1 of My Stories

Here they are folks, the movies I must see each and every Christmas season. This is as necessary as breathing air to me. Some of the movies are just plain entertaining. Some of them are family favorites and remind of my younger childhood days when Christmas was truly magical. And some of them just make me laugh. Here's the list, in no particular order.

Many teen librarians are hosting library programs for making gocks (aka gothic sock puppets).Well, let me tell you, this program is hot! I even had a walk-in older male teen enter the programming room when he heard the announcement, a risky move in a roomful of teenage girls.



The program originally ran in VOYA magazine. You take ordinary socks, any pattern, although plain black or funky patterns work the best. Then, use hot glue to apply hair, googly eyes, facial features, and you have a gock. The gothic part comes in with how you decorate. Some teens made clothes for their gocks. Others applied liberal safety pins to represent piercings or body art.



Other teens were more creative. I don't have a picture of this, but one of my teens made what she termed an "emock" (emogock). She was very proud of his "emo tear" in one eye. I found the teens responded very enthusiastically to this. The ones that were in our Mock Printz book club brought their gocks to t…

When Christopher McCandless graduates from Emory University, his parents are sure he will follow the path they have set for him and become a lawyer. McCandless wants nothing to do with that. He has grown up watching his parents choke on the American dream. They seem terribly unhappy.

Instead, he wants to break out of the trap, give away all of his money, take only the most essential possessions on his back, and work his way up to his ultimate adventure: surviving alone in Alaska. He left home in summer of 2000. By April of 2002, he was ready to walk into the wilds of Alaska.

On September 6, 2002, McCandless's malnourished body was found dead in a bus he had survived in for the past several months. What lead him to this fate? Dying alone is no man's dream. Primary source material for this movie and the book it was based on are the journals McCandless filled while he was on the road.

We see his trek across the country. The people he met and befriended. Everyone seemed to like him. …

No one enjoys being sick, but once you get sick, what should you do to make it end as quickly as possible? I don't get sick very often, but it does happen on occasion. Usually, when I get sick, I get a cold, including a sore throat with chills and sometimes a stuffy nose. I don't usually get a fever or temperature, so keep that in mind when reading this article. Hopefully, by following these six steps, you will get over being sick quick.

1. Don't go outside for any reason

Stay in. It's okay. Eat the food in the cupboard. Call a friend to bring you something but don't go out all day. This will keep you from getting exposed to any germs as well as protect you from uncomfortable external temperatures. Just don't go outside.

2. Sleep a lot, especially at the beginning of the day

This step is one of the most difficult to follow for me. But whatever responsibilities you have can wait. If you don't rest now, you might be out for several days, and everything will …

If anyone had told me I would one day be crying during a movie about a man and his blow-up doll, I would have called them a liar. But, here I am, going through at least 3 Kleenex even after the movie is over. Lars and the Real Girl is a touching, quirky film that is a lesson in why people do the things they do. Anyone that is interested in social work, counseling, psychology, or ministry should watch this movie.

Lars is a quiet young man (probably 30s) who does not like to be touched. He works in a cubicle in some random office. Currently, he lives in the garage of his childhood home. His brother, Gus, and new wife, Karin, live in the connected house and are expecting a child soon. Karin puts a great deal of effort into trying to pull Lars out of his shell. Gus, on the other hand, thinks Lars is happy how he is. It's his choice to spend time alone, isn't it?

The status quo is shaken up, however, when Lars brings home a new girlfriend. Her name is Bianca, and she is a blow-up do…