Cary Grant is the Coolest.

 

Here's another fun little gem from the interweb. A letter, written by Cary Grant, expressing his appreciation to Levi Strauss for a set of shirts however, the shirts were not "swaggery" enough.

That brings me to the thought, when did swagger out of style? My sartorial decisions by no means are something to hang my hat on, but I long for a time when fedoras weren't ironic and people wore top siders to actually sail. I'm not a Sex and the City gal, nor do I advocate the metro-sexual male, but if Cary Grant can demand a shirt he can swagger in, then I maybe we can all add a little more fancy to our lives.


Cary Grant is the coolest.

He works in mysterious ways.

I am a huge fan of the web tool Stumble Upon. For those of you unfamiliar, I highly recommend it. Essentially you hit the magic Stumble Upon button and it brings you a random page from the internet with an amazingly high rate of awesome. I've found recipes, gorgeous photos, funny videos, you name it. Well just this very night, my favorite interweb friend brought me to an article by the Clarke County Democrat, a local paper for Grove Hill, Alabama. What could possibly be so awesome as to merit a repost from Grove Hill, AL? Oh, this little gem below:

In a small Texas town, ( Mt. Vernon ) Drummond’s bar began construction on a new building to increase their business.. The local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means.
The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise in its reply to the court.
As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork. At the hearing he commented, “I don't know how I’m going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not.” 

Original Link 
 

 

I guess prayer works right up until the point you can be held liable.  

 

 

 

I have not followed up on this to see how the judge ruled. If he ruled in favor of the bar, could that then set precedent that praying for an A on a test, merits cheating? Just a thought.

When all else fails, read the manual

The title references an oft used phrase in radio production. I'm sure other professions capitalize on the irony as well, but I encountered it for the first time and with great frequency during my time in radio. Bible sized books of information for thousands of dollars of equipment and hardly a spine broken among them. Clearly I don't need to waste anytime reading because I am young and brilliant. I grew up with technology, why should I bother to read the manual? In reality, this thought process applies to almost all parts of my life. Did you read the pamphlet for your 12 speed blender with slicing attachment? Didn't thinks so.

I found myself chuckling and thinking of this phrase during the past week. Turns out the Peace Corps isn't quite so elusive with the general facts about my upcoming life. Many of them are included in a neatly put together, 50 page, "Welcome Book," including a 45 book long recommended reading list. (I read less books in college, maybe ever.) It turns out two years in Paraguay isn't an MP3 player. I did not receive all necessary information by magical osmosis. I stumbled upon the welcome book underneath a back pack and began to read. Turns out this was sent with all my other initial information. So to review, when all else fails, read the manual.

Granted, lets not think that the next two years has now been carefully outlined for me. There are still a lot of fluff terms like "cultural differences" and "don't get arrested." But they have included incredibly useful information like, my address in Asuncion for the first three months; that I will, in fact, be in Asuncion for the first three months; and that since Americans are fat, we will all be issued bicycles upon arrival. There are also general behavioral outlines. Getting pregnant is frowned upon, and riding a motorcycle is strictly forbidden. Mostly, it seems that if I don't make an ass of myself, I'll be fine. Unfortunately, sometimes I struggle with this.


I'll be sure to post things like and address, a phone number and an email as we get closer.

Much love, and go Yanks. 

27 months without Sports Center or Ketchup

It's official! I'm leaving in May for the Peace Corps. I will be stationed in the only country I didn't fantasize about going to, Paraguay. Yeah, you didn't think about that one either.

I'm am overwhelmed with excitement, but also understandably terrified. There is still so much that is unknown about the next two years. I'm going work in "Economic Developement." Do you know what that means? I don't. When I tell people "Economic Development" they consistently ask, "So what does that entail?" I make up something fluffy about helping people help themselves, but honestly I have no idea. Peace Corps is kinda like a religion. They promise the most fantastic experience in the most fantastic place and in exchange I follow them blindly. At least I don't have to be dead to get the reward.

Since I have essentially no information about the next two years other than a country, whose population in smaller than New York City, I find myself looking at the two years after that. As much uncertainty is built into the Peace Corps, I know I'm covered. For the next two years, I'm in Paraguay helping, somehow. It's impossible to fathom but the certainty drops even further upon leaving Paraguay. I have this tentative plan in my head, about going back to grad school, but its difficult to imagine that things after PC will resemble anything I imagined before PC. I'm told how much these two years will affect my life. I'll be a different person with a new outlook. That sounds fantastic, but I like who I am now, and if someone could let me know how my outlook would be different that would be great. I have a life to plan. Trust me, I know how ridiculous that sounds. One would think that I, of all people, would learn to stop planning my life.

May 25th is the first official day of this journey. I'll try to write as much as possible, but access to internet is limited. Also, I reserve the right to put up random stuff on here. Not all posts are necessarily PC related. Plus please understand, the sarcasm I use in my daily life while speaking will be included in my writing. If you look at the post below, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

Much Love, and Go Yanks.