Hope R.

Ted or anyone else -- If my memory is correct - Stevie put out that tape without the blessing or help of TWI or Way Productions. She had the audacity to record it and sell it on her own!!! I also can't quite recall if, after that happened TWI wouldn't sell any music that wasn't a direct product of Way Productions -- those tapes were sold privately in local areas and at the ROA, but not through TWI's bookstore. Does anyone remember what year "Written in the Stars" was made.... I probably have it around somewhere, but would have to dig pretty deep into my stuff to find it!

I don't think I'll EVER forget LCM's rant about Stevie Kay Louis' tape. I don't recall it being a Word in Biz conference, I thought it was at a Region meeting in Atlanta. Perhaps he did it more than once. He went song by song and ripped each one to shreds. He criticized "He Knew the Author Well" because it was about the man who started the Buck Stove company, which I believe Stevie's husband, Jamie, was working for at the time. There's a lyric in it that quotes him saying "I can't hardly read or spell" but "he knew the author well". Craig went ape-sh1t ! He yelled that no one could possibly know God without being able to read "the Word" - so this man couldn't POSSIBLY know God because he was functionally illiterate. Another rant was regarding the fact that Stevie had her daughter sing on one of the songs. He thought it was the height of egotism. He said something like - "you're buying the tape to hear her --- not her kid!" I think he was p!ssed that she didn't write a song about Him.... or that she didn't ask HIM to sing on it with her! There was more - but those are the 2 I really remember. It sorta freaked me out - there was no reason at all for him to do that. No reason at all. It made me not want to write another song for TWI ever again for fear of that kind of hateful criticism. Hope R. P.S. Ken McC@w was not listed as a member of JN. I added it.

I had to add the line about the Corps bands... I also added a few names to the list of Joyful Noise that were left out, most notedly, our own Socks. Who put this on Wikipedia anyway?

Jonny - We did the same thing with The Sopranos. We were tired of hearing all the fuss about it - seeing magazine articles and listening to those who had HBO. We rented the first season and got HOOKED. Then we rented Season 2 and gave in and got HBO after about 4 episodes of Season 3. (Zixar was kind enough to send me a video tape of the first couple of episodes that year :) ) Okay - back to Deadwood. After tonight - I think Ian McShane should win every acting award that exists. The last scene was just amazing. I rewound it and watched it again because, like Tom said - the dialog is truly wonderful. I am so damn sad that this show is going away after this season. I know there are 4 more hours next summer - but it won't be enough. I think I'm going to go watch it again. Hope PS The grenade is in homage to my favorite band (next to The Beatles). I'm a recently inducted Green Day fan (since the "American Idiot" album), but have since become addicted to all their music. I thought it was just a phase, but I'm still not tired of listening to them. Jonny - beautiful pic. I never looked like that! :(

If the phone rings when Deadwood is on - I won't answer! Haven't read the entire thread, but my feeling about the language is the same as it is regarding The Sopranos or some punk rock groups ---- sometimes the "f" word is the right word in the context of the dialog. I can't imagine Tony Soprano saying "friggin" or "shoot" any more than I can imagine Al Swearengen saying "oh my goodness, gracious me!" Deadwood has some of the best acting I've ever seen - movies or TV. Robin Weigart (aka Calamity Jane) amazes me every week. Even the smaller roles are well done. William Sanderson ("hi, I'm Larry, and this is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl"), who plays EB Farnum is as sleazy and gritty as the rest of them. All that wonderful acting makes me believe that the language used in the show probably was used in the real Deadwood - though maybe not to the same extent. Here's a link to a recent interview with David Milch: (click here). He answers a couple of questions about why he feels the language is appropriate in the show. Anyway - I'm sad that this is the last season of episodes, but glad they're not pulling the plug completely. Without The Sopranos or Deadwood, I'm going to have to survive on Big Love and The 4400!!

Happppppppy Happppppy birthday - from all of me to you!!!

Hello America! It's good to be home again... Got back last Friday night. The flight from NY to Tampa felt longer than the flight from Brussels to New York! It was a good trip - a bit too long for me - I missed John and the kids terribly and felt they should be there to share it all with me. Ex10 - I hate to say it - but Brugges was very Disney-esque to me. Very sterile and quiet - almost too quiet after Amsterdam and Haarlem. The inner city caters to the tourist trade - lace shops, chocolate shops, tapestry shops, horse and buggy rides, canal tours, etc. I couldn't get a feel for the place. One night, my sister and I walked along a beautiful canal with homes on either side. It was dusk (which was about 10:30 at night), and we didn't see another soul and only a few of those tall, step-gabled homes had lights on in the windows. It was as if aliens had come and abducted everyone but us! In Amsterdam and Haarlem - there was always something going on - even after the stores closed. Cafes and coffee shops with tons of locals and tourists watching the World Cup, or street musicians, people out on their bicycles -- really lively -- especially in Haarlem - which to me was a miniature version of Amsterdam! But - Brugges had a couple of wonderful, old churches to see. We also went on a typical tourist trip for a day called "Triple Treat - Chocolate, Waffles and Beer", which took us into the outskirts of the city and into Damme and through some other quaint little towns. Then we went to a restaurant to eat Belgian Waffles, a chocolate store that did a chocolate making demo (with the opportunity to purchase the products, of course!). It ended up in a tavern where we had a lecture about Belgian beer and got to taste about 5 of them. It was very interesting being in Europe while the World Cup was going on. I don't think we "get" it here. It really is a world event. I mean -- Togo has a team... and Saudi Arabia! Someone said (fondly) that we Americans had a lot of nerve calling our baseball championship the "World" Series when it really only involves the US and Canada! The World Cup has more countries participating than the Olympics. Soccer (the true football) is THE game there. The day we arrived in Amsterdam, the Netherlands had won their match the night before. The city was draped in orange (the team color). Every night in the square, people gathered around big-screen TV's in the restaurants to watch the games. Most of us don't have a clue about the immensity of the World Cup. It was on 5 stations in 5 different languages on the TV in our hotel! I never saw an SUV or Pick-up truck - just bicycles and very small cars. (I want a Smart Car!!!!!!) I think I have a different view of the world now - it's hard to explain. I think Americans tend to be so ethnocentric (if that's the right word) and don't want to see too far beyond their borders. I read an article that said that only 30% of Americans had passports. Heck - I'm 51 and just got my first one! All in all it was a nice trip, but next time - the whole family goes -- hopefully to Italy.

Hey everyone - Liked Amsterdam a lot - absolutely LOVED Haarlem - it's just a smaller, kinder & gentler version of Amsterdam. My sister's breast cancer survivor group coverged here - about 10 of them who post on a forum much like this one. One of the women lives here and has been just wonderful about showing us around - the weather was much better here than we had in Amsterdam, as well. The World Cup is INSANE here - OMG - more enthusiasm for any SuperBowl or World Series I've ever seen. Leaving for Brugges in about 15 minutes - waiting for the cab in the hotel lobby. Will post more when I get home next weekend --- thanks for the advice... Hope PS I had the BEST Indonesian food I've ever had (not that I've had that much - but it was amazing). The Chinese was okay - but I've had better in NYC. Been eating a lot of bread and cheese.

I'm HERE! And what a lovely city! It's lively and laid back at the same time. And it's HOT - omg - unseasonably HOT! Have a lot more to do, only got here at 7:00 Monday morning and had to decompress from the jet-lag. We're shopping now for some stuff for John and the Kids. My sister's conference starts tomorrow so I'll see another part of the city we haven't been to yet. Going out for Chinese tonight --- I'll let you know if we find your restaurant. Love to all --- Hey Wackster - goot to "see" you to! xoxoxox

Jonny - About a week or so ago we received a phone call from an old friend of mine who lives in PA who told us that Toni was fatally ill. She was going to come down here to say goodbye but was told that it would probably be too late by the time she got here. We have not heard whether or not she had passed away, but I wouldn't doubt that the informaton you received is correct. :(

Great link - which led me to some other really good sites as well - thanks. And... I have to do this.... Corrie Ten Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom!!!!

Well, living in Tampa, I'm just going to predict we won't have ANY named storms headed this way. We could use some rain, though, so a nice. wet tropical storm could actually be a good thing.

Thank you! Mark -- I've heard about the pick-pockets and the "window shopping" in the red light district!! I'm looking forward to the coffee houses and their fare, but don't want to over indulge - just want to say I did it! I don't have to worry about getting tested once I get home! The Lonely Planet comments that Amsterdam is the dog sh!t capitol of the world and that after a while one learns to look down when walking! We're staying at the Schiller Hotel - it looks great and the reviews were terrific. We're also staying in local hotels in the other places we're going. Thanks so much for the tip on the Chinese food! I thought I was going to be stuck with herring (ugh). They're celebrating Rembrandt's 400th birthday this year - and I think the final week of the celebration is while we're there. I also plan on going to the Anne Frank house - I don't think the trip would be complete without it.

Hi everyone! I'm travelling to Europe for the first time in about 10 days. My sister invited me to go to her annual IAFMHS Convention which is in Amsterdam this year. We'll be there for 5 days. From there we're going to Haarlem to meet with some of the women in her breast cancer survivors group who are from the surrounding countries. After that we go to Brugges, Belgium - which looks really beautiful. We end up leaving from Brussels. We have a rail pass that's good for 5 trips and are figuring out some of the side trips as we go along. I thought about going to Calais from Brugges (it's only about an hour). I don't want to try to cram too much into the trip - but want to see as much as I can without getting in a frenzy! (remember the movie "If It's Tuesday, this must be Belgium"?) Anyway - I need some advice from you seasoned travellers... any tips on how to NOT look like a tourist (like NO fannie packs!), or anything you may have learned from going far away from home. I opened a gmail account so I can communicate with family & friends from internet cafes. I'm a bit anxious - leaving John with the kids for 2 weeks (they're old enough to take care of themselves - it's HIM I'm worried about!). I've also never flown that far for that long. I'm not a good flyer either - and consider air travel a necessary evil. It should be a wonderful experience. I realized I haven't spent two weeks alone with my sister since we were kids - and she's an amazing person! So - any tips? Thanks xoxox

I'm glad Taylor won... but I kept wanting for him to sing "A Little Help From My Friends" ala Joe Cocker!! The song they wrote for him was crap. Kat is too much like a Barbie doll - too plastic for my tastes. There are so many talented young women out there who sing like her and have that perfect hair-do... and it seems they all want to be Mariah Carey - all those trills! It would have been better if Mandisa and Chris were in the final 2 - and much harder to pick a winner. Mandisa was amazing last night. Is the band that Chris sang with a Christian Rock band? Sounded like it to me. Anyway, I'm glad it was Taylor. It proves that America wanted a change from the "Idol" mold.

IT'S FICTION!!! And it's really good fiction, too. I read it when it first came out, and just read it again in anticipation for the film. I think I liked it even more the 2nd time around. If you haven't read it - read "Angels and Demons" first - it was actually written before "The DaVinci Code". I would have rather read them in that order. Anyway - I'm looking forward to the movie. The only comment I have on the trailers is that Tom Hanks' hair looks funny....

Thanks to you all!!! Yeah, Belle and Radar - it's been a YEAR! OMG! It was SO wonderful to hug both of you and amazing that you both came to visit. Last year I turned 50 and this year I've decided to go backwards - so I'm now 49! Works for me... love to all and many thanks -- xoxoxox

Most religious organizations teach tithing in one form or another. The church we attended for a while after leaving TWI taught it, but didn't INSIST on it. When they were building a new sanctuary, the pastor encouraged people to give to the building fund amounts that were "over and above" their tithe. That sent a chill down my spine, but I hadn't been out of TWI all that long at the time. Now I realize that churches/synagogues/mosques etc., are BUSINESSES, and businesses need money to keep running. My parents, who never cared for TWI but didn't object to my participation, didn't object to the tithe teaching. I recall my mom saying something like "if they're providing a service you enjoy, if you're getting something out of it, then you should give them something in return." It seemed to make good sense to me. Whether or not the lack of tithing has made life better or worse for us... I don't think it has. We still give to others in many way - more ways than just throwing money at them. Towards the end of my time at TWI, tithing - actually "abundant sharing" became an obligation, not a blessing. The giving was not done with a cheerful heart, but with a touch of fear -- fear of rejection and /or chastisement by leadership. Now how is THAT going to "bless" anyone? So, we don't write a check to anyone anymore, and really, nothing has changed - except the same thing others have said... I have more money to give wherever I choose to give, without obligation, or as the bible says "not grudgingly or of necessity". That's what ABS in TWI became - a huge, frustrating burden.

There are quite a few organizations that discourage debt - Christian and non- Christian. They try to teach people to live within their means and not get into debt so deep that it ruins their lives. It’s basically common sense. It’s really a no-brainer. But TWI talked out of both sides of its mouth when it came to debt. Many years ago HEW used to say that you should never have debt for anything except a house and a car. Then the misinterpretation of “Owe no man anything but to love one another” became TWI’s debt doctrine. Debt became sin - not just poor judgment and bad financial planning. When one of the newer Advanced Classes was first made available to grads, the rules were that no one in debt could attend -- the exceptions were: 1. Mortgages 2. Student loans 3. Medical bills 4. Business loans If an AC grad had any of those debts they could attend… but… after the grad classes ended and the “new student” classes started running - NO debt of ANY kind was allowed. John attended one of the grad classes. I couldn’t clear my schedule until after those were offered, and since we had a mortgage at the time, I wasn’t allowed to take it! Poor me! Imagine how despondent I was (snicker, snicker). My favorite “no debt” encounter was when our BC’s wife confronted us for spending money on home improvements and a family cruise. She said we should have put that money towards paying off our mortgage. She said she knew people who “ate macaroni and cheese for a year” so they could pay off their debt. I thought “yeah, now THAT’S the abundant life for ya! Mac and Cheese for a year!” IMO, TWI’s rigid no debt policy was probably the turning point for those who had stayed in after PoP. They’d put up with a lot of LCM’s insane babblings and teachings - but no one could live up to those expectations. No one wanted to DECREASE their quality of life by giving up their homes to rent an apartment just to please a megalomaniac like LCM. I am sorry for those who did and wish there were some way TWI could compensate them for their losses.

I went back and forth between "rue the day" and "mixed feelings" and settled on the latter. The only reason my feelings are mixed is that if I hadn't been in the Corps I wouldn't have met so many wonderful people and I wouldn't have gone to a Corps weekend in Florida and met my husband of 24 years. The people (for the most part) were great. The rest (for the most part) was crap.

The closest definition as to what I believe is Deism. I came to the above conclusion before I knew that there was a belief called "Deism. No one "witnessed" to me about it. "The Age of Reason" - written over 200 years ago by Thomas Paine - is an amazing document (click here), and it confirmed that I was not alone in this belief and it wasn't some kind of "new age" idea or cult. It has helped me realize so much of what I was taught for 29 years in TWI was wrong. I may change my beliefs again in the future, but I doubt it. As for now, to quote Mr. Paine:

Uppity - We were WOW 2's - so everyone except ME actually wanted to be in Pine Bluff that year. Alison had been there the previous year and Sheila had been a WOW elsewhere. They wanted to be together and ended up choosing Pine Bluff. Greg had been there the year before and wanted another go at it. It was my interim year, and I had no choice in the matter (I remember crying my eyes out after I got my assignment). I think that was the only year TWI had the WOW 2 program. (1976 -1977). Guess it didn't work very well.

(John R logged in as Hope by accident)

Both Alison and her sister Sheila were my WOW sisters that year along with a guy named Greg (poor guy - he was outnumbered). We were WOW 2's. That meant that if you'd been a WOW before, you could pick the place you wanted to go. The sisters wanted to be together and Greg wanted to stay in PB, where he'd been a regular WOW the year before I was assigned there. It was a bit of a better deal, we were able to work 30 hours a week instead of 20, and could go home for Christmas. It was an awful year for me. Had it not been for the Firyn sisters and Billy B.(who was in Little Rock), I would have gone totally nuts. Mooney - I don't recall a Darlene either. Rhino - Ron and Joy H*zen - great folks!! They got married when I was there and soon had a baby! He's going to be 29 this year if my memory is correct! I wouldn't be surprised if they're still living there. Out of all the places TWI sent me, that is the one place I never want to set foot in again. Don't know if it's the town, the memories, or a little of both.

I was in my first year in the Sickth Corpse (the 2nd half of the year). Evan - we weren't on our interim year when the meeting that never was took place. VPW made EVERY Corps grad and interim year Corps come to Emporia for this "top secret" meeting. The reason I know that it was our first year was because I was in charge of assigning "Corps Buddies" to all the incoming Way Corps. What a dumb idea that was! I remember that Bob V!2nol@ was my Corps buddy. (in 2000 he was still in :( Anyway, they all had to get there on very short notice - and anyone who didn't was out of the Corps. I think this meant the Corps in other countries as well, not sure (there weren't too many at the time). I don't have as good a memory as alfakat - but I do recall hearing about the Communists taking over, heading for the hills, and buying gold. And if we didn't live up to the 5 Corps principles, run classes and witness, we'd be sunk. I do recall we weren't allowed to take notes. And Gawd forbid we told anyone about it - it was "lock box" information - and we all know what THAT means! The 2nd half of 1976 I was a WOW in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Awful, just awful.