A Few Tasty Tidbits

1.) I finally got a new planner. It is blue and has until 9pm and space for notes. $4 at B&N.
2.) Tomorrow, my J-term Pastoral Care class will be finished. That means that today, I have reviewed my notecards, and read during commercial breaks. Also, I ordered Dana to keep me on task if I tried to chat, by saying: "Shut up, you idiot! You're supposed to be learning pastoral care!" Generally helpful.
3.) I have had a headache for several days now. I am non-plussed.
4.) The real semester starts Thursday.
5.) I think it will be a good semester. Last one was. 1 B and 3 As. (I feel no need for an apostrophe between the A and s. I hate that shit. But evidently I don't mind posting my grades for all the world to see.)
6.) "Love Monkey" is one hell of a show. I loved "Ed," and this is Tom Cavanaugh (perhaps I butchered his name...) talking fast about music. It's Ed plus music. It's like Dave's dream show. It, like Ed, is a male Gilmore Girls. The witty banter, the fast pace, the musical references, Jason Priestly... (Side note: Though my fanship for GG will not decrease, I must say that this season is less than stellar.)
7.) This Pastoral Care class seems to have broadened my career horizons. Alas. I can get certified in all sorts of counseling specializations. And I can take all kinds of different CPEs (again no apostrophe) -- hospital, social service, mental health... When will the opportunities narrow...?
8.) I still haven't written a Christmas letter or sent cards. Well, I sent 3 cards. But that's it.
9.) I need to clean my room. I have mounds of clothes. I don't wear them all, and that distresses me. I need to sort, wash, fold, donate or stow. Alas.
10.) I have nothing else to say. Dammit. Goodnight.

The Way to Watch

I have discovered
over this break
that the best way to watch television
is the entire series at once.
At least one season at a sitting.

So far over break, I have watched
the entire series of The Office (BBC) and Sports Night
and an entire season of America's Next Top Model.

I'm working on season 3 of Gilmore Girls
since I now have seasons 4 and 5.
Dana and I watched seasons 1 and 2 this summer.

I have long enjoyed a tv marathon --
Real World, Road Rules...

Also, whilst enjoying a marathon of cinematic delight,
one can also do some sort of handicraft
such as crocheting a scarf
or making jewelry
(or, in years past, making Christmas ornaments).


If you're out on your own, feeling lonely and so cold...
All you have to do is call my name and I'll be there on the next train...

Oh Man. Merry Christmas!

What a whirlwind...
I drove from ATL to Greenwood
to Kershaw to Pickens to Greenwood
to Kershaw to Greenwood.
And now I am supposed to be on the way to Florida.

Presents and families and church
and candles and silent night and church
and cinnamon rolls and fritatta
and more presents
and tiny babies and friends and
illness.

Everyone is sick.
I personally am stuffy and sniffly and a bit sore throaty.
And I have the dayquil light head.
Dave and his whole family are rather ill.
Except baby Eli, who is precious,
I mean awesome.

I lost my debit card.
Not cool.
Banks are closed today.
So I am going to Florida tomorrow.
Cancelled the card.
New one should meet me in the ATL
where I will be by New Year's.

I'm zonked.
Nap time.

Don't even worry

I don't have to quit school.
I finished the paper about 30 minutes ago.
I was so wide awake and so focused,
I have been trying to get my body to realize that it's 4am.
Anyway, the paper ended up being 16 pages plus biblio page.
I had a bunnnnnch of footnotes.
Theological footnotes can include all kinds of crap, it turns out,
so mine were mostly either regular citations of sources
or random questions I had about what I was writing about.

Must sleep.
SC tomorrow.
It's Christmas break!

Paper Update

I'm up to about 11 pages.
I will never finish this.
I can barely remember a time when I wasn't working on this paper.
Seriously.

All I have left to talk about is the gnostic Gospel of Mary.
Can I talk about that for 4 pages?
Or 3.5 plus a conclusion?

Holy crap. I will seriously never be done.
Can I quit school instead of finishing this paper?



** Man, that was a lot of whining.

Ooh, the dryer buzzed! Clean socks and underpants for the holidays!

Mary Magdalene

I feel like I've been writing about her forever.
I shall never finish this 15 page paper.
Only halfway there, and I should be halfway to SC instead.

She's lovely, and I am glad to do a paper on her.
I am just frustrated that I don't know what else to say
and I have so much space left.
In reality, I have not run out of things to say.
I just can't figure out how to say them.

I've talked about the actual passage I'm focusing on
(John 20:1-18 The empty tomb and resurrection)
and how it contrasts and compares with other similar passages.
Right now I'm talking about how John treats other women.
Then I have to talk about how this portrayal of Mary compares
to the portrayal of her in other gospels, including gnostic ones.
Then there's the Mary Mag mythology to debunk:
-- she was not a whore
-- she was not the Mary of Mary and Martha
-- she was not the one who anointed Jesus with oil

Also, the more I work on this paper, the less I like Peter.
Sure, the church is built on him, the Rock.
But he seems like a bit of a dolt, which Judy told us not to be in college.
He's always rushing to do things without pausing or thinking.
And in the gnostics, he's a jerk to Mary Mag.

Alas, now I must go write these things in my paper...

Dana, Jay and me at the party 

Dana got danced at a lot at Candace's party 

This week of Reading?

So, classes ended last Friday
and exams started yesterday.
The intermittent time is called
Reading Week.
But who really gets to read?
More like Writing Week
or Up Until 3am Week
or Aauuughh! Week.

Here's what I did this week:
3 hours of church nursery
3.5 hours babysitting
8 hours of tutoring children
8 hours of ConEd
2 more than 10 page papers (and one to go!)
2 3am nights writing above papers
2 parties
1 exam

And last night I found out that
whiskey makes me dance.

So much online quizzes... there really is stuff going on in my life...

You Are 27 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Another Surprise, this one from the Personality Defect Test

Hippie

You are 14% Rational, 85% Extroverted, 14% Brutal, and 42% Arrogant.

You are the Hippie! Characterized by a strong sense of extroversion, irrationality, gentleness, and humility, you no doubt frolic through fields preaching peace and love to all! You are probably either very spiritual or needlessly paranoid about "the man", like most hippies, as a result of your focus on intuition and feelings over cold, brutal logic. You are also very, very social. And like any hippie who would have no qualms about hitchiking across the country just to meet some interesting people, you also love to interact with others, even complete strangers. Because we know most any hippie is peace-loving and humble, it stands to reason that you, as well, are terribly gentle and humble, almost to the point of revulsion. Your carefree attitude of peace and harmony is probably very, very sickening to realists or cynics or anyone who isn't a hippie, to tell the truth. In short, your personality is defective because you are overly emotional, extroverted, gentle, and humble--thus making you an annoying hippie. And you listen to psychadelic rock and smoke a whole lot of pot. Okay, maybe not, but I wouldn't be surprised if you did.

To put it less negatively:
1. You are more INTUITIVE than rational.
2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted.
3. You are more GENTLE than brutal.
4. You are more HUMBLE than arrogant.

Compatibility:
Your exact opposite is the Sociopath.
Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Hand-Raiser, the Televangelist, and the Robot.


If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits.

The other personality types:
The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.
The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.
The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.
The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.
The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.
The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.
The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.
The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.
The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.
The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.
The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.
The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.
The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.
The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.
The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.
The Smartass: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 2% on Rationality
You scored higher than 86% on Extroversion
You scored higher than 8% on Brutality
You scored higher than 39% on Arrogance

The Personality Defect Test

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=4741219933576750506

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.