Wednesday, December 31, 2003

I got this via email, and thought it was worth sharing with those of you whose email addresses I do not have. I hope it touches you.

To realize
The value of a sister
Ask someone
Who doesn't have one.

To realize
The value of ten years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.

To realize
The value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize
The value of one year:
Ask a student who
Has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a still born.

To realize
The value of one month:
Ask a mother
who has given birth to
A premature baby.

To realize
The value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize
The value of one hour:
Ask the lovers who are waiting to Meet.

To realize
The value of one minute:
Ask a person
Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
The value of one-second:
Ask a person
Who has survived an accident...

To! realize
The value of one millisecond:
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.
You will treasure it even more when
you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend:
Lose one.


This is where I should say something profound, but I think that would ruin your personal responses to it, so I will just leave you with one word: LIVE. Have a good new year. 2004!!!
" 'Strangers,' the Blue Man said,, 'are just family you have yet to come to know.' " The Five People You Meet In Heaven


The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom is a book I am 63 pages into, and it is amazing. I highly highly highly recomend it. It is about how you touch and affect the lives of people, and you never realize it. Maybe you smiled to someone in the hallway at school, and it pulled them back from that cliff, at the last second, and this book shows you what an impact you have on other people's lives, and never know it. It makes you take a step back and understand that everyone's life is another string in the intricate web of life. Minus one string, all other strings could not remain woven together. If you are looking for a good read, this is a great one. Makes you realize what a huge role you play in a world that is full of people, often making us feel like nothings in a sea of lives. Very good.


PS-this doesn't mean you shouldn't go out and try to make the world a better place, it just shows that when you feel your life is worhtless and you have had no impact on the lives around you, even the smallest souls that creep silently, unnoticed into your life, you're wrong!

Monday, December 22, 2003

So, today is my sixteenth birthday. Last night, my sister was sleeping over at a friend's house. Then they called me, and said that Brodie from G105 said that if they slept outside the studio all night, then they could meet Clay Aiken. And they thought that woudl be an awesome Birthday present for me, so they called me. So my sister's friends, her mom, my sister, and I all slept out on the brick walkway outside of the G105 studio. We got there about 10pm last night, and finally drifted off to sleep about. . .oh I don't know. . . 1 or 2 am. Then, after rising at 4am due to the freezing temperatures, and windy conditions, we sang clay songs at the top of our lungs as we froze in line (1st in line) outside the studios. It was cold, but it wouldn't have been so bad if all the radio employees weren't walking in and out every five seconds with doughnuts and coffee.
About 11:30, Brodie and Blair from G105 came out and hung out with us for a while. Brodie is rather short. hehe. He had his girlfriend with him, who is quite a bit taller than he is, and is a total ditz. But they talked to us, about everything from Clay to Justin Timberlake, to Survivor, to colleges. It was interesting, to say the least. They are super nice, though.
So, about 5:15am, other Clay-niacs, started showing up. Meanwhile, news cameras were constantly coming around and talking to us. They always made me show them my sign, which said, "I'm Sweet 16 Today, Sing For Me!" Altogether, there were like 12 of us outside waiting for Clay. THe other people, however, had NOT lost feeling in their toes, nose, and fingers, and they had gotten tons of sleep the night before! So we waited, and waited and waited, listening to a portable radio, to the conversations between Bob, Clay, Erica, Brodie, and one other girl, but her name escapes me at the moment. Then Brodie came down, and being the awesome guy that he is, he distracted the other Clay fans, so that the four of us could go around the building and get one on one time with Clay. I got to go up to Clay, and Denise's (my sister's friend's) mom told him that it was my sixteenth birthday, so he hugged me, took a picture with his arms around me, and sung to me. It was really really special to meet someone so famous, who would take those five minutes out of his day to sing to ME! And then NBC 17 was trying to interview me, and I couldn't talk. I was like jumping up and down and screaming, "Clay Aiken sung to me, and Clay Aiken hugged me." It was really special. [If I can figure out how to post pics, I will put his and mine up here ;)]
For someone so famous, and who went multi-platinum, he is really really grounded. He is so down to earth. If I didn't know he was famous, I wouldn't have guessed in a million years. He still acts like the well-mannered, southern boy he is. He thanked us about 10 times for just coming out and another 15 for talking to him. I was like "WOW!" It was really really special. There are a lot of people who don't get this opportunity, and I feel really lucky that I got to. I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season! Enjoy.
Funny quotes from the Clay-experience:

"Not in the picture; not in the picture; not in the picture, even though I have on my cute Britney Spears pants; not in the picture." -Brodie's gf

"Oh my gosh. He just touched my sweatshirt. I am never going to wash this ever again. Clay touched it. Clay. Clay Clay, touched it." - Me. hehehe

"Wait, you mean I am supposed to be able to feel my toes?" Denise

"Maybe if we do the Charleston and the Harlem shake, Clay will come down adn talk to us." my sister

"It not Crazy. It's CLAY-ZY!" -Denise

"OCD is NOT Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It's Obsessive CLAY Disorder!" -Me, telling some reporter what Denise's sign meant.

"Brodie, you should sing for Lindsay, it's now officially 12:01, so it's her birthday." -Denise's mom

"Oh, he won't sing cause he sucks!" -Denise

"Good morning Crazy A**es." -Bob

~Lins