clouds. church. sun. new people, where are you? class starts tomorrow, you ought to be swarming all over the place by now!
must book a flight to chicago, but can't until tomorrow afternoon (after i talk to beth). too bad it will be less than 14 days before i fly then, because that's usually cheaper. hopefully the one day under won't make a big difference!

yesterday was a day of nothing...amy and i sat and watched pride and prejudice--the six hour version--all day long. then we watched emma too, for a good jane austen fix. the evening capped off with Moulin Rouge. aah, ewan mcgregor. you've been busy in the living room this weekend! too bad you aren't really in the living room!

i keep feeling like i'm supposed to be doing something, but i'm not. i have nothing to do except wait for school to start. i'm afraid to start a new book because i don't know if i'll keep reading it when class is in session. my room is (relatively) clean. i don't have any job applications to fill out right now--i'm just waiting to hear back from the three i've already turned in. no homework, not many people around...no tv...generally nothing, basically. i should take a nap or something.

tonight, however, i am babysitting for two hours. yay money! :-)

a nap is sounding better and better. have you ever started to think about something then wanted it really badly? you know, chocolate, a new book, that cd you saw at starbucks, a nap...well, i'm there. :-)

today is mimosa saturday.

yay!

if you want to see a movie with really realistic fight scenes, great special effects, a fab soundtrack, and truly wonderful plot, i recommend "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" for your viewing pleasure.

we had fun last night.....

:-)

Charlie's Angels tonight. yay!

Greek starts monday. have I started learning it? yes, yes I have. I already knew the alphabet, of course, from when I decided to study greek last year (weird, i know, i know...whatever). I have learned two chapters of vocab and am trying to figure out the purpose of the accenting if it has nothing to do with pronunciation. so far i'mna go with...none. ha!

i know Ken is mad at me right now, but I thought of him today when I was in a mall food court and saw a sign at the japanese restaurant: a big red circle with MSG inside, and a red diagonal line across the middle (a la "no left turn"). Ken always orders No MSG at asian restaurants. anyway....

i'm going to eat dinner now. movie later. maybe by then i'll have something interesting to say.

isn't it interesting how the ads at the top of the page reflect the topics on the page? i used to have worship resources. now i have luggage ads. that's great.

hmm...new version of blogger has arrived for us free peoples. hmm. yay for a new color scheme, i guess?

mom reminded me yesterday that i forgot to tell one of the funniest stories from our road trip: the case of the missing contact case.
We're at susan's house (yes, that would make it day three) and we're going to magic mountain. mom wakes up to find that her contact case, which had been on the bathroom counter--with her contacts in it, mind you--has gone missing. a mischevious cat has stolen it! :-) after a LONG search of the whole house, it was found underneath a rug by the back door. hmmm....
after mom put her contacts in she put the empty case INTO her toiletry bag. we came home from magic mountain to find that it was again missing, for she had apparently neglected to zip the bag all the way up. hehehe! this time it was behind a filing cabinet at the bottom of the stairs.

apparently susan's cats enjoy stealing things. interestingly, they've never stolen susan's contact case, which is exactly the same. hmmm....

anyway, it was absolutely HILARIOUS. we looked everywhere, susan kept asking the one cat she was sure hadn't done it..."taz, did you see who did this? did you see where they put it? did you?" and she would continuously ask the ones she was pretty sure did do it: "which one of you did this? blanche, was it you? NED...did you take it? what did you do with it?" heheheehehhehehe...

FYI: it was determined that the first time it was a blanche job, because there were no teeth marks. the second time could have been a ned exploit, though. hmm...

sneaky, frisky kitties!

the new kitten at the chicas' house is very frisky herself--she likes to jump and play. apparently that makes her psychotic, according to noell. whatever. that's just what kittens do. :-)

i wish i was a kitten sometimes. then i wouldn't have to learn greek.
and greek hasn't even started yet. LOL.

one never knows, does one.

no, one does not.

ok, here's the final breakdown.

The Epic Road Trip
the recap, summary, final thoughts, whatever

*vehicle: 1993 Ford Explorer, Eddie Bauer Edition, maroon.
*persons: two. until we picked up a hitchhiker (Amy) just north of Houston. then we were 3. :-)
*Stuffed pandas: one.
*luggage: one Very Large suitcase. One smaller suitcase. Two duffel bags. One garment bag. One backpack. One laptop computer. One blanket, one pillow, one large towel, one hand towel, one washcloth. One large cooler. One bag full of snack food. Two food items as overflow from the bag.
*Snacks: Two cases of water, two and a half cases of coke/dr. pepper (total throughout the trip--we restocked in houston). Guacamole-flavored chips. trail mix. pop tarts. corn pops. fruit loops. wheat thins. pudding.
*Total days: 12
*Total driving days: 9
*Total distance: 4,794.1 miles
*Total gas: 227.791 gallons. 15 fill-ups.
*Average gas mileage: 21.046 miles per gallon. with the air conditioning on, in hills and mountains and plains and valleys...
*Highest price paid for fuel: $2.09.9
*Lowest price paid for fuel: $1.39.9
*Total amount spent on fuel: $341.12
*States: 10. Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia.
*Hotels: 5
*Friend's/Family's houses: 3
*Major sights seen: lots. including but not limited to: Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, The Very Large Array (of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory), Roswell New Mexico's UFO museum, The Continental Divide, Carlsbad Caverns, The Alamo, Avery Island--the Tabasco place, New Orleans' French Quarter.
*Total National Parks visited: 3
*Total State Parks rejected upon arrival due to unreasonable cost and unknowledgeable rangers: 1
*Total private parks rejected upon arrival due to unreasonable cost, bad timing, or the cheesy factor: 4
*Towns rejected as places to stay due to scariness, dirtiness, or extra time in the day where we could clearly keep driving: 3
*amount of driving done by mom: All.
*amount of driving done by me: none.
*hills and mountains seen: tons.
*grass: lots. only two national grasslands though.
*trees: not many until Louisiana/Mississippi and especially Alabama/Georgia. Too many then.
*total time spent driving through unpopulated areas with boring scenery...or with occasional small towns consisting of five houses, a "store", and a sign with no indication of population: probably about 50 hours, at least. maybe more.
*cactus: well, lots of different varieties, but no saguaro, unfortunately. I've been denied the opportunity to get my picture taken next to a saguaro cactus, standing with my arms turned up (bent at the elbows) imitating the cactus. So far, anyway.
*tumbleweed: one that I saw. I slept some of the time though.
*CD's played: 52 without repeating. nearly 70 total.
*wildlife seen (alive): 4 deer in one place (nowhere near a sign telling us to watch out for deer). lots of prairie dogs, on route 66 in arizona. snake on the road (might have been dead though, we don't know.) some squirrels. two california condors. some buzzards. a couple of snowy egrets. about half a million bats. literally.
*wildlife seen (dead): deer, in Carlsbad, NM. dog. lots and lots of roadkill of various kinds, including raccoon.
*wildlife not seen though we were warned about it by roadsigns, making me very disappointed when we never saw one: elk, bear, deer, alligator.
*total time spent in the car: hours upon hours. at least 72 hours, probably more.
*longest driving day: 11 hours.
*longest sight-seeing day(s): Grand Canyon/Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, and Carlsbad Caverns. (days 5 and 7, respectively)
*Total amusement parks visited: two six flags. soon to add one (tomorrow!) though it might not really count, but mom IS still here, after all.
*time zones crossed: three.
*mountain ranges: two. plus the texas hill country.
*swamp lands crossed: one. Louisiana.

*net effect: a VERY sore behind, bonding time with mom, a nice tan, lots of great sights of the US seen, a car in Atlanta so i'm no longer stranded on the CTS campus at the mercy of my classmates.

*total money spent: TONS and tons and tons. approximately $1,000, I think. just my estimate: mom might have a more accurate guess.

*the trip itself: priceless.

the end

ok, i'm back. here's the recap on the last few days.

day ten
Six Flags Astroworld. not as fun as magic mountain, but still fun. Highlight was definitely the barrell roll coaster--that was awesome!! there were no lines so we rode in the front on almost every ride. Mostly they weren't as fast as Magic Mountain, and not as thrill-ride-esque, but it was a good time. we were there when the park opened (10am) and we were out by 1, which is when the thunderstorms started and everything was shut down anyway. yay! The rest of the afternoon we just lazed about, planned the rest of the trip, did some shopping (re-stock of water and coke)...yeah. Amy made dinner--veggie lasagne, which was very good but which she left the spinach out of on accident. very funny! heheheh...we had spinach salad instead. :-)

day eleven
we left at 8:30, just as we planned, and drove to New Orleans via Avery Island. Avery Island is where they make Tabasco sauce...it was very cool. Good times! New Orleans was busy, dirty, hot, and humid. we drove down Bourbon Street, we walked around a little in the East End of the French Quarter, went to Louie Armstrong Park to take a picture, and we moved on. We stayed in Slidell for the night.

day twelve
the end...the last 8 hours! We drove via Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta. It was a pretty boring drive--lots of trees, amy and i slept while mom drove (no change there from the rest of the trip!), and one rainstorm so heavy that visibility was about 30 feet IF the car in front of you had their flashers on. We got to Atlanta around 8-ish Eastern Time. yay! we're here.

mom's still here, and prolly will be through the weekend. i'm going to a wedding in Johnson City, Tennessee this weekend and will be back Sunday night...then we're going to Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday! woohoo! :-)

there will be a complete stat list from the trip coming up tonight. watch this space!! :-)

again with the no internet. grr. why doesn't earthlink have local access numbers in every town in the country? isn't that their job? whatever. here's the update.

day six
drove to carlsbad, NM. boring drive, of course. we did go to roswell, and we went to the museum, and it was super cheesy but we had fun anyway. no, we did NOT take our pictures with the glittery flying saucer model or with the movie prop alien. tell me, why is it that we always assume that life from other planets is small, with big heads, no hair, and no clothes? this makes no sense. it's as bad as racism--isn't this the way we thought about africans, south americans, indigenous australians, etc, for many many years? anyway....it was fun to visit there, and we got to carlsbad caverns in time for the bat flight!
it was so so so cool....almost half a million bats flew out of the cave at sunset! too bad there were loud people nearby, but as i always say (whatever) "those who endure to the end shall be rewarded." we waited it out and once they left, the bats would fly SUPER close. some of them, i could even hear their wings beating they were so close! it was absolutely awesome.
so anyway, we spent the night in carlsbad and went to the caverns in the morning.

day seven
Carlsbad Caverns.
SO awesome. beautiful, and thankfully different from mammoth cave, because i've been there before! we took the Kings Palace tour, which was ranger guided. i love blackout tours, where the ranger turns the lights off for a few minutes and you can see how dark caves really are. anyway, then we did the self-guided "Big Room" tour, which was very good too. the room is absolutely huge. there are lots of formations too...but there's not as much color as mammoth cave. that's probably good, because mom apparently remembers something about the color of mammoth cave being caused by algae that grew because of the lighting system, so it wasn't actually part of the natural cave ecosystem. since, after all, calcite is colorless. anyway...the caverns rocked. heheh!
there is a lunchroom (and restrooms, yay!) down there, 75 stories underground. the options of food didn't look so good (the veggie burger would have to be microwaved. i don't think so.) so we just ate a super pretzel and went upstairs to the restaurant where I could have a veggie burger from the grill. :-) it was fun.
then we drove on...mom took a "shortcut" that meant we didn't have to go back north to carlsbad, then south on US285. we cut down on whatever highway we were already on, then on an 'other road' (according to the handy-dandy atlas) over to 285. uh huh. there's a reason it's called an 'other road'. anyway...we got there. we were planning to stop in fort stockton but decided to keep driving because it was only 5-ish. we got to Sonora, TX, and decided to go ahead and stop. thanks to the Discount Traveler Guide we got $20 off a Days Inn room, and the front desk woman gave us a good tip on dinner. we ate some great mexican! with the chips and salsa they brought this mint-green stuff that was kind of weird looking. mom said it tasted good but it was so bizarre looking that i couldn't bring myself to do it. anyway, we finally asked the waitress what it was. it turned out to be avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and garlic. it really was good--but it was mint green! why would i eat that without knowing what it was first? anyway....yum. and the chips....have you ever seen "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" you know they have a game called "props." well, the chips were REALLY big half-circle shapes. like at least 4-5 inches in diameter. so we played a little game of props while waiting for dinner....elephant ears, toucan noses, cheesy grins....yeah. hilarious!
we managed to find the mariner game on tv because they were playing the braves...so it was on TBS. we watched it all and yay the m's won!! :-) and, of course, mom and i were cracking each other up the whole time. we laughed so hard that i didn't breathe for at least a minute. heheh! i'm always amusing, after all. :-)

day eight
we drove to amy's house. we stopped in San Antonio and saw the Alamo, did the riverwalk, ate, played around...then drove the rest of the way.
The Alamo was VERY cool, although now i'm quite sure that i know enough texas history to last me a lifetime. it was warm out, and sunny...we did the museums, bought a keychain and a magnet (keychain for me, magnet for mom, obviously), and moved on. however, we were in San Antonio for almost 4 hours. :-) we found a metered parking spot, which was apparently a good find!
we also saw this "saloon and museum" on our way back from the river walk. it was EXTREMELY bizarre--unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the museum part. there were lots of animal heads on the wall, and inside it appeared to be a large number of stuffed animals. real ones, stuffed. eew.
so we drove on to the Woodlands. (north of Houston) thankfully the rand mcnally directions were in fact to amy's house! we got here, we mingled, we slept. really it was mingling until late into the night, of course. good times! amy's fam is fun, and so far all is well!
so amy, rachel (amy's college friend) and i are sleeping in a queen bed. amy's in the middle. not long after we go to bed, amy wiggles out via the bottom of the bed and plops onto the floor...i had to laugh silently because she thought i was asleep. heheheheh!!! i was dying! it was so funny. she decided to sleep on the floor...even though she was preaching in the morning. i offered to sleep there, she declined. until the morning. heheh!

day nine
amy preached an awesome sermon ever!! it rocked. good times. amy and rachel and i have been chatting away all afternoon...and now i have to do my laundry. ttfn!

no internet access for the last couple of days...sorry...will try to be better as there are mostly bigger towns on the way now. :-)

The Epic Road Trip
day three
Six Flags Magic Mountain. Awesome. I thought I was going to die several times, but had a blast…it was great. My aunt played hookey from school (she’s an elementary teacher) and came too—it was fab! Was so tired when we got home that I pretty much passed out.

The Epic Road Trip
day four
Driving to the Grand Canyon. Good times had by all, of course! Again, mom keeps driving and I keep passenging. Passengering? Whatever…not driving! We tried SO HARD to get there by sunset, but nnoooooo, due to a freaking PARADE closing a block of the street we needed to drive on in order to get there! Dumb town. Anyway, we drove much of the way on Route 66 instead of I-40 because it was scenic and we could. We got to the GC at 8, the sun had set at 7:45. so we looked around, then went to the evening program. Ranger Randy presented a thoroughly fascinating hour on “six sweet souvenirs” to take from the grand canyon. I was so enthralled….until he started to sing and mom actually said (joking, of course) “maybe we can buy his cd!” and I busted out laughing even harder than I had been before. And no, I’m not joking about his name. oy. It was so awful, I begged to be allowed to leave mid-presentation. Mom said no. anyway, he was all into the powerpoint, the singing (Badly, and asking for audience participation that was even worse) with the guitar…and talking like everyone was 6 even though the average age in the place was probably 50.
Thankfully, we decided to get a hotel close to the canyon. I think the hour drive back to Williams would have killed me…and the hour up in the morning wouldn’t have been so fun either.

The Epic Road Trip
day five
Holes in the Ground, rocks that used to be trees, really old houses. Really really old rocks. (duh)

The Grand Canyon was super awesome—looked at lots of cool things, took photos, had a great time. Beautiful, awe-inspiring, etc. Drove briefly through Navajo Reservation—distressing poverty, or at least distressing lack of pride and therefore lack of cleanliness on the property. Some funny signs though—like by the little jewelry markets signs would say “nice Indians, behind you!” or “friendly Indians ahead!” or “got turquoise?” I was amused. There were several pueblo ruins in our day, which was VERY cool. For the second day in a row we ate lunch at Del Taco. Surprisingly good, and it’s not taco bell, which means that we’re not boycotting it, so it’s even better! We tried to see the meteor crater but it was ridiculously expensive and I didn’t want to go in the museum—I just wanted to stand on the edge of the meteor crater, duh! It’s big, though, so we saw the impact on the drive up to it, and we saw the picture in the brochure. That’s going to have to be good enough—it was so much $$ that even I, the non-budget girl, nearly had a heart attack. The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest were SO COOL, we spent almost 3 hours in the park after they told us it takes people 45 minutes to 2 hours to see it. And we skipped a couple of trails. There’s just so many pieces of tree!

The town we were supposed to stay in tonight was super shady, so we drove half an hour to the next one. The first town, as we were driving in, had two LDS churches and an Assembly of God. There were two hotels, and the only restaurant appeared to be the one at the Days Inn, which looked sketchy and smoky. The whole town looked dead and the weird vibes (especially the slightly odd LDS vibes…no offense meant…) were overpowering and I insisted that we keep driving. I’m glad we did. We’re in a nice, clean hotel, we ate really good pizza, and there was a Safeway where we could buy milk and swipe plastic spoons so we can eat cereal out of the plastic cups next to the sink in the morning. :-) ha!
Anyway, we have 10 hours of driving tomorrow so I’m going to bed. I know this isn’t very exciting, but I promise it’s a good time in the car, so far. We’ve listened to 24 cd’s since leaving home. We’ve filled the gas tank only 6 times (maybe 7?), but then again susan drove everywhere on Monday. We’ve seen some pretty good road signs. No elk, though, in spite of signs that warn us to “be alert” for them for the next 36 miles. We did see two California condors today, though! I’m waiting to see my first saguaro cactus. That will be an exciting little moment. :-)
We’re stopping briefly in Roswell, NM tomorrow. If we see any UFO’s, y’all will be the first to know, I promise. Heheh!
Time for sleep so that day six can be productive! tatafornow…

the epic road trip
day two

thankfully, i got to sleep an extra two hours over yesterday. i was so tired. even sleeping on the floor at joan and eddie's house was good. ha!
the drive through california to LA was decidedly less than exciting. several wineries, but it was early in the morning and we weren't about to stop for wine tasting at 9am. can you imagine? we saw a lot of...vineyards. and random bits of grass. and one oil well. about five feet off the freeway! very bizarre. essentially, the drive was thoroughly uneventful. mom drove all the way again. i didn't nap today though.
tomorrow is six flags magic mountain. yay! 12 hours open...probably a lot of hours we'll be in the park! good times.
well, after the four-alarm fire susan's dinner started in my mouth, and the huge mint chip milkshake i had at mothers, not to mention the hour-long trip around huntington beach and long beach seeing where mom and susan grew up, including schools, hang outs, and the beach...and more oil wells...i'm tired. it's a long day tomorrow with magic mountain, so i'm going to bed. i can hardly believe how tired i am! finally, i get to sleep in a bed. i never thought one night on a floor would be so traumatic. the main issue was that i was supposedly sleeping on this cushion from the deck chair, which is a chaise-lounge cushion. i also had a body pillow next to it, so it would be a little wider (the cushion was only maybe 18 inches wide). unfortunately, i turned over and went between the cushion and the pillow, and woke up that way. on the floor, basically. it would have been better to start on the floor instead, and at least not have the shattered illusions of the cushion--y promise!
right. bed. yay. :-)

The Epic Road Trip
day one

we left early. a nearly ungodly hour--6:30 we were out the door.
we drove a long way. a long long way. in very boring country--south central washington, eastern oregon, and north-central california...all desert, desert, and more desert.
Highlights of the day: very bizarre looking animal statue (about 5000 times larger than life) that was very distressing...mom called it a tapir, and i called it a messed-up-looking cow. whatever. it may have been made of metal...it was black, and we later found out that it's been there roughly, oh, forever.
we stopped briefly at castle crags state park to see what was up. the park ranger gave me the world's most blank stare when i asked her "what's in here?" and ultimately she gave us some made-up info about the rocks inside, then looked at mom and i (dressed in shorts and t-shirts, i was wearing sandals...) and said "it's rated one of the top fifty rock climbs in the US." hmm. do we look like rock climbers? and if we were, wouldn't we know what was in the park? anyway, we didn't stay and check it out because it was $4 just to go in, and it was 2.7 miles hiking, one way, to the base of the rocks. so we looked at them from the freeway as we were driving away. oh yeah, she also claimed there were lovely views of mt. shasta. Lady, we drove straight at the base of the mountain for about an hour, on a completely clear and sunny day. we've seen the mountain from two sides now...don't worry.
next detour was lake shasta caverns. the drive up the hill was kind of distressing--i was so sure that mom would drive us off the edge of the cliff. thankfully, not. anyway...we got up there, looked around, but didn't go in the caves for several reasons. One, the pictures looked remarkably like Mammoth Cave. Two, it took two hours. Three, it was $18 per person. Four, we are visiting Carlsbad Caverns later in the trip.
partway to sacramento, in corning, we HAD to stop at the Olive Pit. olive tasting, a deli/restaurant, and more kinds of olives than you've ever seen made for a thoroughly enjoyable hour. that's right, an hour. we tasted, we debated, we went outside to talk on the phone briefly, we tasted more, we looked, i had a milkshake, we looked, finally we purchased. they were so good--i tasted green olives stuffed with parmesan and romano cheese, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic...i tried ranch-style, and some other ones i don't remember...mom tried anything hot--chile, mexican, texas something-or-other, and the blue cheese (not hot, but apparently very tasty). anyway...yeah. fab.
so anyway, we drove to sacramento. we got there at about 7:30...13 hours. with two hours of stops. so the total drive was 11 hours! hmm...speeding? maybe just a little. literally--mom drove the whole way and she normally won't go above 10 miles over. whatever...just wait until i get in the driver's seat and we're driving through new mexico desert!!
anyway, we got to my grandma's cousin's house around 7:30, and my grandparents were already there, of course. we chatted for a long time, and went to bed around 10. good times.

The Epic Road Trip

I've been in WA three days (including the day i flew in, after missing the plane and getting on a later one...long story involving the El and a forty-five-minute window to check luggage...which I missed...anyway). it turns out that I am getting the Explorer, which is great news. i'm so excited to have that car, you have no idea! anyway...the road trip begins.

Part I: preparation

the map is made.
the car is prepared: A/C fixed, ABS checked up and fixed, oil changed, car washed, windows Rain-Xed (just in case it should rain on our route through the desert in the summertime), digital compass installed and calibrated.
snacks, beverages, and other road trip essentials (sunscreen, emergency kit, etc) purchased and piled in dining room.
packing....not started.

leaving...in 9 hours.

the basic route is:
day 1: Yakima to Sacramento. 13 + hours.
day 2: Sacramento to Long Beach. 7-ish hours.
day 3: Magic Mountain.
day 4: Long Beach to Grand Canyon. 9-ish hours.
day 5: Grand Canyon, then to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. 5-ish hours driving.
day 6: St. Johns Arizona to Carlsbad Caverns (new mexico). 11 hours.
day 7: Carlsbad Caverns, early in the morning --> early afternoon. drive to Fort Stockton, TX. 4-ish hours.
day 8: Ft. Stockton to San Antonio, see the Alamo, drive on to the Woodlands (just north of houston). maybe 8 hours? i can't remember.
day 9: church...Amy's preaching!
day 10: six flags houston.
day 11: houston to new orleans. several hours.
day 12: new orleans to atlanta. 8 hours driving the speed limit, but honestly....after 12 days...who knows.


I'll be taking note of interesting or not interesting things along the way, and I'll post every day about the adventures of the Epic Road Trip. Watch this space!

in the meantime, i have to pack. excuse me. :-)

CPM meeting went well. yay.
Am writing candidacy essays--due tonight...one more to go (oy) plus the revision of any that need revising. given that they've been written at an average rate of 45 minutes or less per essay, they probably need it.
leaving tomorrow morning. must pack.

grades came in today--and I'm all clear! woohoo! my GPA is a resounding 3.765...yay! an A in Church History puts me in the clear, scholarship-wise. I'm also going to get a good-student discount on my car insurance. This is a good thing.
big news on the car front: i'm getting the Explorer after all! apparently all my begging and pleading was simply a humiliation tactic on mom's part--she's been planning it as a surprise for a long while. hm. i'm glad...and thankful....yay!

anyway, i'm writing essays again. I have one hour left before I really must pack. one hour, one essay....should be good.

next time you hear from me, I'll be back in WA. oh boy. :-)

ta

clever title here is one year old today.

oh, the excitement!

it's been a fun time in chicago here--one more week to go before going to the 'rents to prep for the long road trip. good times!

happy birthday to my blog,
happy birthday to my blog,
happy birthday to my bloooooggg....
happy birthday to my blog.

:-)

it is finished.

school is over. the paper's done, the exam's over, graduation has happened, and my room is clean and my bag is packed. i'm leaving in 7 minutes to go to the airport.

while i'm gone the internet access is looking a little shady--who knows what's up. i'll post when i can and when something interesting happens--which is more likely in chicago than here, at least, but don't get your hopes up. i'm back in atlanta sometime around the 23rd-ish of June for sure, maybe before then. who knows.

happy end of the school year, everyone! and don't forget: 24 season finale, tuesday, 9/8central. :-)

peace

i have plane tickets.
no thanks to the BUSY SIGNAL at United Airlines Reservations.
whatever happened to the auto system that told me to hold, then played the terribly canned and obnoxious Rhapsody In Blue for an hour, interrupted every few minutes with assurances that my call was important, that i would be helped shortly, and that calls were answered in the order they were received?
i swear, in an attempt to get out of bankruptcy they have let go of every single f***ing person (sorry...) that answers the phone. and we're left instead with the wonderful automaton i've christened "joebob", to whom you talk and who will supposedly find your flight availability but won't be able to actually book a flight for you. instead he encourages you to say "reservations" when you're ready to book, and you'll be transferred to an agent--a real live one. Except that he actually transfers you to a busy signal, and you can't even push buttons to go back to the main menu from there, you have to hang up and start all over again.
whatever.
i recommend the internet. but not if you want to try to use frequent flyer miles to book a non-round-trip ticket. because it doesn't like it when you try to do that.
i really am studying for the test tomorrow. and i really have started on my paper.


ok, so there were two lies in the previous sentence. but i'm going to do both of those right now.

you, United Airlines real-live-reservations agents, are the weakest link.

goodbye.

Dawson's Creek is over. Forever.

Joey picked Pacey, Jen died, Grams is relatively ok, and Jack & Doug are together and will raise Jen's baby.

yay!

I have a paper to write and a final exam to study for, and one day to get it all done.
oy.

i'll see y'all friday afternoon sometime, assuming i'm still alive then.

ta.

due to requests, i submit these answers/pieces of information.

1. the word i ended up using in my sermon was "insolence".
2. i am technically single. if you know any nice guys between the ages of 21 and 30, email me. they also have to be smart.
3. i'm a seminary student, not a college student.
4. i love hebrew.
5. my blog will be one year old on the 29th of May.
6. my amazon wishlist is located to the left, and down a little.
7. no, i can't put pictures on my blog, because i use the free blogspot software.

that's all for now. any further inquiries may be directed to comments, guestbook, or email. thank you. :-)

i think last night i dreamed about being awake.
thus i feel like i have not slept.
maybe i haven't...i don't know. the dream of being awake was very real.

hmm.

results of Easter traditions poll:
40% have church days.
20% each eat a big dinner and eat candy stolen from the kid's baskets. for shame.
10% each do easter egg hunts and hang out with the fam.

new poll.

Hallelujah!
classes are over. the presentation is over. the paper and the exam loom next friday--but that's 7 days away so i'm not concerned right now.
it's sunny outside for the first time in what feels like ages. it's also about 80% humidity, but whatever. that is irrelevant.
i'm going to read a book. not a school book. a cheesy book.

yay!

it's the end of the year!

two more classes.
one more day.
one presentation.
one paper.
one exam.

and two more episodes of 24.
oh yes...the year is ending.

ok, i have slept. i have also done some homework.
i have had the LAST EVER day of Eucharist class. Thank goodness!
tomorrow is the last day of Hebrew exegesis and the last day of preaching.
Friday is the last day of worship class and of church history.
Then all I have to do is write a paper on the Doctrine of the Incarnation and take a Church History final exam. on friday of next week.
Then i am done, free! until 30 June, at which point i will be fettered by Greek school, every morning at 8:30. fun.

it is humid outside.
but not hot.
very bizarre.
apparently thunderstorms are normal for this place during the summer. that's not cool. i am afraid of lightning and thunder--i prefer to live without it. i don't like rain either, but if it's going to rain then PLEASE no thunder. thank you.

:-)

sleep shmeep.

I am desperately looking for the perfect word.
it has undertones (or overtones) of/implicitly and explicitly says all these things:
trespass, intrusion, encroachment, impinge, infringe, audacity, effrontery, insult.

does anyone know this word? please say yes. before tuesday. i need it for my sermon.

hmm..you might need a little context. 2 Samuel 6. Uzzah reaches out and touches the ark, and God strikes him dead.
so the sentences in the sermon look something like this (right now):
The cart is shaking, maybe trembling or even rattling...and the ark seems to be shifting around a bit. The parade arrives on some level ground, a threshing floor, and Uzzah takes the opportunity to remedy the problem, at least a little. He reaches out his non-ritually purified hand and takes hold of the ark to steady it, and God is furious about this ________. (or, God is infuriated by his _______.)

any ideas? please? i'm so sidetracked by this word that i can't quite get--it's on the edge of my brain somewhere, the tip of my tongue, the border of my consciousness, etc....and i just can't quite get it--that i can't even move on and work on the rest of the sermon. this is bad because i have a good four pages left to write. at least. there's a lot of ground to cover still, and i'm not there yet! help me!

tGif.

that's all for now.

two tasks for tomorrow down, three to go.
those three would be:
1. 2 Samuel 3.1-39...translated.
2. Memorize a bunch of stuff for preaching/worship class
3. watch Dawson's Creek.

the two things I have accomplished today?
1. Read "any 100 pages" of a book for exegesis class. no, not just any book, a specific book, about 1 Samuel.
2. An analysis (chart and word study) of 1 Samuel 25.23-42.

see, i've been working today! I even slept in because we didn't have class. ("slept in"=8:15, but that's an extra hour!)

right...Dawson's is in an hour I think. time to get to work on...one of the things i'm supposed to do. isn't it sad to be living so day-to-day? i have a gazillion things to do between now and the end of school, and they are so many that i simply have to do it one day at a time. planning ahead? WHATEVER.

maybe tomorrow.

it is tuesday.

just in case you were wondering.

it is finished...
and turned in...
and it's nap time...

so, it's a little late, but give me a break, i was at church early and i napped in the afternoon and now i'm writing a paper. in any case, here's a hymn for easter (or any morning, really) for you. it's from the Iona Community and the tune is a celtic one that i don't know the name of, but it's very lovely. i'll post that info tomorrow....anyway...

"I Owe My Lord a Morning Song"

I owe my Lord a morning song
For God has meant this day.
Through fears of night and hidden light,
God moves and wills my way.

I owe my Lord a morning song
For Jesus rose at dawn.
He made death die and would not lie,
That others might live on.

I owe my Lord a morning song
The Spirit gave me voice.
Nor did she force my sould to praise
But honored me with choice.

I owe my Lord a morning song
How can I help but sing
When God is all in all and I
Am one with every thing.

....

back to the paper now. happy easter!

results of lenten discipline poll:
4 of you read more, and 4 of you pray more.
2 of you give up sex, and 2 of you fast the whole forty days (you must be glad it's easter!).
1 of you gives up ice cream/cookies/other goodies. and 1 of you gives up your new year's resolutions. except i think that last one might have been me. LOL.
anyway...happy easter....new poll....enjoy some quality cadbury time and some quality risen Lord time. :-)

peace...

Happy Easter, all!

my recommended holy week hymn, instead of Love Unknown?
Ah, Holy Jesus. Presbyterian Hymnal 93.
Text: Johann Heermann, 1630 (Trans. Robert Bridges, 1899, altered version found in Psalter Hymnal 1987)
Tune: HERZLIEBSTER JESU, 11.11.11.5, Johann Cruger, 1640

Ah, holy jesus, how have you offended,
That mortal judgment has on you descended?
By foes derided, by your own rejected,
O most afflicted!

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon you?
It is my treason. Lord that has undone you.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied you;
I crucified you.

For me, dear Jesus, was your incarnation,
Your mortal sorrow, and your life's oblation,
Your death of anguis and your bitter passion,
For my salvation.

Therefore, dear Jesus, since I cannot pay you,
I do adore you, and will ever praise you,
Think on your pity and your love unswerving,
Not my deserving.

---
now, i recognize that this is as individualist as they come. i suggest that this hymn be paired with O Love, How Deep, how Broad, How High. it is five verses and I am NOT going to type them all out. it is PH number 83...tune DEO GRACIAS (LM).

And, since Easter is tomorrow....I highly recommend "Christ Is Alive!", number 108, by Brian Wren, to the tune TRURO (also LM). or Jesus Christ is Risen Today, number 123, tune EASTER HYMN. :-) that one has a descant that is particularly fun to sing if you are standing near a brass ensemble in your church. heheh!

anyway, i am supposed to be doing stuff right now, and i might be going out (i still don't know...). it's time to figure out the evening, or to write a paper. i enjoyed this little foray into the wonderful world of hymnody...can you tell what my interest and passion is? hmm......

happy easter, all...

ok, here's the Love Unknown rewrite, as promised. on the last day before easter....anyway....

original text (Presbyterian version...number 76)
text by Samuel Crossman, 1664.
tune: LOVE UNKNOWN (6.6.6.6.4.4.4.4) by John Ireland, 1918, copyright John Ireland Trust.

My song is love unknown,
My Savior's love to me,
Love to the loveless shown
That they might lovely be.
O who am I
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh, and die?

Christ came from heaven's throne
Salvation to bestow,
But people scorned and none
The longed for Christ would know.
But O my Friend,
My Friend indeed,
Who at my need
His life did spend!

Sometimes they strew his way,
And His sweet praises sing,
Resounding all the way
Hosannas to their King.
Then "Crucify!"
Is all their breath,
And for His death
They thirst and cry.

They rise, and needs will have
My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they save,
The Prince of life they slay.
Yet steadfast He
To suffering goes,
That He His foes
From thence might free.

Here might I stay and sing,
No story so divine:
Never was love, dear King,
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend,
In whose sweet praise
I all my days
Could gladly spend.


major issue...MAJOR: The text implies that "they" did all the bad stuff while "I" have nothing to do with it and in fact "I" am so good that i "could" spend all my days in sweet praise. Too much "they" vs. "I"...THEY strew his way, THEY shout crucify, THEY thirst for death...THEY slay the prince of life...but here I will stay and sing the amazing story. because of Jesus' love for ME ME ME, not so much for the people who were shouting "Crucify". (I know y'all are going to look again and say "what about the end of verse four?" well, when was the last time you were singing this hymn and you notices that the end of verse four says that Jesus frees his foes from death? my guess is that most or all of us have glossed over that in our slightly self-righteous singing of this hymn, which overwhelmingly places us on the innocent side of this whole deal. too bad only Jesus was on the innocent side. anyway..)

so, here is my main suggestion: that "they" language be changed to "we" language. after all, hymns are primarily for use in the gathered community and, as such, are usually bad with too much "i" language anyway, let alone me vs. them language. I would propose two options for verse One...either change to we language and add it again as verse 6 in the original "I" form...or change it to "we" to begin with. I prefer option one as it maintains the idea that Jesus died for the entire community, of which I am a part and therefore also for me as an individual. Also, in verse five I propose a change to "should" instead of "could" to imply responsibility rather than ability. I also hear a few people potentially saying that this is noting a historical reality, that it really was "them" crucifying Jesus...well, I would simply say back that none of us are innocent of that, that every time we are the goats of Matthew 25--not feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, etc--and every time we are the Pharisee passing by the battered man on the roadside instead of the Samaritan helping out, we participate as the crowd in the crucifixion. don't try to claim that if it were all happening now you'd be innocent, because it's a lie. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." so, here goes...a rough rewrite...


Our song is love unknown,
Our Savior's love to all,
Love to the loveless shown
That we might lovely be.
O who are we
That for our sake
The Lord should take
Frail flesh, and die?

Christ came from heaven's throne
Salvation to bestow,
But people scorned and none
The longed for Christ would know.
But O our Friend,
Our Friend indeed,
Who at our need
His life did spend!

Sometimes we strew his way,
And His sweet praises sing,
Resounding all the way
Hosannas to our King.
Then "Crucify!"
Is all our breath,
And for His death
We thirst and cry.

We rise, and needs will have
Our dear Lord made away;
A murderer we save,
The Prince of life we slay.
Yet steadfast He
To suffering goes,
That He His foes
From thence might free.

Here might we stay and sing,
No story so divine:
Never was love, dear King,
Never was grief like Thine.
This is our Friend,
In whose sweet praise
We all our days
Should gladly spend.

My song is love unknown,
My Savior's love to me,
Love to the loveless shown
That they might lovely be.
O who am I
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh, and die?

I did in fact go to church. we put nails in the cross..it was very powerful.
tomorrow (easter) is a long church day--we leave here at 6am and won't be home until probably 1pm. good times!

slightly odd website of the day: this one.

that's all for now. i'm supposed to be working on my eucharist paper and deciding whether or not to go hear this band at a pub, for matt's birthday. decisions, decisions.

i might not be going to church today.
i don't know how to do Good Friday without church...and worse, how to do Easter without having done Good Friday.
I wish, for the first time, that I was back at home in Chicago. I miss my church, I miss the people, I miss the importance of this day, and right at this moment I miss the transportation system.
all because I don't have a car, the most important day in the church calendar may go by without me being in church.
this is WAY wrong.
oy.

done.
not good, but done.
i'll have to get up earlier than usual in order to read through and discern whether there are any last minute changes that i can make to improve it, or if they will only make it worse and i should just turn it in as is.
that means i get to sleep for roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes.
it's like a nap, really.
i can slouch all i want now, because i'm done.
goodnight.

i'm finding it very difficult to sit up straight right now.
I want to slouch and slouch until i'm horizontal, sleeping. even here on the floor of the computer lab.
although, really, you never know where people's feet (or shoes) have been, so maybe not.
maybe the sofa in the social room just down the hall.
or better yet, my own bed.
maybe i should stop procrastinating and just finish the dumb paper.
but i don't want to sit up straight anymore, i want to slouch. and i don't think as well slouching.
also it's bad for your back. supposedly.
it's almost 2am.
oh dear...6 hours 30 minutes until the paper is due.
why, i ask myself, didn't i start earlier?
i was sick...i was recovering from spring break...i was unmotivated...it was sunny outside...i didn't want to sit up straight...
notice i can type forever here and yet my paper is not getting any closer to done.

i'll do it. i'll sit up straight, i'll write the paper, and the outline, and the chart, and i'll let y'all know when it's really truly finished.

ta.

writing a paper.
it's nearly 2 am.
the paper is not good yet.
nor is it done.
it probably won't be good when it is done, and i will be very tired.
i'm already tired.
oy.

oh, and i'm starving. Very Hungry, I say. and i don't have any food in my room...and the 'tory isn't open until monday....oh dear. hungry.

I have a Very Bad sunburn.
I feel like the building/ground/room is swaying/rocking like a boat.
I had the best spring break of my life.
it was awesome.
especially when I heard that it has been raining up here ALL WEEK LONG. And I was basking in the sun (too much basking, too much sun, not enough sunscreen obviously, and not enough ice cream either..hmm.), relaxing, enjoying some time in Key West and in Cozumel Mexico, eating WAY too much, dancing, eating, eating, sitting in the sun, playing around, eating...
it was a fantastic week. except for the day the boat rocked so much that there were maybe 10 people on the entire boat who weren't feeling seasick. and even that day was good, because i just laid on the deck all afternoon, eating french fries or pizza occasionally, drinking coke, reading a fluff book, napping...etc.
it was a good week. :-)
happy weekend to all. i have to go unpack, and maybe do some laundry. definitely do some laundry.
ttfn!

must pack!
i'll be gone for a week. not that this is a big new thing for anyone, because i am a slacker about this blog just now. so much work to do, so little time, so no internet in my apartment anymore....
i am going on a cruise. when i return, it will be almost holy week. how exciting is that?
i will post here my revision of Love Unknown when i get back. i will also give y'all full updates on the state of the caribbean sea when i get back.
things i will NOT be knowledgeable about when i return:
1. world news, especially news of the war.
2. church history.
3. cloudiness/cold weather.

woohoo!
see y'all in a week. ttfn. don't forget to eat ice cream on wednesday.

guess what i am going to do for spring break?

that's right...i'm going on a cruise. a Western Caribbean cruise, five days, my friend katie....oh yes.

in other news, i have realized that the theology in the hymn "My Song Is Love Unknown" (Presbyterian Hymnal #76) is really awful. i'm planning to rewrite. it only takes a few words changed and it will be perfectly fine.

i leave sunday for this cruise experience. yay...my first cruise! woohoo!

:-)
I need to get my hair cut now. ttfn.

TGIF.
i need a nap.
happy weekend, all!

i am very tired.
i am glad that we are having a 24-hour prayer vigil here, but i can't believe i signed up for midnight-2am every night for seven days.
the thought process was something like this:
1. i normally stay up that late anyway
2. i might as well be praying for the iraqis, our soldiers, our world leaders, and peace during that time

unfortunately, i forgot to take into account what it is i'm normally doing during that time when i am awake until nearly 2am.
studying/homework/socializing/etc.
Which means that now i still have to do that stuff, but not then.
which means staying up later, or getting up early, or whatever.
oops.
but it's good that we're having a 24-hour prayer vigil.
very good.
i need a nap.

taxes? check.
financial aid app? check.
housing form? check.
midterm papers? check.
church today? check.
homework for the week ahead?
homework?
hello?
right.....

it's sunny outside.
my NCAA bracket is dead.
the Oscars are tonight.
yippee!

whose idea was journalists in tanks? it doesn't seem very smart to me...aren't they taking up space that would be better used by, oh, say, someone trained in being in a tank?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?

right....

NCAA tournament is underway.
we're bombing people.
one more day until the reading journal is due.
i think i'll relax tonight.

ha!

writing a paper.

even though by the time it is due the world might not exist anymore.

still writing.

back to work...
ta.

:-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! :-)

Happy Reading Week to all of us here who don't have to go to class this week (though it is also midterm exam week, but whatever...).

yeah.

studying. i should probably do that, given that i did nothing all weekend long. excellent!

just out of curiosity, why don't we celebrate any of the other cool saints?

i preached my first full-length sermon today.
can you believe they let ME in a pulpit?
it was great. :-)

I'm tired, slightly stressed out, and I spent a fabulous afternoon playing with a huge group of kids down in the vlllage. tomorrow night i get to play with more kids! can you believe they pay people for this? (well, for preaching OR for playing with kids. isn't that excellent?)

Reading. yippee. :-)

Rejoice and Proclaim

This is the first sermon I ever preached, in preaching class in the spring of 2003.

Acts 8.26-40

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “get up and go at noon to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
The eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Near the university where I studied is an organization, not related to the school, called University Bible Fellowship. People from there wander about in the neighborhood, looking lost, asking the time, etc, and poor unsuspecting people like me, always willing to lend a hand, will talk to them. Within minutes they have discovered your name and invited you to one-on-one Bible Study with them. My freshman year of college I must have met ten of these people—the only one I remember was a man named Gideon. In the space of less than five minutes, I had declined and yet somehow given him my telephone number and the name of the dorm I lived in. I know, I know….dumb freshman, etc…I didn’t answer my phone for 6 weeks at least. I screened my calls through voicemail, which isn’t terribly effective but it worked for a while. He either never called or never left a message—I don’t know which. That’s ok, though!
I always rejoiced when they finally went away. These people were worse than any other itinerant evangelists, because you never knew who would be One Of Them. More than once I was late to class because I’d been accosted by someone from University Bible Fellowship. I felt like they were invading my space, being disrespectful of my belief system that they knew nothing about (neither did I, but that’s beside the point…), and besides they were just generally annoying. My coming to the church was somewhat delayed because of this experience, as I’m sure you can imagine. And once I was in the organized church, I was very wary of sharing my faith with others, because I didn’t want to be like the University Bible Fellowship people, or like the person on the train that you avoid at all cost because you can see that they are trying to evangelize, or like the girl in your science class who uses question periods as a time to proclaim Creationism over Evolution. Besides that, I was afraid. What would happen? What would people think of me? What would the reactions be? And who was I to share the good news, anyway—a random, young, female college student, new to the church, and generally unworthy.

Why is sharing our faith with others so scary? Why is the stereotype one of insensitivity? Philip seems to be pretty comfortable. He wasn’t one of the original 12 disciples, he was probably a diaspora-Jew-turned Christian, and given the age of the church at this time (just a few months after Pentecost) he wasn’t exactly an established member. He was one of the seven chosen to take food to the widows—that’s not so hard, most of us can do that. He went around in Samaria preaching. Well, we’re a class full of future preachers, and we should probably get used to preaching in slightly less-than-friendly situations—after all, the church is not exactly a friendly place to people who simply tell it like they see it right now (from any side of any debate, really)—so many people claim that the church just needs to maintain the status quo. That’s obviously not what Philip did, because now he’s wandering around talking to gentiles, which was uncomfortable to many who wanted Judaism maintained within this new sect. Just imagine for a moment with me that you’re in this scene.

You’re walking along one mid-July morning, having a good time, chatting with some new friends, when one of them says to you, “hey, it’s high noon! I think you should walk around the hill country of Texas by yourself today.” You think, “Are you crazy? Heat, wilderness, noon, alone…what part of that sounds like a personal safety program?” You know it’s crazy, but you go anyway—you’re always up for a little fear-factor-esque adventure. It’s really hot, and you forgot your hat, and you only have one bottle of water. Up ahead you see a caravan of limos. Obviously someone important, plenty of security, it’s probably best to keep back a bit so you don’t get arrested, shot, or just taken into custody for no reason and sold into slavery without a chance to call home first. After all, you don’t exactly look like everyone else down here.
Then it hits. The call. The one that changes everything. You don’t know why this is happening, your family doesn’t understand, your friends claim they were joking, but you go. You run up to the limos. You see the secret service guns trained on you and the cars come to a halt. All in a split second, you hear a voice reading your favorite prophet and you ask through the window if the person understands. You can hardly believe you are talking out loud, but it’s too late now. You look inside, and Alan Greenspan is using this half a moment to think of his status, his ego, his appearances, the press, and the humility brought on by reading something incomprehensible. And, like magic, he confesses his need, opens the door, and scoots over to make room for you.
“Now I’m in for it,” you think. You’re in a limo with the man who controls our economy, and you have no idea what’s going on. He asks a question, you begin to speak, and amazingly, the Spirit gives you the words. An outsider would probably see a tongue of fire dancing over your head. All you had to do by yourself was follow the call and ask a question.

The catch, of course, is that it wasn’t easy. It’s hot out there, it’s the wilderness. The risk taken in approaching the limo is not exactly negligible. Why do it? Well, there’s that whole thing where Jesus tells us to go, baptize, proclaim, etc. If that isn’t convincing enough, there’s also the Book of Order, which states that the First of the six Great Ends of the Church is “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.”

Does that mean we have to be Jehovah’s witness-like evangelists, knocking on doors, or like the University Bible Fellowship, accosting people with one-on-one Bible Study opportunities? Not exactly. Many of us probably don’t normally invite the Jehovah’s witness into our home for tea.
Proclaiming the gospel doesn’t have to be hard, scary, or insensitive. As Christians our duty is to live the gospel, to proclaim it with our lives as well as our words. Sometimes all it takes is asking the question, being with someone, or responding a certain way to a situation.
But sometimes it is hard, sometimes we have to put ourselves on the line. Embodying the gospel happens in so many ways, and anyway Jesus never seemed to worry about his personal safety program. That’s why there are people protesting every afternoon on Columbia Drive—they are using their bodies AND their words to proclaim what they see in the gospel. That’s why there are people tutoring children every day after school, visiting kids in the projects and taking them out of that environment for day trips so they can see their potential, reading textbooks onto tapes for disabled students, volunteering at the Central Night Shelter. Sure, it can be dangerous—sometimes bodily, sometimes to our ego, our self-image, our public image, or at least our self-righteousness. It’s a wilderness road, at noon, and someone is waiting in that chariot just ahead.

As Christians, and as pastors, our duty is to lead people in the wilderness to water, and enable those people to do the same for others. When Philip and the eunuch came up out of the water and Philip suddenly disappeared, the eunuch could have thought, “that was a nice dip on a hot afternoon,” or maybe, “great, I’m dripping, people are staring, and that guy is gone. What now?” But he went on his way rejoicing—like the benediction says, we are to go on our way rejoicing in the power of the Spirit….this is not the rejoicing I was doing when the UBF people finally left me. Meanwhile, Philip was suddenly relocated! He doesn’t appear to miss a beat—he proclaims the gospel at all times. We can do that too. Though we are, of course, to live the gospel in our daily lives, it is when we proclaim the gospel in all its fullness that we are most vulnerable, and most supported by the Spirit. Thanks be to God. Amen.

is it any wonder that iraq doesn't want to get rid of any weapons it might have? I mean, really.

anyway....i'm writing a paper and a sermon today. time to go. oh, sun......

can you believe i have a sunburn in MARCH?

anyway....
what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
I'm actually asking--this is not a rhetorical question where you don't have to answer. i expect answers. and don't say "put up a poll" because then all you'll really get to do is choose from my 10 favorite flavors and that wouldn't necessarily include yours. especially if your favorite ice cream involves chocolate ice cream, nuts, or marshmallows. well, maybe marshmallows. i'm not sure. anyway...what's your fave flave of i.c.?

I can't think of what to say in this paper.

ugh.

OK...so...it's sunny out and i am doing homework outside. here's the scoop on the week--just so you know why you may not be hearing much from me until after thursday....
for tomorrow: I Samuel 12 for class.
Thursday: paper on II Samuel 13.1-6. Preach on Acts 8.26-40.
Friday: once I get out of class, relax, nap, eat ice cream.

actually....why don't we move ice cream to EVERY day of the week? why only ice cream wednesday? (or ice cream thursday, as we have here at columbia--the 'tory has ice cream on thursdays at dinner.) I think there should be a move to make EVERY day ice cream _______day...especially during lent. forget this whole "giving up" things like ice cream. does giving up ice cream bring you closer to God? not me--it just makes me bitter. Ditto on the giving up of caffeine. So instead we are going to eat ice cream every day, have as much coffee as you want, and just pay attention to God, since God is always paying attention to you.

Off the soapbox now....

back to the hebrew.
and eventually the sermon.
ta.

it is 70 degrees outside.

I love this.

what should i preach on next week? i have to preach on thursday. ideas are welcome starting.......NOW. thanks. :-)

the weather here is finally looking up. i think the weekend is supposed to be nice..yay! can you believe that it is spring here, the beginning of march, while in chicago it is winter for probably another 6-8 weeks? (again with the cereal box thing....."send in four thousand box tops and receive a free spring season! Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery." anyway...)

there is a current feature on the onion asking "what are we microwaving just to see what happens?" This is a good question. what ARE we microwaving? what about things we add water to just to see what happens? here are two i don't recommend: books (particularly before the end of the semester...) and brand new shoes. both leave you in big trouble. anyway....it's lunch time now.
ttfn.

ok, so i finally managed to get some homework done. not much, but some.
and i need to go to bed. i can't believe how late it is all of a sudden.
and tomorrow is a long day. yippee.

who here loves hebrew?
oooo!! me, me, me!! pick me!!

time for bed.
:-)

i am tired.
i'm "working" right now, can't you tell?
there is much reading to be done for tomorrow.
it finally stopped raining.
i hate thunderstorms.
back to the office.
oy.

blogger has been causing me some difficulties.
i'm sorry to those of you who didn't see a new poll even though i kept claiming that there was one...
i'm sure that didn't help my crazy rating. but it should, theoretically, be working now.
and i'm going to church now because it is, after all, ash wednesday.
:-)

ok, to recap previous polls....
out of 59 votes on the preferred soft drink, 30 of you chose Diet Coke.
0 of you chose vanilla coke.
15 for Pepsi
only one for Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper. what's wrong with you people?
4 regular coke drinkers and 7 "RC/Other"....
hmm.

and gee, thanks, you all think i'm super insane. well, as a third grader would say: it takes one to know one.
especially over the internet.
hehehe!

new poll. go.

huh.

who would think to do this?
and why?
i wonder if Bush would actually do it....i'm sure not, but his reasons would be quite bizarre, i'm sure, given his apparent love for killing people.

what a lenten article. :-)

it's ash wednesday today.
the beginning of Lent.
pretty exciting, eh? we have exactly appropriate weather here today--fog. hehehe!

anyway, i'm sure i'm supposed to be doing something. too bad i don't know what that is. i should work on that.

week was good. weekend was amazingly excellent. many stories, plus some interesting random thoughts, to post. but right now i'm supposed to be reading, so just one thoroughly random thought.
we say when a phone line is busy that the "line is engaged."
when people decide to get married, they get "engaged."
so does that mean that people who decide to get married are busy?
i suppose so...

anyway...
i'm reading for preaching now, then picking up pics from the church prom over the weekend, then reading more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more...
yeah.
ta

have to do exegesis in an "odd" place for preaching class....
must go do that.
then play with small children.
then organize taize service.
then homework.
then it will be tomorrow.
more then.

it's been busy.
no signs of light yet.
soon. soon.
ta.

hebrew, hebrew, and more hebrew.

it's fun.

so is the rule of st. benedict.

and the TV show 24, which i may have to wait until tomorrow to watch. cry.

anyway, i'm going home now to type a paper.
translation: i still have to write the actual paper...so far i've accomplished translation and charting. paper and full-sentence-outline still required. oy.

goodnight. for now.

i am writing a paper right now.

can't you tell?

it's not rain.
it's not fog.
it's not clear.
it's definitely not warm.
it's like there are tiny, nearly invisible ice atoms floating about in the air.
what is that, and who authorized it?
hello....this is the sssoouuuttthhhhh.....
it's supposed to be warm here.
but no.
and with weather like this, what's a girl to do with a free afternoon?
that's right.
a nap.
it was good.
:-)

you would think i would have fun stories to tell.
but no.
i think it's because i don't get out much.
like at all.
know why?
i don't have a car. so i can't really get anywhere here.

as for the promised story about going to the lion king...you can read miranda's, she tells it pretty well. all i'm going to say is: we thought we knew where we were going, but we didn't. so the "three blocks" from the train station to the performance venue took us 45 minutes because we only realized after about 8 blocks that we weren't there yet and didn't appear to be anywhere close by. so we asked some people who told us they were going there too. too bad they went the wrong way. at least we had left in plenty of time so we weren't late or anything.
on the way home it took us 10 minutes to walk from the Civic Center to the train station.
then it took an hour and a half to get home because they were single-tracking the trains. that means, unfortunately, that only one train runs at a time--it goes north, then south, then north, then...you get the idea.
we needed to go suoth two stops in order to switch trains so we could get back out to our east-side suburb.
the train that came was going north.
in our grad-student brilliance, we got on it, knowing that it was going to be the same train that came back.
then we realized that the north line split into two branches, so we got off at the stop where the two meet, just in case a southbound train came down the other branch.
a train came. we got on. an announcer said "everyone get off the train, it's not going anywhere." basically.
so we got off.
we waited. and waited.
and waited.
and...

...

...

waited.

a train came.
it was the same one we had gotten off....but at least it was going in the right direction!
we got to five points.
we got on our eastbound train.
we got home.
finally.
it was very late.
the show was excellent, the MARTA was not.
note to self: next time, drive to the Civic Center. Parking doesn't suck as much as we thought it would and it was only...that's right...FIVE DOLLARS. If we had taken two cars, for all 12 of us, we would have paid LESS than the MARTA cost (1.75 each way). and been home ine 20 minutes.
and we wouldn't have walked 30 miles.
in the dark.
in downtown atlanta.
or waited in an underground train station for 12,000 hours. and been cold.
note to self....

in other news:
i took a nap on friday on both of my pillows.
this is odd, because i normally sleep on one pillow and have the other one next to me, so when i roll over i'm always on a pillow.
well, i fell asleep on the pillows piled up (the way i have them when i'm reading...infer what you want from the fact that i fell asleep...). i rolled over, and fell off the pillows. onto a kleenex box. ow.
explain to me why anyone would sleep on two pillows? especially if they are good. it's tall and it's bad for your neck, and when you roll over you fall off of them. who thinks that's a good idea? not me.

anyway, the end. i'm going to read something interesting now, not church history. yay!

I know i've been away for nearly a week. i'm sorry.
here's what i've been doing:
reading.
writing.
reading.
reading.
reading.
napping, but not as much as i wanted to.
having a car for an hour, and realizing how much i miss the freedom of going wherever i want, whenever i want.
going out for v-day, having fun.
reading.
reading.

what, you might ask, have i been reading?
Christology of the Later Fathers.
yes, it is as boring as it sounds.
stuff for eucharist.
more boring than it sounds, actually.

that's pretty much it. exciting, eh?

oh, i went to see the Lion King musical. it was very good, lots of fun. funny story about going there and coming home, which i will post tomorrow (or maybe later tonight...). heheeheheheheheh

anyway....
eat ice cream.
and cookies.
ta.

the BCE is over, and i know that i passed it. official scores come back in about 4-6 weeks. hehehe...it sounds like something from the back of a cereal box--"please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery".
anyway...the party was good. the weekend in general was good, but very lazy. i didn't do as much work as i should have, so i was up late, and now i am very tired.
and mondays are not good days anyway. not that my class schedule is different on monday than any other day. it's just monday and who likes that?
not me.
time to get to work on the hebrew. ta.

hmm...the Bible Content Exam (also known as "regurgitating random trivia from the Bible, which you should be able to find if you look it up so why do you need to memorize obscure facts like who was a prophet to the northern kingdom (elijah and someone else..) or which chapter of one of Paul's letters deals with the Second Coming (lots of them, i'm sure, they just arbitrarily pick one...)...anyway...), commonly referred to around here as "Bible Trivia". This is one of the ordination exams for the PC(USA) and is a requirement for graduation from Columbia Seminary. it is 100 questions covering (literally) God-only-knows-what from every possible obscure place in the Bible. Luckily, you only need a 70 to pass, and there's no reward for getting over a 70. Other than your own personal pride, which is of course bad and a sin and whatever.
i'm going to pass, no doubt.
and i'll probably be one of those people who gets an obscenely high score.
and i will be proud of it, i'm sure...and will have to try not to let everyone know that.
yes, i'm a sinner. but you know what?
in Romans, Paul says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
that's the big theme of Romans. (don't ask me about the theme of any other Pauline Epistle, because I don't know...i'm counting on my old testament knowledge, my familiarity with the gospels, and questions about the books of Hebrews and James to get me to 70.)
hehehehehe
back to work...

have i ever mentioned how much i hate rain?

a lot.

btw: i like hebrew again.

:-)

i might point out that, in spite of what the post below may assume, i am not single. the last time i was "single" on valentine's day was my freshman year of college (not that long ago, i promise...). however, the last two years i was in an international relationship and may as well have been single, for all intents and purposes of things like going out, etc. though i am not single, the "holiday" still annoys me because it a)trivializes something that is important to everyone individually, assuming that one has to have sentiments easily expressed in a hallmark card, and b) it essentially punishes people who are single, reinforcing the idea that no one is a whole person unless they are at least partially defined by someone else. that's crap.
that's all for now. just remember: your identity doesn't come from someone else.
end of diatribe. today.

have any of you heard about how much i love hebrew?

well, for just about ten minutes, forget all of that.

i say ten because it is verse ten of 1 Samuel 1 that is killing me. how many words of that verse do i recognize?
oh, right, 2. out of a lot.

on the bright side, it's sunny out, and i can always abandon the hebrew for the english or, better, for church history reading.

in other news, valentine's day is approaching. i hate valentine's day, because it is a thoroughly annoying holiday in which society's obnoxious couple-rewarding can continue, and people not in couples are cast out of said society. and besides that, it's all a made up "holiday" anyway--and st. valentine probably had nothing to do with candy hearts. but in case you want to send some christian candy hearts, i recommend this. and for all the rest of us people who do not want our self worth determined by hallmark, there is this to play with.
enjoy. and thanks to anna and her sister meg for providing us with hours of amusement to share with our single (and annoyingly coupled) friends.

happy ice cream wednesday!

oh yes, warm again today. tomorrow cold, though--50. hehehehe!

when, the last time you checked, did a class syllabus have an appendix? or worse, 6 appendices? what's wrong with this picture? a 14 page syllabus is....excessive. and that's me being nice.

i have to go read now.
ta.

that's right, 66 degrees today. reading in the sun, watching my classmates play wiffleball, walking around in a t-shirt, jeans, and sandals, with no coat....aah, the south is a beautiful thing. too bad later in the week it's going to be "cold" again--down to 42 or so. hehehe. :-)

yeah...pictures...more than i have spaces for. cry.
i was just called a hooker. notice that i am not in fact a hooker--if i was i'd have more money and wouldn't be concerned about the $419.99 I just spent on books for next semester. ugh.

anyway...
a fish called wanda. weird, good, amusing...

amy is now singing (to no apparent tune, i might add...) "i will not be afraid of women...." well, honey...whatever. heeheh!

i have spent so much time by myself in the last week that by the time everyone gets back and classes start i will be starved for contact--and will be a crazy socialite. or at least i'll like going to class because there will be people there.

have i mentioned that no one is around this week?

in case you're ever bored, you can sit around and watch webcams from various places in Scotland....Loch Ness, Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Oban, Edinburgh Castle, etc...
yeah. have fun with that.

has anyone ever had to babysit a printer?
through a 300-page print job?
double sided? (aka 600 pages in real life)
it's not exciting.
this is not a recommended activity.

State of the Union:
cutting taxes but raising spending.
continued redirection of attention from Osama bin Laden and the terrorists to Sadaam Hussein, not the terrorist that attacked america.
a "promise" to help 2 million of Africa's AIDS victims...out of the 40 million that there are...TODAY.
a nice gloss of the "gifts" america gives in food aid and whatnot, conveniently ignoring the fact that "gift" apparently means "we'll give it to you if you do what we want and if you'll pay us back with interest."

state of Decatur, GA:
raining.

well well well. day ... something ... of the internet free experience. so far, so good. I check my email about twice a day, and I've read some really interesting stuff in actual books and magazines from the church so far. i've also cleaned my room and when i get back over there i plan to wash my dishes! can you believe it? i'm not completely out of dishes yet, and i'm washing them. granted, it's close, and i don't have any more bowls, but really--i only have four bowls to begin with. so that's pretty good! once school starts i will maybe use the time to do homework! i've also discovered time for working out, which is great. i feel better already, and hopefully will be able to keep that up. :-)

i'm supposed to write my job description of my work study job, by thursday. does this sound fun? no. any suggestions for slick ways to make my job description sound either/and 1) more fun/interesting than it really is, 2) more work than it really is, or 3) somehow very bizarre? remember that i work in the spirituality office and the chapel. hmm...i really just need one sentence or so that i can slip in somewhere that will make people smile. anything, anything?

who here thinks of the ark (as in Noah's ark) as a "safe place" or a "refuge" for the victims of the world's wickedness? this was a main point in today's sermon in chapel. i think it's a little shady as far as the biblical text goes. i mean, really, God is the victim here and is taking action against the perpetrators of evil--people--and conveniently decides to keep a few. God doesn't hide out in the ark, though! and it wasn't really an option for people to take refuge in the ark--unlike in the church, to which the preacher likened the ark--because it was by invite only that people got in. in the church, though, people may choose to go there for a safe place. hmm. anyway, the sermon was quite good, but the best part was when she made the point that you can't stay in the safe place--you have to go back out into creation and work for God's kingdom in the world, you can't just stay in your safe place--in your church, in your Montreat, in your Iona Abbey....yeah. that was good. but the church as ark, i'm not so sure about. whatever. i'm done now...and i'm going back to work on my job description and my dishes. maybe i'll even read a book or something this afternoon--now that all my boxes from home are here, i have classics available for rereading! woohoo! i also have new books from Christmas to read, and i could always write letters or something to people who have written me...................
yeah.
i wish it was pub quiz night, but it isn't. sad. there's no 24 on tonight either. grr. what will i do with my evening?
ideas freely accepted. :-)

the internet in my room is now gone. hopefully i will become a better steward of my time if i have to go somewhere else to check my email! it also means i have an "extra" 21.95 a month that isn't going to MSN. so...yeah. bye bye internet access! Hello 24 hour computer lab!

so i am home..
it was a long drive, but we did it FAST and without stopping, really. thankfully.
I have much unpacking and cleaning up to do.
and much relaxing.
and maybe, just maybe, i'll write my paper for this class NOW so that I don't forget all about it when it comes due in three weeks.
or maybe i'll read the new edition of cosmo, delivered right to my mailbox.

we'll see....
heheheheh.

btw: mapquest maps show this place as "Louisville Presbyterian Cemetary". hehehe!
seminary...yes. not a place for dead people.
or is it?
huh.

In Louisville. Nice town...we found our way to church this morning (only just barely..) and we went to lunch afterward--at the same restaurant where the pastor went out to lunch. can you believe this? he bought our lunch. how bizarre is that? we were so shocked....
anyway, not really doing anything, but getting ready to play a rousing round of Bible Trivial Pursuit.
good times.
see y'all later...

Leaving for Louisville in 40 minutes. must finish packing, etc...

if you don't hear from me ever again, check I-65.
hehehe.
or send me an email--i maybe just don't have time to blog this week because of a full schedule. after all, this five days is an entire semester credit hour.

this is the most brilliant plan/scheme EVER.

happy weekend all. we're going on a road trip.

good news:
back in Atlanta, safely. nice flights, smooth, sunny, and early. :-)

bad news:
Special Session of general assembly will be called because crazy man got the signatures he needed. UGH.

people who need your prayers and good vibes:
Fourth Church group travelling to Honduras, leaving at 6am Central Time on Thursday for ten days of mission, work, etc...

i need to pick up all my crap off the floor now. my method of unpacking is this:
step 1. dump everything from suitcases onto floor.
step 2. pick it all up--otherwise you will be annoyed at all the crap on the floor.
step 3. there is no step three. everything's put away already.

time to get on step 2 now...

going to Seattle. spending the night. going to the airport. flying back to atlanta. see y'all then. ta.

why am i not blogging more?
top two reasons.

2. Nothing even remotely interesting has happened here since i arrived. (i leave on tuesday, so don't worry, it will get better.)


1. teenage brother. enough said.

ta.

heheehehhe
personal ads from a snobby intellectual british paper. this might have to go on the links--it is too amusing to ignore.
ha!

i must be crazy.

who ever decided that a good place for a retirement home was next door to (overlooking, even!) a cemetary?

that cannot be a good idea.

and what, exactly, is the "suburban cook county tuberculosis sanitarium"??

it's near the end of the train line, and is next door to the Park Forest Public Library.

again, i say, i must be crazy.

tomorrow i begin the testing process that will make my psycho.

oh, wait, it's supposed to evaluate whether i'm already psycho.

or maybe it's supposed to determine if i'm psycho enough to be allowed into the ministry.

in any case, it's three days, 6 hours a day (not including a one hour lunch break...so it's really 7 hours). "psychological evaluation" is what it should be called. however, at the place where the presbytery of chicago sends us, it's called "candidate assessment". which essentially means that before we can become candidates, they determine how crazy we are and then use that information to decide whether we are worthy to be considered for the ministry. yippee.

so, the new poll is going up and is very week-oriented. you don't have a lot of time to vote, so hurry up. after this is all over i'll be putting up a new poll based on suggestions from y'all. which means that y'all need to give suggestions.

go.

i'm going to bed so they don't call me crazy when really i'm just sleep deprived.

ok, people, i need a new poll. give me some ideas.
thank you in advance. this will be retracted (along with any love you've received from me) if ideas are not presented.
go.
:-)

good times.

much reading to be done. laundry to retrieve. trading spaces to watch. friends to play with.

by the way, i deserved that wispa bar. i worked out hard today. and yesterday. so there.

the view is in fact miles better. :-)

the gym is calling my name...but so is that chocolate bar over there. mmm..wispa...i love them...
i must get my priorities in order.

clearly the Wispa bar first. after all, one needs energy to workout, right?

yes...

mmmmm....wispa....

to the tune of "Singing in the Rain"

I'm Shopping in the snow, just shopping in the snow....
bare shelves at FAO, oh wouldn't you know...
the store, it's closing, oh me, oh my,
must go to Borders, and it's snowing outside...

yes. i did much shopping today. FAO is closing and everything is 75% off! very cute things, purchased by me. then a trek to a few other stores, all in that obnoxious snow-globe type snow. you know, little balls, falling from the sky. UGH. thankfully, by the time i was ready to walk home it had stopped...but i'd already walked a good mile or so in the snow between stores. good times!

right, have to pack now...moving to a different apartment for the next week. when you next hear from me, the view will be better. ta!

happy new year!

just a side note, there is an extremely distressing banging sound coming from near one of the radiators...it is even shaking the floors in other rooms (close ones, but other rooms nonetheless) of the apartment. should i be concerned? is the place going to blow up? i hope not, because i have a feeling that would disturb my sleep time...

which is what it now is. goodnight...and may the new year be full of blessings. :-)

peace