Seether: Rise Above This

Take the light and darken everything around me
Call the clouds and listen closely, I'm lost without you
Call your name every day when I feel so helpless
I've fallin' down but I'll rise above this, rise above this

Hate the mind, regrets are better left unspoken
For all we know this void will grow and
Everything's in vain, distressing you though it leaves me open
Feels so right, but I'll end this all before it gets me

Call your name every day, when I feel so helpless
I've fallin' down but I'll rise above this, rise above this
Call your name every day when I seem so helpless
I've fallin' down but I'll rise above this, rise above this doubt

I'll mend myself before it gets me
(I'll mend myself before it gets me)
I'll mend myself before it gets me
(I'll mend myself before it gets me)

Call your name every day, when I feel so helpless
I've fallin' down but I'll rise above this, rise above this
Call your name every day, when I seem so helpless
I'm fallin' down but I'll rise above this, rise above this
Forty eight ways to say that I'm feelin' helpless
Fallin' down, fallin down', but I'll rise above this, rise above this doubt.

The La-De-Frickin-Da Tour

Last Wednesday, my Mom, me and two of my sisters went into Manhattan to participate in a discussion about the book, "To Kill A Mockingbird." About a month ago this simple two hour event evolved into an overnight stay including visits to a formal garden, a museum and afternoon tea at The Plaza.

Well, la-de-frickin-da!

The four of us shared one room in this lovely hotel. (Yeah, that's right, one room! When I was growing up, the four of us shared a TENT with my other sister, my Dad and two dogs, so this was really livin'!



This is where they made me sleep (I'm the youngest):



This is where they got to sleep:



Stephen Colbert was one of the speakers at the "To Kill a Mockingbird" tribute.



The next day, we walked around some beautiful formal gardens a friend of Mom's recommended. We've been into the city a million times and never knew these gardens existed:







I have no idea who this guy is, but he seems nice. haha!













OK, enough flowers. Time to head out for our oh-so-pretentious tea:

Sister Nancy's hand:



Sister Cathy's face:



My tea pot:



Nancy wanted to steal the flower. She's checking to see if anyone's looking. (can't take us anywhere)



To prevent an embarrassing scene, I told her I'd take a picture of it:



We decided since we spent an inordinate amount of money on tea and tiny sandwiches, we had a right to run around the hotel. Still...we tried to be discreet:



Mom kept her distance from us.



This gorgeous room was being set up for some exclusive party, but since it was sitting unattended... well, can you blame us? We walked all over that sucka.









Nancy trying to look like she belonged there:





The Angry Chairs:



"Moooooom!! We've taken enough pictures!! Let's go hoooome!"





Back on Long Island, I took Henry to the beach for the very first time. He hated it.



"What have I done with my life? Chased a few squirrels. Ate a few treats. I had a few really great naps, but really, where am I going with this crazy thing called life?"









And finally, Henry with his new Mommy. Hope they get along!

Moving On?

I haven't been writing here lately because life's gotten busy and because I found a new place to write that attracts more readers. I've only sent two pieces to Associated Content, but they were both accepted AND both pieces were picked up by other websites.

You would think that would translate into money, but it doesn't. Not yet, anyway. The Internet is a whole new animal for me, but I've got to get on board or be left behind. It's the future, baby!

Perhaps our biggest news is that Jake ran off and got married! On January 17th, he and his girlfriend, Yifei, got married in the middle of Central Park. they didn't want any family or friends there. They felt it would be more romantic if it were just the two of them. It sounds like it was. They took a carriage ride after the nuptials. (sweet!)

We love Yifei and though we would have preferred they had done this in a more traditional way, we're happy for them. I heard Greg talking to a friend on the phone yesterday and he said, "He couldn't have picked a better girl."

She's turned Jake's life around. He's back in school and taking each and every class seriously. They have a cute little apartment in Virginia and maintain it together. Yifei plans to go to law school but has a semester (or two?) of undergraduate work left to finish.

Well, I was about to work on a new article for Associated Content, so I'd better get to it. I'll give you a link to one of my other articles. Leave a comment! I need to build up a backlog of articles, gain fans and "drive traffic to the site." Don't I sound like i know what I'm talking about?

I plan to send a link via e-mail whenever I publish a new article, so if you want to be on that list, let me know at: carylzimm@aol.com.

Thanks for all the support!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2638761/a_day_in_one_writers_life.html?singlepage=true&cat=60

My Alma Mater

Julie & Julia

I just finished reading the book, Julie & Julia, and I'm so jealous of its author that I feel like giving up writing forever. You'd think I would find her story inspiring. She started out with a blog, I have a blog. She's funny, I'm funny. She came up with an unusual subject for her blog- to cook her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year and I...well, there it is. I don't have any unusual ideas.

I considered working my way through The Bartender's Bible: 1001 Mixed Drinks in a year and blogging about it, but I'm not sure they'd let me blog in rehab, where I expect I'd wind up.

Julie Powell started with a blog, which became a book, which became a movie starring Meryl Freakin' Streep! (Julie wouldn't have said "freakin'", by the way.) Granted, Julie is smarter than I am and has a husband who tolerated a messy house while she worked on her project. My husband would divorce me before he'd tolerate a messy house. Seriously.

*sigh* I don't expect, or even need, that kind of success. But i would like to be able to entertain readers on a regular basis and make a little money at it, too. I used to do that, you know. Friends and family stop telling you to get off the computer when your writing generates cash. If all you do is write on a blog they tend to shake their heads and worry about you.

Yeah, I slipped in a little dig. That's how Julie's book is making me feel today. Bitter. And a little hungry.

Dorothy

On September 23, 2008, Dorothy, a female chimpanzee in her late 40s, died of congestive heart failure. A maternal and beloved figure, Dorothy spent eight years at Cameroon’s Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, which houses and rehabilitates chimps victimized by habitat loss and the illegal African bushmeat trade.

After a hunter killed her mother, Dorothy was sold as a “mascot” to an amusement park in Cameroon. For the next 25 years, she was tethered to the ground by a chain around her neck, taunted, teased, and taught to drink beer and smoke cigarettes for sport. In May 2000, Dorothy—obese from poor diet and lack of exercise—was rescued and relocated along with ten other primates. As her health improved, her deep kindness surfaced. She mothered an orphaned chimp named Bouboule and became a close friend to many others, including Jacky, the group’s alpha male, and Nama, another amusement-park refugee.

Szczupider, who had been a volunteer at the center, told me: “Her presence, and loss, was palpable, and resonated throughout the group. The management at Sanaga-Yong opted to let Dorothy's chimpanzee family witness her burial, so that perhaps they would understand, in their own capacity, that Dorothy would not return. Some chimps displayed aggression while others barked in frustration, but perhaps the most stunning reaction was a recurring, almost tangible silence. If one knows chimpanzees, then one knows that [they] are not [usually] silent creatures."

The Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center was founded in 1999 by veterinarian Sheri Speede (pictured at right, cradling Dorothy’s head; at left is center employee Assou Felix). Operated by IDA-Africa, an NGO, it’s home to 62 chimps who reside in spacious, forested enclosures.

Szczupider had submitted the photograph to “Your Shot,” a magazine feature that encourages readers to send in pictures they have taken. The best are published on the website and in the magazine.

—Jeremy Berlin

Incubus

Now that the kids are out of the house, it's my turn to focus on what's important to me. I find this song inspiring as I set out to be more than someone's mom, someone's wife.



Sometimes, I feel the fear of
uncertainty stinging clear.
And I can't help but ask
myself how much I'll let the fear
take the wheel and steer.

It's driven me before and it seems to have a faint,
haunting mass appeal.
But lately I'm beginning to find that I,
should be the one behind the wheel.

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there,
with open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there,
I'll be there....

So if I decide to waiver my
chance to be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine
and hold my own and drive?

It's driven me before, and it seems to be the way
that everyone else gets around,
But lately I'm beginning to find that
When I drive myself my light is found.

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there,
with open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there,
I'll be there....

Would you choose water over wine,
hold the wheel and drive...

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there,
with open arms and open eyes, yeah.
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there,
I'll be there....

Virginia is For Lovers

About two years ago, Jake took off for his ill-fated attempt at living on his own in Virginia. Friends of his from high school (Mia, Kevin and Tim) were renting a house in Lynchburg and told him they had an extra room that had his name on it. He went for it.

The reason they all wound up in Virginia in the first place was because Mia had gotten a scholarship to Randolph College. Her boyfriend, Kevin moved up there to be near her and brought along his friend, Tim.

Just weeks after Jake arrived, two guys with guns walked into the living room and demanded money. Tim was shot in the arm and a gun was put in Jake's mouth. Kevin, who had been upstairs sleeping, called the police. In the confusion, Jake, Tim and Kevin managed to run away. The gunman is in jail now.

I don't believe any of the "boys" realized what a dangerous neighborhood they had moved into. Traumatized, they packed up their belongings and returned to Texas where Mia, Kevin and Jake found another house to share.

This past summer, Mia's best friend from Randolph College came for a visit. Her name is Yifei (E-fay). She planned to stay for a couple of months and take some courses at the community college. Jake and Yifei had met before in Virginia and as the days went by in the house they all shared they became a couple.

Yifei has been good for him. She wants him to get serious about his life, quit doing those things that are harmful to his health, go back to school and get a better job. She loves him. And he wants to be a better person because of her.

Late August when it was time for Yifei to return to school in Virginia, Jake went with her to help her get settled. Once there, he remembered how much he liked the area and how much better he felt in that climate. He didn't need his allergy medication or anything else that he had been taking in Texas.

He called me almost daily and I could hear in his voice how happy he was. Finally, I suggested he think about staying. He was planning to move out of Kevin's house anyway and we had been discouraged about the cost of an apartment for him in our area.

Jake did some checking and found that apartments across from Yifei's college were almost half the cost of apartments near us and they included one benefit he couldn't get in Texas- Yifei. Suffice it to say, he decided to make the move.

Jake flew home and packed all of his belongings in a U-Haul hitched to his truck. He asked me if I could ride along to help him with the driving and with the new apartment.



The drive took twenty hours. We stopped at a hotel one night along the way. It wasn't bad at all. Turns out, we like the same kind of music and he even allowed me to sing along (when he was asleep!). We had some interesting conversations about how both of us are heading into a new phase of our lives. I knew I would be giving him advice on the road, but I never expected him to give me some, too.



We both enjoyed the fall foliage we got to see as we traveled up north:


Finally, we pulled into the apartment complex:


Yifei walked over from her dorm.



It's a lovely, quiet complex about a block from Yifei's college. We unloaded everything and set up the furniture:









Yifei and Jake made a fantastic Chinese meal for our first dinner in the apartment:





And then the most shocking thing happened. Jake helped clean up!



I'm told the apartment looks completely different already. I'll post some photos when i get them.

The following day, I got a tour of the campus:















During our long drive to Virginia, I was aware that I had to leave Jake with some good advice. We talked in depth about his future, but I wanted one good line to leave him with. So when I hugged him goodbye I said, "She wants to help you have a better future. Let her."

That was OK, don't you think? Then just for good measure, I hugged Yifei and said, "You're the best thing that ever happened to him."

Fingers crossed.