Friday, February 17, 2006

What Shall I Be Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day Champion Crab Races Day, February 17th

Ever since last Friday, I have had a re-occurring dream about blogging a picture of a cannoli. Now, the first couple of dreams could be attributed to a party I attended, where cannoli was served, in honor of our Olympic host country, and possibly because I did not partake of the cannoli dessert tray because I preferred the Napoleon dessert tray.But, after six nights of dreaming about blogging a picture of a cannoli... I'm beginning to think that the cannoli of my dreams is more than a cannoli. It must be a symbolic cannoli.

I believe that Jung would say the cannoli haunting my dreams is this looming event: KUED Channel 7 Premieres a Production on Teen Suicide in Utah, Monday, February 20th at 8:00 p.m.

I have deliberated for the last couple of weeks about whether I want to blog about this or not, and have decided that the reasons that I don't want to blog are purely my own insecurities, which means I need to step further outside of my box.

The production is in two parts. The first hour is devoted to teenagers' experiences and documents their personal stories of depression and suicide. The second part is a supplement to the first program, and is supposed to be targeted to parents and families. I was interviewed for the second part. (My brother committed suicide 13 years ago this March.) Although, I have only viewed the first part, I think that this will be a very good series, and hopefully will open up new channels of discussion between parents and children, and anyone who is concerned about the statistics for suicide in Utah. New knowledge and information are never bad things, and I strongly believe that education is the best course for prevention.

(And if you notice that I stutter through my interview, sound unintelligent because they asked me to talk in complete sentences, so of course I became very aware that I don't speak in complete sentences, and my face is shiny enough to reflect images of the cameramen, please don't mention it to me, I already have died a thousand deaths over it. I do realize that it is more important to let people know about the program, and the issues that will be discussed, than be self-conscious because I haven't previewed how I look in my probably very small part of the program.) And, on to the fun stuff...

What Shall I Be Day?
If you are shocked by that game token, don't ever, ever, ever, get your child the game What Shall I Be? There is both a girl version and a boy version. I am mostly shocked at the girl version. Object of the game is to the first player to become a "Career Girl." The game approved careers are Teacher, Airline Hostess, Actress, Nurse, Model, and Ballet Dancer. Yep, only one career with a college requirement. Nice. To see more reasons to mock the game click here.

Random Acts of Kindness Day

There is an organization named Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, that promotes, well, kindness. They have website with like a million links to cool stuff going on in communities, inspirational stories, graphics, lessons, activities, ecards... just go there, and go there when you have a few seconds to wander.

Champion Crab Races Day

I looked everywhere to see if this was a day that we were supposed to do walk-like-a-crab-races, or if there was an actual crab race. And I found the race. All holidays calendars have listed the celebration for today, but, the race is on the 19th. WORLD-CHAMPIONSHIP CRAB RACES February 19th Crescent City, CA; Dungeness crab races; crab feed, beverages, children's games and art fair. Info: (800) 343-8300 or (707) 464-3174; f- (707) 464-9676. If you are going to feed on any particular type of crab, I would recommend Dungeness. It is the best. I have caught many a Dungeness crab an eaten them in my childhood, and even my adulthood, though the opportunities have diminished living in Utah. Oregon, I miss thee more than ever on Champion Crab Race Day!

5 comments:

Christian said...

Har har har. I SO want those games. In a major way. More importantly, I want the updated 2005 version. (You have to follow a link from the link you posted.)

Erin aka- absent-minded secretary said...

And now I know what to look for on eBay for your b-day present.

B.G. Christensen said...

The teen suicide program sounds like a good thing and that's cool that you contributed to it. Assuming my powers of memory serve me, I'll watch it (and I won't pay any attention to your incoherence or shininess. In my first mission area a guy made a documentary of Mormon missionaries and interviewed me. In Spanish. I'm sure you sound like Shakespeare compared to me).

Anonymous said...

Wait. So you actually ate the crabs you caught as a child? No wonder GOONIES was shot there- that's way creepy and totally messed up! On Valentine's Day we went to a really nice restaurant (for the Philippines- the total bill came to about $20 US) and ordered a crab soup for our first course. To our horror, the sweet little waitress kept trying to bring the live crab out so we could approve it before it was cooked, smashed, and thrown in herbal broth and then our bowls. Messed up.

Erin aka- absent-minded secretary said...

MF: Shakespeare? If wish I could even hope for the simplicity of Donne. But, I'm glad that you maybe might be watching. :)

LL: Don't worry, I'm sure they didn't smash it before it was dead. They cooked it in a nice warm bath and it went to sleep. And it never knew that it was about to be eaten.

Yes, Goonies (the best kid action adventure movie ever!) would have been a much different movie had been filmed in Southern Cal. The children would have been searching for One-Eyed Zorro's golden sword through the catacombs of the abandoned missions.