In His Arms She Fell...

A powerful video about human trafficking...

EIGHT!

Site Redesign

I just updated my blog with a beautiful new template. Take a look around and offer suggestions if you have any. I'm still working on my blogrolls...

I'm so excited! IT'S SO PRETTY!

Blog Day 2006

According to Wikipedia, today (August 31) is blog day. This "holiday" was created last year by Israeli blogger Nir Ofir (whose blog is either offline or experiencing technical difficulties). To celebrate, I'm going to direct you to a few of my favorite blogs.

The first one I'm going to spotlight is Adventures In Mercy. The author's name is Molly. I first encountered her gentle, inquisitive spirit in the comments on Jason Clark's blog. My favorite post by here so far has been My Once Upon A Time.

Another good one I found fairly recently is Emerging Women. If Blogger beta wasn't getting in the way, I'd actually be a member of this blog right now... If you want to hear some women's voices in the emerging/emergent conversation, this is an excellent place to start.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but I love PostSecret. This blog is touching, funny, creative, shocking, encouraging, challenging and fun! And it's a pretty small commitment because the author only posts once a week.

I'm excited about this next blog because it's written by a fellow soon-to-be first year, female, Princeton Theological Seminary student. Jenny's not a blogging newbie, but she did just start her own personal blog, called Zoe: Reflections of the Journey Toward Abundant Life.

Finally, if you're looking for some wonderful, tasty, simple recipes, stop on by Fill 'Er Hup, written by a very cool girl I knew of in college...

Happy Blog Day!

Every Blogger's Burden

Another conversation about how to encourage women in minstry has been started by Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed. Scot's question springs from this article from the NY Times: "Why is it that, in denominations that have chosen to ordain women, ordained women are not being appointed or called to churches of 350 or more members?"

Many different opinions have been offered, but one question has captured my thoughts: How many women choose to abandon a calling from God to be in the ministry because they see the lack of support/mentors and feel unable to bear the burden of being a pioneer?

Obviously, there are women already in the pulpit, already bearing this burden. I appreciate these women because even though I have no plans to be a pastor, the same type of support is needed in academia, especially in an extremely male-dominated field like religion/Christian theology.

I've been convicted lately with the idea that if I want changes, I have to be willing to step into the positions that I believe should be open to women. Leadership is not something I naturally grab for, I feel much more comfortable as a follower, but if I whine about not having women in leadership, not having women to mentor me, shouldn't I be willing to become a woman in leadership, a woman who will be able to mentor?

So, I don't have any specific plans on how to do this, but I am going to begin to intentionally prepare myself for the roles of leader and mentor. Hopefully, seminary will be an aid in this preparation. Maybe I will be able to find a mentor of my own...I know they're out there.

Any thoughts, readers?

NINE!

The size of this fish is simply unbelievable. Completely freaks me out!!

It's nine feet long...one foot for each day until my last homework free weekend...

Seriously?!

I never knew it was possible for a cat to sustain a meow for this long.
And where did its ears go?

Now With More Bloggy Goodness

I wrote this post the other day about my favorite blogging tools, and I neglected to mention one of my favorites: Statcounter! This tool allows me to track how many people visit my site each day, which city they live in, how long they stay, and even what pages they visit. It's so fun to see where my readers come from and see the daily (small) increases in my readership. I recommend this tool to every blogger!

Thank God For Dentists!

I decided a few weeks ago that I should get the chip in my front tooth fixed before my insurance expires, so here is my new tooth! I'm very pleased with the result. Having my chip fixed is actually taking more getting used to than having my tongue pierced.

Anyone in the DC Metro area should consider Dr. Flavio Nasr if you need a dentist. He's done a great job with my less than perfect teeth and he's a nice man.

TEN!

Let me break it down into simple words: ten more days and I'm outta here!

Eleven

Simple, but true...11 days until I escape DC and head to PTS. Woot!

There are some reading this who might think it should be a bad day for me, but, to tell you the truth, it's been one of the best days I've had in almost three years.

Fun facts learned today: 1) You're never as anonymous as you think you are (not that I ever really thought I was). 2) It's possible to say you're sorry and think you're sorry when you say it and not be really sorry at all. 3) Some people have too much time on their hands.

Nick Lachey Is Funny?

Saw this commercial this afternoon and couldn't stop laughing. I actually felt compelled to rewind it and make Emily watch. She found it on Youtube for me.

Just Gonna Link 'Em

Some good stuff I found recently:

Dear Church - Sarah Cunningham wrote a book and has a website with this name. According to Scot McKnight, at Jesus Creed, "If you are interested in reading how 20somethings sometimes think about the church and how they think it falls way short of what it is supposed to be like, and if at the same time you want to see that those who sometimes criticize the Church most deeply still love the Church anyway, then you will want to read Sarah Cunningham’s Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation."

Maybe there is more behind this story, but, like Amy at Faith Musing, I have a difficult time thinking of any possible justification for government employees to take the possessions of homeless people.

In the spirit of full disclosure, Mike McGavick (Repulican candidate for Senate), wrote an open letter to his constituency.

Finally, CBE International has a blog! I loved this post, especially the last line: "...don’t be fooled, while the devil may have the blue dress on, there are both floral dresses and power suits in his closet as well."

Enjoy!

Twelve

Sunflowers have always been my favorite flower. Fortunately for me, Van Gogh painted Twelve Sunflowers in a Vase for me to use in my countdown. He knew it would be needed to celebrate my departure from my job! ;)

If I Had Only Known

Last Thursday, one of my co-workers left a few CDs on the kitchen counter with a post-it note reading, "Take me!" Unable to pass up free music, I grabbed both (Modest Mouse, The Moon & Antarctica, which I already knew I loved and Death Cab for Cutie, Plans, a mystery to me).

A few days after loading Plans onto my iPod, I was lying in bed unable to sleep and decided to give it a listen. There was something very familiar about the melodies and then there was this pleasantly familiar voice.

I thought I was listening to Death Cab for Cutie, but it sounded eerily like the Postal Service!!! I reminded myself to research the possibility of a connection for days afterward, but I didn't remember until yesterday when I discovered that both groups do in fact have the same lead singer, Ben Gibbard. Am I the last one to know?

I heart Postal Service and, now, I heart Death Cab for Cutie. If you've never heard either, get both. If you're an elitist and already know both, don't rain on my musical discovery parade.

Thirteen

I own the movie Thirteen Conversations About One Thing. The tagline of the movie is "Show me a happy man..." and the ensuing conversations are meant to fill in the blank.

I liked this movie enough to purchase a copy of my own. If you don't believe me, you can check it out at Rotten Tomatoes, where it got an 83% freshness rating.

Anyway, in thirteen short days, I will be able to complete that statement: Show me a happy [woman] and she'll be that one who just left her completly unsatisfying job to finally pursue the life she wants.

That would be me, folks! Only 13 more days and I will be walking out the doors of my office with a smile on my face.

RGBP Friday Five: Back To School

I love the fall. I always loved going back to school. The world will feel right again when I return this fall.

1. What is your earliest memory of school? In kindergarten, my first field trip ever, to Mexico, NY, to pick apples, was scheduled for late October. About two days before the trip, I fell on a couple of rusty nails and hurt my little five-year-old knee so I couldn't walk on my own. I missed my first field trip, but my friend brought me a bag of apples that the class had picked for me. I was going to tell of my first school pictures, but I wasn't in school that year (a mystery to be unravelled later).

2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education? I had two favorite teachers, Mr. Brass and Mr. Cronk. I have a theory that male el. ed. teachers tend to be great because men don't use teaching small children as a fallback career. If I must choose, however, Mr. Brass would be declared my favorite favorite. He was a fireman and I had a serious third grade crush on him. He also dealt very gently with still-wetting-the-bed, abandoned-by-her-daddy, eight-year-old me.

3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now? My small town high school and junior high have metal detectors and full-time hall monitors now. Those things were not even considered before Columbine and 9/11.

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned. We didn't really have to memorize anything but equations...and how boring would it be for me to start writing those out?

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share? I only remember one time that I ever "got in trouble." It was fourth grade, our teacher left the classroom (which was actually a cubicle because our district was trying to experiment with an open floor plan) and told us to be quiet and finish such-and-such. By the time she came back most of my classmates had either finished or given up on the assignment and began talking and giggling. Unfortunately, Mrs. So-and-so couldn't tell who was talking and who wasn't, so she made all of us put our names on the board. Being a shy, obedient kid, I was one of the few sitting quietly. I probably had my nose in a Laura Ingalls Wilder book, too distracted to join in my classmates silliness. I was so furious that I think I may have begun crying because I knew that an injustice was being perpetrated and there was nothing I could do about it.

School was good. I hope my (someday) children enjoy it as much as I did.

I Want One...NOW!

Too cute to resist. My God, look at those eyes!!
For more, check out Cute Overload.

Spread The Word!

Another great, thought-provoking post by Paul Mayers on Jason Clark's blog. This time he's "Exploring the Role of Women in Missional Churches of the Western World." Hop over and join the conversation, especially if you have any great Christian women bloggers that should be on everyone's blogroll!

Snakes On A Patio

Early this morning, just as I was waking up, I dreamt that I was living with several of my co-workers. Living with some of my co-workers would be a blast! Unfortunately, it wasn't those co-workers, it was the ones with whom I have difficulty conversing, whose presence in the same room makes me feel awkward, like I've returned to high school and can't get away.

This situation alone would be a nightmare, but combine it with a yard full of large, poisonous snakes and crocodiles (which prevent me from leaving) and you've turned this into the worst. dream. ever. It was torture! Absolute terror, no friends...simply awful. It got even worse when the crocs and snakes began invading the house. I was able to kill one small crocodile by pushing it from the second floor patio with a broom, but knew that wouldn't be effective with anything larger.

Suddenly, a very bad dream turned into one of the best dreams ever. One of my very good friends, who happens to be a graduate student at Princeton University right now, flew in on a helicopter and rescued me. It was fabulous! We got away and left the others to be devoured by the terrifying animals. (Obviously, something I wouldn't do in real life.)

This dream definitely captured my feelings about the past three years of my life and my imminent matriculation at PTS. In some ways, it feels very much like I'm being rescued from a life I never wanted. I know my expectations of what grad school will be need to be tempered, but I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it could never make me feel as worthless as this job has.

Fourteen

Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, sculpted by Degas in 1880.

In fourteen days I will dance my way out of this office.

No kidding...I will do a little dance!

More Stuff To Read

Walter Brueggemann's Myspace page. Hilarious! Become Walter's friend. (h/t to Adam @ pomomusings)

Let Jan (@ A Church for Starving Artists) have some examples of how the church is NOT DEAD.

Check out Melissa's thoughts on "Redrawing the Cube." Part of her post: "Businesses are on the cutting-edge of redesigning their workspaces to meet the needs of their employees. They make use of inviting workspaces in an effort to stay abrest of trends emerging in the larger culture. Why isn't the church doing the same thing?"

Finally, a couple posts on a subject I'm currently struggling through:

Catherine+ (@ Come to the Table...) expresses her frustration over the exclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trangendered people from ordination. Michele L (@ Emerging Women) discusses the same Hot Button topic. Just added: a slightly more lighthearted view from jo(e).

Flowers for Michael John

Or more accurately, a flower.

Fifteen

They let me out of my cage early today because of the remodel. Now, I'm sitting on my couch, watching Jaws 2, trying to decide what to have for lunch. What a tough life!

Talked to Marvelous Mom on the Phone today. I can't wait to see her when I pick her up from the airport on the 12th!

An Opportunity Worth Pursuing

Personally honor one of the victims of 9/11 on your blog. Go to this website to sign up. My honoree, Thomas E. Hynes appears in my sidebar and I will be blogging in his honor on 9/11.

From The Introduction Of C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce

While I was holding the washer shut at the laundromat, I came across the following passage in The Great Divorce:

"Blake wrote the Marriage of Heaven and Hell. If I have written of their Divorce, this is not because I think myself a fit antagonist for so great a genius, nor even because I feel at all sure that I know what he meant. But in some sense or other the attempt to make that marriage is perennial. The attempt is based on the belief that reality never presents us with an absolutely unavoidable "either-or": that, granted skill and patience and (above all) time enough, some way of embracing both alternatives can always be found; that mere development or adjustment or refinement will somehow turn evil into good without our being called on for a final and total rejection of anything we should like to retain. This belief I take to be a disastrous error. You cannot take all luggage with you on all journeys; on one journey even your right hand and your right eye may be among the things you have to leave behind. We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork you must make a decision. Even on the biological level life is not like a pool but like a tree. It does not move towards unity but away from it and the creatures grow further apart as they increase in perfection. Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good."

Which of these metaphors would be most aptly describe the direction of emergent? Is it more complicated than this? Do we think it's more complicated than this because we think "simple" answers are dangerous? I would love to hear thoughts from all sides. I'll share more of what I'm thinking later. Believe me, I'm struggling with this one, so my questions are genuine, not antagonistic.

Some Flowers

Meeting Neighbors

I was on my way home from the Metro. Along the way I was taking pictures because I like my neighborhood and I'm going to miss it. In the last block before I got home, I happened across a neighbor, one I'd never seen out before, walking his three dogs...

Here we have Michael, Diva, and Mocha Joe. Mocha Joe is still a tiny puppy. Soooo cute!

Diva was really excited about having her picture taken.

I mean really excited!

But, Mocha Joe, the one who followed me and made me stop to pet and take photos, is my favorite new puppy friend.

Lesson to remember: A camera can be a really nice "in" to meet people.

Sixteen

My picture for today not only contains the number sixteen, it allows me to introduce the uninitiated to the wonders of Toothpaste for Dinner. Check it out, m'nerds!

We're packing up the office today. Not just my office, but all the offices in the "back room" where my cubicle resides. By Monday morning, we will have all new cubicles (that I get to enjoy for 9 days) and the new guy will be starting. I told the office manager that my supervisor is delusional about how much work we have to do and how much training new-guy-Bryan-with-a-"y" is going to need.

Only sixteen more days...

Bluegrass Revival!

A couple of my college friends rock out on a banjo and viola.



Go Tim and Phil!

For more, check out the website for their duo, The Olde Battleaxe.
Phil also has some pretty amusing stories at his place, Imitation Pickles.

Some Bloggy Stuff

I've really gotten into blogging lately. Most of you have probably noticed that I've gone crazy with posting. ;) I can't help it, it's so much fun! Anyway, I've also been tinkering around with more add-ons and tracking devices, etc. There are some that I'm so excited about, I thought I'd share! (Click on the picture to the right to get a better view.)

First, we have Flickr. As you can see on my sidebar, this is where I keep my pictures online. It allows one to do all sorts of fun things with one's photos (including put some in your blog sidebar) and keeps precious hard drive space free of "clutter."

Newsgator helps me to keep track of the 160 blogs I follow and read them all in one place. Bloglines, another feed aggregator, creates a convenient blogroll javascript code, the pleasing result of which can be seen to the left.

There's also a Feedburner link to the left, so readers can easily subscribe to my rss feed, and a quick link to add any of my posts to a Co.mments account if you're interested in tracking a certain conversation without having to remember to return to my post continually. (I'm still testing Co.mments, so I might have more to say about it later.)

I've also listed my blog on Blogher and am a part of the RevGalBlogPals webring.

My most recent foray into blog publishing minutiae is to get a Technorati account. I'm currently experiencing technical difficulties with it, but am confident that any glitches will be worked out presently.

I love becoming a blog geek! Maybe one day I'll even switch to a Mac...

Seventeen

Trying to find images for today was a craps shoot at best. All Google seemed to find was images related to a certain teen magazine to which I once had a subscription. Persistence paid off, though, and I found this image that isn't spectacular, but is light years better than the cover a teen rag.

The countdowns in the teens, people. I'm starting to freak out just a little bit.

In semi-related news, I learned today that a person had already been hired to replace me. His name is Brian and he will be SITTING AT MY DESK for the entirety of my last two weeks at the firm. This should be an interesting arrangement considering the fact that I have spent the majority of the last two months blogging, reading blogs and books, emailing, and other activities unrelated to work because there is nothing to do!!! Even if there was stuff to do, my job responsibilities could be passed on to a new employee in two days or less of training...a high school kid with a questionable work ethic could do my job tolerably well.

My supervisor just wanted to get someone in here before I left so that she wouldn't have to train him. She'll go to any absurd length to avoid work while maintaining her sense of power/authority. I'm going to miss some of my co-workers, but I will never miss the infuriatingly backwards way in which this office functions.

Only seventeen more days before I get to say good-bye to this place, hopefully, forever and begin living the life I want.

Good Reading

How do you make someone *feel* included? Simple, by including them, says Elizabeth Potter.

"One of the convictions of the Reformers was that we should always be reforming..." A quick post by Bill Arnold that will lead you to a much longer article about N.T. Wright, if you're interested.

Jo(e)'s experience viewing Twin Towers.

I've never been to an ordination service, but this post makes me wish I had.

And...Eventually, I am going to force myself to finish reading this article on biblical inerrancy.

Enjoy!

It's Coming...

Each year, around this time, I begin to feel restless. From the time I was 5 until I graduated from college (seventeen years), August was a time of preparation. Shopping for new clothes, buying school supplies, and, later, packing. Life was cyclical, each new cycle beginning in August/September with the inevitable return to school.

Since I graduated from college and started working full-time three years ago, life has blurred together with very little to differentiate one day from another. The seasons have changed but it made little difference in my daily routine; wake up, go to work, leave work, eat dinner, go to bed, rinse and repeat. However, with my upcoming matriculation at Princeton Theological Seminary (whose chapel is pictured above), August has once again become the month of preparation.

The cool breezes that have begun to blow signal the return of a calming cycle. If my desire to become a college professor comes to fruition, this should be the beginning of many years of the same cycle. Perhaps this is my Whiteness speaking, but I prefer my adventure mixed with a shot or two of security. It seems school is probably the perfect option for this girl.

Here's hoping I can convince some of my classmates to go apple or pumpkin picking!

Eighteen

Another day begins in my countdown to departure. I would like to celebrate at this restaurant. Unfortunately, it's in Ottawa.

Sigur Ros's website is entitled "eighteen seconds before sunrise."

This website will let you in on the eighteen standards "the geographically informed person knows and understands."

Finally, I'm not sure I would like this band (they play metal), but I sure do like their album cover for this countdown.



They've got the Green Day look goin' on.

A Sad Day For My Hometown

This is where I grew up.

h/t to will smama

Latino Laundromat

We live in a somwhat affluent neighborhood (million dollar homes and BMWs abound). Affluent folk don't need to go to the laundromat (they have these). Any bulky items that cannot be accomodated by their state-of-the-art washers and dryers are simply sent out to the cleaners. Unable to justify such an expense, as I contemplate my soon-to-be penniless state, I tossed my extremely large, overstuffed comforter in my backseat and headed to the laundromat situated but a mile from our apartment, in a mostly hispanic/latino neighborhood.

When I first walked in, I thought I was going to have to turn around and head home; Sunday afternoon seems to be a popular laundry time. I should have remembered that procrastination breaks all language and culture barriers. However, after a quick look around I found one available machine that would be large enough to accommodate my monstrous bedding.

Keeping one eye on the available washer, I hustled to the change machine to get ten dollars in quarters. With my pockets full of change, I grabbed my huge, green corduroy comforter and stuffed it into the single vacant triple loader. There was some trouble closing the door, but, eventually, it cooperated. I dropped in my four dollars worth of change and the laundry soap that I wisely brought from my own home stash so as to avoid dropping two extra dollars on one "serving" of soap, and started 'er up.

As soon as the washer started filling I found the nearest available chair and began reading C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. After two or three minutes, I looked up only to see that the door was slightly ajar and nothing was happening. Getting just a little annoyed, I went to the machine and leaned my weight onto the pesky door; the machine began to fill again. Optimistically, I thought that once the washer began agitating, the door would suction itself closed in some miraculous way. A few moments into the wash cycle, I tested my theory. There was no suction. I managed to spill at least a gallon of hot, soapy water all over me and the dangerous-when-wet tiled floor.

My situation prevented me from notifying the attendant that there was a problem and my fellow launderers didn't seem at all interested in my plight. When I tried to communicate with them, they simply ignored the sounds coming out of my mouth. So, I continued my lean against the machine door as I read more about Lewis' ideas of heaven and hell.

As the attendant wandered about the building she noticed the flood I had unintentionally created and brought a mop to clean it up. Unfortunately, the predicament that caused the flood also prevented me from moving in any way to assist her efforts. She definitely didn't speak English, so I became the innocent victim of her hateful stares as she tried to mop around my wet, flip-flop clad feet.

My 24 minutes spent sweatily wedged against the door of a triple loader trying to prevent a flood of epic proportions probably looked more like the efforts of a frightened, inconsiderate white girl (who leaves her messes to be cleaned up by the hired help) desperately trying to protect her cheapish Martha Stewart comforter from the brown-skinned people. I heart language barriers!

(Fortunately, there were more dryers than washers and I picked one that worked properly.)

Reasons Not To Switch To Blogger Beta...Yet

Since I upgraded to Blogger Beta a few days ago, I have begun to wish that I had let other people experience and offer feedback about the bugs before I switched over. For the most part, I am pleased with the new features (easier formatting, instant publishing, etc.), but there are several irritations that, had I know they existed before I switched, I would have waited a bit longer before jumping on the bandwagon.

Here's my list of complaints:

1. If a Gmail user is logged in and comments on your blog, their name appears as a link. These links used to appear only if the commenter had a blog or website of their own and was providing a link back to it. When you click on the "link" from a Gmail user commenting, you are sent to a 404 Error page.
2. Several of my readers, perhaps all, who view my blog via the RSS feed have had their newsreaders/Livejournal Friends pages consumed by te republication of my past thirty posts.
3. Directly editing the HTML is not available yet. This was an option in the previous version of Blogger and is noted as "Coming Soon" in the beta, but the absence of this one feature alone would have kept me from making the switch so early.
4. I have to log in to my Blogger account almost every time I want to blog or comment. In the previous version, I was logged in until I logged out.
5. Also, part of the "attraction" of the beta was the promise of more layout templates. From what I can see, there aren't any new layouts at all.

If you're considering a switch, you may want to wait until some of the kinks are worked out.

Nineteen

Before embarking on my exciting journey to Tanzania, Africa, in 2003, I stopped in London for a few days. While there, I visited several galleries and museums, including the Tate Modern. The Tate Modern had an exhibit of Eva Hesse's work during my stay. I don't know why I love her work, but I do. Both of the images I have chosen for the countdown today are entitled Repetition Nineteen. You can see more of Eva Hesse's work here (MOMA) and here.

In 19 more days, I will be embarking on another exciting journey to a not-quite-so-distant destination, but before I go, I will visit The National Portrait Gallery (recently reopened) and The National Building Museum.

Look What Followed Me Home

Found this on my skirt after I'd been home from the grocery store for well over an hour. Haha!

Blasts From The Past

Digging through all my stuff, preparing for my move, I've come across some childhood trinkets that have reminded me that I've actually had a wonderful life. Hope you're ready for some pictures!

Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money. My mother made Sleepy Time Bear one Christmas when she couldn't afford the "real" Care Bear that I wanted so desperately. My four year old eyes never noticed the difference. My twenty-five year old eyes treasure the difference.

Sometime before age ten, I fell in love with my full name. One day, at the county fair, we found this delightful, pink and purple, heart-over-the-"I," wooden rendition of my beautiful name...

Just a few weeks after I got it, I dropped it...

No worries, though, my Marvelous Mom fixed it for me every single time it broke. I've had it for over 15 years and I've finally decided to get rid of it. These pictures will be my only remembrance. Thank you Flickr.

Finally, we have my foal rug. I don't even remember the last time this was on a floor rather than rolled up crammed into a poster tube. But it still reminds me when I used to take naps on it. ;)

What fun it was to be a kid. Sometimes I still wish I was small enough for someone to play airplane with me or swing me by my arms.

Twenty

In my search for interesting items related to "20," I found this fun game. Seriously, the computer can guess what you're thinking...as long as you're honest about your answers. ;)

Don't you wish our money really looked like this?

In another 20 days, fourteen of them spent at the office, I will be packing my car and moving on with my life. My bedroom is now void of all furniture except the bedside table I've borrowed from my roommate and my lamp that will soon be packed.

Since the buyer came to pick up my bed earlier this afternoon, I've been trying to decide where to sleep. The living room doesn't ever get as cool as my bedroom, but hardwood floors could get pretty uncomfortable. Emily thought it was amusing when I suggested setting up my tent in the backyard. It would probably be pretty comfortable, but I think I might feel a little insecure, even in my "safe" neighborhood.

Whatever I decide, we all know it's just a temporary solution. Woot!

Good Night, Bed.

Someone is coming to take my bed away tomorrow. In exchange, they are giving me $325.
I do need the money, but I will miss my bed for the next three weeks...

Good night, Bed.

Beware: This Post About Underwear

A few weeks ago, Emily and I took a jaunt over to Target for a little Saturday afternoon shopping. While there, I found some Hanes on sale. Not just run of the mill briefs, either. These were some of the cutest underwear I've ever found for less than $10 retail. Click here if you want to see what they look like on someone.

Since I got them, I haven't worn anything else. I have eight pairs and do laundry about once a week, so it works out. They only show two colors on their website, but I got pink, blue, purple, and white from Target. The colored ones come with a plain pair and a stripe-y pair. I love the cute front seams and the wider waistband.

I liked them enough that I had to share my joy with others. As soon as I mentioned them, MKH got all excited because she had also discovered these wonderful panties. After our hearty endorsement, Emily decided to buy some for herself. This morning, she sent me an email that said, "I need to go buy some more little boy underwear right away! Nothing else is as good!!"

My advice to every girl/woman who reads this blog: Buy some, buy them now, you'll never go back! Best. Underwear. Ever.

Twenty One (That's Three Weeks!)

Twenty-one more days until I walk out the doors of my office for the last time...

Fortunately for me, that is a happy thought.

Where Are All The Women?

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably read (or, at least, skimmed) this post about the dearth of men in the pews at church. The statistics are clear, women are considerably more likely to attend church than men. But, could someone tell me, where all the female voices are? A hop over to the alternativeworship blogroll simply reinforces my question.

Why is it that women make up 60% of the church-attending population, but Christian leadership and Christian academia are still an old boys' club? I value these men's voices, as can be clearly seen by taking a quick look at my blogroll, but it would be nice to hear some female voices taking the lead in important conversations.

My involvement in RevGalBlogPals has given me a taste, but I pray that God will raise up many women of powerful intellect willing to wade into the male-dominated pool of scholarship. Please don't mistake me, I don't think most men have intentionally excluded women. In fact, I'm sure many of them are just as anxious to get women involved and up front as I am. It's time for the womenfolk to step up.

(Don't worry, I know that one finger is pointing at someone else, there are three pointing right back at me.)

Is Digital Better?

In the process of packing, I've come to realize that my photo albums, scrapbooks, and yearbooks take up more than a full suitcase of space. This morning, I was comtemplating possible fixes for this predicament. The solution I keep coming back to is to undertake the large project of scanning each and every one of my photos. That way, I would still have all of them, but they would take up no space. It would be fantastic to have all of my scrapbooks online. I certainly would be more likely to look at them and share with other people.

And, what I couldn't help thinking, was how great it would be to upload all the pages and then have a book printed. So it's not that I really want to get rid of the books altogether, I just want to trade the bulky books for something more streamlined and, probably more expensive.

Looks like Flickr has a good hook-up with Qo-op for this type of thing. Now, does anyone in the Arlington, VA area have a high quality scanner I could use???

Twenty Two

Conversation with co-worker this morning...

Me: Well, since I only have three more weeks here, I doubt that will happen before I leave.
Renee: Oh, Katie, you must be SO excited.
Me: Unbelievably so!

Only 22 more days to prepare for my upcoming move. Excellent!

Saddest Night of the Summer

Emily, MKH, and I are watching So You Think You Can Dance? The. Best. Show. Of. The. Summer. Period!

The finale was going along swimmingly until after Heidi danced her solo. Cat Deeley brought her to center stage and started opening an envelope. WTF?!! An envelope!!! Somehow the idiotic producers of SYTYCD? decided that the best plan for announcing who won and lost would be to have them dance a solo and then give Cat Deeley an envelope that contained their future.

Next up, was Donyelle. As soon as she came on the stage we knew she was a goner. Hello, no suspense.

Cat Deeley: So you know that we're looking for America's favorite dancer?
Donyelle: yeah...
Cat Deeley: I'm sorry...it wasn't you.

Shortly after Donyelle was kicked to the curb, Benji came out to dance. We were petrified as Cat opened the envelope thinking she was going to tell him, "Sorry, it wasn't you..." but badly dressed Cat "tricked our hearts" (as Emily would say). We would have to wait until after the break, until after Travis danced.

Then, while we were not paying attention, the clock struck ten and a truly unfortunate incident occured...our DVR stopped recording and skipped to the end of the show, revealing the results. Much screaming ensued. I'm not talking about a little screaming. I'm talking about all out girly shrieking, reminiscent-of-Mary screaming. We didn't want to see the results, we wanted the suspense.

We're finishing the show, pretending we don't know who won, but I'll let you in on a little secret: IT WAS BENJI!!!

Many hearts are glad, especially Mormon hearts, all across the country.

Beta Version...

Blogger has just introduced a beta version. I was seduced into switching before I realized that they still haven't enabled direct editing of the html yet. While I am quite pleased with some of the new functionality, there are a few things I want to change that I can't do without being able to get at the html. I guess I'll have to wait because there's no way to go back to regular Blogger...

Twenty Three

For some reason, I have been intrigued by today's "countdown to seminary" Google results. Perhaps, it is because the first website I found gave me some insight into the Symbolic Meaning of Twenty Three. Apparently, even the chapter and verse numbers of the Bible are inspired. "Twenty three repeatedly occurs where the scripture is talking about prosperity, abundance, plenty or wealth." Who knew? Andrew Harris, of Biblenumerics, that's who.

One of my favorite bloggers, Dooce, also came up in my search because she writes a monthly newsletter to her daughter. Her twenty-third monthly letter came up in my search. This picture of her daughter and husband, which is featured in the post, is one of my favorites that has ever been on her website.

Now that the summer is on the decline, I also want to offer my readers a link to Twenty Three Tips for Keeping the House Cool. After all, summer will come again and we still have at least a month of it left.

Finally, picture time. To prove my love for Lost, I have chosen to use a picture of the Lost numbers, one of which is 23. The reward for Kate's capture was $23,000. Season 2, Episode 10 was entitled Psalm 23 and Eko quotes the psalm in it's entirety. 23 people in the tail of the plane survived the crash. More here...

Just Something I Found

My recent post in response to Paul Mayers' post, on Jason Clark's blog, about a talk he'd heard by David Murrow, author of Why Men Hate Going to Church, (whew, try to say all that in one breath) had me surfing around Amazon to find this book. I found it and as a result my Amazon homepage changed to show several more books about why men don't go to church and other related issues. One of these books was The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity, by Leon Podles. The title of the book leads me to believe that Mr. Podles thinks feminine and ineffective are synonymous. The book description only serves to reinforce this idea (my own thoughts are in parentheses):

"After documenting the highly feminized state of Western Christianity, Dr. Podles identifies the masculine traits that once characterized the Christian life but are now commonly considered incompatible with it. In an original and challenging account, he traces this feminization to three contemporaneous medieval sources: the writings of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (interesting that Dr. Podles traces the feminization of Christianity to the writings of a man), the rise of scholasticism (someone tell me how many women were influential scholastics), and the expansion of female monasticism (okay, look, we've got some women in here!). He contends that though masculinity has been marginalized within Christianity, it cannot be expunged from human society. If detached from Christianity, it reappears as a substitute religion, with unwholesome and even horrific consequences. The church, too, is diminished by its emasculation. Its spirituality becomes individualistic and erotic (huh? I thought men were the sex-obsessed ones ;), tending toward universalism and quietism. In his concluding assessment of the future of men in the church, Dr. Podles examines three aspects of Christianity-initiation, struggle, and fraternal love-through which its virility might be restored. (And Jesus said unto them, "Go and make disciples of all nations...and, by golly, make sure you do it in a masculine, virile way!")"

I am interested in reading this book, if only to be able to say that I didn't dismiss it out of hand, but Dr. Podles isn't my real concern at the moment, one of the reviewers of the book is. The reviewer identifies him or herself simply as "a reader" and entitled the following "review" Can A Feminist Be A Christian? (Again, I've added some of my own thoughts in parentheses.)

"The long march through the institutions has resulted in a feminization of all the Christian orders. A simple reading of Genesis will remind these feminists that a woman is meant to be submissive to her husband as part of the penalty for misbehavior in the Garden of Eden. (So, to whom is a 25-year old single woman, living on her own, supposed to be submissive? Maybe I'm not a woman because I don't have a husband. Maybe I'll avoid getting married so as to avoid this punishment that God is meting out to half the human race for the misbehavior of both Adam and Eve. I wonder if this reader provides for his family "by the sweat of his brow" in order to gracefully bear his half of the punishment or if he's sitting at a cushy desk in an air-conditioned office.) Feminists call this historical, and want to right it, but in doing so deny the timeless nature of God. (Reader, next time we visit together, I'm going to count the ways in which your household doesn't correspond to Scriptural injunctions.) In doing this, they deny God (So God cannot be thought of in any way other than as male?) (in many Protestant faiths it is much worse than here stated in that to even refer to the Deity with a masculine pronoun means that one can be dismissed from the seminary). (Which seminary? Where?)

"What feminism has done is arrogate to itself the right to determine who and what God is, or in other words, deify their own will. (Every human who believes there is a God has come to a conclusion about "who and what God is." That conclusion may be right or wrong, but is always, in the final analysis, still only their own determination.) Their will is thus no longer subject to God, but is rather the determiner of God, the maker of God, and thus there is no belief at all in God within feminism, but only in their own will.

"Feminism is thus self-idolatry.

"This book lays out the situation within Catholicism. Within all the mainline Protestant orders the situation is even worse. (I get the feeling that reader is a Catholic who has rarely, if ever, set foot in a Protestant church, except possibly for spectating at particularly "crazy" or "liberal" churches in order to find things about which he or she can make broad generalizations . Of course, I could be wrong.)

"Feminist women are completely berserk, using the churches to justify their self-righteousness, their demand not only to be equal to but superior to men (Wasn't the Bible used to justify slavery, in which one race is superior to another? Haven't people used the Bible to support the supposed inferiority of women for centuries?), to murder unwanted children, to have equal pay without equal productivity (Equal pay without equal productivity would not be equal pay at all and I don't want it.), and to self-deification. Already there are Protestant churches in which I've heard feminist pastors dare to invoke the gnostic goddess Sophia in the church of Our Lord. (I'm sure this has happened, dear reader, but it's certainly not the norm, even among feminists.)

Such pastors have no right to call themselves Christian. This is not to say that they aren't religious, but they are practicing the religion that St. Paul threw over in Ephesus -- the worship of Diana -- or in other words -- witchcraft. That it is happening all over the western world is apparent. Podles' text is not nearly violent enough. He is a gentleman, where Christ was a tiger, in throwing imposters out of the church. (The only people I remember Christ throwing out of anywhere were the moneychangers in the Temple...While I am not of the school that believes Jesus was merely meek and mild, I don't see anything in the Scripture that supports the view that he was a "tiger.")"

Generally, I get quietly worked up about things like this and share my feelings with a few people, but, hey, now I have a blog and can be snarky for the whole world to see. :) Snarkiness aside, though, things like this really get my back up because they demonstrate what seems like a purposely limited knowledge of what feminism/egalitarianism actually is.

I don't want to be superior, I want to be equal, there is a difference. I don't want to construct a God based on my own ego because that would be one seriously flawed God, but I also know that parts of me are always going to be mixed in with what I think of God. Not all feminists want to indiscrimately destroy unborn babies, quite a few of us want babies of our own. Once again, a critic has seen extreme pieces of a movement and rather than learning more has decided that the extreme represents the whole. Feminism isn't perfect, but "masculinism" is an equally flawed solution.

Hilarity Worth Sharing

Click the photo to create your own "On Notice" list. h/t to St. Casserole.

For RGR

Seriously, I found elf bowling.

Twenty Four (And The Wonders Of Craigslist)

Sorry this picture is so obvious. I was purposely trying to avoid anything related to this insanely popular television show, but Kiefer Sutherland is too manly to be ignored. I'll take comfort in the fact that I didn't used the show's logo. Honestly, I love Kiefer, but I'm not a huge fan of 24.

Now, on to Craigslist and my complete happiness with it!

For the past few weeks, every night I've gone home with the intention of posting ads for several items that I wanted to sell. Last night, I finally got around to it and just over 12 hours later, I've already sold all four items at my original asking price. Two of the four items are being picked up tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully, the girl who asked me to hold the bed will not flake out, though I have confidence that if she does, I will be able to repost it and Craig will help me sell it quickly. Yay for online resources!

In other moving news, Emily's new roommate is coming over to measure tomorrow night. My room is a disaster. Really, I have picture proof. I managed to make it slightly less disorganized before I went to bed last night (after all, I needed someplace to sleep), but it's still a strange mishmash of boxes and bedding and knick-knacks and books and dirty laundry. I am encouraged, though...the simplifying process is coming along nicely. Getting everything in one carload shouldn't be a major problem.

Men, Please!

Paul Mayers is guest blogging over at Jason Clark's website while Jason is on vacation. He put up this post today about the imbalance of the male/female ratio in the Church at large.

My reaction is somewhat along the lines of Helen's (one of the commentors). Paul's summary of Murrow's "10 things men fear about church," from the book Why Men Hate Going to Church, is intriguing enough that I'm interested in reading the book.

Some questions (real questions, not rhetorical): Do men really value excellence more than women? Are women more willing to "check their brains at the door" than men are? If many churches teach against homosexuality, what creates the fear that churches will foster homosexuality or effeminacy in male children? Why do we care what people (male or female) wear to church? How could we go about making the pastorate less of an "alpha male" position? And, as and aside, why don't men like to sing?

I find that at least three of the items on the list apply to me, a woman. The number would increase to four if the reason men are uncomfortable with singing in church has to do with the squishiness of much Christian worship music rather than anxiety over their level of talent. I wonder if many of the items on the list aren't more based on personality and culture, rather than gender. Of course, I have often been accused (?) of thinking/acting like a man in certain areas of my life, so maybe I am an anomaly.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts on this issue. Anyone have any practical ideas for dealing with this list in a congregational setting?

Twenty Five

Only 25 more days? That doesn't seem like a lot of time. There's still so much to get done. Packing, selling, more packing, cleaning. Fortunately, the countdown actually ends two days before I move, as it's a countdown to the last day I work rather than to my last day in D.C. I will be antsy the entire weekend before I leave, but I'm sure I'll need the extra time.

The next project I must undertake is a list of companies I need to call in order to change my mailing address. OY!

No absolutely fabulous pictures for "25," so I'm doing the best I can with what I found. If you have any interest in the art of Robert Indiana, click here.

Better Things To Do

I know, I know, no countdown yesterday. My friend, Sarah, and I were celebrating her birthday together. It was actually on July 26th (ha! 26 more days before Princeton!), but I couldn't make it to Maryland until this weekend. Anyway, even though I hate the heat here, I'm a bit of a Virginia snob.

We went shopping, out to lunch, and sailing with some of Sarah's friends. For your viewing enjoyment, I have posted some photos on Flickr from our afternoon trip. Just click my picture of the sunset skyline to see a slideshow.


After weeks of heat that made me want to hide in my air-conditioned house, it was wonderful to get outside on such a gorgeous day. We enjoyed ourselves and then went back to Sarah's house so I could show her the wonders of her new iPod. Sometimes it's nice to have friends who know less about technology than I do. ;)

This morning, we went to Sarah's church and sang along with the 1980's cover ba... I mean, worship team. I got the chance to meet some more of Sarah's friends. Every time she introduced me, she mentioned that I was headed to seminary. It's nice to have friends who are supportive.

Living close to Sarah is definitely something I am going to miss when I move to NJ, but she's promised to visit. Anyway, she has all my CDs and has to return them some time, so at least one visit is assured.

Harvard, What's With All The Faulkner?

Recently, at the suggestion of a college pal, I joined a LiveJournal community, called readplease. Mainly I skim the book titles that people mention to see if anything sticks out to me. I heart reading, so I was excited to see that someone posted a top 100 books of the 20th century list. Apparently, this was compiled by Harvard. My only real question is: Why so much Faulkner that I will never ever ever read after my recent encounter with his writing.

Here's the list. I've read 23 of the ones listed. And some other lists from Random House. Like my roommate, I generally enjoy a good list.

The Best Woman I Know

My mother and I were talking on the phone this morning. At the same time, I was skimming through Newsgator, trying to decide which posts not to read, and I realized that I had never blogged about her. Delinquent Dad got a whole post, but Marvelous Mother was completely neglected.

Unlike many of my friends, my relationship with my mother was markedly un-rocky. I was a good kid essentially because the effort to be rebellious seemed like a waste of time to this bookworm. We had our first, and perhaps only, "argument" over the phone when I was a freshman at Houghton. When I got off the phone almost crying and described the conversation to my roommates, who had heard my end of the call, they informed me that I was an amateur in the violent art of mother-daughter fighting. Marvelous Mother and I have always been like two peas in a pod and I thank God for that.

When I started preparing for me imminent return to school, my mom asked if there was anything she could buy for me. Normal mom stuff, right? Sure it is, if your parents are living the middle to upper-middle class existence of most of my peers' parents, but I make substantially more money than MM does. Part of the gap is a result of the vast difference between living expenses in NOVA/DC and Northern New York, but even considering that, I probably make twice as much as my lovely, hardworking mother. Let's be clear, this is in no way a point of pride for me. It makes me sad enough to cry sometimes. My mother has worked hard for 35 years or so, but difficult circumstances, that were mostly out of her control, have made her options fewer than she deserves.

So, despite the obvious disparity in our salaries, she insisted on a list. Over the past few months, MM has been diligently searching for deals and coupons, buying the toiletries and food items I specified. Sometimes I feel guilty because I could afford to buy my own shampoo and oatmeal, but I've learned over the years that this is how my mother shows her love. She doesn't give extravagantly expensive gifts, but she gives what she can, sometimes more. She finds out what you need and does her best to provide.

She loves to feed people. If she doesn't have anything else to give, she still has her smile. She makes people feel welcome. This dear, wonderful, cute, lovely, marvelous woman, whom I have the privilege of calling my mother, loves giving gifts so much that, while I still lived at home, she would often produce some thing I wanted or needed and say, "This was supposed to be for your birthday/Christmas, but I just couldn't wait." Even before she called herself a Christian (5 years now), she would have walked the extra mile or given a stranger the shirt off her back.

There are so many other things that I love about my mother (She gives great hugs. She taught me how to sew. She always returns my call. She was willing to touch the raw chicken when I wouldn't. She washed the dishes I forgot to rinse.), but her capacity to give is the quality I admire most. She loves others more than she loves herself and I hope, one day, to be one-tenth of the woman she is.

Flying

I sometimes disagree with RevDan, but today I'm on board with everything he has to say.

Twenty Eight

I love this movie.
I will be taking my copy with me when I move to seminary in 28 days!!!

Twenty Nine (A Day Late...)

I forgot to post this picture yesterday, but I went to the trouble of getting the artist's permission, so I'm just going to post it today instead.

The photographer's name is Mark Schretlen. He has some stuff online here. He's from Canada! Are there Amish people in Canada?! ;)


My room is currently crowded with boxes and other junk that I brought down from the attic. I'm going to post some stuff on Craigslist tonight and hope against hope that someone buys my bed, at least.

I'm getting rid of six or eight boxes of books (yes, I find that just a little heartbreaking), but I'm not exactly sure where to take them. Goodwill is the easiest option, but doesn't seem like the best one. I also have three or four large shopping bags of clothes and shoes that are in good condition that need to go, but I would rather donate them to a place that is going to give the clothes away to those who are actually in need rather than a place that is going to sell them to suburban teenagers with nothing better to do on a Saturday morning. Anyone in NOVA know of places I could take books and clothes?

Expendability

Though I was a devoted fan of The Next Generation as a preteen, I never really got into the original series, but these are frickin' hilarious! This one is definitely my favorite:

h/t to Jordon Cooper

75 Degrees

Today, it is rainy and 75. Thank God! Feels downright chilly. I love it. Makes me want to go home and put on a hoody and jeans (even though it's not really cool enough for that).

I HEART COLD WEATHER! Through all the hot summer days, I remind myself that soon it will be autumn and cool enough to don long sleeves once again.

Perhaps, once I'm finished with seminary, I will actually move to a place that doesn't have hellish summers that make me want to die. My dreams are simple.

Me In Ten Years?

I don't generally post about new blogs I'm reading, I just add them to my blogroll and move on, but I've been struck by the musings of lady who just joined RevGalBlogPals. You can check her out at The Feminary. I know, the name is a little bit meh and, I have to warn you, the posts are of a length that I would normally skip, but something about about this blog made me keep reading.

SYTYCD Performance Finale

A moment of silence please...my favorite show of the summer, So You Think You Can Dance?, comes to a conclusion in less than a week.

Last nights' episode was fun, though there was serious confusion in my apartment when the judges slammed Benji and Donyelle's soaring, beautiful Vienese Waltz immediatly after having drooled over the lackluster disco number that Heidi and Travis slogged through. To quote MKH out of context, "We gotta back this crazy train up!"

For me, the highlight of the evening was definitely "Tranji." Silly, yes. Entertaining, absolutely!

Who would I vote for if I did such a thing? :) Well, I'm a huge fan of Benji. Heidi's dancing is hot, but she seems a little too perky. Travis is good, too, but all I ever remember of his dancing is that crazy spin he does for every single solo performance. Donyelle used to have my heart, but she's lost her sparkle in the last few weeks. I wonder what happened to make her seem so sad. So, I'm for Benji, the skinny, geeky, utterly talented Mormon!

The lowlight of the show was when Mary made a dog shape with her hand, screamed at the hand and, finally, proceeded to make her hand scream. Too! much! screaming!

I can't believe we have to wait a whole week to find out who won!

In related news, I have wanted to see the movie Step Up since the first time I saw a preview for it. Sure, it's probably crappy, but dancing is such a happy thing!

Thirty: The Official Countdown Post

Only one more month, folks!

Here's a lovely photocollage, called Thirty Circles, by Lisa Sullivan.
Check her out!

First Attempt At A Book Review: How Not To Speak Of God

About three weeks ago, I participated in a contest over at Adam Walker Cleaveland's blog, pomomusings . My prize for being one of the first five people to answer Adam's question correctly was a copy of Peter Rollins book, How (Not) To Speak Of God . I hope nobody minds, but I will be referring to the author as Pete for the rest of the post, Mr. Rollins just seems too formal.

I've always been a reader. Before I started riding the bus, and could safely sit and read on the way to school, I would walk and read instead. During the twenty-one years I've had my nose stuck in a book, very few have left me feeling like I've wasted my time. Generally, I just enjoy a book for what it is and move on. However, Pete Rollins' book left a deep impression and that impression was entirely positive. (Pulled that one out like Mary Murphy...HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!! Don't get it, watch So You Think You Can Dance?).

To begin, a little personal history - My first official encounter with "emergent" thought was less than a year ago when a friend loaned me Brian McLaren's book, A Generous Orthodoxy. I had often felt the tensions inherent within Christian thought, but had never been able to communicate my feelings as coherently as Brian did, gracefully merging seemingly opposing ideas. Next, the same friend loaned me Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz , which I finished reading in less than two days and have purchased for several friends since; another refreshing swig of emergent causing me to long for a new way of believing and acting like a Christian. Since then, I've been reading lots of Jesus-y blogs (see blogroll at left) and struggling through some of the (non)issues that have made it difficult for me to abandon my sometimes idolatrous ideas about God. That's where I am now: journeying, struggling, tearing apart in order to build anew.

Now, let's get down to brass tacks, the book I came here to review. Pete's first section, dedicated to “theory,” consists of a mere seventy-one pages, all of which are well-thought out and well-written. The second half of the book has ten five or six-page descriptions of services that Ikon, a postmodern “congregation” in Northern Ireland, put together. This section allows the reader, who may be entirely uncomfortable with emergent thought and practice, to “observe” these services from a “safe” distance. I, for one, would be thrilled to observe from a place of less safety. Pete’s description of their service entitled “Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani,” was especially intriguing, posing the question: “Would I still be a Christian if I thought that the Easter story ended on Good Friday?”

As for the first section, instead of diving into the book and overwhelming you with an even longer post than this is already going to be, I will point out three things that really hit me (in the head. like a baseball bat.).

Strike #1: Pete discusses intellectual/ideological idolatry, in which our ideas about God become the God we worship. It is essential to know that in naming God we are really naming our understanding of God, an understanding that is profoundly affected by our context. “Yet this does not mean that our definitions of God are somehow unimportant…it is only that we must recognize the extent to which these reflections fall short of that which we attempt to define and always reflect something of the one who makes the claim.” (18) I know I’ve been in more than one heated argument about theology that went nowhere because the parties involved (invluding me) were unwilling to acknowledge the fact that they might be wrong. I no longer want to hold my ideas/beliefs in such a way that they prevent me from loving people rightly.

Pete also (re)defines theology as the place where God speaks, rather than theology as a definition of God. This particular idea strikes me as revolutionary because of my immersion in various Christian traditions which never openly state that God is currently silent, but more often than not, live as if that is the case. In the past, I have found comfort in the idea that God’s revelation was completed within a hundred years of Christ's crucifixion, but there are so many important issues that the Bible doesn’t address and God spoke for such an extended period of time prior to Jesus' death, that I am beginning to find a world in which God is giving us the silent treatment increasingly difficult to accept. The thousand or so pages of writing we Christians call Scripture are surely just a pinch of sand from a miles long beach. “If theology comes to be understood as the place where God speak, then we must seek, not to speak of God, but rather to be that place where God speaks.” (21)

Next, Pete introduced me to the concept of hypernymity. I think this might be a word he made up himself. If so, good on ya, Pete! “While anonymity offers too little information for our imagination to grasp (…), hypernymity gives us far too much information. Instead of being limited by the poverty of absence we are short-circuited by the excess of presence.” (24) Most Christians I know acknowledge that God is too big to understand, but this way of thinking about that bigness is entirely new to me. Rather than envisioning a God who is too far away to be seen clearly, I'm now in the presense of One who is closely surrounding us, penetrating our very being. This makes us like a person sitting three inches away from the screen at a movie theater and trying to figure out the whole picture from the tiny, distorted portion one can see… We lack perspective and capacity, not information.

Believe me, these three were only the tip of the iceberg as far as thought-provoking tidbits go.

I will conclude with one of my favorite quotes from the book: “In a world where people believe they are not hungry, we must not offer food but rather an aroma that helps them desire the food we cannot provide.” (37)

Go now! I’m not kidding…read it!

P.S. Have some links to other people who have already read and reviewed this amazing book: Darren over at Planet Telex, Jonny Baker, Existential Punk, Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed, and, of course, my benefactor, Adam Walker Cleaveland at pomomusings. If anyone finds some female bloggers who have given their perspective, let me know.

Check It Out, Check It Out, Check It Out!

I'm already a big fan of Real Live Preacher and now his friend, Ben King, of Talking Taco Music, is going to review music on the RLP website. Excellent!

Thirty Days (That's One Month, People!)

I called PTS again today. Apparently, making the decision whether to let one desperate girl into the dorms takes a lot more work than I expected. Since I'd called on Friday, Rosemary (the lady on the phone) had spoken to Stephen (the director of housing) who had spoken to the dean of students. Yes, the dean of students was involved in this decision.

A little persistence paid off, though. Rosemary called me back less than an hour after we got off the phone, just as I was leaving for lunch, to tell me that I will be allowed to move into my room on September 11. Somewhat ironic that such a happy event should occur on such a sad day. I've already alerted one of my pals at Princeton University that he should prepare himself to lug boxes to my third floor room. He hasn't responded to my demands. :) Perhaps I will need to call in reinforcements. Much thanks to anyone who prayed over this situation (or anyone who might have paid off school officials...).

As for the countdown photo...I need to wait for permission from the artist. She's in Britain, so I'm going to give it until 6 p.m. or so. If she hasn't responded by 2 a.m. her time, I guess I'll need to choose another picture.

Perhaps My Most Controversial Post Ever

And it's just a link a post fellow Houghtonite, Job, wrote about youth ministry with a tempered "amen" from this corner. Though I don't think "youth ministry" should be summarily ousted from the church, I do think that the church at large needs to rethink the current model.

Please note: I was part of a youth group for about 3 years after I became a Christian and I know of far too many people who are currently youth pastors with whom I would never in a million years trust my children. (Tuff, you're not included in that category.)

Good News for Fellow Houghtonites

One of our favorite fellow alumni has a new blog. I'm not sure if he wants to maintain anonymity, so I'm refraining from shouting his unforgettable name from the rooftops until further notice.

Dooce Does It Again

Expressing my love for So You Think You Can Dance? so much better than I have to date.

My Place In This World

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm currently reading Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver. Today, as I was walking home from the Metro, with my nose in this wonderful book, I was so affected by the story that I began to tear up.

Barbara's main character, Cosima, is someone I can really identify with (except for the fact that she's trained as a doctor and looks like a supermodel :). She wants nothing more than to belong somewhere, to someone, but she hasn't been able to find that place. At some points, it seems that she won't allow herself to find her place, preferring to remain in her bizarre "comfort zone" of being the outsider, the bad daughter, the amnesiac who forgets names and faces as quickly as she hears them.

I know how she feels. The one thing I've always wanted in my life is to feel like I fit somehwere, like I was so integral to the landscape that everyone would notice if I was absent, but, at the same time, I'm comfortable with my role as the aloof one. There have been times, mostly in college, that I sensed I was in exactly the place I was meant to be, but pretty frequently, I felt like the expendable character in a TV series. You know, the character who has no name, will be the first to die, and will not be missed by any of the main characters. (I doubt this feeling is justified, but it's there nonetheless.)

Anyway, Cosima goes back to her "hometown" for a year and becomes involved with a man she dated briefly in high school, Loyd. He is a Native American. She goes home with Loyd for Christmas and can't help but notice how snugly he fits into his landscape. They go to a dance on Christmas day. As the dance unfolds before them, they have a discussion about religion and prayer. The content of the conversation was certainly interesting, but I was more affected by the ritual of the dance, the closeness of the families and the amazing perspective that Loyd possessed because he was an important, albeit small, part of something bigger than himself; his family, their community, a heritage.

The hope of becoming a part of something bigger than myself was what attracted me to the church, to Christ. The promise of a community and unconditional acceptance into the heart of God was pretty much irresistable. Occasionally, during worship, I am overwhelmed by a sense of belonging and I can barely continue singing. Hopefully, one day, I will have found/created a space where that feeling of belonging, of being part of something bigger will be less an occasion and more a way of life.

Thirty One

I couldn't have found a move perfect countdown picture for today if I tried.

From Wikipedia: "William Duckworth is credited as composer of the first postminimal piece of music... He composed Thirty One Days (1987) for alto saxophone..."

"Postminimalism is a term utilised in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by, or attempts to develop, the aesthetic of minimalism."

One of my favorite modern artists, Eva Hesse, was a postminimalist and I didn't even know it.

On the packing, moving, becoming a seminary student front: I haven't heard back from the housing office about whether I can move in early. My first call was Friday, I am going to procrastinate one more day and call them back tomorrow to see if they've made any decisions. I haven't done any significant packing since last week, but have definite plans to finish unloading my bookselves tonight. I also need to take some picture of my bed and bookshelves for posting on Craigslist. It would be really nice to make some money on the larger items I need to rid myself of, especially since my larger items are less than two years old and in "good as new" condition.

Set Low Standards, You'll Rarely Be Disappointed

Sunday's Child wrote a post today that struck a chord in the deepest part of my being. The refrain was: "Because I have been disappointed and have unconsciously decided it is easier to expect less than to continue to be disappointed."

I'm sure any number of people can empathize with this p.o.v. Disappointment hurts and sometimes it seems like a terrific idea to shelter ourselves from the pain by expecting nothing, trusting noone to take responsibility, to keep promises. Through far too much experience, I've discovered that this approach leaves me with nothing but the pain of loneliness and bitterness and stress from trying to do everything myself.

The construction of Sunday Child's post and the repetition of the line quoted above, led me to think of Psalm 136. Sometimes when I can't stop the looping feed of negative thoughts in my head, it helps to replace them with a new refrain. What better refrain is there than that God's "steadfast love endures forever"?

Giving New Meaning To The Fitness Craze

This is seriously funny! Thank you VH1's Best Week Ever.

UPDATE: How long do you think these guys had to experiment before they found exactly the right treadmill speed?

My Ridiculous Office

Most of my afternoon at work was spent reading Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver, and listening to some tunes on my iPod. Suddenly, with my keen peripheral vision, I saw a hand to my right. I turned to see if I was needed. It turned out that Ken (one of the attorneys for whom I work) just needed a Post-It note and my desk was conveniently located.

Funny part of the story: It was 3:30, I was clearly not doing any work, and my boss was trying not to DISTURB MY READING!!!

My job is so fulfilling.

Thirty Two

This is real food at a real restaurant...

In 32 days, I will be a real student at a real seminary.

Thirty Three

I forgot to count down yesterday because we were celebrating my roommate's birthday.

Apparently, this is Christ at 33...man, how did this artist manage such an accurate representation of WASPy Jesus?

Thirty three more days before I take my cynicism on the road.

Happy Birthday, Emily!

My roommate turns twenty five today. Since dinner on Saturday, we've been enjoying birthday festivities. Friday night, Emily let me choose the place and Emily, Mary Katharine, Adam, and I went to Faccia Luna to satisfy my two week craving for pizza. By the way, if you live in NOVA, I would highly recommend this place. Excellent pizza for cheap (by NOVA/DC standards)! We all had pizza, they all had beer and Adam managed to hit some random girl with a rubberband. Why he was trying to fit a tiny rubber band around two take-out boxes, I may never know.

Further festivities were emarked upon when Emily and I went to Ann Taylor Loft. (Acually, the festivities really began when I PUT ON MASCARA,* but this post isn't supposed to be about me.) Emily bought the top you see in the picture above and a pair of jeans and some pink flip flops. After Emily had purchased her new clothing I dragged her upstairs to Hudson Trail Outfitters and I got a pink Nalgene and a pink Splashguard for the pink Nalgene (to celebrate Emily's birthday, of course :).

Shopping completed, we went to get Emily's car at the shop. Not officially part of the festivities, but there was a really cute mechanic there who was nice to look at AND Emily had at least one short, rotund, Latino admirer, named Felipe, at that shop, so it was fun.

We then made our way home to be joined by Mary Katharine, who met up with us for a night on the town. Or, more accurately, an early evening on the town. Our first stop was Potomac Yards Regal Cinema to see Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The movie was hilariously funny...another recommended activity for anyone who can handle a little irreverence.

After the movie, we went to Bangkok 54, the best Thai restaurant in our area. At least, that's what I think and it was Emily's first choice for birthday dinner, so it must be true. We ordered drinks, then I presented Emily with her gift. I almost think that I was looking forward to the gift-giving more than Emily was looking forward to the receiving. All that changed when the long-awaited gift was opened and a talking Ronald Reagan doll from Toypresidents, which I found at a store in Baltimore, emerged. As you can tell from the beatific look on Emily's face, she was well-pleased. Every few minutes one of us would press Ronnie's lapel to hear one of his 25 quotable quotes. My personal favorite is "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" MKH got Em a gift card for DSW, money for shoes, always a timely gift. She also proved, once again, that she's NOT hideously unattractive.

From what I've seen, Emily's twenty-fifth year has been a good one. In about a week, she starts a new job. (She got about five thousand offers in the past two months, everyone loves her!) In a little over a month, 33 days to be exact, she will have a new roommate (though Alyssa will have a difficult time filling my shoes, she's a nice girl). Hopefully, Emily's 26th year will be just as eventful as her 25th has been, if not a little less stressful. I'm going to miss her constant requests that I do a dance, her strange dinners (consisting mainly of pita, hummus, ham, and Wheat Thins), and her excellent taste in movies...

Happy birthday, roommate!

* You may be asking yourself why my eyebrows are so "unruly." And why, with such unruly brows, I would ever consider posting a close up of my eyes. Well, my lashes are fantastic and plucking hurts me. If you have any helpful hints about avoiding this pain, feel free to comment.

Slightly Belated RGBP Friday Five

1. Describe the last play or musical you saw. What was your opinion of it? Sadly enough, I think the last play I saw was over four years ago, during my junior year of college. It was a student production of As You Like It, I believe, but I'm not sure. I am sure that it was excellent because our Shakespeare players never did anything badly.

2. All time favorite play? Musical? My favorite musical is most definitely Les Miserables. Some friends and I saw it in London. Every place in London offered a student discount, so we got center seats in the thirteenth row. The performance was amazing. The Thenardiers were so "bad" that I could barely bring myself to clap for them. As for plays, I love Tennessee Williams' Glass Menagerie.

3. What non-musical movie do you think should next get the musical treatment? I'm going to say Kill Bill. Can you even imagine a musical production of a Quentin Tarrantino film? Fantastic!

4. Favorite song from a musical and why? I love By My Side from Godspell. The music and the lyrics carry me away. It's beautiful.

5. What great pop/rock singer/composer or super-group should be the next to be featured, and what might the story-line be for such a show? Let's go with Radiohead. The storyline could be of a band that begins well, is genuinely brilliant actually, but they orchestrate their own slide into unpopularity by becoming too experimental. I don't know how closely it would reflect reality, but it would certainly represent their career in my mind.

Bonus question for singer/actors. Favorite part you’ve ever played/sung: I never actually had a "part" per se, but I loved being in the chorus of Godspell.

Havin' A Baby

No, not me, these people.

H/t to MKH

SYTYCD Update

Okay, this is going to be short, but I had to comment on my favorite show of the summer. Natalie's dismissal this week was expected and welcomed. She should have gone home last week when silly America voted off Allison instead. Ivan's departure wasn't a shock, but I did love him and will miss his amazing ability to change from boy to man as soon as he steps onto a dance floor. That's his superpower...Boy to Man in 2.2 seconds.

Good luck, little Ivan! We will miss you.

Let's just hope that Benji & Donyelle and Heidi & Travis get paired for the next show, otherwise I will have to cry.

Guava Tree, Very Pretty...

Near the end of our stay in Masumbo, Dr. Arensen drew our attention to some trees growing near the edge of our campsite. These trees held mounds of the most delectable guavas and they were ready to eat.

For the last two weeks of our stay at the Houghton in Tanzania campus, those of us who enjoyed the sweet, tasty, pink flesh of the guava were able to eat our fill. Some afternoons I would eat as many as eight or ten. Enough to ruin my dinner, that's for sure.

Many of my classmates were less than fond of our diet while on the Dark Continent, but I quite enjoyed it. We had fresh eggs almost every day, freshly baked bread toasted and slathered in margarine made primarily with saturated fats, curry with fresh tomato and pineapple topping, chapatis with beans, and the ubiquitous rice with meat chunks. Sometimes we even got spaghetti, which was surprisingly delicious considering our cooks were Africans who rarely ate anything other than rice, vegetables, and chicken.

The only meal I did not enjoy was the hamburger and hot dog pizza. Not appetizing at all. Obviously, our African cooks had some pretty interesting ideas about what Americans enjoyed eating. Anyway, Africans don't eat a whole lot of cheese, so they are not very good at making it. It tasted genuinely awful.

Some foods I miss from Africa include Bounty chocolate bars and Fanta Passion. This is going to sound strange, but soda in third world countries is much better because they use real sugar. Real sugar beats high fructose corn syrup every time. Fanta Passion hasn't really been marketed in the U.S., and it's a shame.

I'm reminded of those guavas twice daily on my walk to and from the Metro as I walk past one particular house with a tree growing suspiciously guva-like fruits. One of these days I'm going to steal a ripe fruit from that family's tree and see if my suspicions are correct. I'll let you know if they are.

Thirty Five

Procrastination ended, I called the PTS housing office about getting into my room early. The woman who answered put me on hold for a bit and came back with the news that they would "try to work something out" for me. I'm hopeful that this means I will be able to get into my room over the weekend or, at least, by Monday, September 11. It does seem like they would have said "no" right away if that was going to be their response. I will follow up with them if I haven't called back by Wednesday.

35 days left, folks! That's 5 weeks...

By the way, Jule Ann, thanks for offering to put me and my mom up! :)

It's Broken!!!

Perhaps I'm hallucinating, but it seems like the heatwave is finally coming to an end here in NOVA/DC. There was a cool breeze blowing as I walked to the Metro stop this morning. My exposed limbs didn't feel damp from humidity and sweat. Walking seemed less tiresome, even enjoyable.

100 may be expected in some places, but this girl is from Northern New York, where summer might include one ninety degree day, a ninety degree day during which everyone stays home, lies about, and cranks up the fans. To me, the perfect temperature is 68 degrees. Comfortable in shorts, comfortable in a hoody.

Anyway, just wanted to say, "Thank God it's not going to get about 100 for the next ten days!" And, as an aside, thank God that I get to have pizza tonight.

The Plan

Several comments left by RevGalBlogPals folks have made me realize that many, if not most, of the people reading my blog do not know me. Since the point of joining the webring was to get to know other people, I suppose it's only fair that I write about topics that would allow people to get to know me.

Let's start this getting-to-know-you process with "The Plan." The Plan was formulated slowly during my sophomore and junior years at this tiny Christian college. Up to that point, The Plan included a history major (yes, I am a history geek and proud of it!), a Ph.D., and, ultimately, a teaching career at some prestigious university...

Sometime during my sophomore year, it hit me: what was once an overwhelming love of history was being eclipsed by my enjoyement of the Bible and theology classes taken, at first, only to fulfill the requirements for a minor. Studying the Bible, debating interpretations, seeing the unexpected in familiar passages was so exciting. And, one of the best parts: my love of history didn't have to fall by the wayside since the Bible is full of it (history, that is)! So, I embarked upon what seemed to be the most logical course of action and upgraded my Bible minor to a second major.

I never considered what effect this change of heart might have on my future plans until a friend of mine, who was a year ahead of me, started talking about applying to PTS. I caught the bug, felt the call, whatever you want to call it, and decided that seminary would be a good choice for me, too. This became even more clear when various circumstances, related to my often written about trip to Africa, compelled me to drop my history major.

More "circumstances" (a.k.a. a professor didn't send his recommendation and I was in Africa, blissfully unaware) prevented me from entering seminary immediately. Three years of working at fairly crappy, unchallenging jobs ensued. Now, finally, I am back on track with The Plan, which still includes a Ph.D. and teaching at some college or university, but instead of history, I would like to teach Biblical Studies, concetrating on the Old Testament. While I am not completely opposed to the idea of becoming a pastor, I don't feel gifted in certain areas (e.g. sensitivity to other people's feelings) that seem important to someone planning on pursuing pastoral ministry.

So, there it is folks...in my plan, seminary is the next step in my climb to the ivory tower, not the pulpit. I guess we'll see what God's plan is.

I'm Famous!

Thanks, RevGalBlogPals for welcoming newcomers so heartily! I've enjoyed my stay so far and plan to be as active a participant as I can.

Seriously, could my name get any bigger?!!! ;)

Thirty Six

A lovely lady over at Sugarfused.net has graciously allowed me to use this beautiful photo collage that she created, as a Christmas present for her mother, for my countdown.

I encourage you to go to her blog because this image is even more spectacular full-size.

There is another gorgeous piece of art, related to 36, that I would have liked to post, here, but Blogger wasn't cooperating and my impatience kept me from waiting for permission from the artist.

I packed my clothes last night.

Yes, I still have 36 days to go, but I have a lot of clothes that I do not wear on a regular basis here in DC. Not to mention, it's been like eight million degrees lately and likely will be until I leave, so warm clothes are packed as are skinny clothes (ugh).

Very happily, they (almost) all fit into one large suitcase. Maybe someday, when I have simplified my life even further I will be able to fit them all into a medium or even a small suitcase.

Some of you may be wondering why I'm packing everything so early. Well, I have to figure out if I can get all my stuff into one car or if I'm going to need my lovely roommate to follow me in her car. So far, it's looking good for a one car trip. I don't have a lot of stuff and my car is a pretty good sized sedan. I would love to have Emily along, but it would be cheaper if I didn't have to pay for her gas and meals.

Also, for you praying types out there, I could sure use a few words on my behalf. I thought the dorms were opening on September 7th (I'm pretty sure I read it on the PTS website), so I planned to move in the weekend of the 9th and 10th, giving me plenty of time to prepare for my Mom's arrival on the 12th (already bought her a non-refundable plane ticket). I subsequently learned, upon receiving my room assignment, that the dorms don't open until the 13th. I hate calling people, so I've been procrastinating about following up on an email I already sent to the housing office to beg to get into my room early. I'm sure it will all work out, but I'm still nervous... I do have several friends in the area, but it would feel weird to ask someone to put up me and my mom and all my junk.

Yes, that's right folks, only 36 more days.

Thirty Seven

I didn't sort and pack my clothes yesterday as planned

The thought of going into the attic with a temperature of 101 and a heat index ten degrees higher made me nauseous.

So, I sat on the couch, watched bad television, and enjoyed the air conditioning.

In order to avoid further procrastination, I got my suitcases out of the attic this morning before the heat became unbearable.

There is some time for procrastination, I suppose...

After all, I don't even leave my job for another 37 days!

Rambling About Books...

1. One book that changed your life: Harriet The Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh. This is the only children’s book I’ve read multiple times as an adult. Harriet made me want to learn everything!

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Yes, yes, I know, that’s four books, but you can’t just read one. I’ve read these at least five times each. When people tell me they have no interest in reading these books, I question their sanity and intelligence.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard. You thought I’d say the Bible, didn’t you? Well, that’s too easy and cliché. Mr. Willard definitely gets my vote.

4. One book that made you laugh: Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man, by Tim Allen. My mom bought this for herself when I was in high school. I was reluctant to read it because I thought Tim Allen was sort of a tool, but the book (unlike his television show) was genuinely hilarious.

5. One book that made you cry: The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks. Yes, I’ve read this book and, yes, it made me cry. Shameful and ridiculous, I know, but you have to know that someone tricked me into reading it!!! And I definitely read it long before the movie came out.

6. One book that you wish had been written: What? Are you serious? Don’t make me be creative.

7. One book that you wish had never been written: The Prayer of Jabez, by Bruce Wilkinson, or Babbitt, but Sinclair Lewis. During my junior year in college, I actually wrote an entire paper about how shoddy Bruce Wilkinson’s exegesis of Jabez’s prayer was. Our library didn’t have the book and I refused to purchase it, so I sat in our campus book store and read the entire volume. As for Babbitt…least entertaining novel. EVER!

8. One book you’re currently reading: How (Not) to Speak of God, by Peter Rollins. I won this book in a contest at pomomusings. It’s my formal introduction to the emergent conversation. Once I finish it, I will be reviewing it. So far, it’s pretty great. A ton of people are already talking it up, including jonnybaker, TallSkinnyKiwi, Planet Telex, and Jesus Creed.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka. This book is actually lying on my bed waiting for me to read it, but every night I have a choice between The Office on my iPod or Franz Kafka. So far, The Office is winning.

10. Now tag five people: Tag yourself. Btw, got this meme from Jeff at Philosophy Over Coffee.

Friends Don't Let Friends Listen To Crappy Music

When Rebecca and John were down south for Fourth of July weekend, Rebecca gave me a few mixed CDs as sort of a "repayment" for the ones I'd given her earlier this year.

 

She gave me a mellow mix, a fun mix and just a mix.  Because of her musical tastes, I found all of them rather mellow, but the one she labelled "mellow" is definitely my favorite.  Damien Rice and Over the Rhine sing me to sleep almost every night.

 

The two songs I love best are Delicate, by Damien Rice and Etcetera Whatever, by Over the Rhine.  Sadly, I love both of these songs because of my obsession with ABC's Lost.  Delicate was actually used in the episode "...in Translation."  As for Etcetera Whatever, I don't know if it was ever used in the show, but it certainly reminds me of it with all the talk of living on the beach.

 

Anyway, it's fantastic to have friends who take the time to do something as thoughtful and time-consuming as making a mixed CD.  Please feel free to mimic Rebecca.  I'm sure you'll be justly recompensed!

Thirty Eight

I don't know what this book is about, but it only costs $2, you can get it here.

38 more days before I am ready for my move.

The great journey of packing began last night. Every kitchen item I own is now contained in four boxes. Two boxes to store at my mom's apartment, two (containing a complete set of pots and pans and a complete, unchipped and unbroken, set of dishes for eight) to sell on Craigslist.

Tonight, I sort the clothes. It should be an adventure.