Round the Riverbend: Got swept off in my little old kayak!

Sadly no kayaks where used in this adventure, it was mainly on land, and mainly in a building. Been spending time working either at the bar I work at or in the newsroom at school working on the paper, or working on school work. 

While being caught up in all this work, and sometimes doing this work over my breaks from school. The bar job is a year around job, with events that keep us busy year around. So I have not spent much time as I would've like writing on this blog. I have things same from around this time last year that I was working on. Miss those Minnesota Wild half season updates, and the full season updates? I have not worked on those since 2016. I do not think I have gotten past the outline of the half the 2016-17 season update for the Wild.

I do truly do enjoy writing those. But I feel a little burned out from doing stuff like that, because I do manage to do season update stuff for the Madison College WolfPack for the school's paper, plus the stress from my other classes I have taken over the semester. If school was not stressful, I don't think it would be worth it to get an education and a college degree of some sort. I am enjoying the first couple days on break, taking time out to actually relax, and it feels nice. I may not be on a beach somewhere, but I am relaxed.

I help create this spread. I wrote mainly the words, and the graphic 

team took care of creating the layout of the spread. I am VERY PROUD

of this spread we all created. I also did a video for the Women's Soccer

team going on their first trip to Nationals as well. I filmed and edited it

myself.

I am not burn out of writing sports or being a journalist, NEVER! But I am a little burn out writing this blog, because I am not sure how many people read it. I have a clue about where you guys are who read it. But I am not sure if I have a tight following. No one really comments on here, which makes me think I am shouting into a void that is the Internet. I am not trying to sound whiny or get more attention, no. I am trying to figure out what I want to go from here. Because I like blogging and telling stories of things I find interesting, I like to write, and also to get a little practice writing while I am not working on a newspaper. Busy hands are happy hands, idle hands are sad hands... the saying goes something like that?

Like you read before I like watching these vlogs that one of my old friends from Disney is doing on her second Cultural  Representative Program in Walt Disney World. Because I did the Disney College Program, and I like keeping in touch with friends who I did my Disney Internships with. While going through my journalism classes, I am learning that journalist now to be multimedia journalists, instead of something of just being a print journalists. So I have been debating about doing something like that, vlogging, I did it for a class before. But I don't know how I feel about filming everything I do, and carrying around a camera everywhere. I won't be doing that kind of vlogging though, thankfully. I am going to save that kind of vlogging for people who are doing a Disney Internship kind of thing, or traveling through Europe (Backpacking? Or just general kind of traveling, and want to bring people with). Also if I do vlog something, it'll be an adventure, and I will let you know what it is, and offer you all to tag a long with me.

I like that people do vlog their adventures to bring their family, friends and anyone who wants to come a long. But as a journalist, and person, when I tell stories, I like to write them out. I am a writer. So I do like to blog.  Like I said before I like blogging I find things interesting. I am giving you all a chance to be heard too. So in the comments blow let me know that you enjoy my content, and also what do you find interesting? I am taking your ideas, and running with them. If you do not want to comment on here, feel free to comment, message, or reply to me on the other social media forms I use to post this link on.

I enjoy talking about things I like, I just want to get to know my audience more. I want to talk to you guys, and find out more about you guys. Like sports, traveling, books, and other things? Like me. I am not planning on this blog being a professional one for my journalism career (which has not been created yet, if you where wondering), it's something fun, just like my friend, Darci's blog. It is about her, and her going through life, living her dream, and much more other stuff!  I am just trying to find a way where I want to go with this. Also I am going to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to all of you who have been reading this! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I am also planning on taking you guys through my journalism career adventures in becoming a journalist. So enjoy the ride with me!

A Clairey Tale: A girl vlogging her second Cultural Representative Program at Walt Disney World

Once I told my family and friends I was doing this thing called the Disney College Program in Walt Disney World, they wanted to know how things where going. I realized I would be telling the same stories over and over on the phone, in text messages, emails, and etc. So I was talking to my Mom one day on my first program in 2010, about how I would deliver all these fun stories that would be coming along  in my program, and she offered up a blog idea. It was actually a good idea, but there where some of my relatives, like my Grandpa who does not want anything to do with computers and technology. So with relatives like those, I just saved the stories for phone calls. I ended up doing a blog for both programs. I still have the link to the first one, that can be read, where as the second one, that is a dead link. Not sure what exactly happened there, but the second one got deleted by the website. I am gutted. Utterly, gutted.

I am however not the only one who has done this. There has been people who done the Disney College Program, Disney Cultural Representative Program, and other programs offered before me who have done blogs. When I was doing both of my programs, I was not the only one writing a blog, there where others too. Also people are still blogging about their programs I believe. Well, maybe not as much now, because the new thing is to vlog your program. Yes, that right I wrote vlog, it's not a typo. A vlog is a video blog, this is where one can take their audience with them on their adventure. They can show you as much as they can on their adventure. The issue with Disney is that you cannot take any photos or videos back in the employee or Cast Members' area, why? Disney wants to keep the magic alive.

I had made a friend in 2010 who was kind of "vlogging" his adventure, but not really. He has a YouTube channel, and is still a YouTuber. He mainly did fun little Q&A videos with his friends on the program, and would tell his family and friends back at home in England how life was like in Orlando. The YouTuber thing was a new thing, and was not really quite popular as it is now.

But this is where I learned more about the vlogging being a big part of people who are now doing Disney Internships/Programs really becoming popular, is from a girl who was on her first Disney Cultural Representative Program when I was doing my second Disney College Program in 2012. Somewhere between July 2013 and February 2017 when she started her second program vlogging became the thing to do show everyone what you where up to when you are working in Walt Disney World (no vlogging on the clock though). Maybe the fact with social media being at it's height (who knows if we are at the peak), with everyone who wants everyone to know what they are doing 24/7. That is probably why vlogging became popular, plus the Instagram, tweets, Facebook posts, Snapchats, and other forms of social media are helping tell the stories about interns adventures too.

 

Meet Claire. She is from England, United Kingdom. In her 2012 Disney program she worked in Epcot, in the United Kingdom Pavilion in the Rose and Crown restaurant (doing waitressing, bartending, and hosting roles). As of now, Clarie is doing the February 2017 - February 2018 Disney Cultural Representative Program, and she returned to work at Epcot in the United Kingdom Pavilion in the Rose and Crown doing the same roles.

I enjoy watching these videos. It makes my day better if I am having a crappy one, Claire is a very cheerful happy hostess that loves doing the program and sharing it with people. She also is a big Disney fan like I am, well anyone who has done a Disney program of sorts, will admit to that... But Claire has not only worked in Walt Disney World, she worked in Disneyland Paris for a bit. So with that experience of working in two Disney Parks in United States and Europe, she knows her stuff.

When one gets done with their Disney internship program they are on, they get into a depression (Post Disney Disorder, it is our version of PSD (has nothing to do with the real one, that is a lot more serious topic)). Working at the Happiest Place on Earth is an amazing experience, a one in a lifetime experience. Knowing that you only get to do it once (but some lucky ones do programs more than once), and knowing that you are going to be leaving or already left your Disney o'hana, makes you quite sad. Knowing that you will never wake up again to go work in a fun workplace with amazing people, who are from all over the world, and plus working with the guests who are also from all over the world, will make you feel very blue. 

 

So every year when it hits the end of January through the middle of August for me, I get to miss Walt Disney World very much. As a college student and being a young adult, I can't really afford to jump on a plane to go to Walt Disney World every year. I am saving up for another trip one day, but right now looking at photos, and watching videos on YouTube will have to do. I know it is not the same thing, but a little bit of Disney helps. There is nothing wrong with having a Disney Movie marathon, highly recommended to everyone!

But this year, I was in for a big surprise when I was on Facebook. I was scrolling threw my feed, and I saw a post from Claire announcing that she was doing another Disney Program, and it was the same one as last time. It made my day! Fast forward a few weeks or months later, I discovered that she had a YouTube channel and would be vlogging her trip. I needed a break from working on a paper I was working on to check out her channel. I found out that she was literally in my old stomping grounds! Claire is living in my old apartment complex: Vista Way. Apparently, the apartment complex called the Commons are open to everyone now (it was originally for international Cast Members who where working in the World Showcase in Epcot). Also she is now working in Epcot, like I used to in 2010. Learning that just made me smile. Claire thank you for making these videos, having me live through them with you, with everyone else. You are making an old Disney Cast Member smile, and relive memories. Also thank you Clarie for being the amazing, beautiful, and cheerful human bean, that you truly are. Everyone needs a Claire in their life!

If you are thinking about doing the College Program, or any Disney Internship and are reading this: do a blog and/or a vlog! It is highly recommended! Something you can come back to one day, to look back at. Also for another important thing: for those who will do the programs after you. Those who are trying to figure out if they want to do one, or those who have already signed up so they can see what they got themselves into. I am sure if you a big fan of Disney, you already know what you gotten yourself into. But there is nothing like actually being there and experiencing it. So capture those memories anyway you can! Share them with your friends and family, also the world! There is always a great story that comes out of an adventure...

Want more of Clare? 

Feel free to watch her videos, and check her out on social media!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aclaireytale

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aclaireytale/

Tumblr: https://aclaireytale.tumblr.com/

YouTube: Watch her videos here! 

** Also a BIG thank you for Claire for letting me do this! These photos used in this post 

are hers, and only hers... can be found on her Twitter & Instagram. ** 

Russian Literature, I Heart You!

This year I took two Russian literature classes, both where broken down into centuries (nineteenth and twentieth). I was not sure what I was getting myself into. No really. I did not. But I am glad I did it!

The teacher was amazing! She did a good job of teaching us about the culture, history, and also what she could of the Russian language. I feel like her classes should have been longer, and also the semester should have been longer. I enjoyed being in class and sharing what my opinions where about the novels, and hearing my other classmates opinions too. Also just being able to talk about Russia, and the novels that came from this lovely country. It was the most relaxing thing to do during the school year, if I needed to relax and take my mind of things: go to Russian lit!

The class really made me fall in love with Russia more! I cannot wait to actually go there one day to explore this country. I feel like it has been caught off from rest of the world due to many things, like the history of it (Cold War, mainly, and also when people considered it the Soviet Union).

I am glad that my school offers a class like this, because you get to learn more about Russia through the authors. The authors are natives of Russia. They grew up in Russia before the Soviet Union, and during the Soviet Union... as of now just waiting on those authors who are post Soviet Union to come out with novels. In the class we got a massive time period of view points of what life was in Russia, through art. I feel like it was nice to have that because art does mirror life in a way. We got a little bit of the historical background too, from our instructor. But we also had some past history classes which taught us a little bit about Russian history, about the last Czar and the Russian Revolution.

But mainly it brought new light to Russia the country itself. Yes, it was backwards before the Russian Revolution. There was something that was not really backwards at all about it. If you have heard of the authors: Alexander Pushkin, and Mikhail Lermontov, you may know that some of their characters are quite modernized. In all the books I read in this class, it mainly dealt with questions everyone is trying to answers in life: can I find love, what is life's meaning, and many others. The themes are dealing with a society that is trying to catch up with the rest of the world, while trying to define where it stands on it's own. 

 

These Russian literature classes I took made an impact on me. Here are some of the books and authors that made an major impact on me as well: 

We are starting with poet, Alexander Pushkin (Александр Сергеевич Пушкин); he is known to be the father of Russian literature. He is what kicked started it all! 

One of Pushkin's famous poems is called "The Bronze Horseman" (Медный всадник) this poem is considered one of the greatest poems in Russian history. All the little children when they go through school they learn the poem by heart. 

He has also wrote some short stories. The ones I want to share with you will be: "The Queen of Spades" (Пиковая дама) this is about the main character wanting to really win at a Russian poker game. So he spends the whole story trying to get the main three cards to win down. He gets the answer, then tries to win games using the combination. Turns out he forgets the combination during the game, which leads him to go crazy trying to remember the winning trio of cards.

Another short story that Pushkin wrote that I want to share with you is "The Captain's Daughter" (Капитанская дочка). In this story we follow a boy who got sent to be in the army by his father. When the boy gets to the camp, he ends up falling in love with the captain's daughter. We follow the boy's adventures from there. I am not giving much away, just read it. It is very exciting story!

The next author and novel I want to share with you all is Mikhail Lermontov (Лермонтов Михаил Юрьевич), he wrote "A Hero of Our Time" (Герой нашего времени). This novel revolves the life and adventures of Pechorin. We get to see how he changes as a person through out the novel.

"A Hero of Our Time" would be consider what we would call a Western. It does not have John Wayne kind of cowboys in it, but it does have Russian soldiers roaming around the Caucasus. We learn about Perchorin as a person, and see him through out the novel in many ways. First through a story of someone who knew him, then through his own words in a journal, and back to another story.

Pechorin is an interesting character, we get to see many sides of him. We learn what drives him in the novel. We also learn what also drives him, ends up making him break. If you are looking for a story with well develop characters, this one is brilliantly is for you! He is probably the most mysterious characters in Russian literature, and all of literature (debatable).

Ah, that is right I am throwing in the famous "Crime and Punishment" (Преступление и наказание) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Федоров Михайлович Достоевский). I have assumed most of you have already read this. It is a classic, I could not resist!

I feel like everyone should read this in their life. It is a novel that deals with good and bad, and what should happen to you if you ever commit a horrible crime like, murder for an example. It is about the main character committing a murder, and then living life after he has done so. 

It takes you on an adventure with the main character who has not really given himself up yet to the police. There are so many times where it his pretty hard for him to stay silent. We get to see him have a moral war going in his head to see if he will do the right thing. 

His friends and family, are debating about the mental state of the murder. This makes a great novel about philosophy, and ethics. "Crime and Punishment" is beautifully written. It stands way past the time it was written (then it was ahead of it's time), it will always be relevant. This book will always bring up discussions of what we think of what is the true right and wrong, is there black and white areas of doing the right thing, or is all gray areas? That is up to you for yourself to decide. 

Even though the book itself is long, and deals with great themes. Will seem like a daunting read, but I assure you it will be worth going through! 

Another famous one, that I bet most of you have also read already: Leo Tolstoy's (Лев Николаевич Толстой) "Anna Karenina" (Анна Каренина). It is another long one and hard one to get through. I know, I know. Tolstoy loves to have a lot a detail in his novel. I have feeling he always wanted to make his work like paintings too, set the scene to have a picture in the reader's head. 

"Anna Karenina" is about two characters: Anna and Levin. It is about their lives over three years, and they eventually meet each other (just briefly). The novel gives you an insight about what is happening with Russia during the time the novel was being written. You get a glance at it in the many themes that can be found in the book. But it mainly it's about how Anna and Levin fit into their world, and how they deal with their world around them. 

The one major theme of the book would be, how you deal with what you life throws at you. You can either take it, or your life and world can take you with it. "Anna Karenina" also explores love, and if you can actually find your true love. 

 Anton Checkov (Антон Павлович Чехов) is a author who wrote short stories, and also a play-write too. We read some of his short stories in class. There where some that really stuck out with me. 

"The Chorus Girl" (Девушка-хорус) it is about a girl who spent the night with a married man, and his 'wife' shows up at her door. It goes through the wife's visit, at the end we are left with one question: was that really the man's wife that came to her door? Or did she get robbed? It seems to be that somethings are not to be what they really seem. 

Another one of Chekov's stories that really stuck out to me was "The House with the Mezzanine" (Дом с мезонином). This is about a young artist who comes across a house with two sisters living in it. We do not really get a sense of which sister he really likes. But the younger one does really like him. The older sister we do not really have a sense what she feels other than disliking the artist because he does not agree with her opinions about how Russian society should improve itself. It seems like the artist does have a soft spot for both sisters, and the house the live in before they move away. 

I am not sure what the name of the trilogy he wrote. But it is three little stories about if one can really fall in what would be considered true love and be truly happy for the rest of their lives. The trilogy does give you insight to how three different characters feel about love, and what their experiences are with it. 

Oh, this one is my absolute favorite of the reading lists, both of them! "The Master and Margarita" (Мастер и Маргарита) by Mikhail Bulgakov (Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков) it was written during the 1920's and during some of the 1930's, which was one of the darkest times in Soviet Union history. During Stalin's purges, that is when Stalin got rid of people he considered unfit or where against the Soviet Union. While this was happening art was being censored because Stain also did not want the Soviet Union to be viewed in a negative light, only a positive one. 

Bulgoakov stopped writing the book because he did not want to finish it, or had the will too. He ended up throwing it into the fire to get rid of it, but his wife saved the manuscript from being burned completely. She helped him finish the book. 

"The Master and Margarita" is about the devil haunting Moscow and causing havoc for it's citizens. During the devil's stay, he turns their world upside down. He shows them evil tricks that they cannot believe their eyes. Some may say that this is a commentary about was going on in the time that Bulgakov was writing this. Because like in real life and in the book people where disappearing out of nowhere, and where never to be heard from again due to the purges. 

This book is really popular in Russia amongst it's teenage population. I think this is classic that has been hidden from the world, and that should be read by all. That is why I am recommending this book to all who are reading this. It is adventure that will take you to different places you would not have expected, and also gives you an insight on life and the society around you. 

"Doctor Zhivago" (Доктор Живаго) by Boris Pasternak (Борис Леонидович Пастернак) would be a considered a romance novel movie... The novel has a story-line in it that does revolve around romance of different characters through out. But it is more than the romance. 

Doctor Zhivago is where we follow the life of Zhivago from when he is a boy through his death. He experiences different parts of Russian history. We get to see different historic Russian events through his eyes. The reader also get a chance to see what it was like to be on Russia's side of the World Wars in this novel. We do not really get an inside look at that in our history classes.

Zhivago is a doctor, who also wants to be a poet too. At the end of the novel you can find Zhivago's poems, I would suggest you should not skip over this part. The poems are beautifully written. It would be a waste. 

"Doctor Zhivago" is also a pretty big novel too, it has a lot a detail... so it is also a hard one to struggle through. But the struggle is worth it! Pasternak also takes the reader on a tour through out country of Russia. The reader travels with the characters through out the book during the characters life times. 

 In "Moscow to the End of the Line" (Москва до конца линии) by Erofeyev Yerofeyev (Венедикт Васильевич Ерофеев) is a satire about the end of the Soviet Union era. During this time, things where not going so great for the Soviet Union. It was falling apart, it was nothing like was originally planned or promised. Things where not looking great for the Soviet Union or it's people. This was Yerofeyev's novel or we can say epic about alcoholism in the Soviet Union. Well, maybe not intently... but it is about something. Literary people are debating about the actually meaning of this novel. The novel was written between somewhere in the late 1960's and the early 1970's.

We follow Venichka (main character) on a train to where he will head off to see his son and his girlfriend/lover/wife? We are not really drawn in to much on the personal details of his family life, other than he has a son and he is also visiting a woman too. On his way, we experience the train ride with him. We get to meet the people he meets on his way, we also get to listen to the thoughts ramble on in his head, and his view of the world. Also get to learn how to make some drinks he makes on his way to his location on the train. Russians has used this also as a cocktail cookbook.

Since this novel is relatively new, no one really knows how to go about and depict it. "Moscow to the End of the Line" has so many secrets waiting to be discovered. Yerofeyev has brought up the discussion of alcoholism in Russian society, and also the world. Gives you an insight to what makes a person become an alcoholic. Whatever the point of this novel or epic is, we are slowly learning the truth to it. It is a book worth reading, even though you may not have the slightest clue about what is going on, it will take you on an adventure anyways!

 When people usually think about Russia they think of the 1980 CCCP team that got defeated by the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team (Miracle on Ice), the harsh realities of the Soviet Union, Cold War, Space Race, or Putin. Russia is more than those things. Everyone should get a chance to pick up a book to see the who the true people of Russia are. 

These novels I mentioned above will give you a more open mind about Russia. It is not just the place of what used to be the Soviet Union, this giant country, and also known for being very cold during the winters. These novels where ignored for so long, I feel like the deserve to be read. Also some may be still hidden away somewhere due to authors being scared to release their work because of the political climate of Russia. 

Go out and read novels from Russia, or different countries around the world that do not get a enough light in the spotlight. You will learn new things about the country. There is always an obscure novel waiting to be discovered in our local library or your used book shop down the street. These books are looking to be discovered and passed on to person to person. Art should be viewed, not hidden. 

“Manuscripts do not burn.” -- Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

Still there? YES I AM!

 This past year has been very hectic for me. When you are in Journalism school during a presidential election, you will be busy. It was not mainly the election that held me up, it was gaining more journalism experience I could ever imagine... in a million of years. No I did not get a job with the Washington Post, and broke a Watergate kind of news story. But, I did manage to quickly learn some of the ins and outs of running a paper. Sports editor on double duty of copy editor, sometimes filling in for the opinion and arts editors. Also filling in for the Chief Editor of the paper, or filling in for our two managing editors. Thankfully now, those positions (the major positions) have been filled, and hopefully they will not leave us hanging.

Basically this is what the Clarion, and Student Senate 

office looked like on a daily basis. Everyone working on 

their school work or other school related work. 

The year for me and working on the Clarion was not that bad. I actually reached some of my goals, and then some. One of my major goals was just to go to the Minneapolis Conference (regional-wide) that is held in February. I entered some of my articles to win awards, I expected just being able to take everything in from the workshops that where held there would be enough. But to my surprise I won fifth place on one of my sports stories. That was unexpected. But I caught the bug for pushing myself to do better. I am looking forward to work on my craft as a journalist to become a better writer. I am a good writer now, but there is always room for improvement. I am not shying a way from learning more, and improving more on anything. I also won another award at our Madison Conference (state-wide) for third place for a feature story, I believe it was the Todd Bowie one.

Another thing I was really proud of this year, was having one loyal sports writer stick with me. I am happy that he is enjoying working with us, and looking to improve himself. Also I am happy to see him interested in moving up and becoming an editor someday.  Also taking on some major stories that did not involve the sports section. Even though that is my major place I usually write, I like also writing for different sections to get my plate full of different skills of writing. I do enjoy writing sports... but politics really caught my eye this year. I am not really that big of political person, but the whole fact that news can be used to call a politician and/or the government out on their wrong-doing, is something I fine really amazing. I just want to branch out into other subjects because I want to have my resume looking well rounded.

But I am looking to get started with the newspaper again this year. We are planning on being more organized and hopefully more ways to recruit staff and keep them on. We have an advertising project I cannot wait to share with you. I am looking forward to picking up some projects again. I wonder if someone is still up for mini-challenges videos. Long story on that, but I eventually going to tell you that later on.

This year has been full of changes. Due to Madison College undergoing a remodel. The Clarion and the Student Senate got to share an office for the majority of the 2016-17 school year. That was really fun! I would not have it either other way, because we made really good friends with everyone who was involved in our student government. Also sharing the office with them opened my eyes to see how they ran. We have our new office next store to theirs in our new Student Life offices. We are still hangout together outside of school. I do not know what I would have done without any of them this year. It was nice to work in an office with people there working hard, at something they love. I loved sharing the passion of what we where working on together. Sharing the office with the Student Senate also made me realize what was happening around the school, and there are students and teachers who are trying to make this place a lot better than what we know it to be.

It was also amazing to watch my friend, Tina (whose first year was this previous year) become student-body president. I was really proud when she got voted into office. Tina, wants to make Madison College better for all students, and teachers alike. I cannot wait to watch her taken on the world Madison College next year. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out for her. Tina, I cannot wait to see what you can do to connect us all and make the school a better place for everyone.

 I would like to thank the Clarion for the photo in the upper left corner. 

I would also like to thank Sed & the  Clarion for the photo in the bottom

right corner. The other two are mine. 

Pointing out what is in the little mini photo collage: the upper left one is during our grand opening for our Student Life offices, and also our new student area. The photo on bottom right, is during our Minneapolis conference; where we took home nine awards, even best two year newspaper in the Midwest! The other two photos are for an article, plus a video (hopefully out soon) for the new Madison College's Goodmen Sporting Complex.

Also working at the Coliseum has been keeping me busy. New adventures everyday there, even though it is just a sports bar. There is always something new and exciting happening every shift. Stuff none of us could even imagine. We also got new owners as late. It has been an interesting experience to witness. More new adventures are ahead of us. Who knows what will happen. But I have a feeling that we all will survive it together, there is hope. This year was the last season that the Madison Capitols will be playing in the Dane County Coliseum, they will be moving somewhere next season. So it was sad to say goodbye to our next store neighbors. The fact we will not get to see them that much anymore, is bittersweet. But guys, do not be afraid to stop in and grab a burger or something.

Speaking of hockey and sports, those posts will be coming later with other cool things. I am planning on posting as much as I can this summer, and hopefully later on. There has been a lot amazing stuff I learned this year in my classes, that I would like to share. Vacation plans I have been thinking about a lot lately. Anyways, I am not dead. I am very well, alive and well! "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans," that John Lennon quote does ring true.