Saints of Favor

Name your four favorite saints, your favorite blessed saint, and the person you think should be canonized.

Thecla - both a favorite and one who should be canonized, since she's a saint in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches but not in ours
Mary Magdalene
Augustine of Hippo
Mary, the mother of Jesus

Mother Theresa is really the only blessed I know, unless you're counting all the people the Anglicans have added to our calendars but who aren't Catholic saints. I've included them in the regular saints, though.

And I tag Tripp, Lauren, Ryan, and Susie.

Weird Person #5, Reporting In

Ok, Ref tagged me for this a couple of days ago, but I've had trouble completing the assignment, so here it is finally:

Rules: 1) Post six weird things about yourself; 2) Tag six weird people to do the same.

1) I'm not a huge chocolate-peanut butter fan. Now, I do like Reese's cups, on occasion. But most chocolate peanut butter stuff - ice cream, easter eggs, whatever - is just way, way too sweet for me. I'm told this is really, really weird.

2) Phobias. I'm unnaturally afraid of both marsupials-resembling-ROUS's and tickling. I know admitting to that second one makes it look like you should now try tickling me to see it in person, but I promise you it will cause lasting damage to both your person and our friendship if you do.

3) I have an apparently weird memory for certain details, especially dates and spatial arrangements. I can tell you my high school boyfriend's birthday, or where in my food crates the canned ravioli is, because they just stick in my head, taking up space that could be used for other things.

(Ok, figuring out what's weird about myself is hard. I've been thinking for two days now and I'm still having trouble.)

4) Oh, I tend to cover my stomach with my hands or arms almost no matter what position I'm in. I'm told that's a little weird.

5) I actually prefer room temperature drinking water to cold drinking water. I don't like my drinks too cold. I think this may come from my time in Germany, but I'm not sure.

6) There are probably people somewhere on this planet who think it's weird that I feel compelled to post this meme. If you don't think that counts as my sixth one, you can count my phobia separately, or comment and tell me what I've missed!

I'll tag: the Archer, Emily, Marisa, Nicole(though I'm not sure she reads this), and Marie.

Another shuffle meme

if your life were a soundtrack, what would the music be?

1. open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the song that's playing
5. new question-- press the next button
6. don't lie and try to pretend you're cool

opening credits:
Language or the Kiss - Indigo Girls

waking up:
Perfect - Children of Eden

first day at school:
It's a Fine Life - Oliver!

falling in love:
Unforgettable - Natalie Cole

breaking up:
Teenagers, Kick Our Butts - Dar Williams (seems to me this would go better in some other place...)

prom:
Candle in the Wind - Elton John (not a very happy prom, I guess)

life's okay:
Sin Wagon - Dixie Chicks

mental breakdown:
The Temple - Jesus Christ Superstar (Savior complex, anyone?)

driving:
Spin, Spin, Spin - Jim Croce

flashback:
One Headlight - Wallflowers

getting back together:
Into the Groove - Madonna

wedding:
Touch Me Fall - Indigo Girls (Rock.)

birth of child:
Spring Street - Dar Williams (Interesting...)

final battle:
The Cobbler - One of the Girls

death scene:
Goin' Up - Great Big Sea

funeral song:
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something

end credits:
In Lonesome Dove - Garth Brooks

In an effort to induce sleep...

I know I should go to bed, because I'm exhausted and it's 11 pm. But while I'm exhausted, I'm not at all sleepy, and since I've been sleeping poorly lately, I'm trying the tack of "not getting into bed until I'm sleepy" for a little while (though in about half an hour I'll give up and try the "maybe I'll sleep if I lie down" approach). And I felt like a meme, so I poked around on the internet and found this one that I've done before, but not for a year-ish, so I'm resurrecting it: the iTunes meme. (Put iTunes on shuffle. Answer the questions with song titles as they come up. No cheating.)

How does the world see you?
In the Name of Love - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Will I have a happy life?
Tear You Apart - She Wants Revenge Lovely.

What do my friends really think of me?
Smile - Natalie Cole

Do people secretly lust after me?
Once Upon a Dream - Jekyll & Hyde Oh, my.

How can I make myself happy?
Lullaby on a Christmas Chorale - Smith College Chorale Not really sure how that translates to method...


What should I do with my life?
Free in You - Indigo Girls So I should... fall in love? Again, not so concrete.

Will I have children?
Teen for God - Dar Williams I guess that's a yes, though that's also a fate I'd like to spare any future children...

What is some good advice for me?
The Longest Time - Billy Joel This is advice how?


How will I be remembered?
what better said - k.d. lang nice!

What is my signature dancing song?
You Learn - Alanis Morissette Sad, really, since it's not much of a dancing song. Maybe my signature dancing style is supposed to be modern... you could do a decent modern or lyrical piece to that, I guess.

What do I think my current theme song is?
Get Out the Map - Indigo Girls Sure, why not?

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
The Hudson - Dar Williams Because everyone else is confused and thinks I'm a native New Yorker?

What song will play at my funeral?
Hark the Herald Angels Sing - Various Artists I'm assuming that the various artists at the funeral will be the congregation, and that I'm going to die around Christmas - which makes it really a pretty decent pick for a funeral. Well done iTunes.

What type of men/women do you like?
Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield I swear I didn't fix that answer. Really.

What is my day going to be like?
Benedictus - Simon and Garfunkel A girl could do worse. Can I call that in for tomorrow instead of today, since today's now over?

Books, again

I should be writing a sermon. What better use of time, then, than a meme?

Instructions: in italics=have read the book; with asterisks=want to read the book; with crosses=own the book; with question marks=unfamiliar with the book. And I'm adding: with slashes (/)=have read part of the book (Via The Little Professor - except I changed the font stuff because bolding doesn't show up well with my terrible colors.)

1. †The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. *Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. /Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. †The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. †The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. †The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. †Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. ?Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. ?A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. †Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. †Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. †Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. /A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. †Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. ?Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. ?The Stand (Stephen King)
19. †Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. †*Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. †The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. †Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. ?The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. *Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. †The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) (ok - I used to own it - I'm not sure where it is)
27. †Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. †The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. †1984 (Orwell)
35. *The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. ?The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. ?The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. †The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. ?The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. †/The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. ?Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. †The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. †Bible
46. †*Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. /The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. /The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. †A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. ?The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. †Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. ?The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. *The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. *The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. *War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. ?Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
66. *One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. *The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. /Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. *Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. /Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. ?Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. †The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. ?The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. /A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) (I actually can't remember if I've read this or not)
78. ?The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. ?The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. †Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. ?Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. †Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. ?Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. †/Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. ?The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. ?Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. ?Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. ?In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. †The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Meme? Meme? Ok!

Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING

How does the world see you?
"Silence on the Line" - Chris LeDoux

Will I have a happy life?
"Moment of Forgiveness" - Indigo Girls (Is that a yes or a no?)

What do my friends really think of me?
"Good King Wenceslas" - Church of the Ascension (um?)

How can I make myself happy?
"Strange Fire" - Indigo Girls

What should I do with my life?
"At the Zoo" - Simon & Garfunkel (well, that's a no-brainer. few places more zooey than the church)

Will I ever have children?
"Someday" - Flipsyde (Does that mean "someday, on the flip side?" I'm hoping for someday this side of death....)

What is some good advice for me?
"Mr. Zebra" - Tori Amos (Does that mean that I should be taking acid?)

How will I be remembered?
"The Gathering Storm" - Children of Eden (oh, dear)

What is my signature dancing song?
"Alive" - Jekyll & Hyde (I hope not!)

What do I think my current theme song is?
"Yes It Is" - The Beatles

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
"A Medley: For Sentimental Reasons, Tenderly, Autumn Leaves" - Natalie Cole (If this is true, y'all, explain)

What song will play at my funeral?
"Freedom Medley" - Peter, Paul, & Mary

What is my day going to be like?
"How Can I Keep From Singing?/Hallelujah, the Great Storm is Over" - Peter, Paul, & Mary (Can I call that one in tomorrow? that wasn't my experience of today, though I suppose the day isn't over.)

and one more question from Ice Floe:
Should I publish this meme?
"To Zion" - Lauryn Hill (I'll take that as a yes...)

Fifty Things

From Hugo Schwyzer.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? That's not too bad.

2. How much cash do you have on you? On me, personally? None. It's in my purse.

3. What’s a word that rhymes with “DOOR?” Boor.

4. Favorite planet? Earth is a pretty nice one.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? My assistant director for camp this summer.

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Pier Gynt.

7. Do you “label” yourself? Yes. I think words are helpful that way.

8. What shirt are you wearing? A gray stretch long-sleeved tee with a slight v-neck, over which I can wear my Ohio State fleece vest.

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? Socks.

10. Bright or dark room? Sort of dark-ish.

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? Articulate, interesting, and helpful.

12. What does your watch look like? Two-tone gold, small, with an oval face. Guess.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping.

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? "Hope all is going well. good luck. ring if u need something" - from the first day of exams

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? Probably Dempster and Dodge.

16. What’s a word that you say a lot? Indeed.

17. Who told you he/she loved you last? My mom.

18. Last furry thing you touched? Hmm... probably Howie or Tar, coming home from lunch on Saturday.

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? Um. I've had a couple glasses of wine... but I think that's it.

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? One, and it's old and of dubious quality.

21. Favorite age you have been so far? Hmm. I liked the roundness of 25, and it was a pretty good year overall... I'm fairly certain that 3 was excellent... 19 was pretty damn good, actually, as was 22.

22. Your worst enemy? Dunno. I don't really think in terms of enemies.

23. What is your current desktop picture? A collage of Ohio State stuff.

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? "Indeed. I say indeed a lot."

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? Flying. No question.

26. Do you like someone? ? Like, have a crush on someone? Does Keira Knightley count?

27. The last song you listened to? The last one I can identify was Great Big Sea, "Lukey"

28. What time of day were you born? 6:09 pm, EDT

29. What’s your favorite number? 16

30. Where did you live in 1987? Berea, OH

31. Are you jealous of anyone? Of course.

32. Is anyone jealous of you? I'm told so, but I imagine they're few and far between.

33. Where were you when 9/11 happened? I walked into the Smith Center in Hamburg just as the second plane was hitting the tower.

34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Tell the nearest person that the vending machine is stupid. Scowl.

35. What’s your life motto? Ummm. Don't know as I have one.

36. Are you touchy feely? Preferably, but I restrain myself a lot - people tend to misinterpret touchy feely a lot when it's coming from a single woman.

37. Name three things that you have on you at all times. College ring, glasses, nose ring.

38. What’s your favorite town/city? Hmm. I've come to love every place I've ever lived. For eats, I love Northampton; for roots and nostalgia and opportunities, Cleveland area; for fun, Evanston/Chicago.

39. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? Charging my transit card yesterday. Someday, they'll realize I'm not lying about my zip code and let me have the permanent kind....

40. Can you change the oil on a car? Like Hugo's, my ability to take my car in for an oil change is impressive.

41. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? "Teaching too much"

42. How far back do you know about your ancestry? Umm... around the beginning of the 17th century on both sides, I think.

43. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy? Depends on how fancy... the last time I dressed really fancy was the black silk dress I wore for Matriculation banquet in October.

44. Does anything hurt on your body right now? Right hip, back, neck, left jaw. The life of a former dancer and current student... also I just bit the inside of my cheek.

45. Have you been burned by love? Yes indeed.

46. What living person whom you’ve never met do you most admire? Madeleine L'Engle, maybe.

47. What character trait would you most like to rid yourself of this year? Arrogance.

48. What one human flaw would you eradicate if you could? Cruelty

49. Where was your first kiss? My parents' front stoop.

50. What actor/actress do you most resemble? I don't, really... though sometimes when I look at myself in my pajamas without my glasses, I look a little like the actress that played the fiancee in 13 Going On Thirty. But I think it's mostly the pajamas and the hair. Also I've been told Jennifer Westfeldt, a little, but I think that's not so much physical appearance either.

Word?

I'm in the brain-dead state that hits right after three hours of history lecture, so I'm going to take a few minutes for this meme. I think it's a somewhat bizarre, but somewhat interesting one - just one word each?

Since I can't put caveats on my answers (so hard for me!), I'll put one here: I'm choosing to do this by word association - so the first word to pop up for me goes in, rather than the word I've thought long and hard about. In other words, they're not necessarily the most accurate descriptors, just the most immediate associations.

Yourself: dull
Your partner: no
Your hair: dirty
Your Mother: small
Your Father: grand
Your Favorite Item: blanket
Your dream last night: forgotten
Your Favorite Drink: wine
Your Dream Car: hybrid
Your Dream Home: light
The Room You Are In: cozy
Your Ex: slippery
Your fear: which?
Where you Want to be in Ten Years? home
Who you hung out with last night: me
What You're Not: energized
Muffins: blueberry
One of Your Wish List Items: RENT
Time: night
The Last Thing You Did: talk
What You Are Wearing: pink
Your favorite weather: smooth
Your Favorite Book?: longer
Last thing you ate?: cheese
Your Life: strange
Your mood: blue
Your Best Friends: smile
What are you thinking about right now?: baptism
Your car: indigo
What are you doing at the moment: theologizing
Your summer: gone
Relationship status: satisfied
What is on your tv?: antenna
What is the weather like: dark
When is the last time you laughed: earlier

Friday Five: Comforts

It's a good day for this one.

Comfort beverage: Hot. If I'm home, usually tea. If I'm out, usually coffee/latte. Hot cider (no caramel!) is very good when it's in season.

Comfort chair: Usually not so much a chair as a couch. Up here I like my green loveseat with my throw blanket to curl up in.

Comfort read: Little Women. Occasionally a Madeleine L'Engle novel for a change, but mostly Little Women.

Comfort television/DVD/music: TV: West Wing. DVD: Kissing Jessica Stein. Music: I keep a sad songs playlist for just such occasions - mostly composed of Indigo Girls, Dar Williams, etc.

Comfort companion(s): I have no lovers or pets (ok, I have a fish, but that hardly counts here). I guess my comfort companions would be certain friends who know me well and who don't mind when I need to be silent and/or sad for a while. Or, in a pinch, my Care Bears.


Interesting that comfort food is not listed.

Five Things Feminism Has Done For Me

The Happy Feminist has tagged everyone, so here goes:

1. Feminism has paved the way for me to sit in a graduate course.

2. Feminism has made it possible for me to speak and write my mind - not only in private, but in public, and even in opposition to men.

3. Feminism has put before me women writers who demonstrate that the way is (at least partly) open to me to try publishing.

4. Feminism has created environments (Girl Scouts, Smith College) in which I can learn to flourish specifically as a woman - environments that have taught me what it means still to be marked for gender in this world, and how to be hopeful but not naive about that.

5. Feminism allows me to believe that I'll be ordained a deacon in eight months and a priest in two years. Thanks be to God!

For my part, I tag Susie, Marisa, Jane, Micah, and AKMA (who I don't expect will actually take it up, but whose response I'd love to hear).

My Autobiography (meme)

Ok, I wasn't going to do this because it's long, but since no one is in the offices to do business with, and I saw it on two blogs in a row on my RSS, I am. But, I think I should state that I think "My autobiography" is a dumb meme title.

Fill this out in your own words and repost as, "My autobiography."

1.Where did you take or get your profile picture?
Don't have one.

2.What exactly are you wearing right now?
My usual dark brown leather sandals, short denim skirt, deep purple strappy tank, white eyelet short-sleeve blouse (unbuttoned). (I should probably qualify that - in my world "short skirt" means "above the knee but decidedly longer than it is wide")

3.What is your current problem?
Hmm. Well, we're a little behind on some of the details for new student orientation. I guess that's what happens when none of the tri-chairs are really on campus much of the summer.

4.What makes you most happy?
Spending time with really good friends

5.What's the name of the song that you're listening to?
Do You Hear What I Hear? - because it still plays in my head whenever I hear a siren, such as the one passing us now.

6.Has anyone you've been really close with passed away?
Yes

7.Do you ever watch MTV?
Ever? I have watched it, yes, but never on a regular basis and not in a long time.

8.What's something that really annoys you?
Cockroaches in a newly cleaned apartment.

Chapter 1:All About You

1.Middle name:
Amy (And yes, if my brother had been a girl, he'd have been Meg)

2.Nickname(s):
Besides Beth? Spud, primarily, or diminutives thereof. But also Yoda, Bo, Chameleon, Opal, and probably a few others at times. (Yeah, I grew up at Girl Scout camp.)

3.Current location:
The far, far right edge of the futon in my common room

4.Eye color:
Blue

Chapter 2:Family

1.Do you live with your parents:
No

2.Do you get along with your parent(s):
Yes

3.Are your parents married/separated/divorced
Married

4.Do you have any Siblings?:
1 little brother

Chapter 3: favorite...

1. Ice Cream:
Um. Hmm. Favorite. You mean just one? Well, I like mint chocolate chip a lot. And cookies and cream. And peppermint stick. And Phish Food. And Dove Irresistably Raspberry. And...

2.Season:
I don't have a favorite season so much as I really, really like the beginning of each season. So, right now my favorite season is fall, but really I like the novelty of it.

3.Shampoo/conditioner:
At the moment, Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo and Dove something moisturizing conditioner. But I switch around, mostly between those brands. They're cheap.

Chapter 4: Do You..

1.Dance in the shower:
Clearly you've never seen my shower. I can barely shower in my shower.

2.Write on your hand:
Well, I try to avoid it. But eventually, if I keep forgetting a thing, I usually will.

3.Call people back:
Yes. But occasionally it takes me a ridiculously long time.

4.Believe in love:
Well, yeah.

5.Sleep on a certain side of the bed
Yeah, the top side, generally. (No, really, when I'm in a double bed I generally sleep on the right side.

6. Any bad habits:
Yes.

7. Any mental health issues?
Nothing diagnosed.

Chapter 5: Have You...

1.Broken a bone:
No

2.Sprained stuff:
That's an interesting question. I've never been treated for a sprain, but five years ago I fell on my thumb while taping a circle on the floor, and it got puffy and purple and took a really long time to heal and still doesn't look quite the same as the other one. So, maybe.

3.Had physical therapy?:
Nay

4.Gotten stitches:
Nein

5.Taken Pain killers?
Yes

6.Gone SCUBA diving or snorkeling:
No

7.Been stung by a bee:
Yes

8.Thrown up at the dentist:
No

9.Sworn in front of your parents:
Yes

10.Had detention:
That's another interesting question. I don't remember ever being in detention, though I seem to remember my whole class being assigned detention once or twice. Possibly I just got out of those. NO. WAIT. I do remember one detention - several friends of mine were making "candy carrots" (carrots with other lunch foods/drinks mixed in) at lunch one day in third grade, at the table where I was sitting (not actually participating). The lunch lady decided we all needed to sit at the detention table for a few days for playing with food, because no one would take the blame for it. I was the only one whose mother didn't call the principal and insist that her darling daughter couldn't possibly sit at the detention table - so while my friends were back making more candy carrots the next two days, I was sitting at the detention table alone.

11.Been sent to the principal's office:
No. This one I'm sure about.

12.Been called a ho?
See Chapter 2, answer 4, about having a little brother.

Chapter 6: Who/What was the last

1.Movie(s):
I assume you mean the last one I myself saw, which would be Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Or maybe Fellowship of the Ring. I don't remember in which order I watched them.

2.Person to text you:
Hmm. No one texts me now, but we used to text all the time in Germany. So, one of the other Smithies I went to Germany with, I guess - probably Jessica.

3.Person you called:
Lauren

4.Person you hugged:
Milner, at the peace this morning.

5.Person you tackled?
Um. I can't say for sure, because I can't remember the last time I tackled someone. But I'd say my little brother is probably a good guess.

6.Thing you touched:
Ok, this is a ridiculous question. This is a MEME. I am touching my keyboard. Right. Now.

7.Thing you ate:
Hmm. Either a piece of popcorn or a Gobstopper.

8.Thing you drank:
Water

9.Thing you said:
Bye

10.Friend you miss the most that has moved:
HopeandAndrew

Friday Five: Life in the Fast Lane

(Obviously, I'm making a lot of progress on that sermon.)

1. Driving: an enjoyable way to clear the mind? a means to an end? a chance to be quiet with one's thoughts? a necessary evil? the downfall of our planet and its fossil fuels? Discuss. Usually, a means to an end. I enjoy it, most of the time, but I don't usually drive to clear the mind - especially since I believe that driving is best undertaken while the mind is already pretty clear.

2. Do you drive the speed limit? A little faster? Slower? Have you ever gotten a ticket? I tend to drive a little faster than the speed limit - by which I mean, mostly I drive about 5 miles faster and occasionally I drive a fair bit faster.

3. Do you take public transportation? When? What's your opinion of the experience? When it seems reasonable. When I'm in Chicago, I usually take public instead of driving if at all feasible, though I don't mind if someone else drives. When I'm in Cleveland, it's almost never reasonable - there's not much of it, and the nearest park-and-ride is fifteen minutes away in the opposite direction from the city, so taking the rapid to ball games isn't really a strong option for us.

4. Complete this sentence: _____________ has the worst drivers I've ever experienced. St. Louis, no question. Especially in the parking lots of grocery stores (especially the Schnuck's in Richmond Heights).

5. According to the Census Bureau, reverendmother's fair city has the 6th longest average commute in the United States at 29 minutes each way. How does your personal commute rate? Well, at the moment, my commute is pretty short - from my bedroom to my kitchen table it takes me about 20-25 seconds. My commute this summer to work was about 20-25 minutes each way (exactly average for my city, the 31st in the nation at 23.5 minutes). My commute at school is somewhere in between - about two and a half minutes from my third floor suite to the second floor classrooms or the first floor chapel.

Bonus for the brutally honest: It has been said, and the MythBusters have confirmed, that cell phones can impede driving ability almost as much as drinking. Do you talk on a cell phone while driving? Rarely. I do it more in Cleveland than in Chicago, because my parents' house has bad reception, but I think I've still only done it once all summer. I do answer the phone while driving unless it's immediately stupid to do so, but I usually talk just long enough to know there's no emergency and then say "I'm driving. Good-bye."

While I'm at it

While I'm here and book posting, this one came from the Little Professor: Which authors dominate your shelves? (Domination = five or more books)

This is from memory, since most of my books are at school, but here's a guess: Louisa May Alcott, Madeleine L'Engle, Maud Hart Lovelace, L.M. Montgomery, J.K. Rowling, Valerie Tripp, Shakespeare, Ann M. Martin, Toni Morrison, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Irving Stone... ok, I'm not sure I can think of any from my shelves at school that I have in such volume, except L'Engle. (I do not count either General Convention or the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music as an author.) These are all from home.

I'll keep thinking, but now it's time for shower and bed.

If Ryan's posting, I am too.

(For clarity's sake, I mean this Ryan.)


1. One book that changed your life:
Madeleine L'Engle, A Swiftly Tilting Planet

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women is the first one that came to mind.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
The Bible (Since that's not a terribly interesting answer in these circles, if I could have two I'd also want Little Women.)

4. One book that made you laugh:
Jon Stewart (&co.), America (the book)

5. One book that made you cry:
Nicholas Wolsterstorff, Lament for a Son - five lines in, and all the way through

6. One book that you wish had been written:
Rumor has it that, before she left the public eye, Madeleine L'Engle was working on a novel about Meg Murry after her kids have left home....

7. One book that you wish you had never read:
Alas, Babylon. That's 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

8. One book you’re currently reading:
Stephen Fowl, Engaging Scripture

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Augustine's Confessions

Meme

We haven't had a meme here this month... so here's one from Badgering.

5 Items in my Fridge:

1. Hummus
2. Leftover pierogies and peas
3. Leftover peas with no pierogies
4. Lots of yogurt
5. Sam Adams Summertime

5 Items in my Closet:

1. Fun new brown striped summer work pants
2. New turquoise sleeveless blouse with covered buttons that will be a clergy shirt when it grows up
3. New polka-dotted two piece dress outfit (yeah, ok, it looks better than it sounds)
4. New turquoise linen jacket (yay!)
5. New eyelet short-sleeved blouses

5 Items in my Car:

1. Road atlas
2. Box of books to read at work
3. Prayer book/hymnal
4. Collars and electrical tape, for hospital visits
5. Broken hanger pieces (from Thanksgiving still)

5 Items in my Purse:

1. Wallet
2. Sunglasses
3. Burt's Bees Champagne Lip Shimmer
4. Phone
5. Rosary

5 Items on my Desk: I am the Incredible Movable Intern With No Real Desk right now, but on my desk in my room at home I have:

1. Old magazines
2. Sophomore yearbook from high school, because I was looking someone up last time I was home and my parents have decided to store my yearbooks on a high shelf where I can't put it away
3. Orientation CD
4. Diocesan aid form
5. The picture of Yoda that Emily ripped out of her high school ethics textbook for me

5 Items Flowering in my Garden:
1. Little spiky white things
2. Slightly bigger, slightly less spiky, two-toned pink things
3. Little pink things
4. Peonies
5. Roses

Friday Five: Procrastination

A procrastination-themed Friday Five couldn't have come at a better time - I am, even as I type this, meant to be writing about Galatians 6, eschatology, and community.

The Question: What are five things you do to procrastinate?

1. Blogging - particularly checking my RSS or posting memes (thinking up real posts is too much like work to be an effective procrastination technique).

2. Research - I can't possibly go on until I find that one perfect quote that I read ten years ago in one of Madeleine L'Engle's books, or maybe it was Harry Potter, or Augustine...

3. Organization - I'd be able to work better if all of my books were arranged just so, and I had a perfectly structured outline, and...

4. Eating - Not one of my healthier procrastination techniques, but there you go.

5. West Wing - Clearly what I need is inspiration/a short break, and each episode is only 45 minutes...

A-Z

Another meme. Oh, and apparently it's not Ebert's list on the last one, it's someone else's.

Accent: standard Midwest (slight Ohio quality)

Booze: Champagne is my favorite, but mostly I drink red wine in the winter, beer or gin-tonic in the summer.

Chore I Hate: cleaning the shower

Dog or Cat: I'd like a dog. I like to sit for dogs. But I have no pets.

Essential Electronics: computer, tv/DVD player, iPod, car music

Favorite Cologne(s): I don't wear any myself, but I like it when my clothes and hair pick up liturgical smells like incense or healing oil.

Gold or Silver: silver

Hometown: near Cleveland

Insomnia: not generally

Job Title: Seminarian

Kids: I have none. I'd like to have some, but first I need at least an income and preferably a partner of some sort.

Living arrangements: grad student dorm

Most admirable trait: my own most admirable trait - probably loyalty; what I most admire in others is wisdom

Number of sexual partners: that's kind of an odd question...

Overnight hospital stays: Yes. One as a kid, then... four or five, maybe? last year.

Phobias: Possum. I'm trying not to freak out just typing that.

Quote: "Wherever there is unity in diversity, then we are free to be ourselves; it cannot be done in isolation; we need each other." ~Madeleine L'Engle

Religion: I'm thoroughly Anglican, and not in a separatist way. I'm finding myself more at home in the Anglo-Catholic part than in any other, right now, but I like a lot of different parts.

Siblings: One younger brother.

Time I wake up: 8 am, most weekdays.

Unusual talent or skill: I have incredibly flexible ankles and high arches, so I can point my toes and touch the floor with my leg stuck straight out.

Vegetable I refuse to eat: Canned ones.

Worst habit: taking on too much, maybe? there's a bunch.

X-rays: Teeth, chest, I think a variety of others but I stopped keeping track.

Yummy foods I make: red beans and garlic rice; scones; potato soup; veggie chili... I like to cook, when I have a kitchen and people to eat the food.

Zodiac sign: Libra. I think. Maybe. I can't decide... :)

Movies I Haven't Seen

I'm having significant problems summoning the wakefulness and energy to write my paper right now. Ergo, I offer a meme - this is Roger Ebert's list of movies everyone should see, via One Bright Star (to whom I'd link except I'm tired and lazy), with the ones I've seen in bold and the ones I've partly seen in italics.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) Stanley Kubrick
"The 400 Blows" (1959) Francois Truffaut
"8 1/2" (1963) Federico Fellini
"Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (1972) Werner Herzog
"Alien" (1979) Ridley Scott
"All About Eve" (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz
"Annie Hall" (1977) Woody Allen
"Bambi" (1942) Disney
"Battleship Potemkin" (1925) Sergei Eisenstein
"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) William Wyler
"The Big Red One" (1980) Samuel Fuller
"The Bicycle Thief" (1949) Vittorio De Sica
"The Big Sleep" (1946) Howard Hawks
"Blade Runner" (1982) Ridley Scott
"Blowup" (1966) Michelangelo Antonioni
"Blue Velvet" (1986) David Lynch
"Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) Arthur Penn
"Breathless" (1959) Jean-Luc Godard
"Bringing Up Baby" (1938) Howard Hawks
"Carrie" (1975) Brian DePalma
"Casablanca" (1942) Michael Curtiz
"Un Chien Andalou" (1928) Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali
"Children of Paradise" / "Les Enfants du Paradis" (1945) Marcel Carne
"Chinatown" (1974) Roman Polanski
"Citizen Kane" (1941) Orson Welles
"A Clockwork Orange" (1971) Stanley Kubrick
"The Crying Game" (1992) Neil Jordan
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) Robert Wise
"Days of Heaven" (1978) Terence Malick
"Dirty Harry" (1971) Don Siegel
"The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (1972) Luis Bunuel
"Do the Right Thing" (1989) Spike Lee
"La Dolce Vita" (1960) Federico Fellini
"Double Indemnity" (1944) Billy Wilder
"Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964) Stanley Kubrick
"Duck Soup" (1933) Leo McCarey
"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) Steven Spielberg
"Easy Rider" (1969) Dennis Hopper
"The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) Irvin Kershner
"The Exorcist" (1973) William Friedkin
"Fargo" (1995) Joel & Ethan Coen
"Fight Club" (1999) David Fincher
"Frankenstein" (1931) James Whale
"The General" (1927) Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman
"The Godfather," "The Godfather, Part II" (1972, 1974) Francis Ford Coppola
"Gone With the Wind" (1939) Victor Fleming
"GoodFellas" (1990) Martin Scorsese
"The Graduate" (1967) Mike Nichols
"Halloween" (1978) John Carpenter
"A Hard Day's Night" (1964) Richard Lester
"Intolerance" (1916) D.W. Griffith
"It's A Gift" (1934) Norman Z. McLeod
"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) Frank Capra
"Jaws" (1975) Steven Spielberg
"The Lady Eve" (1941) Preston Sturges
"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) David Lean
"M" (1931) Fritz Lang
"Mad Max 2" / "The Road Warrior" (1981) George Miller
"The Maltese Falcon" (1941) John Huston
"The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) John Frankenheimer
"Metropolis" (1926) Fritz Lang
"Modern Times" (1936) Charles Chaplin
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975) Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam
"Nashville" (1975) Robert Altman
"The Night of the Hunter" (1955) Charles Laughton
"Night of the Living Dead" (1968) George Romero
"North by Northwest" (1959) Alfred Hitchcock
"Nosferatu" (1922) F.W. Murnau
"On the Waterfront" (1954) Elia Kazan
"Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) Sergio Leone
"Out of the Past" (1947) Jacques Tournier
"Persona" (1966) Ingmar Bergman
"Pink Flamingos" (1972) John Waters
"Psycho" (1960) Alfred Hitchcock
"Pulp Fiction" (1994) Quentin Tarantino
"Rashomon" (1950) Akira Kurosawa
"Rear Window" (1954) Alfred Hitchcock
"Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) Nicholas Ray
"Red River" (1948) Howard Hawks
"Repulsion" (1965) Roman Polanski
"Rules of the Game" (1939) Jean Renoir
"Scarface" (1932) Howard Hawks
"The Scarlet Empress" (1934) Josef von Sternberg
"Schindler's List" (1993) Steven Spielberg
"The Searchers" (1956) John Ford
"The Seven Samurai" (1954) Akira Kurosawa
"Singin' in the Rain" (1952) Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly
"Some Like It Hot" (1959) Billy Wilder
"A Star Is Born" (1954) George Cukor
"A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) Elia Kazan
"Sunset Boulevard" (1950) Billy Wilder
"Taxi Driver" (1976) Martin Scorsese
"The Third Man" (1949) Carol Reed
"Tokyo Story" (1953) Yasujiro Ozu
"Touch of Evil" (1958) Orson Welles
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) John Huston
"Trouble in Paradise" (1932) Ernst Lubitsch
"Vertigo" (1958) Alfred Hitchcock
"West Side Story" (1961) Jerome Robbins/Robert Wise
"The Wild Bunch" (1969) Sam Peckinpah
"The Wizard of Oz" (1939) Victor Fleming

Confession?

There's not much for me to say about Good Friday - Good Friday pretty well speaks for itself. So instead, I'll bare to the world all the signs of my relative wealth.

Do you have:
(1) your own cell phone
(2) a television in your bedroom (it's not precisely in the bedroom - it's cleverly located so that I can watch it from any room in the suite - but yes, I can watch tv from bed.
(3) an MP3 player
( ) a photo printer
( ) own phone line
( ) TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
(4) high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup)
( ) a surround sound system in bedroom
(5) DVD player in bedroom (see the tv thing)
( ) at least a hundred DVDs
(6) a childfree bathroom
(7) your own in-house office
( ) a pool
( ) a guest house
( ) a game room
( ) a queen-size bed or larger
( ) a stocked bar
( ) a working dishwasher
(8) an icemaker (well, it's not mine, it's in the refectory, but I can access pre-made ice without going outside)
(9) a working washer and dryer (ditto number 8, except it's in the basement proper, not the refectory)
(10) more than 20 pairs of shoes (although it depends on how you count - I have 15 pairs of street shoes and 2 pairs of dance shoes here in Evanston, but I still have at least seven pairs of dance shoes at my parents', and possibly some street shoes too - at least my creeking shoes are there)
( ) at least ten things from a designer store
( ) expensive sunglasses
( ) framed original art (not lithographs or prints) (I suppose technically I do, but I made the art, so I don't think that's what they mean)
(11) Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
(12) a multi-speed bike (it is, however, in Ohio and unusable)
( )a gym membership)
( ) your own set of golf clubs
( ) a pool table
( ) a tennis court
(13) local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea
( ) your own pair of skis
( ) enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
( ) a boat
( ) a jet ski
( ) a neighborhood committee membership
( ) a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
(14) wealthy family members (not incredibly wealthy, but as far as I'm concerned, yes)
( ) two or more family cars
( ) a walk-in closet or pantry (I am not counting the kitchen half-room)
( ) a yard
( ) a hammock
( ) a personal trainer
(15) good credit
( ) expensive jewelry
( ) a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
( ) at least $100 cash in your possession right now
( ) more than two credit cards bearing your name (not counting gas cards or debit cards)
(16) a stock portfolio
(17) a passport
( ) a horse
( ) a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
(18) private medical insurance (at least in theory)
(19) a college degree, and no outstanding student loans

Do you:
( ) shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week
( ) do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
( ) pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry cleaning)
( ) go on weekend mini-vacations
( ) send dinners back with every flaw
( ) wear perfume or cologne
( ) regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon
( ) have a job but don't need the money OR
( ) stay at home with little financial sacrifice
( ) pay someone else to cook your meals
( ) pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs
( ) regularly pay someone else to drive your taxis
( ) expect a gift after you fight with your partner

Are you:
( ) an only child
( ) married/partnered to a wealthy person
( ) baffled/surprised when you don't get your way

Have you:
( ) been on a cruise
(20) traveled out of the country
( ) met a celebrity
( ) been to the Caribbean
( ) been to Hawaii
(21) been to New York
( ) eaten at the space needle in Seattle
( ) been to the Mall of America
(22) been on the Eiffel tower in Paris
(23) been on the Statue of Liberty in New York (really, I've been in this, not on it, but ok)
( ) moved more than three times because you wanted to
( ) dined with local political figures
(24) been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast

Did you:
( ) go to another country for your honeymoon
( ) hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
(25) took riding or swimming lessons as a child
( ) attend private school (I'm guessing this means elementary/secondary, not college?)
(26) have a Sweet 16 birthday party