Miss Raquel

[formergothardite]

As I relax in my desk chair, clothed in vermilion Happy Bunny pajama pants and only the finest in LOLcat shirts, I happened to ponder if Miss Raquel will ever reveal to us the state of her horse. How's that poor horse?

She hasn't updated the FB page devoted to her horse lately, but in July she posted this:

Raquel forgot to fill my water last night, so I finished it off completely...and then dragged the whole tank to the gate.

She's still trying to figure out how I did it

I guess she has stopped having the horse boarded and it now taking care of him herself (which means he is neglected). I just don't see her having it in her to do all the really hard stuff that caring for a horse involves. I bet she "forgets" to give him water and food on a regular basis.

[blatantlyeggplant]

The terrible thing about Raquel is that she is all about the surface of things, and she wants adoration and glory while avoiding criticism or any kind of hard work. And so she wants to be a singer, but not take any kind of lessons or put herself through the difficulties of approaching agents or trying to get gigs in small venues. She wants to be a photographer, but not take lessons. She wants to be an actor, but is too scared to go through with auditions. She wants to be a writer, but doesn't want to get an editor or experience the pain of having her work rejected. Even the endless photos of herself strike me as a way for her to be adored in much the way a model would be, while avoiding the painful possibility that real models experience of being rejected for not having the right look. Even her posturing as a homeschooled, Christian stay-at-home daughter is just an act: she wants the respect in her circles that comes from living 'a set-apart life' while still wearing jeans, enjoying secular entertainment and spending hours and hours on the internet.

Her aspirations are sort of like the things I thought when I was a young child. I went through phases of wanting to be, respectively, a professional ballerina, an Olympic gymnast and a circus performer with Cirque du Soleil. The difference was, I was nine years old. I was also taking ballet and gymnastics lessons and going to circus skills classes at summer camp. And I was exposed to criticism and learnt that I was not the most amazing ballerina (or gymnast or whatever) in the world. The other difference is that I went through 13 years of public schooling, which taught me (along with the actual academic things I learnt) that I had strengths and weaknesses in certain areas, but that hard work would make my strengths stronger and my weaknesses less weak. It taught me how to pursue work in fields which played to my strengths, and that while I might enjoy doing certain things, I didn't necessarily have talent in those areas. You don't need public education to learn this, but you do need to expose yourself to criticism, something Raquel is incapable of doing. She doesn't want to learn or work at anything: she just wants the world to be a mirror reflecting back her own sense of importance. She doesn't want friends or teachers, she wants sycophants and enablers. I feel very, very sorry for her.

YES. EXACTLY THIS.

I know she has at least one comment that hasn't seen the light of day, very kindly and politely pointing out the perils of multi-level-marketing schemes and asking how the product differs from something that can be bought in a store. Not surprised at all.

[formergothardite]

I suspect that she got a lot more comments than are posted, she just doesn't want to post anything that questions her, not even if they come from her usually adoring fans.

[gravelmonkey]

She hasn't updated the FB page devoted to her horse lately, but in July she posted this:

Raquel forgot to fill my water last night, so I finished it off completely...and then dragged the whole tank to the gate.

She's still trying to figure out how I did it

Here's a hint, Miss Raquel - the horse didn't do that for your amusement.

ETA: I'm dumbfounded. Do her parents not give her the "personal responsibility in caring for a living creature" lecture? How does she think this is okay/something you should admit in public?

[formergothardite]

I can't see posts on her horse's FB page anymore. Is that a glitch or did she make them private because she doesn't want people to read about how she neglects her animal?

Also, she is now teaching a class:

Starting my very own portrait drawing class. I'm the teacher.

I've seen her portraits, they are okay, but really not good enough to make her a teacher. She will never put herself in a position to be crticized. She only wants positions where she can be praised.

[Effie]

Where can you see her portraits?

[formergothardite]

She posted them a year or so ago. They weren't bad or anything, just nothing I would look at and think "Wow, she is really good at this and should teach a class.".

[Wandering]

I feel kind of bad for her. It's apparent that she's desperate for others to praise and adore her; an existence that hinges on adoration from others seems like a sad one.

[Bredonny]

As I sit here on my love seat that I "borrowed" from a friend and have neglected to return, wearing an unwashed shirt and sweatpants, my farting greyhound snuggled up next to me, my hair in a messy ponytail, I think, Eh. Raquel doesn't seem that bad. She's 17, and a very immature 17, like many religious homeschoolers tend to be. She's moony and self-absorbed and shallow and dramatic like a lot of teenagers (although most do or at least SHOULD grow out of that by the time they're 13). Maybe making a "to become a young adult list" would help, instead of a bucket list. I'd put on it:

-visit a poor country (Africa, SE Asia) and see how people live

-read Our Bodies, Ourselves and everything written by Gloria Steinem, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris

-attend twelfth grade at a public school- any public school will do

-get a job, she might enjoy working at Starbucks

-volunteer at a shelter for abused women and children

-visit the Apartheid Museum and the Holocaust Museum so she can see what real persecution looks like

That's all I can come up with for now, I need to go heat up some leftovers for dinner and feed said farting greyhound some kibble.

[Sola]

I feel kind of bad for her. It's apparent that she's desperate for others to praise and adore her; an existence that hinges on adoration from others seems like a sad one.

She does seem very needy. She wants the adoration of her blog followers, wants approval all the time that she's some godly figure of awesomeness. Ironically, there is one that does genuinely adore her; the horse. Not that she takes a lot of notice of it these days.

[formergothardite]

The thing is, is if she actually went out and really helped others or went to college and worked on her writing skills, she might end up with all the praise and adoration she wants. But she wants the praise without doing any of the hard work.

[blatantlyeggplant]

>> having the opportunity to speak about your ministry at a documentary showing

What is this ministry of which she speaks? I've never seen her write about it before.

[Cran]

Being a SAHD under her father's headship is in her mind probably a ministry in itself.

[formergothardite]

She started a charity one time to give pillows (pillow cases?) to women/girls who were saved from sex trafficing. She had a blog about it but the entire blog was pretty much nothing but pictures of herself.

[freealljs]

I suspect that she got a lot more comments than are posted, she just doesn't want to post anything that questions her, not even if they come from her usually adoring fans.

THIS!!

When she posted about wanting to write a book and she wanted ideas, I suggested to her that she gain more life experience instead of asking people for ideas. I wasn't mean or snarky about it, but she never published my comment.

[formergothardite]

Here is a link that shows some of her portraits.

http://god-sdaughter.blogspot.com/2011/ ... ctors.html

I can't find her charity blog.

Edited:

http://www.firstnightoffreedom.org/

She changed it. Originally it was all pictures of her holding flowers or gazing down modestly.

[stum_ble]

Sometimes, while making a pillow, my arms get tired, my fingers get cramped…but God showed me that my little bits of pain and discomfort are nothing compared to what some peers are going through.

Good lord.

Has she abandoned this little endeavor now?

[crazyforkate]

Her post today...was she going on about how she wasn't over Jesus? Ugh.

[formergothardite]

Blathering on about "your love has covered me" sounds dirty. LOL

[Michael Mock]

Is her blog really popular enough that people would walk around wearing a shirt that says "God's Daughter"?

To be fair, I'm actually sort of tempted. I think it would bring out my eyes.

[Lady_M]

I couldn't help myself, so I checked out the pillowcase page.

It sort of reminded me about all the recent focus on some charities that send things like shirts to other countries that someone started calling "SWEDOW" (stuff we don't want). The main thing that struck me was how SWEDOW tends to be characterized as not being so much focused on the recipients of the items, but on the filling a need for the person sending them (such as cleaning out the closet, feeling good about being charitable, etc.). Raquel's project pretty much fits this to a T. The pillowcases, while a nice thought, are really about how awesome Raquel is (demonstrated by her writing about how much HER fingers hurt at times). And they're just not necessary items. Women/girls (and men/boys also) getting out of being trafficked in the sex trade need so very many things - from clothing and personal items, to medical attention, education, safe places to live, mental health attention, etc. There's really not enough money for all of that, and to spend such badly needed funds/time on pillowcases?

I was a little bit gratified to see that she's added "personal items" to the list...but I wish she'd get her head out of the clouds and if she's going to do charitable endeavors, work to understand the needs of the population she's trying to serve. Otherwise, it's just a waste of funds that could have gone to doing real work. In some ways, it's not even about the pillowcases, it's the way this charity act does more for Raquel than the people she says she's trying to help.

I know I'm ranting, but this is an enormous pet peeve of mine.

[Bredonny]

It sort of reminded me about all the recent focus on some charities that send things like shirts to other countries that someone started calling "SWEDOW" (stuff we don't want). The main thing that struck me was how SWEDOW tends to be characterized as not being so much focused on the recipients of the items, but on the filling a need for the person sending them (such as cleaning out the closet, feeling good about being charitable, etc.). Raquel's project pretty much fits this to a T. The pillowcases, while a nice thought, are really about how awesome Raquel is (demonstrated by her writing about how much HER fingers hurt at times). And they're just not necessary items. Women/girls (and men/boys also) getting out of being trafficked in the sex trade need so very many things - from clothing and personal items, to medical attention, education, safe places to live, mental health attention, etc. There's really not enough money for all of that, and to spend such badly needed funds/time on pillowcases?

Yep. This.

[redcurls]

Good lord.

Has she abandoned this little endeavor now?

If it's that hard for Miss Raquel to make a pillow, she's doing it wrong.

[Shea]

I couldn't help myself, so I checked out the pillowcase page.

It sort of reminded me about all the recent focus on some charities that send things like shirts to other countries that someone started calling "SWEDOW" (stuff we don't want). The main thing that struck me was how SWEDOW tends to be characterized as not being so much focused on the recipients of the items, but on the filling a need for the person sending them (such as cleaning out the closet, feeling good about being charitable, etc.). Raquel's project pretty much fits this to a T. The pillowcases, while a nice thought, are really about how awesome Raquel is (demonstrated by her writing about how much HER fingers hurt at times). And they're just not necessary items. Women/girls (and men/boys also) getting out of being trafficked in the sex trade need so very many things - from clothing and personal items, to medical attention, education, safe places to live, mental health attention, etc. There's really not enough money for all of that, and to spend such badly needed funds/time on pillowcases?

I was a little bit gratified to see that she's added "personal items" to the list...but I wish she'd get her head out of the clouds and if she's going to do charitable endeavors, work to understand the needs of the population she's trying to serve. Otherwise, it's just a waste of funds that could have gone to doing real work. In some ways, it's not even about the pillowcases, it's the way this charity act does more for Raquel than the people she says she's trying to help.

I know I'm ranting, but this is an enormous pet peeve of mine.

Her page reminds me of that too, especially the characteristic of having to fulfill one's own need instead of that of a person in need. Many people don't realize that sometimes donations are actually not necessary, or have a negative effect on a countries economy. For example, many organizations donate used clothing to regions of Africa, which decreases business for clothing companies over there. Also, sometimes even people in need don't want ratty, period-blood stained sweatpants.

Pillowcases seems like such a weird item to donate too. Like, toothbrushes and shampoo and socks/underwear are all very understandable and would probably be greatly appreciated, but pillowcases just seem random and like they would be supplied anyway.

Also, long time lurker, first time poster! Hi everybody! :)

[blatantlyeggplant]

Does anyone have a link for the Youtube account God opened for Miss Raquel? I've been looking around but can only find the one she already had. Maybe He has set it to be private...