My cousin Sarah, Aunt Betsy, Grandma, and me at Thanksgiving 

Ready for a shock?

According to this quiz:
http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/yankeetest.html

I am
52% Dixie (Right on the Mason-Dixon line).

I'm not used to this

Short hair cuts are funny
and I don't know if I like it.


The hairstylist didn't quite hear what I was saying.


Dorothy Hamill had my new haircut in the 70s.
It looks charming on her.


Maybe it's cute when it's curly.

Proverbio XXIX

Traveler, your footprints are the road and nothing else
Traveler, there is no road; the road is made by walking
Walking makes the road, and to turn and look back
Is to see the path that you will never again return to tread
Traveler, there is no road, but rather wakes in the sea.

-- Antonio Machado

The assemblage of thanks! i.e. people who came and ate turkey and stuff at our apartment on Saturday. (front: me, Jay, Michael, Lane, Ben, Luke; back: Dana, Matt, Erin, Marie, Craiggers, Dave, John) 

Dana and me with the lovely, delicious, golden brown turkey! 

Dana washing the bird, I mean preparing the turkey for cooking. 

We're having 10-15 people over for a pre-emptive Thanksgiving Dinner tonight

Here's the food list, TV Dinner style:
Turkey -- Beth and Dana
Dressing/Stuffing -- Elizabeth
Mashed Potatoes and gravy -- Marie
Green Bean Casserole -- Michael
Rolls -- Jay
Sweet Potatoes -- John
carrot salad -- John
Baked Apples? -- Erin M2 and Matt
Pineapple Jello Salad -- John
Pineapple Casserole -- John
Cranberries -- Erin M1
Other Veggies and dip -- Erin M2 and Matt
Pies (pumpkin, and chocolate chip) --Erin M1
Rice Krispy Bars -- Sara
Drinks -- Craig
Hot Cider -- Erin M2 and Matt
Cranberry Margaritas -- Katy

That's 12 people.
We think that at least 2 more are coming.

We just took the turkey out of the oven.
It is golden.

Photos later.

The waterfall in N. GA that I hiked up and down this weekend. 

Michael can't read signs. 

Candace, Anjie and I are strong.

I am a sellout to the blogospherical Man

I now have MySpace and Facebook profiles.
Oygh.
It's far too much.
I can procrastinate until the day is done
and never accomplish a bloody thing.
Alas.
This internet.
It provides entirely too many diversions.
And I am far too susceptible.
Woe is me.
I am undone.
And it is all Dana's fault.

Hooray!

I am done.
I wrote and wrote and wrote,
and I finished that paper.
It's 10 pages of text,
and over a page of biblio.
The topic, so you know,
is the issue of homeless children
and the church's involvement in service and activism.
Rock on.


Here are some jokes from laffy taffy:

What is the difference between a fish and a piano?
You can't tuna fish.

What street does a ghost live on?
A dead end.

Where did the dentis go on his vacation?
To the mouth of the Mississippi.

Which garden has the most vegetables?
Flash garden.


Okay. I got them all except the last one.
Flash garden?
Who can say...

What my birthday means, according to blogthings.com

Your Birthdate: March 15

You take life as it is, and you find happiness in a variety of things. You tend to be close to family and friends. But it's hard to get into your inner circle. Making the little things wonderful is important to you, and you probably have an inviting home. You seek harmony with others, but occasionally you have a very stubborn streak. Your strength: Your intense optimism Your weakness: You shy away from exploring your talents Your power color: Jade Your power symbol: Flower Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

This is the strangest one of these weird quizzes so far. Intense optimism? Flower symbol? Very stubborn streak?

Oh, and the link on the last one didn't work but here it is: http://www.blogthings.com/threequestionpersonalitytest/

Just so you know

because I didn't

there are about 4,000 unaccompanied homeless youth in Atlanta
and 100 shelter beds for that population

Let the games begin!

Your Personality Is

Idealist (NF) You are a passionate, caring, and unique person. You are good at expressing yourself and sharing your ideals. You are the most compassionate of all types and connect with others easily. Your heart tends to rule you. You can't make decisions without considering feelings. You seek out other empathetic people to befriend. Truth and authenticity matters in your friendships. In love, you give everything you have to relationships. You fall in love easily. At work, you crave personal expression and meaning in your career. With others, you communicate well. You can spend all night talking with someone. As far as your looks go, you've likely taken the time to develop your own personal style. On weekends, you like to be with others. Charity work is also a favorite pastime of yours.

The Three Question Personality Test

More papers....

Tomorrow
I have an 8-10 page paper due
about the church's involvement
with homeless children.
And
I have to turn in an outline
and bibliography for a paper
that's due later in the semester.
Do I have any idea what I'm going to say
or what my sources will be?
Nooooooooooo, of course not.

So, there will probably be posts.
Excessive, silly posts.

Also, it is warm in our apartment.

Eayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (or Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Part 2)

Count down to cruch time!

I'm getting close to the end
both of the midterm
and of the time before it's due.

Three down, one to go.

I am such a horrible student...

Get the feeling there will be lots of posts tonight?

Your Superhero Profile

Your Superhero Name is The Professor Dwarf Your Superpower is Solar Your Weakness is Frogs Your Weapon is Your Robotic Dagger Your Mode of Transportation is Submarine

What's" your Superhero Name?

Waaaaaaaaaaaah!

Just a bit 'o whining...

I have a midterm due tomorrow
in Systematic Theology.
Some would argue that my professor is less than systematic
but I adore him
and his ramblingpreachingprayingscripturingprofessing.

Alas, I do not so much adore the midterm.
It's not bad, as midterms go --
four essays
three pages each.
Had I stuck to my one-essay-per-day plan on Saturday
I would be sittin' pretty.
Alas again, I did not.
Because why? Because I am a procrastinator.
Because when I have reading to do or essays to write
I check email, wash dishes, clean out the refrigerator, take a shower, create a myspace page, watch sporadic television, wander around, and check email some more.

So now here I am
blogging
and I need to go write (and read!) about
the questions faith asks
the role of experience and the situation of faith in doing theology
confessing the triune God
and Kathryn Tanner's assertion that "there are no irredeemable aspects of the world."
Mix in a little Cone, Cobb, Erskine, Soelle, Placher and Migliore,
plus a little Barth and Tillich for good measure,
and there you have it
the next 14 hours of my life.

And I'm off!

Dave and me heading to the Candler Halloween party. I'm a catburgler. Get it? 

I just took the world's shortest personality test

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Doughty Video

I just saw Mike Doughty's video on VH1.
Excellent.
http://www.mikedoughty.com/blog/

John's Birthday

(I wrote a post and it went away, so here's the abbreviated version.)

Yesterday at like 11:00 in the morning
John is in the kitchen
and I'm at my desk
in what would be the dining room except that we made it a library instead.
He says
"I'm going to tell you something
because if I don't
then later you might wonder why I didn't."
Then he says it's his birthday.

With no time or money for a tangible present,
I had two brilliant ideas:

First, I got out a bunch of random cards for random people to sign.
I got people to fill up 5 or 6 cards.

Second, I made 2 signs and took pictures of random people holding them.
I ended up with a slide show of 30 pictures.

College People!

Jodi, Nikki, Josh and me

There's a GC Atlanta Alumni thing coming up.
Maybe I'll go. Who can say...

Get in Shape Girl

I totally have worked out 3 times this week.
I ran on Tuesday.
I went to the Williamsburg fitness center on Wednesday
and rode the recumbent bike for 30 minutes.
And this morning I went and rode it again.
Sunday, I'm walking in the AIDS Walk.

I am so getting in shape.
Rock on.

With Fern and Dana on a bridge in Chicago 

Crushing Fern and Dana on the big red futon 

Scenes from Chicago

Need sleep...

Dana and I had a whirlwind trip to Chicago this weekend
(pictures soon...)
to see Fern and
to go to a young adult Peace and Justice conference
through the World Council of Churches.

Here's the cryptic shortened version:
Friday -- planes=drugs
Saturday -- conference, dinner and drinks with Fern's new seminary friends
Sunday -- shopping, site seeing, conference, worship, Gilmore dvds
Monday -- early plane, quick connection, airplane parking lot, straight to class (okay, we stopped at Dusty's for a bbq sandwich because I was starving!), tutoring

Today, I gave a presentation on Mary Magdalene.
I pretty much think she rocks.
Also, the way she has been portrayed is really a comglomeration of unnamed women in the gospels + the actual accounts of her.
Now, I want to learn more about her... must read the gnostic Gospel of Mary, and for kicks probably the DaVinci Code novel.

Tonight, I went running with Sarah and John.
We found a park near our apts
and hit the (somewhat obscure, and perhaps imagined) trail.
I will run again.
It did not hurt and was even fun with other people.
The trail made me feel healthy, even when I was falling on a rock and prickly tree.
Memories of high school and college Cross Country...
I really am still a runner in spirit.

Now, bed.

Waterfall rainbow, somewhere in northern Georgia 

Still Coughing

I can't seem to shake it.
I thought it was gone
and then I started coughing
halfway through dinner with Bob tonight.
Fun to see Bob, though.

Had a good mountain retreat this weekend with Wesley Foundation.
Hiked to a waterfall. Fell in the mud and slid down the mountain.
Had a stream outside my window.
Ate some campfire toasted marshmallows.
Delicious.

Bob, Joy and me at Joy's house a couple weeks ago... Hooray for old friends! 

Have I mentioned

that I am not a superb student?

I will never be able to read all that is assigned.
At times, I am at peace with this.

I was talking with a friend about that the other day
and he shared this quote from a similar conversation with someone else:
"If you're drowning, it doesn't matter how much water is above you."

In one sense, I suppose that is true
but really only if you have already given up hope.
If you can still see light above you
there is hope you will float
or that someone will notice your flailing body and reach out
or that you will have a sudden burst of energy
and kick and paddle your way to the surface.

I am still holding my nose.

The Best and Saddest Concert

Get ready for an abridged play-by-play.
And then some lamenting about the passing of my youth and favorite band.

Jump Little Children is doing their "Last Hurrah" tour,
and I went to the Atlanta show last night at the Variety Playhouse.

The show was perfect.
They started out playing recent stuff off Dim and the Dark (Rains in Asia, Mexico, Education),
played some rockin' songs from Magazine (My Guitar, Not Today, Say Goodnight),
and some vintage JLC (Cover Me/Dancing Virginia).
Matt did a couple of his songs (Body Parts, Habit, You and Me), and Jonathan soloed on the upright bass.

There were four encores.
They played Cathedrals in the first one, and seemed to have planned for a second encore.
At the end of the second encore, they bowed theater-style and walked off stage.
After a couple minutes of screams, they returned for the 3rd encore, which Jonathan said was "probably the most authentic encore we've ever done."
They unplugged the instruments and turned off the mics and the whole crowd stood silent while they played Down Where She Lies acoustic.
Jump left again, and we did not.
So, Jay came out alone and played my very favorite of their songs, Close Your Eyes.

This is my favorite band. This might be the last time I see them play all together.

They have a million side projects, and they are in each other's side projects. I saw Ward play solo this summer, and it was very different but very cool. I am sad to see Jump go, though Dave says they don't really mean it.

I first saw Jump in February 1997 at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC with Scott and Abby. Guster opened for them. Jonathan was still in the wifebeater phase, not yet to the crazy wax mustache. Matt had a feather boa -- pink, I believe. I've seen them several (like 6 or 7)times since then, twice at this same venue within the last year. Tallahassee was far from their shows, so I had to catch up...

Anyway, I am a big dorky fan. I obviously remember well the first time I saw them. I saw Ward walking down the street in Little 5 Points before the show, and I almost ran back to talk to him. I did accost Jonathan to autograph the tour posters I bought.

And I am sure I will frame them.

Oy with the Poodles Already!

Here are some things:
1. It turns out I have bronchitis.
2. Thus, I shall be unable to attend the rockin' back to school party tonight. Nor shall I be able to weild my hammer or skill saw at Habitat tomorrow. Alas.
3. Classes have started. Instead of reading Harry Potter, I am reading James Cone. Hogwarts and Black Liberation Theology are not the same.
4. Dave and I went to the Foozer show last night. Weezer was pleasingly rockin', while Foo Fighters, as I had suspected, rocked a little too hard for me. Maybe if I'd remembered my earplugs, or hadn't been coughing... But I did get a super cute Weezer tshirt.

So here is my bronchitis agenda, to be carried out today and this weekend:
1. Not going to class today.
2. Not going to tutor small children today.
3. Read James Cone, Migliore, etc. for Systematic Theology.
4. Read Mark (in the Bible).
5. Watch movies.
6. Eat soup.
7. Drink orange juice.
8. Start writing my papers for next week.
9. Sleep.

With my roommates on Dana's birthday. I look super short! I had no idea. 

The Boys. (Ben, Dave Scott, J) Wordsmiths, theologians, drinkers... striped shirt wearers! 

With some peeps at Ashlee's party on Friday. 

It's All Happening...

Tonight
I am making meatloaf.
I like meatloaf
sometimes
but I rarely get a hankering for it.
Today I did.

I hope it is delicious.
I have become a much better cook
since entering seminary.
Odd.

Here are my old standards:
Rice Krispy Bars
Burgers
Pot Roast
Swedish Meatballs
Pasta + sauce + meat + vegetable
French Toast
Chicken marinated in various sauces, baked or grilled
anything on the George Foreman

Here are other things I have cooked in Atlanta:
Hamburger Casserole
Mojo Chicken with spinach and swiss
Vegetable Beef Soup
Haystacks
Several chicken casseroles
Stir-fry
Omelettes (with spinach, feta, and tomatoes -- obviously)

And tonight, we add Meatloaf.

Health Kits

Dana and I spent
several hours & about $80
purchasing items to assemble Health Kits
for the incoming hurricane refugees
seeking shelter in Atlanta churches.

Here's what goes in them:
1 hand towel
1 washcloth
1 comb
1 nail file or nail clipper
1 bar soap
1 toothbrush
1 tube toothpaste
6 band aids
in a 1 gallon ziploc bag

I am glad to help.
Later, I'll ponder and reflect upon the issue of the destruction,
poverty, and desperation from the hurricane.
For now,
I am glad to help.

Orientation

Emory students return.
New students wander, looking lost.
It's time to buy books again.

Faith and Health?

I took a Faith and Health class this spring.
I had not pondered the connection
between Faith and Health much before then.
Recently, however, several issues have arisen
that reflect how intertwined faith and health are.

When a person is physically low --
drained, hurting, frustrated --
questions of God's sovereignty and faithfulness
overcome people's minds.
Likewise, if a person feels peaceful and refreshed in spirit
health issues seem less daunting.

I have a friend who has overcome
many physical ailments
and has shown the most joyful faith.
Right now, she is struggling
and in physical pain.
She is living far from family and close friends.
She wonders if God abandoned her.

My grandmother is trying to decide
where to go
now that her health prevents her from
living alone.
I don't want her to leave her town,
her church, her social supports.


Grace faith hope strength love compassion peace

Ah, New Look

one for me,
one for my blog

This background seems more serene
and while I am not always a serene lady
perhaps the cool tones of the newly renovated blog
will encourage calm, reflective posts
as opposed to the random ridiculous collection of trivia
thus far assembled.
(Doubt it.)

Perhaps
it is just time for a bit of a change.

School is rapidly approaching.
The procrastination will certainly ensue
with classes like Systematic Theology, and New Testament.
I am stoked about some other courses, though.
Urban Ministry and Women in the New Testament
should be right up my alley.
And I am signing up for two certificate programs:
Church and Community Ministries
&
Women in Theology and Ministry.

Time to check the schedule,
buy the books,
arrange financial income,
and buy school supplies.

I'm still not used to being a theology student.
But, I came here because it was time for a change.
Maybe it's harder for me when things stay the same...

Afternoon Poetics

Inspired by Spider,
I will write a few haiku.
Should be delightful.

Sun outside is bright.
Air in the office is cold.
Arthritic bones ache.

Short curls block my view.
Brown streaks in periphery
Fun to toss, flip too.

I must do work now.
More poems when I am free.
Words will flow from me.