in the homestretch

i've looked up long enough from this semester of work to realize: i'm almost done.

i don't know how that happened, with a relatively small degree of freak outs, and with my sanity left largely intact. in fact, i'm kind of excited to be working on my thesis next semester, even though i know it will drive me crazy and push me hard too. miraculous, i'd say. it feels good to be on a path that is hard but bringing out good stuff.

the thesis proposal goes in on tuesday. i am excited about this prospect, even though it would have terrified me a year ago, actually even just a few months ago. and still does a little, but in a good way.

not much else to report actually. american thanksgiving passed without much fanfare on my part - i spent it doing laundry, which was exactly what i wanted to be doing. first because i was out of clothes, and second because i needed some down time. it was followed by a friday night babysitting, again, something exactly my social speed. watching tv and hanging out with someone that has no vocabulary. it's not that i'm antisocial, it's that my brain gets fried a fair amount these days. okay, maybe i'm a little antisocial too.

saturday night fever

ingredients:
bailey's irish cream
breyer's vanilla ice cream
milk (organic, no less)

put ingredients in blender. mix to desired consistency.
consume while watching movie.

doesn't get much better than that.


busy days = short blog entries. but soon the dust will clear and i will write more soon.

frivolity

still plugging away... writing and thinking like crazy. sometimes i even enjoy myself.
occassionaly my thoughts turn to more fun activites such as these... ah well, there will be time for that again soon enough.

giving this some serious consideration...

" well that was wonderful.
hey mav, what was the number of that truck driving school again?
i think i'm gonna need it."
-goose, top gun

further sayings

"if i ever meet josh harris, i'm going to kick him in the balls." - dan (josh harris is the author of "i kissed dating goodbye")

comic relief

actual conversation:

"i mean, that's what i hate about this theology thing sometimes. . . writing about it is so self-deprecating . . . defecating?"

"yeah, i hate it when i crap on myself."

hilarity ensues.
one of the precious moments that makes up seminary.

autumn

a gloriously semi-productive day.
ate a bagel, sat in a coffee shop to read and do some work.
wandered around 4th ave, in and out of different shops.
it was good to be aimless for a while, breathing crisp fall air, and soaking in the fleeting sun.
hoping that relaxation will jog some creative muscles in my head.

deep breaths

instant reality check:

hmmm... write papers or hold baby? write papers or hold baby?

shout out

vancouver hearts nate first. after a rousing sendoff night of beer and friends, followed by rousing morning sendoff of friends and fireworks, our intrepid hero headed off to the great midwest to be with his sweetie, jen rice. we heart her, too.
we are sure that he is filling his pockets with new trinkets he is finding on the ground in st. louis.

hmmm....

i emailed my seminar paper to my class. after doing so, i was immediately wracked with angst about word choices, oh i should have said this point instead, that was so cheesy, ugh ugh ugh. sometimes i wish that email had an "unsend" button, that could reach out over cyberspace and retract your communications.

oh, i ma ridiculous.

and for some reason, somehow, i feel "called" (not sure if that is even the case) to be a writer. i am a writer?

i don't know if i can stand the mental anguish of putting my words out for people to read. perhaps it is only outweighed by the mental anguish i would suffer if i did not write.

so i press on. not quite knowing where i am going.

hey, it worked for abraham.

status

word count 1112 of 2000.
seriously, it's like pulling teeth here.
considering mountain dew consumption.

humor

funny: plastic dinosaurs

not funny: writing a 2000 word paper on why things are funny

dinosaurs, part deux

because i neglected to include the other photo last time...

priorities

why i probably shouldn't have a master's degree: i put plastic dinosaurs in model of the school to amuse myself.

why i might be qualified to write a paper on the theology of humor and laughter: see above.

happy halloween.

ultimate frisbee, by the numbers

1 beautiful fall day.
1 win. (yay!)
1 loss. (boo!)
2 cramped calves.
2 bananas consumed to combat cramping.
good times.

taking a stand

i'm calling for a school schedule reversal...
1 week of class. 12 weeks of reading.

jurassic park

"But if the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists." - Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park

this dinosaur was discovered in the regent model yesterday and is now extinct. a moment of silence, please.
off to the left you can kind of see the plastic palm tree i put in there too.

good things about fall...

raking leaves.
then jumping in said leaves and having a leaf fight with your housemate.

perhaps i just didn't notice this when i was younger, but leaf piles never feel quite as fluffy as they appear when you throw yourself into them.

then again, what do i know about fall? i grew up in california. regardless, i do know that watching the World Series is another good thing about fall.

you have all the time there is

from "As I Lay Dying" by Richard John Neuhaus...

"Around 1910, William Temple, the future archbishop of Canterbury and son of Frederick the archbiship of Canterbury, complained to his father that he did not have the time to do all that needed to be done. 'William,' said his father, 'you have all the time ther is.' I tell myself that frequently, especially when I am worried about getting done more than is mine to do: You have all the time there is.

Time is not unlike a sacrament; it is capable of bearing the absolute. Christian thinkers have written about the 'sacramentality of the present moment.' Our lives are lived in a succession of present moments, and the trick is to slow down the past at which one moment is succeeded by another. 'Be still, and know that I am God.' says Psalm 46. But our world presents itself as a conspiracy against being still, against living in the present moment. I walk out on Second Avenue and the people, the cars, the buses, the very buildings themselves, along with an impetuous drive within myself to be someplace I am not, are all pressing up against the enemy of the present moment that is the Future, which is to say the next present moment that is, in turn to be escaped as rapidly as possible into the next present moment; like a rushing crowd trying to get out of a burning building through a tiny exit. Having never stopped to live in the present moment, we one day run out of present moments and discover we have not lived at all. It is true in every present moment: You have all the time there is."

particularly applicable as i face down the preparations to do an arts thesis project. and pretty much just life in general.
top three moments this past week:
1. placing miniature dinosaur figurines in the model of the new look Regent college last tuesday night. it's been 4 days, and they are still there. i bust a gut laughing every time i walk by it. pictures to come.
2. sprinting with rochelle from safeway back to my house, carrying munchies and a carton of ice cream so we don't miss the beginning of the new lost episode.
3. reading sara's paper out loud to her as she typed furiously on my computer so she could turn in her paper for class. the things we do for our friends that aren't a big deal because of who they are.

plus, holding sienna is a highlight in and of itself. this is a given.

my job

a close up look at what i deal with about 10-12 hours each week.
i feed people's addictions, basically.