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MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

C/O 2007

I'm a bona fide librarian!

Les Mis

BTW, I passed Capstone and I will be graduating on December 15th!

According to this quiz, I am . . .

You're Les Miserables!

by Victor Hugo

One of the best known people in your community, you have become
something of a phenomenon. People have sung about you, danced in your honor, created all
manner of art in your name. And yet your story is one of failure and despair, with a few
brief exceptions. A hopeless romantic, you'll never stop hoping that more good will come
from your failings than is ever possible. Beware detectives and prison guards bearing
vendettas.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Capstone

I have been working on my Masters in Library Science. The big Capstone Exam is next week (9/17 through 9/24). Capstone determines whether I will be a librarian. I will submit 3 essays and these must receive passing grades so that I can graduate. This is like the Bar Exam is for lawyers. So, please say a prayer for me to do my best. Thank you, ~ Jorie

Opera Star Beverly Sills Dies

Opera Star Beverly Sills Dies
By H. Leavitt / Cole Washington 03 July 2007

Operatic star Beverly Sills, who thrilled audiences, worldwide, for two decades, died Monday at age 78.

Beverly Sills (2006 file photo)

Beverly Sills began life as Belle Silverman, one of three children of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. At the age of three, she adopted the stage name "Bubbles" to launch her singing career as a child star on a local radio show in Brooklyn, New York.

Within ten years, she was studying voice under Estelle Liebling and piano with Paolo Gallico and learning the French and Italian languages.

Graduating from the Professional Children's School in 1945, Miss Sills plunged into the American musical world of national touring companies. She sang everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to Bizet in a succession of brief engagements and one-night stands that required exhaustive repertory and made severe demands on versatility and stamina. This apprenticeship provided her the experience that eventually brought her star billing at the New York City Opera. Sills joined the opera house in 1955. While there, she sang almost 90 roles during her career.

She retired from the stage in 1980, but she continued to delight operatic audiences as impressario of the New York company.

Her performance as general director earned Miss Sills a reputation as a dynamo in the world of the performing arts. She was as much admired for her drive, devotion and hard business head as for her voice. She attracted financial support and fans by re-molding the image of the New York City Opera as an experimental company willing to stage new operas and revive and revise unfamiliar but ingratiating classics.

For all the dazzle of Beverly Sills' career on stage, her life had its share of heartache. In 1956, she met and married Peter Greenough. Their two children, Muffy and Bucky, were born with birth defects.

Miss Sills confronted her situation with characteristic courage and the determination to attain as much independence for her children as they could possibly achieve. She and her husband became active members of the March of Dimes.

"We both felt that it was probably one of the few subjects we could talk about with total authority, having lived through the problems of birth defects," she said. "The March of Dimes being the only organization to have conquered its problem - of polio - moved on to the problem of birth defects. We thought we could make a positive contribution even if we helped one other couple who was in a similar situation to ours, at least they wouldn't feel quite so alone."

Beverly Sills received many prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and, in 1985, the Kennedy Center Honors Award for her lasting contribution to the performing arts. Her friend, comedienne Carol Burnett, praised the opera star during the celebration.

"She made opera come alive with character, drama, and humor," Burnett said. "And she taught a new audience to love an old art form and along the way, we all fell in love with her."

Sills appeared contented for many years in her role off-stage, where her wit, warmth, and ready smile blended compatibly with her inner drive to succeed. Her performance, both before the footlights and backstage, gave America's public reason to shout "Brava!" Beverly Sills, dead at 78.

(http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-07-03-voa8.cfm)

Joel Siegal dies

Respected film critic Siegel dies

Siegel was married to artist Ena Swansea

US film critic Joel Siegel, known for his often humorous reviews on Good Morning America, has died from colon cancer at the age of 63.

Siegel had worked for the ABC network morning show since 1981.

"He was a brilliant reviewer and a great reporter," said ABC News president David Westin.

The president and general manager of New York affiliate WABC-TV, Dave Davis, added: "No one had more fun writing about a bad movie than Joel."

'Wildly funny'

A graduate of the University of California, Siegel joined WCBS-TV in 1972 as a reporter, and also had his own radio show.

He joined WABC four years later, becoming the resident film critic, before joining ABC's flagship morning show as its entertainment editor.

He was married to artist Ena Swansea, and they had one son.

Good Morning America host Diane Sawyer said: "He was a gladiator - brave, wildly funny, passionate about Dylan, Ena and his family - and completely in love with every new day.

"Film critic may have been his job description - what he really did was tell us about the wonder and heartbreak of life."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6260348.stm

Commercial gripes. . .

First, I must give props to Michael G. Brown of The Hand Center. He has long informed the fair city of Houston that he would take good care of your hands, just as he would his daughter Sophie. Yet, Sophie has long been frozen at the age shown in the pic above. I was beginning to think she was in junior high. Just this afternoon, I saw a Hand Center commercial and Brown had at least four or five daughters and a woman on the commercial with them. Well, Sophie was apparently AWOL but the rest of them certainly were present and accounted for in his most recent commercial.

Here are my gripes. . .

• Is anyone else bothered by KFC playing "Sweet Home Alabama" on their commercials?
  
• I think the king of the Burger King commercials is downright scary.
  
• Who else thinks it's gross when those athletes fall out of the drops of Propel fitness water?
• The Oxi Clean guy has the whiniest voice ever.
• How can the woman on the Botox cosmetic commercial really "Express" herself?
  

Project Playlist

The new and improved Project Playlist is here. It plays only when you so desire. The links are fresh and working. Also, I ditched some songs and put up a few new ones. Let me know what you think.

Tobey

Tobey,

I wish you a . . .

cute myspace layouts

S - 7

1. I survived my midterm project. After an afternoon of hearing presentations, I was the caboose - meaning the absolute last person to present. I am blessed that it's over! I have three glorious weeks off before another meeting.
2. It was a crazy week at work. I worked a split shift Wednesday. One library employee was so ill that she needed to leave early and I insisted I follow her home in my car. We stopped once because she was about to puke.
   
3. I loathe daylight savings time, especially when it begins. The government had to move the disgusting event up to March? Creeps!
4. Well, I got my grade back on that wonderful Needs Assessment Project. I scored 100%
   
5. Houston is going on spring break this week. Say a prayer that I survive the massacre that will be at the library this week. UNT, thank you for having your break a week later. Maybe I can recover that week.
   
6. I just watched The Break-Up. Does anyone else think that Aniston and Vaughn make a weird couple? It seems weird going from Brad Pitt to Vince Vaughn but Jennifer didn't ask me.
   
7. I'm going to see Da Camera Friday! It pays to work at Cy-Fair.
   

Emily Post Challenge

This is eerily familiar . . .

S-7

1. I have long been a fan of Good Morning America. For the most part, I still am. I even think that News Desk Guy Chris Cuomo is nominally okay. Nevertheless, he made me really mad the other morning. Dove and actress Sara Ramirez (Dr. Callie Torres of "Grey's Anatomy") hosted a contest for a commercial. Ramirez and the winner were on GMA plugging the whole thing. It was really nice -- until Cuomo went on an idiotic tangent. He said something along the following lines to Ramirez, "It's really good to see big, powerful women like you and Jennifer Hudson are finally making it." Gentlemen, never refer to a woman's weight nor her size. By the way, Ramirez looks healthy to me. It's just when she's put next to super skinny women such as Ellen Pompeo (Dr. Meredith Grey) and Sandra Oh (Dr. Cristina Yang) that she looks heavy. Cuomo should have to wear a fat suit like Tyra Banks did that time.
2. So, I watched "Lost" the other night and happily found it rather Hurley-centric. Dude, it was awesome! Hurley turns out to be the son of a guy played by Cheech Marin. Also, Sawyer was back with his pejorative little names and it practically ended with the sweet notes of Three Dog Night's "Shambhala. "
   
3. Well, I managed to turn in my Needs Assessment Project a good twenty-two hours before it was due. I am still catching up on my sleep.
   
4. Now, I have a midterm project for my other course due Saturday. I have to make a 5-10 minute presentation, too. Say a prayer for me.
5. Well, I finally saw The Devil Wears Prada. The book was better but I think the movie was well cast. Anne Hathaway was an excellent choice as was Meryl Streep. Of course, Adrian Grenier was a nice addition. Anyhow, the book was rather different. Miranda Priestly was very unsympathetic and evoked no compassion from me. Also, the climax was infinitely better in the book. Note to self: watch the movie and then read the book.
   
6. I had forgotten that UNT was to refund me but the Mean Green certainly did. I have a nice sized check to deposit tomorrow.
   
7. If I don't go to bed soon, I will be writing in my sleep :-). Buenos noches.
   

Praise

God bless my Information Resources Development course professor! He extended the deadline to midnight March 1. Originally, it was due tonight at midnight but the course interface was down for maintenance for almost twenty-four hours. So, I have time to tweak my project . . . and actually do it.

The Sunday Seven

Well, I have a Bloglines account and I pick up many RSS feeds, including one written by published author Sarah Dessen (Keeping the Moon, Just Listen, That Summer). Every Friday, Dessen posts a "Friday Five." I was inspired and so I am doing a Sunday Seven. I plan to cover things which have happened in the past week. So, here goes:

The Sunday Seven:

1. Happy Birthday, Mom! We were able to celebrate Mom's birthday Wednesday by visiting Fratelli's, a local Italian restaurant. We had a good time and I was very happy that she had received a birthday coupon from Fratelli's because the meal was more affordable for me.
   
2. Last Sunday was the beginning of the Chinese New Year Celebration. In recognition of this, our community can come into our library and make an origami crane to donate to the Texas Children's Hospital. The legend is that if one can make 1,000 cranes, then he/she will be granted a wish. Well, I can make an origami crane although mine look more like pterodactyls than cranes. However, only one staff member is good at showing others how to make them. Furthermore, we had a conference day where we were able to attend workshops and the best workshop was the one where not only could the presenter perform, she could also teach us how to do what she did. Doing and teaching are two different things.
3. I have had a whole lot of homework lately. In fact, I have a project due Tuesday. I am looking forward to when this is all done. I am praying I do well on the capstone. One of my classes meets at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. I am pretty confident about driving to the hospital but I still cannot find my class inside this gargantuan building. One of my peers and I agreed we should earn a 100 for 25% of our grades for being able to find our classroom before 9am.
4. Did you see "Grey's Anatomy"? I was happy to see that Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyle Chandler, especially the latter, have some more work, but what a nerve wrecking episode! I realized they wouldn't kill the the titular character but it was definitely a hard pill to swallow.
   
5. In September, an 18 year old guy at my church was killed in a motorcycle accident. At the end of January, his little sister caught the flu and died. This was so hard for me and I can barely explain why it has impacted me so. I remind myself that they are both in a better place now and I feel better. Yet, I was watching the local news this past week and there was the family talking about the loss of their daughter. I was crying all over again.
   
6. I am suffering from overdoses on information on Britney "I wish I were Mr. Clean" Spears and all those people the late Anna Nicole Smith left behind. Could you believe that judge? I've heard that probate is nuts and that guy definitely supports that argument.
   
7. I just heard the reason why celebrities participating in the Academy Awards ceremony this year will not be receiving gift baskets. Apparently, nobody was reporting these gifts to the IRS. For once, I appreciate the IRS.
   

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

This isn't exactly news. It's literally freezing cold here. Work is closed. Most folks have had enough sense to stay indoors - well, except for local news reporters that can't refrain from interrupting regular programming. So, if something of national significance has happened, be a good neighbor and let me know.

~ Jorie

Resolutions

I am quite aware that it's been 2007 for over a week now. However, I wanted to mull over exactly what I would resolve to do this year. With some thought and consideration, I aim to do the following . . .

1. Be on time to work and, especially, church.
2. Let the past stay in the past and live in the present.
3. Graduate from library school.
4. Travel as much as I can.
5. Keep the friends I have but make new ones.
6. Take better care of myself.
7. Learn html and xml.
   

Can I do it? Only time will tell. Stay tuned . . .

Things I learned in the rest of 2006

So, at the end of May, I posted a list of 50 or so things I had learned in the first part of the year. Here's what I learned in the rest of 2006 . . .

1. I, too, can do binary math.
2. I really must let go and let God.
   
3. As it says in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything.
   
4. I am truly blessed.
5. When one feels comfortable around another and trusts another, then one believes it's safe to push the other to the limits because, surely, the other will remain and/or return.
6. Count my blessings, count them one by one . . .
7. With each moment, we have another chance to absolve ourselves.
   
8. It's good to make new friends as well as keep the old.
9. I am quite reserved.
10. When God says no to my prayers, it's normally a blessing.
11. I must place myself in a positive environment.
12. I know who my friends are.
13. Listen to my heart.
14. Patience is a virtue I'm learning to acquire.
15. I can pass for a minor or a 30 year old. How about that?
16. It's good to actually do my homework.
17. Never forget Who I actually work for everyday.
18. If a movie is rotten, I am not obligated to watch it.
19. A self-confident person doesn't undermine the confidence of others.
20. Knowing birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates comes in handy.
21. Mozilla Firefox & GMail rock!
22. I have a lot of html to learn.
23. God does answer my prayers with a yes but He does that in His own time.
    
24. I can work 40 hours and take 6 hours of grad school a semester and make A's.
25. YouTube is addictive.
26. My health is important.
27. Nobody should expect me to be perfect.
    
28. "Do whatcha gotta do."
29. It's okay to love.
30. Making lists can be incredibly hard. . .