Stop Hating Women.

Dear Leada Gore-
Your attack appears to be on sorority women, but when one rereads the article the attack is actually on all women younger than you. It is an ageist sentiment packaged in false feminism, with a passive aggressive misogynist slant. You seem to believe that a woman cannot wear a swimsuit and be intelligent. If a young woman makes a video with her friends, it somehow makes her unable to be a steward for equality. Your letter isn’t an apology, it is a hate filled missive that judges women and their self-worth based on appearance. I thought that was the message second wave feminists tried to stop. 

I am here to let you know that the only thing you need to apologize to me for is not truly being part of the revolution for gender equality. I don’t want or need your misogynist view of what I am allowed to do with my body. I do not give you consent to judge how I celebrate my femininity, my body, my self-worth or my sexuality. Did you really try to equate my gender expression to your unfortunate snakeskin miniskirt?Female empowerment is about Madonna being like a virgin, a stay at home mom, a sex worker or a college professor. When you judge my character based on the length of my skirt rather than the good I do in the world, you aren’t being a helpful part of the gender revolution. When you judge me solely on what I wear, you are sexist and perpetuate rape culture. You appear to be angrier at the woman in the bikini than the pig who said, “I’ll take that one.” Perhaps you should take your feminist flag down, because that sounds a lot like, “She was asking for it.”

The idea that a feminist banner and a recruitment banner cannot hang simultaneously is an outdated view on sorority women. The first women admitted to universities in this country were discriminated against and made to feel inferior. They created fraternal societies as safe spaces to discuss issues like equality and the right to vote. They made a safe space for themselves to share their thoughts and fears and talk about how they were treated by classmates and professors. The word sorority didn’t even exist when the first women’s fraternities were created because the idea of women running their own organizations seemed impossible. 

If you want to apologize to anyone, you should apologize to the feminists who paved the way for the rest of us. Apologize for not carrying their banner for justice and equality and, rather, perpetuating the belief that a woman can have a brain or beauty, but never both. Apologize for not having faith that the women in that video are dedicated to scholarship, leadership, and service. Apologize for believing that matching Ugg boots and not the values of loyalty and character development are what create their sisterhood. Apologize if you have ever called yourself a feminist because, when misogynist feminists use the word, the word itself becomes less powerful. 

If you truly want gender equality in our country, then you need to stop degrading other women. We cannot deny any female-identified individual a space in our movement.I want to use your sentence with a different word in place and see if it still feels like a super powerful second wave anthem. I’ll use self-identifiers as not to paint with the wide brush. 

• Women- even fat women – have the right to display their bodies as they see fit. I do wish they’d think about those decisions more, however. 
• Women- even queer women – have the right to display their bodies as they see fit. I do wish they’d think about those decisions more, however. 
• Women- even tattooed women – have the right to display their bodies as they see fit. I do wish they’d think about those decisions more, however. 

I would be happy to hold a feminist banner from a prior generation. I just wish the banner you handed down to me said, “All women have the right to display their bodies as they see fit.” I will not hold a banner that promotes beauty standards over beauty. I will not hold a message that only allows some members to decide what other members are worth. I will proudly hold your banner if it allows every woman to live her best life and celebrate her truth. I will work to create a new banner for the women that come after me. I will continue to celebrate my body with short skirts because I like them. I will celebrate being queer and fight for equality anywhere that oppression is present. I will give the generations after me room to evolve and celebrate the work of their elders. I will continue to volunteer and be a steward of the values created for me long ago. I will be a mentor for the women that come after me. I will always be proud to be an Alpha Phi.

Get it together

I didn't write a post yesterday. I had a really rough day at work and just didn't have the capacity to be creative. So I'll tell you what happened. At least once a day I find myself saying, sometimes audibly "what the fuck was (insert name here) thinking?" Yesterday a customer decided to throw their poop covered toilet paper on the floor next to the toilet rather than in the toilet. I cannot understand why that happened. What on earth would make someone want to expose the world to their poo. the person that will then be creating their lovely hand crafted beverage had to pick up their poopaper. I deal with a lot of wretched behaviors at my job but this really was a cake topper. so instead of blogging I drank wine and tried to forget that I have to go back again today. Get it together people!

Lil' Miss. Muffet was not being rude...

There are a number of ways that the Internet has “ruined” my life. I used to be an avid letter writer and haven’t written one in years, I pretty much know what everyone is doing all the time #football. I used to love making bets with friends about song lyrics or the name of the offbeat actor in a movie and waiting a long while to find out the answer. No mystery or anticipation anymore, we have the answer in our hand in a second. The number one way that the Internet has ruined my life however is the knowledge that spiders are everyfuckingplaceIgo.
I suppose there hasn't been an influx in spider population more today than existed in my general surroundings for the last 34 years but goddamn. Every day there is some new story solidifying why spiders have earned their creeptastic reputation. I’m not someone who has ever been particularly terrified of spiders, though I also didn’t run out to see Arachnophobia. I try to let the little ones do their thing and get rid of the bugs that annoy me endlessly like mosquitoes and house flies. I have friends who hate them with a passion and hate me a little bit for not killing every eight legged beast I’ve come across.

Today one of my friends posted an article about a Giassgantic Spider City and it ruined my life. 

I visited Baltimore twice while this monstrosity of fear was being constructed. There I was eating at the Cheesecake Factory with a bunch of Girl Scouts and  later a visit to learn about my sorority's best practices having a grand ol’ time. Meanwhile, working hard like Fraggle Rock's Doozers, these wretched monsters were creating webbing so strong that it caused structural damage. My biggest concern, yes even more than the hundreds of thousands of spiders, is how this web was not noticed before it reached the size of three American football fields. I have walked into a web so thin it was basically transparent and after dancing around whilst slapping my face and head vacuumed my entire house and stripped all of the bedding.THREE HUNDRED YARDS OF WEBS! What the actual fuck?

Thank you Internet (and the workers of the Baltimore Wastewater Treatment Plant) you have ruined my life.

I recognize that spiders are everywhere and that they help our Eco systems but thanks to the Internet I now know that there are puppy size spiders that catch and eat birds with ease.

I NEVER would have looked that shit up in Encyclopedia Britannica because it would have grossed me out far too much. Thanks to the Internet though I know I will soon see a video of a spider shuffling into a Starbucks to order a Pumpkin Spice Latte and then eat the barista who created it. Internet +1, Cassie’s nightmares 0. 

Click, Click, Click, Click Camera

Are you tired of where you've gone?
And you think you might belong
In a moment when you step out of the rain?
And you've ended up in someone else's frame?
And they're memory now is never quite the same
And they never even thought to ask your name

Take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera

A few weeks ago on the internet there was a post going around to name your top ten live music experiences. I posted mine and almost immediately thought of changes I would have liked to have made. Friends commented on concerts we had seen together and I couldn't believe they didn't make my top ten.  It made me really think about music and how music is sometimes the narration of our memories and sometimes serves as the sound track. Sometimes one live show can change your life or at least your mood for a little while. Music is a wonderful addition to our stories and I know I’m not the only one who has heard a song a completely created a music video montage in their head. When I hear music I feel it. I hold the sadness and celebrate they joy that these musicians have chosen to share with me more deeply than many people I know, I think I get that from my pops. Somewhere along the way I feel out of love with music. I stopped listening to new bands and rarely went to a live show. Listening to music became too hard. Wanting to burst into tears on the bus is not the way that I like to experience music. One of my best friends challenged me to fall back in love with music. She couldn't believe me when I said I rarely listened to music and basically told me to get my shit together and start listening to music again immediately. After getting to Seattle I started looking to music to help me fall in love with music again. Bishop Allen recently put out a new album and came to Seattle for a show and there was no way I was going to miss it.
I was nervous about the hipster douche bag quotient that might be there but was psyched to see the band anyway. It was a great venue and despite some sound issues that were out of the band’s control they rocked through it. I was there dancing alone, sure a few people were rocking back and forth but I was surely the only one really giving it my all. I was full of energy and in those moments when the dark purples and bright oranges were leaping from the stage and into my veins I could not have felt happier or more in love with music. No I was not on drugs when I hear music I see it in color. My friend that went with me said I dance just like Claire, Molly Ringwald’s character in the Breakfast Club without knowing that it was one of the best compliments that I ever could have received.

After the show the folks in the deliberately clashing outfits, big hats and ironic lives scattered and my friend and I went to sit at the bar and finish our drinks. I talked with the bar owner about Snake Whiskey and our various adventures in South East Asia. 

 Slowly the members of the band trickled out. We talked about living in The North Country in New York, immigration and long distance relationships, fracking and what bullshit it is. We drank Rainer and said cheers to shots of Jamieson and I got tell them that they made me fall in love with music again. What an amazing experience I was able to have. Sitting at a bar, in a city I love, shooting the shit with one of my favorite bands. I first heard of Bishop Allen when I saw Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and fell in love with the soundtrack. Bishop Allen was on my first international flight with me. They were the soundtrack to many trips into Seoul including the first one which was when I met the woman who will soon be my wife. They played while I walked for miles and miles clearing my head and I had the opportunity to tell them all of that. I said, “Thank you for helping me fall in love with music again” and one of them said “That is an amazing compliment thank you for listening.” A truly awesome night that I know I will never ever forget to put on my top ten list of best live music experiences. 

Challenge accepted

Last night my roommate and I had a Halloween party at our place here in Seattle. It was a pretty small gathering but it we laughed a lot, played my new favorite game Anomia, and had a true Fireball Friday. I made my Ursula costume using only a glue gun and let me tell you it was much heavier than I had anticipated. 

A beautiful Sea Witch

Today is the start of NaBloPoMo National Blog Posting Month. I have accepted the challenge from my roommate to participate and get back to blogging by writing a blog post every day this month. I love writing and I always really love to blog. The unfortunate thing that happened for me is that I let the internet take my power. I stopped sharing my thoughts because my words were used as a weapon against me and it hurt me deeply. What I have discovered with social is that it has ruined many of my relationships. A decade ago it might have taken me years to find out that a sorority sister was a raging racist or that a camp friend would support me to my face and spout homo antagonist rhetoric when I wasn't around. Now thanks to memes and angry status updates I get to discover these sad realities while I check my news feed and drink my morning coffee. So I’m taking back power. I like being open and sharing my life with my friends and family. I am sharing them to let people know they are not alone. I am sharing them to keep folks updated on my life and my adventures. I am sharing them because I need to fall in love with writing again. Happy November let the adventure begin. 

Happy Valentines Day

People often ask me what it’s like to have spent so many holidays away from my family.  I’ve missed a number of Christmases, Thanksgivings and Halloweens, which in my friend group from home could be a religion. The holiday however that always makes me the most homesick is Valentine’s Day. If my parents did nothing else right (which you both did a lot right by the way) they were awesome at Valentine’s Day. In our house it was the one holiday where there was no fighting about the house being clean for the relatives or morning meltdowns about not having batteries for Hess trucks. It was just a day when my mom and dad always let my brother and I know how much we were loved. One year we woke up and my mom made us breakfast we opened cards that my dad had sent us from Raleigh telling us how much he hated being away but he had hugs waiting for us when he got back. My brother got a Howdy Doody doll and I got jewelry box with ruby slippers on top that started my Oz collection. Another year mom was working late and Bruth and I got to spend dinner with dad. I got a really pretty heart shaped tin with cupid on it filled with little red gummy hearts and Bruth got a HUGE heart shaped helium balloon with arms and legs that was like a fifth member of our family for months. As a kid the gifts were great and I knew my parents loved me. As an adult I can’t believe they had the insight to make this commercial holiday about love not about romance. My parents set me up for a tradition of celebrating happiness, joy and knowing I am deeply deeply loved rather than a day when I feel inadequate for not being partnered. I don’t ever get cards, gifts or letters of love and yet I always spend the day remembering some of the best days in my childhood. Some year when I do have someone to celebrate this cheesemoriffic Hallmark holiday with I’ll make sure they know that I love them so because my parents (with a little help from the Beatles) taught me that all I need is love, romance is just an added bonus. 

Blessed is the flame

I haven’t blogged in a long time but frankly I haven’t really had much to blog about. I mean my last year of graduate school was pretty much a blur of boxed wine, long talks, new folks and working every day to make it through to graduation. This that and the other thing and now I’m here in Seattle. A friend gave me an amazing opportunity and I couldn’t pass up the chance to start a new life. That is exactly what has happened. In the short time that I’ve been here I have started to change. I am learning to trust. The main thing I need to trust is that what I believe matters. I know what I need, want, deserve and I’m ready to expect that from the people in my life. I feel like there was a flame in me that I had let die. I smothered it to protect myself. It has been lit and I’m going to work every day to make sure it never goes out again.Keeping it lit means opening myself up to trust, believing in what I deserve and reconnecting with my body. 

 Lighting my flame led me to a new job which I will begin in December. I am going to put my degree to work and be a case manager at an agency downtown. It’s more social work than is my "wheelhouse" but I know I’m going to learn a ton. Lighting my flame lead me to find a new place to live which was sorrowful but necessary and no not because I was sad to leave that fucking huskerwiener (please tell me about the drug induced doggie key party where a husky and wiener dog created that little allergen producing, shit machine with a whine that sounded like something climbing out of a well in a horror movie.)

Lighting my flame gave me the courage to reach out to everyone I knew and post an ad on Craigslist to see if anyone would let me live with them for free. I had a few offers for short tern space from friends and acquaintances but go figure there was a family that saw my add on CL and called me up. Now I live with them as their housekeeper in exchange for room and board. It’s a pretty sweet room actually and the food is delicious.

Love the chalkboard walls

I was nervous at first because the mom described the family as conservative Christians and I am a liberal socialist queermo who loves to drink and say fuck like it is an integral part of every sentence. It turns out we get along just fine I wouldn’t say we are going to be besties but it’s good. Mom is a stay at home mom and Dad is a police officer. They have 6 children (5 months, 3, 4, 6, 8, 14) and an exchange student from China. That is a phenomenal amount of laundry, dishes and general cleaning. On Tuesday nights I watch “our” 6 children plus about 10- 15 more depending on how many show while the adults are upstairs having bible study. Thankfully I was a camp counselor and have an endless knowledge of games and tasks to keep them busy.

Today I used my day to clean and organize the laundry room which is where I spend the majority of my life so it only makes sense that it isn’t full of cobwebs, mouse poop and clutter. CLUTTER!!!!  My space can be chock full o’ tchotchkes the more the better gnomes, Pez dispensers, rocks from important places love it all..but I fecking hate clutter. So I cleaned…. This may sound like hell for the average person but it is something that I love. Take a bunch of crap and make it useful again amazing. Who says anxiety isn’t can’t be useful?  I had 10 solid hours organization therapy and I am tired enough to hopefully sleep through the night, I need a back rub and am very pleased with myself. 

Before

After

Before

After

Goodwill = Craftastic

Now that I'm in a city I am able to experience the joy that is Goodwill. Though I admit some of the prices are ridiculous when they have a half price or tag sale it is worth the couple of hours it takes to sift through the racks to find some goodies. I had been looking for something to store my jewelry in but I knew I wanted something a bit quirky. While perusing the kitchen section I found a couple of things that work perfectly. I know that used goods aren't for everyone but this is a neat way to display my jewelry while keeping it neat and organized. I'm still working on an easy way to hang necklaces. Maybe next week....

A muffin tin to sort out rings, watches, pendents and such

A strainer to hang earrings, hair clips and pins

An up close shot

 At the food truck rodeo last week Lucky Devil Food truck sold a number of great doughnut flavor combinations. One was a maple frosted doughnut with two strips of bacon on top. The yummy one pictured above was a delicious combination of chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate glaze and ghost pepper crystals. Yes, that is correct little pink gems made from the hottest pepper on earth. I have put hot sauce on chocolate cake before and I've had mole and always felt that the heat was worth the taste enhancement. The heat from just two bites of this doughnut stayed with me for over an hour but I didn't feel that it enhanced the taste of the doughnut at all.

Life in the Emerald City

Well I’ve been in Seattle a little over a week and I have been pretty active so far. Looking for jobs is a bummer and I have been sending out at least one cover letter and resume a day which may not seems like a big deal but it’s a full time job in itself. I wish that I could just talk to the people that are hiring because I know that I can sell myself so well in person. It will happen and right now I’m not freaking out about it I’m just learning about my new home.

I am living with one of my oldest friends from Amahami and her family which includes her partner who is awesome and can put my potty mouth to shame any day of the week and their son who is like a tiny Godzilla. I didn’t think that I would enjoy living with a toddler at all but so far we are pretty good buddies. I am learning about farting dogs, kids music that does't suck, snack traps and stomp rockets from an expert!

My second day here I attended the SlutWalk which is an international campaign to end slut shaming and victim blaming. Basically it doesn’t matter how one acts or looks there is no excuse for violence ever. I was happy that my good buddy Carl that I met in Korea decided to join me. He jumped right in and volunteered to be a chant leader for the march. His megaphone didn’t work which is pretty on par for Carl’s luck but we were louder without it to be honest. I met up with a new friend I’d met online and the three of us went to Pike Place market for some Greek food and people watching. A lovely little Sunday of sluts and souvlaki.

We blame the victim not the perpetrator 

I have decided that a great way to get involved and learn about my new city is to volunteer as much as possible. I have signed up to help with the Fremont Oktoberfest, The North West Chocolate Festival and this past weekend I volunteered at the Food Truck Rodeo. 45 food trucks got together for an awesome display of food goodness. My favorite was Off the Rez which made tacos on Native American fry bread. The pulled pork was perfectly cooked and the beans and veg in the veggie were seasoned well. The show stopper was by far the sweet fry bread which was drenched in a thick lemon curd. I had a food orgasm in my mouth and I will be tracking that truck down all over this city!

I went out dancing on Saturday night with my new friend Avery. The event is held bimonthly and is called Hot Flash: a night for seasoned lesbians and their admirers. So basically older Lesbos rockin’ out in their mom jeans and socks with birks mullets not required but welcomed. It was one of the best people watching events I’ve attended in a long time and I can’t wait to go back. Any place that I can drink ice cold Magners, belt out cheesy pop music and watch gorgeous go-go dancers...I’m in.

My trip to the UK

The last part of my three month trip was spent in the UK. We landed in London and stayed there for a few days where we got to meet up with our friend Nuala who made an appearance in Siem reap too! We did a lot of sightseeing and drank way too much Cider. Then we headed for a night out in New Castle (the rumors are all true) before we went to Dublin. I wish we had had more time in Ireland but the time we did have was spent doing what we do best drinking. We then packed up the car and heading out for a camping trip in Scotland. We only lasted 2 days due to the terrible rain storm but we had a great time while we were there. For my birthday we went to a farm where ewe got to see "Shitfield" Shetland Ponies, highland coos and too many cute sheep to count. I loved every moment of my time in the UK and I absolutely can't wait to go back.

Any spare change?

I just got an e-mail from the orphanage that I visited this summer in Cambodia. I feel completely broken hearted because I look at the photos and remember the joy I felt while I was there. The orphanage runs completely off of donations and the kids have to live there no matter what because there is no where else for them to go. 

Each one of the children gets one of the lockers on the left
that is the entirety of their worldly possessions

They make most of their money form donations from
their dancing and now the performance area is flooded

There were recent storms; much like those we have experienced here and the orphanage was flooded. When I was there this summer it was very difficult for me to leave because of the spirit of the children was inspiring. I know that no one has extra money laying around but it really pains me that I don't know how to do more for these kids. The children at this orphanage live in conditions that we would consider completely substandard at best yet to them were paradise.This is not an organization the gets money form any "parent" group; they operate on 100% donations.

• $32.00 is 50kg of rice which means a full day of rice for the 70 children who live there
• $117.00 is 3 full meals per 70 children per day

Honestly if you are feeling extra kookie and have boat load of money you can donate it to me and I'll fly over there and stay for as long as my money will last to help rebuild everything they have lost. If you have any suggestions on how I can raise money to get me back there to help please let me know because it would be a 100% volunteer experience, but 100% worth it. In everything I have done in my life nothing has inspired me as much as being with those young people and seeing there hope in what from the outside looks like a hopeless situation. If you can help at all please please please go to the web site and donate. Orphanage Website

This summer this was their performance area.
I can't imagine how long it will take them to
raise the money to fix this.

They are my letters and I'll do what I want to!

When I was about eight I saw an episode of What Would You Do? on Nickelodeon. It was a challenge show that always had audience participation. I remember that I saw a large group of girls wearing letters of a different language on matching t- shirts and they looked so happy. I knew I wanted to know what that group was.  I thought maybe it was like adult Girl Scouts or something like that. When Marc Summers finally went to this group of girls the one he interviewed said, “these are my sorority sisters”. I don’t remember anything else about that show; not a single episode, and I was an avid watcher! The idea of a bond of sisterhood between women who aren’t related sticks with me to this day.

In college I had to do ethnography for my advanced writing requirement. I had to pick a culture and learn about their rituals, language and characteristics. This project came at the same time that I accepted my bid to join Alpha Phi. I was very open with the sisters and let them know that my interest and desire to be in A-Phi was not motivated by my ethnography. I told my friends in Center for Women’s Concerns and LGBA that I was only doing it for the ethnography.

Why was I so afraid to tell people that I wanted to be in a sorority? What story do Greek letters tell without saying a word? I am a natural “joiner” and lifetime Girl Scout. I love to be active and thrive in an environment that combines friendship, unity and fun. I am very philanthropic and love to get my friends involved in what I’m involved in. I scream “sorority girl”.

So what made me so scared to tell my parents I wanted to join? Why was I uncomfortable when I told my best friend that after I pledged I would be an Alpha Phi? Why do I continue to feel that I need to explain myself when someone learns that I am a member of a Greek organization?  It is because not everyone who wears their letters wears them with the respect that I do. I did not learn to respect Alpha Phi when I felt nervous about not knowing enough. I respect Alpha Phi because I now understand that I am part of a life - long adventure.

The same letters that sparked my interest so many years ago still spark a bit of anxiety in me and it is because of what women and men do in “honor” of those letters. When I think of my Alpha Phi founders and the courage they must have had to go to university in the 1870’s I wear my badge with honor. When I think of the thousands of women who have been helped by The Alpha Phi Foundation I proudly wear my sorority jacket. When I learn of a community organization that has experienced success because Alpha Phi’s volunteered their time to help I am eager to display my AF letters on my car, water bottle or favorite pen.

I want every little girl to see Greek letters and want to join a sorority. I want every young woman to go to university and fall in love with her organization so much that she wants every female she meets to become one of her sisters. I want every adult woman I know and meet to know what she can expect of me because I am an Alpha Phi. She can expect a friend, philanthropist, advocate and person of genuine moral character. She can expect to find a woman who has made mistakes and learned from them; a woman who hasn’t always embraced the true meaning of the letters Alpha and Phi. She can expect to find a woman who lives each day by the values that her sorority founders set out for her over a century ago. She can find a woman who believes that a woman deserves every opportunity her male counterpart may receive. She can find a woman who believes in her fraternity; a woman who believes in Alpha Phi. 

The reverend is in

Well, I would bet just about anything that i'm one of the last people my family and friends thought would ever become an ordained minister but i did it. With the help of a little friend I call the internet I am now Reverend Cassie E. Andrews! I can't really get on board with religion but I can get on board with love and the right of any individual who is in love to be able to celebrate that with any type of ceremony they wish. One of my very best friends recently became engaged and it just felt like a cool gift for them. There is certainly no pressure on them to have me actually perform their wedding but hey it's thoughtful none the less!
Here is my deal:

The Universal Life Church has only two tenets:

To promote freedom of religion
To do that which is right

The Universal Life Church Monastery has recorded your application for ordination. It has been entered into the International Database of the Ministry of the Church, whose numbers total millions worldwide.
As a member of the Universal Life Church you are granted the ability to:

• Perform marriages, funerals, baptisms, ceremonial rites, and last rites.
• Start your own church, be it brick & mortar or online.
• Absolve others of their sins.
• Use the title Reverend, Minister, Healer, Educator, and more. More info

Battle o' Plattsburgh

My Saturday morning routine involves a trip to the farmers market, co-op and Koffee Kat. While the over sized leather couch in the back of the cafe doesn't fit aesthetically it makes a perfect reading spot to deter one from the bitter coffee and art that would make Deloris Umbridge giddy. Yesterday I was treated to an addition to my day by the celebration of the Battle of Plattsburgh. I have lived in Plattsburgh for the better part of a decade and yet never ventured downtown for this epic event. I really have never known what it was about at all so with a little help from the Internet and some leaflets handed out by girls in old timey dresses (who I am told were my good friends Lauren and Stacey when they were younger) I got my education. In a nutshell the red coats retreated because the hearty men of Plattburgh were also great seamen and drove those limey bastard back to Canada. I found the parade a humorous tribute to this battle since the majority of the performers were kilt clad and playing bagpipes. Maybe it's our way of saying thank you.. I don't know.

Regardless it was a very nice parade that raised a surprising amount of patriotism in me. As the men and women in uniform marched down the street the spectators stood and cheered while they clapped their hands around the small American flags that they waved proudly. It was very hometown and very emotional. I got a little misty myself as I watched and became part of the display of respect. 

The Eagle still soars

Perhaps they wanted the battle to go a different way

Didn't even got to see this in Scotland

Union Jack in place of the stars? WTF

We really love the UK!

Taco Kilt?

My daily life

Being back in Plattsburgh feels great. I was so nervous about coming back and being in a place that I left in such a negative frame of mind. My daily life is going well and I really like my internship a lot. I will actually get to start seeing clients next week so I am very excited about that. I'm not going to lie this blog is mainly for Lizzy because I promised her photos of my apartment and such. I bought myself a new camera since my completely died last week and I love the panoramic feature. Here are some shots of my life.

My internship clinic in Ward Hall

Hawkins Pond outside of my office

Hawkins Hall the building next to mine

My walk to work

My house

Kitchen 

Dining room

Living room

Front entrance to my house

My lovely bedroom

Gotta have my Pez

Back in the high life again

Well, blogging has taken a back seat while I finished up my travels, visited home and moved back to Plattsburgh. I'm renting a room from a really lovely woman who goes to Florida for the winter each year. The house is over 100 years old and has a welcoming energy that made me feel right at home when I arrived. It almost feels like i moved into a house that I already lived in. From the Where the Wild Things Are painting to the fat Buddhas I love this house. This past weekend was my first weekend back and also the visit of Hurricane Irene. It poured rain all day Sunday while debris covered all of our sidewalks and streets. The damage to campus isn't devastating but it is sad to see so many of the beautiful Weeping Willows near Hawkins pond gone. BTW the building in the back ground isn't damaged it's being taken down.

Everything worked out for me getting back into the groove of school. My internship is going really well so far and I get along with my site supervisor swimmingly. I am in charge of the Ward hall Counseling Clinic which is the internship I wanted form the beginning. I get to seet clients from campus and the community. I really hope to get at least one couple or family among my clients but hopefully more.  There is also a new graduate assistant and she is really great and our personalities go together well. I'm of course missing Lizzy like crazy but we've been trying our best to Skype each day. Honestly it feels like we are in Korea again except that sadly on Friday night I won't be making us a yummy dinner while she dowloads Grey's Anatomy. Guess I'll have to settle for on campus bingo and a few pints at the Monopole. Oh who am I kidding I am really excited to play BINGO. More to come soon...

They're GRRRRREAT!

On this trip I have made it a point to push myself and to get out of my comfort zone. I drove and ATV and then  a motor bike. I hiked with hill tribe women, rode on a number of not to code boats and even feed wild monkys but yesterday I really jumped out of my comfort zone. I willingly got into cages with full grown tigers armed with only my camera. Yesterday I visited Tiger Kingdom outside of Chang Mai, Thailand and it was freaking awesome. Many people have said things about the tigers not being treated properly or that they are drugged but that wasn't what I saw at all. The tigers looked very healthy and had very clean living conditions. Like all cats tigers are nocturnal so they want to lay around during they day and get a belly rub. The tigers were very alert and aware of us while we were with them which would not be characteristic of a giant that had been drugged up. There were some cats that were running around and playing with each other; a few were even swimming in the tiger pool.

When we arrived we were all very nervous but also clearly excited. We chose to see the smallest and the biggest tigers. We got to go into their living area with them to pet them and of course get some amazing photos. The smallest tigers were so cute it was hard not to pick them up or play with them like one would a house cat. I wanted to stay with them for hours and just take photos. 

Seeing the babies helped ease us into the whole hanging out with an animal that could kill you with one paw swipe thing. As our turn to be with the biggies got closer it began to rain so we had to visit with them in their cages rather than the big open play area which was a bummer. Liz was the first one to approach the big tiger and well... to be frank... I thought we were going to die. As soon as she got near him he started making this really low growl and his ears laid flat on his head. I don't know a lot about cats but I know those aren't good signs. Liz quickly backed away and Laura and I practically threw ourselves against the fence. Then in what seemed like a millisecond he was standing on all fours (still growling mind you) and then bam off the table walking right toward me. Our photographer moved in front of me for "protection". His 95lbs would have only served as a great snack before me as the main course. The tiger guy kept telling us it was fine he was just hungry and not to worry but after the tiger jumped off the table he changed his tune and we moved to the next cage to let him deal with the GIGANTIC HUNGRY TIGER!!!! For the record the tiger was not hit or stunned or anything like that the man just yelled at the tiger. We were so nervous after that experience that it was hard to relax with the next two kitties. I was able to relax enough to take in the fact that I got to be that close to such gorgeous animals. Maybe there is a thin line between courage and stupidity but what the hell... I got to cuddle a tiger.

There wasn't much room to move away

He was calm for me

Not a happy kitty

My face got so itchy after that

My chingus