Coming Soon...

Liberty City Link

We are all so excited about this project! More to come soon...
(You can follow my experiences here)

Retail Therapy!

So, yesterday I was having a pretty "blah" day. I was super emo and angry at the world for no apparent reason... I still can't put my finger on what it was! Anyway, I decided to do some studying for my Consumer Economics exam at school. After a couple of hours of that, Gabby surprised me in the library and asked if I wanted to do anything later. I said yes, so I headed on home while he went to church for mass. On the way home, I passed by the Goodwill Superstore. I remembered a friend of mine telling me that she had bought a super cute and chic jacket there for just $3! And since: 1) I was in the area, and 2) I'm a broke college student with barely enough to pay the bills, I thought, what the heck. Goodwill it is!

Let me just say, it's my new favorite store.

I walked (skipped?) away with:

• Abercrombie & Fitch jeans ($4)
• Michael Kors pants ($3!! I still can't believe it!!)
• Vintage boyfriend blazer ($7)
• Mossimo for Target T-shirt ($3)

All that for a total of $18.73!! That definitely made my college-student's heart oh so happy. Considering that I haven't gone shopping in ages just because I never have any money and clothes seem to be getting more and more expensive, I am SO excited to have discovered the beauty of thrifting! 

That literally made my day. Retail therapy really exists, and its name is Goodwill.

I still can't stop raving about it! {Well, that, and we ended up watching The Book of Eli. AMAZING. If you haven't seen it, GO. Right now.}

"As Haitians Flee, the Dead Go Uncounted"- NYT 1/19/2010

This is an article by Damien Cave that ran in the New York Times on January 19. My journalism professor sent it to us to show the power of excellent writing in news, and so I wanted to pass it along. It really is a beautifully written story, and I think it conveys so much emotion. 


See it online here. 
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January 19, 2010

As Haitians Flee, the Dead Go Uncounted

By DAMIEN CAVE

TITANYEN, Haiti — A few miles north of the busted-down buildings in Port-au-Prince, up a hillside where cows graze, an empty hole awaits the dead. Rectangular, 20 feet deep and wide, 100 feet long, it is one of the newest mass graves, but there are many more.

New Title!

Shout out to Anne Marie for my new cute, witty blog name! Yay!

Thank you, friend! :)

Release

I literally felt my heart break today.

I've felt a terrible sense of loss since Tuesday when I learned about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. I'm not Haitian. I don't really have a lot of Haitian friends. But for some reason this disaster moved me immensely. From the minute I saw the pictures, I felt compelled to go there, not just as a journalist to report, but as a human being to help.

Every time I eat a meal, I think of the little girl who has none. Every time I take a shower, I think of the elderly man who hasn't had one in nearly a week. Every time I hug my mother, I think of the little boy who lost his entire family in a few seconds.

Today at church we sang a song about how there will be no weeping, no hurt or suffering in our final destination, heaven. It was already moving, and at the end a slideshow came up of all the different images I had seen earlier this week. No suffering. No dying. No sick or lame. I looked up and literally sobbed for those people who, right now, are dying or have witnessed some of the most horrific scenes you could ever imagine. I thought of all the suffering they have endured over the last few days, and thought about all that God has in store for us in eternity. And it was so liberating. I know there are amazing things in store for the next life, and they are so much better than all the pain and suffering this world has to offer.

I'm continually praying for all the people of Haiti and for those who might know of someone who was affected, and I hope that God would be with those who were left behind.

Development

Last night, I watched Julie & Julia with my mom. It looks so easy writing and maintaining an interesting blog in the movies. So, I decided that I need a new focus for this blog, and a new, catchy, witty title.

Any suggestions from any creative folk out there?

Also, I'm pretty excited about this semester and all it has in store. For one of my classes, I'll be heading out to Liberty City to cover the Social Services beat for my journalism class's as-yet-unnamed online newspaper (The Liberty City Link? The Liberty City Wire? The Grid? We can't seem to decide). It's something new and exciting and fresh, and I can't wait to get out and start telling people's stories. Stay tuned, I'll be posting links to my articles as well as the newspaper once it's up and running.

For another journalism class, Multiethnic Reporting, we are to focus on an area that we would otherwise be scared of going due to prejudices or bias, and then we have to go there! And just hang out. Another cool class. It promises to be politically incorrect and never dull. We have to create a blog to journal our experiences, so if you wanna check that out, click here.

:)