SK again with an update on Amanda's status. It's about 3AM Central. Amanda had an event a few minutes ago. She aspirated (breathed in a foreign object), and a code blue (general medical emergency) was called. She was very lucid, but still very weak and breathed in as she swallowed a pill. She is fine now and thiseh as nothing to do with her blood disorder. She had a screw put in her right ankle, on the growth plate, and therefore is now in recovery phase. She's obviously had to take a medical leave of absence from AC because of missing nearly two weeks of class. Her leave duration depends on her recovery progression. Even after this extremely frightening event she is still on course and could be ut of the hospital in mid December. She remains stable.

This is Valerie (otherwise known as @Gingeravenger) with Amanda's post-op update. She went into surgery early this morning to have several screws put in her right knee. She gets three doses of Loritab a day so she is never fully conscious. She has one more surgery still to go. Then the doctors will wean her off the painkillers and she will start to function better.

Amanda gets to chill like this for another eight weeks. We don't know exactly when she'll be taken out of ICU, but we know it won't be for a good while. She's doing well for now. Her ankle surgery was put off. She had an "adverse" reaction to the anesthetic during her knee surgery so the doctors want to wait until she can "recover". She's looking good for now, but the drugs are starting to take their toll.

Sally Kate here this time. Amanda just went into the OR. She's having two screws in her left knee, and tomorrow will have a screw put in her right ankle. Looks like she won't be walking until after Christmas. Let's hope she's out of the ICU within the week!!

This is Adam again. Manda had her spleen out this morning. Her condition remains critical. It all depends on how she handles the night. She's awake now and (as you can imagine) quite uncomfortable. She will get her third dose of Loritab tonight at 8:30CST. That should make her more comfortable (high), and hopefully she'll fall asleep.

Most of our family has been able to make it. Our youngest brother will not be able to make it until his classes let out on Thursday. Our brother from Houston made it in last night, but our sister from Amarillo is still trying to make arrangements for her newborn. Our father's wife's sons made a point to have dinner with Amanda. She feels comfortable, but obviously wants our whole family here.

She was pretty loopy after surgery and demanded that we snap a picture of the wires sticking out of her midget hand. To her; "They look like vampire snake monsters!" She is still clearly herself, just extremely altered by narcotics.

After tonight we will know her long-term prognosis. She is hanging in well for now. Thanks for all the kind wishes.

This is Amanda's brother Adam. Mandy was in a car accident on her way home from school. Her wounds were not very bad, but there was a glitch in her bloodwork that is looking like Thromboctyopenia from an enlarged spleen. I am making a point to hack into all her social networking sites to let her friends know. They are going to remove her spleen and we hope things will get better after that. Thanks all, and let us hope my little sister gets better.

Day 01- A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been close with the longest.
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.
Day 04 - A picture of a habit you wish you didn't have..........
Day 05 - A picture of your favourite memory.
Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item.
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh.
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with.
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate.
Day 12 - A picture of something you love.
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist.
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity.
Day 19 - A picture of you when you were little.
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget.
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at.
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book.
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change.
Day 25 - A picture of your day.
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you.
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member.
Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of.
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss.

The Giver

I've always kind of felt like I'm cheating by having a children's book as a favorite, but The Giver is amazing.

The book focuses on a twelve-year-old boy named Jonas residing in an immaculately-organized, tightly-run, but strict utopian society known as a Community, where eccentricities in behavior, appearance, or personality are strongly outlawed and opposed. Nearing an age where he will be selected for the position that he will hold in the Community throughout adulthood, Jonas is selected for the role as the Receiver of Memory, the keeper of all ancient memories in the Community before the start of the strict system through which the world is now run. Under the guidance of the older Receiver-of-Memory, the Giver, Jonas is transferred memories that had taken place years prior to the events of the story, involving color, emotion, freedom, and pain, which have since been drained entirely from the Community. Through the Giver, Jonas receives stunning wisdom of the true secret runnings of the Community, including secrets remaining heavily-guarded from its inhabitants, and the boy starts to yearn for the happier world which had been available during the past. He is exposed to shocking footage of his father, a Nurturer, injecting a baby twin with poison (as a means of living up to the Community's mandatory standards of population control) and is shocked by the true intentions and behaviors of the residents in the Community, how their utter inability to accept pain forced their hunger for a Receiver of Memory. The Giver informs Jonas that it is up to him to help restore freedom to the world, and therefore he must flee the town late at night with the other closest option for a Receiver; a baby boy named Gabriel, who Jonas's family had been sheltering for the past few months, so the Giver may convince everyone that they have died so they may once again accept the burden of the pains of their own memories and everything can be restored to how it had formerly been. Jonas must escape to Elsewhere, an unknown land located beyond the boundaries of the Community, and the pair must endure through the freezing cold together, just as Jonas "thinks he hears singing" (a reference to a past memory he'd received).

This book has a little bit more to it than other children's novels, but the reading level is the same. I read it in the seventh grade and have loved it ever since. I honestly cannot think of a book I like more. Right on Lois Lowry!

For those who are curious... this is what we sound like.

Day 01- A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been close with the longest.
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.
Day 04 - A picture of a habit you wish you didn't have..........
Day 05 - A picture of your favourite memory.
Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item.
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh.
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with.
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate.
Day 12 - A picture of something you love.
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist.
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity.
Day 19 - A picture of you when you were little.
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget.
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at.
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book.
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change.
Day 25 - A picture of your day.
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you.
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member.
Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of.
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss.

Microeconomics

I think this one is a little self-explanatory. Microeconomics analyzes economics on the small scale. Micro studies how individuals, house holds, and firms function. I hate it. There's a ton of math involved, and I suck at math.

While these graphs look simple, it takes a lot of algebra to be able to draw them correctly. i'm enrolled in Micro this semester, and it's looking like one of those classes where I sit in the back, get the C, and get out of there. Not a cool subject! - i wish I was better so maybe my GPA won't suffer from calculating the total cost, total revenue, and tax revenue of a hypothetical pizza company.

Day 01- A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been close with the longest.
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.
Day 04 - A picture of a habit you wish you didn't have..........
Day 05 - A picture of your favourite memory.
Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item.
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh.
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with.
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate.
Day 12 - A picture of something you love.
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist.
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity.
Day 19 - A picture of you when you were little.
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget.
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at.
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book.
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change.
Day 25 - A picture of your day.
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you.
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member.
Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of.
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss.

My Older/Younger Brother's Grave

My sister Cassie is such an amazing photographer - it's a little bit perverse. Anyway, no, you are not looking at a flower on concrete. This is the grave of my baby brother who died in 1980. We're pretty sure it's SIDS even though he was born with some kind of heart defect. I was told the defect was congenital, and that he wouldn't be able to play sports when he got older. Stuff like that, but nothing that would shorten his life.

I went to stay with my mother over... Memorial Day I think it was. I will never forget when she woke me up and six in the morning and said, "Get dressed. We're going to see your brother." When we got to the cemetery, I remember asking my mom a lot of questions about him. Things like "What did he look like? Was he born at the same place I was? Did he have red hair, or did have blond hair (only two options in this family)? Did he get brown eyes or green eyes (again, only option here)? How old would he be now? (30) Can I see a picture of him? Do you think Alex and Penelope remember him?" Maybe I asked too many questions. But c'mon, this is a brother I've never even met.

I really don't wish I could forget him so to say, only what became because of him. And because of whatever "heart defect" he had, every new baby in my family has to be admitted to the NICU for twelve days for extensive testing and observation. I will never forget visiting my brother's third baby in the NICU  one afternoon, noticing a 1lb2oz baby in the crib beside my brother's baby, then returning the next day and that crib being prepped for a new baby. 

My younger/older brother's grave... absolutely something I want to forget.

Being enrolled in the intro English class after already taking two Creative Writing courses... well, it sucks. But right now we're focusing a lot on literary elements, symbolism, the three types of irony, pathos ethos largos, bleh bleh bleh... it honestly feels like a high school class. What is a little cool about this class, is that we're studying these elements only through short stories. I love short stories! So, here is my list of the top five short stories of all time, as voted by me and a few people I know.

5. The Tell Tale Heart

The short story begins with a sense of fear and urgency.  The unnamed narrator explains to the reader that he is nervous, but in no way mad.  The narrator begins to calmly tell a whole story of how he kills an old man that he loves and takes care of for no reason other than the old man’s one dreadful blue eye.  Every night at midnight, he opens the old man’s bedroom door and shines just a thin ray of light onto the Evil Eye.  He explains that he cannot kill the man with his eye closed, so nighttime continues to pass and in the morning he acts completely normal with the poor old man.

On the eighth night, the old man wakes up as he peers his head into the room.  The man cries out wondering who is there, but the narrator does not respond.  Instead, he stands in the shadows of the dark room where the old man cannot see him and waits there for a while, listening to the old man’s terror.  He finally shines a thin ray of light from the lantern on the vulture eye, and it was open!  He still does not kill him until he hears the loud beating of the old man’s heart, growing louder and louder by the minute.  Fearing that one of the neighbor’s will hear the heartbeat; he leaps forward and drags the man to the floor.  He then throws the heavy bed over him, waiting until the muffled heartbeat stops.  He hides the corpse of the man in the floorboards of the bedroom chamber.

At four o’clock, three policemen knock at the door.  The narrator confidently answers it, thinking that he now has nothing to fear.  They explain that they are there because a neighbor called after hearing a loud shriek.  The man tells them that it was simply his shriek in a dream, and that the old man is out of town.  He invited the police in, and even leads them right up to the bedroom chamber.  He brings chairs into the room and invites them to rest, placing his own chair right over the old man’s body.  While chatting with the police, he begins to hear the thumping sound of the old man’s heart.  Thinking that they must hear it too and know his guilt, he confesses his murderous deed and tells the men to pull up the floorboards.

4. A Clean and Well Lighted Place

Late in the early morning hours, in a Spanish cafe, an old man drinks brandy. A young waiter is angry; he wishes that the old man would leave so that he and an older waiter could close the cafe and go home. He insults the deaf old man and is painfully indifferent to the older waiter's feelings when he states that "an old man is a nasty thing." The older waiter, however, realizes that the old man drinking brandy after brandy is not nasty; he is only lonely. No doubt, that's the reason why the old man tried to hang himself last week.

When the old man leaves, the waiters close the cafe. The young waiter leaves for home, and the older waiter walks to an all-night cafe where, thinking about the terrible emptiness of the old man's life which he keenly identifies with, he orders a cup of nada from the waiter. A cup of nothing. The man who takes the order thinks that the old waiter is just another crazy old man; he brings him coffee.

Finishing the coffee, the older waiter begins his trudge homeward. Sleep is hours away. Until then, he must try to cope bravely with the dark nothingness of the night.

3. The Yellow Wallpaper

The narrator and her physician husband, John, have rented a mansion for the summer so that she can recuperate from a “slight hysterical tendency.” Although the narrator does not believe that she is actually ill, John is convinced that she is suffering from “neurasthenia” and prescribes the “rest cure” treatment. She is confined to bed rest in a former nursery room and is forbidden from working or writing. The spacious, sunlit room has yellow wallpaper – stripped off in two places – with a hideous, chaotic pattern. The narrator detests the wallpaper, but John refuses to change rooms, arguing that the nursery is best-suited for her recovery.

Two weeks later, the narrator’s condition has worsened. She feels a constant sense of anxiety and fatigue and can barely muster enough energy to write in her secret journal. Fortunately, their nanny, Mary, takes care of their baby, and John's sister, Jennie, is a perfect housekeeper. The narrator's irritation with the wallpaper grows; she discovers a recurring pattern of bulbous eyes and broken necks, as well as the faint image of a skulking figure stuck behind the pattern.

As more days pass, the narrator grows increasingly anxious and depressed. The wallpaper provides her only stimulation, and she spends the majority of her time studying its confusing patterns which, as she asserts, are almost as “good as gymnastics.” The image of the figure stooping down and "creeping" around behind the wallpaper becomes clearer each day. By moonlight, she can see very distinctly that the figure is a woman trapped behind bars. The narrator attempts to convince John to leave the house for a visit with relatives, but he refuses, and the narrator does not feel comfortable confiding in him about her discoveries in the wallpaper. Moreover, she is becoming paranoid that John and Jennie are also interested in the wallpaper and is determined that only she will uncover its secrets.

The narrator's health improves as her interest in the wallpaper deepens. She suspects that Jennie and John are observing her behavior, but her only concern is that they become obstacles to her and the wallpaper. She also begins to notice that the distinct "yellow smell" of the wallpaper has spread over the house, following her even when she goes for rides. At night, the woman in the wallpaper shakes the bars in the pattern violently as she tries to break through them, but she cannot break free. The swirling pattern has strangled the heads of the many women who have tried to break through the wallpaper. The narrator begins to hallucinate, believing that she has seen the woman creeping surreptitiously outside in the sunlight. The narrator intends to peel off the wallpaper before she leaves the house in two days.

That night, the narrator helps the woman in the wallpaper by peeling off the wallpaper halfway around the room. The next day, Jennie is shocked, but the narrator convinces her that she only stripped the wallpaper out of spite. Jennie is able to understand the desire to peel off the ugly wallpaper and does not tell John that anything is out of the ordinary. The next night, the narrator locks herself in her room and continues stripping the wallpaper. She hears shrieks within the wallpaper as she tears it off. She contemplates jumping out of a window, but the bars prevent that; besides, she is afraid of all of the women that are creeping about outside of the house. When morning comes, the narrator has peeled off all of the wallpaper and begun to creep around the perimeter of the room. John eventually breaks into the room, but the narrator does not recognize him. She informs him that she has peeled off most of the wallpaper so that now no one can put her back inside the walls. John faints, and the narrator continues creeping around the room over him.

2. Araby

The narrator, an unnamed boy, describes the North Dublin street on which his house is located. He thinks about the priest who died in the house before his family moved in and the games that he and his friends played in the street. He recalls how they would run through the back lanes of the houses and hide in the shadows when they reached the street again, hoping to avoid people in the neighborhood, particularly the boy’s uncle or the sister of his friend Mangan. The sister often comes to the front of their house to call the brother, a moment that the narrator savors.

Every day begins for this narrator with such glimpses of Mangan’s sister. He places himself in the front room of his house so he can see her leave her house, and then he rushes out to walk behind her quietly until finally passing her. The narrator and Mangan’s sister talk little, but she is always in his thoughts. He thinks about her when he accompanies his aunt to do food shopping on Saturday evening in the busy marketplace and when he sits in the back room of his house alone. The narrator’s infatuation is so intense that he fears he will never gather the courage to speak with the girl and express his feelings.

One morning, Mangan’s sister asks the narrator if he plans to go to Araby, a Dublin bazaar. She notes that she cannot attend, as she has already committed to attend a retreat with her school. Having recovered from the shock of the conversation, the narrator offers to bring her something from the bazaar. This brief meeting launches the narrator into a period of eager, restless waiting and fidgety tension in anticipation of the bazaar. He cannot focus in school. He finds the lessons tedious, and they distract him from thinking about Mangan’s sister.

On the morning of the bazaar the narrator reminds his uncle that he plans to attend the event so that the uncle will return home early and provide train fare. Yet dinner passes and a guest visits, but the uncle does not return. The narrator impatiently endures the time passing, until at 9 p.m. the uncle finally returns, unbothered that he has forgotten about the narrator’s plans. Reciting the epigram “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” the uncle gives the narrator the money and asks him if he knows the poem “The Arab’s Farewell to his Steed.” The narrator leaves just as his uncle begins to recite the lines, and, thanks to eternally slow trains, arrives at the bazaar just before 10 p.m., when it is starting to close down. He approaches one stall that is still open, but buys nothing, feeling unwanted by the woman watching over the goods. With no purchase for Mangan’s sister, the narrator stands angrily in the deserted bazaar as the lights go out.

1. All Summer in a Day

The story is about a class of school children on Venus, which in this story is a world of constant rainstorms, where the sun is only visible for one hour every seven years.

One of the children, Margot, moved to Venus from Earth five years earlier, and she is the only one in her class to remember sunshine, since it shone regularly on earth. She describes the sun as "a penny", or "like a fire in the stove", and the other children, being too young to have ever seen it themselves, refuse to believe her accounting of it. Out of jealousy, she is bullied and ostracized by the other students and finally locked in a closet during the time the sun is due to come out.

As the sun is about to appear, their teacher arrives to take the class outside to enjoy their only hour of sunshine, and in their astonishment and joy, they all forget about Margot. They run, play, skip, jump, and prance about, savoring every second of their newly found freedom. "It's much better than sun lamps!" one of them cries.

Suddenly, a girl feels a raindrop on her. Thunder sounds, and they run back inside. Then, one of them remembers Margot, who is still locked in the closet. They stand frozen ashamed for what they have done, unable to "meet each other's glances."

The precious sun has come and gone, and because of their despicable act, Margot has missed it. They walk slowly and silently towards the closet, and let her out.

There they are, my favorite short stories, most of the general public would agree - while a good percentile would think I'm crazy for even listing All Summer in a Day. I love short stories. More action, less pages. Short stories - great works of literature.