Virginia Beach has been issued a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning for Thursday, Sept. 2 and Friday, Sept 3.  Hurricane Earl, registering as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, is scheduled to hit Virginia Beach sometime later today.  North Carolina coastal residents have already boarded up their windows and made hurricane emergency kits.  It might soon be time for Virginia Beach residents to do the same.

Necessary Items: It’s important to gather necessities in a “Hurricane Safety Kit” in case of power outage or emergency evacuation orders.  Recommended items for this kit include one gallon of water per person, and non-perishable food items to last at least 3 days.   Extra blankets, pillows, clothing are always a good idea to have on hand.  You will also need a first-aid kit, medicines, and toiletries.  You may also need a battery-operated radio, extra batteries.  Be sure to have a fully-charged cell phone, cash, and basic tools on hand.  Keep your important documentation in a water-proof container.  If you have children, you may want to include games.  Finally, gather the necessary pet-care items for your furry friends.

Have a Safety Plan: Create an evacuation plan.  Talk with your family or friends and know who will be going where if the hurricane hits.  Decide where everyone will go in case of an evacuation and designate one person to contact if people are split up. Follow local news regarding the hurricane and how close it is to your location.  Virginia Beach residents are provided with emergency shelters where individuals or families can go to get out of unsafe conditions.  These shelters (largely, public schools) are located throughout the South Hampton Roads area.  A list of these locations may be accessed HERE. This site includes a list of rules and regulations established by the American Red Cross to ensure the safety of all inhabitants.  In case of an evacuation, follow television and radio news stations for updates on the times these shelters will be available.

Protect your House: To avoid any harm to personal items, tie down lawn furniture and garbage cans.  Adhesive tape should be applied around the outside edges of window panes to secure glass panes or attach plywood boards to the windows.

Protect Personal Belongings: Bag up any belongings such as computers, electronics, trinkets and toys, etc. and leave them inside the house.  Park cars inside the garage and close the door to prevent debris damage.  A canvas cover can also be used to avoid this.  Electric garage doors can be detached by pulling the small cord attached to the garage door.  Tie trailers or boats to the ground or the house.  Remove outside antennas or dishes.  In case of an evacuation, turn off electricity, water and gas and leave immediately, don’t delay.

Want More Information?

Minute to Minute Twitter Updates on Hurricane Earl:

http://twitter.com/TWCBreaking

Virginia Beach Hurricane Preparedness:

www.vbgov.com/beprepared

National Weather Service Forecast:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Virginia+Beach&state=VA&site=AKQ&lat=36.7394&lon=-76.0437

Local Weather Coverage and Update Information:

http://www.wavy.com/subindex/weather/hurricane

“I’m graduating in the morning. Dig dong the bells are gonna chime. Just get me to the plaza on time.” (In tune of the “Get Me to the Church on Time,” song from My Fair Lady.)

This week has been a time of reflection and celebration. Enjoying the moment has quickly become far more than important than looking to the future, which is so refreshing. I suppose the reality of this fleeting moment in time has finally sunk into my thick, college-educated skull.

Tomorrow, my classmates and I will become college graduates – equipped and educated with the proper essentials to take on the wild world set before us. I for one, happen to think that we are well prepared. Despite how sudden this educational end of the road has sprung up on us, I believe that we are ready.

This moment seems so surreal, and I am not sure when the magnitude of it will truly sink in. It could be next week, it could when I land my first full-time job or it could be this Fall. I don’t know. What I do know for sure is that this chapter of life has been more valuable than I ever could have imagined. I have learned so much about life, myself, people – and of course Journalism.

To the Graduating Class of 2010, I tip my cap (and tassel) to you.

Go change the world!!!

Once a month, Regent’s English Club goes to an assisted living facility and spends an hour reading stories to seniors. We do this through a partnership with Tidewater Arts Outreach, a wonderful group that seeks to bring art and literature to members of our local society. For quite some time now, I’ve been trying to put together a nice, formal write-up encapsulating our experiences reading at

I realized today though, that our times with these lovely people are not formal. Rather, they are an amazing chance to interact with some wonderful people with entertaining life stories and experiences. Our part in the interaction is minimal- all we do is bring a story, read it aloud to them, and ask some interactive questions. Their answers make each meeting priceless.

These people all come from different lives, different backgrounds, and different countries. One woman immigrated from the political unrest in Germany in between the two world wars. Another woman told us what it was like growing up in a large family with a deceased mother and a workaholic father. Yet another woman shared her childhood experiences of living in a Catholic boarding school in Canada. A retired teacher told us what it was like to teach school while raising twin boys.

Our printed, polished, literary short stories by Doyle, O. Henry, Twain and Capote truly pale in comparison to the living, breathing epistles these people share with us. At the same time, it’s heartwarming to watch them listen to what we read- the peaceful, thoughtful expressions on their faces, and the way smiles creep onto their faces during humorous parts. They are so appreciative of us coming once a month to spend time with them, but really, I’m grateful to them for their willingness to open up about their lives.

I never leave Chesapeake Place without a feeling of regret- regret that I can’t spend more time talking with them, and regret that so many people are missing out on opportunities to interact with people like this. Local senior communities are a wealth of stories and experiences just waiting for an audience- why don’t you take an hour or two and invest in these wonderful people? You will never regret it!

Are you interested in getting to know some of these great people? The English Club will be doing several events with Chesapeake Place over the summer: visit them on the web at englishink.ning.com, or email them at typeoh@regent.edu for details!

Being as such, I tend to over think – often.

So bear with my over-thunked blog here:

As I’m about to graduate college, I’ve gone through about every conceivable emotion. Fear, hope, nostalgia, sadness, excitement, ambition, boastful, humble, defeated, mortified, unstoppable and trusting. And I’m sure that’s normal. To be honest, my mood changes – every day. Some days I’m hopeful, other days I’m completely defeated and sometimes I’m just plain ole sad that this chapter of my life is closing.

Today however, I have a renewed sense of trust. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.” I trust that holder of my future, God. I trust that He knows exactly why I was created, and He is going to be faithful to take me where I need to be. Of course, I’m going to have to hold up my end of the bargain here and work my booty off. That is no problemo in my book.

I also have a renewed sense of hope. I went in for my second job interview with a certain company today, and I feel great about it. Whether I get the job or not doesn’t really matter. Just the fact that there lies an opportunity is what makes me jazzed. I left that interview and headed straight into a workshop on anchoring Broadcast news. And that was sweet business. Reading from a teleprompter, speaking to the world and conveying the story (in a different way than I am used to) was exhilarating. After leaving that, I realized that I just spent my morning taking part in two very different things. Just having that opportunity of experience and growth makes me relish in the reality hope.

Seize every opportunity, let no experience go “un experienced.”

Here’s something you don’t see everyday in Hollywood: A blond haired gal with a conscience, who sings about embracing her flaws.

Caitlin Crosby is a 24-year-old singer/songwriter who grew up in L.A. surrounded by the entertainment industry. She’s seen a thing or two and she’s not afraid to address the issues that face her generation.

After following Caitlin’s career for the past 18 months, it was an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to interview her. Caitlin’s heart beats genuine, and her passion for this generation is contagious.

Her debut album titled “Flawz,” is infused with opulent pop/rock beats, thought provoking lyrics and her signature raspy voice.

Caitlin sings with grit, and conviction and she’s not apologizing to anyone for it. Unlike her female superstar counterparts who devote an entire album to songs about the ups and downs of fickle love, Caitlin sings about the ups and downs of this fickle thing called “life.”

You can find The Daily Runner’s full review of Caitlin’s debut album, “Flawz,” here.

To support Caitlin’s positive movement, please visit Love Your Flawz.

One of the benefits of life in the Virginia Beach area is the abundance and quality of local seafood. But not everyone wants to pay high prices at a fine dining establishment or seafood buffet. For the diner seeking a casual atmosphere, Bluewater Seafood offers down-home cooking at an affordable price.

Owned and operated by the same family for 31 years, the restaurant specializes in Southern-style food. Steve and Sharon Lopes share the cash register and the kitchen. Whole fish, raw fillets, oysters, scallops and curled shrimp gleam wetly on ice in the display cases at the back of the restaurant. Fresh, low-priced raw seafood may be brought home to be cooked, and food may be ordered to-go. A catering menu is also available.

When ordering seafood, the owners will ask you to select your choice from the display, or choose crab from the freezer. If desired, they will cook it for you on the spot—fried or steamed. Interested? Take a look at Bluewater’s diverse menu.

For lunch, I usually order a fried whiting or pollock fillet platter with sweet cornbread, green beans swimming in butter, candied yams and sweet tea. The cost of one of these platters with cornbread or hushpuppies, two vegetable sides, and excellent sweetened or unsweetened iced tea is $10. The amount of fish served with the platter is generous considering the price. Both of these fish are mild in flavor, flaky and moist. The batter at Bluewater Seafood is light and crispy. Watch out for small bones in the whiting and other smaller fish fillets.

When eating in, food is served in Styrofoam boxes with plastic eating utensils. Care is advised. The meal arrives hot enough to burn the roof of your mouth. In the past, I have also ordered steamed blue crab and snow crab legs. The juicy crabmeat will have you licking your fingers and wiping melted butter off your chin. Cracking crab claws can be messy and challenging. Plastic utensils aren’t up to the task, so bringing your own claw crackers and mallet is advised.

Items on the menu also include frog legs for the more adventurous diner, flounder for the more traditional, and chopped pork barbecue for those who prefer to leave the fish in the sea.  Dessert offerings include slices of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake and homemade banana pudding. This pudding is so popular, that it frequently sells out. Some locals call ahead and time their arrival at the restaurant so that they may eat the yummy dessert while it’s still warm.

So whether you are searching for comfort food or simply looking for a tasty treat, be sure to stop in for a bite to eat.

Bluewater Seafood at Woods Corner Shopping Center, 1920 Centerville Tpke, Virginia Beach, (757) 479-2823, Wed - Thu11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Fri & Sat11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

For Joy, 46, animation student, mother of three and soon-to-be June bride, life is pretty busy. Every day, she gets up, makes breakfast, sees her kids off to school, runs errands, plans the wedding, does homework, goes to class then makes – or gets – dinner. Thursday, March 25, started out like any other day. But that night proved to be extra-ordinary.

After finishing her night class at Regent, She met with her fiancée Eric Manoleros. It was late, they were hungry and they wanted something healthy at a place close-by. They decided to go to Kentucky Fried Chicken - having heard good things about their grilled chicken.

“The cashier was new and flustered,” Joy said. “The man in front of us wasn’t nice to her. When we walked up we smiled and told her we were easy people and joked with her to help her relax a bit. She was super appreciative and we prayed for her when we blessed our meal.”

As they looked around for a place to sit, they saw that most of the booths were dirty. They chose a table, which as Joy put it was “the least of evils.” For the next few minutes, they ate and talked about their day.

“We had our backs to the window…I was closest to it. Eric and I were talking, and I had just finished eating. I was tidying up my trash and a car parking to my right caught my attention…she parked right next to my car. Then we heard what sounded like an explosion – I thought that car exploded.”

“As Eric and I moved away from the window, the glass shattered into the restaurant and we saw the car. We looked at each other, then I ran for the door to check on the driver and make sure they were okay. She and her daughter were fine but a little in shock about what had just happened. I told the driver to turn the ignition off and get out of the car. I forced open the passenger door and held it so her daughter could get out.”

Thankfully, no one was hurt. The mother, Sheila, and daughter were “shaken up a bit,” and Joy and Eric were hit by debris. “But no cuts and no bruises.”

After the accident, both Joy and Eric stayed to pray with Sheila. She had just bought the Cruiser (a Toyota) a few weeks ago – one of the vehicles not listed for re-call. As Sheila explained, the car had come to a complete stop in the parking spot, when it suddenly jumped the curb and crashed into the side of the building. Her foot was on the brake the entire time.

Joy believes that their visit to KFC “was a divine appointment on more than one front.” That night, Joy and Eric were able to witness to the cashier and Sheila. They even spoke with one of the staff, who arrived after the accident – a man who usually sits in the booth that was hit by the car.

“He was amazed… going on about how he always sits in that exact spot during his break, but that night he had to run home for something.”

As Joy sees it, there is no question what kept her and the others safe that night. It was “a total God thing. For me, personally, it was a reminder that nothing surprises Him, no matter what is coming down the pike.”

Currently, Joy and Eric are busy planning for their June wedding and finding a new home. Joy plans to go back to KFC soon.

Live Blogging ‘American Idol’ – Top 7

8:00 – Who else forgot tonight was “Idol Gives Back” night.

8:05 – Casey was kind of meh. Not the best way to kick off the show.

8:13 – Lee’s singing Simon & Garfunkel’s classic – “The Boxer.”

8:16 – Liking his rendition of it, but when it hits those high notes, at times it sounds far too much like a screech/shout.

8:20 – On second, thought – I’m giving that performance of his two thumbs up. Lee brought it to a new level tonight.

8:25 – Oh dear, Timmy. Not too sure why you are still here.

8:30 – Tim. You are just….confusing. And your hair doesn’t move.

8:33 – Aaron, singing “I Believe I Can Fly.” Cliche.

8:36 – Simon, I’ve got to 100% agree. Aaron was boring. The kind of boring that if you heard it on the radio, you’d turn it off in a second.

8:41 – Siobhan’s voice is pure joy.

8:42 – Siobhan’s singing personality and her non-singing personality are polar opposites.

8:47 – Michael’s book of 200 potential song for Idol is pretty darn impressive.

8:50 – That was just odd.

8:52 – Crystal is next – ’bout time talent showed up tonight.

8:53 – Seriously – thank God Idol is only 1 hour tonight. Don’t think I could take much more of this.

THREE!!! That’s the magic number. As the time draws near, it justs get more and more exciting, doesn’t it? I suppose this is true for birth, marriage and…oh yeah, GRADUATION. This week was like hitting the mother-lode in the “Allelujah” department. I thankfully landed 3 job interviews this week, one of which I’ve actually gone to.

Everybody always asks the age old question, “How did it go?” Of course, they expect you to say, “It went great,” “Amazing,” and “I really feel like I have a chance at getting the job.” What if you simply said, “I bombed it.” I’d love to see their reaction, if people were actually truthful.

As much as you may have figured that was a lead in to me getting ready to tell you how I crashed and burned on my interview, I’m pleased to say I did the opposite. I was relaxed, the interviewer was relaxed and the Vice President (who I met before I left) was relaxed as well. If all 3 players in the game are at ease, it is much easier to formulate smooth, yet sincere answers.

I left there feeling great, but not even hoping or counting on anything because – let’s be honest – there is too much on this soon-to-be Graduate’s plate to even throw “over-thinking about job interview” into the mix. I left, that was that and I went on about life. Two days later, I received a call from the company saying I made it to round two, a second interview with none other than the Vice President! To find out if I sink or swim, tune in next week.

Courtesy of Flickr.com

One of the sad side effects of mankind’s constant advances in the area of technology seems to be that the number of people who will actually sit down to read a book are growing fewer and fewer. According to Steve Jobs, who was speaking about e-book readers, “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore…Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception [of e-book readers] is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.” One might also make the argument that the same is true of theater as well as other traditional forms of communication and entertainment. This might be because our constant desire to be on the cutting edge of these new advances merges, many times, with our desire to be entertained.

Despite this, two groups have joined forces to bring one great work (Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to be exact) to life using the power of social networking. According to Reuters, “Entitled “Such Tweet Sorrow,” the experiment is a collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Mudlark, which produces entertainment on mobile telephones.” Using a combination of Twitter and YouTube, both groups will be setting up the story to take place in the present day. As the story unfolds, viewers will be able to watch and even participate using these networks.

“Each character writes their own tweets, guided by an existing storyline and diary which outlines where they are at any moment in the adventure…Juliet, played by actress Charlotte Wakefield, is just turning 16 and wonders whether she should have a birthday party to celebrate. She posts a video on YouTube showing viewers a typical teenager’s bedroom. Her Twitter name is @julietcap16 while Romeo’s entry into the messaging world comes later as ‘he is too busy on his Xbox.’”

While their methods seem a bit unorthodox, both RSC and Mudlark might be on to something. Instead of finding ways of inviting the general public into a more traditional method of entertainment, they have taken that work and delivered it to them in a form that viewers might relate to a bit more readily. Based on this, it ought to be interesting to see how that turns out. Reuters quoted Charles Hunter, of Mudlark, who said, “We have no real idea of what the next five weeks will bring, but we are holding onto our seatbelts,” Michael Boyd, of RSC, added, “Our ambition is always to connect people with Shakespeare and bring actors and audiences closer together…Mobile phones don’t need to be the antichrist for theater. This digital experiment … allows our actors to use mobiles to tell their stories in real time and reach people wherever they are in a global theater.”