By Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer
To continue school or not continue school? That is the question for many high school graduates.
Although college can improve your career opportunities and increase your lifetime earnings, it also takes four years (or more) of your life and a lot of money. Plus, few majors can guarantee a financial return that will offset the financial debt many students will accumulate during college.
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Feels like the weight of the world
Like God in heaven gave me a turn
Don't cling to me, I swear I fix you
Still in the dark, can you fix me?
Freefall, freefall, all through life
If you love me, then let go of me
I wont be held down by who I used to be
She's nothing to me
Feels like the weight of the world
Like all my screaming has gone unheard
And oh, I know you don't believe in me
Safe in the dark, how can you see?
Freefall, freefall, all through life
If you love me, then let go of me
I wont be held down by who I used to be
If you love me then let go of me
I wont be held down by who I was
If you love me then let go of me
I wont be held down by who I used to be
It's disgusting how hot it is outside. I hope that my car is fixed today because I don't want to walk in the heat another day.
The creators of John Adams dicuss the making of the miniseries. For more information about John Adams, log onto HBO.com
I used to love 90210, so I don't know why I'm so irritated that there's going to be a new spin-off.
LA TIMES ARTICLE
It's funny... I think that I've always had dreams about meeting Carol Burnett. In my dreams it's never anything special. It just seemed that I knew her and there wasn't anything special about. I was supposed to know her, like she was family... Aunt Carol.
Then I met her and I went dumb. I could barely utter my name. You can read about the experience in another blog entry. Now, here's the funny thing. Now that I have met Carol, my dreams are exactly the same. I know her and it's not a big deal. She's like Aunt Carol again. But in the latest adventure, Aunt Carol set us (my trustee sidekick Jimmy Fallon and I) on a mission to find and draw out her daughter Erin.
At the outset, I should mention that in my dream, Erin was the same as her real daughter Erin. In my dream, she was teenager who hardly emerged from her bedroom, in part because she was painfully shy and in part because she was a teenager and teenagers just want to be left alone.
As our story begins, Jimmy is receiving an award for a performance in some show and he asks me to come up on stage with him to accept the award. In the front row, we both see Carol and she says that she's brought the family photos Jimmy asked for.
After the awards ceremony, Carol finds us and tells us that she needs some help with her daughter. So we go back to Carol's house and she shows us the door to Erin's room. We go in and find Erin sleeping under a massive white down comforter. Her room doesn't look like the average teenager's room. It's clean and organized. There aren't posters of music groups or movies stars. She wakes up and just sighs when she sees us. She knows why we're there and so she tells us to go away and pulls the comforter back over her head. She's isn't rude, but it is obvious that we aren't the first to invade her personal space.
Jimmy and I leave the room and try to figure out ways to draw her out and get her more involved with people. We decide to go to her school and organize a dance where she can get to know people. We decide to organize a series of mini dances in various classrooms along with a larger one in the cafeteria. Once all the students arrived, we set out looking for Erin. We couldn't find her anywhere. We figured that she just didn't come.
After searching all the rooms, we finally find Erin. She is sitting off to the side in the cafeteria, trying not to be noticed. We look at the stage in the cafeteria and Phoebe Buffet comes out to award the best art project award. She drew a name and it was Erin's name. Erin was thoroughly embarrassed and she reluctantly went on stage to get her award. However, a lady standing near by a slip of paper out of the box of names and discovered that Erin's name was the only name in the box. The crowd got upset and became clear why Erin was reluctant to accept the award. The crowd knew who Erin's mom was and they began saying that the only reason she won the award was because of her mother. Of course, Erin was even more embarassed. Kids can be so cruel.
Then -- I woke up. Stupid alarm clock. I want to finish a dream for once in my life.
So here's the story... I know I've taken too long to tell it.
On Saturday, I drove to Atlantic City to see Carol Burnett. The whole time that I was driving, it wasn't exactly real to me. I had my ticket, I had my hotel reservation, I even had snacks for the 160 mile trip.
It took 4.5 hours because I hit Delaware beach traffic, not once, but three times. But I eventually made it to the hotel room in Pleasantville, just outside of Atlantic City. It wasn't black and white like the movie and I didn't see Tobey Macguire nor Reese Witherspoon. The hotel, The Best Western was AWESOME. It had a full kitchen and a great king size bed.
I arrived around 3pm and got settled in quickly. I grabbed a bite to eat at the Burger King next door and then took a nap. My mom suggested taking a nap so that I would be awake for Carol. I woke up at 5:30, took a shower, and got dressed for the evening. I decided that I would leave at 7pm so that I could walk around the boardwalk a while before the show. At 8pm I went the theatre, the Circus Maximus, which was inside Caesar's Palace. At that point, it still wasn't completely real to me.
Then it happened... the lights went down, the screens came down and the video montage began.
After the montage, Carol emerged from behind the curtain and it finally hit me: I'm in the same room as my childhood hero. I was excited and numb at the same time. Carol was great and funny. She started the show with a tribute to Harvey Korman. He passed away a few weeks ago. He was arguably one of the funniest men on television of all time. I could tell that it was hard, but it was necessary for her to get it out and for us to hear it. I was reading an article afterwards, that it the first time she spoke publicly about his death.
For me, watching Carol on stage was incredible. So many people talked about how she influenced their lives and some people asked questions that I'm sure that Carol is asked all the time. I was sitting next to two guys, Sunny and Dwayne. Dwayne raised his hand and told his story and asked if he could get a hug. Carol told him that he could come backstage after the show.
So during the last few questions of the night, the usher was furiously trying to get Carol's attention so she would call me. Finally, Carol looks over in my direction and I'm the only with an arm raised. Carol looks over and says, "yes ma'am" and points to me. OH BOY, OH BOY, it's my turn, stand up and ask the question... this is what I said to myself. Then out of no where the man in front of me stands up and asks a question. The usher looks at me apologetically and says that she's going to get the mike from him and give it straight to me. OK,OK, it'll be ok...
Then Carol says that it's time to go and the famous closing music starts... I was never so sorry to hear her closing theme song in my life. I didn't get to ask my question :(
After the show and curtain call, Dwayne heads over to the stage to find out where he needs to go to backstage. When we get to security, the guard tells him that he can take one person back with him. He looks at me and Sunny and Sunny tells him to take me backstage with him. I'm forever grateful to Sunny for that because I needed to go backstage to meet Carol. I couldn't envision myself leaving without meeting her.
So we get backstage and for a few minutes, it feels like an eternity... I felt like we were waiting forever. But then Carol emerges and the line starts to move. My turn came and I handed my book to her assistant. After that, Carol tells me to come on over and she gives me a great big hug... well, I hugged her and she hugged me back. All I could say is that I was so happy to finally meet her. I had so much more to tell her, but then she asked me a question: "What is your name?". Once she asked me that, my mind went blank. I could barely get my name out. But I think I played it off well.
I remember taking the picture with her, but it went so fast. I wanted to tell her how much she influenced my life... how my earliest memories are from her watching her show as a child and how watching her show helped me develop my sense of humor. I wanted to tell her that reading her book encouraged me to move through my problems, it helped me through depression as a teenager, and how it gave me the inspiration to write.
Lastly, I wanted to tell her about a passage from the bible that I think epitomizes how many people feel about her. The passage says, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow". In the broadest sense, it talks about how there are things that we do in life that influence people...we plant a seed. The person may or may not decided to act on that seed, sometimes we never know and sometimes, people will come from all around to tell you just how much of an impact you had on them. Saturday was just such a night. Carol got to see first hand the amazing growth of the seedlings she has planted throughout the years. We all had benefitted from her activities in some way or another and we all gave her back that love on Saturday.
Carol sets a good example for all of us. She uses her life to help others and entertain us. I loved being there and loved meeting her even more.
Well folks, the day is finally here :)
Laughter and Reflection with Carol Burnett
Caesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, NJ
Sat, Jun 21, 2008 09:00 PM
This is a non-televised event.
This is a lecture, question and answer event.
"LAUGHTER AND REFLECTION WITH CAROL BURNETT"
A Conversation with Carol where the Audience asks the Questions.
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0200407C14855A03
I've decided that Facebook isn't the complete and total nuisance that I made it out to be all along. On Friday, thanks to the new chat feature in Facebook, I was able to reconnect two people I haven't talked to since I was a child. One friend was a childhood friend and neighbor from elementary school, the other a Friend from middle school and high school. Each have led interesting lives that have taken them to new places.
These are the moments when I envy this generation of teenagers who grew up with instant messenger and email. They will have an easier time maintaining friendships with people after graduation. The internet has really changed the fabric of our society.
Jesus' advice about dealing with anxiety.
Matthew 6:25-33
25 “On this account I say to YOU: Stop being anxious about YOUR souls as to what YOU will eat or what YOU will drink, or about YOUR bodies as to what YOU will wear. Does not the soul mean more than food and the body than clothing? 26 Observe intently the birds of heaven, because they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still YOUR heavenly Father feeds them. Are YOU not worth more than they are? 27 Who of YOU by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span? 28 Also, on the matter of clothing, why are YOU anxious? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they are growing; they do not toil, nor do they spin; 29 but I say to YOU that not even Sol´o·mon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. 30 If, now, God thus clothes the vegetation of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much rather clothe YOU, YOU with little faith? 31 So never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to put on?’ 32 For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. For YOUR heavenly Father knows YOU need all these things.
33 “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these [other] things will be added to YOU. 34 So, never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Sufficient for each day is its own badness.
I don't know why doing my laundry feels like a small achievement. I've needed to do it since I got home from Orlando over a week ago. The magic kingdom managed to rob me of my energy. I haven't felt the same since I got home.
I haven't felt myself in a while. I'm feeling super nostalgic for the past month, but in a way that makes me pensive...not always in a good way, but sometimes in a great and joy-filled way. I have had a lot of joy in the past few years, but also moments of difficulty.
But now, I find myself at a turning point in my life. I find myself at an open door that leads to new existence. Who I have been for the past few years is changing... evolving. I find myself concerned about different things; things that matter more now than they did in years past. It's so unbelievably scary. Yet, I'm not afraid... OK, I am...but I think it's OK.
Now is the time when I detail all the wild things that happened in Orlando during the NCORE conference.
Now, if you believed that... I have a bridge to sell you ;)
Actually, nothing really wild happened. But we did agree that what happened in Orlando would stay in Orlando. That being said, here's the abridged version.
We arrived in Orlando on May 25th, two days early, which was news to Kim. I think I was the only one who realized how early we were going. I wasn't going to say a word because after all, we were going to the most magical place on earth (*sigh*) right?
On Sunday, we arrived and get checked into the Disney Coronado Springs Resort and spent the day just resting. Here's the thing about the Coronado Springs Resort. This is Disney's description of the resort:
I went to the Capital Jazz festival today and listened to jazz for 10 hours.
I'm going to write more about this tomorrow.
I'm too tired right now.
The next few weeks are going to bring on a whirlwind of activities. This Sunday I'm going Orlando for a diversity conference. We'll be there from Sunday May 24 to Sunday June 1. I'm looking forward to being in Orlando with Carol and Kim. I suspect that we're going to have lots of fun and quite a number of inside jokes. I'm trying to figure out some places where we can go in the evenings. I'm armed with travel guides and a need to explore.
On June 21st, I'm going to Atlantic City to see Carol Burnett. She's hosting a Q&A like she did on the Carol Burnett Show. I've been wanting to meet Carol Burnett for years, so I'm hoping to get the chance at show. It'll be my first time to Caesar's Palace. It should be interesting.
While all this is going on, I'll be taking an American Government class, much to the chagrin of my family and friends. I think that everyone wants me to graduate so that they don't have to hear about my classes. My mom said that she thinks that I try and find ways to drive everyone crazy with my classes each semester. My friend Marie can't understand why I would pick a class that requires me to read. I have a bit of a reputation when it comes to reading for class. I'm going to give it a good try.
I think i'll go for a walk outside now
the summer sun's callin my name
(i hear ya now)
i just can't stay inside all day
i gotta get out get me some of those rays
everybody's smilin
sunshine day
everybody's laughin
sunshine day
everybody seems so happy today
it's a sunshine day
Can't you dig the sunshine
Love and sun are the same
Cant you hear him callin your name?
Oh, I think I'll take a walk everyday now
the summer sun has show the way to be happy now
I just cant stay inside all day
I gotta get out get me some of those rays
everybody's smilin
sunshine day
everybody's laughin
sunshine day
everybody seems so happy today
it's a sunshine day
- That's right - it's a song from the Brady Bunch. You know you love it!
This week marked the end of the spring semester. The end of homework, the end of worrying endlessly, the end of worrying that I'll never be done.
I would like to say that there is a part of me that enjoyed this semester, but I really can't. I started the semester with high hopes, envisioning myself walking across the stage of the Comcast Center in May. I took on high ambitions, 12 credits. In hind sight, I realize that it was a fool hardy attempt to finish my program before its natural end. So I decided to extend my stay at UMUC for two semesters.
For my summer adventure, I decided to take GVPT170, American Government. It will fulfill my social science requirement, although my advisor suggested taking an upper level social science. So since I'm taking a lower level social science, I'll need to take two upper level electives. I'm not sure what I'm going to take, but my goal is take two courses that seem like they'll be fun.
I took my final exams this weekend. I've never been so happy to see a semester end in my life. This was supposed to be my last semester, but it's not. I'm going to take three more classes. I only need two, but I'm taking an extra one to avoid a prerequisite.
Here's the thing about school. Someone once told me that he tassel is worth the hassle. I don't know if believe that every moment of the day. But it does help me get through some days. Most days it feels like a futile exercise in following directions, not learning. I can't always put my hand on tangible things that I'm getting out of my classes. But I keep going because it's almost over.
This summer, I'm going to take GVPT 170 American Government. My fall schedule remains to be seen. The only thing that I have decided is that I'm not taking any face-to-face classes. I plan to have a dog by the beginning of summer and it will be the perfect excuse to come home on time after work.
