9/11 means a lot to me. Having a family member in the service really makes it hit home (especially if you were in Germany/Overseas at the time of the actual attacks in 2001) that it could have been my father in those attacks. It also could have been my father that was sent over at the start of the war. In fact he almost was a couple of years ago. My father is a military civilian which means he could have been hit on either or both sides of the coin of 9/11/2001. It is a valid fear and one military brats still face today. The war is not over people, military men and women are still being sent over there. My father could still go over there along with millions of other military around the world. Do you have any idea what that feels like? Everyday I remember the emotions I felt when I found out my dad might be sent to a war zone and might never come back. The last time he was sent to a war zone was Desert Storm in the early 90's. I was just a kid and don't remember much of his one year absence. I do remember he came home and I'm always grateful for that.

I fall in between two different groups by heritage. My grandfather was a soldier and therefore my father is a military brat. He does not talk about it much. My father decided to work for Aafes system (basically the military's "walmart") and has worked for them for over 15 or 20 years if I remember correctly. I am the only military civilian kid I know (besides my sister) that consider themselves a military brat. I am technically a civilian however because of the position my father held in the Aafes system, I was moved around like military. Every two years, in the states, overseas, ect... I can say I've lived in the Azores Islands, Germany, as well as in TX, KY, WI and NM. I can say I've been to/visited even more places than that. I can say I've seen the Effiel Tower in Paris, smelled the cannals of Venice Italy, seen the Schwartzwald (Black forest) of Germany, been to the mall of america, seen the minature museum of Holland, bought Polish Pottery, tasted Belguim chocolate, and many other things. Surprisingly as a kid I thought these things were boring but having these experiences just makes me like other military brats. No, not all of them have been overseas but all of them understand a code that civilians can't. No offense to civilians, frankly you guys have a code that military brats can't understand. We don't know what it's like to have the same friends over 8-20 years, we don't know what it's like to grow up in one place. Sometimes we can't understand why you don't move every two years, why you don't get the wunderlust that is so common in military brats. I have to move the rooms in my apartment around around 20-50 times a year because I need to feel that there is some kind of "moving" going on around me. It's just the way I grew up, never fully having all the boxes unpacked, thinking about the next place we were going to go before we settled into our current place, dealing with dental/medical/school record transfers, ect...


About a month ago I went to my dad's place in Dallas to visit. He stacked me up with some boxes from my old room in Wisconsin and sent me home with them (apparently he didn't have room to store them and thought I did). So I went through them and found some old 9/11 material that I thought i should have a backup copy of just in case so I'm putting it in this journal. There is some interesting information I've collected.


Around three-four years ago I visited the Mall of America in Minn. I had never been there before and it is huge. It has a whole amusement park inside of the center of it. I was exploring it (by myself, I had come with friends/family but I shop differently than most everyone so I usually do my own thing). I ended up getting lost (the mall is big!) and almost ran straight into a memorial fountain. Being me, I wanted to know what a fountain was doing in a corner of the mall. I went up to it, read the plaques and then sat on a bench, thinking for about an hour after doing so. I'm sure I have some pictures somewhere of the fountain but I have no idea where so I'll use internet pictures. I wrote down the inscriptions on the plaques, here they are.
________________________________________ ___________________________________

[link]

This picture is taken of the "door" said to represent the door of the cockpit of Flight 93 (the one that went down in PA) that passengers battered down in order to take control of the aircraft and crash it into that field. Here is the inscription


"The open door in this piece reflects the cockpit door of Flight 93. It also represents a door to a brighter, safer future. Never forget the victims of 9/11 and walk confidently toward the future intent on 'doing something'......something good, something kind, something noble, and something right."
________________________________________ __________________________________

Here is the plaque beneath it.

[link]

"Do Something"
In loving memory of Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
May 29, 1963 - 9/11/2001
Citizen Soldier - Flight 93

On September 11, 2001, the citizens of the United States were attacked by terrorists using four hijacked commericals airliners as weapons. More than 2,971 innocent civilians were killed - the largest loss of life on American soil in our nation's history. Planes were flown into the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon Building. The fourth plane, Flight 93, never reached it's intended destination and crashed in rural countryside of Shanksville, PA.

The courage, heroism and quick actions of Tom Burnett and 39 other passengers on Flight 93 inspired the nation and saved countless lives. "We're going to do something" were Tom's last words before leading a revolt to break through the cockpit door and take back the plane.

The open door in this piece reflects the cockpit door of Flight 93. It also represents a door to a brighter, safer future. Never forget the victims of 9/11 and walk confidently toward the future intent on "doing something"... something good, something kind, something noble and something right.

"This sclupture remembers a moment of decision. It is the intersection of stregnths in a moment of crisis. The connections between those on Flight 93, their families and loved ones, their lives and their country, generated in them the courage and ability to act."
- Patrick D. Wilson, Artist/ Sculptor

Special recognition goes to Tom's sister, Mary Margaret, for her love and inspiration to make this memorial tribute a reality. This project was made possible by a special grant from Wells Fargo.

________________________________________ ______________________________________
I'd like to thank the people listed above too, from a girl who was just wandering around the mall and found an unexpected treasure. I'm not the only one who had no idea this fountain was there until I almost ran into it. May it stand for eternity as a reminder that the people of the world need. A reminder of the feelings we had and the love shown by the nation after the attacks. United we stand, divided we fall.

Hey everyone.

Just a quick update.

A friend of mine has just joined deviantart. Also deviantart was featured on msn.com.

My diabetic cats are doing fine. I'm doing better too. My roommate and I get along wonderfully. I'm going to Dallas in two weeks to visit family. My online summer class is almost over (another month to go!). I've been reading like crazy (Katie MacAlister; Gena Showalter, Tamora Pierce, Kelley Armstrong, Carrie Vaughn, Christine Feehan, Lori Handeland, Stephanie Rowe, C.E. Murphy, etc...) most Katie MacAlister. I've read most all her books and haven't found one I don't like yet. After I finish with her I'm going to read Katie Maxwell, which is the name she writes under for children's/teen books. See if that genre is as good as her paranormal romance books.

The only thing is it's hot here and it rarely rains. I miss the rain. And swimming. And thunderstorms. And fireflies. But it looks like I'm going to be moving next spring. So we'll see how everything goes.

I've lost a lot of friends over the years for any number of reasons. The last two were because of betrayals. But luckily it's hard to depress me.

Gotta run.

Hey guys.

Sorry it's been so long (almost a year) since I updated. My life has been one party after another lately (and usually not in the good way). I barely have time for e-mail let alone anything else with school going on and trying to find a job. Here's a quick overview.

~ The job market sucks.

~ My best friend of 8-9 years betrayed me, almost killed my cat (costing me more money in vet bills than I had) and then took off, ending our friendship. Being an army brat makes it hard for me to make friends, let alone keep them. Loosing one I had for so long really hurt.

~ My parents are getting a divorce. My sister isn't accepting it to well and then we got dragged in the middle of it.

~ I am taking 5 classes, 12 credit hours of college and three of the classes (three days worth) are on the other side of town. Talk about gas guzzeling.

~ One of my best friend's grandmother died from a heart attack (cancer and lymes disease survivor)and I was stuck across the USA, unable to go to her.

~ I did get to take a month long vacation to visit family and friends in MO dec 2008-jan 2009. That was alright but a little to long around family. I love them but at a distance.

~ My former job tried to take advantage of me. They didn't belive I would quit because of the job market and economy. I surprised them by quitting anyway (I get pissed off when someone takes advantage of me) and a lot of them still don't understand.

~ One of the highlights of my months is a monthly lunch I have with some of my ex-coworkers that I am still talking to.

~ I have even more bills now than before. I also got hit in the parking lot at work and had to deal with going through insurance company paperwork for a few months to get my money. Luckily the guy that hit me (truck) was driving his work truck and had insurance. A lot of people here don't have it even though that is against the law.

~ I was told to sell my car as part of a dumb dispute about car insurance (long story) but even if I was inclined to I can't because my parent won't put me on the title or even give me a copy of it. No idea what I'm going to do when the registration comes due.

~ I now have family in TX, NM, MO and WI. And that's immediate family. (note there are only four of us in my immediate family)

~ My current roommate owes me money too but she is having trouble finding a job and has some other problems. Since I was having trouble before (and her too) we agreed to move in together but I am running out of money. I can't keep paying her fare.

And that just hits the peak of all my problems in the last year.

Ok, enough of the pity party, just wanted to explain why I haven't really been around lately.

For those of you who don't know the KY derby is run the first Saturday in May. This year it was today.

Note: I am by no means a horse racing expert. I have been to the races and I love the horses that run them. I have no interest in the betting and have never participated in it.

Post positions for DERBY 2008:

1. Cool Coal Man
2. Tale of Ekati
3. Anak Nakal
4. Court Vision
5. Eight Belles
6. Z Fortune
7. Big Truck
8. Visionaire
9. Pyro
10. Colonel John
11. Z Humor
12. Smooth Air
13. Bob Black Jack
14. Monba
15. Adriano
16. Denis of Cork
17. Cowboy Cal
18. Recapturetheglory
19. Gayego
20. Big Brown

Here is a news article to give you more information:
[link] (news article)

I can't find the video but if you find a ground view of the Derby and watch it you'll see some interesting things.

First off Eight Belles breaks from the gates well but is pulled back a few seconds later when she almost runs up on the horse in front of her. (look closely, you'll see her head fling up) She is then pushed a little to the outside near where Big Brown is running. Another thing I noticed in the video replay that I watched was that in the homestrech, for some reason her head turns to look towards the crowd and so does a little of her neck. I couldn't tell if that move threw off her stride however anyone that ever has ridden a horse knows that where their neck goes, they go.

Also note that she has pulled away from the field at the end. She's about 3-4 legnths ahead of the rest of the field. That's pretty good for a filly against a 19 horse male field! It was barely acknowledged by the commentator though.

Right after Eight Belles crossed the finish line, she started galloping funny. When her jockey tried to pull her up she went down and he jumped off. She never got back up. She had broken both front ankles and was put down there at the track after coming in second place in the Run for the Roses.

There are varying stories as to what happened. Some say that her jockey heard a "Pop". Some say she just started galloping funny and then went down.

________________________________________________________________________
Once again the question is being brought up....is horse racing humane? Just like when Barbaro went down and then had months of recovery time and finally passed, the same question popped up after Eight Belles was put down. It seems to me that only people watching the "big" races are starting to wonder about the questions that small racegoers have been asking for years. I wondered the same thing at one time in my life. I knew the answer the next time I went to the races.

My answer? If you have ever seen these babies run you'll know.
Thoroughbreds are bred to be fast and "light" (which also makes them fragile). But racing is in their blood, it's what they love to do. Their eyes gleam with the knowledge of a win. You can tell they love the challenge when they see a horse in front of them and speed up, trying to catch that horse.

Racehorses are amazing creatures.

RIP Eight Belles
You went against the boys today and you proved yourself.
Race with Barbaro at the Rainbow Bridge now.


Note: Edited to finish. I apparently left some out! Shame on me.

Not much going on here.

Last week of school. Finals are next week. Good luck to everyone else that has finals coming up too!

Work is going on. Not getting the hours I want but with finals and stress, I'm getting headaches a lot so I'll wait till after finals to deal with that stuff.

I had some cool pics but I accidently hit the wrong button on my camera and reformatted the disk. oops!!

My dad came to visit this past weekend. He's not much for artwork but we did have a good time. He gets samples of some new products that are coming out soon during one of his conferences. He gave me these wierd caffine chocolate ball things. They aren't really chocolate, taste lirrlw like coffee (the kind is cappuccino) The package says that they have 40mg of caffine per ball (2 balls per pack). Now caffine doesn't usually effect me. It takes a couple of cokes (or any kind of soda) to even get me hypped. And then my *hypped* is falling asleep. But I take a little bit off these balls and I'm awake! They contain a TON of caffine. Wouldn't recommend these to anyone caffine sensitive though...might overdose you.

As you can see I have some new drawings and photo-manips up. Hopefully more will come later. I seem to be on a drawing kick and some of the pics aren't half bad, especially compared to my other pics a year ago!! I like my new *realistic* style.

I'm getting excited about going to my sister's graduation and to see my family in a couple of weeks. Not to mention that I'll get to see my ol friends!

Wensday is month's end. I'll be working late so maybe I'll draw something then...though not likely. I usually am half-asleep anyway.

In addition to finals I have two papers for german to write, three for english and I need to catch up on two days worth of math homework. It should be an interesting week!!

That's about it for now. Can't promise to be on in the next week or so. Will probably be on long enough to check messages though. So note me if you need anything. Have a good week!