Five years ago

It's been five years since The Station Nightclub Fire claimed the lives of 100 Great White fans in Rhode Island. It was the 4th largest nightclub tragedy in U.S. History. On April 23, 1940 a fire killed 198 people at the Rhythm Night Club dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi. 492 were killed in a fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts on November 28, 1942. The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky was where 165 people lost their lives in a fire on May 28, 1977. And right here in our backyards, five years ago today, 100 people were killed in a blaze that ripped through The Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island in under three minutes flat.

I don't much care for dragging up the past, as it just the that...the past. And nothing anyone can ever do or say will change it. It's horrible. It's a tragedy. It shouldn't have happened. But it's a fact. And it could have been avoided.

So who do we blame? The courts told us to blame the nightclub owners. They told us to blame Great White's road manager. Some people claim we should blame the manufacturers who made the sound-proofing that caught fire. Others blame the fire marshall, who passed the nightclub's fire safety inspection just a couple months before. Some of the victims' families tell us to blame the band. Some people say we should blame God. The answer isn't clear.

I don't think it will ever be clear, because there is no answer. We can continue to place blame on people all we want. It still won't make this tragedy go away. It will not take back all the pain and suffering. It won't bring back those that lost their lives. Nor will it undo the injuries done to those that survived. The scars will be there forever. And as we all know, scars are daily reminders of the past.

The only reason I'm even mentioning this is because I came across an article on The Station Nightclub Fire somewhere on the internet this morning. I don't remember where or how, but I do know that it was about the five year anniversary of the tragedy. I read the article, and quite frankly, I was appalled. And it was one little paragraph that totally ticked me off. Apparently one woman who lost her daughter in the fire desecrated the cross of another victim.

Let me explain. A makeshift "memorial" was erected on the site of The Station. There were (and may still be) 100 crosses. One for each of the victims that died that night. One of the vctims was Ty Longley, the guitarist for Great White. This woman decided that Ty Longley killed her daughter because it was his bands fault that the fire occurred in the first place. So what did she do? She took down his cross and threw it in the woods. I'm sure this woman's daughter is rolling over in her grave.

So again, who do we blame for this tragedy? I still say that there's no answer. It was an accident, not an on-purpose. This is one of the reasons that the world has gone to shit. Because everyone is looking for a scapegoat. People need to blame someone. Hell, my family and I could do the same. We could blame The President for killing my cousin in Iraq. Sure, if it wasn't for The President, my cousin may still be alive. It is his fault that we went to Iraq in the first place. But, then again, my cousin is the one who decided to join the Marines post 9/11. So sure, it may be the bands/tour manager/club owners fault that the pyrotechnics were ignited. But, those people chose to go to the club that night. And believe me, I'm not blaming the victims in ANY WAY. I'm just saying....there is no one to blame. It was an accident. A terrible tragedy that should never have happened, for many reasons.

And why the hell does it take this kind of horror to set people straight? Why is it that people only change their ways after some one loses their life? Shouldn't we be taking care of the one thing that means the most right from the get go...our life? We only have one to live, so why not live it to the best of our ability? Live it the way it's meant to be lived. Know that your life effects so many people. The choices we make our not just for our own personal benefit. Like the saying goes....

To the world you may be one person. But to one person you may be the world.

Happy Valentine's Day...

What a commercial holiday...if you can even consider it a holiday. I certainly don't. I usually dread Valentine's Day for the simple fact that I've spent so many of them without anyone to share it with. This year is different, of course. Last year I didn't get anything from Ron ON Valentine's day...but I did get my engagement ring two days later. I'm eager to see hwta he got me this year. He's a terrible gift giver I must admit. He just comes up with the corniest gifts. and I guess it really shouldn't matter as it's the thought that counts.

Anyway, I bought him a bunch of stuff. I'd list it all, but there's too much too list. So I took a picture instead. If you can figure out what everything is, power to ya! Now all I have to do is put it all together and let him open it later when he gets home. Hopefully he'll like everyhting.

No more eggs...

The eggs that were on the left are no longer there. Apparently, I killed all 3 of the dragons. Besides that, the game was pretty stupid and quite a waste of time, not to mention...I forgot how to log on.

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of searching on IMdb regarding the SAW franchise. I guess it's my new obsession. Some of the people there are so much more obsessed than I am. But, in watching SAW IV, there are still a lot of questions that have yet to be answered for me. I know I'll have to wait until October to get some of the answers, but it's baffling to me.

I'm still unemployed. And I'm still enjoying it. It's nice to not have to get up when it is 6 below zero. I am getting quite bored, but that's ok, I'm coping. I know, I know...such a hard life.

Last Friday I decided to go visit my Nana, since I hadn't stopped by to see her in awhile. I stayed for a couple of hours and we talked about a few things. Mainly why it was so damn hot in her apartment. She had the heat cranked up to 80 degrees. I ended up turning it down to 74, but I know it didn't stay there long. We also went through some old pictures she had. A couple of my Grampa and her before and after they got married so many years ago. I don't think she throws too much out. She had the newspaper clippings of my parents' wedding, and my Grampa's old license from 1985, his birth certificate, social security card, military papers and just some scraps of paper he had written stuff on. It made me sad. Especially since he wasn't there for my wedding, or my graduation, or anything really. He passed away in 1988, when I was just 14, the day after Christmas. 20 years this Christmas, makes the holidays hard. He's missed so much by all of us.

My husband and I went shopping yesterday, for some odds and ends that we were running out of. Spent a whopping $145.00 which shocked him because we didn't buy too much. But we did buy a movie and I got a couple Rascal Flatts CDs, which I'm listening to right now. I love "My Wish." Makes me cry...God I'm emotional for absolutely no reason at all.

hubby decided I wanted to buy a pizza at the store last night, one of those Digiorno pizzas, you know the frozen ones. Well, he ended up cooking it last night for dinner, it was pretty good, but I prefer fresh baked pizza. We ate dinner while we watched the movie that we bought, "Saw IV." They aren't even scary movies, but pretty gruesome and twisted. I was going to buy all 4 of the Saw movies, but only ended up getting the 4th one. I'll get the others eventually. I'm waiting for Saw V, because you know that there's going to be another one. It always leaves room for another sequel at the end.

I've got a million things I could and should be doing right now...like laundry, dishes, cleaning...blah, blah, blah. But it's still early, it's only 8:00am and I'll eventually get to it. It's too cold to venture outside, although I do need to walk to the main building to reload my laundry card, but that's about the extent of my great outdoors adventure today.

I've been reading the reviews of Saw IV and quite honestly, I can't see how so many people are confused by the movie. It's so self explanatory. It appears that so many people (or those who've reviewed the movie, anyway) are getting sick of the whole Saw franchise. That's fine, really. But in all honestly, if you're getting bored or tired of a movie franchise...STOP WATCHING IT! Duh!!! Honestly, let's think about this for a second shall we? Nightmare on Elm Street had what...7 sequels, making a total of 8 movies. I watched the first 3 and had enough. Haven't watched once since and I don't plan on it. It's not realistic at all. The first Nightmare movie was the best...but that's the standard. The first movie in a franchise is usally always the best. Halloween has a total of like 9 movies. I think I watched the first one, maybe the first 2. But again, not realistic and ended up becoming extremely stupid, so I stopped watching, all on my own accord, because I wear big girl panties and know how to make my own decisions. Sheesh, even the Scream franchise had like 3 movies. What else? Rocky, Rambo...they all go on and on and on. Honestly...The Rocky producers should, if they intend on making another Rocky movie, would do well to have Rocky reconcile with his son and teach his son to box. But that's just my humble opinion.

Ok, well...I'm off to get some stuff around the house done. I have to repot my plant, make the bed, do the dishes, start some laundry and watch SAW IV again. I 've been reading teh threads on IMDB.com, and they're pissing me off. Seriously, people speculate too much.

Today is the big day. Superbowl Sunday...The Pats vs. The Giants. I'm rooting for the Pats, naturally. They're 18-0. One to go. Will they make history? I think they will, but we'll have to watch and see. My husband and I are staying home and watching the game, alone. Neither of us are real big football fans. We don't watch the games, but we will be watching today.



I went to bed at about 2:00am this morning. There was something on that I wanted to watch at 9:00pm last night, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. We ended up watching The Fantastic Four instead, which was a pretty good movie. I was a little confused at first as to who the "Four" were, I thought there were five or something. He helped me figure it all out, thankfully.