random sass & musing™

no more bad moods today, although it is a blah monday. more rain, enough rain that we could float away. i might not argue so much to climb aboard an ark in twosies. it's like your own private get-away!

i've been pondering lots of loose ends in my life, areas where i'm in a holding patttern, simply circling the airport, waiting to land. i'm not so content with that, not that i'm always called to be content with it. but, i would imagine that being at the place where we recognize God's supremacy over our own should allow us to be content in that situation. i'm just not there yet.

i wonder if i can take all the loose ends & make something pretty with them, or if i'll just let them drag & become dirty & frayed. kinda like one of my favorite pairs of jeans. except not.

in other news, i am obsessed with fig newtons lately. i crave them like nobody's business. that & spicy vegetable rolls from sushi blues.

i am in such a foul mood today. there's no particular one thing that caused it, just general estrogen & small annoyances converging to cause an implosion, i suppose.

cat & i saw the wedding date last night. another transparent & unsubstantial romantic comedy. i don't think i was in the mood for it, but it was relatively entertaining. yes, love really is that bewildering & unlikely, i'm guessing. it's been awhile for me so remembering that experience is foggy.

lexi redebuted her site, waitcomeback. nice girl, that lexi.

look, it's a fetus journal!

"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."
-C.S. Lewis

my inherit selfishness sometimes sickens me.

i suppose it is a comfort knowing that i'm not alone in that boat. we're all born pathetic & inherently selfish creatures. as a newborn we can do nothing for ourselves. we are at the mercy of our parents to care for us, to hold up our neck until we gain strength as we age. we can't even focus our eyes until that, too, is a learned experience.

at some point in my life i learned that my self was the most important person in my world. most likely because it was the common denominator in that world. i imagined my self doing this, that & the other; i primped myself; i experimented with my self, i hurt my self; & i stretched my self.

this entry alone shows my love of self & the word "self". what a cliché, but most likely not as clichéd as this site. that's a comfort.

the peaceful view from the lower patio at holly & andy's newest abode. cows & mountains.

it's shazzbutt, the super pug. also known as "the butt". heh.

an amazing swirled confection of a chapel. looking upwards it looks like a galaxy of stars & candy pane windows.

interior pipe organ bathed in light in RMWC chapel for the islam conference. oh, shiny!

a few things i've been meaning to mention but haven't had the time to do so:

(1) uncommon goods is one of my new favorite browsing grounds.
(2) my readymade mag subscription should have arrived by now but alas it has not graced my mailbox. why you gotta make a sister wait so, i ask?!
(3) of note in blogs i peruse, there is the newest addition (to me) of drew's blog to the dubyadubyadubya. it's a pity i had to find out by link to another blog! but i'll forgive & forget since he & his work crew will be performing around here soonly.
(4) i'd be remiss not to mention that shua's newest addition, hrtwrk.com began beating on february 14. i was busy elsewhere with some valentiney plans so i'm a bit late to the game but you won't want to miss. that kid has talent. i haven't talked to him in ages though but i'm guessing that since hrtwrk's beating he's alive & well.
(5) three more weeks until i am in pennyslvania with eric. it is my hope much will be determined then. prayers are coveted.

and now time for the weekend update.

headed to lynchburg to visit with holly & andy. they bought a new place over the summer & holly & i seem to always have opposing weekend plans so this has been in the works since last fall. her job as an international student recruiter for randolph-macon women's college keeps her busy traveling much of the year. at any rate, it turned out to be somewhat of a working weekend for her as she had to attend a seminar entitled Pathways to Understanding II: Media Images of Islam and America at Home and Abroad. being a good (& curious) friend, i was happy to go along with her to keep her company.

i found the seminar both interesting & vague, although we did only attend one morning session. the speaker for that session was nihad awad, the executive director and co-founder of the council on american-islamic relations. there were many allusions to misperception by americans of the muslim faith, as well as phrasings that were correct in theory, but upon closer examination were incorrect. for example, he made statements several times to the effect that islam, christianity & judaism were all sister faiths. he also indicated that christians need to back of of believing that they need Jesus because they already know Jesus. one could argue that while islam was descended from ishmael, that alone does not make it a sister faith. one can also argue that they may know a Jesus, but not in particular my Jesus.

this article from the local paper described the event before it happened but i have yet to find an article detailing the outcome of the day. i was impressed with the calibre of speakers they were able to procure for such an event.

i was also impressed with RMWC's chapel design, which prompted me to take pictures which i'll post momentarily.

the weekend was not documented as much in pictures as i might wish, but it does give a quaint picture of holly & andy's newest abode & their funny little dog.

i'im quite blessed to have friends that i've had since i was but a babe in the woods. which reminds me of the time holly & myself & a couple others got lost in the woods when i was about age 7. apparently i wasn't so concerned that we managed to walk over 5 miles from our house in the woods; i was more concerned that my mom would be mad that i wasn't home for dinner.

my, how times have changed.

it's really sad that they have the lyrics to the gummi bears tv theme song. it's even sadder that i googled it. but don't be hatin' because i had a reason. while playing with my gummi bears at work today (before i decapitated them), the song popped into my head & it's on replay. at least i should know the lyrics.

Dashing and daring,
Courageous and caring,
Faithful and friendly,
With stories to share.
All through the forest,
They sing out in chorus,
Marching along,
As their song fills the air.
CHORUS:
Gummi Bears,
Bouncing here and there and everywhere.
High adventure that's beyond compare,
They are the Gummi Bears.

Magic and mystery,
Are part of their history,
Along with the secret,
Of gummiberry juice.
Their legend is growing,
They take pride in knowing,
They'll fight for what's right,
In whatever they do.

CHORUS

(Repeat first verse)

CHORUS

Gummi Bears,
When a friend's in danger they'll be there,
Lives and legends that we all can share,
They are the Gummi Bears,
They are the Gummi Bears,
They are the Gummi Bears!

stop looking at me funny.

it's been awhile
... since i wrote a full post.
... since i intentionally mused life.
... since i had those conversation hearts.
... since i've spent time actually reflecting on God's will in my life & how i'm fulfilling that or making strides to fulfill that.
... since i've had a valentine.
... since i've spent time with my family.
... since i've spent time with some of my closest friends, uninterrupted, reminsicing about the days of old.
... since i've been truly grateful.

the entire holiday of valentine's baffles me. we celebrate a day of love which many people assume should simply include their romantic love interest. in the grand scheme of things, we could easily say that this hallmark holiday is something that we should in theory practice all year long.

i've never been a v-day hater. even when single, i've enjoyed the vibe which i attribute to pheromones flying through the air. there is simply a breeziness about valentine's day, even when the weather is gray & cloudy.

1 corinthians 13:13
...these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

paul had such a story to tell about how love should permeate every part of our life because we were created to love God & love others. why the turmoil over a day created with love in mind? why the focus on the have nots rather than the haves?

i preach at nobody in particular other than myself. sometimes God must look at my heart & see such selfishness & corrosion. i have much to learn but i'm happy to learn it.

here's hoping your valentine's was a delight. mine sure was.

happy vday, not vd. i rant on it every year, but people should take care not to say "happy vd" on this day. it's just .... gwoss.

in the spirit of friday free for all, which napoleon dynamite character are you?

moi? i'm napoleon.
yessssssssssssssssssssssssss.



Napoleon Dyanamite
(Please rate my quiz)


Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
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simplicity & materialism.

i've been considering these topics, juxtaposed with one another, for some time now, preparing for leading a discussion on these topics for our home group. it's interesting to see the synonyms for simplicity:

artlessness, candor, chastity, clarity, classicality, clean lines, clearness, directness, ease, easiness, elementariness, guilelessness, homogeneity, ingenuousness, innocence, integrity, modesty, monotony, naivety, naturalness, naïveté, obviousness, openness, plainness, primitiveness, purity, restraint, severity, singleness, straightforwardness, uniformity, unity

many of those aren't what i'd consider positive qualities. i doubt i'd appreciate being called artless or guileless or monotonous or naive or plain. but when i think of simplicity, i think of freshness, of a crisp cleanness. maybe it's because i associate my childhood with my more simplisitic nature. it's no secret that we become so much more convoluted & complex as we age. experience has a way of guiding your future experiences.

sometimes i wish i was five years old again, where the most complex thing i had to consider was how to tie my shoes or what game to play. but then i recall that at age five i had experienced very little in my short life. i wouldn't trade my experiences now to be back at that age.

in this case, we are examining simplicity as it pertains to materialism. some may put these two concepts into an objective category, but i'd place them in the subjective category. my simplicity is not your simplicity; my materialism is not your materialism. all of our thoughts on these matters are formed & swayed by our own experiences. at the same time, i think it is clear that our desires should not be so focused on a particular object or person that we simply forego our dependence on Christ. if our materialistic desires (yes, even those that many want to term as "not materialistic .... that $15 CD, that $3 latte we purchase every morning) are becoming our God, that's the bigger issue then whether it was a penchant for collecting artful web addresses or collecting million dollar cars.

materialism's roots are more in what rules your life than the actual objects which become the focus. if having a ferrari is your life goal & you are willing to sacrifice anything & everybody in your life to obtain that goal, chances are you are so sucked into what you see that material object providing to you that you simply miss other blessings placed in your path.

i consider "materialism" to be a word that is thrown around so often that people make unprecedented accustations at times, simply based on what a person owns. hence, the subjective nature of the materialism & simplicity beast. the US is one of the richest countries, if not the richest, in the world & considered to be the most materialistic by many. i can't fault that perception. we are some selfish people in our daily life, we are gaining independence from one another despite being created for relationship with our fellow earth-dwellers. we are replacing people with objects, whether it be a one-time purchase of a computer or a drive to purchase the latest vehicle upon release to the public.

add judgmental to that assessment & we have a nation of spoiled people who judge one another for (1) their material possessions &/or (2) how they choose to spend their money on material things.

i'm still muddling through some of these things in my head but welcome comments from the peanut gallery. thoughts?

erik - so suave.

andy m - he's the meanest of the mean. see the twitch in his eye?

it's V-A! my coworker gets dragged out bowling with my home group but she likes it, she really likes it!

jon b, showing his triumphant bicep training program. FEAR!

earlilion (a/k/a PTL with earlimart performing together) - yeah, they're up there, somewhere. great photo-taking skills of mine, eh?

heather & hao (with a guest appearance by my very own glasses) at the PTL/earlimart show. hao is so pimp!

sarah & her cowbuddies!

our cow friends were amused. they watched us for two hours straight, bewildered by the strange humans riding inflatable inner tubes down a 70 degree slope. they need bubbles above their heads stating, "stupid humans".

just the girls & the snow. from l-r, sarah, me & deen-deen. it was freakin' cold (hence the pink cheeks) & we were about to embark on our inner-tubing adventure. God help us ....

a weekend in boone with the newlyweds, deena & philip (not pictured here). this is their sideyard at the old farmhouse .... cows & a bridge, a bridge & cows.

jeffrey & i, not to be outdone, show off our mad skills of the ability to ... eat our feet. that's talent, folks. talent.

a night with the salchert kids two weeks ago yielded ryan showing off his mad skills of contortion. thumbs up!

nah-uh. i don't believe it.

in all the time i've been drinking the liquid goodness that is diet dr. pepper, i have yet to win anything. today i was rewarded with a $50 giftcard to any of these merchants. but i'll bet there's a catch, like promising my firstborn.

it might be worth it for a $50 giftcard to adidas.com or courtyard by marriott or crate & barrel or old navy or restoration hardware. i'm just sayin'.