“Trace’s Little Corner“ is a way for me to keep in contact with the people in my life, to share with them – and anyone else who might stumble upon it, really – the things I’m interested in, little stuff I’ve found on the Net – music, photos, funnies, thoughts, opinions, passions. It’s a snapshot of my life, taken during a certain place and time. Plus, I’ve always loved to write and have done some freelance work in the past, so this is also one way for me to express myself and stretch just a few of those creative muscles.
Please note that this site is not intended to adhere to a ‘G’ rating; in fact, it will likely occasionally veer towards the ‘R’ rated realm (or these days, perhaps, it’s just PG-13?). My expectations are that it will be read by adults, and as such, it will contain some mature content, i.e. there will be some profanity used or some photos or even video from Iraq posted which are potentially graphic. The way I see it, this is my site, which includes my own vision, passions, frustrations, joys and interests, and as a grown woman I will occasionally share things that wouldn’t be appropriate for the Nickelodeon crowd. In my opinion, adults – and that includes parents – should be allowed to do that, without concern, in certain arenas. Blogs should be one of those arenas, if the owner so chooses.
I believe that this blog will help me while I’m finishing my degree at UW Bothell as well. My major is Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in community psychology and a minor in human rights, and I plan to graduate in Spring ‘09. This might serve as a means to sort through my thoughts and feelings, my little triumphs and frustrations, the hair-pulling days and never-ending deadlines of college work. Maybe it’ll also give just a glimpse into my life as I rebuild it with my young son.
I plan to go into veterans advocacy work once I complete my B.A., first at the behemoth that is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), but then… who knows? I’ll see just where life and future opportunities might take me. I intend to apply for admission to the School of Social Work at UW Seattle in order to earn my MSW, as well as the Master of Arts in Policy Studies at UW Bothell (I’m still deciding on a particular direction), which would enable me to eventually get to where I really want to be in terms of the service I’d like to do with and for veterans; specifically, PTSD and traumatic stress work. I am also interested in fostering more effective community outreach programs and being involved in transition counseling, to try and reach veterans before their battle demons gain such a stranglehold that they settle in for a lifetime’s worth of debilitating torture.
Comments? Questions? I welcome them, so go ahead and send me an email. I’d enjoy hearing from people out in the world who might share some of my own interests, who may want to challenge or debate them, or who simply want to reach out and say ‘hi’. That said, chronic nastiness (of assorted types) will be just as quickly reported to WordPress and blocked from my own server. I’d like to believe that any of that would be kept to a minimum; as ever, I remain the “cautious optimist.”
The photo is of my son, Jack, and I, taken in 2006.
Ultimately, Jack is the reason behind everything that I do: this blog is lovingly dedicated to him.
“To Infinity… and Beyond!”, Puddy.
September 24, 2007 at 7:51 am
I got lost on your blog a couple of times before I found this entry. How on earth do you find any time for school While you gather all this stuff for your Blog? That’s only a semi-serious question, because I know you’re a lot more skilled at the computer than I, and have developed a much wider range of interest than I have in my 77 years of messing around – principally in the area of education. I should also remark, I suppose, that my range of interests has been severely curtailed since I started carrying a can (bad hip and edema) and an eight-lb oxygen tank. It’s even hard to bend over to weed the garden at my sister-in-law’s. For instance, I still haven’t come up with any sxuggfestions for reading in philosophy that might be of use to you. Part of the reason for that is that the philosophy I spent a couple years studying was very specific: we were indoctrinated into the system called thomistic philosophy, rooted in the writings of Thomas Aquinas from the thriteenth century–and renewed through the ages until now. Whoosh! I even have difficulty remembering the authors we wer required to read and study. Age does that to some people, and I’m clearly one of those to whom it has been done. But I’ll still get around to talking to a couple of people who have managed to hang onto what they’ve learned in this our day.
Until then, Cheers and prayers–Fr. Dick Ahler, S.J.
September 24, 2007 at 7:55 am
Nothing further at the moment. Now I just have to figure out howa to correct my errors (“can” that should be “cane” above and get on with messing around on our blog. Peace–Fr. Dick Ahler, S.J.
September 25, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Hey Trace!
This is really looking great! – It’s so cool that Fr. Ahler was able to post something. I just spoke with a parent volunteer from an Elementary School in Puyallup who was interested in my proposed “Letters from the Battlefield” school assembly program that I as telling you about a couple months ago. She agreed with me in regards to the shameful lack of education in history and social studies – especially regarding World War II. And she was completely appalled when I quoted her the statistics Ken Burns related in his comments about why his team had decided to do his latest documentary – i.e. 1) We are losing 1,000 WW II veterans every day as they succumb to old age and 2) Something like 60% of graduating high school seniors could not correctly identify what countries the United States was fighting during WW II, but the majority of them thought that we fought with Germany, against Russia (!) [sigh]
Take care!
- Your Favorite Sis