Female Merit Badges - so different from the Girl Scout badges I used to earn.
I've had a headache since the 21st. That's 10 days, people. And no drugs have helped. I'm sick of it. And then last night as I was walking to my car, I slipped and fell, snapping the fingernail of my right pointer finger halfway across (in the pink section). So now it's hard to type. I should just go home & go back to bed. The only interesting part of my day was when one of the department's grad students stood & chatted with me for 4 minutes while he waited to use the microwave. I got a weird vibe - one of those "are you being friendly or are you being FRIENDLY?" sort of things. But we tend to attract some real freaks around here, so who knows.
I've been thinking about Sunday's gathering and feeling kind of disturbed. We prayed for the earthquake victims, which was good, but then both Doug and Lance were encouraging people to go over there. As they'd just told us "planeloads of people have been turned away from trying to help", I'm not sure what the point of it all was. And Lance's spiel just came off to me as manipulative. Why the hell should we assume that someone at the Porch is "called" to go to Iran? Honestly. Why there, specifically? Just because they're currently in the news? Can any of us really do any good there right now? Why wouldn't we be called or sent to other places in the world which are equally in need of people to be God's hands (including right here in MN)? It just seems really presumptuous to declare that you're sure this is something God wants. And I say that as someone who has - in the past - been fairly sure that God is speaking through me or others about a specific situation.
So yeah. Rambling. But I HATE feeling manipulated. It's partly what drove me out of my past church and I don't want to see it at the Porch. Grr.
Badger Badger Badger Mushroom Mushroom Snake!
Can't leave before the snake.
Heh.
I have been counting down the days until solstice, telling myself, "Only one more week until days start getting longer." These are the times where I realize how closely the rhythms of my life are tied to nature.
Last night we had the Christmas art gathering Novena at church. The word "novena" reminds me of "nova" - and appropriately, I guess, since a star plays such a major part in the Christmas story. I was just looking at some astronomy photos online. I am struck with wonder at their beauty, at the power and energy expended in the creation of a star, and the miracle of God choosing to dwell on this particular little planet circling one of countless suns.
I was reading about terrible christmas songs and was reminded of a project I did in seventh grade - The First Book of Demented Songs and Rhymes. Sadly, I cannot provide the accompanying illustration to my version of "Here Comes Santa Claus," but rest assured, it was everything you could imagine. Masked reindeer, knives, guns. Oh yeah, baby.
Here Comes Santa Claus
Here Comes Santa Claus
Here Comes Santa Claus
Bleeding down Santa Claus lane.
He won't have any gifts for us,
'Cause he's been mugged again.
Donner & Blitzen & all the reindeer
Jumped him not an hour ago.
They knifed him in an alleyway,
Then left him in the snow.
Last night at church, Doug spoke about the origins of some of our holiday traditions. Then this afternoon, while reading Relapsed Catholic, I ran across some additional info on Saint Nicholas. I never knew there was a reason that we always got an orange in the toe of our stockings!
I finally got my flu shot today. The U's clinic was supposed to run 1-7 and they announced they had 840 doses of vaccine. When I showed up at 12:30, there were already several hundred people in line. We wandered down hallways & through tunnels, the line doubling back on itself at times. It was clear that recent news stories have done their job of inspiring a sense of desperation; until this week, there were no lines for shots. Last night they said that people stood outside in single-digit weather for 4 hours to get shots.
A woman handed each person a xerox of flu information, saying that tehy had exactly as many as they had doses. So no xerox, no shot. They also started giving the shots at 12:30, rather than one.
Despite the looonnnnggg line, it moved incredibly quickly. (It helped that they had 8 people to fill out the info forms and 10 giving shots.) From the time I got in line to the time I left the building, it was about 45 minutes. As I left, I heard a girl calling her mom on a cellphone to say that by 1:05 they had already run out of vaccine (or handed all out all the xeroxes that guaranteed you a shot).
The other excitement of the day is that my new bed arrived. It's a beautiful headboard. Unfortunately, the feet on the cross bars are too short; they don't reach the floor. We've filled in the gaps until the replacement parts can be shipped to me.
Dear Lord, forgive me for projecting my present condition into the future. If I feel dark, the future looks dark; if I feel bright, the future looks bright. But who am I to know what life will be like for me tomorrow, next week, next year, or ten years from now? Who am I to know who you will be for me in the year ahead? Lord, I will not bind you with my limited ideas and feelings. You can do many things with me, things that might seem impossible to me. I want to remain open to the free movement of your Spirit in my life. Why do I keep saying to myself: "I will never be a saint. I will never be able to overcome my impulses and desires." If I keep saying that, I might prevent you from healing me. Help me to be free to let you enter my heart however you desire. Amen. (Henri Nouwen)
(via Going Jesus)
Last night I made cranberry sauce for the first time. Put some water (less than a cup, I think) in a small pot and dump in a bag of cranberries. Simmer until soft & squish the berries. (Be careful - I had one explode all over the stove & wall.) Add sugar to taste (about a cup?).
It was easy. And fast. And yummy.
I will never buy cranberry sauce again.
I was amazed that it jelled on its own; for some reason, I thought you'd have to add something to make it do that.
Mmm... cranberries.....
Twinkle-eyed snow beguiles me,
dusting the chaos of footprints with silver dust,
beckoning me to walk
added 12/10 - all sorts of mystery goodness
Sometimes I'm just left speechless.
maxi pad bedroom slippers
tampon angel Christmas tree ornaments
The Satanic Hampster Dance. Now leave me alone so I can do some work.
