If you are still kicking yourself a week later that you missed my pastor's sermon on CKBI 900, fear not!!!

You have a second chance to listen to it online. It appears on the Evangelical Lutheran Broadcast website, along with previous weeks' sermons from various Lutheran pastors in Saskatchewan.

Yardley sold out her three days supply of cupcakes on the first day, which made for some frantic baking and icing on Wednesday night!!! After three days, "Cups of Hope" had raised $936.00! This money helped to make up the $305,396.00 that C95 raised this year.

My co-worker Holly and I have been very busy lately ... folding hundreds of pink tissue paper flowers to cover a pair of giant three dimensional breasts.

Why, you ask?

Holly's daughter is heading up a breast cancer fundraiser next week called "Cups of Hope". Yardley will be selling pink breast-shaped cupcakes - complete with a chocolate-rosebud nipple. You can find Yardley and her sister Calley in the Arts Tunnel on the University of Saskatchewan campus from Wednesday, October 25th to Friday, October 27th from 10:00 am to 2:00pm. All of the money raised will be given to the C95 Radio Marathon For Breast Cancer Research. This is well worth the cost of $1 per cupcake, not only because of the worthy cause, but because Holly is the head baker. Holly is a whiz in the kitchen, but even so, I promised to give her a hand with baking the FIVE HUNDRED CUPCAKES she and her daughters will be decorating this week.

This is a new ad by Dove recently featured on The View.
Even before they used Photoshop, the transformation is unbelievable.

Thirteen days until Hallowe'en!!! To get in the spirit, check out these 30 second bunny horror movie parodies, as well as a Hallowe'en soundboard of spooky and funny audio clips.

Don't forget to click on the carrot of the vampire rabbit!!!

When I read the Star Phoenix today, I was surprised to see my grandmother's former next-door neighbours on the front page. Several years ago, the Kennedy's oldest daughter, Brianne, committed suicide. Now, her younger sisters, Callie and Jaclyn, are telling their sister's story to educate teens about depression and suicide. When I used to spend the summers with my grandma to work at the local Dairy Queen, these girls would have been no more than three or four years old. I am inspired by their choice to honour their sister's memory through fundraising and advocacy work.


Twin sisters Callie (left) and Jaclyn Kennedy
talk to students about depression and suicide prevention
after their sister, Brianne, took her life.
Photograph by : Dave Stobbe - StarPheonix
SISTERS SHARE PAIN OF LOSS

Brianne Kennedy suffered from depression.
She never hid that from the family.
But even they didn't know the depth of her despair, how raw the hurt.

Bob Florence, The StarPhoenix
Published: Tuesday, October 17, 2006

KINDERSLEY -- On the east side of town, where Kindersley ends and just before the wheat fields begin, there is a small park with wild brush and prairie grass and a great big sky. Brianne Kennedy had her Grade 12 graduation portrait done there.

Dressed in a grad gown so blue it would make the sky jealous and smiling that classic Brianne smile -- a smile that could make a stubble field spontaneously combust -- her portrait hangs on a wall just inside the front door of the Kennedy family home. Allan and Patti Kennedy had the house built six years ago. The arched, two-storey window in the living room looks straight across the street to the park on the edge of town.

The Kennedys have four daughters: Shalyn, 7, twins Callie and Jaclyn, 15, and Brianne, their oldest.

Brianne made the honour roll at Kindersley Composite High School, a whiz kid in algebra. She was on the Student Rep Council, a member of the Kindersley Composite Kobras cheerleading team. Graduating in 2003, she went on to the University of Saskatchewan.

She was studying commerce, had no definite career plans, but was in no hurry to decide, either. At 18, she'd only begun.

She ended her life at 19.

It was Aug. 31, a Tuesday, with the summer of 2004 over and a new school year about to start.

Why Brianne took her life that night is a question that Allan and Patti will always ask, knowing there is no definitive or comforting answer.

Brianne suffered from depression. She never hid that from the family. But even they didn't know the depth of her despair, how raw the hurt.

In a stanza from a memorial poem to their big sister, Callie and Jaclyn wrote:

We didn't know she was so broken inside
Pain was her secret she could no longer hide

Callie and Jaclyn both spoke at Brianne's funeral.

Thirteen years old then, 15 now, the twins continue to deal with their private grief in a very public way.

When they were assigned an oral presentation in their Grade 9 lifestyles class last spring, Callie and Jaclyn decided to speak on depression and suicide.

They stood at the front of Leanne Lomax's class and for a full hour they talked not just about what they'd learned in the course of their library research, but they also spoke from the heart, sharing their experience.

Encouraged by the response of the students, they later talked to three other classes at Kindersley Composite.

The Kindersley Clarion profiled Jaclyn and Callie in the paper six weeks ago, prompting invitations from Lloydminster and Marengo and Medicine Hat, asking if the sisters would come and speak to their students, too.

Yes, Jaclyn and Callie said. Absolutely yes.

They're a tag-team with a powerful message, a 1-2 combo with ambitious plans of going class to class and school to school to promote awareness of depression. Two Grade 10 students, they've become front-line educators on suicide prevention.

"A lot of people tell us we're strong," Jaclyn said.

"They say 'How can you do that, telling your personal story?' Someone has to do it. We need to talk about this."

Said Callie: "By talking about it, maybe another family won't go through what we have."

In addition to the speaking engagements, Callie and Jaclyn do fundraising. They ordered custom made rubber wristbands through a website and donate the proceeds from the sales -- the bands are $4 each -- to the Saskatchewan chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association for suicide prevention.

The message on the wristband reads "life is worth living." Between two white hearts on the bracelet are the initials B.C.K., for Brianne Carol Kennedy. Everyone in the Kennedy family wears a wristband.

"The loss wasn't only ours, the whole town felt it," said Patti Kennedy. "A lot of kids looked up to Brianne."

Said Jaclyn: "She wasn't judgmental. She wasn't into gossip."

Jaclyn paused. "She'd come home with her boyfriend and just hang out with us. How many big sisters are going to do that? She was cool with that."

Said Callie: "Nintendo was our thing. She liked playing Nintendo; always beat me." Callie laughed.

"What I miss," Callie said, "is just the everyday things. Like dinner; our family was always together then. Now she's not there."

Confusion. Anger. Grief. Losing Brianne has been all that and more for the Kennedys.

"I've forgiven her," Jaclyn said. "It just hurts to think how much she hurt; that she felt this was the only option." Jaclyn and Callie want to speak to more classes.

Though it's sometimes painful for the two of them, it's healing as well. Inspiring, even.

Standing in front of a class and talking about suicide and depression, taking those subjects out of the shadow and into the light, the two sisters become three.

Brianne -- that's where Callie and Jaclyn get their strength.

"She'd be glad we're doing this," Callie said.

Said Jaclyn: "We do this in honour of her. It makes me happy doing this for her."

bflorence@sp.canwest.com

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2006

This Sunday, October 22nd at 8:30 AM, 900 CKBI Prince Albert is broadcasting a sermon by Bruce Ehlert, one of my pastors.

Pastor Bruce is a former advertising writer/producer and radio broadcaster. When I called to find out the details, he told me, "After 30 years of being in broadcasting, I don't really think being on the radio is a big deal, but some people do".

I don't know what the topic of his sermon is going to be, but I highly recommend waking up early this Sunday to hear it. I haven't heard one of his sermons yet that I wouldn't consider to be a "good one". They are always funny, interesting, concise, and heartfelt. I'm very lucky to have the benefit of two pastors (the other being George Hind) who are very inspiring speakers as well as being quite supportive and approachable.

As an added bonus, Pastor Bruce has what I would call "a radio voice". He once told me, "You wouldn't believe how much money I paid to sound like this, and now they want people who sound natural".

I hope you will consider checking it out if you are up that early this Sunday!

You can listen to the station online,
on Channel 824 on Sasktel Max digital cable,
or on AM radio at 900 CKBI.

You can also "listen live" at
Redeemer Lutheran Church
812 Preston Avenue
(on the corner of Preston Avenue and Main Street)
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
6:54 PM Saturday
9 AM and 11 AM Sunday

I received an e-mail forward this weekend about an inspiring father and son marathon team, written by Rick Reilly from Sports Illustrated:

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair, but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming, and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars - all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much - except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11, they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that".

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped", Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years, Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: in 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzz kill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way", he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 - only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago, he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago." So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once".

I actually think that I have received this forward in the past, but this time, a video accompanied it. The person who sent it to me said that he got choked up, and the same happened to me when I saw what I had read in the story come to life.

The video is below, along with the link to the "Team Hoyt" website where you can learn more about Dick and Rick Hoyt.


http://www.teamhoyt.com

Good news, children of the 80s!!! Mr. T has returned.

"Ten years ago, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team."

Talk about wholesome viewing for the whole family. Soldiers of fortune? Move over, Highway to Heaven! Back in the 80s, all you needed was a group of people and a vehicle to have a T.V. show. When you think about it, The A-Team was basically an adult version of "Scooby Doo" ... driving around in a van ... solving crimes ...

Mr. T was a hero to kids in the 80s. My brother, Steven, even had a Mr. T colouring book. When Mr. T wasn't shouting at someone to stop their "jibber jabber", throwing people across the room, or "pitying fools", he could always be counted on for a reminder to "don't do drugs", "drink milk", and "be somebody ... or be somebody's fool!".



You'd think they could have found two kids closer in age for the intro. I thought that girl was the mother! I was getting ready to call a social worker, the way she was slinging insults at that boy. Not to mention, nice Daisy Dukes and wool socks on Mr. T!

Finally, Mr. T has returned with a new Dr. Phil-type show called "I Pity The Fool". He has said that "T" will stand for both "tough" and "tender" as he motivates people to change their foolish ways. I personally can't wait to see this ...

"I pity the fool who marry you! Stop cheatin', sucka!!!"

All I know is ... Mr. T has to learn to use empathy, not pity, if he is going to make it in the counselling biz! I'm also thinking that any attempt at reflective listening is just going to come out as mocking the person ... with hilarious results.


I PITY THE FOOL
airs on STAR
at
5:30 PM Monday
6:00 PM Friday
4:00 PM Saturday
and
9:30 PM Sunday

I recently baked some cookies as a thank you gift for one of my pastors. He offered a cookie to his co-pastor, and the other pastor commented that they should get me to bake a whole bunch of cookies for the "Western Welcome Weekend" that they have coming up at my church.

I later e-mailed to say that I will do it, as long as they don't think it will be a budget concern, and I can turn in my receipts. Those cookies are quite decadent, but also expensive to make, due to having unsweetened, semi-sweet, milk, and white chocolate in them.

He e-mailed back to say that they already have someone else lined up to bake the "Cowpie Cookies" they need. The pastor commented that, "Deluxe chocolate cookies like that are a waste on youth. They tend inhale them without even tasting them," and "At that point I hadn't thought about what I was eating, only that it tasted good and was the right shape and color".

The first thought he had was, "That looks like a big pile of sh*t"?!?!

Usually, that's an insult, but in this case, I guess it would be a compliment!!!

The cookies I made were "Sweetie Pies" from Mrs. Field's Cookie Book, but I always refer to them as "Ressurection Cookies". The first time I made them, I brought them to church as part of a hospitality tray. My pastor tried one, and urged a visiting pastor to try them by telling him, "I'm looking forward to the ressurection, because I'm hoping it will be as good as those cookies!". On another date, he said, "These are the kind of cookies, that if you died when you were eating them, Saint Peter would tell you to go to Hell ... because you've already been to Heaven".

You can't really get a higher compliment on your baking than that ...

I got this e-mail today from Natasha, and decided it was an appropriate post for Thanksgiving day:

I am thankful for the wife who says, "It's hot dogs tonight!"
because she's home with me and not out with someone else.

I am thankful for the husband who's on the sofa being a couch potatoe
because he's home with me and not out at the bars.

I am thankful for the teenager who is complaining about doing dishes
because it means she is at home, not on the streets.

I am thankful for the taxes I pay
because it means that I am employed.

I am thankful for the mess to clean up after a party
because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

I am thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug
because it means that I have enough to eat.

I am thankful for my shadow that watches me work
because it means that I am out in the sunshine.

I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing
because it means I have a home.

I am thankful for all the complaining I hear about the government
because it means we have freedom of speech.

I am thankful for the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot
because it means that I am capable of walking and I have been blessed with transportation.

I am thankful for my huge heating bill
because it means that I am warm.

I am thankful for the lady behind me in church who sings off key
because it means that I can hear.

I am thankful for the pile of laundry and ironing
because it means that I have clothes to wear.

I am thankful for weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day
because it means that I have been capable of working hard.

I am thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours
because that means I am alive.

And finally, I am thankful for too much e-mail
because it means I have friends who are thinking of me.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

This past Friday, my co-workers and I had a "Farewell and Congratulations" party for Charlene, who has been my shift partner for the majority of the past two years. Charlene recently got a job with Corrections Canada, so she will not only be leaving us, but leaving Saskatoon to move to Prince Albert. While I am sad to see Char go, I am so excited and happy for her at the same time!



We had our party at The Crazy Cactus. Despite the fact that their interior decorator only likes to shop at Bazaar and Novelty, it's a really great place to go, sort of off of the beaten path. They have a really cool video jukebox, as well as the biggest, best, and most reasonably priced nachos in all of Saskatoon. The food and the service were excellent, and they even decorated our table with candy, confetti, and a banner for no extra charge!



GOOD LUCK, CHARLENE!!! I WILL MISS YOU!!!


Visit the
CRAZY CACTUS AT MELROSE
2404 Melrose Avenue
Saskatoon, SK
975-1266
for all of your nacho-related needs.

Tell them Karen sent you!!!
(... and they will likely reply, "Karen?!? Who's Karen?")

The other day, I bought "What's That Funny Look on Your Faith?", a collection of ninety "Inherit The Mirth" cartoons. I used one of these cartoons on my blog on July 30th and September 17th, but if you want to see more, you can go to the "Inherit the Mirth" online store. The book, as well as greeting cards, posters, magnets, calenders, and postcards can be purchased online or at Scott's Parable Christian store.

I was so excited when I read the "New Faces, New Places" column in the business section of today's Star Phoenix. There is a new store in Saskatoon which carries plus-sized ladies clothing!!! I love shopping at Penningtons, but it will be nice to have some more options. I plan to go check it out ASAP, especially since the article stated that they have wide calf leather boots ...

STORE DELIVERS TRENDY PLUS-SIZE CLOTHING OPTIONS

Shannon Boklaschuk, The StarPhoenix
Thursday, October 05, 2006

Kim Stranden's goal is to carry trendy plus-size fashions at her new store, Ravishing Clothing For Women.

"I got frustrated with the selection that's out there for clothing," said Stranden, who stocks sizes 14 to 30 at her shop. "The market really lacks options for plus-sized clothing, so that's sort of how I decided to start it."

Stranden, 26, set up shop on Third Avenue North at the end of September. She likes her store and the shop's location in downtown Saskatoon.

"I've got two levels in the location, so I'm able to renovate the upstairs to have more retail. I really like the store. Out of all the locations I looked at, I think this was the best one," she said.

"I like downtown. I think downtown's growing, and it's sort of exciting to be a part of that."

Stranden has about 980 square feet of space on her main floor and 750 square feet upstairs. She renovated the space herself, and describes the shop's decor as "very funky," with red walls and metallic and hardwood floors.

"I'm really trying to appeal to the younger audience, but still have clothing for all ages."

Stranden is bringing a variety of denim brands into Ravishing, as well as wide-calf leather boots, purses and jewelry that expands up to 24 inches. Her clothing comes from cities throughout Canada and the U.S.

"I have a couple Canadian designers -- one out of Vancouver and one out of Toronto -- and then my clothes come from New York and California," she said.

Stranden's name may be familiar to political watchers in Saskatoon. Before opening Ravishing, Stranden studied political science and women's and gender studies at the University of Saskatchewan, where she served as vice-president of student issues with the University of Saskatchewan Students' Union. When she was 23, she ran for city council during the 2003 civic election.

Opening Ravishing marked Stranden's first foray into the entrepreneurial world.

"It feels great," Stranden said of owning her store.

Stranden said customers are responding positively to her shop, and are finding it new, refreshing and different.

"They really, really like the clothes," she said.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except on Thursday, when it stays open until 9 p.m.

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2006


RAVISHING CLOTHING FOR WOMEN
Owner: Kim Stranden
107 Third Ave. North
343-7991

My name is Karen, and I am addicted to YouTube.

It has mostly happened since I began blogging. Nearly all my posts seem to contain an embedded video clip, if I can find one that is applicable.

Last night, I was watching the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, and comedian Dane Cook talked about YouTube as part of his monologue:

Every video ever made is already on YouTube, right? It's so weird. You, at your sixth grade elementary school recital singing, "Time After Time" is on YouTube. There's videos for everything. Do this. Here's a little test. Go home. Go to YouTube. Go to the search engine. Do this. Punch your keyboard. Just punch it twice; hit search. There's a video for that. Just type in something random: "A:F6". There's a fat ten-year-old with "A:F6" painted on his chest, and he sings a song, "A Colon F Six! A Colon F Six! A Colon F Siiiiix!", and you watch all ten minutes of that crap. You don't know why, but you have to watch the whole thing.

PS: I wanted to embed a clip of this, but I couldn't find one on YouTube.

Mark showed me the music video last night for "Here It Goes Again" by OK GO.

The choreography for this video features the band members on eight treadmills.
The video was shot in the lead singer's sister's spare room.

They also performed it live on the MTV VMA's without any errors.



This video was a follow up to their video for "A Million Ways", which became the most downloaded music video in history (9 million times).

It featured a choreographed dance in the lead singer's backyard.