I am currently serving on the Blues Ambassador Scholarship Committee for the International House of Blues Foundation in Cleveland. Yesterday and this morning, I reviewed twenty or so applications from area high school students to determine which of them should receive a $10,000 college scholarship.
The application requires the students to write an essay, and as a former English major, I cannot overlook grammar and form. I am pleased to report that this year's applicants have done a much better job than last year's, but I am still appalled at the number of grammatical errors and improper use of language in the majority of the essays - essays written by students with GPAs of 3.5 and above, who have placed on merit and honor rolls at their schools and who have completed Advanced Placement English classes!
Perhaps I am being too picky, but it is just so hard for me to accept that these students should be graduating from high school with less than exemplary communication skills. Reading and writing are fundamental for ANY job. If you can read and write well, you can learn to do anything.
I have known hiring managers to discard resumes upon discovering one grammatical error in a cover letter, and I have done so myself. After all, if you can't achieve perfection when you are selling yourself, how sloppy will you be when representing the organization?
Think about it.
Cindi
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Spending My Time
Over the past two years, I have struggled to find meaning volunteer work to which I would be able to commit. I think it's important to give back to the community, but I also think it's necessary to be able to stick with whatever you sign up for.
Two weeks ago, I went through training to become a therapeutic horsemanship volunteer at Achievement Centers for Children. The therapeutic riding program is for children and adults with special needs.
So far, my experience has been wonderful. It's a commitment of one hour per week on an evening when I rarely have to work late, and there's nothing that needs to be done outside of that one hour. I show up at the barn, sign in, greet my rider, stay by his or her side through the class, say goodbye, sign out and go home.
Not only do I leave with a good feeling of having helped someone, I also leave knowing I've just had an hour's worth of exercise! And it is most amazing to watch the students in the riding class. My class has 4-6 students, some as young as three years old. In the short time I have been with them, I have seen that "disabled" is a misnomer. I now understand why some people encourage use of the term "differently-abled." This is a much more accurate description of the abilities of these children.
It's also quite fun to be interacting with horses on a regular basis. I enjoy being around these beautiful, gentle animals. I never realized that horses yawned or tripped - not from difficult terrain, but from tiredness or laziness! Some days they don't feel much like picking up their feet either - I can certainly relate.
So I feel pretty good about how I am spending my time these days. Hope you do too.
Cindi
Two weeks ago, I went through training to become a therapeutic horsemanship volunteer at Achievement Centers for Children. The therapeutic riding program is for children and adults with special needs.
So far, my experience has been wonderful. It's a commitment of one hour per week on an evening when I rarely have to work late, and there's nothing that needs to be done outside of that one hour. I show up at the barn, sign in, greet my rider, stay by his or her side through the class, say goodbye, sign out and go home.
Not only do I leave with a good feeling of having helped someone, I also leave knowing I've just had an hour's worth of exercise! And it is most amazing to watch the students in the riding class. My class has 4-6 students, some as young as three years old. In the short time I have been with them, I have seen that "disabled" is a misnomer. I now understand why some people encourage use of the term "differently-abled." This is a much more accurate description of the abilities of these children.
It's also quite fun to be interacting with horses on a regular basis. I enjoy being around these beautiful, gentle animals. I never realized that horses yawned or tripped - not from difficult terrain, but from tiredness or laziness! Some days they don't feel much like picking up their feet either - I can certainly relate.
So I feel pretty good about how I am spending my time these days. Hope you do too.
Cindi
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The Best Part of My Job
I cannot tell a lie. I have a great job. It may not be the most glamorous or high-profile position, but I'm paid fairly, treated well and kept challenged.
I get to do a variety of interesting things, but my favorite part of the job is publicizing our annual spoken word poetry program for teens. Every time I get the media to pay attention to the students in this program, I feel not only that I have done my job well, I feel a sense of personal victory. These are the good kids that deserve the attention. Most of them come from the inner city, from schools that more often make the news for drugs and violence than for anything positive.
These young men and women consistently impress and amaze me with their creativity, their maturity and their wisdom. They speak on a wide range of topics, and I consider it a privilege to work with them each year.
I am proud to report that we are sending a strong team of six students to the National Youth Poetry Slam, Brave New Voices, in July. Many of our participants have already been accepted to the colleges of their choice, and not only do they do well in school, they are active in their communities. You can find out more about them and see some of their performances at these links:
Plain Dealer feature story on teen poet Jonathan Lykes
Plain Dealer coverage of the Slam U Finals
Two Slam U finalists on Around Noon (90.3 WCPN FM) - they come in around the 15 min. mark
Go team!
Cindi
I get to do a variety of interesting things, but my favorite part of the job is publicizing our annual spoken word poetry program for teens. Every time I get the media to pay attention to the students in this program, I feel not only that I have done my job well, I feel a sense of personal victory. These are the good kids that deserve the attention. Most of them come from the inner city, from schools that more often make the news for drugs and violence than for anything positive.
These young men and women consistently impress and amaze me with their creativity, their maturity and their wisdom. They speak on a wide range of topics, and I consider it a privilege to work with them each year.
I am proud to report that we are sending a strong team of six students to the National Youth Poetry Slam, Brave New Voices, in July. Many of our participants have already been accepted to the colleges of their choice, and not only do they do well in school, they are active in their communities. You can find out more about them and see some of their performances at these links:
Plain Dealer feature story on teen poet Jonathan Lykes
Plain Dealer coverage of the Slam U Finals
Two Slam U finalists on Around Noon (90.3 WCPN FM) - they come in around the 15 min. mark
Go team!
Cindi
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Best Show on Television
I can hardly wait for 10 pm tonight. The best show on television, LOST, returns to the airwaves.
LOST is not your typical, mindless lounge-on-the-couch and multi-task-while-watching kind of show. None of the main characters wraps up each show with a nice little summary; in fact, instead of leaving you with a sense of resolution at the end of each episode, LOST leaves you with even more questions. This is edge-of-your-seat, don't-miss-a-detail television. Everything means something - character names, a random sign that someone passes by, etc.
Now, for those of you who know me well but don't watch the show, I can imagine what you might say if you tuned into an episode...yes, Sawyer is my type of eye candy but no, that's not why I keep watching!
I love LOST because watching it is like reading a really great book. The more you watch it, the more you find. Symbolism and foreshadowing abound. The writers and creators are nothing short of brilliant in their attention to detail, plot twists and character development.
To get the most out of this show, the viewer has to do some work to figure out what's going on. There's no spoon-feeding here. I could literally spend days researching every nuance of every episode - just like the good old days of being an English major. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time anymore, so I rely on folks like Doc Jensen of Entertainment Weekly to help me out. How I wish I had his job!
Counting down until nine hours from now,
Cindi
LOST is not your typical, mindless lounge-on-the-couch and multi-task-while-watching kind of show. None of the main characters wraps up each show with a nice little summary; in fact, instead of leaving you with a sense of resolution at the end of each episode, LOST leaves you with even more questions. This is edge-of-your-seat, don't-miss-a-detail television. Everything means something - character names, a random sign that someone passes by, etc.
Now, for those of you who know me well but don't watch the show, I can imagine what you might say if you tuned into an episode...yes, Sawyer is my type of eye candy but no, that's not why I keep watching!
I love LOST because watching it is like reading a really great book. The more you watch it, the more you find. Symbolism and foreshadowing abound. The writers and creators are nothing short of brilliant in their attention to detail, plot twists and character development.
To get the most out of this show, the viewer has to do some work to figure out what's going on. There's no spoon-feeding here. I could literally spend days researching every nuance of every episode - just like the good old days of being an English major. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time anymore, so I rely on folks like Doc Jensen of Entertainment Weekly to help me out. How I wish I had his job!
Counting down until nine hours from now,
Cindi
Monday, April 21, 2008
Favorite Movie Lines
Just for fun, here are a few of my favorite movie quotes:
The Birdcage
-"He blew a BUBBLE with his GUM while I was singing. He can't do that while I'm SINGING!"
-"I feel like I'm insane."
-"I made you short?"
-"I pierced the toast!"
-"It's aspirin with the 'A' and the 'S' scraped off."
-"It's the choos. They make me fall down."
-"So this is Hell. And there's a crucifix in it."
-"Yeah but, now's the time to preten'!"
-"You do an eclectic celebration of the dance! You do Fosse, Fosse, Fosse! You do Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Martha Graham! Or Twyla, Twyla, Twyla! Or Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd! Or Madonna, Madonna, Madonna!... but you keep it all inside."
The Breakfast Club
-"Could you describe the ruckus, sir?"
-"Excuse me a sec. What are you babbling about?"
-"I'm thinkin' of tryin' out for a scholarship."
-"Oh God, you richies are so smart, that's exactly why I'm not heavy into activities."
-"Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place."
Demolition Man
-"What seems to be your boggle?"
The Princess Bride
-"While you're at it, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?"
Rush Hour
-"I hate when it does that."
The Birdcage
-"He blew a BUBBLE with his GUM while I was singing. He can't do that while I'm SINGING!"
-"I feel like I'm insane."
-"I made you short?"
-"I pierced the toast!"
-"It's aspirin with the 'A' and the 'S' scraped off."
-"It's the choos. They make me fall down."
-"So this is Hell. And there's a crucifix in it."
-"Yeah but, now's the time to preten'!"
-"You do an eclectic celebration of the dance! You do Fosse, Fosse, Fosse! You do Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Martha Graham! Or Twyla, Twyla, Twyla! Or Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd, Michael Kidd! Or Madonna, Madonna, Madonna!... but you keep it all inside."
The Breakfast Club
-"Could you describe the ruckus, sir?"
-"Excuse me a sec. What are you babbling about?"
-"I'm thinkin' of tryin' out for a scholarship."
-"Oh God, you richies are so smart, that's exactly why I'm not heavy into activities."
-"Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place."
Demolition Man
-"What seems to be your boggle?"
The Princess Bride
-"While you're at it, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?"
Rush Hour
-"Do you understand the words that are comin' out of my mouth?"
-"That block was already messed up."
-"I hate when it does that."
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Ego
I've been thinking about ego this week - not the traditional Freudian definition, but the more commonly used "inflated sense of self-worth" kind of ego. There is something to be said for tooting one's own horn and being proud of one's accomplishments. But we've become a society in which no price is too high for fame and in which it's acceptable to stand out from the crowd by any means necessary.
You may have heard the scary and saddening story about the six teenage girls who beat up one of their classmates to achieve fame on YouTube. They even went so far as to post lookouts outside the house so they would not be interrupted and so their victim could not escape. And they're famous now, all right, but not in a way that will do any of them any good.
In my own life, I've had the opportunity to compare and contrast the behaviors of two individuals, both highly intelligent, successful and well-respected in their fields. One is humble almost to a fault, consistently shifting praise and recognition from self to team. This is a person who could easily rack up local and national publicity and awards, but choses instead to quietly but powerfully work toward goals on behalf of many. What publicity and awards this person does receive are graciously accepted with an acknowledgement, again, of team over self. Operating without cell phone or BlackBerry, this person accomplishes much yet never seems harried and is never too busy for a hello to even the newest intern.
The other is as egomaniacal as the first is unassuming. Achievements are credited to self rather than team; sentences begin with "I" rather than "we." The seemingly uninfluential are passed by with no hello; "too busy" is a frequent excuse. Perceived slights result in uproars that waste time and cause unnecessary work. Respect is expected, not earned. Truth be told, this person does run in circles where temper-tantrums and diva behavior are the norm, but does that really make it OK?
I'd rather be well-liked than well-known and I'd rather know that I treated others well instead of squashing them to get ahead. I know whose example I'm following.
Cindi
P.S. It's ASPCA Day!
You may have heard the scary and saddening story about the six teenage girls who beat up one of their classmates to achieve fame on YouTube. They even went so far as to post lookouts outside the house so they would not be interrupted and so their victim could not escape. And they're famous now, all right, but not in a way that will do any of them any good.
In my own life, I've had the opportunity to compare and contrast the behaviors of two individuals, both highly intelligent, successful and well-respected in their fields. One is humble almost to a fault, consistently shifting praise and recognition from self to team. This is a person who could easily rack up local and national publicity and awards, but choses instead to quietly but powerfully work toward goals on behalf of many. What publicity and awards this person does receive are graciously accepted with an acknowledgement, again, of team over self. Operating without cell phone or BlackBerry, this person accomplishes much yet never seems harried and is never too busy for a hello to even the newest intern.
The other is as egomaniacal as the first is unassuming. Achievements are credited to self rather than team; sentences begin with "I" rather than "we." The seemingly uninfluential are passed by with no hello; "too busy" is a frequent excuse. Perceived slights result in uproars that waste time and cause unnecessary work. Respect is expected, not earned. Truth be told, this person does run in circles where temper-tantrums and diva behavior are the norm, but does that really make it OK?
I'd rather be well-liked than well-known and I'd rather know that I treated others well instead of squashing them to get ahead. I know whose example I'm following.
Cindi
P.S. It's ASPCA Day!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Deal-Breakers
I stumbled across this interesing article in The Plain Dealer:
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1207384239226400.xml&coll=2&thispage=1. I'd say this is pretty good evidence to support my quandary of whether or not dating is worth the time and effort!
I was also interested in the concept of "deal-breakers," things that would end a relationship with no ifs, ands or buts. The extreme example at the beginning of the article is, in my opinion, more than a deal-breaker. It's a throw-your-drink-in-his-face-and-storm-out-leaving-him-bewildered-and-embarrassed moment. I hope someone leaves that guy to starve somewhere sometime soon. The fact that he's identified as a medical professional does nothing short of scare the bejesus out of me.
Some of the more obvious deal-breakers listed in this article I do agree with - criminal record, married, poor hygiene, animal abuse. To that I would add refusal to work, drug abuse, physical abuse, refusal to pet/play with my pets (this should have tipped me off twice!), atheism and making fun of me.
This article focuses on the beginning of dating relationships, though, and this is the first time I've heard the term "deal-breaker" used in reference to that early stage. Normally I hear it in discussions when people are espousing their overall philosophies on serious relationships and marriage. And 9 times out of 10, it's usually used in reference to cheating.
By no means do I advocate cheating. But I do wonder about these absolute pronouncements. Marriage is supposed to be for better or for worse. As long as both parties are truly willing to work to correct a problem, I think it's better to be slower to walk away. One of my favorite sayings is, "Out of the mud, the lovely lotus blooms." We Lost fans saw this happen with Jin and Sun (yes, I know Lost is fiction, but it can happen in real life too).
So, what's my point? Life and love are like gardening - beautiful flowers won't bloom just because you want them to. It takes time. You gotta work for it. The sun and the rain are both necessary, and sometimes, so is the manure.
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1207384239226400.xml&coll=2&thispage=1. I'd say this is pretty good evidence to support my quandary of whether or not dating is worth the time and effort!
I was also interested in the concept of "deal-breakers," things that would end a relationship with no ifs, ands or buts. The extreme example at the beginning of the article is, in my opinion, more than a deal-breaker. It's a throw-your-drink-in-his-face-and-storm-out-leaving-him-bewildered-and-embarrassed moment. I hope someone leaves that guy to starve somewhere sometime soon. The fact that he's identified as a medical professional does nothing short of scare the bejesus out of me.
Some of the more obvious deal-breakers listed in this article I do agree with - criminal record, married, poor hygiene, animal abuse. To that I would add refusal to work, drug abuse, physical abuse, refusal to pet/play with my pets (this should have tipped me off twice!), atheism and making fun of me.
This article focuses on the beginning of dating relationships, though, and this is the first time I've heard the term "deal-breaker" used in reference to that early stage. Normally I hear it in discussions when people are espousing their overall philosophies on serious relationships and marriage. And 9 times out of 10, it's usually used in reference to cheating.
By no means do I advocate cheating. But I do wonder about these absolute pronouncements. Marriage is supposed to be for better or for worse. As long as both parties are truly willing to work to correct a problem, I think it's better to be slower to walk away. One of my favorite sayings is, "Out of the mud, the lovely lotus blooms." We Lost fans saw this happen with Jin and Sun (yes, I know Lost is fiction, but it can happen in real life too).
So, what's my point? Life and love are like gardening - beautiful flowers won't bloom just because you want them to. It takes time. You gotta work for it. The sun and the rain are both necessary, and sometimes, so is the manure.
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