Intro Essay & What this Blog is all About

This is a collection of essays, reviews, journals, annotations and articles I have written. So let's start with an intro:

The Secret Life of… Me!
(an introductory essay)
What could I say to impress you? Let me think on this for a bit. If I told you that I survived a deadly disease, would you search these lines for the details? Or perhaps my philosophy on life would give you a new thought or two. I wonder how interesting my dreams of the future would really be. Who among us doesn’t have grand accomplishments and miserable failures? Unique qualities or skills? Those seem like napping topics to me, so I’ll skip those. You want to know who I am? Delve into my words and follow my free spirited, sparkling personality…

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” wait, scratch that. It was significantly worse than the worst of times. I was 34 and about to become a mother for the first time. It should have been the best time of my life, something most cherish as uniquely woman. It should have been, but it wasn’t. I was robbed. In the place of my joy was excessive vomiting and anguish. Not your typical morning sickness, nope, I was one of the rare (approximately 2% of the population) that gets to experience the complete and utter misery that is known as Hyperemesis Gravidarum, HG to you and me, a deadly pregnancy related disease. I was hospitalized numerous times and at one point told I would have to choose between my life and my unborn child’s. It was not a choice I was willing to make so I placed both our lives in God’s hands. This leads me to my philosophy of life…

Now I am not a very religious sort, but I am spiritual to no end. I believe in God, but do not want a go-between. If he is indeed the “father” of all creation, why couldn’t I just speak to him as such? Why do I need to confess my sins and be absolved by someone ordained and in a robe? I believe in having a personal relationship with God and try not to piss him off. I am a firm believer in karma. Basically, in the universe exists an equal and opposite reaction to all of your actions. Or something like that, I suppose Newton said it better. I do believe whatever energy you put into this world will eventually come back to you, so I try to make my ripples in the pool count for something good. I like to take chances and see what happens. I am of the predilection that if you don’t just go for it; it being that unattainable, wanton thing, you will never know what could have been. You might now be thinking… she likes to take chances, she must be adventurous, a little bit of a rebel. I wonder if she’s gone sky-diving? Heck no! Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is just crazy! I want to live to reach my goals…

I remember once I wanted to be a teacher. Did I accomplish that goal? No. My hopes and dreams are like butterflies avoiding the net of a curious child. They flutter here and there, and as I grow older, change in mid flight. I have been a nursery worker, massage therapist, animal care taker, thoroughbred horserace handicapper, a mentor to children, a casino pit boss, a master herbalist, and a wanna be writer. At 37, I suppose I have come full circle to where my goals were so many years ago. I have gone back to school. For one who believes you should never stop learning new things, my new thing is finally get that degree. I would enjoy being an English teacher. At least that is where my hopes and dreams are today. Who is to say where my path will lead me in the future. There is much to be said for curiosity and gumption.

So there you have it. Was it curiosity that got you through these paragraphs? When you are interested in something it keeps your attention, at least for a moment, which was my plan. I hope you did find something interesting here. Be it my life or death struggle, my philosophy, or my fanciful life path. These are what make life unique. This is the secret life of me.

Movie Review

Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
(written as a Staff Writer for my college newspaper)

“My name is Benjamin Button, and I was born under unusual circumstances…”

It’s no wonder that “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was nominated for five Golden Globes. The adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story follows the extraordinary life of Benjamin Button. Born in New Orleans just after World War I, Button is abandoned by his father and raised by “Queenie” a care taker of the elderly residents of a seniors home.

He is born with a rare affliction in which he ages in reverse. The interesting story superbly intertwines the lives of Button, Played by Brad Pitt, and Daisy, played by Cate Blanchett, from childhood to death. They are at opposite ends of the life spectrum but fall in love somewhere in the middle proving that “life isn’t measures in minutes, but in moments.”

The aging of the characters throughout the film, from young to old and vice versa, is amazing. Following the characters as they discover life, love, death, and what matters most is what I treasured most about this film. Full of great inspirational scripting I feel like I actually learned something from the movie. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is my new favorite.