Plumbing problems at Pope Street

ATHENS, Ga.-On Friday, August 28, Rachel Bunn, 20, awoke to a dripping noise. Noting past experiences with this situation, she immediately decided to take action and discover the source of the "drip."
She may have gotten more than she bargained for.
Bunn discovered that her toilet, which was recently replaced, was leaking.
"Yeah, I was annoyed, but I figured I could fix it on my own," Bunn said.
Drawing on her limited knowledge of plumbing, Bunn discovered the tank and seat were not connected.
"I thought if I could tighten the screws, it would be ok."
Because of her inability to distinguish her right from her left, Bunn soon ended up with a puddle of water on the floor.
Undaunted by the disaster, Bunn finally fixed the toilet and pumped her fist in the air in triumph.
When asked about her future in plumbing, Bunn said it was not her first career choice, but she "wouldn't rule it out."

The inspiration: http://highschoolsports.mlive.com/news/article/-113807113/grand-haven-edges-out-east-grand-rapids/

Speaking about the trees

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.-Joyce Kilmer

Sometimes words are not enough. How often do we say, "You have to see it for yourself?" Words are important, don't get me wrong. I'm a journalist. I love words. I practically worship them. But as Mr. Kilmer (yes, MISTER as in MAN) points out: words are not always enough. Is it a human failing? Maybe we don't know enough words. Maybe we can't comprehend what we are seeing. Or maybe there is something about seeing the world for yourself, without the influence of the subjective descriptions of others. In the end, you can't rely on someone else's words to see the world. You have to see it for yourself.

Be prepared

Today, I got up at 7:30 and turned on my TV in order to watch the weather report: hot with a chance of afternoon showers. So, naturally I packed my raincoat. And while I feel kind of dorky, since right now the sun is vibrantly shining, I know that the feeling of happiness I will get when I remain dry (should it rain) will outstrip all feelings of dorkiness I feel carrying my coat.

It's kind of like how I feel about my second major, history. I feel kind of ridiculous when I tell people that I am a double major in magazines (it's an actual major, I swear) and history. They always say, "And what do plan to do? Work for a historical journal?" While that job would probably be pretty cool, it is not something I think I would particularly like to do long term. I chose history because I like people. I like spending time with them. I like hearing their stories. History is just that; learning about people through their stories. I know that studying people, where they come from, why they are the way that they are, through their stories will help me be a better reporter and a better interviewer one day. Even though I feel really dorky right at this moment, when that day comes, I will be completely happy that I decided to study history.

Take me out to the ballgame

I love baseball. It is slowly moving up my favorites ladder and is fixing to knock UGA football out of the number 2 spot (number 1 belonging to swimming, of course). It doesn't matter who is playing; it doesn't even matter if I like the team. If baseball is on TV, I will watch it and I will enjoy myself. Why? I think part of it has to do with, despite my lack of athletic talent, I can actually swing a bat and, every once in a while, hit a ball. Not that I have ever had any desire to be in the Major League or anything, but I understand how it feels to stand at the plate and look down a pitcher. For people who have ever played any type of baseball, softball or woffleball, you understand. That feeling you get when you first walk up to the plate: am I going to strike out? What if the bases are loaded? What if there are two outs already? What if I let the team down? It's probably the scariest part about baseball, because, let's face it; compared to football, injuries are mostly minor. So whenever the batter approaches the plate, I feel like I can relate to him because, I too have felt the stress of being up to bat. I think that makes me want to cheer even harder whenever they actually get a hit because I feel like I understand how exciting it is to actually hit the ball. I wonder if someone like Chipper Jones or Albert Pujols, who have thousands of hits over their careers, see getting a hit as just another ho-hum part of the job. I sincerely hope that every time they hear the crack of the bat, no matter how many times they have heard it before, they feel the same excitement they did as a little kid. I know I would.

Hey! Move it!

I think I might be in the minority, but I enjoy moving. Having lived in the same room of the same house in the same town for 18 years, I like having the chance to be somewhere new and different. I like the fresh start. I also enjoy sorting through the massive amounts of stuff I have managed to collect over the past year. Throwing out a majority of the things you manage to collect in the course of a year is a very cleansing process. This cleansing prices really makes you decide what is important amongst all of your belongings. It kind of makes you think of what is important in your life. Most of the time, I like to drag around things (particularly papers, such as biological science notes from 7th grade) around for years before I eventually throw them out. Similarly, I like to carry hard and heavy feelings around with me before I eventually let them go. I think most people are like this. I think when we have a fear that we will have to face the world head on; we can no longer sit in the corner feeling sorry for ourselves. So we hold on to our pain as long as we can, hoping we can continue to lick our wounds until we are confident again. And so we carry our stuff around with us, even though we will never again use our various old t-shirts, high school notebooks or free magnets. Whenever I clean, I feel like I am not only throwing out my 2007 soccer schedule magnet, but also any hard feelings I have been carrying in my heart. So, I like moving because I like having the opportunity to clean out my life, both literally and figuratively.