ooh! I also got a 97 on my Hebrew quiz last Friday. if I can somehow keep that up, I'll be golden. golden, I say!

yeah, so it's dark when I wake up in the morning. yet it's warm outside. dark when waking up = winter. and yet it isn't winter. though the grass outside, thoroughly killed (for some unknown reason) and now a swamp due to tropical depression Hannah, looks decidedly winter-esque, minus the frost, it is not in fact winter. But it is dark outside at 7am. What is up with that?
Today I am having a good hair day. don't ask why--simply accept. that is my strategy. I need to get my hair cut next week, then it will be much happier. and so will i.
Lunch today was very shady--I made a sandwich instead of entrusting myself to the sketchy cooked meal.
OH! guess what!! The guys are fixing my ceiling right now. yay!
Right. homework. I hope my entire apartment isn't being covered in paint or nastiness. i saw a spray paint can through the door--that is not good. but at least, hopefully, the ceiling will stop flaking off. that would be ideal.
right. homework...

it appears that the spiders don't like human company. they disappear when someone other than me comes into the room. I don't know where they go--but they aren't visible in the top of the wall/ceiling anymore. FYI for those just joining the spider saga: the moulding at the top of the wall does not actually join to the ceiling--there is a gap of about half an inch or so. Two spiders live there, in the living room, above the sofa...and they are just there. very odd. they don't do anything, really...they just sit there. not during the daytime, though, only at night. and now there is anew development in that they don't stya out if other people are here. yesterday, when three extra people came in the room, they disappeared quite fast. hmm............
baptism reading. must do it. must also go to sleep. aaah, sleep...joy of joys. I cannot wait until Saturday when I can sleep in!
pub quiz tonight--we did not win. though in round four we got five out of six...the sixth being "what does CNBC stand for". Answer? we put down Cable Network Broadcasting Company. The correct answer was something like Central News and Business Channel or something.

there is a silverfish crawling along the floor by the wall under my desk..oo..now it's gone under the floor moulding..who knows where it's gone off to. it won't be seen for a while now. too bad i couldn't catch it. i killed one earlier. maybe that's why the spiders disappeared...

so they still haven't come to fix my ceiling. Unlikely that it will be today, though they do have nearly three hours before 5:00..but maybe tomorrow. The voicemail said today or tomorrow, after all....

oh yeah...in other news, there is (today) only one spider in the ceiling. where is the other one? I hope it isn't in my bed or something. eew.

so last night i saw two movies. One good, one disturbing and yet good.

O Brother Where Art Thou? Good movie. Very good. Lots of great imagery, symbolism...and the plot! wow. good acting too.

But I'm a Cheerleader! distrubing. it's about trying to "cure" homosexuality. There is an intervention, a boarding school program designed to brainwash gay and lesbian teenagers into being "normal"...including simulations....and multiple instances of condemning rhetoric. However, the actual point of the movie is that you are who you are, and no one can change that, and it's not bad. That is the good part. lol. where the two links below came from is a discussion that resulted following the movie. There is one scene when Megan (the main character) is masturbating while saying her affirmations about resisting temptation, etc...and i remembered the "trend" from last year of posters and whatnot that say "every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten"...and they include this poster. so anyway...i was looking on the web to find it to show my friend Miranda and we found those. a "drama in one act" and a list of how to cure yourself of the evils of masturbation. Very Funny. Includes things like putting small cameras in your room and then having them feed ot your neighbors TVs...lol. anyway.

wow.

oh dear.

Okay... so there are still two spiders up there--this one must have been a family member coming on holiday. I do not approve.

no priscilla tonight, due to "dessert reception" for new students...and a trip to the airport to pick up Amy's sister. fun! the mexican food, however, was fab.

It is raining. A lot. a lot a lot. I don't like that at all. it isn't like our grass is going to return to green anytime soon. it has been completely annihilated, and no one knows what happened to it. One of the prides of the school (so much so that the previous president didn't allow people to WALK on the grass...), it is now the amber waves of grain. Only it was mowed yesterday, and is therefore no longer waves.
another note about rain: apparently down here rain makes it more humid rather than less (as happens everywhere else I've ever been). So it is now in fact MORE disgusting outside than it was before it started raining. ugh.

This weekend I have much work to do--and a lot of emails to send too. I am such the email slacker.
Tomorrow night we are watching O Brother Where Art Thou in the auditorium, which is excellent!

I am being random so I think it might be bedtime now. excellent! I can sleep in a little tomorrow!

I killed a spider. I think it was one of the ceiling dwelling ones--so now i have one less to worry about, right? yay!
hebrew quiz today--ugh.
anyway...yeah. dinner tonight doesn't sound good. we are going out to mexican food instead. then watching Priscilla! I hope! :-)

homework. not. getting. done. must. read. now. bye.

the Dekalb farmers market is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. They have everything you've ever wanted...amazing produce, baked goods, organic foods, alcohol, everything else ever....it's massive. it's international. it's open EVERY DAY from 9-9. it's cool. anyway.

how come no one wants to learn Aramaic? That's Jesus' language! granted, no one has really spoken it much since the time of Jesus, but whatever.

mmmm....
good food.
good conversation.
good drinks.
good evening.
much hebrew, theology, and baptism to be done.
no oversleeping allowed tomorrow.
goodnight.

It is finally here, and it is finally almost over. Everyone's been dreading the day for one reason or another--memories, exhaustion on the subject, pain, religious reasons, desire for revenge, fear....
not much longer. Though many would say that this is no ordinary day, I think one of the most important things we can realize is that it is in fact an ordinary day. Our lives go on, much as it may hurt. Our lives go on, and those whose did not would want that. Our lives go on, because we have the opportunity to make a difference. To help end the fear, the pain, the war, the vengeance seeking. Without our lives going on and seeking peace, healing, reconciliation, forgiveness, wholeness, renewal...no life will go on, and all the lives lost throughout the centuries will have been in vain.
So the day is here, and it is almost over. Soon we will have passed the one year mark, and life will continue--may we use it well.

homework got pushed aside in favor of conversation and fellowship tonight. that means much work remains to be done. OT is in 5 hours. luckily I'm done with that--it's just reformed theology and baptism that aren't getting done. I had lots of good convo tonight...yay! and now i'm going to bed. double yay!

MOTHER: "Did you know that God was present when you stole that cookie from the kitchen?"
CHILD: "yes."
M: "And he was looking at you all the time?"
C: "yes."
M: "And what do you think he was saying to you?"
C: "He was saying, 'There's no one here but the two of us--take two.' "

OH YES!! Anthony DeMello. :-)

Reformed theology is a much better class than philosophy.
My work study job rocks!
Lots of people are saying good things about the writing I did for the church newsletter about the new Taize service--but everyone thinks that someone else wrote it. I don't know whether to correct this notion, or to just revel in the idea that they like it without knowing it is mine. hmm.
anyway, must go to dinner. ta.

I seem to have lost my archives. that makes me sad. i hope they reappear at some point...

new poll. results on the least-appealing-design-pattern poll:
50% don't like polka dots
25% don't like animal prints
16% don't like paisley
8% don't like plaid.

hmm.

anyway, vote away! :-)

Today:

1 entire book about baptism and how to get it right again after hundreds of years of messed up theology.
1 hebrew alphabet (aleph-bet, actually) memorized.
1 article on human tendencies to make "signs" and how that relates to the sacraments of the church.
15 things purchased at office max.
1 new pair of jeans purchased at JC Penney (very spur of the moment, I must admit).
3 bottles of water consumed in last 5 hours.
6 CD's listened to while reading.
0 phone calls from friends.
1 email from a friend.
1 church service attended.
1 silverfish killed.
1 left alive somewhere in the corner behind my ugly metal "bookshelf".
1 batch of "catnip tea" brewed and sprayed around my apartment. OK, not yet, but tomorrow. For now there is simply catnip in small cups all over the place--in corners, under things, in closets, etc. Catnip is a natural roach repellent. according to eartheasy it also repels silverfish, but that's not really working out for me right now.
3 times checked to see how many people visited this blog today.
2: number of people who visited this blog today (not counting me). Come on people! This needs to be better. Tell your friends, etc.
40 grapes eaten as a snack.
20 bites of moosetracks ice cream for dessert (not just following the snack: it was more like snack, dinner, dessert...)
0 crunches (or pushups or other exercise related activity) done. so far.

I guess I should organize those baptism readings so i don't have to search for the next ones. i'm going, i'm going.