Two Cents and a Thousand Words

Jacqueline Ruth (Philbrook) Russell, 75, wife of Charles O. Russell, passed away September 21, 2006 at her home with her family around her. Jacky was born May 7, 1931 to Ernest and Lula (Moore) Philbrook in Mattawamkeag, Maine. She came to know Brownville Junction as her hometown and she was a proud member of the Brownville Junction High School Alumni Association having graduated in 1949.

Jacky was pre-deceased by her mother and father, brothers Vernon and Ernest (Midge) Philbrook and her sister, Esther. She was also pre-deceased by two sons, Tennyson and Scott, two daughters, Esther Russell Mannisto and Lisa Russell, and her granddaugther Starr Ann Mannisto. She maintained a strong faith that she would be re-united in Heaven with those that previous passed away.

She will be lovingly remembered and sadly missed by her husband of 57 years, two sons, Wallace and his wife Nancy of Brownville and Mark and his wife Diane of Hampden. Jacky had four grandchildren whom she adored and they adored her in return, Jill Russell-Morey and husband Ben of Windham, Kerri Russell-Wiles and her husband Brian of Brownville, Megan Russell of Brownville, and Justin Russell of Bangor. Her great-granddaughter, Carly Jean Morey and special canine companion, Lizzie, brought a lot of joy to Jacky and she was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her second great-granddaughter. She loved her children and grandchildren unconditionally and was always extremely supportive and involved in activities that included them. Her Friday morning coffee club gave her something to look forward to each week and she had many friendships from the class of 1949.

Jacky was very talented with her hands and found enjoyment in knitting, quilting, cross-stitching, and sewing gifts for her friends and family. She also enjoyed snapping photographs with her camera. Each photo held a memory and allowed her to cherish every moment. Jacky viewed life as a treasured gift and taught her family to live life as such.

Those close to her will never forget her smile and positive attitude. Jacky was an inspiration, finding the best in all situations. She was full of life and amazing strength and never questioned God’s will. Jacky was an active member at St. Paul/St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Milo. Her family will forever feel the loss of her physical presence, but her memory will live on forever in our hearts.

I had completed a week of my freshman year at the University of Maine.

At approximately 9:15 in the morning on September 11, 2001, I walked back into Aroostook Hall at the University of Maine after completing a session of my Tools of New Media course. As I entered I saw one of the dorm’s maintenance people standing with another person watching the television we had set up in the combination game room, vending room, and TV lounge. I wasn’t really able to discern what they, in combination with the people on the television, were saying, but I saw the smoke rising from one of the World Trade Center towers.

I quickly walked up the two flights of stairs to my room and immediately turned on the television in our room. I can’t remember how I explained it to my roommate, who was busy working at his computer; chances are whatever I said didn’t make any sense anyway. We stood there for a few moments watching in disbelief as we saw the station cover the early morning events. I tried calling my parents; the land lines were overburdened. I used my cell phone, a rarity for me at the time, and thankfully heard the familiar voice of my mother.

I had class at 10:00. It was calculus. Unsure of what to do, and guided only by my training by years of schooling, I went to class. I wasn’t sure of what to think. I wasn’t sure if I should worry. In fact the only thing I was sure about was that I had class at 10:00 in the math lab in Neville Hall. Everyone there seemed either oblivious or in denial. I couldn’t wait to go back. I wanted to see what was happening; I wanted to go back to my dorm room. (I also wanted to go home, but I was afraid that the airport in Bangor might be attacked as I passed it on the way.)

When I arrived back in my room, my photography mindset instinctually led me to pull a tape from off the shelf and hit record. As I watch that tape for the second time since 2001 (the first on the one-year anniversary), I’m still stunned.

The one aspect I remember most about that time is the sense of Americanism felt for the weeks and months after that Tuesday. We were a national community. We brushed politics aside and helped each other. I’ve experienced a lot in the five years since then, and a lot of things have changed. Experiencing such an abrupt environmental change so shortly after a large personal change (my introduction to college) led me to realize how special that sense of pride and support really was. It changed us all, and I hope that we all keep those important feelings of love for our neighbors in our hearts for years and decades to come.

The photo above was taken by Linus Gelber and is available under a Creative Commons license at flickr.com.

How cool is this? needsmoreritalin, a geocacher from Saco, uploaded this video of the area around my You Otter Be Here cache in Acadia National Park:

You Otter Cache Vid

Good stuff, good stuff.

Today’s random fun thing to do:

1. Wait for a good rainstorm.
2. Go outside just around the time that everything starts to look whiter from the fog of rain.
3. Walk. Dance. Smile. Breathe.

And the most important part: forget everything else. Your clothes will dry, your makeup can be put back on, you can take a shower. Just have some fun and unwind in nature’s cleanser.

Here’s a quick post about two observations I’ve made having to do with the birds and the… ants… this week.

First, my neglect of the kitchen has led to an influx of tiny little ants. I could blame the dirtiness on the off-and-on flu-thing I’ve had over the last couple of weeks, but it’s really just because I’m lazy. Anyway, the little fellas enjoyed dining on a couple patches of dropped chocolate syrup and a few pieces of shredded cheese.

This posed quite the dilemma for me; I don’t particularly enjoy killing anything that doesn’t have to be killed, but I wanted the little suckers gone. I decided (half-jokingly) to send a warning shot. I brought out the Swiffer and started to mop around them, and then the most peculiar thing happened: they retreated. There’s no doubt they retreated. They marched right back to the hole from which they came. Maybe it was the smell of the lemon citrus scent – or maybe they sent out a warning. I continue to believe that animals are not as dumb as we assume them to be. But as I found out Friday, they’re sometimes a little more uninhibited than we are.

On the way home on Friday night, I saw these two lovesparrows. It’s almost a reflex for me to grab my camera when I see something unusual or something I’ll very likely never see again, so I decided to share it with you.

I’m not sure whether to be taken in the beauty of nature and its many aspects or whether to just be grossed out. Is that like a cognitive dichotomy?

Another idea I should’ve patented…

The Scotsman reports (and MacRumors picked up) that Apple may release an iPod that announces the names of songs or artists as they play.

I wanted to make a piece of software that did that because I always hated fumbling around to find out what song was playing.

Grr… I mean… yay? I dunno.

I’m proud to admit that I’m a treehugger, but I only obsess about it in some cases. Organic food is not usually one of them; I buy it if I can at the store, but the added price isn’t always worth it to this recently-out-of-college frugal kid. It’s all washed anyway, right? It doesn’t make that much of a difference.

My trip today went really well, but one of the things that stuck out most was my sunset drive past a well-known set of blueberry fields in Deblois. Maine prides itself of being a top producer of blueberries in the US (as well it should, as any drive through the Downeast region of Maine will show). Upon driving past these fields, I was greeted with fluorescent orange signs every few hundred feet informing me of the following information:

• The fields had been sprayed with the Imidan pesticide a couple of hours before I travelled through the area.
• People were not supposed to enter the fields for 24 hours.
• If entry was necessary, the persons should wear proper pesticide equipment or apparel.

Turns out there’s been some discussion about blueberry pesticide spraying. It also turns out Imidan is a possible carcinogen and neurotoxin.

What a coincidence. I always thought that adding a carcinogen and neurotoxin would really give my pancakes an extra kick.

Today I’ll be doing my first Maine trip in a while; I think I’m going to be heading east on the Airline (Route 9) and then swing down along the Downeast coast. Pictures (hopefully good ones) when I get back!

Teh Internets is the greatest thing ever and the worst thing ever. Of course, you could say that about journalism itself, too. I was browsing Google News and found these two articles in the top 3 listings for this particular story.

CitizenLink.org (“helping you defend the family”) points out that rulings against gay marriage will, of course, save marriage (?) and will stop those “homosexual activists” from getting their way:

[Chairman of Focus on Family Action Dr.] Dobson said Americans are fed up with activist judges attempting to re-engineer the social structure of their states and the nation with a few strokes of a pen.

Gay City News doesn’t agree:

Seizing upon an illogical argument previously embraced by the Indiana Court of Appeals, a majority of New York’s highest court ruled on July 6 that it is rational for the Legislature to have excluded same-sex couples from marriage in order to encourage heterosexuals, who might carelessly or accidentally conceive children, to marry.

The radical perspectives of both sides make this Forbes article, the third in Google’s group, look far less biased.

It really angers me when critics accuse bloggers of being closed-minded and opinionated. The bloggers aren’t the problem; the problem is organizations that mask themselves as news outfits in order to spread their biased message.