1 Girl Made A Difference, So Can You

 

Help her make a difference!

 

My good people of Twitterland and Facebookville (Oh, and Myspace Island… If you’re still stranded there…),

I’m writing to you extremely last minute to help with something that has affected me both mentally and spiritually… Now I sound crazy, huh? Don’t click away!

My friend, Craig Scott, lost his sister, Rachel, in the Columbine shootings on April 20, 1999. Some of you may have heard her story, most of you, probably not. (If you haven’t, you should look into it, as it is truly an amazing one.) Wikipedia has summed her up beautifully:

At the time of her death, the 17-year old Columbine High School junior was an aspiring writer and actress, having had the leading role in a student-written play. Described as a devout Christian by her mother, she was active as a youth group leader at Orchard Road Christian Center church near Littleton and was said to be known for her friendliness and compassionate nature. Rachel left behind six diaries and several essays about her belief in God and how she wanted to change the world through small acts of kindness. Shortly before her death, she wrote an essay for school stating, “I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same.”

After her passing, her family made it their duty to share her story with the world and use her experiences to help change lives.  (They dubbed their mission “Rachel’s Challenge“)  So far, it has been a great success.  They speak all over about Rachel’s experiences and have affected so many adults and children alike.  

For their great efforts, Rachel & Craig’s dad, Darrell, has been nominated as an “Everyday All-Star” and needs your help to win the title!!  If he wins, he will be featured in People Magazine!  His success with this will gain a whole new audience for Rachel’s Challenge.  Here’s part of the email Craig sent me this evening –

 

Today is the last day to vote.  To make one vote takes about 20 seconds.  You can vote as much and as frequently as you’d like.

Here’s what you do. 

 

1.  Go to www.peopleallstars.com 

2.  Click on the Colorado Rockies logo

3.  Vote for Darrell Scott

4.  Refresh the page and it will re-engage the website and you can vote again.

5. Repeat this over and over – - – every vote counts

Thanks again to all my friends for support.

Best,

Craig X. Scott

If you guys could take the time to do this and pass my blog link on to your friends in the next few minutes, it would help greatly!  I’m not sure if it ends at midnight Eastern or Pacific time, but I say vote as much as you can until they tell you to stop!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

<3

 

PS – If you’re interested in reading about Rachel, her family wrote an amazing book called “Rachel’s Tears.”  It’s a quick read and it will change your life.

I Finally Grew a Sack

I did it!  I drove to Nashville, Tennesse from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!  ALL BY MYSELF!!  I never thought I’d be able to.  My ex lived down here and I either flew or rode bitch every time I came to visit.  Wow… What a waste!  I could have saved a ton of cash if I only had some balls.  (I said that in my head to the tune of the Scarecrow’s ‘If I Only Had A Brain.’)  

Mmm… I love this place.  It’s very quiet.  I’m staying on a farm in a town about a half hour outside of downtown Nasher.  It’s nothing like home, I’ll tell ya that much.  It’s funny, but I don’t miss the hoodlums, the obnoxious bass that exudes from the neighbors’ hoopties, the fear of walking to my car or the hassle of LOCKING MY DOORS!  It’s so peaceful here.  In fact, this is what I was looking at on the way home from pickin up the chillunz from school the other day:

 

I can’t really hate that.  I actually think I’m officially in love with cows.  People think they’re dumb… but they’re like freakin dogs.  When you walk up to the fence, they come over to greet you.  I wanna have a cow, man!!  

I got to drive downtown last night.  Every time I come here and drive down Broadway, my love for this place is heightened.  Maybe it takes me back to a happy time in my life or maybe I just like the lights.  Probably a little bit of both.  Either way, I appreciate it here.  It’s always good to catch up with old friends and spend some time pretending life is this good (not workin, playin with kids and hangin out).  Tennessee was never a place I had dreamed of visiting and now it’s a place I’mma gonna hafta frequent for the rest of my life.  It’s grown to hold such a huge place in my heart.

I’m not sure what this weekend brings, nor do I know when I’m coming home.  I’m here helping a friend with takin care of her kids and I may stay longer than I had intended.  We’ll see.  Anyways… I guess this blog wasn’t very blogtastic, but I felt the need to write… since the day feels so much longer than it actually has been.  

Until next time…

X’s n O’s to all of my HOEZ!! 

Jody

 

Go Eat Worms

How does it feel to know that who you know, what your occupation is and what you look like has just about everything to do with who your friends are and why they like you?  Oops, I’m sorry, did I say “you?” I meant, the body that which “you” reside.  Oh, and by “friends,” I meant those who drop your name more than they drop you a line.

So many times, I see beautiful, smart and extremely talented people with millions of “friends” and the ”EVERYBODY REALLY LIKES ME” mentality.  

Guess what?  Nobody REALLY likes “you.”  

Well, your mom does… and your best friend from the block does, but that might be it.  Everyone else just wants to be a part of what they think you might be a part of… what YOU think you might be a part of.  It is absolutely horrifying to know that a lot of us truly enjoy this delusional fantasy life without even realizing how detrimental it can become.  Inevitably, the people who really care for you fall by the wayside… and all the while, you’re too busy losing “you” to even notice.  Poor mom. (Please feel free to replace “mom” with the name of the person(s) you’ve recently dicked over.  And then FREAKIN CALL THEM for God’s sake… before it’s too late.)

I have so many “friends” who have gotten caught up in this.  It makes me sad. 

Without naming any names, mentioning any occupations or using any specific examples, this past year and some of the people who were a part of it have shown me their true (and not so true) colors.  Some good, some bad.  Reality is a real kick in the ass.  I guess all I can do is be thankful for it… and hope that maybe one day my dicker overers will do a Google search for “Jody Gayle, Worms, Dicker overers” and then come back to me.  Cause I miss you.  The you underneath it all.

But to all my REAL homies… thanks for keepin it that way.  I love you. <3

bros before… everything?

Ok, so if when someone mentions the word “bro” to you, either as a noun or an adjective, you may or may not know what it means.  According to a general life guide on How To Be A Bro, bros are simply:  ”the ones with thier torn-up jeans and over-sized flip-flops. The ones with thier polo shirts and Tee’s with snazzy sayings like, ‘Ohio is for Lovers!’”

Well put.

One thing not mentioned in that definition is that: bros cannot handle rejection from a woman.  As a female, every bro encounter I’ve had has turned ugly.  I suppose it’s because A.) I think they’re losers and B.) I tell them that.  

Last friday night, Miss Carley Lenz and I found ourselves in the midst of bros (which is not uncommon on Carson Street in Pittsburgh).  One particular bro made a pretty nasty bro-like comment to Carley.  He asked, “So what did you girls do tonight?”  As Carley began to answer, he cut her off and said, “Hah… Not that I really care… What are you doing AFTER this? Come with us?”

I wanted to punch him in his 5′4” little man body.  I stood directly between him and her and told him he was done here.  In proper bro fashion, he got pissed, ran his mouth and finally walked away… only to continue to take out his bro failure anger on his 2 other bros.  The anger turned into a mini-brawl at Paparazzi’s Restaurant.  (Which is a suite place to hang, btw!)  The two bros held each other tightly as they slammed each other into a few walls of the bar. . . (I thought they were gonna kiss.)  It made me laugh.  Really hard.  So, I pulled out my camera.  I wish it had a spotlight… You’ll have to deal with the darkness, but the conversations these bros have and their inability to carry out a few boxes of pizza make me laugh a little:

 

(Sorry there was no REAL bro-brawling in here… I promise to catch it next time!)

X’s n O’s to all of my HOEZ…and Bros!!!!!!!!! 

Jody

WordPress Virgin!! That sounds dirty!!

Whuddup, y’all!!  Here I am!  Pressing words!!  

I’ve had this account set up for quite some time, but I couldn’t think of a good opening blog.  I think the opener is important.  You want to hook a reader or two and bring them back for more.  I thought about writing about this woman that I witnessed at the mall a couple weeks ago:  

Mall Picnicing

Then I realized there isn’t much to say about a woman camped out in front of Piercing Pagoda with her baby.  It’s just really freakin stupid.

So this brings us to today – -

I came home from work today to receive a really, REALLY sweet email from a human I’ve never met.  It wasn’t creepy, it wasn’t scary… It was from the heart and really motivating.  I wrote him back and told him he made my day… because he did. 

I want to share this email and encourage you to do something like this for somebody… because it can do wonders for their confidence (to say the very least):

 

hey there! havent talked to you in a while so i thought i’d drop a line. i’m sure this sounds terribly creepy, especially on myspace and such lol but I feel compelled to tell you how talented you are. honestly, ive met a couple models (i’m not Mr. Pimp Daddy who has slept with them all)…i’ve just met them, and clearly you are 10 steps a head of them as a professional and as a human.

i think your work is stunning and you’re photos are breathtaking. and its not just because you’re beautiful…you have such a range that I suppose is rare. you can make a shoot look amazing, whether you’re a pin-up girl, or a crazy punk rock chick who looks poised to beat someone’s ass. not the typical model, looking to be recognized and handed free drinks out in a club. you seem to take what you do very seriously and i have a tremendous amount of respect for that.

beyond the professional”skills” you have, i think you’re hilarious. you’re blogs never cease to at the very least put a grin on my face. your top 10 ways to not pick up a girl had me on the floor. i’m honestly the worst guy on the planet at picking up women in bars. i dont do any of that stuff but ive seen guys do that all the time. and whats the point of trying lol every chick in the bar thinks im juat another drunk fool trying to take them home. its comical yet tragic at the same time. but anyways, i loved the insight and think you’re a wodnerful myspace friend lol

please keep up the good work! you do a fantastic job representing PGH…continued success in the future! talk to you soon dollface.

There you have it – the extra push I need to get my ass in gear and move to a better city with more to offer.  All because of a stranger.  

Hope you all have a wonderful night!!

 

X’s n O’s to all of my HOEZ!!

Jody