should have given Grandma the money. On this island that you find yourself? It has a monster, made of black smoke, and it kills bad guys, even if they're sorry. Although, cool, a psychic. (He talks to dead people.) Anyway, his name is Miles. Miles is an asshole.*

Sawyer is my boyfriend, but Sayid is my fiance. Yummies.

*Third freightie is Charlotte. She's some sort of Indiana Jones. We see her in Tunsinia. She interupts a dig where they found the skeleton of a polar bear. In the freaking desert, people. Even weirder? It had a Dharma collar. So, the island is not the first place Dharma experimented with polar bears in strange places. Interesting. Charlotte knows something about Dharma and she doesn't beleive that 815 has been found. Hmm, does she think Dharma is the perpetrator of the hoax?*

Charlotte makes the mistake of telling Locke that she is wearing a tracking device. Locke puts it on Vincent and sends him running out into the jungle.

*Freightie number four, is a pilot, named Frank. He sees them showing the pilot's body on TV. Must have been hard to find that body, you know, since the monster ATE HIM!!! He knows it's not the pilot, he knows him. In fact, he should have been flying that day. Oops, survivors guilt. Don't worry, dude, the island did it, nothing you could have done.*

Ben shoots Charlotte!! Yeah, that'll save you. Dumbass. Luckily she was wearing a bullet-proof vest. Interesting. Guess she was expecting trouble.

Frank is a pretty good pilot, cuz he managed to land the helicopter, even though he says it was hit by lightening. Good job, Frank.

*Naomi is getting briefed on "the team" by scary black guy. She's supposed to protect them on "the mission". Naomi knew that survivors are a possiblility even though scary guy insists, "There WERE no survivors of Oceanic 815. Don't ask questions, just do what you were hired for." Oops, I think she failed. That dude creeps me out. Seriously.*

Miles tries to call what sounds like McCastle. He can't come to the phone. (Scary guy?)

Frank is very familiar with the plane manifest. He knows Juliet's not from the plane. Miles is REALLY pissed off about that. Damn. What did Ben do this time?

Locke is ready to finally kill Ben. But, it seems he knows quite a lot about Charlotte. How exactly? Seems the freighties have a traitor in their midst. Ben knows they are there for him.

In the previews: Next week, we learn about about the next member of The Oceanic 6.

note: Spellcheck isn't working. Sorry if there are any obvious errors. Spelling is not my thing. Also, if you actually read this, thanks. I just love this show.

Sorry, I know I said I would post when I had heard back from my winner...should have posted this yesterday, but I totally forgot!

The winner is Giabella Designs!

Check out her site, she makes these adorable aprons. I love aprons, but I don't cook. Hmm, that could be a problem.

Your scarf will be on its way this week, Sue! Congrats on your employee of the year honor!

I'm losing my brain. Seriously. You just go along, singing a song, a boring one at that and BAM!! Something happens and it just throws your whole world off its axis. And you're like "Wait a minute! Yeah, life sucked, but I understood the suckage in all its monotony and sludge. What you're doing here? It's confusing and I just don't have the time to figure you out right now. I've got my own stuff, and if your stuff isn't going to enhance, improve, make me happy in my pants, I don't really want to deal with it. Make it worth my while, my friend, I'm tired and cranky and yearning for spring. Seriously."
Is that clear? No?


* I'm hoping for happy in my pants, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

On our third set of rapids, I think I got a little cocky. The raft hit a boulder and I saw my little brother start to lose his balance. I reached forward to save him and all I managed to do was land us both in the drink. My first thought? Dammit, Jared! This wasn't the first time that attempting to help him landed me in over my head.

My little brother, Jared is 10 years my junior and 6 feet tall to my 5 foot 7, so every time I call him my "little" brother, part of me wants to clarify the statement. Every. single. time. Even though he outweighs me by a good 50 pounds, I can't help thinking of him as the tiny, timid 9 year old that he was when I moved out of our parents' home.

One of my favorite bloggers, Ree, often talks about the things she does because she's a middle child and I can relate in that I often find myself doing things because I'm the oldest child. I spent most of Jared's first years playing mediator between him and our sister, the middle child. I think my lifelong desire to be a teacher can be attributed to being the oldest child and my ability to let Jared literally put me in over my head is just another symptom of "oldest child syndrome"....... if there is such a thing.

The last summer vacation we took as a family before I left included a float trip down the Current River in Missouri. We had been canoeing many times, but this time we thought it would be fun to take it easy and simply float down the river in innertubes. Jared would have been 8 or 9 at the time, and even though he got all the athletic ability in the family, he wasn't terribly coordinated at this point. There was a point in the river where it split for a while, one side slow and easy, the other fast and scary looking. Me and Dad took the fast side; the others went the slower way. During the pass of the cooler bearing innertube, Jared decided he wanted to go the faster way too. I'm not sure what happened then, but Jared was standing in shallow water and he was yelling about something and scared about how fast the water was rushing past his little feet, when he lost the grip on his tube and I, like an idiot, stepped deeper into the rushing water to grab it as it went past me. Whoosh! Feet out from under me, I was skimming along at a fast pace, completely out of control with no tube and no way to stop myself from slamming into a tree partially submerged in the river. The river spun me around and around until I was close enough to the shore for my Mom to grab my hand and pull me out. I stood there on the bank, shaking, watching the blood run down my leg, and wondering how I manage to get myself into these situations. Nothing broken, I NEVER break bones, but sometimes it hurts so bad you can't help thinking that it SHOULD be broken. Stupid shin turned practically black, let me tell ya, I make some pretty bruises. My leg was still bruised that winter when I was standing outside my dorm in sleep shorts after some joker pulled a fire alarm. (Bastard.) So....back to the rafting story.

Once again I was at the mercy of a river, this time in New York, though at least this time I was wearing a helmet and life jacket. The big difference is that I actually knew what to do. The river guides lectured us on what to do in the event that we fall out of the raft, of course the idea is to NOT fall out of the raft. What can I say? I'm a rebel and a thrill seeker. Heh.
They told us to point our toes down river and float on our backs, steering with our arms. WHATEVER YOU DO, they said, DON"T TRY TO STAND UP!!! DON'T DO IT! How silly, I thought, I'm wearing a life jacket, of course I'll float, why would I try to stand up? They were so right. My first instinct in my momentary panic until I remembered what to do was to stand up. I resisted the urge and was quite proud of my floating ability, only yelling when my back made contact with a particularly large rock. Ouch. That one left a mark. My brother and I were picked up by rafts further down the river and then transferred back to our own. The best part? I had the presence of mind to not only save my paddle, but my brother's as well. I. am. AWESOME. My dad later told me that he was glad my Mom had changed her mind about going with us because his heart stopped when we tumbled into the river. My Mom? She can't swim. No rapids for her, thanks.

So, that's it. Two instances of rushing water over my head; both involving my brother. The moral of the story? I blame Jared.

*I have some pictures of me in the helmet and life jacket somewhere, but I can't seem to find the disc, but if I find them later, I will definitely post them, even though I look sort of ridiculous.