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?
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.
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!
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.
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!
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).
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!
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.
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