Blog Catch-Up: Medieval Times

For the past two weeks, I have been living in Medieval Times (minus turkey legs and the garb). That is to say, I've lived 2 weeks without cable and internet in my home. It was hard, but I caught up on some reading, some sleep, and became more closely acquainted with Redbox*.

Now I'm back, and will update you on the past two weeks:


1. New Job Update

I have found that regardless of where I work...I'd rather be at home. However, I'm really enjoying the new opportunity. I find myself busy, and working on projects that "expand my horizons." I miss my old co-workers, but the new ones are not too shabby. Very sociable, and lighthearted. Today, I was laughed at for like a solid 5 minutes because I didn't know how to spell "Booz Allen." I'm not ashamed to admit that I spelled it "Bose." Well, I'm a little ashamed.

2. New Home

Two weeks in the new apartment, and I won't lie to you...as of yet, I have used NONE of the amenities that were so important to me, except for the business center when I was in internet withdrawal. As for the rest:

1. Media Center - nope
2. Indoor basketball court - do I need my own ball? 
3. Pool - I had 4 days to go before it closed for the season. On the 5th day, I inquired about when the pool closed. Oops!
4. Billiards Room - I haven't pool hustled any residents yet. Yet!
5. Golf simulation - I think that's broken anyway...

I haven't even spent a lot of time with the new roomie...all in good time. I think we're destined to be pals...we have the same initials! So far, so good.

3. New Books

A Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm on book 3. It's a serious time commitment, but now there's no turning back for me. This really intensified the medieval feelings. If you're into medieval fantasy, magic, murder for power and that type of stuff...you'll like this.

4. Miscellaneous

*Redbox is a corrupt business. Perhaps even a sham. I tried to return a DVD, and the box wouldn't take it! There was some number to call...but I'm too lazy to do that! So that malfunctioning box cost me an additional $1.00 and applicable tax. Rude!

I actually went to the Renaissance Fair in Maryland last week. It was terrible, with the exception of a glass-blowing demonstration, and the joust. That joust was great. Hazaa! There were some minstrels (?) playing at the food area, and some random medieval belly-dancers shaking their groove thang for our entertainment. That was funny in a very sad way. But yet, I was still entertained.

On the non-secular side, methinks you should expect a future blog about Daniel.

Your Way or the Highway

I heard about a sermon preached in Toledo. I didn't hear it, but I wanted to read the story to see if it translated into a decent blog. Here goes!

Have you ever been in a really bad situation, that you prayed and expected God to deliver you out of? You know...you're sick, or you lost your job, or you are caught between two impossible decisions and need clarity?

In these sitches--because we're God's beloved children--we want:

1. Miraculous healing
2. Someone to call YOU and say: "I want you to come work for me"
3. You want to put an Old Navy Fleece out on the lawn at night, and find it dry in the morning

But we don't usually get our deliverance in those ways.

So it was with Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-19).

The situation: Naaman is a great guy, respected by all, beloved of his king, captain of the army, and valiant warrior. BUT, he also happens to be a leper. This sucks. Someone tells him that there is a prophet in Israel who can heal him, so he sets out in search of his miracle.


The miracle: When Naaman gets to Israel, the prophet Elisha says "go wash in the Jordan 7 times, and you'll be healed."


The reaction: Hold up, hold up...I came all this way to jump in a river? Why don't you lay hands on me, and just heal me? Do you know who I am? I'm a big deal...I need a big deal deliverance.

And herein lies the main point: WHY DO YOU CARE HOW YOU ARE DELIVERED?

The main point is deliverance. Do you want to be healed or not. Helped or not?

Sometimes...

1. Instead of the miraculous healing, you have lots of doctor's appointments, tests, and diagnoses and your healing comes later.
   
2. Instead of the divine job offer, you have to go on dozens of interviews and network when you're afraid. Then, months later the job you prayed for materializes,
   
3. Instead of signs and wonders (like the fleece), God shuts every other door, until you have only one choice...and there is your clarity.

For Naaman, he ultimately washed in the Jordan, did what he had to do, and he walked away healed. It might not look like you want, it might not come when you want, but sometimes...you just have to do what you have to do and walk away with your deliverance...regardless of how it came.

Things that Can Ruin Your Day

Today my day was ruined.

You might be wondering: what happened?

Did I have to work late? No.
Did I have a head-splitting migraine? Nope.
Did my car get towed? Not even.

I lost my chapstick.

This may seem like a small thing, but it is really quite serious. The tragedy of being chapstick-less occurs in stages:

1. OBLIVION

This is the stage where you don't realize your chapstick is lost. You're still all moisturized from the after-shower routine, and all is right with the world. You have no idea what the day has in store for you.

2. SLIGHT DRYNESS

Your mouth is a little dry, so you get up to get a glass of water. Then you realize, it's not that your mouth is dry...but your lips are starting to get a little brittle. No worries, you'll just put on some chapstick. You carelessly check your purse, but come up empty. That's odd...but nothing serious, it's probably just in one of the many pockets. You can check later.

3. AWARENESS

Now that you know your lips are a little dry, you can't help but lick them, bite them...touch them every 2 seconds. This is foolish behavior, because you KNOW this will only make the situation worse. But you can't stop yourself. Lick, lick. "Don't lick your lips!" Lick, lick. You know you're in trouble now, so you dig around  in your purse some more, take some things out, feel the linings of the purse to see if it's trapped inside. IT'S NOT IN THERE.

4. PANIC

You're licking your lips constantly at this point, and you're afraid to look people in the eye because you believe that your lips are ashen and disgusting to behold. You don't want to talk, drinking water just makes them more dry (and you're thirsty!). You go out to the car to see if you left it in the cup-holders. You push the seats back...NADA! You get out of the car, stand beside it, and look around to see if there is a convenience store on the horizon. You look with longing. But alas, you're in the middle of Executive-Park-Nowhere. You are doomed.

5. ESCAPE

The first chance you get you leave work, where all your thoughts have been consumed with "mylipsarechapped, mylipsarechapped, mylipsarechapped, mylipsarechapped" and you speed away to either your home (if you know chapstick is there) or to CVS (because you know chapstick is there).

This was my day today. It was horrific. I have chapstick now. Thanks for caring!

The Hunt

Why is it so important to have "the perfect place?" As I said in a previous post, I am apartment hunting, and suddenly I need everything to be "perfect."


Amenities - I need it all:  in-unit washer/dryer, dishwasher, central air, fitness center, pool

I never work out. I still can't swim. I still probably wash more dishes by hand than is necessary...so why are those things important?


Aesthetics - I want it to be gorgeous: hardwood floors, fireplace, granite countertops...can I get some exposed brick? Maybe a balcony?

I've never stoked a fire. Is granite easier to clean than tile/laminate? And what is my obsession with hardwood floors and exposed brick?! In my defense, carpet is disgusting. I don't think I can live through another carpet situation. Give me hardwood, or give me death. Ok, ok...not death. But at least get me a Dyson, or an awesome Red Devil as a trade-off. I think carpeted apartments should come with a vacuum cleaner (add "vacuum cleaner" to amenities).

Price - I need all this for less than $1000.

So cheap. Is that human nature? 

Odds are I'll have to settle. I just realized that the hunt for the perfect apartment is a lot like the dating hunt. Quick recap:

Amenties: I need it all - he cooks, he cleans, and he works a 40hr/week job that somehow pays 6 figures (40hr so he has time to cook, clean)
Aesthetics: I want him to be gorgeous - tall (6 feet), dark, handsome, with a washboard stomach and   a Bible in his hand
Price: Me (limited cleaning)


Odds are...hahaha

I Hate Change!

"There is nothing permanent except change" - Heraclitus

Usually, I'm quoting the Bible, but other peeps have good quotes too. I mean, God doesn't have the corner on great quotes...does He?

Blog, I am in flux. That's why I haven't written anything in so long. I have been alternately happy, stressed, depressed; change is not something I do well with. Change is difficult. One the road of my life, there are many changes ahead. Here is the short list:

1. New Job - I resigned my old position and start a new one in a week!
2. New Home - The home I've lived in and and loved for one awesome year is gone. And my roommates are all disbanding. It's like a death in the family, except 1) no dead body, 2) no funeral, 3) no tears (yet). But trust me, it's like a death!
• Side note: I'm homeless as of 8/31/11. If you have friends looking for a new roommate...refer me. I like living in community.

Wait...that's only two things! I kid you not, I started out thinking I would have 5 things. That's not even the short list. It is the whole list! Now I'm ashamed. 

Shame aside, the harsh feelings about change are legit, but they made me think of a scripture (2 Corinthians 5:17):

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

That's a change process that I look forward to.

But the idea that "new has come" appeals to me. New is something that I haven't seen or experienced before, so it's an adventure. And I'm choosing to embrace it!

Heading to Toledo to see the family!  Enjoy your weekend!

To Book or not to Book: Is That the Question?

Kindle vs "Real Book." By now it's a common, and somewhat played debate, but it crops up every now and again, testing our loyalty to...to what? The object of affection in both cases is the literary art form. What is in question is "delivery method." What are you loyal to: paper or graphite?

What I don't like about the debate regarding e-readers is this notion that based on the delivery method I choose, one thinks they can determine my character.  The Kindle/Nook user is supposedly not passionate about reading, because:

1. They don't value the sentimental part of reading
2. They don't share books
3. They don't choose a delivery method that grants them a keepsake

Based on the aforementioned, such a person is well-suited to their e-reader, b/c a "real book" in their hands is wasted: never shared and never re-read. This is "the same as burning it." But...but...


Sentimentality

sen·ti·ment [sen-tuh-muhnt]:

1. an attitude toward something; regard; opinion.
2. a mental feeling; emotion
3. refined or tender emotion; manifestation of the higher or more refined feelings

I don't need paper to be sentimental. The way I flipped out over the Hunger Games Trilogy...sentiment. No different from the shock I felt with every page of my paperback copy of Beloved. The way I cried over The Help...sentiment. Same as when I drenched the pages weeping over Summer Sisters in hardcover. I felt sentiment while reading books on my Kindle because the sentiment doesn't lie in the "delivery method" but in the storytelling.

Sharing


I was never huge on giving my stuff away. I still want to know where my Like Water for Chocolate is! I shared it...and now it's no longer mine. However, to me, sharing is more "Dude! Have you read the Hunger Games?! It's sooooo good." I have turned 6 people on to Hunger Games, and have discussed the Trilogy at length with each person. To me, that's sharing. At the end of the day, we all read it and we were all a revenue stream for the author. Some of us were E-readers, some of used "real books." I didn't share the Kindle. I shared the Hunger Games. Beyond that you can loan certain books on Kindle (though with tacky limitations). Kindle also has built-in Facebook and Twitter applications so you can share meaningful passages or crazy moments with friends. The experience on the e-reader can be shared. 


Keepsake


Kindles hold up to 3,500 books (not 200 as some might think), and I get to keep them...just not on a bookshelf.

Now onto the doozie. Calling someone a "book burner" is almost on the level of a slur, as it has political and cultural undertones that really aren't warranted for something as trivial as "Kindle vs. Paperback." The motivation for book burning is sometimes censorship, but more often than not, it is an act of hatred or contempt for the book's contents or author. Based on that hatred I wouldn't want anyone to have access to that book. It's an oppressive act. Just because my sentiment doesn't look like someone else's, or I don't share in the same manner or I don't have a cluttered bookshelf doesn't make me a villain.

The Change

All that being said, I grew up with books. I remember being 7 or 8, and checking James and the Giant Peach out of the Mt. Vernon Elementary school library;  that is the book that started my love affair with literature. My mom made me read Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre before I even hit puberty. I was that geek with a book on the bus to and from school in jr. high and high school (believe me, I was picked on). I spent my summers at the library.

Grad school and working in public accounting (65-70 hr work weeks) were the end of the love affair. I simply didn't have time to read. From the time I was 23 to 27, I probably read 11 books total (7 of which were Harry Potter).

Saving Grace

This past Christmas I received an Amazon Kindle. Next to my GPS it has been the most utilized Christmas present I've received in years. Since that time I've read 12 books, and I have 7 recently downloaded and ready for reading (4 of which are the Game of Thrones series). I'm excited!


I appreciate my Kindle. I feel like its given something back to me. Something that I feel sentimental about, and so I guess I take issue when someone tells me I don't love reading because I own a Kindle. I love reading...thus I own a Kindle.

 

How about...What if HE were here now?

So maybe you've heard the outcry about the Newsweek cover that some critics are calling "ghoulish." Click here for the CNN article.

I don't know...when I look at it, I just sort of wish that Princess Di was still here. I wish that she had the chance to meet her daughter-in-law and see her son SO happy. I look at that picture, and there is something of sadness, but (in my opinion) this cover, and the story within, is nothing more than a wish. A wish that Princess Di could have lived to celebrate her 50th birthday. It's a wish that she'd had 14 more years of doing more philanthropic good, and 14 more years of raising her children. I remember her televised funeral, "Candle in the Wind", and all that. Admittedly, I cried.

I asked my officemate, and she thought the article cover was distasteful, and was only printed to increase sales. So...I see the point that some people are making. She's dead. Let her rest in peace. We don't know what she could've been, what she would've been...so to speculate publicly with digitally altered photos may be wrong.

Thoughts on this?

Debate on the appropriateness of the cover aside, I saw the Newsweek title: If She Were Here Now, and I wondered: What if He Were Here Now. He being Jesus Christ.

And my first thought was: Luke 18:8

However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

If He were here now, what would he find?

Just sayin'...