And are thoroughly exhausted afterward.
The Evanston congregation is very, very different from the Lander congregation - not just in terms of personality, but in terms of the way they work out this mutual ministry thing. The Evanston version is not quite as tight an operation as I think I'd expected after seeing the Lander one.
Tomorrow, we meet with the ministry developer for this region, and then with the local deacon for this parish. I'm looking forward to asking the MD some questions that it seemed wiser to save just for him. One thing I'm learning about MDs, though, is that they like to talk a lot. I'll be interested to see if that's true of all of them when I meet the rest later this week.
I'm terrifically excited that there is no time change in the next 24 hours. I might start to figure out what time my body thinks it is.
It seems unlikely that I'll have wifi access tomorrow, and it's hard to tell after that. In upcoming chapters, Beth, Beth, and Derrick return to Lander, checking out a nominee for "best milkshake in Wyoming" on the way; go to an ordination anniversary party, meet with Wyoming's ministry developers for two days, and potentially go to a sweat, which I'm now being told will be a four hour endeavor rather than a 45 minute one. More when I can.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Beth, Beth, and Derrick Go To Evanston
Evanston, Wyoming, that is.
In this chapter, they leave right now for a church potluck and meeting, to prove that small churches are the same everywhere, even where they're radically different.
I'll try to post more later.
In this chapter, they leave right now for a church potluck and meeting, to prove that small churches are the same everywhere, even where they're radically different.
I'll try to post more later.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Beth, Beth, and Derrick Go To Wyoming
... but do not write a children's book about it.
Seriously, all three of us are now safely in Lander. And I, as you can see, have managed internet access. This makes me very happy. (Actually, both those things make me very happy.)
Wyoming is beautiful. This does not surprise me - I have never known Wyoming not to be beautiful. I've also never been here in the fall, nor to this part of Wyoming, so it's nice that my expectations weren't disappointed. Beth, Beth, and Derrick are borrowing a house for the two weeks we're here and the back windows look out over mountains and prairie. (Yes, I know I just talked about myself in the third person again. I'm amused by the sound of "Beth, Beth, and Derrick" right now... sort of like "Duck, Duck, Goose." Anyway.) It's lovely.
Very soon, Beth and Derrick will join me at our non-home-host's house, and we will meet the Bishop of All Wyoming for conversation and dinner here. After dinner we will go to Trinity Episcopal Church, Lander, to meet a couple of local priests and local deacons. (That's "local" in the sense of "locally ordained," not just "who happen to be in this particular place.")
Tomorrow, we head to Evanston, Wyoming, where there will be a 70% chance of snow. That's after we cross the mountain pass to get to Evanston. And yes, it's a long way to go just to end up in Evanston. :)
Yes, we're already/still tired (especially Derrick, who got up at 4 AM EDT to fly out here, where that was 2 AM). But I'm very glad we're beginning to be busy now, and are likely to remain so for a week or so.
'Tis nearly 4 PM now, and the bishop and Beth and Derrick should be here momentarily, so I'll close this chapter (of the children's book that Beth, Beth, and Derrick aren't writing). Thanks for your prayers, and keep them coming.
Seriously, all three of us are now safely in Lander. And I, as you can see, have managed internet access. This makes me very happy. (Actually, both those things make me very happy.)
Wyoming is beautiful. This does not surprise me - I have never known Wyoming not to be beautiful. I've also never been here in the fall, nor to this part of Wyoming, so it's nice that my expectations weren't disappointed. Beth, Beth, and Derrick are borrowing a house for the two weeks we're here and the back windows look out over mountains and prairie. (Yes, I know I just talked about myself in the third person again. I'm amused by the sound of "Beth, Beth, and Derrick" right now... sort of like "Duck, Duck, Goose." Anyway.) It's lovely.
Very soon, Beth and Derrick will join me at our non-home-host's house, and we will meet the Bishop of All Wyoming for conversation and dinner here. After dinner we will go to Trinity Episcopal Church, Lander, to meet a couple of local priests and local deacons. (That's "local" in the sense of "locally ordained," not just "who happen to be in this particular place.")
Tomorrow, we head to Evanston, Wyoming, where there will be a 70% chance of snow. That's after we cross the mountain pass to get to Evanston. And yes, it's a long way to go just to end up in Evanston. :)
Yes, we're already/still tired (especially Derrick, who got up at 4 AM EDT to fly out here, where that was 2 AM). But I'm very glad we're beginning to be busy now, and are likely to remain so for a week or so.
'Tis nearly 4 PM now, and the bishop and Beth and Derrick should be here momentarily, so I'll close this chapter (of the children's book that Beth, Beth, and Derrick aren't writing). Thanks for your prayers, and keep them coming.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Plunge!
For those who don't live and breathe Seabury culture, tomorrow begins the "Plunge" - where they ship us off around the country in small groups to observe congregations. I'll be with two other students in Wyoming, learning about Mutual Ministry.
While our host has wireless, we're not actually living with our host (yeah, I know, it sounds weird), and I don't know how much spare time we'll have hanging out at his house. So, like when I go home, it's still possible that I might blog daily or nearly daily - or it's possible that I might not blog again until I get back. We'll have to see.
Pray for safe travels for all the "plungers." It makes me a little nervous to be sending a third of my active community off around the country, all traveling at once.
While our host has wireless, we're not actually living with our host (yeah, I know, it sounds weird), and I don't know how much spare time we'll have hanging out at his house. So, like when I go home, it's still possible that I might blog daily or nearly daily - or it's possible that I might not blog again until I get back. We'll have to see.
Pray for safe travels for all the "plungers." It makes me a little nervous to be sending a third of my active community off around the country, all traveling at once.
Things to be done between now and 10 pm:
~Pack
~Look at camera stuff
~Straighten common room
~Organize books
~Wash dishes
~Community Eucharist
~Dinner
~Shower
~Breathe
~Look at camera stuff
~Straighten common room
~Organize books
~Wash dishes
~Community Eucharist
~Dinner
~Shower
~Breathe
zzzz....
I had a very odd night last night. I slept straight through for nine hours, but I remember distinctly having a lot of dreams about sleeping. In my dreams last night, I just kept falling asleep - while preaching in Seabury's chapel, while getting something out of a friend's room, while playing the piano. It wasn't like narcolepsy, though, it was just that I was so sleepy in all my dreams that I simply couldn't stay awake. I can't remember that ever happening before - and while I've had a couple of late nights in the last week, I've made a good effort to catch up on that sleep, so I'm not entirely sure what this is about. I've been somewhat sleepy during the day lately, but not ridiculously so. Very, very odd.
And yes, I'm still kinda sleepy this morning.
And yes, I'm still kinda sleepy this morning.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Toys!
AKMA points today to this UK list of the Top 100 Toys. It's the best remembered ones, not necessarily the best, which may explain why neither Legos nor Care Bears make the list (though, really, how do you not remember Legos?). I could also readily believe that the UK simply doesn't have the same access to the joys of Care-a-Lot (though I know that not to be true about Legos).* On the other hand, they do admit in the postscript that Legos ought by rights to have been included.
My favorite bits:
Their description of Weebles as "ovoid characters with heavily weighted nether regions" and Rubik's Cube as "54 multicoloured facets of hell"
The box they show for Perfection is the box I had, not the box all my two-months-younger friends had.
My favorite toys from the list:
Rainbow Brite (Not "Rainbow Bride." I didn't run across that one until much, much later.) Don't be fooled by the site - the dolls weren't the least bit hard for a "soppy softie" to love. My Rainbow Brite dolls are still sitting in their rainbow-shaped house in my parents' basement, waiting for me to buy a house (or at least get a job).
Viewmaster: I think I actually liked the old one at my grandmother's house better than the new one at ours, though.
Strawberry Shortcake: Obviously - although, admittedly, I was just slightly too young to be as into these as I was into Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, and Cabbage Patch dolls.
Stay Alive!: my brother and I spent hours trying to make this game work properly. I don't think we ever succeeded, but we had fun.
Perfection: that was the funnest game! No, really, the funnest. I wonder what happened to it...
Etch-a-sketch: Well, duh.
Speak and spell: I wanted one of those so badly... My parents seemed to think it was a ridiculous gift for a child who could already do both. Oh well - as the forbidden pleasures of friends' houses go, that was a pretty innocuous one.
My Little Pony: Another toy my parents weren't big on - I got my first ones as cast-offs from sympathetic friends, so that I could be part of the My Little Pony club at school, and my first new ones as birthday presents from friends. They were superfun.
*I do notice, however, that Care Bears feature in the Rainbow Brite description and the Strawberry Shortcake one, so I guess that doesn't really work. Their loss, then.
My favorite bits:
Their description of Weebles as "ovoid characters with heavily weighted nether regions" and Rubik's Cube as "54 multicoloured facets of hell"
The box they show for Perfection is the box I had, not the box all my two-months-younger friends had.
My favorite toys from the list:
Rainbow Brite (Not "Rainbow Bride." I didn't run across that one until much, much later.) Don't be fooled by the site - the dolls weren't the least bit hard for a "soppy softie" to love. My Rainbow Brite dolls are still sitting in their rainbow-shaped house in my parents' basement, waiting for me to buy a house (or at least get a job).
Viewmaster: I think I actually liked the old one at my grandmother's house better than the new one at ours, though.
Strawberry Shortcake: Obviously - although, admittedly, I was just slightly too young to be as into these as I was into Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, and Cabbage Patch dolls.
Stay Alive!: my brother and I spent hours trying to make this game work properly. I don't think we ever succeeded, but we had fun.
Perfection: that was the funnest game! No, really, the funnest. I wonder what happened to it...
Etch-a-sketch: Well, duh.
Speak and spell: I wanted one of those so badly... My parents seemed to think it was a ridiculous gift for a child who could already do both. Oh well - as the forbidden pleasures of friends' houses go, that was a pretty innocuous one.
My Little Pony: Another toy my parents weren't big on - I got my first ones as cast-offs from sympathetic friends, so that I could be part of the My Little Pony club at school, and my first new ones as birthday presents from friends. They were superfun.
*I do notice, however, that Care Bears feature in the Rainbow Brite description and the Strawberry Shortcake one, so I guess that doesn't really work. Their loss, then.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Yesterday, play. Today, work.
So far today:
Church
Clean bathroom
Sweep common room
Wash dishes
Eat something
Wash lunch dishes
Tidy common room
Return phone call
Laundry
Eat something more
Dewax clothing, and if successful, try dewaxing shoe (both were a grand success!)
Four and a half chapters of ethics
Two chapters for plunge
Wash dinner dishes
Still to go:
---
Let's pretend:
One and a half more chapters of ethics [Turns out there's a limit to how much I can read about purity and sex in one day. Who knew?]
Two more chapters for plunge Tuesday
Read prep materials for plunge trip
Begin setting aside clothes for plunge trip
Look over Greek for Wednesday
Call parents
Check whether/how cell phone works in Wyoming
Attend to stack of non-class reading
All in all, not a bad day's work.
Church
Clean bathroom
Sweep common room
Wash dishes
Eat something
Wash lunch dishes
Tidy common room
Return phone call
Laundry
Eat something more
Dewax clothing, and if successful, try dewaxing shoe (both were a grand success!)
Four and a half chapters of ethics
Two chapters for plunge
Wash dinner dishes
Still to go:
---
Let's pretend:
One and a half more chapters of ethics [Turns out there's a limit to how much I can read about purity and sex in one day. Who knew?]
Two more chapters for plunge Tuesday
Read prep materials for plunge trip
Begin setting aside clothes for plunge trip
Look over Greek for Wednesday
Call parents
Check whether/how cell phone works in Wyoming
Attend to stack of non-class reading
All in all, not a bad day's work.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Priest!
Jane is a priest!
It was a lovely service, and now Jane is a priest! Did I mention that yet? (During and right after the service, once Jane had been properly priestified, Hope and I kept looking at each other and whispering "She's a priest! She's all priesty!" Pippa gave us the same look she gives me when I talk about Care Bears.) Yay.
After the service, we had a lovely reception and house party with the gang. Then Hope, Andrew, Joelene, Pippa, and I came slowly back to Evanston, by way of the Michigan City Outlets. We didn't by a long shot hit all the good stores, but we hit most of the ones where it was logical to consider spending money. I came away with some socks, a pair of jeans, a new wallet, and a Christmas present from my parents which I don't know I bought today and will not see when I take it back at Thanksgiving for them to give me at Christmas. ;) (No, I have no problems with instant gratification. And between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I could easily forget about the present.)
Eventually we found some pizza and soda and drove back to Evanston. At least, I assume we drove back - about all I stayed awake for was pulling out of the parking lot, stopping for a bathroom break, and pulling up on Haven. And now, having blogged, I shall resume my sleeping. (As Pippa pointed out, I didn't do enough of that last night and ought to do better tonight. Pippa is very astute.)
It was a lovely service, and now Jane is a priest! Did I mention that yet? (During and right after the service, once Jane had been properly priestified, Hope and I kept looking at each other and whispering "She's a priest! She's all priesty!" Pippa gave us the same look she gives me when I talk about Care Bears.) Yay.
After the service, we had a lovely reception and house party with the gang. Then Hope, Andrew, Joelene, Pippa, and I came slowly back to Evanston, by way of the Michigan City Outlets. We didn't by a long shot hit all the good stores, but we hit most of the ones where it was logical to consider spending money. I came away with some socks, a pair of jeans, a new wallet, and a Christmas present from my parents which I don't know I bought today and will not see when I take it back at Thanksgiving for them to give me at Christmas. ;) (No, I have no problems with instant gratification. And between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I could easily forget about the present.)
Eventually we found some pizza and soda and drove back to Evanston. At least, I assume we drove back - about all I stayed awake for was pulling out of the parking lot, stopping for a bathroom break, and pulling up on Haven. And now, having blogged, I shall resume my sleeping. (As Pippa pointed out, I didn't do enough of that last night and ought to do better tonight. Pippa is very astute.)
Friday, October 21, 2005
This one's from Caroline:
answer and then add your own :)
1. smoked a cigar – yes
2. crashed a friend's car – no
3. stolen a car – no
4. been in love - yes
5. been dumped – yes
6. dumped someone - yes
7. taken shots of alcohol- yes
8. been fired - yes
9. been in a fist fight – no
10. snuck out of a/your house – no
11. had feelings for someone who didn't have them back- yes
12. been arrested – no
13. made out with a stranger - no
14. gone on a blind date – no
15. lied to a friend – yes
16. had a crush on a teacher- no - well, wait... technically, yes, I guess
18. seen someone die – yes (can you do CPE and not see someone die?)
19. been on a plane – yes
20. thrown up in a bar - yes, if the bathroom of a bar counts
22. miss someone right now - yes
23. laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by - yes
24. made a snow angel – yes
25. played dress up – yes
26. cheated while playing a game – yes
27. been lonely – yes
28. fallen asleep at work/school – yes
29. used a fake id - no
30. felt an earthquake – no
31. touched a snake – yes
32. run a red light - yes
33. had detention – I don't think so... Marisa? Kiery? did I ever have detention?
34. been in a car accident - yes
35. hated the way you look – yes
37. been lost – yes
38. been to the opposite side of the country – yes
39. felt like dying – yes
40. cried yourself to sleep – yes
41. played cops and robbers - yes
42. karaoke – yes
43. done something you told yourself you wouldn't – yes
44. laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose- yes
45. caught a snowflake on your tongue - yes
46. kissed in the rain - yes
47. sang in the shower - yes
48. made love in a park - define made love... as I define it, no
49. had a dream that you married someone - yes
50. glued your hand to something – no
51. got your tongue stuck to a flag pole - no
52. worn the opposite sex's clothes – yes
53. Been a cheerleader – no
54. sat on a roof top - yes
55. talked on the phone all night - yes
56. ever too scared to watch scary movies alone - yes
57. played chicken fight – yes
58. been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on - yes
59. been told you're hot by a complete stranger – yes
60. broken a bone – no
61. had a 3-some? - no !
62. dipped snuff? - no
63. lived overseas - yes
(For the numerically inclined, that's 43 yes and 20 no.)
1. smoked a cigar – yes
2. crashed a friend's car – no
3. stolen a car – no
4. been in love - yes
5. been dumped – yes
6. dumped someone - yes
7. taken shots of alcohol- yes
8. been fired - yes
9. been in a fist fight – no
10. snuck out of a/your house – no
11. had feelings for someone who didn't have them back- yes
12. been arrested – no
13. made out with a stranger - no
14. gone on a blind date – no
15. lied to a friend – yes
16. had a crush on a teacher- no - well, wait... technically, yes, I guess
18. seen someone die – yes (can you do CPE and not see someone die?)
19. been on a plane – yes
20. thrown up in a bar - yes, if the bathroom of a bar counts
22. miss someone right now - yes
23. laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by - yes
24. made a snow angel – yes
25. played dress up – yes
26. cheated while playing a game – yes
27. been lonely – yes
28. fallen asleep at work/school – yes
29. used a fake id - no
30. felt an earthquake – no
31. touched a snake – yes
32. run a red light - yes
33. had detention – I don't think so... Marisa? Kiery? did I ever have detention?
34. been in a car accident - yes
35. hated the way you look – yes
37. been lost – yes
38. been to the opposite side of the country – yes
39. felt like dying – yes
40. cried yourself to sleep – yes
41. played cops and robbers - yes
42. karaoke – yes
43. done something you told yourself you wouldn't – yes
44. laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose- yes
45. caught a snowflake on your tongue - yes
46. kissed in the rain - yes
47. sang in the shower - yes
48. made love in a park - define made love... as I define it, no
49. had a dream that you married someone - yes
50. glued your hand to something – no
51. got your tongue stuck to a flag pole - no
52. worn the opposite sex's clothes – yes
53. Been a cheerleader – no
54. sat on a roof top - yes
55. talked on the phone all night - yes
56. ever too scared to watch scary movies alone - yes
57. played chicken fight – yes
58. been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on - yes
59. been told you're hot by a complete stranger – yes
60. broken a bone – no
61. had a 3-some? - no !
62. dipped snuff? - no
63. lived overseas - yes
(For the numerically inclined, that's 43 yes and 20 no.)
Not quite ready for bed yet...
So I'll take this from DawgDays:
Time Magazine picked the top 100 English-language novels published since 1923 (when Time was first published.) You can find out more about the list here.
Here's the list. Bold [italicize - bolding doesn't work well in my font color] the ones you have read.
The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
American Pastoral - Philip Roth
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
The Assistant - Bernard Malamud
At Swim-Two-Birds - Flann O'Brien
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Berlin Stories - Christopher Isherwood
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
The Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder
Call It Sleep - Henry Roth
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Confessions of Nat Turner - William Styron
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
A Dance to the Music of Time - Anthony Powell
The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West
Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather
A Death in the Family - James Agee
The Death of the Heart - Elizabeth Bowen
Deliverance - James Dickey
Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
Falconer - John Cheever
The French Lieutenant's Woman - John Fowles
The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing
Go Tell it on the Mountain - James Baldwin
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene
Herzog - Saul Bellow
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Light in August - William Faulkner
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien [though technically this is not a book...]
Loving - Henry Green
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
The Man Who Loved Children - Christina Stead
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Money - Martin Amis
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
Native Son - Richard Wright
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
1984 - George Orwell
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski
Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
A Passage to India - E.M. Forster
Play It As It Lays - Joan Didion
Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth
Possession - A.S. Byatt
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Rabbit, Run - John Updike
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow
The Recognitions - William Gaddis
Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Sot-Weed Factor - John Barth
The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John le Carre
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
Under the Net - Iris Murdoch
Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry
Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
White Noise - Don DeLillo
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
I've read 12. There are also some where I've read other books by that author, but not the specific book.
Sports fans: If I've counted correctly, 18 are by women. While part of me wants to rejoice that it's over 10%, still most of me mourns that it's not higher.
Time Magazine picked the top 100 English-language novels published since 1923 (when Time was first published.) You can find out more about the list here.
Here's the list. Bold [italicize - bolding doesn't work well in my font color] the ones you have read.
The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
American Pastoral - Philip Roth
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
The Assistant - Bernard Malamud
At Swim-Two-Birds - Flann O'Brien
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Berlin Stories - Christopher Isherwood
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
The Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder
Call It Sleep - Henry Roth
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Confessions of Nat Turner - William Styron
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
A Dance to the Music of Time - Anthony Powell
The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West
Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather
A Death in the Family - James Agee
The Death of the Heart - Elizabeth Bowen
Deliverance - James Dickey
Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
Falconer - John Cheever
The French Lieutenant's Woman - John Fowles
The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing
Go Tell it on the Mountain - James Baldwin
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene
Herzog - Saul Bellow
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Light in August - William Faulkner
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien [though technically this is not a book...]
Loving - Henry Green
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
The Man Who Loved Children - Christina Stead
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Money - Martin Amis
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
Native Son - Richard Wright
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
1984 - George Orwell
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski
Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
A Passage to India - E.M. Forster
Play It As It Lays - Joan Didion
Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth
Possession - A.S. Byatt
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Rabbit, Run - John Updike
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow
The Recognitions - William Gaddis
Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Sot-Weed Factor - John Barth
The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John le Carre
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
Under the Net - Iris Murdoch
Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry
Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
White Noise - Don DeLillo
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
I've read 12. There are also some where I've read other books by that author, but not the specific book.
Sports fans: If I've counted correctly, 18 are by women. While part of me wants to rejoice that it's over 10%, still most of me mourns that it's not higher.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
The play's the thing...
One of our more creative final assignments this quarter is a class reading (staged) of Shaw's Major Barbara. I've never read (nor seen) the play before, but the cast list went up today... and yours truly has been cast as Barbara.
I'm kind of excited about this. So far it seems like a neat play, and a fun part, and it's been a while since I've been involved in any sort of theatrical endeavor, especially as a player. I'm uncertain about the idea of having to do an accent, but I'm starting to have fun trying to work into a role in my head. I'm not much of an actor, really, but this is not major theater (no pun intended, really), and I think it will be fun.
I'm kind of excited about this. So far it seems like a neat play, and a fun part, and it's been a while since I've been involved in any sort of theatrical endeavor, especially as a player. I'm uncertain about the idea of having to do an accent, but I'm starting to have fun trying to work into a role in my head. I'm not much of an actor, really, but this is not major theater (no pun intended, really), and I think it will be fun.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Alas
One of the great parts of my discernment process has been that my COM chair is also a friend. I learned today from my COM liason that my friend's term with the COM has ended. I'm sure I'll continue to pick her brain about negotiating the territory, but I'm sad that she'll no longer be at COM events and such.
Monday, October 17, 2005
The most exciting day ever
Well, the morning wasn't so exciting (sorry, worship committee). But then:
~Several people informed me that Tripp was in the library and I should go find him. I did, and I got to have lunch with him. Hurray!
~Pippa and I played several rousing hands of Nerts. If that doesn't sound exciting to you, you clearly don't know the wonder that is Nerts.
~At choir, not only did I hold my own on most things as the only alto, but I discovered on another piece that I have my A back. I haven't sung an A well in several years, and today it came easily. Seriously, that might not have happened in ten years or more.
~After choir, I discovered that I had a package at the front desk. I remember now that my parents had said "oh, the last part of your birthday is coming late." But the package was a surprise.
~The package contained three books I've been wanting a lot:
Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle: This is my new favorite book of hers and it will be nice to own it now.
Confessions by St. Augustine: Some of you may remember that I tried to read this earlier this summer and had to give up on the language in that translation. This translation comes highly recommended and I'm really excited to try again.
AND.... Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - IN ANCIENT GREEK!!! I am thrilled with this one (as those who saw me in the hall this evening can attest). I will exercise the greatest of self-discipline, however, and make myself continue translating Galatians instead right now. I'm pretty sure that I'll get a severe look if I say that Galatians 2:1 reads "Harry Potter was a remarkable boy" on Wednesday.
Also it turns out that we're going to do some wilderness hiking/sight seeing our last day in Wyoming, in areas that tourists don't usually find. I am getting very excited about our trip - have to remember to get my hiking boots repadded tomorrow.
Hurray for exciting days!!!
~Several people informed me that Tripp was in the library and I should go find him. I did, and I got to have lunch with him. Hurray!
~Pippa and I played several rousing hands of Nerts. If that doesn't sound exciting to you, you clearly don't know the wonder that is Nerts.
~At choir, not only did I hold my own on most things as the only alto, but I discovered on another piece that I have my A back. I haven't sung an A well in several years, and today it came easily. Seriously, that might not have happened in ten years or more.
~After choir, I discovered that I had a package at the front desk. I remember now that my parents had said "oh, the last part of your birthday is coming late." But the package was a surprise.
~The package contained three books I've been wanting a lot:
Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle: This is my new favorite book of hers and it will be nice to own it now.
Confessions by St. Augustine: Some of you may remember that I tried to read this earlier this summer and had to give up on the language in that translation. This translation comes highly recommended and I'm really excited to try again.
AND.... Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - IN ANCIENT GREEK!!! I am thrilled with this one (as those who saw me in the hall this evening can attest). I will exercise the greatest of self-discipline, however, and make myself continue translating Galatians instead right now. I'm pretty sure that I'll get a severe look if I say that Galatians 2:1 reads "Harry Potter was a remarkable boy" on Wednesday.
Also it turns out that we're going to do some wilderness hiking/sight seeing our last day in Wyoming, in areas that tourists don't usually find. I am getting very excited about our trip - have to remember to get my hiking boots repadded tomorrow.
Hurray for exciting days!!!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Try again...
"being women in a patriarchal culture, they did not matter much to Jesus' enemies and therefore had nothing to fear" from following him.
Yes, of course - being the least of a society, being forgotten, certainly means one has nothing to fear. No need to fear that one's father or husband will abandon one in the face of devotion to another man, or out of embarrassment that one's daughter or wife persists in following a scandalous or ridiculous cult. No need to fear that following Jesus would mean leaving behind one's means of support, because clearly the Gospel doesn't call women away from their homes. No need to fear that leaving would mean death, since traveling and living on one's own were definitely safe for women. Certainly officials and soldiers would never dream of taking advantage of a woman as an example to others inclined to follow this rebel, or out of a refusal to acknowledge her as human. Nope, definitely, women were safe.
I'm pretty sure Volf means well here, but he's missed the boat. The women may have had different reasons to fear, but I don't generally think of safety as a hallmark of womanhood.
Yes, of course - being the least of a society, being forgotten, certainly means one has nothing to fear. No need to fear that one's father or husband will abandon one in the face of devotion to another man, or out of embarrassment that one's daughter or wife persists in following a scandalous or ridiculous cult. No need to fear that following Jesus would mean leaving behind one's means of support, because clearly the Gospel doesn't call women away from their homes. No need to fear that leaving would mean death, since traveling and living on one's own were definitely safe for women. Certainly officials and soldiers would never dream of taking advantage of a woman as an example to others inclined to follow this rebel, or out of a refusal to acknowledge her as human. Nope, definitely, women were safe.
I'm pretty sure Volf means well here, but he's missed the boat. The women may have had different reasons to fear, but I don't generally think of safety as a hallmark of womanhood.
this one made me laugh
| You Are French Food |
 Snobby yet ubiquitous. People act like they understand you more than they actually do. |
Saturday, October 15, 2005
at least it's veggie-friendly...
| Cheese Pizza |
 Traditional and comforting. You focus on living a quality life. You're not easily impressed with novelty. Yet, you easily impress others. |
Friday, October 14, 2005
sisisisisi!
Si is home!
It was very very good to hang out with Si tonight. It's true that he'll go back to his wilds soon, but it's good to have my nephew back on the block, even for just a couple of days. :)
It was very very good to hang out with Si tonight. It's true that he'll go back to his wilds soon, but it's good to have my nephew back on the block, even for just a couple of days. :)
ok, who rigged it?
| You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy) |
 You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer. |
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
By popular demand
Yesterday's movie quote was from The Muppet Christmas Carol - right after Gonzo/Dickens and Rizzo go out of the snow, into Scrooge's office.
Idle
Plunge reading - finished
Preaching assignment - simmering
Thumb twiddling - done
Surely there's something I really ought to be doing right now...
It's not that I can't find anything to do, it's just that I'm not used to having nothing to do on a school night. I suppose I could start my ethics reading for next week, but I have a full week still on that and I have time this weekend and next Monday. I could play my guitar, but my roommate's working. I could read or watch a movie, but somehow it seems as though I ought to be using this time somehow...
Preaching assignment - simmering
Thumb twiddling - done
Surely there's something I really ought to be doing right now...
It's not that I can't find anything to do, it's just that I'm not used to having nothing to do on a school night. I suppose I could start my ethics reading for next week, but I have a full week still on that and I have time this weekend and next Monday. I could play my guitar, but my roommate's working. I could read or watch a movie, but somehow it seems as though I ought to be using this time somehow...
Um. Well.
| You Are Likely a Third Born |
 At your darkest moments, you feel vulnerable. At work and school, you do best when you're comparing things. When you love someone, you tend to like to please them. In friendship, you are loyal to one person. Your ideal careers are: sales, police officer, newspaper reporter, inventor, poet, and animal trainer. You will leave your mark on the world with inventions, poetry, and inspiration. |
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
brain patterns
| Your Brain's Pattern |
 Your brain is always looking for the connections in life. You always amaze your friends by figuring out things first. You're also good at connecting people - and often play match maker. You see the world in fluid, flexible terms. Nothing is black or white. |
"Actually, I think it's colder in here..."
There's something utterly ridiculous about sitting huddled by the space heater when it's still almost 60 degrees outside. Gotta love the stone buildings - ovens in summer, freezers in winter.
(But you get bonus points if you recognize the movie reference in the title of this post.)
(But you get bonus points if you recognize the movie reference in the title of this post.)
Monday, October 10, 2005
In honor of Kirsteen's candidacy:
You are St Brigid's Cross: St. Brigid is an Irish
saint who hand-wove a cross,out of rushes she
found by the river. She made the cross while
explaining the passion of our Lord to a pagan
man.
What Kind of Cross are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Sunday, October 09, 2005
As requested
| You are a Social Liberal (75% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (18% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test |
Funny, I seem to recall announcing last year that I was going to preach socialism.... Not sure I like being characterized as "permissive" though.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
And the award goes to...
I'm not yet far enough along in the quarter to say which assigned books I like best, find most helpful, or consider most intelligent. I can, however, assess the gender balance in this quarter's reading assignments. So for those of you who have been waiting with bated breath to hear how this quarter would pan out - for Pete's sake, find a new hobby. For the rest of you:
Church, Ministry, and Culture: 5 assigned books - one by a woman, four by men. Rating: sadly, acceptable.
Ethics: 7 assigned books (6 in print, 1 out of print): 6 (all in print) by men, 1 (out of print) by a woman. Rating: Well, it doesn't put a book by a woman on my bookshelf. On the other hand, the professor didn't know the Lebacqz book was out of print until just before school started. So we'll go with another acceptable and hope that next year's class might get one that's in print and by a woman.
Preaching: 3 assigned books - 1 by a man, 1 by a woman, 1 co-authored by a man and a woman. Rating: Excellent!!!
Praying with Scripture: 1 assigned book - authored by "The Episcopal Church" but edited by a woman. Rating: Very good.
This quarter's classes all made a respectable showing (none assign only books by men), but the award clearly goes to... Preaching!
Tune in again in January to see who will win Beth's "Winter Quarter Gender Balance Award!"
Church, Ministry, and Culture: 5 assigned books - one by a woman, four by men. Rating: sadly, acceptable.
Ethics: 7 assigned books (6 in print, 1 out of print): 6 (all in print) by men, 1 (out of print) by a woman. Rating: Well, it doesn't put a book by a woman on my bookshelf. On the other hand, the professor didn't know the Lebacqz book was out of print until just before school started. So we'll go with another acceptable and hope that next year's class might get one that's in print and by a woman.
Preaching: 3 assigned books - 1 by a man, 1 by a woman, 1 co-authored by a man and a woman. Rating: Excellent!!!
Praying with Scripture: 1 assigned book - authored by "The Episcopal Church" but edited by a woman. Rating: Very good.
This quarter's classes all made a respectable showing (none assign only books by men), but the award clearly goes to... Preaching!
Tune in again in January to see who will win Beth's "Winter Quarter Gender Balance Award!"
Friday, October 07, 2005
Things I learned today
I am capable of cooking polenta.
I need new black boots - the old ones are starting to hurt.
Trader Joe's is closer than I thought.
I'm no less absent-minded at 25 than I was at 24.
Barefoot wine is about as good as I thought it was.
My back is as out of shape as the rest of me.
My new turquoise corduroys do indeed fit.
I have a lot of good friends (ok, knew that one, but it got reinforced).
I need new black boots - the old ones are starting to hurt.
Trader Joe's is closer than I thought.
I'm no less absent-minded at 25 than I was at 24.
Barefoot wine is about as good as I thought it was.
My back is as out of shape as the rest of me.
My new turquoise corduroys do indeed fit.
I have a lot of good friends (ok, knew that one, but it got reinforced).
Thursday, October 06, 2005
birfday!
Today I am 25 years old.
As usual, being 25 doesn't feel like anything much - I've felt I was already that old for a while. But not being 24 any more feels very healthy and good, in a sort of superstitious way.
Once more I thank God for life and health and friends.
As usual, being 25 doesn't feel like anything much - I've felt I was already that old for a while. But not being 24 any more feels very healthy and good, in a sort of superstitious way.
Once more I thank God for life and health and friends.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Thecla
Yesterday Seabury observed its now-annual celebration of the feast of Thecla. This is becoming one of my favorite services of the year, I think. Partly this is because I've been satisfied with how Hope and I have planned the service each year. Partly this is because the two Thecla sermons I've heard have been good ones. I think they have done well affirming Thecla as a model and inspiration for women in ministry while simultaneously insisting that Thecla is important for men as well as women - that she is a saint of the whole church, not just half of it. (Ok, only the Eastern Orthodox officially recognize her as such anymore, but still.) Plus, Thecla's just really darn cool.
Since she is a saint of the Eastern church and some of us feel she ought to be one in ours, Hope and I are working toward putting her up for inclusion in Lesser Feasts and Fasts. If you're somewhere in the Episcopal Church (another seminary, for example) and would like to help us in that by celebrating Thecla where you are, please let me know, and I'll be happy to email you the collect and readings we use, and a sample ordo if you'd like. (The Eastern church celebrates her on September 24, but we transfer her to a day more congenial to Seabury's academic calendar.)
(If you're at Seabury and already celebrated Thecla yesterday, come to today's service review at noon at the high table!)
Since she is a saint of the Eastern church and some of us feel she ought to be one in ours, Hope and I are working toward putting her up for inclusion in Lesser Feasts and Fasts. If you're somewhere in the Episcopal Church (another seminary, for example) and would like to help us in that by celebrating Thecla where you are, please let me know, and I'll be happy to email you the collect and readings we use, and a sample ordo if you'd like. (The Eastern church celebrates her on September 24, but we transfer her to a day more congenial to Seabury's academic calendar.)
(If you're at Seabury and already celebrated Thecla yesterday, come to today's service review at noon at the high table!)
Monday, October 03, 2005
Ten gallons of theology...
My childhood dentist always told me I had ten gallons of teeth in a five gallon mouth.
That's how I'm feeling right now about my ethics paper. Admittedly, we only have to give our "initial understanding" of "what it means to be holy and how each of the themes of purity, justice, and reconciliation is related to holiness, and to each other." Still, it seems like a lot for a 5 page paper...
That's how I'm feeling right now about my ethics paper. Admittedly, we only have to give our "initial understanding" of "what it means to be holy and how each of the themes of purity, justice, and reconciliation is related to holiness, and to each other." Still, it seems like a lot for a 5 page paper...
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Hunh?
"Religion refers to 'the offices and direct religion and intercourse with God.'"
Religion refers to direct religion? Thanks, that clears that right up.
...frejeugffreffufffruhfrujiwha...grr...
Religion refers to direct religion? Thanks, that clears that right up.
...frejeugffreffufffruhfrujiwha...grr...
Hallelujah! The six months are over!
This morning I shall go to the ATR 8 am mass. Then I shall get in my car, alone, and drive out to Skokie, where I will buy a DVD player and have my car emissions tested, so that the state of Ohio will accept my pleas for plate renewal and I may continue to drive my car.
For health and strength and daily bread, we give you thanks, O Lord!
For health and strength and daily bread, we give you thanks, O Lord!
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