the littlest penguin

Not here anymore.

2007-08-20T22:33:00.000-04:00

As of... oh, right... now I will be switching from Blogger to Wordpress, which means...(drum roll)... I've registered my own domain. All my old posts and everyone's old comments have been transfered to http://littlestpenguin.com. I hope you will change your links and join me over there. :)

Peace.

Good Monsters

2007-08-18T17:20:00.000-04:00

Good Monsters, by Jars of Clay

All the good monsters open their eyes
To see the wasteland where the home fires rise
And the people shouting, "Why, why, why"

Do you know what you are?
Do you know what you are?

All the giants wake from their sleep
And roll outside of safety's keep
And the pain makes them feel so alive

Do you know what you are; do you know what you are?
We are bored of all the things we know
Do you know what you are; do you know what you are?

Not all monsters are bad
But the ones who are good
Never do what they could, never do what they could

All the good monsters rattle their chains
And dance around the open flames
They make a lot of empty noise

While all of the bright eyes turn away
As if there wasn't anything to say
About the justice and the mystery

Do you know what you are?
Do you know what you are?
We are bored of all the things that we know
And we are forms of everything we love, we love..

If good won't show its ugly face,
Evil won't you take your place?
Nothing ever changes, nothing ever changes by itself

We are bored of all the things that we know
Do you know what you are?
Because we are so in love with ourselves

We are forms of all the things we love.

Klara

2007-08-18T15:25:00.000-04:00

Klara laughed for no reason. Maybe she laughed for no reason and maybe because she'd noticed her husband had a limp. The others thought she was laughing with relief, laughing in the spirit of a swirling day, and it made them all smile benignly. They thought she was laughing in the aftermath of checking on planes that were late and hearing complaints from the caterer and finding the right receptacles for all the goddamn flowers. And finally just unwinding on a walk, they thought. Laughing in ragged relief. They thought they knew the mystery of living in her skin.

Don DeLillo, Underworld, p.498

kitty gym

2007-08-08T23:07:00.000-04:00

weekend update

2007-07-31T23:13:00.000-04:00

I went to visit Kevin over the weekend. It was great timing; I really needed a vacation. He was preaching on Sunday so I went over to listen and made a weekend of it. Good times and (as it typically the case with visiting or being visited by Kevin) good food.

We went to a little place in Durham called Loco Pop. They make home-made Popsicles with real fruit and other not-artificial ingredients. Mine was mango melon, Kevin got a mojito-flavored one. Yummy and awesome. Now I want one... dangit. We also went to the Macaroni Grill with Christine on Saturday where there was very good food and a great bottle of wine. (And I typically don't care for reds.)

Kevin preached on Hosea chapter 1 on Sunday. It was his last Sunday as their ministry intern. His sermon got mixed reviews, but a number of folks seemed to like it and hopefully got a spark of inspiration from it. The congregation is a smallish, somewhat wealthy congregation out in the suburbs.

My intent was to head home after church, but really, I should have known it wouldn't happen. We had a late-running lunch with the other ministry intern and his in-laws (that was interesting) and then we took a long nap before having Christine and Lindsay over for chicken satay. I left early Monday morning and drove straight from Durham to work. Hey, it worked, even though I was dead tired. And I think sleeping on the air mattress all weekend resulted in a pretty substantial headache for me today. But it's gone now and life is good again.

Now to book a flight to Chicago for next month...

Not brown

2007-07-30T23:21:00.001-04:00

It looks better than any ruddy brown, no? :)

Technically I should be blogging about my weekend, but I'm beat. I wasn't back in town til 1:00. And for those of you not in the know, that puts be back spot-on in time for my afternoon shift at the library. Whee!

Ubuntu installation: Day 2

2007-07-25T10:37:00.001-04:00

. . . Nothing to report. No, really. That was the easiest OS installation I've ever had to do. I think it took less than half an hour, including removing the Windows partition from the drive, and I wasn't in the room most of that time.

First impressions of Ubuntu? It's a return to double-clicking (in Debian you only had to click once), though that might be alterable. I love the user interface for finding and downloading new applications. I appreciate not having to do an apt-cache search for every little app and driver. I'm still going to have to finagle Flash into working on a Linux platform, but Java seems to be fine. (I had neither in Debian, which made Firefox crash all the time.)

So far, I like it. But Slacker was right... the default theme is terribly brown. Anyone have a good wallpaper/themes site they'd like to share?

Ubuntu installation: Day 1

2007-07-23T23:22:00.000-04:00

Most people probably won't have an epic saga on their hands when they go to install Ubuntu, but nothing with my computer is ever as easy as it ought to be. (Alineen is named after a contentious gnomish sorceress I once played, and has lived up to her name since Day 1.) So I present to you, gentle reader, my Ubuntu Installation Log, entry 1.

A feat that should have been completed in a matter of an hour or two, Installation Day One sees our heroine thwarted by her computer's absolute refusal to connect to any USB device, thus rendering all attempts at backing up vital data completely futile. After many different devices had been attempted, several reboots had been initiated, and an expedition into the junked electronics box had been launched, an old, crappy 3 gig Windows drive from my college years was accepted. Sadly, three gigs won't get you very far in this day and age and a good deal of music could not be transfered. Thankfully, most of it is stuff I burned to MP3 from my own personal cd collection and can be retrieved either from my iPod or from the shelf behind me.

This victory was swiftly overshadowed by the fact that our heroine has never had much experience with iso images and so burned the wrong file to cd. After some laughter and an equal amount of swearing, Jared took the incorrect disk home and will have a correct disk ready for me about lunchtime tomorrow. Details to follow.

A real post this time, honest.

2007-07-21T11:27:00.000-04:00

Last weekend mom and dad made a quick visit at the end of their trip to Atlanta. Dad liked the folks he met there and mom liked the area, but I think they're going to stay in Florida a little longer. There are some things there with my grandparents and mom and dad's church that are still kind of up in the air or just now starting to develop into something good. Also, the housing market really stinks and dad is worried they might not be able to sell the house. While they were here, we took a quick ride up to Boone to see my Uncle Ben, who was there for a marathon. On Sunday we took some fried chicken to the park and had a picnic, which was really nice.

After they left I had a really busy week with choir and a Just Coffee meeting and dog sitting. I had some people over last night for games and brownies. That was fun, even though a few people couldn't make it and others didn't respond, even with "no." Also, Joe left early so he could get his copy of Deathly Hollows when midnight rolled around. Sheri wanted to go to the Potter-bration at Barnes and Noble and pick up her reserved copy, but Jared's parents announced a surprise visit. They came last night, too, and we introduced them to Apples to Apples. Last time they were here we introduced them to Kubb. Jared's dad went home and made his own set after that.

So today I get to relax and clean up the kitchen and all that good housekeeping stuff. I also have a pork roast in the fridge marinating in Cuban mojo. Yuuum.

Edit: I also made a quick key lime pie and re-potted yet another of my house plants. Also added some topsoil to the garden. Needless to say, I'm a bit dirty now. Anyone want some pie?

Yet another geeky post

2007-07-20T23:36:00.001-04:00

I found a link to Chore Wars on BoingBoing today. Yeah, it turns house cleaning into a competition, and yeah, it's totally geeky. But really... getting xp for doing household chores. Why wasn't this around when I had problems with my roommate not cleaning up after herself?? Begin your epic quest here.

Soundtrack to My Life

2007-07-18T00:12:00.000-04:00

This was a thread in the Silly Message Board Games, but too much fun to not share. You take your entire playlist, shuffle it, and enter the song titles for each of the following categories in order. Here's mine (including commentary):

Opening Credits: Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls (wow... that's fitting )
Waking Up: I Fought the Law (*helpless giggling*)
First Day At School: Dirty Day by U2
Making your new best friend: Mysterious Ways U2 song remixed by Massive Attack (Interesting...)
Falling In Love: Not a Pretty Girl by Ani DiFranco (*say wha?!*)
Breaking Up: This Side by Nickel Creek
Prom: Picture of Jesus by Ben Harper
Graduation: Bothered by Over the Rhine
Life's Okay: Liquid by Jars of Clay (um... ok? )
Death of a close friend: Little Drummer Boy by Bright Eyes (Um, thought I got all the Christmas stuff out of there. )
Mental Breakdown: Girl America by Matt Kearney (Yeah, that'll work.)
Driving: Not the Same by Ben Folds Five
Flashback: When You Say Love by Over the Rhine
Getting Back Together: Double Cure by Vigilantes of Love (hahaha oh, I love it!)
Birth of Child: Robin and Marian by Nickel Creek
Wedding Scene: Nobody Loves by Massive Attack *falls off the chair laughing*
Car Accident: Ashes by Ben Harper
Final Battle: Mamadi by Lucky Diop (apparently my final battle occurs in Africa)
Death Scene: Still Fighting It by Ben Folds Five Yeah, "everybody knows it hurts to grow up."
Funeral Song: Redemption Song by Johnny Cash (I like it...)
End Credits: Holiday by Weezer

On female gamers

2007-07-17T11:25:00.001-04:00

Posted by Avenging_Viper on the GitP Friendly Banter forums:

Gamus gynae is a rare and exotic specimen of the Geekanthropus family. Commonly mystaken for a mythical creature, Gamus gynae is merely illusive and endangered, as it's natural habitat is frought with such dangers as the related predatory species Gamus lecheraii. Gamus gynae should not be confused with a similar species Nerdus femina. Though the two often share similar habitats, their plumage and mating behaviors are quite different.

Kitty

2007-07-16T11:56:00.001-04:00

I, on the other hand, require caffeine. And half-and-half, which I find myself sadly lacking this Monday morning.

Into the new

2007-07-13T10:30:00.000-04:00

All things now being official enough, I think it's safe to actually say what I've been hinting about here for a couple weeks now:

I have submitted my resignation to the Athletics Department effective August 16. Starting August 17 I will be working full time in the Library as the archivist and acquisitions/cataloging assistant. The official title will be "Archivist and Technical Services Specialist," I will get a modest raise and will be put on salary. The Library Director is retiring next month and the Public Services Librarian resigned for another job. The incoming Director has worked with us as Reference Librarian for about two years now and has been very eager and proactive in advocating both for me personally and for the archives. I will be trained to do some of the more technical jobs that were once done by the PS Librarian.

Also, the front desk is being moved into the library lobby, the doors facing the chapel are now marked "emergency exit only," and the computer lab has been vacated. Students needing a computer workstation can now check out a wireless-enabled laptop from the front desk. Printers and extension chords have been stationed around the library for this. Potted plants are being used to soften the institutional feel of the building. And we have a soda and snack machine for the students, with coffee services starting back up in August! We're not really "renovating" yet, but we've definitely made some upgrades. I'll have to try to get some pics of the ~~carnage~~ progress like Slacker did for his library's renovations.

It has been both strange and exciting to see the changes going on in our humble little library, but I'm very encouraged by what I've seen so far. And I think the students will be pleasantly surprised when they come back.

So. Very. Tired.

2007-07-11T13:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was very, very busy. There was the normal work thing, of course. (Where I put in my resignation with the Athletics Office. Another post to follow.) Then, right after work, Jared and his cousin Andy, Tony and I drove out to the Cherokee National Forest (about 30 minutes away) and walked to Laurel Falls. The Laurels trail is pretty easy except for the last quarter mile or so, which is down a steep, roughly-made "stairway" to the falls themselves. After a short rest, you turn around and walk back up those same so-called stairs, which is not any fun. But the hike on the whole is really nice and can be done in a little less than 2 hours round-trip, even taking your sweet time like we did.

I went straight from the Laurels to Jared's house, picked up my car, grabbed a slower-than-hoped-for sandwich from Wendy's, and hurried to Samara's apartment. Then we met up with Mara's sister Keisha, drove to meet up with Joe and Steve, and trekked about an hour north to Abingdon to catch the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Somehow or another Steve begged the Cinemall's owner-manager into opening up the theater with the awesome sound system. The man also personally escorted us into said theater before the rest of the crowd was allowed in. Thus, not only did I see the Potter movie, I also saw about the last 15 minutes of the Fantastic 4 movie. (Which I'm tempted to not link to because even that short exposure was enough to tell me it wasn't so fantastic.) Potter is a good movie, though fans of the book will probably lament how much had to be cut out for the sake of time.

I ended up getting home a little after 4am, taking a quick shower to wash the hike off me, and going to bed a little before 5. Yes, I am running on coffee right now, why do you ask?

Railroad on campus

2007-07-06T11:48:00.000-04:00

Those of you who know my campus might recall the dilapidated old mill that sits among a few rental houses along the Creek. Back when I was a student, the college (I think) owned it but didn't know what to do with it. The building itself was barely more than a wooden frame with a rusty metal roof, a few old machinery gears in the cellar, and a large yard area overtaken by kudzu. Students used to go there for their less-than-college-approved activities or to take photographs for their various assignments. The creek drops suddenly next to the mill, creating the waterfall that once ran the gears, and the trees keep you from seeing the state highway that runs above the area. It's really very pretty.

A couple of years ago, Jack bought the mill and has been doing a remarkable bit of research trying to discover when it was built, by whom, what renovations it was given over the years, and what it looked like when it was first built. He's slowly restoring it, mostly by himself. Of course, he's frequented me in the archives looking for photos or anything else we might have. He's even managed to track down the descendant of the original inhabitants. (They were Brethren who lived in the mill during the Civil War, she still lives locally.) In his most recent trip to the archives, we were examining a digital copy of a photograph in order to figure out whether the door on the 4th story of the mill indicates that the floor was inhabited or simply used as a hayloft. (I'm voting hayloft.) The original photo is maybe 4 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches tall. We had the digital copy magnified maybe 300% and the original on the desk. The magnification didn't tell us anything about the door, but Jack mentioned that he'd never figured out what a sluice-looking structure on the side of the mill was. I scrolled over to the area on the digital copy and... it wasn't a sluice. Magnified, the structure had very clear railroad ties and rails elevated above the creek bank and leading right into the machinery/milling area. This was pretty interesting to us, since the structure was there in our 1915 photo and gone in a 1923 photo. We figured maybe it was a little track designed to help bring grain up into the structure to be milled or something. Jack did some more research into it and discovered that it was used to bring in grain ... from the next town over! Our little mill was on a branch of the Tweetsie Railroad. (Well, the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad, more accurately.) We just keep finding cool things about this old mill!

(Photos courtesy of the Milligan College Archives, of course.)

Political "neenering"

2007-07-02T11:49:00.000-04:00

What happens when you get sick of folks with differing political views hijacking your attempts at campaign support? Well, this if you're just sassy. This if you're a little vendictive.

Across the Mason-Dixon Line

2007-06-22T14:25:00.000-04:00

I returned Wednesday from an archives conference at Penn State. First, can I just say that Pennsylvania and Tennessee are not so far removed that the concept of "sweet tea" could be quite that alien to them? (And, No! Sweetening the tea yourself after it's been iced is not the same!) But all in all, it was a good time for me. I met a lot of folks from bigger institutions (UNC and Duke University Archives, the Library of Congress, the Folger Shakespeare Library. . . yeah, wow), and stayed at the Nittany Lion Inn (a pretty nice hotel, though we were definitely paying for the convenience of being right on campus). The workshop leaders did a fairly successful job of bringing library cataloging language down to a level where a person who had never once worked with MARC (me) could understand it, move confidently thorough the basics, and equate the fields to information drawn from archival finding aids. Which is good, because in the very near future chances are that I'm going to be learning MARC . . . but that's all I should say about that just now.

Back in Tennessee, the volleyball coach is moving into her new office right across from mine. Chaos and mayhem will probably result from having the two of us coffee addicts so close. Sue sent me a little check as a "thank you" for some of the work I did for Just Coffee this last year. (I didn't think I'd done all that much, but the gesture is certainly appreciated!) And I am halfway through the second temple in Twilight Princess. Glee. :)

Hot library

2007-06-08T16:08:00.000-04:00

Holy wow. The air conditioner in the library broke earlier this week and is not expected to be functional again til Monday. It's nearly 90 on the upper floors and not too much cooler down in the archives. Thankfully I put heavy cardboard over the windows weeks ago, or I'd be burning up. The full time staff are slowly going home and one by one I'm stealing the fans from out of their offices. Today I noticed the unmistakable smell of mold in books and realized that I had underestimated the air circulation we'd been receiving. If we didn't have air circulating in the archives over the weekend I was going to come in to a very unpleasant surprise on Monday. I need to engineer a way to have enough outlets for at least three fans and the dehumidifier without unplugging the computers. (IT really frowns on that no matter what the reason.) Here's hoping that it's enough and the a/c gets fixed soon!

Something new on the horizion?

2007-06-05T10:39:00.000-04:00

Dad and Mom are looking into moving to the Atlanta area after 30 years or so in South Florida. There is a transfer opprotunity... two actually... for dad there. One is the same job he's doing now, and one is a promotion. Not that I'm biased, but Dad deserves a promotion.

Kind of excited and weirded out both at the possibility.

Boo. Ya.

2007-06-03T17:04:00.000-04:00

I am not allowed to go to Home Depot or any other store where I will spend money on the apartment for at least three months, but I am very pleased with the results of today's excursion. A few plants in the corner and some hardware for the window hangings and the bedroom is almost done. I want some stuff for the very blank walls, but that'll have to wait til I can afford it. The credit card is going in a drawer and is not coming out for a long time.

Here are photos:

Through time

2007-05-31T13:51:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share this with someone, so here. It's an amazing video from Juxtapoz that morphs portraits of women in Western art from the Renaissance forward. Creepy. Cool. Very beautiful.

One of the comments on the Juxtapoz site notes that it's almost like you're watching the same woman, the Archetypal Beautiful Woman, depicted by many different generations of artists. It's a trick of the morphing, I'm certain, but it does add the "creepy" factor in. What amazing and marvelous things can be done when you're a super-genius with a computer!!

Work day

2007-05-20T23:20:00.000-04:00

I didn't sleep through church today, but I did sleep 'til church, so I didn't go. It's been a while since I skipped and the choir wasn't singing today, so there's not too much guilt involved. I did, however, spend the entire day at home doing some major reorganizing in the office. I took the shelving unit out of the closet and am now using it for books and hobby gear. And I cleared out a space for the couch Jared and Sheri are getting rid of. (The couch that Sheri and I had since I think Sophomore year in college, that went to Kevin and Jared, that went back to Sheri, and is now returning to me.) Here's an "after" shot for you, complete with photoshopped couch and cat.

Yesterday I tore up the weeds in the little patch next to my door and got it ready for some real plants. I'm going to pick up some herbs from the garden supply store on Tuesday and add them to the two pepper plants and the tomato I planted yesterday. I also replaced all the upstairs light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs and hung a framed poster in the bathroom. One of these days I'll finish unpacking, I swear! :)

Ouch.

2007-05-17T23:25:00.000-04:00

I took the day off today to get my poor car looked at. She'll roll over 100,000 miles sometime this summer and she'd been neglected pretty much since I moved up here. I couldn't afford to do much beyond basic maintenance, and it finally caught up with me. New front breaks, new water pump, new coolant hoses. Thankfully, the mechanic took her in, checked her over, and had her fixed in less than half a day. Unfortunately, the expense puts a major obstacle in my way if I hope to do any out-of-town travel this summer at all. (And I was hoping to at least visit my sister and Kevin. Sigh.)

In slightly related news, I told one of the girls from church that I had an extra bedroom if she wanted to get out of her parents' house and split rent with someone. I offered this to her before, when moving was a "maybe" and not a "I have to," and I never got a committal answer from her. I bet she won't give me one this time either. Wonder if I should keep asking her or just let it be. It was worth a shot? Anyone want a roommate and two crazy cats in TN?

Up!

2007-05-06T01:32:00.000-04:00

Ok, after much travail and a heckuvalotta file renaming, the photos from Erin's wedding are up. At least, most of the ones that are ~~good enough to show~~ decent are. Visit my Picasa WebAlbum to see.

Silly at work

2007-05-02T21:05:00.000-04:00

I was doing some research today and encountered the names of my parents' pastor and his wife, both alums of the college. Thinking I'd be cute and send them photocopies of their freshmen yearbook photos, I hit the yearbooks only to find that he (Don) never sat for a yearbook photo. I decided that I could and should have a little fun with this, so I "edited" the yearbook entry where Don's 1977 senior photo ought to have been and mailed it to him.

Brain bounce #1

2007-05-01T23:05:00.000-04:00

Llama and I have been working out for about an hour three days a week. Whether there is any noticeable physical effect after a little less than a month of this, I'm not sure. Everything still feels like it fits the same old way. I can tell my endurance is a little less puny. And it is oddly stress relieving to go nowhere on a computerized bike for an hour after certain workplace annoyances have reared their ugly heads. Today I had two show themselves. I wish people would understand that being part-time in an office does not necessarily mean what I do is unimportant and they can therefore ignore my presence entirely. In a similar vein, being part-time in the other office does not mean I'm so swamped with work you can feel free to do my job for me.

I'm worried about work. The new apartment and other, less expected, expenses have made it even more difficult to make ends meet, and I don't see any substantial raises on the horizon. Even with an exciting research project on my hands I'm kind of fighting a certain amount of unease. And really, I love the coaches, but I don't want to be an athletics secretary for very much longer. No matter how many times Kim buys me iced tea as a thank-you for reading her tenure paperwork.

Old news, New England et al

2007-05-01T00:27:00.000-04:00

Gah, I'm breaking my posting groove!

I was in New England about two weeks ago for an old friend's (she may as well have been my sister at one point) wedding. It was very nice, and truth be told, I didn't mind at all that a late Nor'easter kept us confined to our Bed and Breakfast for almost 2 days. I was so stressed with job and life and personal insanity that I was at a breaking point. Really. Even people who didn't know me could tell I was on the brink of going postal. And hanging out with Gibson rocked, too. BTW, if you're ever in Massachusetts, the Five Bridge Inn rocks... especially when your parents are paying for the stay. I'll get pics to the gallery... eventually, I swear.

In other news, it's exam week 'round here. I'm going to miss my student workers this summer, but I have big plans to get stuff done while they're gone, not the least of which is a research project I was asked to take on by our new Director of Diversity Services. I love when my job and my personal research interests dovetail this nicely. The other librarians think I might even get a publishable paper out of it. That would be pretty awesome; I've not published before.

Lots of thoughts bouncing around my brain tonight, but it's very late and I'm sleepy.

Area 51

2007-04-12T14:30:00.000-04:00

My old Milligan bud Adam contacted me a week or so ago to ask about code requirements for a records holding facility his parents' architectural firm was going to be building. He and Wendy are in New Mexico now, and we got onto the topic of a building they were designing for the city of Roswell. When asked if it was an alien holding facility, Adam said no, nothing that interesting. Then he set about the task of designing an alien holding facility for me! Behold!

Adam: "You could imagine that one is the facility and the other is a set of brand new lofts. That was my original intention. I’ll leave you to decide which. I wonder if there are New Yorker aliens that could use a vacation home."

Counterproductive

2007-04-10T21:09:00.000-04:00

llama with mask: I'm sorry I didn't leave a message, but it would have been a pity-me message anyway
llama with mask: so I figured it best to leave nothing at all
llama with mask: I realize its a pet peeve and I apologize
llama with mask: I'll get ya ice cream
littlestpenguin: um, did you just offer me ice cream for missing a workout?
llama with mask: no
llama with mask: i offered you ice cream because I called your machine and didn't leave a message
littlestpenguin: lol, well that's different then

Global comparisons

2007-04-10T10:52:00.000-04:00

I found a really neat link on BoingBoing today. Worldprocessor takes globes and overlays them with data. Kind of like informative art. Some are mundane, some are interesting, and some have data that unnerved or saddened me. Some of the photos didn't load for me, but the website states that over 300 globes have been created.

No privacy.

2007-03-30T01:01:00.000-04:00

Well, I was going to take a shower, but I think I'll have to wait.

Scientific Progress goes "peep."

2007-03-29T20:17:00.000-04:00

There are rare (rare!) mass-emails that are worth blogging about beyond those that are just too dumb or outrageous to ignore. But, behold, as we enter springtime our minds and emails turn to thoughts of... candy!

Save the Peeps!

Stop cruelty, exploitation, and genetic modification this Easter Season!!
Demand organic, free-range, hormone-free, and fair trade Marshmallow Peeps!!!

Cruel experiments are performed on Peeps to guarantee their flavor, texture, and sweet, sweet goodness. IT'S AN OUTRAGE!
Every year, dozens of Marshmallow Peeps are consumed by children around the world! Or at least the parts that celebrate Easter! But how many chubby-cheeked consumers think about the process that these precious peeps go through before they rot our teeth and clog our arteries?! Peeps are kept in small shrink-wrapped confinement, unable to move, in order to remain soft, and tender, and oh so sweeeet...AND they are subject to painful testing under extreme conditions - see links below!
http://www.peepresearch.org/smoking.html
http://www.peepresearch.org/surgery.html
http://www.peepresearch.org/nitrogen.html
THIS OUTRAGE MUST STOP!! Write "Save the peeps!" on a $20 bill and mail it to:
Save the Peeps/New Ping-Pong Table Fund
c/o Sojourners
2401 15th St NW
Washington, DC 20009

Catching up.

2007-03-27T15:35:00.000-04:00

Geesh, I haven't blogged more than a snippet in a while. Let's catch up a bit, shall we?

Yesterday my inbox was flooded with photos of my little nephew. He's 5 months old now and they're starting to wean him. As you can see, the strained carrots experiment was met with mixed results. You should see what he did with cereal.

Wes and I got to hang out a little bit while he was in town. We caught up with each other as well as talked about news from some mutual friends and acquaintances. Life's moved pretty fast for some of us. He's finished one of his books and has made significant progress with the second. Chalice Press is interested in the second book, which is about how MySpace became a place for Wes to do ministry. Welcome to Web 2.0.

Ah, and one more photo. While Kevin was in town I finally broke down and adopted another cat. I've wanted to for a while, but with the chaos with the old apartment I decided to put it off a little longer. I found a sweet three year old cat at Petsmart and decided he'd make a good friend for Anselm. He's very mild, but he's a chubby butt... 13 pounds. I renamed him Paddington since he's marmalade colored and the pound didn't know what his original name was. It's pretty obvious that he was once someone's house cat, though.

You do not have the right.

2007-03-22T00:51:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Presbytery,

Show me what in Scripture or Theology gives you the right to deny a godly man and a gifted pastor the ability to use his gifts because of how he was born. You fear schism, and schism is indeed evil. But so are theological cowardice, ecumenical bullying, and excluding someone from Christ's table. I cannot decide whether the letter I am about to write you will be scathing or whether it will exhort you to be brave.

C'thulu has competition.

2007-03-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

How could I not blog this shirt from goats.com? And look at the adorable child they expolited for their sinister purpose! ;)

New place

2007-03-08T22:39:00.000-05:00

I know some of you all aren't familiar with my old place to be able to compare it, but here are some photos of the new place. It's lots better! Forgive the obvious mess in the photos. I'm still unpacking. :)

Squeaky wheel gets... the Wii!

2007-03-06T16:14:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'll admit it. I've never wanted a game system so badly that I couldn't wait to buy it used, but I want a Wii. A lot. I also want my deposit and pre-paid last month of rent back from my old landlord. Kevin has decided this can be used as incentive:

Kevin: so did you get your deposit and last months rent back ?
Me: Are you kidding? I never even got a call back.
Kevin: keep calling
Me: (sigh) why? she won' t return them [the calls].
Kevin: because that's $. that's a wii, that's why. that's your wii they won't give you. now go get it.

See? Told you she's evil.

2007-03-01T23:13:00.000-05:00

Dork Tower today was just too delightful not to share. :-D

Beautiful people. And cats.

2007-02-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

Boingboing.net recently linked to the work of Raul Gutierrez. Among other places, he traveled to rural Tibet and photographed the people and their lives. Here is a link to his photos. I'd share some of my own from my 2002 trip, but he does a much better job. (And they really are some of the most beautiful people I've encountered.)

Boingboing also linked to this terribly silly YouTube video: "Cats in Things They're Not Supposed to be." Caution: Language not safe for work.

Random thought steming from a Tuesday conversation

2007-02-23T10:23:00.000-05:00

I want to know why people who enter the ministry are always looking to plant churches, and never looking to find a congregation willing to revitalize itself. Church plants usually "steal" members from other congregations at least as often as they attract the so-called "unchurched. " Which means that Ms. or Mr. I-Just-Graduated-From-Bible-College-and-Think-I'm-Hot-Stuff is, in all reality, killing small, established congregations that just need some new blood to make them strong and willing to do the Work of the Kingdom again. But the mentality can be so selfish... "this little plant of mine needs to grow, we need talent, we need support..." No one thinks about who they're stepping on. Granted, not all small congregations are willing to accept change, and many would rather die out than actually do Kingdom work. But I think the small churches are the best place to incite change in the Church catholic, the best place to do ministries of healing, solid discipleship, and friendship. And I've seen them, the ones willing to listen and change and work. They do exist! I've even seen congregations of different movements / denominations work and worship together for each other's common good! So I want to know why we're not teaching our young ministry majors that it can and should be done. Or have the bulk of our Bible Colleges bought into the Willowcreek and Saddleback mega-church models so thoroughly that they can't conceive such an idea?

Nervous

2007-02-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

I might have found a winner in the hunt for a new apartment. Two bedroom townhouse off a well-used back road in the middle of town. Nineteen-seventies style building in apparently good condition. Lots of workspace in the kitchen. Central air and heat. Washer and dryer. Pets allowed for a cheap deposit. Really nice landlady. Available next week. I don't want to rush into a decision, but I doubt I'll find anything better for the price.

Project Pink Pirate lives on...

2007-02-18T22:05:00.000-05:00

Well, its been more than a year since the hilarity of Project Pink Pirate, but I'm still finding these things here and there. Eleven are still somewhere around here....

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2007-02-16T16:43:00.000-05:00

Whoever bought this didn't know how true "but he was still hungry" would be...

I stand corrected.

2007-02-14T23:07:00.000-05:00

I received an eviction notice in the mail today. Suspicious timing, don't you think?

quick update

2007-02-13T11:44:00.000-05:00

I suppose I should update after such a spiteful last entry.

I haven't seen any real action about the hot water. We have warm water, which means that we still can't shower or wash dishes without heating water, but it takes significantly less heating to get the job done. No word from the landlord, but the Code Enforcement office emailed me today asking if there was any resolution to the problem yet. I told them" no," so I hope they're still working on the issue.

Tomorrow is that day, and I will probably be spending it at Justin and Llama's house playing games and eating something yummy I cooked up. (Shrimp scampi over linguini, anyone?) And hopefully Justin and I can finish what's left of the ginormous bottle of Chianti Wes bought last time he was over. Though I do need to remember to call Dad. He always remembers his girls on V-day.

All done with this.

2007-02-06T20:14:00.000-05:00

Guess who emailed Code Enforcement about their landlord's unwillingness to fix the hot water heater today. I hope the office ladies enjoy thier hot showers tonight, cause with any luck, tomorrow's gonna be a really bad day for them.

Cooking for the world

2007-02-02T11:20:00.000-05:00

Here's a neat article I found on MSNBC today about a World Food Program project that enlists famous chefs to use humanitarian aide ration materials in 5-star recipes. The goal is to draw attention to world hunger, especially among those who consider food a luxurious thing instead of a vital necessity. As a "foodie"-in-training, I personally think this is a pretty creative way to place the problem right in front of people who are likely to care. Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in the things we enjoy that we forget that not everyone has access to it. Food and clean water are especially good examples for me because, even though my grocery budget is kind of tight, I still manage to pull out some awesome meals. And since my landlord pays the water bill (and for the water heater when it works), I do a really terrible job at being mindful that much of the world has restricted access to clean water. Sometimes we don't know the problem is as big as it is until something, like the chefs project or a flier for Living Waters for the World or the Blood:Water Mission, comes and brings it to our attention.

three months

2007-02-01T10:33:00.000-05:00

Is this a cute baby or what? He's three months old now and my sister says he's a chunky monkey. He's starting to look like his daddy, too.

shiny link

2007-01-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

Today I finally got a link (two, actually) for the archives on the college's home page. It involved a slightly frustrated email and a small defense of my position as a research entity and not an "Ask Jeeves" office, but for the first time in archvies history, people do not have to contact 4 different offices in order to find the information I provide access to. Huzzah!

getting better

2007-01-20T00:34:00.000-05:00

Well, the stairwell light is still dead, as are all the other lights my landlord pays for, but my hot water is back on after nearly a week. Yay!

The job at the university fell through, but that's ok. I'll keep poking around and maybe something even better will show up.

Still apartment hunting, and frustrated by delays, but I have a lead on one I can afford and the property manager seems really nice. He promised me a call once the place I was interested in comes available in the next couple weeks. And I'll keep looking too.

And this... this is just neat.

rough week

2007-01-18T15:12:00.000-05:00

Frustration with the landlord.
Chaos at work.
Delays finding new apartment.
Hard times with friends.

And there's still 2 days left before the weekend...

The Senate is not out to get you.

2007-01-12T16:53:00.000-05:00

This morning, dad sent me a spam. He almost never does that, so, I guess maybe to discourage him from building up a habit, I read it. Here's what it said:

Extremely Urgent! - from AFA [American Family Assoc.]

January 11, 2006
Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.

Senate Tired of Your E-mails, Phone Calls; Expected to Pass Bill that Will Keep You From Getting Needed Information.

Dear Sir,
Without a doubt, this could be the most important letter I have written you.
The U.S. Senate is poised to pass Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), which would effectively keep AFA and every other pro-family organization in America from providing you information on bills in Congress. Under Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), we would only be able to provide you information on a bill at a high cost and at great danger of being penalized by Congress.
To put it bluntly, members of Congress are tired of getting your e-mails and phone calls, and Senate Bill 1(Section 220) is designed to keep information from you that might inspire you to call or write your senator.
Click Here to read AFA's review of Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).
The new Democratic Senate thinks that if it can keep you from getting information—which is what Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) would do—then it will not be getting e-mails and phone calls from you.
Senators favoring this bill are simply tired of hearing from you. That is the bottom line. They don’t want to hear from you. They don’t want you to be informed. They want to silence you. How? By simply keeping you from receiving information that AFA provides.
I know that language is strong, but Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) will do exactly what I’ve said.

Take Action

1. Send an e-mail to your two senators now!
2. Call your two senators at 202-224-3121. (Simply ask for one senator. Then call the other one at the same number. Ask your senators to vote against Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).
3. Please forward this to your friends and family. It is vitally important that they know what members of the Senate are trying to do.
4. Print this information, and share it with members in your Sunday School class and church and urge them to send an e-mail and call.

If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.

Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!

Oh, I was so sure this was some stupid paranoia "the government is persecuting Christians" crap someone made up. It's not. It really did come from a group called the American Family Association, which apparently has my dad on some list. So I ventured out into the Internet. Turns out that there is a real S.1 Section 220. But, oh! did the writer of the above email misread / misinterpret / misrepresent it! I replied with this:

Hey Dad. Thought you might be interested, and maybe pass it along? I did a little research. I thought this was another email urban legend, but it checks out... almost.

Section 220 is one tiny part of a much larger piece of legislation (S.1) aimed at increasing transparency in the lobbying process. The Dems. in the Senate, after seeing the corruption exposed in fundraising and lobbying that has been exposed these past couple of years, decided to follow up on their campaign promises and fight it the only way the Senate knows how - rules and red tape. Here's a news report on it: click this.

(And really who cares what Party? The Repubs. are just as bad as the Dems. What a stupid thing for the AFA to get mad about.)

Anyway. Whoever wrote this email from the AFA did not take into account that there is more to S.1 than Section 220. In fact, there are 269 more sections! Not only that, but S.1 is not designed "to keep you from getting information" nor is it intended to persecute "the AFA and every other pro-family organization in America." (Nice knee-jerk reaction, though.) The very first sentences of Section 220 (which you can see by clicking here) go as such:

(a) Definitions- Section 3 of the Act (2 U.S.C. 1602) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (7), by adding at the end of the following: `Lobbying activities include paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying, but do not include grassroots lobbying.'; and

(2) by adding at the end of the following:

`(17) GRASSROOTS LOBBYING- The term `grassroots lobbying' means the voluntary efforts of members of the general public to communicate their own views on an issue to Federal officials or to encourage other members of the general public to do the same.

All Section 220 does is create a new category of lobbyist that must report to the Senate's Ethics Committee - lobbyists who are paid to stimulate grassroots lobbying. It does not effect the lobbying itself. It closes a loophole that was being exploited and that had allowed certain lobbyists to be sneaky in their contact with Senators.

God knows that I think the Church has bigger fish to fry than Senate bills, but the least I could do is counter some of the paranoia that email was trying to inspire. (Really, folks. Fear tactics from a Christian organization? Whatever happened to "do not be afraid"?) Anyway, Dad. Pass this along if you think people would appreciate it, edit it if you like. Love you and talk to ya soon.

I haven't heard back from dad, but I hope he sends that on to all the other people he sent that stupid piece of Christian Right propaganda to.

Horray! I'm useful!

2007-01-12T15:40:00.000-05:00

I have a friend here at work whose name is Jack. Jack is way cool. He's the campus plumber, really friendly, and into historic restoration. He owns the old mill at the edge of campus and has been working ever since I met him to restore it to the closest thing to original condition he can get. In fact, that's how I met him.

Anyway, here's my story. I have a ton of blueprints in the archives, and I haven't touched them. They take up lots of space and until today I didn't even know what they went to. Today I finally decided to go through and inventory them for a project I'm working on. In the process, I emptied a box. I took the box upstairs just as Jack walked into the library. He made fun of my box. I started talking to him about how the box had been full of blueprints that should have been on shelves. He made some mention about how the Physical Plant doesn't have many blueprints to the campus, and I said, "Oh, I just found a bunch." Anyway, long and short is that the archives has the ONLY set of blueprints the college owns of some buildings and areas of campus, not least of which is a plan of the sewage system. I just saved the college $4,000 according to Jack. They were about to have to hire a surveyor to figure out how the sewage was laid out. I love helping Jack (he bought me a soda for this), and the Physical Plant director has been really willing to help me with some things lately too. I'm glad I found those. (And wow does it make me look good!)

Missions?

2007-01-08T23:33:00.000-05:00

I don't often get much in the way of interactive response when I post stuff to the women's group, so here's my latest Epistle to the Disciples at MySpace, complete with footnotes from Kevin that did not make it into the final forums draft:

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can do the work of God in our everyday lives. Jennifer’s email earlier today kind of sparked some ideas and I thought maybe I’d share and discuss them with you all. We have a lot of emphasis on mission work in the church, but I have this nagging fear inside me that we have sold the idea of mission work short. That mission work is so much more than we think it is. I am especially concerned with the idea I have encountered a lot in the past: that we seek out God’s will to know where to do missions, because mission work isn’t done at home. We always pray and fundraise in order to go somewhere for mission trips. And we talk about “God’s will” in our going.

I want to suggest that the above paragraph describes a very narrow idea of what God’s will is. The sweeping theme of the Bible is the reconciliation of humanity and Creation unto God. This is the Jubilee; this is the Will of God. (See Isaiah and Luke 4:18.) It’s why God established the Law and the Prophets, the holy state of Israel, and finally absolved humanity of its infinite debt through Christ’s death on the cross. In light of this understanding of God’s will, I have a problem thinking that God micromanages us in the name of “His will.” In other words, I question the belief that God’s will is distinctively different for each individual. People have argued for ages about the free will God has given humanity. If we truly believe that the scriptures prepare us to understand the will of God (as a method of reconciliation) and that we have free will, then we can make any decision in confidence that as long as we work to show Christ’s healing to the world we will always be in God’s will. I firmly believe that it is God’s will for us to declare the Jubilee here in the states. It is also God’s will for some to go to Indonesia and Thailand if they feel they can better “proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” there than here in the US.

We can, and do, perform the will of God on a daily basis. Because of this daily work within the will of God, our everyday lives are testimonies to the love of Christ. We don’t need trips to far-away countries to be on the mission field. Don’t get me wrong. The foreign mission field isn’t bad.1 Countless people have done amazing things for God’s people in other countries. But these things have been done by making the mission field a lifestyle, by living with and growing and loving and being loved by the people over years, not weeks. If the only time we feel we’re doing God’s work is when we’re far from home on a one or two week trip, something is wrong. If we think there is only work to be done in far away places, we have allowed ourselves to become blinded to the poor, the hungry, the lonely, the unloved, and those without hope who are literally just across the street from where we live. We cannot allow ourselves to become so focused on God’s work in other countries that we forget about God’s work in our own neighborhoods.2

So I guess what I’m saying to Jennifer, to myself, and to all of us is: You don’t have to go to Thailand to do God’s work. Certainly it would be a great service experience if you do. But remember that mission work is right here, too. Indeed, we must not fail to do mission work. It is the Christ-like way, to proclaim good news to the poor, announce release to the captives, give food to the hungry. Whether you go to Indonesia, or to those who need you in your own hometown, or just to lunch with someone who needs a friend, do so in the full confidence that as long as you work toward the healing of Creation, you are within the will of God.

------------------------------------------
Footnotes from the Editor (Kevin):

1 Yes. Yes it is. It is spiritual consumerism and it is nothing more than spiritual masturbation. Missions work that is not a lifestyle demonstrates only the selfish self-gratification in the name of God that empires have used since the discovery of Africa to make themselves rich, self-assured of their salvation, and well known to high society.

2 This is what Derek Webb’s song "A King and a Kingdom" is about when he says:
“Poverty is so hard to see
when it’s only on your tv
and twenty miles across town.
Where we’re all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus’ neighborhood
where he’s hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash.

He says, more than just your cash and coin
I want your time, I want your voice,
I want the things you just can’t give me”

napping penguins

2007-01-04T20:33:00.000-05:00

From Nephew

Cutest. Penguin. Ever.

not everyone is

2006-12-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

While I am one who eagerly looks forward to the time with family and friends that comes with the holidays, it can sometimes be hard. I'm not exactly a typical example of religious and political thought in my family, nor (as you have seen in the past) am I particularly thrilled at some people's carelessness when it comes to talking about my personal life. And, well the holidays haven't quite been the same since Amy and I got old enough to move out, and worse, since Granpa Pete died a couple of years ago. Still, there's a sentimental value to the holidays that says we aren't supposed to be sad, that we're supposed to be surrounded by loved ones and celebrating.

I found an article on MSNBC today that talked about "Blue Christmas" services. These are worship services specially designed to acknowledge, confront, and hopefully give some relief to the grief of people who have divorced, experianced the death of a loved one, come from unhappy situations, are lonely, etc. The pastors who perform these services say that they are especially needed at this time of year when people feel like they are missing out on "everyone else" being happy. This is a very apealing idea to me because it meets so many needs. It offers comfort and healing, and its creative and bold. Someone was not afraid to say, "Hey, church isn't always a happy place. We're not always happy people. Let's sit and mourn together and carry one another's burden for a time."

I wonder if something like this could fly at WAPC...

merry

2006-12-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

I had a Christmas card tucked under my car's windshield wiper this morning. It was addressed to "Gengar" from Ronny downstairs. It was a pretty card and he'd written inside it "Merry Christmas, little sister." That made me smile. Ronny calls me "little sister" and his brother Steve thinks of me like a daughter. Most people would probably look at those two and be afraid to talk to them. Life has been pretty hard on them. But they're sweet guys, no matter how rag-tag they look.

Yum

2006-12-13T21:50:00.000-05:00

Every year the choir has their annual Christmas dinner/practice at Bob and Lois' house. I just got back from it. I should preface by saying, our choir is nuts. Just plain, smart-mouthed, off-their-rockers, punning nuts. (We are easily the rowdiest choir group each summer at Montreat.) There was a ham and a good, large group of people. I brought Ghiridelli double-chocolate brownies. Bob and I followed our tradition and picked on each other mercilessly (in a good-natured kind of way), everyone ate, then the sweets were brought out. Then Steven decided that, even though we all brought our music, we won't practice because we're alright as far as progress goes, so let's sing carols together instead. (This happens every year. I don't know why we bother bringing our regular music.) Then we all talked for a little while more before getting our coats and dishes to head home.

I'm stuffed. And still smiling from the fun we had.

videos

2006-12-07T22:27:00.000-05:00

Here are some funny videos that mimic the Mac vs PC commercials. I'm not sure what catagory to place these in, but they're humorous and thoughtful all at once. Enjoy.

Oh! Christmas tree!

2006-12-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

I was stealth-Christmased while I was in Florida for Thanksgiving. Thanks guys! :)

1 year

2006-12-01T13:25:00.000-05:00

Today marks the end of my first year as a full-time employee here. I was hoping for cake. They gave Gary cake on his one-year mark. I didn't get cake for my birthday either, not from work at least. Killer ice cream cake from my friends, though.

"Black Friday" activities

2006-11-24T23:25:00.000-05:00

Caught one! (Actually, I caught two, and this particular one is Dad's, but you get the point.)

How we change

2006-11-23T00:16:00.000-05:00

How open are we to the change that takes place in one another's lives as we grow older? I wonder to myself, if you knew me as the painfully shy teenager, the struggling college kid, the independence-craving grad student, what your first impressions are if you take the time to really read back on this blog. Do you encounter things you never knew about me? Do you read my posts and think "same old Ginger"? Does the work I've done to overcome pitiful shyness and a complete lack of assertiveness come through? Do you understand the struggles I've gone through over the last 10 years to think what I think and do what I do? If you follow the links on the left side of this very blog, will you think I've strayed?

Or will I always be the same in someone's mind? That nerdy girl with no fashion sense and no social skills to someone out there? The naive little thing that gets sucked into everyone's drama? The weirdo who willingly took a philosophy minor, who wished to be daring enough to buck the system more completely? Or maybe I will perpetually be, as one of my graduate classmates put it, "the weirdest Christian I've ever known" to you? (I do find a certain satisfaction in that last one.)

I just read a post on my old youth group friend Joel's blog. He's changed at least as much as I have. A lot of us have. Other people, I can't tell. I want to think there's just something I haven't seen about them, something that makes them strong and wonderful and different from what they were when I first knew them. Maybe it's an unnecessary expectation I'm putting on people. I expect change, good change, from myself constantly. Maybe its unfair to assume other people want to change as much as I have wanted to.

OMG milk!

2006-11-13T23:25:00.000-05:00

I just picked up the milk carton and poured myself a glass. Upon setting the carton down, I noticed that the lovely carton, printed with a logo and 2% MILK in large letters on all four sides, also displayed this prominant warning:

ALLERGY WARNING: Contains milk.

... Yeah.

Random side note: I almost forgot to share. Justin and Llama showed up at the library Thursday to interrupt my desk shift with a plate of cookies, a martini glass, and a shaker full of milk. And to say Justin poured my glass with flourish is understatement. ;)

Excepting Christ

2006-11-08T14:15:00.000-05:00

Pulled from the introduction to a chapter in The Brothers K, Excepting Christ is one of Kevin's projects to inspire dialogue at Duke Divinity about the tough, and sometimes seldom-asked, questions of radical faith-in-action. His most recent flyer tackled the voting issue, and I helped a bit with the writing. So here it is in all its theological glory: Excepting Christ.

(I should probably state that I did, after all this, go vote. However, I abstained from voting for candidates and only voted for the two amendments to the state constitution that were on the ballot. This is compromise, but I couldn't bring myself to sit still while issues of human eqality were on the line.)

Nov. 3, 2006

2006-11-04T00:13:00.000-05:00

Gibson D. Mehrle, 6 pounds and 3 oz. via c-section. Mom and baby are fine, at least til the pain meds wear off...

To overcome stagefright

2006-11-01T22:24:00.000-05:00

I had a two-line solo in the movie songs medly the choir did at the Ice Cream Social Sunday night. I was scared silly, but I got a lot of complements and Steven said he'd like to have me do a more serious solo sometime soon. That makes me feel good. There was a time when I could be singing right next to you and you wouldn't be able to hear it. And tonight we got some of the music we'll be singing during Advent. Once again, Steven found some really beautiful and lyrically profound music. Advent, Christmas, and Easter make for some of our best music selections. I can't wait.

Oh, and here is the online album from the Ice Cream Social. :)

Psycho Kitty

2006-10-24T20:41:00.000-04:00

I heard a noise tonight while I was doing the dishes - that noise I tend to hear whenever my cat is getting into mischief. Sure enough....

Silly quiz-things

2006-10-20T11:57:00.000-04:00

You Are A Chestnut Tree

You are a born diplomat with a well developed sense of justice. And even though you're impressive and intimidating, you're also fun to be around. You can be irritated easily, and you sometimes act superior. Nevertheless, you are sensitive of others feelings and very loyal. Sometimes you feel misunderstood and are fiercely close to those who know you best.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
8
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

(Props to Winter for the first quiz, AKMA and Chris Heard for the second.)

"Bubble"

2006-10-18T23:17:00.000-04:00

Or "A Short Autobiography Followed by Brief Reflections on the Weekend." (A post 3 days in the making)

When I was in high school I was an utter outcast. Whether this was done to me or I did it to myself (or some combination thereof) is both unresolved at this time and irrelevant. Junior year I hung out with I think all of three people - Ben, Jaelynn, and Brook. Brook was my best friend. I thought we had everything in common, even though her life had been less sheltered than mine. She was more socially able, and in retrospect I wonder why she hung out with me. She was a year ahead of me in school, and so was not present my senior year. She went to the local college.

Senior year I withdrew from Jae and Ben and tended to hang out with my sister and her friends. It was one of those annoying things, depending on my sister for certain amounts of my social network. But I wanted new people to talk to, or any people, because Brook would disappear from the communication scene for weeks at a time. That last summer I found out it was because she and her unofficial fiance were screwing like bunnies when- and where-ever they could and she had lied to me about it. I was devastated that she lied to me. She thought I was devastated because they were sleeping together. She got worse, the things she did got worse, and the lies she told got worse. Our friendship ended with one last blow-out fight where she accused me of sleeping with one of her (multiple) lovers and gloated over the idea that she had "popped your sheltered little bubble." I told her that she was an unforgivable Judas. (I'm not proud of it, but those really were my last words to her.)

Little did she know that the real work of "bubble bursting" would be done over a course of years by kinder people who didn't even know (well, sometimes didn't know) that they were expanding the boarders of my universe. Not one person, not even two or three. Dozens of people did this; no one could have done it alone. Not with the best theology, the most compelling arguments, the most wonderful books. Your Jedi mind tricks would not have worked against me.

So I guess here's what I'm getting at. This weekend involved a very long conversation (or a long series of conversations, depending on how you look at it) between two Christian worldviews. One I disagree with firmly. It's the one I grew up in, the one my professors and my friends have helped me see beyond. There is a wider, wilder, more wonder-filled world beyond the "conservative" white, middle-class, North American theology I was taught most of my life. This was the second worldview and I favor it because it fascinates me, it explains so much of what I've observed about the world, and it has hands and feet to minister with. But, as one who has been told, "Not only do I think I'm bursting your little bubble solo, I'm taking maniacal pleasure in it," I have to say I am disappointed in the attitude exuded by our Second Worldview Advocate. Arrogance doesn't get you anywhere. It makes people feel belittled and judged. They leave the conversation feeling like their voice was unheard and often they suffer deep wounds to their dignity. It wasn't how I became the person I am, it wasn't how our Advocate became the person they are, and it's not how the young ladies in question will become what they will become.

By all means, raise the questions. But drop the attitude.

Bad penguin. No cookie.

2006-10-13T12:04:00.000-04:00

I did a bad, bad thing last night. Kevin helped find me a good deal on a new digital camera. A really nice digital SLR camera. I probably shouldn't have bought it, but after the Dragon Boat races I remembered what a pain in the butt it is to manually focus a camera wearing glasses. I'm justifying the purchase by saying that I haven't delved into any of my creative hobbies in years and removing the focusing annoyance from photography will help motivate me to return to it with enthusiasm. And I've been saying I was going to buy a new camera for years and never got down to doing it for one reason or another. So... yeah.

On the up side, soon I will be able to post pictures of more fun and silly things on the blog! :)

Edit, 10/19: It came in the mail today!!!

Punk poser goth teenage brats.

2006-10-09T09:37:00.000-04:00

I had a huge post written about some teenagers I encountered yesterday at the mall, but decided that no one was any better for my ranting, so this is all you get. Sorry. :) If I really feel inventive, I'll post a photo of the mini I was at the mall to get paint for when she's done.

In a totally different, though slightly related vein, I got damned cute shoes while I was at the mall. On sale. A lot. Vantity, thy name is Penguin.

Nerd!

2006-10-06T00:08:00.000-04:00

We totally got a tip of the hat from Aaron Williams, creator of Nodwick and Full Frontal Nerdity among other comics, for our Yoshi project. How he found it, I have no idea, but it's a small internet after all.

Yeah. We've got nerd-cred. :)

Dragon Boats

2006-10-04T14:21:00.000-04:00

Last weekend the Tri-Cities held their first annual Dragon Boat Races. I went with Tony to snap a few (read: three rolls of) pictures. It's been forever since I took any pictures for the purpose of "art." Some of them turned out pretty darned good. I'm in the process of croping and editing the better ones and uploading them to a Flickr album. Go give it a look and feel free to leave comments and even suggestions.

New game

2006-10-01T21:01:00.000-04:00

So Wizards came out with a new card game recently and Mike, Llama, Steph, and I tried it out Friday night. Three Dragon Ante. Nice and gamer-ish, don't you think? Anyway. It's a neat little game that involves chips like poker, and cards whose strength is partly dependant on the number on the card, and partly dependant on the dragon printed on the card. Not Wizard's best art, but really not a bad game. It passes some good time, and involves a little strategy.

On a gaming note... two of my groups haven't been meeting with their former regularity. I want plot advancement, dangit!!

Mosaic

2006-09-24T23:26:00.000-04:00

Tonight, Jared and Sheri came home to a mosaic of Post-it notes. About two hours of sticking on Saturday made it all possible. :)

I also did a little messing with Jared's spiffy iSite webcam.

The Creative Kingdom

2006-09-22T11:22:00.000-04:00

I doubt that AKMA reads my blog, so the onus is on me to email him and express my appreciation for the Disseminary and the Polycarp Project.

At the Summer Gathering this year we talked about imagining the Kingdom of Heaven. A lot of emphasis was placed on the arts as a medium through which our imaginations and creative powers could be expanded and inspired. The gist of it all is that we have to be able to imagine the Kingdom in order to help bring it into being. To see the Kingdom is to be the Kingdom. It's an interesting discussion and makes wonderful sense to me, though that could easily be the liberal arts major / art minor coming out.

There's also something to be said about the creativity behind making a degree of seminary education accessable to people who wouldn't or couldn't normally attend an institutional seminary. I've always been a fan of the "literate layperson" idea, but the Disseminary puts fandom into action. I need a great idea like that...

Dude, no fun.

2006-09-20T12:08:00.000-04:00

I can't check half of my webcomics links from work because of the stupid net-nanny. I'm bored, dangit!

(Not to mention the absurdity of trying to monitor what the students around here access. But that's a longer rant for another time.)

Avast, there be one more thing this evenin'.

2006-09-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arrr.

Derek Webb

2006-09-18T22:59:00.000-04:00

Derek Webb is going to be in concert at Milligan in November. Also, he has made his Mockingbird album available for free download for a short time.

I recommend this album, though I truthfully think it's better heard live. And.... it is not your typical "Christian music."

This book is kicking my butt.

2006-09-11T19:07:00.000-04:00

But I will win.

car trouble

2006-09-06T16:03:00.000-04:00

Well, my poor neglected car is in the shop today and probably tomorrow, too. There might be a leak somewhere in the radiator... hopefully in a hose and not in the radiator itself. Plah.

Edit/update: The car is fixed and there was nothing much really wrong with it. Somehow the coolant level just dipped all the sudden, like all the coolant evaporated out. Maybe the guy was being nice when he told me that can happen or maybe not, but I'll buy the story and pretend it wasn't my fault. :)

baby shower

2006-08-31T16:29:00.000-04:00

I've been home from FL for a couple of days now, but haven't been able to get enough free time in front of the computer to blog. I had some mostly good times visiting everyone. We packed a lot into a very short trip. I went to the beach twice and got some sun. The baby shower was a pretty good time. Aunt Rue went all out and really made everything nice. We had a tailgate party so we could visit with my old highschool friend Joel and some of dad's family before we watched the Marlins beat the Brewers at Dolphins Stadium. Then we had a bunch of family over for burgers on Sunday before we all had to fly back home.

I had a very near miss with my temper at the family cookout. First grandpa told me I'd gained too much weight and need to work out. That old man has serious nerve. Then about half the family (mostly the MALE half) ganged up on me and asked me when I was going to get married and have kids. Newsflash folks, I don't want kids. And when would I have the time to date? Seriously! Do people even think about how insulting dumb questions like that can be? Why don't they just ask "When are you going to grow up and conform to the social norm we've created for your age and sex?" And I don't want to do PhD work right now either, but that question doesn't get asked half as often as the other one.

Anyway... happy thoughts...

Nephew is due November 3. I have DSL at home again after a little over a year. And the first Just Coffee is Sept. 9, so any locals who want to come.... we'll have a cookout the first night as a welcome back. :)

Blue Like Jazz

2006-08-16T13:28:00.000-04:00

Winter has a habit of blogging about the books she's reading. I haven't read very much since I graduated, and you didn't want to hear about the books I read before I graduated. (Basics of Archival Administration just really wasn't all that much fun.) Anyway. I accidentlly stole Blue Like Jazz from Kevin during our trip to Chicago and I've finally settled down and gotten a fair amount read. I wasn't sure what to expect from a book whose subtitle is "Non-religious thoughts on Christian Spirituality." And all kinds of cheesy-alarms were going off in my head because of how vastly popular this book seemed to be. But its turning out to be alright. It's written as a spiritual auto-biography and has some funny parts, some serious parts, and a few things that have been profound thoughts in simple language. Its funny the timeing of me reading this, since a friend has recently been asking me questions about the Ekklesia Project, life, the universe, and everything. Not 3 days previous to our conversation I read this line, which is by far the best line in the book (so far):

Between songs, though, he told a story that helped me resolve some things about God. . . . He told it like it was true, so I guess it was true, although it could have been a lie.

The definition of truth is something that has bothered scholars and laymen for centuries. We all seem to know what we mean by it, but ask us to define it, to put it into words, and things get sticky. Does truth have just one definition? I'd venture to say it doesn't. Truth can be provable fact, it can be our honest interpretation of events, but I think that something can be fiction and also be true. Think of your favorite fiction story or movie and ask yourself why you love it. Is it because something about it spoke to you? Helped you understand something about humanity? About God? Then, I would submit, there was something true about that story, even though it was total fiction. Or music. Lots of people are moved by music. And I'm probably not saying anything that the regular readers of my blog haven't heard before. But I think that opening myself up to truth from sources that may be fiction has enabled me to both understand some very hard things and to enjoy some books that more literally-minded people might be upset about. Nietzche's Thus Spake Zarathustra, for example. Or Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (fantastic book, by the way).

Place and People

2006-08-02T10:37:00.000-04:00

Since the Gathering there has been a discussion on the Ekklesia Project forums that I can't help but follow. Central to the discussion is this prompt:

"Why is it that many of us are always on the lookout for that next academic or ecclesial job? Why doesn’t fidelity to a place and its people factor more prominently into our decisions to move or not to move? How is vocational restlessness a failure of imagination and an inability to be “at home” in ways that honor God’s call that we be neighbors to particular people and inhabitants and stewards of particular places?"

The forum didn't actually start the throughts buzzing around in my head. The folks from Englewood Christian Church gave a presentation at the Gathering. They encourage their members, especially their youth and college-agers to stay/return to Indianapolis, to stay/return to Englewood. One of them made a statment, "We believe that if God is big enough to call you somewhere, he's big enough to confirm it through the rest of us." And I thought to myself, "I hate that idea. I resent the very thought of it. But I can't find anything theologically wrong with it."

I want to move. I want to go somewhere more exciting than here, somewhere it won't cost me an arm and a leg to fly from to see my family, somewhere I can have a job with "normal" hours and that pays me "what I'm worth," somewhere I can "get plugged in" to something worthwhile. But at the same time, this whole discussion on staying put and being committed to a place and a community, on finding the work of God where you already are, is very challenging to me.

Feeling busier than I actually am

2006-08-01T22:42:00.000-04:00

Well, classes start back up on the 23rd. Curses. I'm perfectly happy with my summer work hours, though I can't deny that the return of the student workers is a good thing.

In the meantime, Sue and the other members of the coffeehouse team and I are scurrying around trying to be ready for the first night. We're going to try talking Session into a shiny new church website which we can have our own pages on. Sue and Jared and I got together today to talk about website options and to brainstorm some idea of how to sell the leadership on it all. Sue's also trying to interest a congregation in Etown with the idea of helping us a bit with supporting and attending the coffeehouse. These folks made the news recently for the number of hybrid cars owned by members of the congregation. (I want a hybrid, but even the cheap ones cost more than I make in a year... sigh.)

And it is freaking hot in my apartment right now... Global Warming 1, unairconditioned apartment 0.

debriefing

2006-07-21T22:43:00.000-04:00

Home at last, and finished with the little bit of work I had to do for the week. I was exhausted by the trip to Chicago, but I have to admit... for all the socially awkward moments I felt being in the constant presence of that many strangers, it was a mostly positive experiance. I got to put some faces to names, got to hear some really thought-provoking speakers, got to go out for drinks with a bunch of people associated (either past or present) with the college, got to meet some very interseting new people and hear about some very interseting movements within the Church that I had previously been unaware of.

We had a discussion on fasting that yeilded some interesting questions: What is fasting? Fasting from what? Why do we fast? How is fasting a part of our worship? How can we help one another remember and be accountable for the weekly fast we say we'll observe?

I'll link and discuss some more later, but tonight I'm still mulling over some things... and there's ice cream. Vanilla ice cream. And root beer. :-D

A vacation, at last!

2006-07-14T15:40:00.000-04:00

I will be heading off to Chicago before the crack of dawn on Monday. Kevin and I are flying from Raleigh together to attend the Ekklesia Project's annual Gathering. I'm looking forward to the time off, to the fellowship and conversation, to meeting some new people and hearing new music. Mostly I'm looking forward to recharging. The last two years I've been able to attend the Montreat Music and Worship Conference, and that was my time to relax. Those weeks were so peaceful, so fun, and so refreshing. I'm sad I didn't get to go this year. The Gathering is a shorter event, so it was easier to attend. Hopefully it will be just as enjoyable as Montreat.

While we're (we = project endorsers) together, we're going to tackle the topics of fasting, artistic imagry and faith, and living in community. Hopefully much to report back on when I get home on Thursday.

This explains so much...

2006-07-12T11:11:00.000-04:00

Today AKMA had a link to an interview with Bush's pilot. Hilarious.

Breaking with the past.

2006-07-10T10:49:00.000-04:00

I've had a lot of nicknames in my lifetime, but very few of them have ever caught on with more than two or three people. Typically, being given a nickname doesn't bother me; your friends see a facet of your personality they can associate with something and they give you a nickname for it. Llama, Penguin, Bunny, Spider, Friar. You guys know who you are. I've only ever had one nickname I've hated. I'll tell you what it is, but I will hurt you if you use it.

"Swiss Miss." Like the hot chocolate. It's a carry-over from long ago and far away, when I had hair down to the bottom of my shoulder blades and it was about 3 shades lighter than it currently is. I never figured out exactly why William gave me this name(other than the hair, which I never wore in pigtailed baraids). It doesn't (that I could ever tell) say anything about me except "cute, in a comical kind of way" or maybe "cute, in a childish kind of way." I always felt a healthy measure of condesention behind it. Only William and Ashley ever called me this name. I asked Ashley to stop using it last week. She seemed ... something. She agreed to try to stop, but there was a certain flavor of guilt thrown into it all.

Tirades on her reaction aside, I want to escape that nickname. I hate it, always have. And it wasn't exactly something they didn't know. Beisdes, I think I have a right to ask people to let me abandon old aspects of my identity that either don't fit anymore or never did to begin with. How are people supposed to change if they're still expected to hold on to the things they outgrow?

Darth Vicar

2006-07-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

Apparently I'm on a snarky sayings blog kick lately. Here's another one for you. Talking about the movie "Bruce Almighty":

Sheri: I don't really like Jim Carrey movies. "The Trueman Show" is about the only exception.

Me: Actually, I hear that "Bruce Almighty" is a pretty decent little movie.

Jared: It looks like his standard stupid comedy thing.

Me: I saw a bit of it and it's a little different from his norm. Besides - Morgan Freeman as God. Really. The only person better would have been James Earl Jones.

Jared: Yeah, but then you'd have people seeing Vader as God, and that's just not good.

Me: [Vader breathing] If you only knew the power of the Eucharist!

Sheri: I'm moving away so the lightning doesn't get me, too.

Go ahead and laugh.

2006-06-28T15:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I signed up for a MySpace thing. You can find it here. My intent was to reconnect with anyone out there who might have gone to high school with me. Joke's on me though; my school isn't even in their database.

(And I've tried - twice! - to put my school in. Punks.)

CRE

2006-06-27T14:14:00.000-04:00

Andrew is a research assistant that comes into the archives regularly doing research for one of the professors in the music department here. Primarily, he is looking for information on worhsip practices and styles within the movement the College associates with. In one of our recent conversations, we were discussing Communion and the various ways of obsereving/celebrating it. You have your various theologies, of course. And your methods - using a loaf and cup, using little "Jesus chicklets" and grape juice, using a wafer and wine...

Then Andrew told me about these little cups. The military gets Meals Ready to Eat. We get Christ Ready to Eat.

Lunch: a history

2006-06-26T15:36:00.000-04:00

Jared: So, Ginger. Talk to me about lunch. If we talk now, we might have a decision in an hour or so
Me: Now, see you've done this before and I told you that lunch was the meal between breakfast and dinner, blah, blah, blah
Jared: Yes, I know. I’m hoping for improvement
Me: Oh. Well, I can give you that. Lunch was discovered circa 1348BC by the Mesopotamian physician Luun'ch. While observing a peculiar patient it occurred to him that all of his assistants seemed to have mysteriously passed out. This phenomenon repeated itself day after day at approximately the same mid-day hour. Luun'ch decided that his assistants did not, in fact, have some strange plague from the gods but were merely hungry. Thus, he began to serve them a mid-day meal in order to keep them conscious. Named in his honor, we now call this meal Lunch. Is that better? ;)

nerves

2006-06-13T14:07:00.000-04:00

New places make me nervous. The idea of making myself look good on a resume, accepting a new job, and moving to a strange city really makes me nervous!!

I commend to you...

2006-06-08T11:28:00.001-04:00

Two days ago I recieved an email from a church pastoral search committee in Illinios. This really wasn't a suprise, I'd agreed to be a reference for a friend and I gave him a glowing recomendation. What confounded me was the question they asked and the way they worded it:

We are very impressed with [your friend] as it appears you are too. However, one concern we have is for his passion on Social Justice issues. Our congregation is likely not as progressive as he may like on some issues like homelessness, poverty, and homosexuality. We are not unsympathetic just not extremely active in those areas.

The Disciples have not taken the same approach as the UCC church in regards to homosexuality, same sex marriage, and the clergy orientation. More like they have no formal stance that I can tell. It is more up to each congregation, and ours is fairly traditional. Can you comment more as to if you think that this would be an issue with his success in our church?

There are a number of things that I'm not sure how to respond to in this email. First, and probably most, is the "we are not unsympatheitc just not extremely active" line. Now, I'm no champion of the rights of humanity myself, so I'm trying not to stand in harsh judgement, but it seems to me that this sentance is self-contradictory. It says to me that they like to think that they sympathize with people who are poor and homeless, but they're not doing anything about it. Which is the same as saying that they don't care. I'm guilty of it myself; it is uncomfortable to be a friend to the people our society has placed such a negative stigma on. Two things I hope about this: 1) That this church is more active in ministry to the less fortunate than this email makes them sound and 2) That this email convicts me to get off my butt and do something, too.

Second, I understand the desire to find a good match for a church. It's beyond important. I hope this congregation is open to a pastor that will challenge them to become more than "not unsympathetic." Maybe that pastor is my friend, maybe it's not. Truth of the matter is, if they hire my friend they will have made a conscious and deliberate decision to become more than passively sympathetic. You see, my friend is a sweet, highly gifted, ordained homosexual. By simply hiring him they will have placed themselves in a spotlight, a place where they will be leading by example, a place more active than the one they are currently occuping. Kudos to them if they are willing to take that step. If they're not, I hope my friend finds a church that is.

It's a boy.

2006-06-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Amy called today and proudly announced that I am expecting a nephew, but the little stinker wouldn't tell me the name they picked out. She's due Nov. 3.

family stuff

2006-05-23T09:50:00.000-04:00

Last night I called mom and dad, basically just to check in. And we talked for a while about how they're getting building permits for the church, how they had the minister and his family over for dinner, when mom wants to throw a baby shower for my sister... Then mom tells me that she and grandma want me to sell stuff on eBay for them. Now, I don't care much for mom and grandma's collectable plate sets, so I'll gladly go online and sell those for them, but when mom mentioned selling grandma's china and Wedgewood, I about freaked. I've wanted that stuff since I was a kid, and I thought grandma knew it. She'd talked about giving it to Heather but Heather's mom (both estranged from the family) had snubbed the offer, and she wouldn't ever give it to Jodie Lynn (also estranged from the family) for some reason or another. This pretty much leaves me as the oldest granddaughter (or grandchild really) with any relationship with grandma at all. So grandma always said it would go to me, or it would be divided between me and Amy, which is also fine. But mom says that grandma isn't remembering all too well lately. And when I called, she wasn't breathing all too well either. She could only get out three or four words before gasping for air. I hate hearing that. She has good days where her breathing is fine, but then she has really bad days too. You never know what you'll hear when you call. Maybe it's why I don't call more often, even though I know I should.

Anyway, I called and we chatted. Grandma is always concerned about my social life so I told her how Jared, Sheri, Tony and I had gone swimming and how I was probably going to go see the midnight opening of X3 with Steve and Co. Then I brought up the whole eBay issue and she said "Oh, that was just an idea. I have so much clutter!" And I asked her not to sell her china or her Wedgewood because I'd really like it. I think mom was right; I don't think she remembered that I had always wanted it because she was so pleased when I asked her to put it aside for me. I know that stuff means a lot to her, which is why it means a lot to me. I mean, when I really look at things, I can't help but think that grandpa died right after my college graduation, so he'll never see if I get married or whatever. And what if grandma doesn't live to see it either? So I'd like to have something of sentamental value to pass along to my kids (or to my nieces and nephews) to say "This was your great-grandma's. Let me tell you the story behind it."

close encounters of the PK kind

2006-05-19T00:30:00.000-04:00

I meant to post this earlier...

Last Thursday I was running just a little late to work. Now, I have two front doors: the one that actually leads into my apartment, and the street-level door at the bottom of the stairs. Usually, there isn't much traffic on the sidewalk in front of the street level door and, if you are distracted and/or in a hurry, it's usually quite safe to breeze through that door on your way to the car. Not so last week. In haste, I closed and locked the apartment door, dashed downstairs, out the street-level door, and almost directly into Dr. Kenneson (my former philosophy professor). Imagine if you will, someone you respect greatly and are perhaps somewhat unduely shy around. Now imagine almost running into that person at top speed. Now imagine that he hardly seems suprised to see you, even though you're startled clean out of your wits. Yeah, that's how my morning started. Very random, and just a tad bit discombobulating.