Push by Sapphire

I picked up Push by Sapphire at the library yesterday and read it in one evening.  It's just that compelling!  However, the book covers difficult material and contains harsh language and explicit sexual scenes.  I'm not a fan of those elements but they are necessary to show just how hard a life the main character has.  Do you like to read?  Can you stand a book that has hardly any silver linings but makes you think, shudder and vow to treat others better?  Then this is an excellent book.

*SPOILER ALERT*

The main character, Precious is sexually and physically abused by both her mother and her father.  She is poor, obese and uneducated.  She lacks confidence because of her illiteracy and she has two children which are products of rape by her father.

Her story (albeit fiction) teaches the reader about the welfare system and how it fails the nation's youths.  Her high school in Harlem is one that is run by the students.  Teachers cower in fear and pass students through with an A even though they cannot read a word.  Even though Precious is raped by her father, her teachers pass judgement and made comments about her being pregnant again.  They kick her out of school and she has no where to go but back home with an abusive mother.  Luckily one teacher gives extra effort to try to get her into an alternative school.  That sparks a tiny flame that finally gets Precious out of the house and into a safe place of her own with her tiny son.

It is also clear during the course of the book that Precious has no idea what a proper diet should consist of.  She buys potato chips because they are cheap and fill the hunger void.  She gets a bucket of chicken and eats all the pieces because she is pregnant, hungry and can afford it.  Her mother sends her to the store with food stamps which buy more pre-packaged junk food than produce and meat.

Push is a book with a serious message.  We have no idea what goes on behind closed doors.  Rather than passing judgement when we see someone who is uneducated, poor, obese or talks with an accent, what if we offer kindness instead?  Why form an opinion because of someone's gender, race, religion, politics or sexual preference before you get to know them? The main character, Precious is shocked when a nurse touches her forehead and says in a quiet voice, "Things are going to be okay," during her first delivery.  No one has touched her in a compassionate way before.  She replays that kindness in her mind again and again even as her mother tries to kill her by kicking her in the head.

I'm going to strive to be more compassionate and look for ways to show kindness.  Maybe it's just me, but it seems we all rush through our days with our heads down and shoulders forward, charging ahead without noticing others.  Those of us with a family and an education got lucky.  Why not share the love?  I'll take off the rose colored glasses and say it again.  We can be kind to others.

The book is better than the movie but the movie is INCREDIBLE and much more tame than the book.

Here's an excerpt of the poem Sapphire includes at the beginning of the book:

He who feels contempt
For any living thing, hath faculties
Which he has never used; that thought with him
Is in its infancy.  The man, whose eye 
is ever on himself, doth look on one, 
The least of nature's works, one who might move
The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds
Unlawful, ever.  O, be wiser thou!
Instructed that true knowledge leads to love...

-William Wordsworth

What are you reading?

Head Coach? No Thanks.

Photo from 5iveLive.com

The drama in Eugene, Oregon has been at an all-time high this week.  As a news reporter, this is probably the most play I've ever seen a college football team get on the news for criminal activity.  All teams have their problems and guys get into trouble all the time but this just seemed to hit all at once.

Oregon's starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was charged with felony burglary for stealing laptops from a frat house.  Why?  We don't know the motive.  He was in court yesterday and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge so at least now he won't have a felony on his record.

Earlier in the week, we got word that the star running back LaMichael James was charged with five crimes related to domestic violence.  Everyone was buzzing about that and yesterday he was also in court to plea down to a lesser harassment charge.  Finally the back story came out on what happened which included the story of a (seemingly) jealous ex-girlfriend who came to his place to stir up trouble.  While the incident should NEVER have gotten physical...it all seems a bit more in context now.

Rob Beard, who is the U of O's kicker, got in a fight a couple of weeks ago.  He was intoxicated, pushed a woman, someone kicked and hit him and he ended up in the hospital.   He's okay now, thankfully but he also pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment.

The list doesn't end there.  Another player was kicked off the team this month for a DUI and player Garrett Embry who was charged along with Masoli for the frat house burglary was kicked off the team for "breaking team rules."  We may never know what he did to get kicked off even before the charges came out.

I would NOT want to be Coach Chip Kelly right now.  He's taking a lot of heat for how his players are acting off the field.  But really, how does he control them?  Did he set a poor precedence earlier this year when LaGarret Blount clocked another player after a game and was still allowed to play?  Perhaps.

Obviously I've never played college ball and I've never coached a big-hitter team but how do you keep your guys legal when that's not your job in the first place?  Kelly is there to get wins for the Ducks.  That's what it comes down to.  People will say, no he's there to lead young men and bring success into their lives.  I think that's a bunch of BS.  Wins mean more money for the University because sponsors are happy to open their wallets when they see a bunch of Ws on the score board.  Universities operate like businesses and superior sports teams lead to dollars.

Does success come from the top?  Does it take a good leader to keep "followers" on the straight and narrow?    What should Kelly do to get a handle on his team now before he loses more star players for the season?  Somehow these guys need to take pride in their own lives and think past the 100 yards of green to their education and future.  Maybe Kelly needs to sit them down and have a talk about life beyond football.  These four glory years can end up as the cap to a life living in Loserville if they don't hang up the bad a$$ attitude in a football uniform.

Suffice it to say, I would never want to be a head coach and I also think it must be difficult to be a big-time player celebrated for your time running the 40.  Let's be honest, no one really cares how these guys fare intellectually and that must not be a good feeling.  Come on Ducks!  Let's see what you're made of.

Horribly Boring Cat Video #2

Violet has been acting craaaaaazy lately.  I think it's because she can sense there's a big change in the works AND I've sold some of my furniture.  So, she has lots of energy and she meows until I chase her around. 

Last night she was doing this really strange arched-up, side-step move and I caught a bit of it on camera. 

Please, if you can think of ANYTHING better to do, do not push the play button because this is not half as funny as I think it is.  You were warned.




Horribly Boring Cat Video #1

Home is Where the Heart Is

If home is where the heart is... hopefully my heart will have a brick rancher with at least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms to settle down in soon.  Kingsley and I are shopping for houses online with a great Realtor (Aaron Newman, Elite Realty) in Knoxville, Tennessee.  I'm also working with a smart and quick-to-respond mortgage broker Josh Heffington (American Dreams Mortgage).

The housing market is certainly catering to buyers right now and as you may know, there's an $8,000 tax credit available to first time home buyers IF you can get into a contract by April 30th.  Why waste that opportunity!?  I don't plan to.

Even when I was just a young lass, I would sit in the back seat of the car while on road trips, imagining that every house we zipped by was my house.  I loved playing house...thinking about having a set of keys with my own space to decorate, paint and arrange.

I've been imagining becoming a homeowner since my mother-in-law, Nan suggested I do so two years ago.  She told me not to worry about the future but instead envision myself in my home, putting up curtains and standing in the kitchen...then it would happen.  It feels like we are getting closer.  :)

Headed East

I cannot believe I've lived in Eugene for two years.  I've made such wonderful friends here and I cherish my memories from the Pacific Northwest.  Time absolutely flies so please, take your sweet time. 

My "outs" kicked in on my personal services employment contract this month so that means I'm free to look for a job that fits certain criteria.  I found one.  The new news director at WATE, my former TV station in Knoxville, Tennessee (DMA #59) has offered me an anchor/reporter position.  I start in April.

This means I have a lot to get done by the end of March.  Packing, selling items, training my cat how to be comfortable in a soft-sided carrier so she doesn't go crazy on the airplane...you name it.  I'm very thankful for the support and advice from my sweetie, Kingsley.  We have been looking at houses online together in our new city and feel excited about the future.

Photo from ReservePigeonForge.com

 

Moving back to the Great Smoky Mountains means I'll be just a five hour drive from my parents and brother.  I only see them once or twice a year so having them closer will be nice.  Here's to new adventures!

Verizon vs. AT&T

My long-running contract with Sprint is finally up at the end of this month.  For the last six months, I've resisted the urge to resign and upgrade to a new phone.  My communication channel to the outside world by phone is currently an old flip model on which I can text, make calls, take pictures and retrieve voice mail.  Even my 59 year old father has a smart phone.  I must get with the program.

So, should I:

1.  Get a Verizon Droid  (better network) ?

or

2.  Get an AT&T iPhone (better phone) ?

My Twitter friends and I debated this one night ad naseum and I have a few other friends who have given me advice on this topic so why not collect yours as well?  Verizon people swear by their Droids (they open more than one application at once and the screen is huge) and AT&T people swear by their iPhones (there's nothing better on the market for touch screen and the camera quality is almost professional.)

What type of phone and network do you use and what are the pros and cons?

------------UPDATE-------------

Wait!  Hold the phone!  (See what I did there?)  After doing more research on my own, I'm very interested in the Nexus One by Google.  It is available from T-Mobile and will soon be coming to Verizon.  Hmmm...

Signs of Spring

I sold my car.  Tell ya why later.  Meantime, that means I have a lot of biking and walking to do.  The good thing about that?  You get to see flowers, trees, bushes and even weeds blooming.  Birds sing and squirrels race across your path.  Even though it isn't officially Spring in Oregon, it sure feels like it.  Here are a few blooms I snapped yesterday while walking in Downtown Eugene.