Last night Mood: a-ok Now Playing: Pink Floyd -- Time Topic: Friends and Family
Last night, I met my dad for dinner at the Pizza Hut in Denton. The drive down went smoothly, except for when the cell phone started ringing and I couldn't get the stupid thing out of the holder. Kurtis told me that Sherrie had called the house for me. He asked me, "Do you know someone named Sherrie?" And I'm thinking, "Sherrie???" The last time I talked to her, she was supposed to be coming to my house and we were going to have lunch or something... but she never showed up. I tried calling her back, but we never got a hold of each other. So I'm wondering why she called me out of the blue. Weird. My guess is that she was bored and was on the western shore, so she needed someone to hang out with.
My dad gave me a cute card and $200, that's in addition to the 2 pairs of shoes that he bought me a month ago. I'm getting a lot of use out of them, too... I had holes in my other ones! Unfortunately, I owe my primary doctor's office $199.50 -- that was leftover from my crappy insurance, I guess. I have an appointment there on the 12th, so the money couldn't have come at a better time. It's a shame that I couldn't spend it on something fun, but that's the fun part of being on your own and having bills. Ugh. Slowly but surely, I've been paying off my debts. I keep hoping to win the lottery, but since I don't buy lottery tickets, that is pretty much impossible. Maybe I'll buy some scratch-offs for fun?
After dinner, I went to Shaff's. When I got there, I was the oldest one there. Very frightening! Fortunately, Heidi and Stacey showed up five or ten minutes after I did, so I was no longer the oldest person there. :) After they showed up, then the McConnells came, including Rebecca - the youngest! That's when I really started to feel old. Adam brought his girlfriend from Ireland, I can't remember her name of course (I'm so bad with names, I swear!) -- she is gorgeous! They seem very happy together, I am happy for him -- he deserves someone who will treat him well. :) I've heard of long distance relationships, but that one definitely takes the cake!
It was weird to see how many couples were there (that had been together since high school); Josh and Tiffany, Jessica and Mike, Jen and Aaron, Paul and Katherine. Josh and Tiffany are engaged, and I think that they're getting married soon, although I didn't ask the date. He'll be out of the Marines in 6 months, and it looks like he's quite happy to be out. Paul and Katherine finally got married after being together for 8 years!
Stacey has a little boy who is now almost 2 years old, Heidi is getting married in January... funny how things change. I found some pictures the other day from when we hung out at one of her friend's houses who lived somewhere between Seaford and Federalsburg. I probably could have talked to people all night, it was really nice catching up with everyone. I'd planned on leaving at 9, and when 10 o'clock came, I knew that I should leave, but I really didn't want to. I did leave shortly after 10...it's a shame that it wasn't on a weekend. Next year, I'll take off the day afterwards (it's New Year's Eve anyway) and stay later. Maybe I'll even stay at my dad's house that night. This year I found myself in the "Old People Room" aka the kitchen. I did however spend some time with the in-between group that was in the dining room, and I warned them that next year they will probably be with me in the "old fogey room". Better go get my walker!
Leslie was the only person there from my class, partially due to the fact that Angie and Tiffany were visiting Christy in Florida. I haven't talked to Stef in a week or so, so I don't know where she was. Last year was the only year that she's come, anyway -- so she's not really a regular. It's a shame, though, because I'd brought her presents with me. I'll email her today and try to set up a date with her, since the next several weeks are already filling up. The Reagan Years are playing at the Funkbox in Baltimore (formerly the 8x10 club) at the end of January, maybe she'll come up and we can go to that. I haven't seen TRY in a long time, and I haven't been to the Funkbox yet. I've heard that it's really nice now... I liked the 8x10 club, though -- it had a lot of character.
We still have no plans for tonight...right now I'm leaning towards getting a bottle of champagne and ordering a few pounds of shrimp from the Kent Island crab company.
The family is leaving today, Kurtis is taking them to the airport at 1:00 today, so I won't be able to say goodbye. I feel bad about it, but there's not much I can do since I have phones today. Maybe he can wait a few extra minutes to leave, their flight doesn't leave until 4 and I doubt that it will take them 2 entire hours to get through security. I don't think many people will be flying on NYE. But I could be wrong, who knows?!
That's it for now, and probably for today... I have a lot of work that I'm supposed to be doing. :)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 11:25 AM EST
Reuter's weird news for today Mood: quizzical Now Playing: Where is the love Topic: News
Was reading the "Oddly Enough" news today and came up with some intriguing stories, one which was so interesting that I performed a search to find more info.
Nude Barbies are Free Speech stated a federal appeals court that upheld a Utah artist's right to make nude photos of Barbie dolls being menaced by kitchen appliances.
The artist had argued that the photo series, which also included a photo of Barbie dolls wrapped in tortillas and covered in salsa in a casserole dish in a lit oven, was meant to critique the "objectification of women" and "beauty myth" associated with the popular doll.
Reading this article reminded me of a Butt Poets song called "Barbie Q". The Buzz Poets are a Pittsburgh based band that I saw play for the first time a few years ago. I haven't seen them in a while and I'd had their CD stolen when my car was broken into (and I'd replaced it when the car was stolen, of course, so it was gone again)...anyway, I saw their CD at Garrett Park Guitars in Annapolis one day. Here are the lyrics to the song: betty sue gotta run cause shes got a lotta things to do now barbie really pretty and shes gotta go and find her ken now but then the mall turn pink and all the little barbies ran around wasted blonde hair blue eyes cocaine written on their faces so i said burn all your barbies wanna burn you see i cut open a barbie and i found that she was empty inside she had a pretty little body but i couldn't find her heart of her mind burn barbies burn... You get the idea.
Snake handler Imam Darmanto told Reuters the nameless serpent likes to gulp down dogs.
"This snake swallows up dogs. In a month, it can eat around five dogs," he said.
According to the Guinness World Records, the longest discovered snake was also a reticulated python from Indonesia. It was 33 feet long when found in Sulawesi island in 1912.
Another story was on Phony Paris Hiltons buying pizza:
Phony Paris Hiltons Buy Plenty of Pizza Tue December 30, 2003 09:21 AM ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The simple life has rubbed off on hotel heiress Paris Hilton -- or so one would think judging by the amount of Domino's pepperoni pizza ordered in her name. "Paris Hilton" is the No. 1 fake name used by people calling for pizza deliveries, according to a survey of Domino's Pizza drivers in Washington, D.C., released Monday by the pizza delivery chain. And 38 percent of those using the name of the socialite model ordered pepperoni topping.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft might want to open an investigation into these findings -- he was No. 2 on the list of assumed names used by people ordering pizza.
Of course, given his conservative bent, he probably wasn't among those answering the door in the nude, who the survey said tend to tip better than people who answer in their pajamas.
According to the survey of 630 drivers, nine percent of people who answer the door in the nude tip more than 20 percent, compared with 2 percent of people in pajamas.
Among political pizza findings, people with "Dean for President" bumper stickers on cars in their driveways tipped 22 percent higher than people with "Bush for President" bumper stickers. People with "Bush for President" bumper stickers were three times more likely to order meat-topped pizzas than "Dean for President" drivers.
The night of the televised wedding of reality show contestants Trista and Ryan was the top pizza ordering night of the year in Washington, according to the survey. The announcement of the war in Iraq was No. 2, the Super Bowl No. 3 and the debut of Hilton's reality show "The Simple Life" was No.4.
And as an example of giving people what they want, the night Saddam Hussein was captured was the biggest tip night of the year. No. 2 was the night Madonna and Britney Spears kissed on the MTV Music Video awards.
Other noteworthy news is that M&M's are going colorless for the next few months; they will be black and white. We'll see how that promotional campaign goes over!
That's probably it for today, I'm leaving early to have dinner with my dad and then will be going to Shaff's for the annual New Year's Eve-Eve drama graduate party. This will be my 6th year going, and it's a really nice tradition. The only problem is that every year there are fewer and fewer people that I recognize!
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 3:29 PM EST
Spurrier resigning / Redskins Mood: not sure Topic: Football
That bastard Spurrier quit! How dare he! He ended his 2 year stint with the Skins as head coach with a record of 12-20. Yeah, he sure turned the team around.
The Redskins sure sucked this season! At the beginning, it was looking pretty promising, but after the 4th game, things went downhill. They finished 5-11, the same as the Cowboys have 3 years in a row. Now the Cowboys are going to the playoffs. Go figure.
So now my beloved Skins have to get used to yet ANOTHER new head coach. What would be nice is if Dan Snyder just sold the team to someone else and kept his grubby paws off of every decision! The only good thing to come out of this season is that we get a 5th round draft pick.
Their schedule for next year has also been announced and they play the Browns AND the Ravens! I can't wait until next season. :)
Here are the home games: Green Bay, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Philadelphia and the New York Giants
And the away games: Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Philadelphia and the New York Giants
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 1:53 PM EST
One year of Lauren Mood: surprised Now Playing: At the sign of the Prancing Pony! Topic: Introspection
I just wanted to introduce you to 3 of my looks over the past year. It's hard to believe that all 3 of these pictures were taken of the same person! (me)
I tried to post another picture, but evil Tripod told me that it was too large. Oh well!
And no, I'm not able to just make a normal face.
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 11:38 AM EST
Figwit and figpeeps!! Mood: silly Now Playing: LOTR -- Evenstar Topic: Lord of the Rings
I've come across some really funny websites in the past few days...
Some more stuff Mood: bright Now Playing: Where is the love
I forgot to mention in my post that we had a little scare with Tai on Saturday night. We were downstairs watching TT that night and Greg was upstairs watching reruns of SNL. The cookies were sitting out on the kitchen table on some decorative plates (I think that is the main reason that they were sitting out). Tai decided that he had a craving for buckeye balls, which are these peanut butter and chocolate concoction that are an Ohio specialty. He proceeded to eat about half of it before Greg caught him on the table and shoo'd him off the table. At the time, we didn't know how bad chocolate was for cats. Kurtis was convinced that he was going to get sick while I thought that the chocolate thing was an old wives tale or something. To allay his fear, I kept trying to get him to check online, but for whatever reason he didn't want to do it. Tai turned out to be okay and never got sick, probably because it was such a small amount of chocolate. Today I looked up cats and chocolate and here is what I found:
The worst a Hershey bar can do to you is add an inch to your hips. But that same candy - even in relatively small amounts - can make a dog or cat very sick. Make no mistake: For them, chocolate is poison.
In addition to a high fat content, chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine, two different types of stimulants that affect the central nervous system and the heart muscle, as well as increasing the frequency of urination.
Symptoms of Poisoning
If your 50-pound dog gets his paws on a single chocolate-chip cookie, it probably won't cause him serious problems. However, if he gobbles up more - a pan of brownies, say - he may develop vomiting or diarrhea.
Once toxic levels are reached, the stimulants kick in, and this is when you really have to worry. Symptoms include: restlessness, hyperactivity, muscle twitching, increased urination and/or excessive panting. If your pet isn't treated, he could go into a seizure - possibly even die.
How Much Is Toxic?
The amount of chocolate that it takes to poison your pet depends on the type of chocolate he's eaten and his weight. White chocolate has the least amount of stimulants and baking chocolate or cocoa beans have the highest. Here is a list of the most common sources of chocolate and the amount that leads to toxicity:
White Chocolate. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 45 ounces per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe toxicity occurs when 90 ounces per pound of body weight in ingested. This means that a 20-pound dog would need to ingest at least 55 pounds of white chocolate to cause nervous system signs. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 27 pounds. Yes, that is twenty seven pounds! White chocolate has very little real chocolate in it. Therefore, the levels of caffeine and theobromine are very low. Tremendous amounts of white chocolate need to be ingested in order to cause toxic signs from chocolate. It is highly unlikely that white chocolate ingestion will result in the toxic neurologic signs but, the severe gastrointestinal effects from a high fat food develop with much less white chocolate ingestion.
Milk Chocolate. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.7 ounces per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 2 ounces per pound of body weight is ingested. This means that a little less than one pound of milk chocolate can be toxic to the nervous system of a 20-pound dog. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 1/2 pound.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 1/3 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 1 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. This means that as little as 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate can be toxic to the nervous system of a 20-pound dog. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 3 ounces.
Instant Cocoa. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 1/3 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 1 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. This means that as little as 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate can be toxic to the nervous system of a 20-pound dog. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 3 ounces.
Baking Chocolate. Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.1 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. Severe signs occur when 0.3 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested. Two small one-ounce squares of baking chocolate can be toxic to a 20-pound dog. A 10-pound cat would need to ingest 1 ounce of baking chocolate. This type of chocolate has the highest concentration of caffeine and theobromine and very little needs to be ingested before signs of illness become apparent.
Even if your pet doesn't eat enough chocolate to induce toxicity, the candy's high fat content may cause him to vomit or have diarrhea at much smaller amounts than those shown. If that happens, watch him carefully. If his symptoms don't clear up within eight hours, call your veterinarian (if your pet is very small or young, call within four hours); aside from toxicity issues, you don't want the animal to dehydrate. Try to be as precise as you can about the type of chocolate the animal ate, how much he took and approximately when he ate it.
The sooner you get help, the better off your pet will be. If the animal is showing signs of toxicity, he has a good prognosis if he's treated within four to six hours of ingestion. The effects of the chocolate can linger for 12 to 36 hours, though, so your pet may require hospitalization.
So now you have it! If you're going to feed your pets chocolate, make sure that it's white chocolate, haha. :-P~ Tai is fine, though... I didn't notice any change in his behavior and he never threw up.
I spent a lot of time this weekend doing laundry, that was a lot of fun! It's finally all caught up and this time I'm going to keep up with it. No, really -- I am.
I've been thinking about my New Year's Resolutions and here are some that I'm considering:
1. Getting to work on time (this is one I'm definitely starting!)
2. By the end of next year have a plan for the future (job/hobbies....marriage??? eek!)
3. Get a role in at least 2 plays. (also start submitting headshots and such for movies, who knows?)
4. Exercise more and eat better. Would like to lose 10 lbs by the end of the year.
I got a letter in the mail from Bay Area Behavioral Health right before Christmas. When I got the envelope I thought, "How nice, they send out Christmas cards!" I should have known better! It was a letter announcing that my psychiatrist no longer participates in my insurance plan (APS). Guess that she isn't making enough money! Either that or the plan didn't want her as a provider anymore because she's incompetent. I can say that I'm not too broken up about it! I've been looking for a reason to go to someone else anyway, it looks like divine intervention! ;-) When I first went to her a year ago, she asked me, "Why do you think you're depressed?" What a moron. I wish that I could have stayed on the Lexapro, but the side effects were freaking me out. Not to mention that coming off of it was pure hell -- I wouldn't want to have to go through that again! Wellbutrin does the job now, although I haven't felt quite as chipper as of late and I'm pretty irritable and unmotivated. Other than that, I'm just super! :-P I go to my therapist next Wednesday, I'm looking forward to seeing her as I haven't been in quite a while.
I'll probably make another post about this, but I saw Return of the King yesterday for the second time. I liked it about 10 times better than the first time. It helped that there were no crying babies or people clapping throughout the movie. Well, as I've done minimal work today, I'd better get something done before I leave.
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 3:33 PM EST
Christmas Mood: a-ok Now Playing: Georgia on a Fast Train -- BR549
Oh boy! Well, I'm at work and will be incredibly bored in about 2 hours -- I agreed to take phones for Teddra at 1 today, Mitch wants them to be manned (or womanned for that matter) even though there are only 10 people here. *shrug* It's going to be boring as hell down there, because no one is calling. When I covered for break at 10, I got two phone calls -- one from Jim, put him in Fuzz's voicemail and one from Ron to talk to Doug.
Oh well.
Christmas was great, Kurtis liked the little scrapbook/memory book that I put together for him with the poem I wrote. His stain defender shirt fit him, too. I can't wait to spill something on him! ;-)
In addition to the gorgeous earrings that Kurtis gave me as an early Christmas present, he bought me a very pretty Pulsar watch, it's both gold and silver-toned and has mother-of-pearl inlay. The only problem is that it isn't waterproof, or even water-resistant, so I have to be super-careful with it. He told me that I could take it back and get something that is water-resistant if I was worried about damaging it, but it is so pretty that I really don't want to do that. He also bought me 3 bras from Frederick's, my favorite comfy water bras! So now I actually have 5 nice bras to wear (and he bought me 4 of them). I still need a few more white or tan ones, though.
I checked my checking account this morning to find out that my account is $16 overdrawn -- eek! So I have to run to the bank today at lunch to deposit some money. I'll have $37 in my account until payday, oh well. Story of my life! I guess that I'm lucky that I have that much, since I just spend a lot of money on Christmas. C'est la vie.
Kurtis's family was coming in from Ohio this morning, so for the next 6 days, the house will be very crowded. I remember how empty it felt after they left last year, it was weird. The cats are probably going to be not very happy with all of those people in the house. Today I think that they're watching the extended Fellowship of the Ring movie, then tomorrow we'll watch Two Towers and Sunday I believe that we're all going to see Return of the King (again). ;-) I saw in the paper that a new movie theatre opened up in Columbia, it looks nice. 4 foot wide aisles and loveseat style chairs. Not too shabby!
Well, I'm going to get situated so that I can do phones when I get back from lunch. Doubt that I'll be able to update any more today since there is no internet at the front desk. Might not even be able to post this weekend, since I'll be playing host and other people might be using the computer. Kurt set up passwords for our computer at home so nothing can get screwed up. Kurtis told me last week that he wanted to take me to a nice dinner sometime during the holiday, but when I asked him about it last night, he said no. I hope that he was just joking, because I was looking forward to getting all dressed up and going out somewhere. :(
Back to work!
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 11:43 AM EST
Mood: quizzical Now Playing: Graduation Day -- Isaak Topic: Weird shit
Success! I picked up my Levoxyl with no problems!
I just got off the phone with Kurtis a few minutes ago. First he called me to ask if I was still stopping at Food Lion on the way home and if I was to pick up cat litter and some swiffer dust thingies. I have to pick up a chicken for tomorrow. Making a special lunch. ;-)
This guy at work (Rich)is talking about this woman named Eva Cassidy. He definitely fits in here, he is such a freak. He raves about her all the time and talks about how wonderful she is. He said something about her being "bigger than the 'Stones, man!" What a weirdo. I told him that I guess that she isn't because I haven't heard of her! And I'm quite a wealth of knowledge when it comes to unknown artists.
Anyway, Kurtis called back a few minutes later and starts freaking out about me ordering something from Hong Kong. I won an auction on Ebay for an Estee Lauder eyeshadow for $2.50, and it's usually $16 or $17. Anyway, he's worried that it's contaminated and has SARS or something crazy like that! Talk about paranoid. I told him that it's sealed and it's brand new, not like anyone has been trying it on or anything. He asked me how much I paid for it and told me that he would give me the money if I would just throw it away. Seems like it defeats the purpose of finding it for so cheap, right?? I know that there's nothing wrong with it, he's just being weird about it. If he presses me to get rid of it, I'll give it to a friend or something, there's no need for it to be wasted.
When I heard my name being paged over the intercom to take my call, I'd been talking to Jeff and Carl and Jeff had been saying that he saw on the news that they have rocket launchers on the Mall in DC. That's so weird. I remember going there right after 9/11, either a week or maybe two afterwards and it was so weird. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, but there was no one there. There were cop cars parked on the grass, but nothing like rocket launchers. I did see some however at the Pentagon, almost every time that I drove by. I'll never forget the way that I felt when I saw it after 9/11. I was going to see Laughing Colors play at a place called Main Street USA in Annandale, VA and I took 395(I think that's the right road) right by it. It was a few days after the workers had unfurled the flag next to the hole. The Pentagon is such a huge building and to see all the damage that was done to it was quite incredible.
I have a lot of work to get done before I leave, so I'd better get to it!
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 2:06 PM EST
Christmas Eve Mood: special Now Playing: John Mayer -- Your body is a wonderland
Well Christmas is almost here! I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess. The weather is pretty crappy, its all foggy and rainy. Not my idea of Christmas! It was nice last year because it snowed.
This morning when I came in, I was showing Teddra my early Christmas gift (my earrings) because I'd forgotten to show her on Monday. Well, she showed me her early Christmas gift -- an engagement ring!! It was beautiful! I am so jealous. ;-P~ Not really, I'm happy for her. Can't help but wonder if I'll ever get one of those.
This week I'm kind of wishing that I hadn't gone to Atlanta for auditions... if it weren't for that trip, I would be able to take off time for Christmas. Now it's going to take me until at least April or May to accrue enough leave time for a semi-decent vacation. C'est la vie!
I'm hoping that K-Mart is open until at least 1 today, I have to pick up my thyroid medication, I've been procrastinating picking it up for the past week. Hopefully people won't be there shopping, I don't feel like fighting any crowds today. I still have to call my mom to tell her that I won't be coming over on Saturday, I'm putting that off until the first weekend in January. I'm only going to have 2 full days with Kurtis's family, since I'll be working most of the time that they're here.
Stef hasn't emailed me about New Years. I guess she doesn't like any of my ideas. Oh well, I'm just a big boring loser these days! No wonder I have no friends. :`( Being boring has its advantages, though, no drama and no excitement less stressful than living the normal early 20-something craziness. I think that I was going through the early craziness from 13-21. Thank God all that's over!!! 22 kind of sucked, too, but 23 has been pretty damn good.
Well, more later -- I'm supposed to be working!
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 10:52 AM EST
Current events Now Playing: Little Drummer Boy -- David Bowie version Topic: News
I've been meaning to write something about our current elevated terror level. I'm still not sold on the whole color coding thing. In case you've been living under a rock for the past two years, this is the 4th time that we've been at a level Orange terror alert level, which is 2nd highest. The fun part is that Kari & her family are flying in to BWI at 9:11 a.m. Now, why can't the airline have said 9:12 or 9:10? I'm not superstitious by any means, but I do find that to be a bit disconcerting. Would I still fly? Sure I would! You have to assume that the security is going to be 10 times tougher than any other time. At least, you would hope.
Speaking of airport security, I had my first taste of it in April of 2002 while flying from Dulles, VA to New Orleans. I was going with some girls to a bachelorette party... anyway, one of the girls was a marketing rep for a company and she'd taken a bag with her that she'd used in that particular job. Well, said bag had 6 or 7 promotional box-cutters in it and we didn't find out about them until we were ON THE GROUND IN NEW ORLEANS!!!! They were in her carry-on!! Talk about disturbing! Maybe I should further clarify; this girl didn't know that she had them in her bag and it wasn't until we were at our hotel unpacking that she realized they were zipped into one of the side pockets.
Before he left work, Kurtis told me about a guy who won a Carnegie medal of honor, pretty freaky. I'll copy and paste the article here just in case you don't want to follow the link.
PITTSBURGH -- A Canadian man was one of 15 people awarded a Carnegie Medal on Monday for an act seemingly pulled straight from the tall tales of the American frontier.
Dr. Eric Fortier, 34, used a pocket knife to attack a polar bear on Canada's Baffin Island, just south of the Arctic Circle, to save two friends who were being mauled.
Fortier, an orthodontist, first encountered the bear in July 2001 when he felt what he thought was a dog leaning on his tent wall.
"My first thought was to push it away," he said. "A few seconds later my girlfriend saw the shadow of a bear's paw through the tent fly and then it started ripping through the ceiling."
The two screamed to frighten the bear and warn their friends in a tent several yards away, but the bear ripped into that tent and began mauling 31-year-old Alain Parenteau.
"Their screams changed," Fortier said. "I grabbed my glasses and my knife and unzipped my tent and headed out."
The bear dwarfed the 6-foot-1 Parenteau, knocking him to the ground, he said.
Fortier threw a large rock at the bear, distracting it and allowing Parenteau to escape, but it then turned on 25-year-old Patricia Doyon, who was in the same tent. Again Fortier threw rocks at the bear and again its target was able to escape.
"The bear gave chase and I gave chase," he said. "At some point, Patricia tripped or the bear tripped her and was at her back. I was beside the bear's head and I stabbed it with an upper cut below the jaw in the neck a couple of times."
The bear ran off. While there was some fur and blood on the 3 1/2-inch blade, Fortier said he doesn't think he hurt the bear badly. Both Parenteau and Doyon, however, were bleeding badly.
Fortier and his girlfriend lashed two canoes together and paddled five miles along the Soper River. Fortier traveled another two miles by foot to seek help in the nearest settlement.
Both Parenteau and Doyon were airlifted to a hospital and survived, though Parenteau had a gash within a centimeter of his jugular, Fortier said.
The bronze medal is given to people who "risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others."
Industrialist Andrew Carnegie started a hero fund in 1904 after being inspired by rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people. The award comes with a $3,500 grant.
Pretty hardcore, eh? I don't know if I would be brave enough to chase down a polar bear and stab it in the neck with a pocket knife!! Well, I have to finish up on my days work. Will post tomorrow!
posted by a cautiously optimistic Redskins fan
at 4:41 PM EST
a-ok
quizzical
not sure
surprised
silly
bright
special