This Week's Playlist

1517 - The Whitest Boy Alive
Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield
Lay There and Hate Me - Ben Harper and Relentless 7
You're the World to Me - David Gray
Laredo - Band of Horses
Happiness - The Weepies
You Never Know - Wilco
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
This Woman's Work - Kate Bush
Domino - Van Morrison
Dweller on the Threshold - Luke Vassella
Captive - Sara Harmer
Do as I Say Not as I Do - Ed Harcourt
Only Time Will Tell - Asia
Night & Day - Chief
But Then Again No - Shout Out Louds
Careful - Guster
Shadowplay - The Killers

Time Blocking

Gotta admit - I miss my friends. One is 4 hours away, another is 8 hours away, three are an hour or so away. Even those in the same zip code, and basically down street, seem distant.

My schedule is so crazy that I have to schedule time on my calendar to pay bills, clean house and take care of the lawn.

When we do chat on the phone, email or text, the number one question asked is what's going on. My reply is always the same - work and school, work and school. That's what I do now. I work my full time job Monday-Friday and some weekends. And I work my part time job Friday-Sunday. Classes take up Monday and Wednesday evenings and any spare time is used doing homework, catching up on loose end paper work and other miscellaneous chores.

Now, with two having babies at about the same time, I miss them even more.

Auto CAD - It's like a Bad Boyfriend

I know that most people want to see a professional presentation in Auto CAD (Computer Aided Design) for their home or event venue. It's a great software. For interior design, you can show exterior and interior walls and its insulation, windows, doors, furniture, landscaping and more.

My schedule is so jam packed that I have to schedule every minute of every day to talk with friends, pay bills, clean house and more. Between two jobs, an internship and two drawing classes my days are pretty filled. I am in constant get it done mode. So it's no surprise that I don't have hours and hours to spend on Auto CAD.

The software really does remind me of a bad boyfriend. You need the boyfriend eventhough he drives you crazy. When the software works - it's great and all is right with the world. When it doesn't - it sucks balls.

I have a love/hate relationship with CAD. A dysfunctional relationship that will not go away. My patience and coping skills are put to the test weekly. Let's hope this is one relationship that will change.

Dear Blog...

I have missed writing for you. I promise to catch up soon. Right now, my plate is a little full with drafting projects for two classes, midterm paper and an internship plus a full time job. You are very therapeutic for me and I look forward to our treasured time of putting my words on your paper very soon.

Love,

Me

This Week's Playlist

October's Child - Christopher Lawrence
The Bells - Jeff Mills
Khemitones - Fever Marlene
Love is Noise - Verve
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) - Arcade Fire
Lonely Town - Alex Lloyd
Happy House - Juan MacLean
The Comeback - Shout Out Louds
Leave Before the Lights Come On - Arctic Monkey
Rabbit Heart - Florence + the Machine
Everything Leaves a Mark - Pictures and Sounds
Tonight - The Afters
Bring it Back - Steve Gregory
Don't Leave the Country - Tody Castillo
Surrender - The Devlins
Put the Phone Down - Pilot Speed
Drumming Song - Florence + the Machine
Very Loud - Shout Out Louds
No Cars Go - Arcade Fire

A Heroic Tribute

As soon as I read the words I picked up the phone. The email read "Did you get the message I left on your phone about Sharon last night? CALL ME." My heart sank a little bit dialing my voicemail and listening to the message. It was from Allison, my dear friend. "Sharon went into the hospital for what they thought was pneumonia. She has pneumonia but they also found a spot on her lungs. It's cancer." In shock, I hung up the phone.

My mouth fell open as I called Allison. She relayed the story. Tears welled in my eyes. Dr. Sharon Smith Pennell, beloved journalism professor, survived breast cancer, surgery and a year's worth of chemo and radiation only to be diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given 6 months to live.

The journalism students at Appalachian State University became a tight-knit little family. Maybe it's because we all worked on the school newspaper or perhaps because our classes were so small or maybe it was because of the glue that was (and still is) Dr. Pennell. Our graduating class was the first to complete the print journalism curriculum that she helped orchestrate. She was the faculty advisor for the campus chapter of Sigma Delta Chi (Society of Professional Journalists).

Dr. Pennell was more than a professor. She molded and shaped journalism careers. She loved her students and was their advocate at every turn. It was Dr. Pennell who asked me to be her teaching assistant my junior year. It was Dr. Pennell who recommended that I manage the writing lab when our department (finally) got rid of the MS Dos based computers for the new Apple PCs. And it was Dr. Pennell who allowed me to rewrite a term paper on newspaper design because she knew it was not up to par and she did not want me to get less than a B. I couldn't help it - I got a little too overzealous analyzing the complexities of the 1970s film "Who'll Stop the Rain" and comparing it to the Garden of Eden and fall of man. At least I got an A on that paper but I digress...

Most importantly, it was Dr. Pennell who provided glowing recommendations of her students to area newspaper editors so that we would get hired in our chosen fields. Because of her, five of my classmates became my newspaper colleagues at The Hickory Daily Record and three others worked for competing publications in the same area. College extended into career and we all became an even closer family - because of the glue that is Sharon Pennell.

To this day, I cannot call her Sharon, even though she asked me to while covering her reelection to the Caldwell County Board of Education. "You know Stacey you can call me Sharon," she said after an interview. "No, Dr. Pennell. I don't think I can. You will always be Dr. Pennell to me," I told her, "It's a matter of respect."

I don't know if she will truly understand how important she is to her students and her community. She was and always will be my favorite professor and my hero for no other reason than she believed in us all. And I believe in her.

This Week's Writing Playlist

NARC - Interpol
Trust - Eric James & The New Century
Empty Room - Marjorie Fair
5:19 - Matt Wertz
Gold Guns Girls - Metric
Mona Lisa - Jesse Malin
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
Shadows of Ourselves - Thievery Corporation
Give Me the Love - String Cheese Incident
Gax - Boys Noize
Wheels - Jamie Cullum
Dare - Gorillaz
Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call - The Weakerthans
Driving the View - Son Volt
Shadowplay - The Killers
Plans - Bloc Party
No Brakes - Declan O'Rourke
Sugarfoot - Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Missed the Boat - Modest Mouse
Lisztomania - Phoenix
In Case of Rapture - As Tall as Lions
Freeze & Pixilate - Monster Magnet
Please Forgive Me - David Gray