Forward and Onward and Remembering Back

I'm looking forward to my 4 day 4th of July weekend. Very much so. I have a month left here. It's getting real. And hard. I had a very good day. Sunday school and the service were very good, and then we had a cookout at the house/property of one of the couple's from church. It was a lot of fun.

I need to go. It's dark and I'm at work. And I heard a noise.

Edit: Made it home safe. :-) I think the noise was the sprinklers.

Hott Jstor Bag

I have a Jstor bag. Jstor is an online resource of journal articles dealing with history, economics, culture, etc. It is a very useful resource, and I have a bag with its logo on it. Nerdy, I know, but it's one of the perks of working in a library. I have received some comments about it, but they are usually "You have a Jstor bag?" (implying...weird, why would you have a Jstor bag, etc.) At church however, one of my ex-professors told me that a guy I know asked where he could get a hott Jstor bag. Yes, my Jstor bag is nerdily hott. :-)

I also learned, from the same professor, that there is a book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It is Pride and Prejudice with zombies added in. I am very curious, but MelCat wouldn't let me order it, even though it was available at one library, so I may try again later.

Hi There. My Master Made Me This Collar So That I May Talk. Squirrel!

I have had a very busy and wonderful past couple of days. This was the first time that I was away from my family on my birthday, and I missed them. But, I was able to celebrate with friends, and phone calls and speaker phone are great things. On Thursday, my actual birthday, we had the all college picnic, and I had more fun than I thought I would. After the potluck, different departments competed in games, and it was so fun and funny. The president also went around squirting people with squirt guns and water hoses. Good times. I managed to avoid most of the water. I got a sunburn and sore muscles as mementos from that day. :-) Then, my friend came over and we went to Jackson for dinner and then to see the Fantasticks at the community theater where I did the Plays in May. It was a good show, and we made it just in time, as the restaurant was a half hour to 45 minutes away from the theater. It was fun to see some of my cast mates again. The theater is like its own community, and I am now a part of that. I was also able to speak with the director of the reader's theater, and it is still going to happen, and I most likely have a part in the Glass Menagerie. I can't wait!

Then, on Friday I went to the drive-in theater and watched Up with another one of my friends. The experience was heightened by the fact that it was raining and lightning out, and when it stormed on screen, the wind sound effects made us a bit nervous. :-) I was somewhat nervous anyway, as I am not a fan of storms. It is a really good movie. I highly recommend it, but it's different from what you may expect. Pixar is very good with character development. (The title quote is from Dug, the talking dog.) I then spent the night with my friend and we visited the Michigan museum the next day. Unfortunately, half of it was closed for remodeling, but I enjoyed it anyway. I should post some pics of us with our faces in the cutouts. We are serious suffragettes. :-) I also bought Anna Karenina and a book on sea myths, ghost ships, etc. I found them for a really good price at Barnes and Noble. And they're hardback! I couldn't resist. :-) I'm a book addict. Which is one of the reasons I'm going to library school.

On Tuesday, I am going to a Tigers/Cubs game in Detroit, and I am excited! Go Cubs!

I plan on relaxing today. The sermon was very good today. It was about how without God, life has no meaning and it is all relative. I needed to get my focus back on track, and it was a good service for it.

Toodle-00

Drip Drip Drop Little April Showers (in June)

I hope my last post generated thought and discussion. It was not an endorsement of following natural inclinations (I am very much a fan of self control), but of pointing out that not all natural inclinations are bad and my frustration with people who admit that there is an innate desire for God but deny the validity of that desire.

It has been very rainy lately. It looks like it's going to rain again today. I wish it wouldn't, as I'd like to go on a walk this evening.

I have been watching the A&E miniseries Ivanhoe, and I am a bit startled to find that I kind of like the Normans. I don't know what's come over me, as I've always been firmly on the side of the Anglo Saxons. I think it may be because I have learned more about the Normans with my job, and I am really interested in Norman Sicily. Coins of Norman Sicily are rather interesting, and there was an interesting dynamic there. I ordered a book from another library about it, and I hope to read it this summer. I don't know much about the Normans in England, and I'm still on the side of the Anglo Saxons, but I have a bit of sympathy for the Normans that was never there before. The portrayal in the miniseries and the very poor hair and makeup job on Ivanhoe may have something to do with it. If I re-read the book I'll probably be back on the Anglo Saxon side of things.

It is getting difficult, as I really want to go to Bloomington and start library school, but I still have 2 months to go and little to fill the time between. I'm really hoping to hear something about the reader's theater, but I just don't know.

Just a Closer Walk With Thee, Grant it Jesus This My Plea

There is an article in a magazine called "New Scientist" that was published in February about belief in God. The article says gods, mythology, afterlife, etc., but I'm going to say God. Here's a quote from the article. "Based on these and other experiments, Bering considers a belief in some form of life apart from that experienced in the body to be the default setting of the human brain. Education and experience teach us to override it, but it never truly leaves us, he says." So, some scientists believe that it is an innate and natural part of being a human being to belief in God, but we shouldn't give in to that natural "impulse"? This really rankles me, especially as people who believe this probably also believe that one should give in to natural impulses instead of repressing them, i.e. sexuality. Why would we have an innate desire for the eternal, for something greater than and outside of ourselves and this temporal realm if it wasn't true? That is such a cruel idea, and it would be the world's greatest delusion if it were true, but it's not. There is more to this world than what we can see, touch, taste, etc, and I am looking forward to the day when my sinfulness and limitations are removed and I can truly experience God and finally come alive.
Also, I am reading "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer, and I really like this quote.
"The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain." So many times we focus on doing for God, when we should be focusing on being for God. Just "to be" in Him.

Curiouser and Curiouser

I'm pretty sure I won't have internet at my house for the next two months, but at least I can come in and use my work computer.

Yesterday was gorgeous, but it is warmer today and overcast.

When I walked by the lake yesterday, I saw two guys on horseback and wearing cowboy hats. It made me happy.

I think of things to blog about, but then I get in front of my computer and nothing comes. Sigh.

I'm not sure why my quotes all tend to be Lewis Caroll, but he has good quotes.

Greeks and Romans and Persians Oh My!

There is a sense of accomplishment, not quite euphoria, but akin to it, in completing a coin attribution. When you figure out the missing information and match it in the ID book, it's pretty awesome.