Michele

Kewl, Anne. Looks like you guys had a ton o' fun... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Dave, Dave, Dave....I can handle any man throwing himself at me. Well, not really. It was fun to say that, though. We'll see....besides, there's two other parts of this "Let's Freak Michele" jump that you are planning, and I have no clue what those entail..... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

This is one funny thread....

Bill... True story.... So there I was, fresh out of an intensely abusive relationship, four broken ribs from the last fight (in which I discovered that plate glass is less problematic than the concrete/brick patio outside of it....). Horrible self image, total lack of self esteem (having been told for many years how old, fat and ugly I was, how inconsequential I was, etc...). Shrink there to make an assessment as to how I'm doing and do I need medication for depression. Seen him several times already. We're talking, I'm crying...he decides meds are in order. He grabs his RX pad, scribbles madly, and then looks up at me. "What's your name again?".... I changed shrinks. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

LOL, I already have an idea of what one is (thanks everyone who pm'd me...). Don't forget that I struggle hard to fly slow (chubby and flexible = hellafallrate if I choose)..... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Got this in my e-mail, and thought I'd get it out here. ************* YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND!!! Tuesday, November 26, 2002 11:00 a.m. City Of Hope 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, California, 91010 Ceremony will begin at: Main Entrance Fountain A beautiful ceremony is being created to celebrate the following: Dedication of Flower Garden in honor of our beloved sister & friend SHANNON EMBRY Dedication of the Jump For The Cause sponsored Stereotactic Biopsy Room at the newly constructed Women's Center Presentation of Jump For The Cause check to City of Hope This ceremony is open to ALL participants, friends, family and anyone who wants to be part of this very special occasion. Please feel free to invite to them! We are expecting that Fred Strunk (Shannon's significant other), her daughter Cary, and her other friends and family will be able to attend. A delightful LUNCHEON will immediatley follow the ceremonies. The cost is $10 per person and is payable in advance (to JFTC) with check or credit card or on-site with cash/check/credit card. The lunch will include: chicken breast on a bed of lettuce with walnuts and bleu cheese, rolls, dessert, water, soda & coffee A tour of the Women's Center will be available for those interested following the luncheon. Please RSVP NO LATER THAN NOVEMBER 19. Please indicate your level of participation 1. Ceremony 2. Luncheon 3. Women's Center Tour With much love, Richard p.s. NEW photographs from the World Record Event are now available at www.jumprunproductions.com Please note: Participants get 40% off the listed price!!!! Directions to City Of Hope: http://www.cityofhope.org/allabouthope/loc_maps.asp Ample public and valet parking is available ********** So, if you're in the neighborhood, it would be a great way to show our continued support of JFTC, our record holders, and Shannon. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Steve - Uh, I'll jump with you if I get to Eloy, but I can't promise we'll even stay in the same patch of sky..... As to the kissing, I haven't been kissed. Someone offered to kiss me, but we had the same jump numbers at the time, and I felt it was too dangerous....although it would've been nice at some point when it didn't pose a danger (perceived or real) to me and him. Something about a kiss pass with two newbies brought thoughts of teeth swallowing and blood, which somehow detracted from the allure of it. Sigh. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hi, Tiff. the day before I know I'm due to donate: Extra vitimins, red meat, and an iron supplement. The morning of: As much water as I can possibly drink. Make sure I take my vitimins. Make sure I eat something for breakfast and lunch (which I rarely do). During: Nap After: As much water as I can possibly drink, coupled with orange juice (or other real juice), and red meat for dinner. No alcohol the night before, nor the night after. I have an unusual combination of things in my blood (0+ [universal donor], CMV negative) which means my blood tends to be needed for babies and other immuno-supressed, so I donate on a regular basis. I only have had one bad experience, in the 12 or so years I've been doing this. I passed out during the recovery period. I hadn't eaten breakfast nor had much water that day, and it was in the middle of a heat wave in summer.... Hope it goes well. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

It is a great feeling. And it just occurred to me, Jan, I really like your avatar/icon/whatever the heck it's called.... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Why is it a crisis to change your life, start finding out who you are, what makes you tick, what makes you happy, and going and doing it for yourself? Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Irrespective of is there a right or not, I do feel there is a sort of moral obligation, which comes from an honest desire to learn. But that does not extend to rumor spreading and speculation. It is human nature to want closure - to understand why things happen, why them and not me, how could it be me, how can I make sure it doesn't happen to me. We also think like that for our friends to a degree. If Joe is using a rig that is unsafe, for example, we may think it is in his best interest to be informed of that. I believe that desire stems from a base understanding that we can easily die in this sport, far more so than, say, watching the Lakers on the living room sofa. We don't want to die - or we wouldn't use parachutes, right? So we look for answers, and explanations, and get really concerned when they are not forthcoming. When there is preliminary data, which is generally discovered at the time of the accident, and that is disseminated appropriately, we are able to decide again if we can handle the risk. We make changes in our safety routine, remind ourselves again to do this or make sure of that, and then we jump happily that weekend. We understand it mechanically, and comprehend it at the top of our brain, and perhaps fool ourselves into thinking "well, it can't happen to me". And maybe, just maybe, what you learn from that incident report is enough to jog you into changing that low swoop habit at jump 43, or practicing emergency procedures, or seeing a series of canopies collapse makes you buy a different main. It is valuable additional information that we use, which may make us safer skydivers. What we fail to appreciate fully - and I mean this with all sincerity - is shit happens, and sometimes the only answer we'll ever get is shit happened. We all understand this at some level, but it doesn't get "real" - in your face real - until something truly shitty happens. And then we sit back, and think, "well, there must be something. Someone must have seen/known/thought/whatever, for this accident to have happened." And the truth is that shit happened, and there wasn't anything but shit happening. I think that everyone wants to know - really, honestly know - how/why something happened. If that information comes, we can use it. And we should use it. But that information has to be real, not speculative. Data, not hearsay. Fact, not gossip. I don't mean to say we shouldn't talk about it, but we need to see what really happened before we start thinking this, that or the other thing. People speculate in these situations, I think, not because they are malicious, or ill-intending, but because they're lacking real data, and start to think how it "may" have happened. We, as jumpers, can get really arrogant about the whuffo media, but sometimes, that's all that's available. We have to realize and remember that we were all whuffo's once; we all didn't "get" it sometime before we started jumping. We can't discount whuffo media just because it is poorly written or because it was sensationalized. Sometimes, that's all the data we get until later - whenever "later" is. We also have to remember that as this site grows, we will be knowing more and more people who make mistakes, or who have shit happen. Real people die. They leave behind loved ones, children, family, friends. The survivors need to be consoled, too. They need to be heard and understood, respected for their loss. We lost someone, true, and may have to re-evaluate our actions. But they have lost someone to something they don't always understand. If we don't deal well with "shit happens", we cannot help those who have never tasted the sky, and who have no real concept of shit happening... This is getting wordy, and I am not sure I am articulating at all well what I am seeing and thinking. And I'd also like to mention that this has been a really hard few weeks for this community as a whole, and emotions are raw in many many instances. The incident information is vital. It is not always immediately available, or if immediately available, it is not always accurate. Just my opinion, which I am sure has pissed some of you off.... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Jackass royale is in there flooding it with stuff right now. I'll go take a bath, and then check it out. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Which video? And I have no recollection of that sound. Most likely I was screaming at the time.... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Not exactly, but I often get my foot stuck in my mouth..... Ciels- Michele

Zen, one of those sounds like it will set me on my bottom right quick...I can't iamgine what 3'll do to me. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

(Michele pops her head in, and wonders exactly what is a stabbing assegai...considers the (anglican) pronounciation of it, and decides there are some things she just doesn't need to know about. She silently wishes the kestrils well, and sincerely hopes no-one is trying to stab their assegais...reaches for a bagel, and lights a cigarette....walks back down the hall, mumbling something about cowboys and birds...)

Not daily, for me. More like Life Reminders.... "Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to the end, requires some of the same courage which a soldier needs." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~ "There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, "Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams." Then they put the box away and bring it out once in a while to look in it, and yep, they're still there. These are great dreams, but they never even get out of the box. It takes an uncommon amount of guts to put your dreams on the line, to hold them up and say, "How good or how bad am I?" That's where courage comes in." ~Erma Bombeck~ "I once heard a learned man say 'Every evil has its remedy, except folly. To reprimand an obstinate fool or to preach to a dolt is like writing upon the water. Jesus healed the blind, the halt, the palsied and the leprous. But the fool he could not cure." ~Kahlil Gibran~ "Anyone who thinks sunshine is happiness has never danced in the rain." ~Author Unknown~ "If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito." ~Author Unknown~ Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hmmmmmm...I like neither back licorice nor Nyquil. However, seeing as I am in an adventurous mood, I shall try a shot of it if I make it to Eloy. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Nope. It's legs are too short to make it down the stairs without help. however, some of the choices we had this year? my fridge could've voted for all the difference it will make... The sticker started over my left breast..... I figured I'd best put it somewhere before I took off my shirt and tossed it into the hamper. Ever try to clean a sticker which has been washed and dried onto a silk shirt? Not something I care to experience... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

yeah, they took what, 32 days? I voted. And my "I voted" sticker is stuck on the fridge.... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

I suppose I am an unsuspecting type....what's a carbomb? OH! And while we're talking, what's Jaegermeister? I've seen it on the shelves when I am getting mudslide stuff, but never bought it. It's more like "yeah, that's the stuff skydivers drink..."....at least I know what Zima is...haven't had too many, but I know what it is.... Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Um, it goes something like this: Oh shit what am I doing......o.k.,I've done this before....what? Door? You do it......alti working? o.k. Arch to get stable. Pull. Pull on time. Pull stable. Shit. Look red, grab red, look silver, pull red, grab silver, pull silver. Touch handles, BOC. Straps. O.k., please God... breathe. breathe. breathe...breathe already....where's the big circle on the ground. High five and finger twiddling. Helmet. Wipe palms on knees. Check shoelaces. Check gear again. Red, red, silver, red, silver silver. Green. Door. Look. Augh. Smile.... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......whhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Oh my gawd, Lisa, I forgot all about those! I'm making chicken in wine tonight, too. Geesh....... memory is the first to go! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

And, um, Viking, me foine young bucko? Who gave you that piece of advice????? Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Well, it is looking more and more like I'll be able to go. Jump $$ may be restricted or whatever, but it looks good. The only thing is, I can't do anything new or have any firsts because my budget is incredibly tight and a case of beer would break it....I'll know for sure prolly by the end of the week. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~