A Good Samaritan for Today

At a time in our history when immigrants are being vilified regardless of their legal status, Manuel Jesus Córdova Soberanes stepped up to become and example for all of us.

As reported here, Córdova, a Mexican bricklayer, on his way to Tuscan, AZ, stopped just fifty miles short of his goal to save an eight-year-old boy. The boy had survived a car crash which ultimately resulted in his mother's death. Even though neither spoke the other's language, Córdova was able to discern that the boy had been in an accident with his mother.

After an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the mother, Córdova built a fire and stayed with the boy until rescuers could arrive.

Córdova was deported.

The boy was treated for minor injuries and reunited with his biological father.

A columnist for Arizona Republic wrote that Córdova was probably nobody special. That's the point. Neither are any of us.

Thanksgiving 2007

I'm up early (for a holiday) so that I can watch the most famous parade in the world. I love this thing! I watched this when I was a little kid. It was the only thing I could do on a Thursday with no school and with my parents preparing to gorge their entire family on turkey. It helped that it was so kid friendly back then.

When I grew older I was lucky enough to see this parade in person. That was my first trip to New York City. I was there with my best friend. We were both theatre nerds. (Note the spelling. Damn you, spellcheck!) The parade has slowly evolved into a Broadway love fest. The kiddie stuff is still there, too. Basically, it's designed for me.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Beverage of Choice

What have I been drinking lately? It's a question I'm sure many of you have found yourselves asking while lying awake at night. Well, here it is in all it's glory; my elixir. I find myself thinking about pouring one of these while at work on particularly difficult days.

It's not what you think.

Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist is God's way of opening my heart to the wonders of the holiday season. No, seriously. It's that good. I heard about this wonderful drink last year, but stupidly did not buy 30 cases of it. Although, if I had tried it, I'm sure I would have. It has returned for this year's batch-o-holidays and has claimed my tongue as it's slave.

Now, I'm a little nervous. I know that this is a limited edition soda. Come January, this will be gone from store shelves and my pantry. I just hope it makes it back to me come November of '08. I don't have the best of luck when it comes to consumables. Long-time readers will remember the Shamrock Shake fiasco. There was another Christmas themed soda; Holiday Spice Pepsi. May it rest in piece. Even television shows aren't immune from my reverse Midas touch. I give you Firefly, Arrested Development and Drive.

I'm just going to have to have faith that God will see me through. (I guess this is good practice for the whole being pregnant thing.)

First Baby Picture!

There it is. The squiggle inside the dark oval is my baby. As you can see, there's just one there. No multiples in spite of what some people have said. (You know who you are.) According to the measurements, Baby is as big as the top of a pen cap. (That's about 1/4 inch in diameter!) The projected due date is July 6, 2008.

Wow!

Of Colds, Candles and Crabby-Face

So, God thought it was wrong of me to use a sick-day at work without being actually sick. Fortunately, He saw fit to help out by making sure I was actually sick. Joy! All in all, being under the weather was okay. It just made it hard to communicate during the latter half of my 12-hour Dungeons & Dragons game on Saturday.

Last Sunday, a racial slur was found spray-painted onto one of the buildings of the undergraduate campus. The university officials moved quickly to remove the graffito. So quickly that few people even heard about it. That's the problem. This Christian school did nothing but release a statement saying it was bad. The students of the school of theology were personally moved to action and took matters into their own hands by writing and performing a candle light vigil this evening. Some would argue that they didn't really do anything, but I think they did. The only effective response to hatred and bigotry is love. That's what this service was about. The students who organized this deserve many congratulations for their bravery, leadership, and integrity. I'm especially proud of Monkey-Girl (as I must be) who lead the musical portion of the service.

Lastly, I'm afraid I have to mention Crabby-Face. She's one of Monkey-Girl's fellow seminarians. Crabby-Face has a reputation for being - well, crabby. Anyway, Monkey-Girl was telling a friend at school how excited she was to be getting off the mountain especially how fun it would be to go to Barnes and Noble and get baby books. At this, Crabby-Face (not previously in the conversation) made a laugh-like sound. Monkey-Girl then called her into the conversation and asked for the reason for her amusement. "As if any book could really prepare you for childbirth," was what C-F had to say.

Wow! I guess, since C-F is a mom already, that we can assume she had her child after having done no research what so ever. Furthermore, since it's a fool's game to think that one could ever know everything about theology from "any book," C-F must have done none of the required reading for her courses here.

It amazes me what some people will do or say without thinking of how others may perceive them. I seriously doubt that Crabby-Face meant to sound as if she was belittling our excitement at being pregnent. I also doubt that she frequents Penguin Postings, but if she does and she sees through the pseudonym, I won't be ashamed. Some people have to be told when they're embarrassing themselves.