Long Weekend

My brain is in desperate need of this long weekend. While I would probably be better off working on Monday to save up some time for the many days I need to take off in the next two months I just don't see it happening. So far this morning, I found a load of towels in the washer I forgot were there...from 5 days ago, my garbage disposal decided to stop working (which by the way means nothing can be done in that sink because it won't even drain right now), I deposited two checks into the ATM that were written out to the church (some people have been sending Panama donations via checks to my name and apparently I didn't bother to check this morning...not sure how that is going to work out), and after searching the internet for 20 minutes and then waiting on hold for 10 minutes never to reach an operator I'm no closer to finding some paperwork that I need than I was before. Oh and apparently me losing my keys has changed from a really random and extremely rare event to a daily occurrence, sometimes even multiple times a day just for fun. Oh Sunday and Monday why aren't you here yet?

In No Particular Order

My thoughts on the LOST finale in no particular order...

1. It was not purgatory. Purgatory is temporary punishment while you wait out being able to enter heaven. You are destined for heaven but you have to in essence serve time for your sins. The reason I don't think that's what it was is the characters were making decisions and acting out their lives. Some ended up making decisions that took them away from ultimate redemption, i.e. they were not destined to go to heaven. It was in the end a story of redemption, which I figured early on but wasn't sure how it was playing out. With the ending it all makes sense.

2. It was not in Jack's mind. I think the plane flying over at the end made it clear it wasn't all a figment of Jack's imagination while he was laying there dying after the plane crash the first time.

3. So with that basis here are my major themes - redemption, internal struggle, and community. Stefanie and I determined this in our 4 1/2 hour drive to Jacksonville this morning...yes we talked about LOST the entire way! Let's take it one at a time.

3a. Redemption: Every character had a mess of a life before being on the island. Jacob pointed that out at the fireside chat. He brought them there because they were 'lost' in life. The island gave them a chance for redemption and in the process a way to overcome their greatest insecurity on the island. Some characters (ex. Locke, Jack, Claire) took it, some characters (ex. Michael, Ana Lucia, Ben) did not. Stefanie and I thought through as many of the characters as we could - here are a few....Jack's biggest issue was letting things go - the island forced him to learn how to let others help him and also how to act, but not take things into his control. Sawyer's biggest issue was blaming himself - he blamed himself for his parents death, for Juliet's death, for Jin and Sun's death - eventually he came to the point where he could accept that bad decisions were made but it wasn't his fault. Hurley's biggest issue was believing in himself - the island and the people with him taught him how to do this, down to the last thing Jack said to him was that he believed in him. Now, let's look at some people who chose not to accept the redemption offered. Ana Lucia seemed as if she had just come to grips with her life and then was shot by Michael. I remember wondering if she had redemption in the end, but based on the finale what I think happened was she decided not to accept it, she was offered it, saw she needed it but didn't accept. Michael and Ben both acted out of self interest - making decisions based on their own needs regardless of how it impacted those around them. Which brings me to...

3b. Community: Every character that accepted redemption started making decisions for the best of the group, rather than for their own personal gain. Even if it was just for the best or one or two other people, it wasn't for their own personal benefit. Christian kind of summed it up by saying that they built the church together. They made it possible because they relied on each other -hearken back to Jack's statement from season 1 - live together, die alone. Each of them had to make decisions to act for the best of the group or none of them could have saved the island because none of them could have done it alone. They had to learn how to ask for help from others, but at the same time they each had to accept their own personal responsibility to the group.

3c. Internal Struggle: We determined that what linked the two realities as well as what linked the redemption and the need for community was the internal struggle the characters went through. I haven't yet decided yet which reality is real, and I actually think they left that unanswered on purpose (it is reason that I think the finale was brilliant it answered just enough questions to make sense, but not enough to make it not true to the show). So, I'm going to actually leave this one up to Stefanie who wrote a brilliant bit of summary on this portion of our theory: "Lost was about decisions being made and whether they were the right ones to lead a happy life. Each character has one significant decision in his/her life that lead to them either having the sideways life or the life that led them to being called to the island by Jacob. The island represents the internal struggle that the characters have over this decision and whether it was the right one. Each person had to come to a realization of overcoming his/her problem. For example Jack needed to "let it go", Sawyer needed to understand that it wasn't his fault, and Claire needed to have faith that she would be a good mother. Once they were able to overcome their problems, and they encountered someone who significantly helped them do this during their internal struggle (i.e. Kate helping Claire become a mother), then they remembered the internal struggle and were able to be at peace with the decisions they made." So you see, when they had the 'flashes' of their lives on the island they were realizing that they had been redeemed as a result of not giving up on the internal struggle. The people who gave up and weren't redeemed gave up on the struggle because it was too hard. They chose the easy way out.

4. Jacob brought them all to the island to prove that some people could be redeemed. Remember MiB said that all men were evil and only came to destroy, but Jacob told him that wasn't true. He was using them as a way to prove his point. While MiB was correct in that some people chose to only serve their own purposes and take the easy way out of life's struggles, Jacob in the end won because some of them chose to instead fight through and accept redemption. As Stefanie said "thus Jacob wins. Game. Set. Match."

5. The ending scene of Jack's eye closing was the best bit of cinematic perfection I've seen in a long time. I can't think of a better way to end that show. I do have to say that it would not have been as fulfilling if I hadn't seen Sawyer and Juliet, Charlie and Claire and Shannon and Sayid find each other again, but it really was a perfect ending. They answered just enough questions to bring it to a close, didn't answer all of them so as always left it up to the audience to decide what happened, and closed at the exact spot as it opened but with so much that happened in between. Jack was the last person to accept his redemption, realize he could live in the community without taking control of it, and internalize his personal struggle. And when he did they were all their with him for his father's funeral. I actually think the fact that a lot of people at first didn't like the finale but that it's growing on them is a testament to it being the right ending. There was not a character on that show that I didn't hate and love at some point. They killed off characters you never thought they would, took crazy turns that didn't make sense but eventually came together, and half the time you were pissed off, confused, and happy with what was happening all at the same time. Why end it any different? In my opinion if you didn't like the finale you didn't really get LOST.

As seen in the fact Stefanie and I could talk about this for 4 1/2 hours on the way down here I could go on all day with the details, but I think that hits on the major points. So, as one of those text messages they showed during the pre-show said: Thanks a lot LOST, now I have to get a real life :)

3 days

You know what I'm talking about:


Only 3 days until the finale - what? How is it possible? I'm pretty sure I will have nothing interesting to talk about for quite some time afterwards...Hurley, Sawyer and Kate feel the same way:

But...

Note to the world: Do not start a sentence with 'Don't be mad at me, but...' You obviously know that whatever you are about to say is going to make the person mad, otherwise you wouldn't have put that ridiculous qualifier on your sentence. The reason I think it's stupid to say it at all is you have obviously decided that the action coming after the 'but' is worth making said person mad, and thus why is it your right to ask them not to be, when clearly you didn't really care enough to alter your action to make it not so? If you couldn't change the action then deal with the outcome of your actions, if you can then change it and don't make them mad.

Also, while on occasion voicemails, texts and e-mails get lost in cyberspace, it's really not all that common of an occurrence, so if you've used that excuse before, try not using it again with the same person.

Limulus Polyphemus

That is the scientific name for the horseshoe crab, which last night climbed my list of all time favorite animals into the top 10. While the sea cucumber is not all that beautiful to behold, it still wins being that he spits his guts out on predators - I just find that too funny - and you can squirt people with water with them...I know I'm a horrible marine biologist. So apparently I'm very fond of not cute animals because while the horseshoe crab is super crazy cool, he's not all that attractive (sorry horseshoe crabs, you know it's true).

Their coolness makes up for their looks however, and as with most things I now think they are cute because they are so ugly :) So, the reasons horseshoe crabs are now on my top 10 list of coolest animals on the planet:

Reason number 1. They spawn at night on specific beaches, which means to see them you have to plan. I of course am a fan of planning and so I appreciate their fortitude. They have little 'eyes' on the front of their shell that sense UV light. The biggest tides are on the new and full moons and so they can sense the light changes and come up to the beaches on those tides so that their eggs will be laid as far up the beach as they can get them. Here is out walk out, it was gorgeous weather last night:

Reason number 2. Horseshoe crab eggs are food for migrating birds - as you can see in the picture below there were a ton of them last night. One little guy we saw was the red knot, which migrates every year from the southern tip of Argentina to the tundra on the far north of Canada. If the fact that a tiny bird makes a circumpolar trip every year is not amazing enough, I found out last night that they leave Canada before the chicks are ready to leave, and thus the chicks make their trip to Argentina for the first time WITHOUT any bird that has done it before. This is an example of why I am in environmental education - I knew most of this stuff, but when you actually see the bird walking on the sand in front of you and think about how far they flew and are going to fly and that the horseshoe crab eggs are a major reason they can do it...well it's way more amazing than just reading it in a book.

Reason number 3. The females are about twice as big as the males. I just find it kinda funny, and really I appreciate all animals where being fat is a good thing (it's why I love manatees so much). I mean I guess you can't really say that female horseshoe crabs are fat, per se, but they are ginormo. Here are two 'in the act' as it were...it's external fertilization, so it's not really 'the act', but you get the gist.

This is Al showing us that you can tell the males by not only their size, but by the fact that their shell is concave so they can climb on the female. Nature, you are amazing.


Al looks kinda angry here and the one woman was a little out of control with her camera and kept stepping in front of me, but look at the size of this little horseshoe crab lady:

Reason number 4. Their blood is blue. Again, a fact I knew but it's oh so much cooler to see in person than to just know. Instead of Iron which human blood uses to bind oxygen, horseshoe crabs use Copper, so their blood turns blue instead of red when it touches oxygen. Check it out - it's almost as blue as the drill!

Why a drill you may ask - well you have to drill into the carapace to tag them, so you see the little bottle behind the drill? That is betadine. Al would drill into the betadine to clean the drill bit, then drill into the shell, then put the tag in. Pretty cool.

Reason number 5. Horseshoe crabs are more closely related to spiders than they are to crabs. One look inside their shell and you can tell. Personally I'm not a fan of spiders, so the fact that one of my top 10 animals is related to them says a lot about that animal. Horseshoe crabs are 250 million year old spiders so I guess I find that way cooler. You can also see in this picture their gills (at the top of the picture). They are called book gills because they look like pages in a book.


I could go on, but I think 5 reasons is enough to make my point. Our procedure for tagging them was a few people collected the crabs from the surf where they were trying to find themselves a beautiful horseshoe crab woman (we only tagged the males) and put them on the sand (I know they look very sad on their backs, but they were fine)

Then there were other people who would rinse off the crab we were about to tag (you don't need a whole bunch of sand on the shell when you are about to drill a hole in it), bring it to me. I would measure it and hold it for Al to drill it (only the vet gets the drilling job).

Then the girl who was recording the sizes and tag numbers would hand him a tag, he would pop it in the hole (flat white thing where Al's thumb is on the crab) and I'd hand him back to be taken back to the water. We were joking that he would then tell his horseshoe crab friends about this crazy night he had where aliens grabbed him up out of the water and shone lights on him. Poor little guys - thanks for your service to science.

So, all in all it was a beautiful evening. Before we walked back I got a picture with our last guy - he was number 104 (I know, that's a LOT of horseshoe crabs!). They liked to try to grab your fingers and make you let them go but they don't have pinchers that can hurt you like blue crabs do so really unless you are scared of them you just hold on and they push at your hands. It's sad and funny at the same time.
We turned out all our lights and checked out the beautiful sky with no lights around and then walked in the surf where you could see the phosphorecence (it looks like shooting sparks are coming out of your feet when you walk because the phytoplankton light up momentarily when they are disturbed). Then we headed back to Al's house and had some chili his wife Mary made for us and turned into bed around midnight. This, ladies and gents, is why I love my job.

Well played

What in the WORLD am I going to do without LOST? I mean really. You obviously know that I'm a LOST fan, and you either are or you are not as well. That actually is one of the things I appreciate about LOST - you're in or you're out - halfway just doesn't work and you would be confused out of your mind if you tried. So, for the sake of those who are not LOST fans I'll be brief. My favorite quote of the episode...possibly because it sums up the entire show: "Every question I answer will simply lead to another question." Come on! You have GOT to respect a show that calls itself out like that!

And while I'd love to go on and on about how great the episode was in the scheme of the show, and how brilliant the producers are for placing it exactly where they did, I'll simply copy the thoughts of the guy who writes LOST Mindgrapes (the only LOST comment blog I follow because he is generally right on with what I'm thinking and hilarious), because he sums it up perfectly:
"I imagine somewhere in the world, somebody decided they were going to check out this show "Lost" that they've been hearing about, and they started with this episode. What on earth would they be thinking? Don't get me wrong here, I thought this was a great episode. But if the show had kicked off Season One with this episode millions of people would have never tuned back in again. This is a lesson on how to successfully pace a sci-fi story with mystical elements. You start with a first season featuring mostly hot bods on the beach and love triangles. Then you slip in a Dharma initiative here or there, then go safely back to the love triangles and the family relationship dramas. Pause for a bit, toss in a little time travel, then when no one's looking you go completely Land of the Lost on everyone right in the last three episodes. I like it, Lost. Bold move."

Well played, LOST, well played.

2nd 58th

I've never been one for numbers, but I think I'll probably remember John's regiment number for the rest of my life - we had to know it to get so many places this weekend that it is finally one number the my brain has grasped! In case you didn't know John David (Brandy's husband) graduated from boot camp this weekend!!!! So Wednesday night we headed to Columbia, GA - well actually to Phenix City, AL the GA-AL line is right beside Ft. Benning so much so that Phenix City goes by east coast time even though they are technically across the line.

Thursday morning was the turning blue ceremony. I didn't really know what a turning blue ceremony was, but we soon found out during the 'orientation' given to families before the weekend ceremonies began. I have to commend the Army on doing a very good job of giving family details on what went on, why they do things, what the history of different things are and generally reminding them that their 'soldiers' as they referred to them are important. I'm sure to most people they are just a number, but to their family they are very important and I appreciate the Army's recognition of that. It is also never a bad thing to be reminded of the sacrifices that other people have made for your country. So, as I said, we learned during the orientation that the Infantry (of which John's boot camp was part of) was the only part of the Army that gets to wear the blue cord around their shoulder. And thus the turning blue ceremony is when you receive your blue cord.

We all crowded under the barracks where the guys were all lined up. John came running out of his line to give Brandy a hug, it was very cute! He didn't look like he got in trouble for it, but I don't think he would have cared if he did. Now knowing where he was we positioned ourselves nearby. If the Army is one thing they are punctual, so 10am on the dot the ceremony began. We were right beside a desk on which was the 'chain of command' for Ft. Benning, starting with Barack Obama. It was kinda cool to see.

There were all the state flags since the soldiers are from all over the US, and the guys were in the center in positions. John's just so happened to be right by the wall so we had a good view.

Brandy put his blue cord on, which was cool and then he posed for a few pictures with his mom and wife (John hates pictures by the way, so even one was being a good sport, and he took A LOT this weekend).
Then the families had to go back out of the lines and they did what was Brandy and my favorite thing of the weekend - the Infantry Creed. Ok. First, I didn't really know much about the infantry. Second, I didn't know they had a creed. Third, I never thought about how insanely cool it would be to hear 900 men reciting a creed under barracks. We of course realized we should have taped it at the end, so instead I'll attach this YouTube video in case you are interested. Our favorite part is at 1 minute 10 seconds on this one.


After it was all over, John got his bags, and his wife and headed out...well until 8pm anyway, he had to be back for one more night. I love this picture :)


Next morning we were up with the sun because graduation started at 8am, and as I said, the Army is nothing if not on time. We didn't realize what a show it would be! We got the band...

a demo of the mortar team...

and then the graduation ceremony. I know you can't tell but John really is in this group. Second row from the right, 6th back.

See, there he is. Second row, second in from the bottom.

And after standing in the hot sun for an hour, watching someone faint (which most people didn't even know happened because they are so trained to not react to things), and 15 weeks of boot camp behind him, he really was free to leave.

We celebrated with a trip to the Coke factory and Aquarium, but I'll leave that for another post. I think John deserves his very own.