A Very Uncommon Name

I know–you thought I had stopped blogging altogether. I have just 2 lectures and 2 finals left this semester–actually in finishing my post-bac! As soon as I’m finished with Riverpoint I’ll be back full-force. Until then, I found an interesting meaning to my name.

the symbolic laurel meaning deals with:

Glory
Victory
Nobility
Immortality
Intellectual superiority
Second Sight (the gift of prophecy)
Recognition (renown) of High Achievement
Long-term Vision (“big picture” understandings)

is kicked off primarily from the ancient Latin word laurus which means triumph/success/victory. The Latin moniker for the laurel plant is laurus nobilis, which accentuates the theme of high honor as nobilis is a term meaning nobility/regal status.

So what’s the big deal about the laurel plant?

We can look to Greco-Roman mythology for insights where Apollo was interminably and hopelessly in love with Daphne. And, in spite of his endless wooing, Daphne would have none of Apollo’s advances (in part, due to Cupid’s “reverse-action” arrow shot at Daphne which made her loathe Apollo).

Daphne’s dad, Peneus, observed Apollo’s unmerciless pursuit of his daughter and how it made her so weary. Being the kind-hearted father he was, he decided to offer Daphne a break from Apollo’s over-exuberance by transforming her into a laurel tree.

Seeing this, Apollo proclaimed the laurel tree forever sacred, forever a plant of divine status. And this, is where we see our ancient forebears creating wreaths of laurel leaves – the symbol of crowning glory and achievement as rewarded to the winners of those who have undergone Olympic challenges.

The laurel acknowledges higher accomplishment of the soul – and did so way before it was recruited as a sign of physical prowess as we see in ancient Olympic games.

Laurel leaves were used to adorn people with distinctly precious and uncommon insights. Furthermore, the mark of the laurel could only be worn by those who used their higher knowledge and spirituality to serve the public in beneficial ways.

And so, only the best, the most cunning and most noble in heart and deed were given the honor of wearing the laurel. Supreme priests, priestesses, prophets, poets, heroes and royalty would be adorned with laurel – but only if they commanded their gifts of intellect and willpower in honorable ways.

These chosen few tacitly lived by the old adage “with great power comes great responsibility” – they gave of their insight selflessly because it was their responsibility to do so – and upon these noble souls where the mantle of laurel shall rest.

I particularly love ancient Chinese views of the laurel meaning. In Chinese myth, the laurel plant is associated with the moon, and so shares its themes of femininity, intuitive power and immortality.

Within the moon lives the Jade Rabbit (interestingly, Chinese symbolism of jade is very auspicious and deals with fortune, luck, wealth and status). The Jade Rabbit is a very clever herbalist and is always busy with mortar and pestle, grinding up sacred mixtures to supply the elixir of immortality to those who are worthy of it. Laurel is said to be one of the secret ingredients used by this ancient rabbit chemist.

This may come from Chinese legend claiming one of the eight Immortals lived in the laurel bush. Hé Qióng, the Sacred Virgin and one of the eight Immortals picked laurel leaves and supplied them to the Jade Rabbit – this act is profound in symbolism – it speaks of tenderness, cooperation, feminine power, tradition and abiding by the infinite quality of both Time and Nature.

These are just some thoughts about laurel meaning, as well as the laurel’s ties to the name Laura.

As you can see from this short entry, symbolic laurel meaning is rife with import, and those who bear its name (in whole, or in part) will share these incredibly vibrant flavors in deed and personality.

Scary Carl + Grades

We huddled together in my dark closet, apprehensive to make noise, and worried he would return and do something worse. My roommate dialed 9-1-1 on her cellular phone and told the operator in a wavering tone of voice that our landlord had assailed us by kicking in the front door during a fit of rage. The operator got the address to our secluded basement apartment and assured us she would send help.

This was just the latest in a series of escalating acts of harassment since 2004 had begun. Preceding this, I heard a sound in the living room and walked out of the bedroom to see my erratic landlord had used his keys to let himself inside without prior notice, or even a knock. I still have no idea what he was planning to do that day, and I began to use my chain lock regularly because I did not want to find out.

A few long moments after our frantic emergency call, the police arrived. They were so astounded by the profound damage to the door and the frame that they took pictures. Though the landlord owned the property he had destroyed, he severed the chain lock, which had violated our reasonable expectation of privacy. While the police were collecting the evidence and writing their reports, the landlord came back to the house to “fix the door.” The police arrested him, but a few hours after his release from jail that same day, our implacable landlord antagonized us by shouting through the living room window. It was at that point my roommate went to stay with her boyfriend.

I had nowhere else to go with more than a month left on my lease, and fall finals were commencing in one week. I was fretful the arrest had inflamed our fractious landlord even more and he would come in while I was showering or sleeping and do terrible things. I locked the screen door and the front door; not that it mattered, as he had keys to both. Then I took further precaution by barricading myself inside using the futon. After one sleepless night, I went to get a restraining order against my landlord. I was granted an ex parte that kept him from setting foot on the property but still, I was overwrought. I figured a piece of paper would do little to stop my volatile landlord from terrorizing me.

This atmosphere of paranoia and chaos was not conducive to studying. At the time, aside from being enervated from fear, I did not realize I had any recourse. I assumed since the University of Missouri was closing for winter break, there was no possibility of taking my finals later. I felt I had no choice but to muddle through my exams and hope for the best. In my restive state, I bombed every test I attempted, probably dropping my grade about a full letter in each class.

If something extraordinarily aberrant like that happened these days I would inform my professors in an attempt to get accommodation on my final exams. Alerting the university of my predicament would be my next step, as I vowed never again to be reticent with my school when I am in crises. I regret that my grades suffered during that trying time, but this disturbing incident taught me the life lesson of not taking my safety for granted and how to utilize the police, the courts, and the university system in place to help people with such dilemmas. In combination with my more formal lessons imparted from academia, this upsetting episode helped shape me into the strong, resilient person that I am today.

Related articles

• Top Things to Consider When Apartment Hunting
• How to Deal with an Uncooperative Landlord
• Do You Know Your Basic Rights as a Tenant? – Rent.com | The Shared Wall
• How to Assess the Security Risks of an Apartment Building
• Clampdown call over rogue landlords
• Diana Clement: Landlords’ gripes reveal perils of property
• Landlord Tenant Rights: What a Landlord Cannot Do
• Landlord and tenant rights: what to do with a rental nightmare
• Landlord suspect in killing of 2 to plead insanity
• Heading Out on Your Own – Day 18: Renting Your First Apartment
• A tenant’s tale of the landlord from hell

I’m Stressed! And Behind.

Dysphagia Potluck:  DONE!!!

+/- make a muffin tin with mix-ins and labels and print pic

-box up add-ins to take separately?

-make more rice

-pack it in crockpot to take to school

–>I’ve begun to worry about a food-borne illness situation with all that rice, chicken, and seafood that may or may not remain at hot temperatures.  Because of this, I’ve pretty much nixed the idea of putting many varieties in a muffin tin–I don’t wanna KILL my classmates. . .

Anatomy Exam THIS Thursday):

-Study sheets

Lang Dev Exam (next Tues?!):

-Go through flashcards

-Study ppt

Lang Dev Language Sample (Monday of finals week, 12/10?):

-finish outlining textbook

-do works cited page

-address the suggested techniques

-talk about Brown’s stage and dev. level

-use exp of pragmatics

-define all jargon in paper

-print out copies of paper and transcript, as well as my Qs

-meet with tutor Thurs after 2 PM to go over Qs and edit

-make charts of info

-use syntactic structures in write-up

-read it aloud

-edit and dbl check everything!

Anatomy Paper (Thursday, 12/6):

-paraphrase info

-dbl check citations in-text

-fix reference sheet

-use one quote from every source

-read paper aloud

-edit paper

-write intro

-decide and begin handout and ppt

-work on presentation

Wants (over winter break):

+unpack

+upload pics

-edit pics

-edit pics

-upload vids

-write blogs

Bee to Try

In honor of finishing my comprehensive final today (and my first semester of a new career aspiration) here is a decidedly summery post:   00 Pound Monkey
	2. AleSmith Speedway Stout
	3. Alhambra
	4. Anchor Steam
	5. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
	6. Beamish
	7. Beck’s
	8. Blue Moon
	9. Boddingtons
	10. Boulevard Wheat
	11. Breckenridge Agave Wheat
	12. Brooklyn Brown Ale
	13. Super Goose
	14. Chamberlain Pale Ale
	15. Chimay Red Ale
	16. Shock Top Raspberry Wheat Ale
	17. Koko Brown coconut beer
	18. Corona
	19. Daisy Cutter Pale Ale
	20. Deschutes Red Chair NWPA
	21. Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale
	22. Dos Equis
	23. Double Diamond
	24. Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale
	25. Flying Dog IPA
	26. Flying Fish Exit 11
	27. Northern Lights Crystal Bitter
	28. Free State Oatmeal Stout
	29. Full Nelson Pale Ale
	30. Ginger Bee
	31. Goose Island 312
	32. Guinness
	33. Hair of the Dog Matt
	34. Hamms
	35. Harp
	36. He’Brew the Chosen Beer
	37. Pike Triple Ale
	38. Hop Juice Double IPA
	39. Ithaca Beer Company Brute
	40. Kentucky Breakfast Stout
	41. Cold Smoke Scotch Ale
	42. Killian’s Irish Red
	43.Lemongrass Wheat
	44. Land Shark
	45. Left Hand Porter
	46. Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss
	47. Lindemans Framboise
	48. Lion Stout
	49. London Pride
	50. Post Road Pumpkin
	51. Tumbleweed IPA
	52. Mirror Pond Pale Ale
	53. Molson
	54. Moon Man
	55. Moose Drool Brown Ale
	56. Mt. Carmel Nut Brown Ale
	57. Shiva IPA
	58. Negra Modelo
	59. New Belgium Fat Tire
	60. Newcastle
	61. North Coast Blue Star
	62. O’Dell 90 Shilling
	63. Old Rasputin Imperial Stout
	64. Old Style
	65. Dead Horse
	66. Pliny the Elder
	67. Red Stripe
	68. Rogue Dead Guy Ale
	69. Rogue Mocha Porter
	70. Rolling Rock
	71. Samuel Adams Boston Lager
	72. Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout
	73. Sapporo
	74. Sarajevsko Pivo
	75. Schlitz
	76. Shiner Bock
	77. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
	78. Sleeman Lager
	79. Smithwicks
	80. Smuttynose Summer Weizen
	81. Snow
	82. Son Of A Peach
	83. Stella Artois
	84. Stone Imperial Russian Stout
	85. Surly Coffee Bender
	86. Tecate
	87. Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster
	88. The Abyss
	89. Tommyknocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale
	90. Tongue Buckler – Imperial Red Ale
	91. Trout Slayer
	92. Two Hearted Ale
	93. Warsteiner
	94. Whistler Black Tusk Ale
	95. Widmer Hefeweizen
	96. Wild Blue
	97. Wisconsin Belgian Red
	98. Wynona’s Big Brown Ale
	99. Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
	100. Yuengling   I promise a legit post tomorrow!

Carl

We huddled together in my dark closet, terrified to make noise, and worried he would return and do something worse.  My roommate dialed 9-1-1 on her cell phone, it was the first time I had ever had the need to call the emergency line.  She spoke in a wavering tone that our landlord had kicked in the front door during a fit of rage, and we were scared.  The operator got the address to our finished basement apartment and ensured us she would send help.

This was just the last in a series of progressively terrorizing acts of harassment.  When I complained that my electricity and water had been turned off for three days despite my religious payment of utilities and rent, my landlord had issued menacing phone calls telling me to stop complaining, especially to my parents.  Another time, I heard a sound in my living room and walked out of my bedroom to see my landlord had used his keys to let himself in without warning.  I still have no idea what he was planning to do that day, and I did not want to find out.  It was that incident that prompted me to start using the chain lock.  This time, my roommate and I had not come to the door quickly enough after he knocked, so he broke it down.

When the police arrived and walked around the corner to where our front door used to be, they were shocked at the damage.  While taking pictures of the door, which had shredded wood along the sides where it had been broken off the hinges, they made a special effort to capture the broken chain lock on film.  They said, though our landlord technically owned this property he had broken our reasonable expectation for privacy by severing the chain lock.

While the police were still there, the landlord returned, presumably to fix the door he had kicked in earlier that day.  The police told him to stop walking towards us and put his hands above his head.  Coming closer, he started to argue that he owned the house, and refused to comply.  The confrontation reached a point where the police had to physically restrain my tall landlord and put him in their car.  They told us, because he did not have a prior record they would have to release him in a few hours.

We knew that he would be furious when he was released, and my roommate and I scurried about trying to regain a semblance of safety by putting the door back up.  Miraculously, the door was back on its hinges within the hour, and we were inside, still shaken from the earlier episode.  That evening, we heard shouting at the front of our house, and entered the living room to see our landlord’s angry and contorted face peering into the screen window, shouting to let him inside.  He wanted the keys he had left in the door back.  We had no choice, but to give the landlord the keys to his property.

Now he would be able to enter our apartment any time.  And we had no chain lock to keep him out!  My roommate went to stay with her boyfriend.  I had to stay in the basement apartment by myself. . .  I had forty days until my lease was up, and my landlord had reason to come back because not only was he furious with me for getting him arrested, he was dating the lady that lived upstairs.  I was afraid the landlord would come in while I was in the shower or sleeping and do terrible things to me.  I locked the screen door and the front door–not that it mattered as he had they keys to both.  Then, I barricaded myself inside by pushing my futon in front of the door.  I was still unsettled so a friend loaned me her pit bull.  The flaw in that plan was the pit bull was not the least bit aggressive, and I forgot that I would have to take her outside to go potty.  After a sleepless night, I went to get a restraining order against my landlord.  I was granted an ex-parte that kept him from setting foot on the property, including the upstairs portion of the house, until the trail for the restraining order.  I was still afraid though.  I figured if someone was willing to break a door down, why would a piece of paper stop him from doing something else?

This atmosphere of fear and paranoia was not conducive to studying, to say the least.  I did not think it would make a difference to speak to my professors about my living situation.  We were going into summer break, and there was just no time to take finals later or retake all my exams, so I muddled through hoping for the best.  I bombed every test I attempted, dropping my grade about a full letter in each class.