small victories --- updated

I am so relieved today.

I got one of my tax refunds back today.
which means I will have some spending money for Italy.
I go NEXT WEEK! (the 14th) I can't believe it.

But also... you know how I have been freaking out about the show I am curating with my class because they are all theater majors who have never done this before and think they know everything about it.

Well, my professor made some excecutive decisions, and decided to put in a few pieces that I had really been pushing for. Of course there is one piece that I was really against being included, but one must compromise. Plus, it is only one piece, and I had 3 that I advocated for. It's so good to know that someone hears you, the most important one at that.

So hooray!!

Also I can't believe I forgot to mention earlier - Mariane Pearl came to my school and spoke last night. Here's a link about it in the newspaper:

http://www.thetranscript.com/localnews/ci_8475259

The house was packed, and people who were late had to go in a seperate overflow area and watch her on a live feed. Someone told me there was over 100 people in the overflow alone.

She said some really beautiful things.

"I sat down at that moment and wrote down what I needed to do," Pearl said
Wednesday night during a lecture at the MCLA Church Street Center. "I wrote down
what the terrorists had and made a list of what they had and wanted to do. I
wrote: They want to destroy hope, therefore I shall preserve it by any possible
means. They want to kill trust, thus I will reach out to others. They want to
kill joy in me, thus I will laugh again. They want to imprison people in labels
and stereotypes. I will strive to maintain a dialogue, always focusing on
the individuals rather than the symbol. They want to paralyze me, therefore I
will take action. They want to silence me -- therefore I will speak out."

"Ignorance is one of the world's greatest problems," Pearl said. "Knowledge
is wonderful, but without wisdom it is nothing. We must remember that one of the
terrorists who killed Danny was educated at the London School of Economics. He
had knowledge, but without wisdom, he lost his perspective. Knowledge can bring
forth wisdom, strength and values. I've learned that hardships do not define my
life, my values do."
She added, "Danny had the courage to face death, so I
knew I had to have the courage to face life."