zehn

1. Dabney is here! It is so great to catch up.
2. Good times were definitely had by all at Open Door/Kings last night. :0)
3. I'm going to New Orleans tomorrow!!!
4. Packing for two climates was not as difficult as I'd anticipated!
5. It's super-sunny outside today.
6. My roses are still alive and pretty after a week and a half.
7. Marne's getting married...today!
8. Quoting movies and someone else following up with the next line.
9. I get to see J, Mat, and Rachey in 6 days! :0)
10. I'm wearing my turkey shirt right now and it's truly awesome.

:0) :0) :0) :0) :0)

After having such a stressful second term, life is so wonderfully happy and exciting now! Hurray! Hope all is well with y'all!

Bye! :0)

woooot.

1. I'M DONE!!!!! (And, as it happens, I rock).
2. I got to hang out with Stacey tonight. We have too much fun together.
3. Dabney will be here in under 17 hours!!!!!
4. Um, it's Spring Break. Helllllooo!
5. T.O.D. tomorrow night (though my stay will be shorter than normal).
6. I'll get to have fun bonding time with Tom on the way to the airport on Sunday!
7. Oreo milkshakes with extra chunks of oreo on the bottom.
8. Singing along (and, for me, harmonizing) to a really great cd.
9. Hot pink dresses.
10. Giddiness. To the max.

Smile! :0) Bye.

2*5

More reasons to be happy:

1. 2 finals down, 1 paper only moments from completion, 1 paper to go
2. 2/3/4/9/11
3. people who give really thoughtful and genuine compliments
4. when underdogs are successful
5. solid (if surprising) connections
6. hearing a piece of music in a new and meaningful way
7. my dishes are clean! yes!
8. glasses that are always at least half full
9. sunshine
10. laughter that comes straight from the gut.

bye! :0)

11-1.

Ten more:

1. One final done, and, tomorrow at this time, I may have only ONE PAPER LEFT!
2. 3/4/5/10/12 (you should know what these numbers mean by now)
3. Great conversations.
4. Peg and Rick didn't make too much fun of me when they saw me trip in the courtyard...
5. The weather's supposed to be reasonable enough for me to not have flight delays this weekend
6. People who know me well enough to interpret my smile.
7. More NO logistics are figured out!!!
8. I got to talk to J and Rachey today (who, apparently, is going to watch "The Puppet Show" with me when I'm in town)
9. I might be done with my papers and finals by Thursday night, which means I could hang out with some chuppers!
10. I have been doing my Happy Dance over and over again! :0)

oxnwieln.

Bye. :0)

les dix choses.

Happy. And here's why:

1. spinach artichoke dip (oddly enough, i've had spinach in some form everyday since thursday).
2. ben and i just played the "my family's better than your family" game over AIM and i won!
3. this time tomorrow, i'll be done with my first final!!
4. my weekend was a-ma-zing. i have new people, and they're faaaaabulous.
5. dabney: 4 days; wedding: 5 days; New Orleans/Homans: 6 days; Chicago: 11 days; Ben to Chicago: 13 days....dude. this is going to be the best break ever.
6. i've had permagrin since friday evening.
7. surprising dad last night at asbury :0)
8. dave's generosity
9. my stress level is relatively low, given that it's finals week!
10. life is just happy and sunny! :0)

bye :0)

dodgeball.

Last night was oodles of fun. Yes, oodles.

I went down to The Open Door at 6 and got to shoot a few hoops, play some dodgeball (I got hit in the face...twice...) and laugh a lot. It was a good night for me to show up, too, as they were short volunteers (thanks to the 30-Hour Famine across the street). Stacey and I, of course, took time to debrief on everything (she got stuck in Arts & Crafts while I got to play games), and we talked about silly things, as per usual.

At 10, a group of us decided to go to the Sharp Edge on 60, and our group ended up being: Kayla, Scott, Kelly, Steve, Stacey, Joe, and me (plus Adam and Jessica were there too, but at a different table). We had a great time...oh-so-much laughter. There was actually a point where Stacey and I exploded with such laughter (and, so, snorting) that we got Steve to start crying he was laughing so hard at us. Also, Joe has promised me that, based on terms that we established, he will wear Browns clothing next season...of course, the Browns have to go at least 9-7...but I wasn't about to be anything other than confident. I also told him I'd go shopping with him for all of his new brown and orange apparel. Yes indeed.

As it happens, I also managed to get a fair amount of work done yesterday, and am writing this to take a break from the work I happen to be getting done today. Hurray! I am going bowling later on this evening with the chuppers, and then some of us are going to hang out (and possibly watch Zoolander...so hot right now).

I have to compensate for my embarrasing showing the last time I was at the lanes...or else they might not let me come back. Well, they will, but I'm far too competitive to settle for the lackluster performance of two weeks ago... :0)

I might be driving to Cleveland (well, Asbury) tomorrow to surprise Dad. I hope the weather holds out because he would be so thrilled, I think. :0)

Ok, back to work...or finding another way to procrastinate.

Bye! :0)

joke.

Remember that joke (if you're my dad, it's the best joke ever) that asks, "Why was six afraid of seven?" And the punch line is "'Cause seven eight nine" and all that jazz?

Well:

7 days until Dabney
8 days until Marne's wedding
9 days until New Orleans
(and 14 until Chicago/16 until Ben comes to Chicago, though those aren't actually a part of the joke).

Here's what I have to do:

1. PS02 Journal--> 15 pages, due when I leave
2. TH02 Final-->1 page of typed info, review all books, and the final's on Tuesday afternoon
3. OT02 Final--> Wednesday morning
4. OT41 Paper--> 8 pages, due when I leave [and all the research it necessitates]
5. Work-->next Tues. and Thurs.
6. Pack!
7. A bit of laundry
8. Dishes
9. CHUP on Sat., Sun., Tues., Thurs.
10. Clean before Dabney arrives
11. Community Life committee meeting--> Monday
12. Giant Eagle/Bank/etc.

Actually, this list isn't too scary. I've had much more stressful finals before, and I've finished with a great timecrunch. (Last term, I was actually bored all day Thursday because I finished by Wednesday and just had to sit around, waiting for Ben to arrive).

Wow...this blog may be the most exciting of them yet. And by exciting, I clearly mean boring (to all of you anyway). But, I love lists, I just can't help myself.

Ok, bye :0)

7:30.

today began on a pleasant note: i got to talk to conor! we only spoke for about a half an hour, but i was still nice to catch up briefly, especially given that he left for japan shortly after. as it turns out, he's moving in november....to VIRGINIA! that's much more convenient than either Korea or Guam. mom and i had a conversation about him the other day. it was an interesting one...but we both concluded that, weird as it is, my friendship with conor is really cool. :0)

now i'm waiting for miss xander and/or mr. lignos to call me. and we're most likely hanging out this evening. woohoo! :0)

byeeee :0)

decision.

Ok, here's a question (or several): when does practicality lose its weight? How much should a possibility be assessed for its practicality when so many impractical things about it make so much sense in their own ways? how much does practicality actually do? is there really a whole lot of merit in planning way out into the future if we refuse to live in and for the present? can it ever be okay to do things on a whim? or to interrupt what seemed like a great plan to go for something that, initially seems outlandish, but might ultimately turn out the be the best plan? how much caution should be thrown to the wind? does giving something up now have to mean giving it up entirely? is putting something "on hold" a recipe for disaster and failure? if i'm meant to do something, won't i ultimately get to doing it at some point anyway?

these questions, and more, are floating through my head. i keep talking to people whose opinions i trust and they all offer incredibly compelling and thoughtful responses to my predicament--and fall on both sides of the issue.

i'm tired and confused. bye. :0)

parades.

Ok, now I am really starting to get excited about Spring Break.

Don't get me wrong, I've been excited for quite awhile, but now that it's only 11 days away, the thrill is all the greater.

This is all especially true because Michael and I have been exchanging emails today, figuring out the details of how I will meet up with everyone!!!! Hurray!! I am so excited to see them! And it doesn't even end there! Because, right after, it will be off to Chicago! Hurray!

Clearly, I now have lots of energy.

But, let's take a look at things: I get to see Dabney, who I haven't seen in almost 2 years (whoa!), Marne, who I haven't seen in longer than that, the Homans, who I haven't seen in various amounts of time, and the Smiths, who I haven't seen since December (and they're mi familia, after all). Brilliant!

I realize that I'm becoming slightly redundant, having mentioned my upcoming trips and the people I will see as a portion of the content in several blogs. I don't care. It's my blog and I'll repeat if I want to! :0)

Is it a bit ridiculous that I am now more interested in packing than I am in finishing my finals/papers/etc.? Probably. Oh well. This is how things always are--I always have to get through finals, and then I have some fabulous event following immediately on the tails of a crazy academic week. And I still manage to get all of my work done. Woohoo! :0)

(As an incredibly lame sidenote: the chain of emails between Michael and me lacks a subject. So, right now, it says "re: re: re:" which reminds me very much of when Garth Algar stabs Mr. Donut Man in Wayne's World which, of course, is an intertextual echo that harkens back to Psycho. I hope somebody, besides me, can follow that logic. If not, I'm satisfied knowing that I've at least amused myself).

Hurray! 5 terms (almost) finished! Only 4 to go!!! :0) Bye. :0)

sooo...

Ok, here are a few things to say:

1. Valentine's Day: Not a total bust. Brian was oh-so-thoughtful and got me 2 roses and took me to dinner. :0)

2. I got 3 new movies for $26. I win!

3. Suddenly, this huge and potentially life-changing possibility has come before me, and I don't know what to do (so J, I'll be calling you!). It could completely alter every goal that I have right now, but it would really be reverting back to some goals I had in previous years.

4. My chupper friends are great. It's nice to be forming some incredibly solid relationships there. It makes me smile. :0)

5. I'm watching "Hero" right now.

6. 12 days to NO, 17 days to Chicago.

7. I'm no longer doing my IS with Dr. Tuell. Instead, I'm doing a different one with Dr. Creach. Apparently, the entire OT dept. has been having meetings and exchanging emails about my topics and ideas, and they're all really excited about things. This is both encouraging and fabulous.

8. Good night. :0)

a.d.d.

On Brad Listi:

Brad Listi is the author of a newly-released book, Attention.Deficit.Disorder. He is an unbelievably talented and engaging author...though I haven't even read the book yet. I follow his blogs closely, and have been in contact with him on a number of occasions. Also, on the cover of the book is a sillhouette, cut from a road map. Directly in the center? Cleveland, Ohio. He told me that he requested it on purpose. He later informed me that he has a soft spot in his heart for Cleveland, given our affinity to losing athletic battles in a clinch (or, just losing them outright, as the case may be). I have always stood for supporting the little guy, so I figured I'd give Brad a free advertisement for all...uh...10 people (maybe) who read this blog. Read his book. He recently finished the manuscript for a second one. I'll probably promote that one too.

On Job:

ADD isn't just relevant because I wanted to offer Brad some publicity. Indeed, I think I was afflicted with the disorder temporarily this afternoon. I think, further, that Josh B. and Josh S. (to my left and right in class, respectively) were also dealing with this particular situation. While the following events will not be listed in chronological order, they are a summation of things that happened between 1:30 and 4:00 this afternoon:

1. Josh S. hits me while I'm taking a drink, causing me to almost spit out my water onto my computer.
2. Josh B. purposely knocks my nalgene off the table, onto the level below us.
3. I knock Josh B.'s pen off the ledge in retalation for #2.
4. I turn toward Josh B. while taking a drink of water, at which point Josh S. screams my name loudly into my ear, thus making me spit out water...so, it appears, his mission in #1 was accomplished.
5. I played lots of hearts and minesweeper. At various points, both Josh S. and Josh B. had comments.
6. Josh B. pointed out a passage in the OT and told me I should preach on it. The passage had to do with complacent women needing to strip down and beat their bare breasts.
7. The three of us attempted to come up with a complete list of all words that are modified in spelling by the British (i.e. saviour, colour, behaviour, etc.).
8. Josh B. invited me to go to dinner with him tonight at some place in Polish Hill...He doesn't know how to get there and he can't even remember the name of the place (he said, "uh...it's like gish...gash....it starts with a 'g'). I told him that, sadly, I wasn't able to make it, but we both agreed to eat at Gish Gash another time...hopefully, he will have figured out the name and location by that time.
9. I learned that Josh S. and his brother were once tied up by their mom because they wouldn't stop fighting. Also, Josh B. got a brick thrown at him by his brother. It missed him, but then Josh pulled out a weed eater and proceeded to weed eat his brother's hand. They were both grounded for 2 weeks. On another occasion, his brother hit him with a shovel.
10. Dr. Gowan told us a story about shrews and hummingbirds only because there was a remote chance that Jen, in our class, had actually been a part of the particular incident of which Dr. Gowan spoke, and an even more remote chance that she remembered it...It happened in 1987. She does not remember it.

All in all, it was an entertaining class. And, even with all of those mishaps, I did manage to pay attention and take several pages worth of notes.

On AD:
My dad signs his emails in various ways, but they almost always involve "ADtM" or "AD (OtM)". Of course, most people would conclude that AD are his initials. However, they are not. ADtM means: "Awesome Dad the Magnificent" and OtM means "Opa the Magnificent." Dad is very fond, it seems, of giving himself epithets. This, of course, does not surprise me, given my own affinity for doing the very same thing. My sister, on the other hand, has a record for creating some weird nicknames...somehow endearing, but weird nonetheless. The three weirdest that come to mind at the moment are: "Bob Baryshnikov," "Pooka Mooka my soda cracker," and, of course, "Kristenita Mostachiolli Barf Breath." Now, the second name was derived from Chubby Checker's song, "Hooka Tooka." This makes sense because, growing up, Chubby Checker was my favorite singer. And, the third name makes sense because there was actually a time when I barfed mostachiolli. Of course, that shouldn't necessarily earn me a nickname, but there you have it.

Anyway, my family is nuts. Every last one of us. But, I rarely hear of any other family who has as much fun as we do. I mean, we make up weird dances with alarming frequency. We have weird rules about butt-hitting, wherein J and I must both say, "I agree to it." We do a lot of flapping. And, of course, we try to get Rachey to say "Ben Roethlisberger" as much as we can. (On a side note, she thinks that Ben Roethlisberger is the one coming to visit with me in March. J tried to correct her by explaining that there are 2 Bens, but Rach only came back with, "I want the two Ben Roethlisbergers to come visit!" We'll have to work on that).

They're my family. And I will be seeing two of them this weekend (Mom and Dad), and the other three in 23 days (J, Mat, Rach). Hurray! :0)

Dinner and service at CHUP tonight. And packing (I, of course, will take plenty of laundry with me to Cleveland). One and a half classes tomorrow, then I'll leave early to drive to Mom and Dad's house, meet up with Mom, we'll drive down to UH, and we'll hopefully get pleasant results!

Ok, bye. :0)

beverages.

On drinks:

So, really, what is it about drinks? Why is it that some drinks are considered more appropriate for summer than winter, and visa versa?

For example, I had a conversation with a friend about Jack and Coke versus Rum and Coke. We both agreed that Jack and Coke is better in colder weather, while Rum and Coke is the clear choice in July. Neither of us could really explain why...they're both cold. 50% of the ingredients are identical. I ultimately decided that, perhaps, that rum is a "summer alcohol" because it's flavor is reminiscent of the Caribbean.

Right now, I am enjoying some Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade. While "guilty" doesn't exactly summarize my feelings, I must confess that lemonade in the early part of February seems a bit out of place. It doesn't taste any different. I could even pair it with foods like grilled chicken or a burger or a salad (typical summer fare that also seems to be widely accepted in the winter months), and, still, it would seem a bit anomalous.

Perhaps I'm feeling a slight twinge of guilt because, in drinking lemonade, I'm neglecting the tea bags and hot cocoa mix that are sitting in my cabinet...on the very same shelf as the Crystal Light. This seems a silly reason for guilt, but stranger things have happened, I suppose.

It does make me feel better, however, to know that I have met the "yang" for my "yin," if you will. Inasmuch as I drink cold beverages on even cold days, my dear friend, Ashley, drinks hot beverages on hot days. We lived together my junior year of college and, on the days when we were actually speaking to each other (so, basically, second semester), she would knock on my door and offer me something hot to drink. She seemed surprisingly bothered to hear me say "no" every single night. There was one night--a single, solitary night--that year when I said "yes." Indeed, something hot to drink sounded good. I think Ashley was about to pass out.

On post-it notes:

I think that post-it notes and other adhesive paper devices (it's much easier to stick with the well-known brand name here, I think), are fantastic. Their uses are many. I am borrowing approximately 15 books from a dear friend of mine, and I can tell exactly which ones he bothered to read because they're positively covered in post-it tabs. When I was in high school, another friend brought a smile to my face one day by decorating the interior of my locker door with several post-it notes. Similarly, when I was going through some rough stuff while studying in Luxembourg my senior year of undergrad, my housemate, Christina, left positive notes on the door into my room, on the mirror in and both bathroom doors, etc. I still have a few of them. Oh, and they proved exceptionally useful in the costuming department of the movie Office Space (also thanks to them, we can purchase red swingline staplers). Also, because I'm slightly OCD when it comes to administrative stuff, the various colors of post-it notes come in quite handy. Having several multipacks allows me to create oh-so-many combinations: yellow with pink highlighter, yellow with blue highlighter, blue with pink highlighter, blue with blue highlighter, for example. I'm going to stop though, as listing out the various combinations possible has taken be back to stats...and I don't particularly care to go back to stats (though it is representative of my favorite kind of math).

On candles:

Here's something frustrating: Why, when a wick is carefully positioned in the center of a candle, does the circle of melted wax surrounding said wick tend towards one side of the jar? It is troublesome to have such wax "buildup" on one side. I am especially disappointed in this because, currently, I am burning a two-layered candle. According to the packaging, the top layer in its entirety is supposed to melt down before the second layer is touched. Alas, this is not the case. So, I am sitting here, enjoying the smell of apple cinnamon, when I'm only supposed to be smelling "pecan dream" or whatever it is. Sigh...I suppose life will have to go on anyway.

On the OT:

Lately, I have been very encouraged, despite my own doubts, about being able to successfully complete my PhD. It seems that, suddenly, people have taken a notice to my interests and abilities, and are pointing to ways in which they can work together. Today, for example, I got an email from one professor who has asked me to help him in a grant-funded research project to try and make sense of the violence that exists in the Bible. Why is it in there? How can we understand it, especially in light of the fact that Christianity touts things like "love" and "grace" and "justice," though there are clear moments where violence seems to step in the way of such "warm and fuzzy" things. To me, this is a fascinating opportunity. Also, I recently got the "ok" to pursue an independent study next term, under the tutelage of one of the OT professors here. We have decided to call the course "Life After Death in the Hebrew Bible." While my research will be slightly off kilter because I haven't yet taken Hebrew, I will be starting with a makeshift word study of "sheol." Is it hell? Is it more like purgatory? Who goes? Who knows? Also, I have started to teach myself the basic grammar behind the Hebrew language so that I'm not completely lost. It's not too hard, so far. I just have to not get too involved with it right now, as I have other classes on which to focus between now and the end of finals week.

On horseback riding:

I have to say it--I am much better at horseback riding than I'd anticipated. Now, of course, I realize that I was on a horse trained specifically to put up with first time riders like myself, but I still think I did a good job. Ariel, Amy, and I braved the rain and the cold on Saturday afternoon, all atop our horses (Midnight, Enoch, and Chippy, respectively), and we had a blast. Of course, none of us had very much success that evening when we dragged our sore bodies to the bowling alley...Fortunately, I had Joe on my team, and he made me feel much better...And, there's always next time (when I will dominate the alley).

Ok, back to Amos.
Bye :0)

40.

Never has this city felt so lonely.




I drove home from watching the Super Bowl down at Dave's house...fortunately, people were relatively forgiving, and they even let me cheer the two times that anything having to do with the Browns came on t.v. And I was the sole cheerleader whenever someone uttered "Miami University."

But, now this entire town has erupted in fireworks, beeping horns, screaming, and an onslaught of terrible towels too enormous and depressing to describe.

I sure could use a good dose of Brown and Orange right now.

But, at least no one can call me a bandwagon fan.


Go Browns!

addendum.

apparently, ben's boss told him that he was allowed to go to chicago once he told her he was going with me.


what can i say? the people of duquesne love me! :0)

today:

1. horseback riding...for the first time ever...with Ariel, Amy, and Stacey

2. bowling...for not the first time ever...with Steve, Tim, Dave, Matt, Brian, and I have no idea who else.

3. making the great decision...i've been invited to 4 super bowl parties. 3 will have mostly steelers fans, one will not. 2 will require some mapquesting, as almost all of the "main drags" in pittsburgh are being closed off at 9 tomorrow night. where, oh where, shall i go?

trip.

This just in: Ben's coming to Chicago!

How fun.

And there was still an open seat on my return flight, so we'll both be on it.

He has already warned me that he's going to be a huge tourist...and has already asked if we can go to the top of the Sears Tower or Hancock building. And we've already decided that a trip to Jamba is in order (duh).

So many fun things in the next 33ish days! :0)

Bye.

#1!

MIAMI REDHAWK HOCKEY: #1 IN THE COUNTRY!!! :0)


For love and honor. <3

why.

When people hear that I'm still going to New Orleans, they often ask why...

Especially when I tell them that I'd made these arrangements prior to Katrina.

Here it is:

1. Of course, I'm still going to visit the Homans. Staying with them will be such fun--getting to catch up with Michael, surprise Kalypso, and finally meet Therese and Gil.

2. I will get to participate in what will probably be one of the most important Mardi Gras celebrations that the town has seen. It will be a much-needed sign of vitality and economy in a town so desperately in need of both.

3. I will get to actually see what news clips, photographs, and articles can only attempt to convey. In talking to several people from the area (and friends of mine who have already been down to help in other regions of the Gulf Coast), it seems that the devastation is grossly underplayed. I don't know that this is necessarily the fault of any person or group--it's just impossible to visualize something while remaining so distant from it. This is, of course, true for anything. Tel Zeitah as an example--after all, I took oh-so-many pictures to show people, and yet I know that they still don't understand the exact nature of it. It feels, to me, as if most people have sort of just forgotten about everything that has happened.

So maybe that's just it--maybe that is why I'm (still) going to New Orleans this month(!):

I haven't forgotten.