School, Work, Movies and Civic Duty

I just realized it's been awhile since my last post. Lots going on with school, work and movies. Where to start...hmmmm.

Taking 15 credits and doing everything thing else has proven to be a bit of a challenge. The quarter is 1/2 over and my head's still above water. I'm looking forward to the Christmas break though. For the most part I am enjoying school. I was really looking forward to the Political Science class I'm taking but it has proven to be disappointing due the WACKO instructor. Oh well, the book is really good and I'm getting a lot out of that.

Work? Well, work is still work. I'm unhappy there but realize that there really isn't anything I can do until I finish school. So I persevere.

The movie stuff is going pretty good. We’re gearing up for a shoot the first part of December. I’m looking forward to it, we have some really good actors and the script is a good bit more serious than “The Adventures of Boss and Vasquez.” I’m still a little unsure about the direction the production company is headed, we have filed the papers and all that so we are an official company and we bought a domain name and are working on getting a website up, but as to actually what our business is going to be is still largely undecided. There are some of us that want to exclusively focus on developing and producing movies and then others that want to do stuff like corporate and wedding videos too.

Lastly, I would like to encourage everyone to vote on November 7th. I attended a rally this morning at Bellevue Community College…my current institution of higher learning. The rally included local, state and national politicos. This is the first such rally I have ever attended. I don’t think I could have picked a better one for my first. I was very excited to see Governor Gregoire and Senator Cantwell. I am very proud to have voted for them and will vote for Senator Cantwell on November 7th. Even though it was an honor to listen to these luminaries the real star of the event was Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

I can not even tell you how amazing it was to hear him speak. I remember listening to his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and recently, thanks to CSPAN, had the chance to see that speech again. I love this guy!! Today his remarks were rather brief as he was basically stumping for Cantwell and US Representative candidate Darcy Burner from the 8th District. She is running against Dave Riechert, former King County Sheriff, who was elected after former Rep. Jennifer Dunn retired. When Riechert was elected we lived in the 8th District. However, now that we moved we are in the 1st District which is represented by Jay Inslee.

Back to Obama. His message is one of inclusion. In his 2004 speech he said -

“…there's not a liberal America and a conservative America — there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.”

His message also includes hope. Today he said -

“Because the American people are a decent people, there's no reason why we can't have a decent government. There's no reason why we can't close the gap between the government we have and the government we deserve.”

Check him out at http://www.barackobama.com/main.php you can read speeches, etc. A particularly good one is, “Call to Renewal Keynote Address”, June 28, 2006. You can also watch the 2004 DNC speech.

Don’t forget to vote November 7th!!!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This is an article from the Yakima Herald Republic. This my Aunt Terri -

Terri Barron

When Terri Barron was 43 years old, she picked up a brochure at a doctor's office and shoved it in her purse to remind herself to schedule her first mammogram.

Six months later, when she finally scheduled the procedure, it wasn't because of the brochure.

"I woke up one morning with a lump," she says. "It was the last type of cancer I worried about."

Today, the 49-year-old carries around a different reminder.

In the depths of her large leather purse, she keeps a pair of photographs from her 44th birthday party. They show a tired woman surrounded by hats her family gave her at the beginning of 14 months of an intense chemotherapy trial that took away her hair, but, she believes, saved her life.

"I look at these pictures and I can hardly believe this was me," she says.

She doesn't pull them out very often. They're there so she'll always remember how fragile life is and that she's willing to do anything in the name of awareness.

Anything.

This spring, Terri became a volunteer for the Angel Care Breast Cancer Foundation, a Seattle-based nonprofit that matches survivors with newly diagnosed patients seeking mentors.
In June, she reluctantly posed as Ms. June in the foundation's annual fundraising calendar, sitting in a stream wearing scarcely more than a pair of angel wings.

The indignity was worth enduring, because as she well knows, life is short and cancer sometimes comes back.

"I think you always have that worry," she says. "Once you've been diagnosed you live with that kind of fear."

So she has fun with her husband and her children and her job and sees each day for what it is: an opportunity.

And in the bottom, back part of a drawer in her bedroom she keeps the best of the hats she received on her 44th birthday.

"Just in case," she whispers.

* Terri suggests that people who want individual or group support to help them deal with their diagnosis and treatment should contact:

Angel Care Breast Cancer Foundation: 425-861-5655

Wellness House: 575-6686

* On Nov. 18 from 1-3 p.m. Terri will be selling and signing the foundation's $15 calendars at Borders Book and Music at 700 E Washington Ave. in Union Gap.

Check out a sample of the calendar (Terri is June) and also order a few here - CALENDAR