Smitty Werbenyegermanjenson’s Neighborhood

I got my financial aid letter. It looks like I'm not going to be buried under student loans after all. Yay! 

hisagi's arm didn't disaper

I'll see you after the new year!

Hope this time is joyous and peaceful for you and all you love. Best to everyone in the new year as well...

love and chocolate kisses,
gunderson

Lately I've managed to pick up and watch or read the most depressing stories, I want to disappear into nothing when they are over.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy: The book cover is black. That should have been an obvious sign. The whole book is dark. You want to cough up all the ashy phlegm when you get done with it. Ugh.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father: A documentarian makes a movie for the kid of his murdered childhood friend. Oh yes, and it gets worse from there.

This American Life, podcast #342, How to Rest In Peace. Stories about kids who's parents have died... either murdered or killed themselves and how they cope in adulthood.

I don't know. Those are just a few examples, but I seemed to be obsessed with bad things. Dark things. Currently, I'm considering jumping into the book "Lit", which is a memoir, but now I'm not so sure. My decision-makings skills are a bit twisted at the moment.

Feck.

Seattle: Two months ago, a guy killed 2 police officers, sitting in their car. Rather... he executed them by shooting them in the back of the neck on one, and blasting the face of the other. Horrible. A week prior he had set some police cars on fire, and set up a bomb in hopes that the fires would draw enforcement to the scene (meaning... more to kill). The bomb didn't go off, or he didn't get it set up or soemthing like that. They found that guy and he's facing charges.

Tacoma (about half an hour south of Seattle): One month ago, 4 police officers were killed when a parolee from Arkansas walked into a coffee shop, and fired on them while they were gearing up for their shift. He was found and shot. 7 friends and family members are being prosecuted for helping him evade police for a week after the shootings.

Tacoma (about half an hour south of Seattle): Last night, 2 police officers were shot when they were ambushed. The dude is dead. He was hiding when they came in the residence, and he shot them both. They fired back at him and he's dead. They are still alive as of now, but both in critical condition. I guess the family didn't know what the guy was up to though and they helped save the cops. That's the only light I see in all of this.   

It's just horrible. It's like the bad guys around here have suddenly come to the conclusion that the cops are no longer 'untouchables'. That the cops are the enemy. And they're setting them up, all over this area, and killing them. If you're a family member of a cop, it's like you're sending them off to war these days.

It's horrible. And very sad. 

She died as the result of cardiac arrest.

There's a difference people. A BIG difference. 

I cannot tell you how many times I've had to clarify the difference to people. Here is a snippet which I think is helpful...

Anatomy of a Heart Attack

A circulation problem of the heart causes a heart attack when one or more of the arteries delivering blood to the heart are blocked. Oxygen in the blood cannot reach the heart muscle, and the heart muscle becomes damaged. You can think of a heart attack as a “plumbing problem” in the heart.

Also...

Anatomy of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

In contrast to a heart attack, sudden cardiac arrest is caused by an “electrical problem” in the heart. It occurs when the heart's lower chambers (ventricles) suddenly develop a rapid, irregular rhythm (ventricular fibrillation) causing the ventricles to quiver rather than contract. The chaotic quivering motion of the ventricles renders the heart an ineffective pump that can no longer supply the body and brain with oxygen.

I read somewhere that less than 10% of people suffering a cardiac arrest survive. I can't remember exactly -- I think it's actually a lot lower than that.

Dead N

consider your touge twisted

I got my acceptance letter Monday! I'm so escited! I'm going to Barnard College! I've already sent in my deposit, now I'm waiting for my matriculation packet. =)

I have two more days until I here from Barnard unless it arrives in today's mail. This is simply agonizing...