therealljidol | Green Room - Week 9

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Green Room - Week 9 - Day 2

It’s funny how things strike you. The exact same events can knock one person down and inspire someone else.

I’ve been thinking a lot over the last 24 hours about this particular story: http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/accidents/woman-who-died-in-skydiving-accident-identified-as-st-petersburg-doctor/1208912

In and of itself, it’s a tragic story. The fact that she was my doctor, that I knew her, makes it a lot more personal.

It still hasn’t sunk in, and I’m sure the realities of the situation probably won’t for some time. But there is something that I keep coming back to, something worth repeating – she had photographs around her office of her jumps from over the years. She had fantastic stories of the adventures, and the injuries, from each and every one of them.

Skydiving wasn’t a whim she decided to do for the New Year. It was a passion that she took on as often as she could.

I don’t think that I ever saw her without a sparkle in her eye. She loved to help people with their problems, and she loved adventure wherever she could find it.

That’s not a bad way to live, and dying doing something you are passionate about – that’s not a bad way to go.

Go out and live like you mean it. Find what you are passionate about, and do it.

***
There’s no transition that wouldn’t be awkward – so here’s a link to the Work Room http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/514107.html and new topic http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/513841.html

Hopefully those are things you love as well. I know that, personally, Idol Is something that I am passionate about, and extremely proud of creating. So thank you for being a part of it!

In case you missed it, our own

amenquohi, winner of Season 7, was just named as one of 10 Most People on Livejournal! http://www.dailydot.com/news/daily-dot-top-10-2011-livejournal/ Considering that most of her section was about how she won Idol, and what she did it with, I’m considering it as a win for Idol in general! ;) (thank you to

bonnie_rocks for bringing that article to my attention)
I wonder what is in store for our winner this season?!!??

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First?

Gary, I am so sorry you lost your doctor-friend. It sounds like she will be truly missed by many. Her husband's quote was touching though, that she went doing something she loved.

yay for your first! :D

Yay for first :)

Yay, first!

Congrats!

Congrats on the first!

Woohoo yay for

amenquohi!!

Thanks! But the honor really should go to Gary - he's the one who does the grunt work.

I agree, it's not a bad way at all to leave doing something you love or that means a lot to you.

and I am sorry it's someone you personally knew.

Edited 2012-01-04 16:06 (UTC)

Sorry to hear about your doctor, Gary.

Gary, I am sorry for your loss.

I have to say, this sentence is the best obituary I ever read:

"She loved to help people with their problems, and she loved adventure wherever she could find it."

May we live and love so others can say the same about us!

I agree. I would love to live in such a way that people could say the same type of thing for me. She sounds like a wonderful person.

I'm sorry for your loss, Gary :(

You do bring up some very valid points. People should live their life to the fullest, find something they love and do it. There's a quote I love that says something about life being both too short and too long to spend it not doing things you enjoy. It actually fits in with my entry this week. I've got a baby brother who wants to be a stuntman, who does scary stuff like flipping off cliffs and whatnot. It scares me that he might seriously hurt himself one day... But it's his passion. To take that away from him simply to be "safe" would destroy him. He recently broke his collar bone, and he's had other injuries, but I must say that he truly knows how to love life through exploring his passion. Who am I to take that away from him? In fact, I'm a bit envious and insured by him.

Very deep thoughts for a Wednesday, but certainly stuff to think about.

Speaking of stuff we love, I have a first draft of my entry written and sent to my amazing boyfriend. Anyone else care to beta for me this week?

I also started my novel last night. Now that's some crazy stuff.

Congrats on starting that novel! I've seen from the GR that you've been meaning to for a while, well done on that first step!

Thank you! I have been wanting to ever since the last season of Idol, but life is crazy. I figure it's not going to get any easier, I just might have to squeeze in what I can. The part I have is mainly from an Idol entry last season and an outline for the first chapter. I have to start somewhere though :)

Absolutely! Keep at it! You can do it!

Thank you :)

Woot! Congrats on starting your novel! That's so awesome!

Thank you! It's really hard to start something this big, I had no idea. I have to shut off my monkey brain.

I am SO stoked and SO proud of you for taking that first step on the bigger work, honey. Fear not, I'm going to nag and nag you about it. You'll get so tired of my nagging that you'll write it just to shut me up! :-) *HUGS* I really am proud of you for taking that first step down the path to get what you want out of life.

*hugs* thank you, sweetie. I really do need the nagging I'm afraid. I tend to give up on things too easily sometimes, I drop projects too soon. You're the sweetest :)

Believe me, I will be nagging you honey. I won't let you give this up. Just don't get irritated with me! :-)

Even if I do get irritated, I know you mean well and it's what I want. I want someone to believe in me enough to nag the heck out of me :P

But do i ever really get irritated at you? It seems it's you are the one that usually gets irritated with me!

LOL... oh you get irritated with me alright. But so long as it's what you want, I am happy to comply. :-)

Me? Get irritated? No way, silly. That's you :P

Great job starting the novel!!! Sometimes the biggest step is taking the leap to just BEGIN, yanno?

I'm actually happy to beta this week if you need one. Surprisingly, I finished my entry today.

The leap to begin was the hardest thing for me I think. Now my battle is with confidence though :)

Thank you! I'm at work, but I'll send it to you later today. Message me your email? I really appreciate it! I'm surprised I got something down so quickly this week.

wow, and that is very cool about

amenquohi! way to go, and it's definitely a kudos for LJ Idol as well. :D

Thanks!

You're welcome for the link.

So sorry to hear about your doctor, Gary. ::comforting huggles::

~*::Meow::*~

Thank you for bring it to my attention yesterday! I figured it needed a little more exposure, so I posted it myself today! ;)

No problem!! Always keeping an eye out. ;)

~*::Meow::*~

I figured you had seen it when she posted it herself on FB and LJ...was kind of wondering why you hadn't shared yet!

As for exposure, I'll be following up with a nude pictorial based on this season's Idol prompts.

Since high school, I've always imagined that I would go out while skydiving. Usually as a (old age) birthday present to myself. I think making my exit doing something awesome or grand would be the best way -- with a smile on my face, of course.

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I want to look into freelancing for magazines too, but I'm in the same boat. I'm thinking of asking for help in my journal soon and see what I come up with. I'll be happy to share anyinfo or you are welcome to friend me to get involved in the discussion when it posts :)

(deleted comment)

I'm hoping to find a way to make the career shift to writing one day. I'd rather do that than what I'm doing now. And freelancing seems like a good way to start out. I'm not sure how to do it, but I have to start somewhere.

I will try to post it up this evening while I'm really thinking about it.

A few places you might want to check out to start might be Associated Content, Demand Studios, Helium.com or freelancewritinggigs.com. You might be able to start getting your name out there and who knows where you go from there?

Good luck to you!!!

(deleted comment)

You're very welcome! I hope that you can start getting "out there" soon!!!

I have a couple of friends who are doing freelancing work, but it's turned out to be a hobby more than anything since it pays next to nothing.

(deleted comment)

Totally!

That's sad about your doctor, Gary. At least she left this world doing something she loved! I've always wanted to try skydiving, and I'm impressed that she was still doing it at 60.

As far as

amenquohi - w00t! You go, girl!

Thanks! Like I told Gary, I'm sure the product endorsements and speaking engagements will be rolling in anytime now.

Anytime.

*whistles*

Yep.

Those of us here in LJI-Land can say that we "knew you when..." :)

Tough room this morning. I'm sorry to hear about your acquaintance, Gary.

Hi all. *crawls in* I'm still recovering from the holiday. NYE was the best yet, the day after was so nice, and I find myself wanting to hang on to that feeling as long as I can. It's tough getting back into the groove of things.

Over this holiday season, I got addicted to The Big Bang Theory. We're currently working our way through season 2 when I haven't been busy as all get out. I got absolutely no writing done. That has to change this week.

So how was everyone else's holiday? Did you do what you're passionate about?

It really is tough getting back into the groove of things. I spent time with Java, so I did get to do something I was passionate about (that's worded awkwardly and sounds bad, but I figure you won't mind :p). So that was good.

I got my boyfriend addicted to BBT recently; we're also currently making our way through the episodes. Just started Season 3 and we're loving it! What a great show. :) Glad you're enjoying!

I think everyone is having kind of a recovery week! I know I am! Of course I got thrown right into the mix of things with some new cases and already three court dates set up for next week.

I didn't get to do TOO much fun stuff over the break, but I did get to spend time with my family and they're very important in their own right!

Welcome back! Glad to hear you had a very awesome NYE. That's always a wonderful thing. :-)

Oh, Big Bang Theory is *such* an awesome show! Hubby and I have been fans from 'way back; he even bought me a singing "Soft Kitty" for Christmas this year, and I got him a "rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock" mug last year, LOL.

Geeks R Us!

Gary, condolences on your loss. Losing someone that close to you is never easy, even if they lost their life while doing something they loved.

Yay to

amenquohi! I'm happy that LJI made that list, although I would've put it as #1. :)

As for me, its back to work this week, with a weekend conference I'm exhibiting at on Saturday. Yuck! Even worse, I haven't even thought about this week's topic yet. What is it again? *scratches head*

Dan

I hope you get time to write this week! I know you didn't mean it for real, but I keep forgetting this week's topic and thinking it's a inconceiavable and not counterintuitive. I have that right, right? I'm not all confused again?

My entry is based on counterintuitive, so I hope I'm right!

(deleted comment)

I bet a lot of people are doing that. *grin*

Dan

I've been having the same problem!

And for about an hour in the wee small hours of this morning, I was convinced it was "iconoclastic."

I'm hung up on counterproductive!

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I thought I was losing my mind or something, but seems to be a common thing to do this week :)

LOL I was kidding this time, but not by much. I can't tell you how many times I've thought, "What's the topic again?" And, like you, my mind keeps drifting to inconceivable.

Oh, I'll come up with something. *smile* Whether or not it'll be worth reading, that's the question!

Dan

It's funny how the mind keeps going to inconceivable. I do forget the topic sometimes, especially at first. So you're not alone there!

I'm sure it'll be great!

OMG, I kept making the SAME MISTAKE.

I don't know what my mental block was, but I'm kind of glad I wasn't the only one.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one :D

Then after I get it mixed up with inconceivable, I tell myself that we've had the topic already and fight that because I get it confused with irreversible which we had last season in SCI. My brain is all mixed up.

Luckily, I wrote on counterintuitive!

Thanks! I only got the mention because of Idol, and that's a stone cold fact. Before Idol, I was an LJ nobody. Now look at me, living in my fancy mansion, drinking champagne with my pool boy and my personal masseuse....

Hey, I say, enjoy times while they're good. If they start getting rough again, you can always combine the pool boy and personal masseuse jobs to be performed by one person. *grin*

Dan

I'm having that same problem. Was sick this week and it's completely thrown me off..

Starting off a new year sick is quite the bummer. I hope you're feeling better now! And, here's hoping we both write something awesome. I finally have an idea, which is something. *grin*

Dan

I'm sorry about your doctor. It sounds like she was a pretty awesome person.

There's a quote I read that goes something like 'One of the burdens of leading an interesting life is that there have to be moments when you almost lose it.' And I think it's true, though we all have to set our limits in different places. Skydiving wouldn't be worth the risk to me, but if that's what someone loves, I can see why they wouldn't be willing to let the danger stop them.

Good morning everyone!

Gary, I'm sorry to hear about your friend passing. I'd hug you, but you might hold my hippie teen age years against me with a kick. ;)

I'm so sorry, Gary. She sounds like she was a truly special person. :(

Still no idea for this week's topic. Work tonight from 3-7 so I'm hoping I can get something written then. I also have my thousand words to hit today for my new novel project, which I've been working on for the past two days. 3k, here I come.

Went mattress shopping with the boyfriend last night, which caused its own kettle of drama, but I'm hoping to get him out this weekend to buy a sheet set and mail belated Christmas presents. We shall see!

Good luck with the shopping! The one thing I am happy about living alone for... When I want sheets, I pick out the sheets I want. No drama. Then again, my ex was always a drama queen when shopping.

Good luck with the novel too :)

Good luck with the writing!

Good morning, GR!

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, Gary.

The whole thing about living life and doing what your passionate has really hit home for me recently, both on the job hunting front and the family drama over my little SIL front (she's taken a job in Nicaragua. The MIL is in hysterics. I think it's cool that she's following her passion).

It's been hitting me a lot too lately and the entry I'm writing this week hits upon this idea a bit. Good for your SIL! I had so many people put down my dreams and who tried to tel me I needed to live life a certain way. Screw them. Life is too short for that stuff.

Sometimes there's news of a death that's so horrific and tragic and awful you can barely stand to read the story. But other times, as in the case of the skydiving doctor, you feel...inspired, awed, sad too, and maybe envious, or hopeful that it could be that way for the people you know and love.

I never made it to LJ Idol over the break - not to write, or to read - I had an incredibly damaging computer crash.
*insert frowny face here* and I'm now faced with the task of recreating what couldn't be recovered. Blech.

That first part was very well said.

I'm sorry your computer crashed. That's never fun. Technology can be so frustrating at times :/

Thank you. And re: technology frustrations-you can say that again!

Edited 2012-01-04 19:55 (UTC)

Ugh. Sorry for the computer crash. Those are *never* fun. I hope you're back up and running and can recreate what was lost without *too* much hassle. :-(

The absolute stoopidest (yes, I said "stoopidest") part about it is, I had no backup. The plan was to review my comparative spreadsheet of cloud backup plans over the break and choose one, and then buy myself an external hard drive. Yeah, a day late and a dollar short.

Ah well, live and learn.

Ugh. That's always the way, isn't it? Freaking Murphy's Law. Ugh. Sorry that happened to you. :-(

*hugs and hot tea*

...the good thing about vitual tea is that it stays hot until you need it. :)

But what if I want iced tea? Hmm? :p

Nooooooo! Death! Death to the unholy tea-profaners! ;)

Actually I like ice tea myself, as long as it's not that horrible sweet stuff that tastes like drinking homemade syrup. But unsweet is pretty good even at fast food places, and KFC makes an excellent half-and-half (half unsweet, half sweet) if you ask nicely.

Of course, the best ice tea is still Southern peach tea, but that's hard to find these days, even here in the South.

I don't like the crazy sweet, syrupy kind either. Especially when it comes from fast food places, they just make it so sweet. My mom taught me the half sweet, half unsweetened trick over vacation. Normally I just opt for unsweetened and use Splenda to lightly sweeten it myself. My grandma made a kickass sweet tea though and I wish I knew how she made it so perfect... It was lightly sweetened, not thick and heavy, with a hint of lemon. Perfectly done.

I lived in the South for awhile and did do the whole sweet tea thing while living there, but now that I'm out west, I tend to not find the good stuff.

I really like hot tea too though. I grew up on hot tea with milk and sugar, still a comfort drink for me :)

I always forget to ask for artificial sweetener, so it's easier for me to do half and half. Although it doesn't work everywhere; McD's half and half is still too sweet.

Around here, friends are actually more likely to offer soda. But all of our restaurants serve it. So we're still maintaining the cultural stereotype for the tourists, lol. ;)

I don't put milk in mine, but hot tea with sugar is my comfort drink as well. :D

Can I have a diet cherry Dr. Pepper instead? :-)

Sure, as long as you share with Gary. :)

Share with Gary? Hahhahahhhaaa. No way. :-p

Lol!

I'm sorry for your loss, Gary. That's definitely not an easy thing to wrap your mind around. :-(

But what you say is true... live like you mean it. I think too many of us play it safe and never really put ourselves out there like we mean it. That's something I've realized lately and something I aim to change. I would much rather spend the balance of my life doing something that I love and am passionate about rather than just mucking through day-to-day waiting for my ticket to get punched.

So... got my rental car situation squared away and will be picking it up later today. I'm sure it's a little tin can of a thing but at least it will get me where I need to go until my poor, sick car is all fixed up again. Big thanks to

pixie117 and

whipchick for pointing me in the right direction as well as to

michikatinski for all of her help as well. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by so many amazing people.

Hope everybody is having a fantastic Hump Day! I know a few people who aren't... yeah, I'm lookin' at you, Newt, Michele and Rickster!!!

*hugs* I'm so glad that you've come to realize that about life honey. And let me reiterate, you're surrounded by amazing people who love you because you deserve it. You're just as amazing <3

*HUGS* Thanks you, honey. It's going to be a process for sure, but I think I'll get there if I can just stick with it. It helps to have amazing people like you in my life.

You'll get there. The first step is realizing you need to change and wanting to do it. You have the desire and the determination down <3

I'm sorry for your loss Gary. I suppose dying during a skydiving accident like that isn't the worst way to go, but still, it's a tragedy.

I'm still shocked that I got my entry written already. I didn't have a choice- the characters from my traveling travesty piece just WILL NOT leave me alone, so I gave them another chapter.

Otherwise, I'm still trying to transition back to work. So much to do and not nearly enough time to get it all done! With any luck, I will get back to my trip report again tonight once I've stopped working for the day.

I'm looking forward to your piece! I really liked the characters from Traveling Travesty!

Thanks- I'm kind of partial to them as well :)

Look at you go, miss ahead of the game! :-)

Let's not get carried away... it's just this ONE time so far ;)

Hey, you're still ahead of the game! lol...

Poking my head in because I finally got a breather from the onslaught of students wanting to pay for classes and pick up parking decals.

Besides having a busy day, I also found out someone tried to used my credit card yesterday. CC company contacted me when they made a $1 charge to google (successfully), and then tried to charge $1 over my credit limit at walmart.com (declined) and another $1 google charge (declined). Getting a new card and account number. Worried about what other information might be in the wrong hands...

Wow. That's just scary. My debit card was just shut down recently thanks to suspicious activity, though they never figured out what was suspicious. It's nice they contacted you (unlike my bank, they just shut it down without warning). I hope nothing else of yours got leaked out and that this is cleared up easily.

I can't tell you how many people I know have had credit card/debit card details stolen over the last year or so. They clipped my card last December, but so many of my friends have had the same issue too :(

Similarly, I've had FOUR friends/family members have their houses broken into this winter so far :(

Gary, I'm so sorry. It sounds like she had a life well-lived, and really, that's the best kind of life anyone could leave behind. It's just so damn hard to have a senseless death in the wake of an amazing life.

Thanks for the shout-out about my shout-out, which really should be your shout-out because you're the one who made my shout-out possible.

You definitely deserve all the praise you are getting.

I'm not saying thst I won't accept credit for it, because I fully intend to take it - but it is also well deserved! ;)

I was so happy to see your name on that list! :D

condolances.
Lousy way to loose your docter. Mine just left.
Been a bad year for that my nerologist left too. He went to florida to further his education.

StPetersburge must be nice this time of year. An interesting city with an interesting history.

Gary---

Checking in with my real blog, because your loss shouldn't be trivialized by an alt.

I'm sorry you've lost someone important to you, and I will honour her... and you... by continuing to do the things I am passionate about... selling books, sharing joy, and writing in LJ Idol.

I thought about using one of my "sad" icons, and then re-read your post. I think your friend and you, deserve a happy and passionate icon instead.

Much affection,

Patty Cryan
[also known here as

n_maranda_coy]

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Green Room - Week 9 - Day 2

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