Junior Beta Club Spreads Childhood Cancer Awareness

A special group of middle school students team up to raise awareness for childhood cancer when their own classmates are affected.

The Junior Beta Club at Worth County Middle School asked their students to bring in any spare change to donate to CURE Childhood Cancer.  The fundraising was in memory of Adam Giddens, who lost his battle to cancer.  Adam was the son of Terry Giddens, a teacher at the Middle School.  The students were also donating in honor of Christopher Oates, (who is) a student currently battling Ewing Sarcoma, a form of childhood cancer.  All-in-all the students collected a total of $450.00, which they donated to CURE. 

We greatly appreciate everyone at Worth County Middle School who donated, as well as the Beta Club Officers, who decided to help raise awareness of childhood cancer at their school and honor both Adam and Christopher.

10 Songs I Listen To Religiously.

The Song: “New Clouds, Not Clouds“
The Artist: Spiral Beach
Notable Lyrics: “Just try to smile, your sound is just a style.”
Why This Song Appeals To Me: It may be cliche to say this, but this song is unlike anything I have ever heard. Their use of the synthesizer will drive your mind wild. You may recognize this song from the movie Charlie Bartlett, in which they appear along with two other songs of theirs.

The Song: “Bomb”
The Artist: New Young Pony Club (NYPC)
Notable Lyrics: “Oh, oh, oh, battle was fought and won. Who took  advantage and who was defenseless?”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: This song will embed itself in your brain, and it will be stuck in your head for days. It’s so darn catchy! When it’s on, you can’t help but break out and dance along. They don’t call NYPC “new rave” for nothing!

The Song: “Homecoming”
The Artist: The Teenagers
Notable Lyrics: “On day two, I fucked her. It was wild. She’s such a slut.”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: This song is strangely erotic. Unlike most artists, The Teenagers sing their songs in a “talking” style which adds to the provocative vibe of the song. The spoken and sensual lyrics are accompanied by an interesting repetitive riff.

The Song: “Healer”
The Artist: Chromatics
Notable Lyrics: “Waving, from rusted balconies.”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: Ruth Radelet’s voice makes this song what it is; absolutely stunning. This song haunts you with is simple but beautiful lyrics softly sung along to what it possibly the best bass line ever.

The Song: “Vanished”
The Artist: Crystal Castles
Notable Lyrics: “The smell of your sweat, just lures me in.”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: Alice Glass and Ethan Kath are a super duo who create some of the best electronic music I have come across. They commonly use a vocoder to distort the vocals, which makes this song more interesting than it already is. Even though the song is upbeat, it is soothing and puts you in a mellow mood. Lay back, and enjoy the beat.

The Song: “Lullaby”
The Artist: The Cure
Notable Lyrics: “Don’t struggle like that, or I will only love you more.”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: It should be apparent that this is my favorite Cure song. In fact, the title of this very blog comes from this song. A majority of this song is whispered in a sultry voice by Robert Smith. This song, although it has a dark subject matter, is very relaxing.

The Song: “Ancient Curse”
The Artist: Peter, Bjorn, and John
Notable Lyrics: “Don’t get me wrong now, but we were doomed from the start.”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: I could listen to the song on repeat, and never get sick of it. Peter, Bjorn, and John are one of the many wonder bands to emerge from Sweden. The haunting melody alone makes me love this song. Though, the lyrics are my favorite part. I feel like I can relate to this song.

The Song: “I Know I’ll See You”
The Artist: A Place To Bury Strangers
Notable Lyrics: “Holding dear the last breath in my lungs.”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: While their music is bordering along the line of noise, there is something appealing about their songs; this song in particular. This song never fails to send shivers down my spine. They make New York City proud.

The Song: “Future Primitive”
The Artist: The Papercuts
Notable Lyrics: “Well we cross the river once, and we’ll do it once again. The valley will open, and the mountains fall to their knees.”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: This song has some of the most beautiful lyrics. The lyrics are stunning. In fact, most of their songs are beautiful. It’s shocking that this band hasn’t merged onto the mainstream scene.

The Song: “Magic”
The Artist: Ladyhawke
Notable Lyrics: “One life here with me and it’s magic.”

Why This Song Appeals To Me: The title of the song might as well be the best definition to describe it. Magic. This song was love at first listen. This song is so catchy, you can’t help but sing along (that is, if you know the lyrics). Ladyhawke has several amazing songs, but this song of hers is by far the best.

Acupuncture Cures Everything.

My new favorite dogmatist of the day are the Chinese Medicine converts.

If you read an advertisement for Seven Star Acupuncture, located here in Portland, Oregon, you will discover a list of conditions that Acupuncture can magically cure…(I embellish for lack of recollection and for the pure fun of it).

1) Epilepsy

2) Parasites

3) Cancer

4) Irritable Bowel Syndrome

5) Trick knee

6) the list goes on.
These are some powerful little needles. It matters not the etiology, whether unnatural cell growth, stomach critters, or broken bones. It can all be remedied with a rebalancing of your Chi.

Lovely.

Sarcasm aside, and to be fair, I do recognize the shortcomings of Western Medicine. It is an astute observation that our treatments should be moving towards treating causes rather than symptoms and whole bodies instead of body parts.  However, it is difficult to dispute the effectiveness of certain treatments.

For example, as flawed as modern cancer medicine is, can one honestly believe that acupuncture is the anathema? This is difficult to swallow. Unless you are an ideologue. .

As much as I believe in the benefits of positive vibrations, I will probably never rely solely on Raki to combat a live virus inside of my body.

For those who have come this far and discovered no supporting evidence, just a fool’s rant, you are a keen observer.  But, such is the nature of blogs, correct?

The Ouroboros

The Ouroboros is a very ancient symbol, depicting a snake in the shape of a circle, eating its own tail.

Yeah, that’s great Josh.  So what?

Well, to me it represents something else, that I’d like to share with you.

Traditionally, the symbol signifies the cyclical nature of things.  The eater is also eaten, and is reborn through the process.

Jung saw it as the feedback process of life.  In human psychology, it would be the assimilation of the “shadow” side of the personality into a cycle of continuing psychological rebirth.

But, just as a hammer only sees nails, I see “systems” in this symbol.

The only reason that a human being would create a symbol like the Ouroboros (and it wasn’t just one, many cultures used this symbol), was if they saw it in nature.  Of course, the “ancients” paid much more attention to natural cycles than we do now, and put much more emphasis on those cycles in daily life (often of necessity – farming requires delicate attention to changes in annual cycles).

The only way they could recognize the cycle outside of themselves, was if they experienced it on some level internally.

The Ouroboros represents the nature of any system.

Any energy fed into a system, automatically is used to reinforce that system.

Now, here’s a “for instance.”

Production (in terms of industrial production, as we use it now) increases the incidence of cancer.

In the system that is the concept of life-via/as/through-production, the solution to cancer must be…

production.

That is, a solution must be produced!  Something must be made to cure the cancer!

The “cure” in such a system is found in pharmaceuticals, radiation treatment, etc.

But those systems require “production” – in a very real, very industrial sense.

They feed directly into the systemic pollution that (actually) caused the cancer to begin with.

The snake eats its tail.

What is a CURE Named Fund

With a gift of $25,000 or more, CURE Childhood Cancer will establish, at your request, a fund bearing the name you designate. These named funds offer ways for friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, foundations and/or corporations to commemorate special individuals, such as a child who has battled cancer or an individual who has demonstrated dedication to the field of pediatric cancer. 



Individuals and families or other groups may combine gifts made over time to meet the minimum amount. Once a named fund is established, gifts may be designated to the fund at any time. Families and friends may choose to let others know that the fund has been established and invite others to join them in support of this lasting tribute.

Generally, donations to named funds are directed to a range of research and program areas conducted or supported by CURE Childhood Cancer, dictated by areas of greatest need. However, funds may be restricted to a mutually agreed upon purpose that fits within CURE’s mission and organizational goals.

If your interested in learning more about how you can create at Named Fund at CURE Childhood Cancer, contact Executive Director Kirstin Connor at kirstin@curechildhoodcancer.org or 770.986.0035.

Our Current Named Funds

The Sam Robb Fund was created in memory of Sam Robb who lost his battle with cancer on June 25, 2007. The purpose of the fund is first to fully fund one of the two CURE Fellows and secondly to help pay for prosthetic devices for children diagnosed with cancer.

The Catie Wilkins Memorial Fund was created in memory of Catie Wilkins who battled cancer for 3 years and 4 months before succumbing to this disease. The primary purpose of the Catie Wilkins Memorial Fund is to fund clinical research on childhood cancers.

The Hayley Hunter Research Fund was created in honor of 9-year-old Hayley Hunter who battled cancer in 2008 and is currently in remission. The purpose of the Hayley Hunter Research Fund is to provide funding for basic and clinical research relating to neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer of the central nervous system.

“Press On”: The Patrick R. Chance Fund for Neuroblastoma Research was created in honor of 3-year-old Patrick R. Chance who was diagnosed with cancer in 2006. The purpose of Press On (the Patrick R. Chance Fund for Neuroblastoma Research) is to provide funding for basic and clinical research relating to neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer of the central nervous system.

Trenton W. Kindred Research Fund was created in honor of Trenton Kindred, the five year-old son of Greg and Ginger Kindred, who was diagnosed in 2005 with high risk, Stage IV Neuroblastoma. However, Trenton has now been free of cancer since June 2006. Proceeds from the Trenton W. Kindred Research Fund will be used to support childhood cancer research, supporting the doctors and scientists of the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Services of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine.

Never seen a fool like me

Fuck…

I was re-setting my phone because it has been acting up the past month or so, turning itself off and being generally slow and buggy…
Being a total moron like I am , I forget to copy my contacts to my memorystick, and therefor all of them, all of the close to 200-300 people are now gone…POOF, like that.

I mean shiet…I had some numbers saved on my SIM card, but most of them are useless because they were saved from early 2008, and since then I have gathered so many more.

I did however notice, that I still had my ex’s number on the SIM, which reminded me…why hadnt I deleted that long ago?
Now it is done, the last remains of a long reign of terror, gone.
How could I be so careless?

One does foolish things when in distress, and I am feeling alot of that right now :/
I am feeling slightly recovered from my illness, had a very good sleep a few hours ago.
Been drinking a lot of water as well, got several ottles in the freezer  for ultimate coolidge!

I am however feeling mental distress too, extremes colliding and making negative sparks.
Love, depression, anger, stress…

Sometimes I wish I didn’t know anyone and only had myself and myself only to depend on.
-Isn’t there some part of the brain you can cut away to relief the mind from caring?
To block out all elements of trouble so I could focus on that which is most important…no love, no nothing.

But then again, how much would I miss from life that way?
Pretty much…
Mental surgery, yeah I have heard of some people who have been so fucked up that was their only way out.
It is very sad though, I cannot imagine being so torn up and destroyed deep inside to have to go to such meaures.
I mean, I have been very depressed…but not close to some others.

Trying to turn to a brighter state of mind though, being thoughtful of the future, rather than the present.
But like Buddha says;
-Be weary of the future, but aware of the present.

Make Your Purchases Count With Babble Baby Wear

We welcome business partnerships and appreciate companies that want to help support CURE Childhood Cancer. There are several organizations that are using their business to help raise money for CURE. Each business donates a portion of its proceeds to benefit CURE.

One of these businesses is Babble Babywear. Babble babywear™ is a dynamic, sassy new company designed to tell the world what babies are thinking through original sayings and fun graphics. These colorful onesies have been described as that “favorite t-shirt with minimal design and maximum impact but with great baby humor.” Show off your bundle of joy in baby gear with attitude or show up at the next baby shower with the gift that everyone will be talking about.

Visit www.babblebabywear.com to order and use code BABBLECCC and $1 will be donated to CURE Childhood Cancer for every onesie purchased.

For more information on these sponsors and products, click here.

For questions on how your business can get involved, please contact CURE’s Executive Director, Kristin Connor at 770-986-0035 or kristin@curechildhoodcancer.org.