A little Tea and Sympathy
AJ and I have been trying to meet up for coffee for months now. He and I have been very close friends since right around 1997, but ironically, we haven't seen each other face to face for over a year. Still, we talk almost every day by email, and through Blogger.
Despite our many attempts to segue a rendezvous, many obstacles have prevented such. But the conversations about trying to finally meet are an interesting subject in itself, containing the use of repeated terms that one would eventually stop to ask, "What the hell are we talking about?"
One such term that we use almost every time: Tea and Sympathy. Again, the question is asked, "What the hell are we talking about?" Simply to satisfy my own curiosity, as well as that of yours, I mandated a task to myself to find the answer to that question. I'd like to invite you to take a journey with me, to explore...
Tea and SympathyOne definition I found describes the term to mean "a caring and hospitable behavior towards a troubled person." I found this definition satisfactory, since, from the first time I heard the term, it reflects the general perception I had of the meaning. But, just as all terms like this one, it must have originated somewhere. Like many things interesting, the term was born in the fifties.
1956 saw the debut of the film
Tea and Sympathy written by Robert Anderson. In Anderson's story, seventeen-year-old Tom Lee is ridiculed and labeled a “sister-boy” by his schoolmates, as well as the headmaster of his school, Bill Reynolds, for his lack of interest in the common “manly” recreational pursuits. When the wife of the headmaster, Laura, sees his maltreatment, she tries to help Tom find himself.
Robert Anderson’s story, however, goes back even further. It premiered as a Broadway play in 1953 and was a huge hit critically and commercially, running over 700 performances. Most of the actors in the play were hired by MGM to star in the film as well. The actors were so well-experienced in the roles of their characters that the director (of the film) felt no need to make any changes.
The defining moment in the story comes when Laura Reynolds also tries to help her husband learn to treat boys like Tom with more empathy and respect. Quoth she, “All you’re supposed to do is every once in a while give the boys a little
tea and sympathy.” This, of course, evolved into the title of the story, which evolved to a definable term that is still used today.
On September 16, 1997, the Christian rock band
Jars of Clay released their sophomore album
Much Afraid. The third track on the album was titled “Tea and Sympathy.” You can read the lyrics to that song
here.
Article to be completed…
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Cartoon actor SpongeBob Squarepants checked into an Exodus International program Wednesday, hoping to leave behind a life of homosexuality he now dubs "duplicitous and shameful." The celebrity sponge said through a spokesman that he intends to immerse himself in the Christ-centered program.
"For years, SpongeBob has struggled with his sexual identity," said his spokesman, reading from a prepared statement. "He hopes to emerge from this program cleansed."
Other gay children's characters expressed disappointment. Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street told reporters SpongeBob is "denying who he is."
"He's setting us back fifty years," Ernie said from his and Bert's Upper West Side penthouse.
SpongeBob has said in past interviews that his sexual confusion began when he learned his parents were, like all sponges, hermaphroditic, switching gender roles throughout their life cycle.
"It was traumatizing," he says. "It tore a big hole in my personality."
The beloved yellow children's character, who has gained fans because of his guilelessness, hopes to settle down with another sea creature once his show runs its course."When syndication kicks in, I can retire and start spawning, like a normal sponge," he told Entertainment Weekly last April. •
Learning HTML? The benefits of starting right now.
A friend of mine and I are trying to delve into the deeper workings of HTML. We're going to apply this new knowledge to compose our creativity onto our weblogs, and perhaps our own web pages as well. Just as many other people have, we've mastered the basics. But we have realized that there is much more to master.
It's disappointing that most people master the basics of HTML so well that they believe themselves masters of HTML. Well, that's not true my friends.
Everyone has a creative side. Even if you create something very simple, it's still your own creation. You can call it simply creative! But if you don't afford the effort to move forward and learn more than just the basics, you are subject to the limits of someone else's creativity.
Although many weblog templates are outstanding in their design (see Beccary templates), they are still the works of those who designed them, not your own. And if you're citing the source for your weblog template appropriately, the designer is getting the credit for it (and for good reason). If you're not citing the source for your template, (unless it's a basic template from your server) you're assuming credit for something that you did not create, which is worse!
There's amazing potential in learning more; unlocking your creative abilities and dissolving your limitations piece by piece. Some people may believe that it would be too overwhelming, thinking you have to learn everything about HTML to be able to use your creativity, but that's simply not true.
When you start learning HTML, you could potentially master one or more new things every day! Even though it may only be one small thing (like adding a poll question to your blog), or two small things (like adding a pop-up, and having that pop-up link directly to another of your own blogs), you've mastered them, and you can begin applying them to your current weblog (or web page) right then and there!
My friend and I both plan to start school next semester, and HTML is a potential class in which we may enroll. So I'll just anticipate all the new things that I can learn in that class, and by the end of the semester I should be able to create a pretty stellar weblog, right? Wrong!!
Why wait to learn HTML in a class-setting, where you'll be paying for the knowledge, when you can start learning it right now? Sure, the class will be very benefitial to my knowledge of HTML, and the credentials will come with it. But there are so many free sources of HTML training in so many places; the most easily accessible source being the Internet. (Search Google: html)
If you're planning on taking a class on HTML, that's fantastic. But you don't have to wait until the class starts to begin learning it. Here are some benefits to starting right now:
- You won't have to wait until the end of next semester to have the ability to create your own beginners-level web page, you can set a goal to know that much by Christmas.
- By learning ahead of time, not only will it be so much easier to review information you already know as well as learn new things, you are sure to lock-in fantastic grades for that class, helping to bring your grade-point average up before the class starts!
- Instead of learning at the pace of the class, you can learn at your own pace. This is important, because many people find it easier to learn when they can review information as many times as necessary without the pressure of trying to learn the next thing before you have something else learned.
- You're teaching yourself, and learning something in the best way I believe possible: hands-on! The best part is, each time you learn something new, you'll be able to practice and apply this knowledge to your own weblogs, making it a fun process, and motivating you to learn more!
"I really want to design my own...and I kind of have an idea of the direction I want to go." says my friend, AJ, in a discussion about weblog templates. "The trick will be...working it."
AJ and I have set our own personal goals to learn and achieve a high standard of knowledge on HTML. It might seem like a tough and painstaking task, but it will be a fun and exciting process that we can look forward to. You can look forward to the same thing. Persistence will pay! I encourage you to set a similar goal of learning HTML.
Don't rely so much on WYSIWYG* software programs. Copy and paste has never been a virtuous practice, and no one will ever commend you for it. Be your own creative self, and take advantage of the benefits of learning right now!
What are you capable of?
*What you see is what you get.
Happy Birthday Priscilla
Today my sister turns 22. And even though she has to work today at
KinderCare, I hope that she has a fantastic day. I'd like to wish Priscilla a Happy Birthday! If you'd like to send Priscilla a birthday wish,
email me and I will forward them to her directly.
Here's a picture of Priscilla and Hudson (whose birthday was yesterday) together.
A few good lines:
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
--William Cowper
(Click on the title 'Be Kind' for a sound clip from the film Tea and Sympathy, 1956.)
My son turns one year old today, and I can't believe it. It's only been a blip of time since I was sitting with him in the hospital, learning how to feed him and hold him. Now he's walking everywhere, and everything he finds, he has to put in his mouth. My favorite thing is to hear him laugh real hard, so I'm often chasing and tickling him. He can't get enough of it.
If anything he does makes people laugh, not only will he laugh too, he'll fake whatever he did, to keep us laughing. This happens especially when he sneezes or coughs. And now, he laughs every time we sneeze or cough as well! What a character!
Hudson, we'd just like to say, "Das teda...dirka dirka, ahhhh da teda! And happy birthday! We love you!"
PostSecret now has had nearly 12 Million hits and still counting since Frank Warren started posting secrets that are sent to him at his suburban Maryland home. When he launched the idea, he had no idea the scale that it would one day reach.
Warren encourages people on his Blogger weblog to write down and personalize a secret that they've never told anyone onto a post card. They are delivered to his curbside mailbox where he receives dozens of post cards a week.
"What has come in has varied broadly," Warren says in an interview with NPR, All Things Considered. "It touches on all emotions. Some are funny, some are tragic, some are shocking, some are gross." Click here listen to the entire interview on NPR.
A few weeks ago, I mailed my own secret. I checked every Monday morning after that, and finally, this morning I found that the post card that I sent with my secret had been posted. It made me nervous, just because there were so many people (about 5,000 people an hour so far) reading my secret. But it also made me really excited, and I laughed about it, because my secret is hilarious.
You should visit the website. If you haven't already, your first visit definitely won't be your last! And when you see my secret, be sure to laugh! I can't tell you what it is though, it's a secret.
LarkNews.com
AUSTIN, TEXAS — After immersing himself in popular slang phrases, youth leader Dave Jackson has become completely unintelligible to members of his church, even the youth.
"We stopped understanding him about a month ago," says Tanya Gooden, 17, of his youth group. "It was a slow process. Now when he preaches we have to assume a lot of things by his tone, not his words."
Jackson, tracked down at his church office, told a reporter, "Fo shizzle, my nizzle, it's the big mack tizzle, you trackin'? The get-down was off the hook, bra. Big-time ace. Dey scened until the old folk rolled in and the crew got dot gone. Good Sunday, bra."
Jackson can no longer speak plain English even if he wishes to. At times he desperately tries to cross the chasm of incomprehension he has built. For senior pastor Rich Leonard, that's not good enough.
"He's about to shizzle himself right out of a job," Leonard says. •
Morning Radio Shows of Our Lives
When I first posted this article, I made an incorrect statment that KRBE was, along with KHMX and KTRH, a ClearChannel Communications station. I'd like to thank Max with You'veBeenLeft.net for pointing out that KRBE is actually owned by Susquehanna Radio Corp.If you want to see drama on TV, watch the soap operas (also known as
daytime dramas). If you want to hear drama on the radio, listen to the Morning Shows.
If you listen to
morning radio in Houston, chances are that you've probably ran across
The Roula & Ryan Show on
Mix 96.5 (a ClearChannel station). Along with their faithful sidekick, Eric, they're an enjoyable trio, and they cover very interesting and relative topics. The best thing about listening to them is that they are polar opposites of the circus that has become the morning show on
104 KRBE.Last Thursday, listeners of the Roula & Ryan Show tuned in; no Roula, no Ryan, no Eric.
What the hell happend? Here's how the story goes, boys and girls:
Up until a few months ago, the morning airwaves in Houston were dominated by
Sam Malone and the Morning Show on KRBE, boasting 1.5 million listeners. After headlining the show for more than a decade,
Sam Malone decided that his passion for pop culture and world events didn't mix well with
50 Cent. So Sam said goodbye to KRBE, and 50 Cent. Let's hope he and 50 left on good terms.
After six months Sam returned to the airwaves when he was offered a two-hour spot on
NewsRadio 740 KTRH (also a ClearChannel station). "What does the former Top 40 DJ look forward to most as a talk host?" asks the Houston Chronicle, to which he replies, "Finally being able to have discussions with listeners on the air without a musical break from 50 Cent." (Hoffman, Houston Chronicle, 09/26/2005)Unfortunately for Roula and Ryan, KTRH wasn't the only plans that ClearChannel had for Sam. After undergoing their self-inflicted brainstorms, and think-tanks, and shareholder meetings, the sticky fingers of the executives at ClearChannel Houston made the all-too-common decision that profits come before listeners. The 1.5 million listeners that Sam Malone carried sounded mighty nice. See, more listeners equals valuable advertising spots, equals more money from advertisers. This is bonafide move-bitch, spit-in-your-face profit making strategy here.
The Roula & Ryan Show wasn't pulling 1.5 million listeners. ClearChannel thought it was time for Roula, Ryan, and Eric to go. And that's what they did. As for the faithful listeners, they were sold out for profit.
Is it right? What will you do about it then?
Our planet is beginning to look more and more vulnerable to its own natural fury. Most people didn't really seem to pay any attention to the frequency of the phenomenon until Hurricane Katrina, followed shortly after by Hurricane Rita.If people had been monitoring there world before Katrina, they would realize that natural disasters have been increasing their frequency for quite a while now.....since the last ice age. People, however, seem to be under the notion that we are invincible; that some god person made this place for us and if he wants to bump us off a couple ten-thousand at a time, he has his reasons. Who is this god person anyway?Most people do not realize how often earthquakes occur. As of right now, a total of 485 earthquakes have occurred in the United States alone in the last 7 days!We will soon be experiencing more and more of these disaster events that will continue to cripple us, and in a moments time, our lives will be changed forever. Are you next?
LarkNews.comCOLORADO SPRINGS -- As images of New Orleans' devastation filled television screens in September, Christians like Sandra Budge of Bellevue, Washington, lamented the hurricane's more significant consequence: the president's sliding approval ratings.
"I feel so awful for the president," says Budge from her home, flipping back and forth between cable news networks. "The president is clearly losing face with the American people. I couldn't geel worse about that."
As for the victims, Budge says that she knew the stranded people would eventually be rescued.
"But who will help the President?" she said. "He may never recover from this." Some Christians are calling it "the worst political crisis in four years."
LarkNews.comNEW ORLEANS — Days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, zealous Christians from several Southern ministries converged on the Big Easy to destroy every sex shop they could find. "If looters can rob electronics stores, then we can tear down satanic businesses," said Melvin Smith, a minister from Christ Cornerstone Ministries in Tupelo, Miss. His team of 19 Bible institute students methodically gutted a sex shop in the French Quarter, burning the contents in the street. They left a note posted on the wall: "They will call you the City of the Lord - Isaiah 60:14." Smith and others saw this as a golden opportunity for New Orleans to shed its partying past and be re-born in righteousness. "I'd like to see a politician stand up for places like this," he said. "People said the looters shouldn't be punished because it was an emergency situation. Well this is an emergency, too. A moral emergency." Two blocks away another Christian group emptied a tarot card reader shop, piling occult-related material in the street and dousing it with lighter fluid. "Thank you, Lord," said one as the flames reached 12 feet and higher. "Amen," said several others, tossing incantation books onto the growing bonfire. The police were nowhere to be seen. A minister from Alabama who would not give his name said his group was targeting places of "sexual and spiritual deviance." He had already "taken out" seven such businesses. His remaining targets: a psychic reader shop on Burgundy St., two sex shops and a strip club on Bourbon St., and a bookstore with voodoo-related books."This hurricane could be the best thing God ever did for New Orleans," he said. •
