Why don't you fill my heart with song.. let me swing forever more.. because.. in other words please be true.. in other words.. I love.. Frank Sinatra at the sands!
Here he is. Playlist of the morning.
Happy almost December!
First - a Thanksgiving Prayer, thanks to Johnny Cash.
Song choice of the morning. Here's the link to it. It's by Train.
And here's another link to a playlist full of songs for the morning.
It is 1958 and the Sputnik satellite has taken a dog up into space; back on earth, five-year-old Andy has a new sister, Elaine - a baby who, his father insists, is 'not quite all there'. While his parents argue over whether or not to send Elaine away, Andy sleeps beside her cot each night, keeping guard and watching as his mother - once an ambitious, energetic nurse - twists away into her private, suffocating sadness.Her daughter is the photographer who shot the cover of the book .. isn't it fantastic?! The colors and the feel of it really grab me for some reason.
Knots keep treasures safe, Andy's rope-maker grandfather tells him, and, as he listens to stories of the great Harry Houdini, Andy learns the Carrick Bend, the Midshipman's Hitch and the Monkey's Fist. Then a young painter, hired to decorate the family's house, seems to call Andy's mother back from the grief in which she is lost. But one day, at The Siding - the old railway carriage that serves as the family's seaside retreat - Andy is left in charge of his baby sister on a wind-chopped beach, where he discovers that not all treasures can be kept safe for ever.
Three decades later Andrew returns from self-imposed exile to The Siding, the place where his life first unravelled. Looking back on the broken strands of his childhood, he tries, at last, to weave them together, aided by his grandfather's copy of The Ashley Book of Knots and the arrival of a wild-haired, tango-dancing sculptor - a woman with her own ideas about making peace with the past.
Attrition rate (ok, two words).
Forget the Princeton review list. Forget the US News picks. If a student is doomed from the beginning, and many of them are (unknowingly) - what's the point of going to a law school?
Well, the point is - it makes a bad law school richer, and it makes the naive student poorer - and it makes the struggling student dismissed.
The word fraud haunts me. A bad faith taste lingers on my tongue.
Now, don't get me wrong - a bad student should be dismissed. Some students simply do not do the work and their reward should be a ticket home.
There are some much overlooked students, however, who actually do the work and are simply hit hard by circumstances and plots against them. Yes, I said plots against them.
Attrition rates. For law schools, this is the rate of numbers if you will - of students (first years most typically) who disappear after enrollment. After they pay their $30,000 tuition to the law school.
Oh, the school will take them in - promise to teach them what they need to know to fulfill their dream, a dream that perhaps the better (and there's a reason they're better) law school wouldn't offer.. and then that same law school will let the student simply melt away into oblivion. After all, they got their money.
I found a list (and you can too by hitting up google or even bing) of law schools and attrition rates. I suggest you read this closely and if I were an aspiring law student (which I once was and perhaps will be again one day), I would think twice (actually I don't have to think about it, I've already learned my lesson) about attending any of these schools. You could be doomed and in much debt in a year or so - with nothing to show for it, but an attitude like mine.
Schools with poor attrition rates:
1.Whittier (51.5% 1L attrition, #161 in U.S. News) Los Angeles, CA
2.Touro (37.4%, #171) Central Islip, NY
3.Golden Gate (36.9%, #174) San Francisco, CA
4.Western State (32.6%, not ranked) Fullerton, CA
5.Jones School of Law (32.3%, not ranked) Montgomery, AL
6.Widener (30.5%, #179) DE and PA
7.St. Thomas University (28.5%, #174) Minneapolis, MN
8.Barry (27.6%, #181) Florida
9.Liberty (27.1%, not ranked) Virginia
If you want to be a lawyer, you need to graduate and be eligible to take the Bar exam. In order to graduate, you need to pass. In order to pass, you need really good studying habits and a lot of help, and some really good statistics on your side from a school that truly supports you academically.
Trust me. I know.
Today in the mail, I received a dvd from the prior law school I attended. No letter - just a dvd introducing me to their law school.. had my name on the label. I'm thinking somebody goofed.
(First - before you click play, scroll down to the bottom of my blog and turn off the music).
Decide for yourself.. watch this. I can almost guarantee you'll smile by the end of a minute or so.
Here's an audio link. Interesting interview remembrances with John Updike (on NPR).
This linked post is one thing to read before you die (here's a link to what will be nine hundred and ninety- nine more things).
The subject: Brute Cult.
The blog: Stuck in a Book.
Why: Because it is relevant.
Snippet:
‘I am, I suppose, the average Anglo-Saxon male. I mention [this] because I wish to show where I stand before I proceed to denounce what seems to me the new cult in ultra-highbrow literary circles. (If it isn’t actually a cult now, it’s on the edge of being one.)
This is the cult of brutality in fiction.[…] It seems to me a bad sign when cultivated people begin to praise fiction that reads like a police court black list. I am not, you must understand, referring now to the popular sensational or crime novels.
I am referring to much more ambitious works of fiction, whose authors are rapidly acquiring big reputations among the ultra-ultras. […] We are suffering just now from a “face-the-unpleasant-facts” snobbery in the criticism of fiction.
A novel with a rape in it is like life, we are told; whereas a novel with an ordinary love story in it is simply a shirking of the issue.’ (J.B. Priestly)
I'm getting sleeeeeeeeepy.. don't know how much longer I'll last.. maybe one more award (c'mon, give me a break. I wake up at 4 something)..
Keith Urban's up.. man he's good. Nicole blows him a kiss.
Tim McGraw now sings. Southern Voice. C'mon. He's got it going on. That's fo sho.. Jesus is my friend. America is my home.. I can feel it in my bones... How ya'll.. come on in.. Yeah yeah yeah.
I got a southern voice, yeah Southern Voice!!!!!!! Yeah baby. Reba and Faith sittin' next to each other justa clappin' .. super.
Best new artist of the year..?? And the winner is.. Darius Rucker!!!!!!!!!! It's alright by me. Wow. What a year!!!!!!! I gotta start by saying thank you to my wife and my kids.. to the fans.. thank you for accepting me .. crowd goes wild.. and to country radio.. ya'll took a chance on a pop singer from Carolina.. God Bless you for that. Thank you!!!!
Brad Paisley - so funny.
Now up, Daughtry and Vince Gill. Great new song - Tennessee Line.
Vocal group of the year: Will it be Eagle or Lady Antebellum or Little Big Town or Rascal Flatts or Zac Brown Band? Patricia Heaton opens the envelope...
award goes to LADY ANTEBELLUM!!!!!!!!!! Crowd again goes wild!!!!!!! Fantastic win for them! They thank the Veterans.. God Bless.
They thank Rascal Flatts, the Eagles and the Zac Brown Brown Band.. and the Fans.. fantastic win for them.
Mr Rucker.. yes it's alright with me. He. is. alright!. I've got a roof over my head... and it's alright with me.
When I lay down at night, I thank the Lord .. I got all I need and that's alright by me. Yeah.
Man I love that guy.
- - -
Ms. Pickler and Jake Owen present.. I like Ms. Pickler's red hair. Song of the year.. and the winner is: is it I told you so.. or In Color or People are Crazy... or Brad Paisley ... and it goes to..
IN COLOR!!!!!!!
And the crowd goes wild!!!!!!!!! You should've seen it in color. Magnificent song!! Perfect for today - Veterans' Day too! "Fort Hood, our thoughts are with you... God Bless"
- - -
Now, the very talented Miranda Lambert .. hey WHITE LIAR.
Single of the year. Lady Antebellum- WOW.. Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never heard of 'em til a few weeks ago.. big fan .. congrats guys!!
Carrie Underwood - Dresses - 2 thru 14. oh no. How 'bout that opening performance by Taylor Swift. Energetic.
Ok, Mammas don't let your mammas grow up to be Kanyes.
Listen to this.
She has the straightforward timbre of the greatest generation. My morning is now complete.
Link suggestion:
This is an excellent interview to watch. It is John Irving talking about his writing life.
I saw the link yesterday at the blog of Carrie Heim Binas and promised myself to share it with any who come this way.
Her words in description of Mr. Irving's interview inspired me to listen:
Now breathe.Give it a listen; it's the most wonderful half hour ever.
. . . Irving expressed sympathy for young writers, but I'm linking to it because I think he says some amazing things about how he writes (and rewrites), about recurring themes in his work, and about his own literary inspirations.
Also, because he's my favorite living author, and my admiration for him and his work is overwhelming . . . he just takes my breath away.
*Video no longer available - try googling it or go to SNL's web page if you must. Sorry, it was an accident.
- - -
This was just too funny .. apologies to you readers who don't like Taylor Swift .. you'll just have to wait 'til I get over this phase.
This really is an awesome spoof of the vampire flick, Twilight. This is one is Firelight - it's about the Franks.
And she's nice and funny too (well, she seems nice.. everybody says she's nice). Last name Swift, first name Taylor. She's a la la girl.
Click here.. for lots of little clips. She was humorous on SNL doing a musical monologue.
THIS, my friends is a fabulous piece of musical poetic inspiration. It is an Irish group playing a piece called 'Saints and Angels.' I believe their group name is The Water Boys.
I would like to know this would be played at my funeral. It is an upbeat song with a deep meaning. About people, and their relationships and living and the in-between part. Of course, it has a blessing at the end - and it glistens like diamonds in the heavens.
".. a ship that never goes to sleep.. friendship."
Hey!! Much love and peace t'ya. (I do hope it's a while before the need for this song at such a place for me.. but you get my meaning I hope.)
This. is. simply. magnificent.
By The Willits News staff - Posted: 11/06/2009 10:56:38 AM PST
A wild turkey's encounter with some PG&E equipment knocked out power to 492 Willits area customers from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Monday morning, says PG&E spokeswoman Jana Morris.
No information was available regarding the condition of the turkey.
A post.. this one.. it's one of a thousand to read before you die. It's by writer Alexander Chee. And then, read this one too. It's 'Annie Dillard and the Writing Life.'
Fantastic.
Presenting Kingsbury Manx .. whatever gets you through the day. This is helping me.
(psst! - turn off the player at the bottom of my blog to hear this best-without going nuts).
Click here. You'll see. All will be revealed. Kinda.
The question is - who in the world is John Green?
Or is it daylight spendings.
Whatever it is .. I'm not for it.
I want my daylight back to match the clock. I don't like when it's 4:30 and dark. I don't live in Alaska.
If I wanted to move to Alaska where it's dark in the winter at 4:30 (heck, 12:30 noon).. I would move there. But I didn't.
I moved to Alabama years ago.. and here I remain.. in the dark .. in November at 4:30.
This is where I would cuss if I knew for sure my kids wouldn't read this.. but they occasionally do .. and so does my brother.. but I figure he can handle it.
Anyway.. consider me cussing.
Shoot.
So says Cassandra King. And, so do I.
(She is a novelist. The Sunday Wife is one of her best books-I loved it).
I feel such pleasure when writing. It is what I am - a writer. So, when I'm doing what I am, I am being me. I exist in words. Without words, I cannot be what I was meant to be.
Here's a link to an article about Ms. King - it was written by Peggy Ussery, published today at the Dothan ( Alabama ) Eagle dot com. I consider it one of a thousand to read before you die.
