Confrontation

In the past few weeks its become apparent to me that:

a. To be a good therapist, you have to confront your clients

b. I tend to avoid confrontation

c. The Judge in court doesn't want to hear nice things I have to say about my clients. He wants to hear about improvement.

So, in the last two days I had three very confrontational sessions. And aside from a bit of door slamming from the kids and awkwardness between me and parents, it didn't go that bad. 

Papa Americano

As of today, my favorite song to zumba to:

To Russia, With Love

It's that time of year again.

Atlanta!

A few weeks ago, I had to do a work training in South Carolina
for a week. Since Cassi and Kelly only live a few hours away,
they came up to Charleston on Thursday and stayed for the
night. On friday we drove back to their house so I could stay
with them for the weekend. Daphne was a bit sleepy after the
trip, but she managed to coo at me and Cassi for a second on the
camera.

Friday we ate lunch together in Charleston and then drove 

back to Georgia, with Daphne setting the style standard.

Saturday we hit the Peach packing plant where you get 

to see how they package the delicious peaches that Georgia 

is famous for. I had some yummy peach soft serve and peach 

cobbler.

Cassi had some butter pecan soft serve that was to die for.

At the peach packing plant cafe

Later Saturday we went to the "Fish n' Pig" restaurant to try 

some authentic southern cuisine, including grilled alligator.

it tastes like chicken!

I noticed when I was carrying Daphne around that people 

give you ALOT of attention. As in..."Oh look at the baby!" 

"How old is she?" I bet that makes parents feel a little boost, 

especially after all the sleepless nights. 

Sunday I went to a YSA ward in Atlanta. Atlanta is HUGE! 

It competes with Phoenix in size. Except, everything is 

green and lush. After church Kelly made German food he used 

to eat on his mission. Then Cassi and I went for a walk around

 her neighborhood. It was a super relaxing weekend, and I had 

a great time with the Woods!

Suggestions Needed

Can I just say I am so excited to do this in Hawaii next week:

All I'm missing is a fun beach book. To any and all readers, what are the books you've been reading and loving this summer?

"Job" your memory

This past week I was hired for my first "real" job. I've been thinking
a lot about the random jobs I have had, thanks to being a college student
for so long. For instance, I bet you didn't know that I helped launch this baby
on its first test flight.

Some of the other random ones:

book binder
gymnastics coach
dorm mom and campus tour guide to future American Indian scholars
Substitute teacher
Compassionate listener for a crisis hotline

Some of the ones I've liked:

Production Assistant at the Missionary Training Center
Therapist Intern
Housesitter

Some of the one's I didn't:

Receptionist
Location Manager for a feature film

Summer Project

If you are a fan of food, check out my new blog, lcgorditas.blogspot.com,
for a summer food tour of Las Cruces restaurants. Featuring mi amiga
Esmeralda as co-writer and co-gordita in crime.

matters of the heart

Some quotes I used for a paper on eating disorders:

"According to a recent study, over 1/2 the females between the ages of

18-25 would prefer to be run over by a truck then be fat, and 2/3 surveyed

would rather be mean or stupid."

"51% of 9 and 10 year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are

on a diet."

"42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner."

weightism: "a form of prejudice that negatively affects both thin and fat

people, although in different ways.”

"The diet industry is one of the fastest growing markets, having jumped

from a 50 billion dollar industry to 130 billion dollars in a few short years."

“The magazines and the ads deliberately create and intensify anxiety

about weight because it is so profitable. “

"the mass delusion [of body image] sells a lot of products.”

"the media shows active boys and passive girls."

"There is a tremendous fear in our culture of any kind of feminine power.

No wonder there is such pressure on women today to be thin, to be like little

girls-not to take up too much space, literally or figuratively.”

“the fitness craze co-opts the whole idea of power for women, reducing it

to narcissism.”

“dieting leads to passivity, anxiety and low self-esteem”

“The spirituality of women is integrally related to the telling of women’s

stories, because if women’s stories are not told, the depth of women’s

souls will not be known”

"Christ…Emphasized the importance of forming support groups where

women can share their stories and perhaps, in the process, can create new

ways of living and an identity for women based on women’s visions rather

than men’s images and myths.”

“Although beauty increases women’s stauts it also maintains women’s subordination,

which is why beauty reform has always been important in the feminist agenda.”

Success

This morning my orals committee chairperson informed me with a

hug and a smile that I had passed my oral examinations.

I will now be eligible for a Masters of Social Work (MSW).

I can't tell you how comforting it is to know that this part of

the process is finally behind me. Thank you to all of you who

have been such a support to me during this time. I couldn't

have done it without you!

Going to Hawaii and need advice

Hey Hawaii experts, I need your help. I'm flying to Honolulu in June with three other friends.

For those of you who've been there:

Any advice about the best place for 4 people to stay on a studentish budget? Hotels? Hostels?

Is Oahu/Waikiki beach the place to be? Should we go see other islands?

What things to do are in your top five?

Olympic Ice Dancing: Fab and Fabber

These ladies discuss the woes of figure skating fashion. Topics include:

The first tramp stamp to be showcased in skating costumes:

A program dedicated to Dumbledore's Phoenix Fawkes?:

Ice dancing

So how cute are candian Ice dancing pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir?

Here they are skating to Pink Floyd last year:

Am stoked that their compulsory dance was recieved so well.

After last night they sit in second place behind the Russians.

Who, though not my favorite, really set the standard:

Can't seem to ever enjoy a Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto performance.

Feel like under the sequins Tanith is a super uptight beyotch:

They're into fourth place just behind the other americans Charlie Davis

and Meryl White in third. Think Davis and White are more tolerable.

Or maybe I'm just biased because of the bollywood routine

they'll be performing in sunday night's original dance.

A note about tonight's free skate

Down with Mullets.

Pairs short program recap

So, anybody else think the Ukrainian's costumes were hilarious?

Skating to "Dreams Illusions" it would appear that they were asking, nay begging for a Blades of Glory sequel to be made about them.

Loved this:

And this:

Thought this was a little under appreciated. For a clean program and all. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for the Love Actually soundtrack:

On second look, I think not.

Hopefully here are your winners:

Felt a little confused about more than one score last night. Makes me want to blame this new scoring system. On the 6.0 scale it was very straight forward. But now it is so complex that even fans like myself have a hard time understanding the scores. The idea was to limit cheating but it seems like all it has done is disguise the judges' bias. Makes me kind of miss this:

Even if it is total cheese, I loved this program. At least we knew the judges had cheated.

Here is a link with the detailed score breakdowns.

James Cameron

I'm not sure how I feel about James Cameron's new look:

I asked tash to help me describe this...atrocity. She sent me a couple hilarious texts, but my favorite by far was:

"The Founding Fathers meet Sarah Hughes"

What do you think? Write your own description in the comments!

Thank you very much, Jane Campion

original screenplay or not, your version of John Keats and Fanny Brawne's relationship was breathtaking.