Ode to Beautiful Katamari June 17, 2008

Beautiful Katamari, you came into my life when hope was lost

All Video games, to me,  had become violent with a high cost

One grand day I learned about you, from my husband Wil

He encouraged me to play you, said it would be exiciting, “a thrill”

The Prince greeted me, with a catchy song and squeaky walk

He looked so cute with his oblong head and curious, he can’t talk!

Wielding the throw-up rainbow, The King came in, giving me tasks on Earth

The menacing King had buldging biceps, lots to say and plenty of girth

I played you, Katamari, that first night until my left thumb hurt

Rolling my Katamari, picking up animals, plants, and even dirt

The satisfying pop that I have come to love when it is in my ear

Is now even closer thanks to  XBOX Beautiful Katamari being near…………

 

 

Working for a living June 15, 2008

Here it is, Sunday evening, and I’m just as tired as I was Friday evening.  It all started Friday when I got home from work and super chugged a delicious Margarhita.  Delicious, yes. Meant to be chugged, no.  So then we grilled us some kabobs, had the neighbor folk over and then played Beautiful Katamari while we ate chocolate covered potato chips.  My kind of night!  As it started to get late, we watched Transformers which surprisingly held my attention for a good 60 minutes and then, I realized I had dozed off when I woke to find the plot had totally changed and I wasn’t quiet sure why.  So we headed home.

The next day, I woke up and laid around while I watched five episodes of the Canadian teen drama, Degrassi.  We then packed our bags and headed to Chattanooga and went to the Riverbend Festival.  I wasn’t expecting much and ended up having a great time.  First surprise was that we got into the VIP section because of WIl’s connections throught the church which meant free food.  And then we headed over to a stage to hear Galactic which is cool and all, but you really need to be drunk or stoned to fully enjoy it and I was neither.  Then, they are all, “welcome our special guests, J5!!”  The show was awesome.

Then we ended up being bouncers in the ultra VIP section which is hilarious to me because I am a total push over.  The band was some old fogy group who sang hits like, “Working for a Living” and “American Woman”.  Then the fireworks topped it all off and they were, hands down, the best fireworks I have ever seen.  Disney does a great job but this was somehow better.

Went to church way to early this morning and then we had lunch with Maheed, a middle eastern man who is now a Priest and living in London being all Episcopal and shit.  He was very interesting and I was not bored at all which surprised me (I get bored when conversation isn’t about facecare products or LOST).  He is starting a new program that covers a lot of questions I have about religion and science and how it all meets and changes……I tried to sound intelligent during conversation but my funny faces always get in the way.  Oh well.

And now, I’m here.  Ready for an evening shower and a few more rounds of Beautiful Katamari.  I’m going to have to go to work to rest.

Researcher on whale dung: ‘It does stink’ May 29, 2008

Every morning that I am at work, I have the same routine.  Come in, start the computer, get coffee, check email, check Facebook and then check MSNBC to make sure the world isn’t coming to an end and of course to catch up on celebrity gossip.  Usually, I am saddened by the headlines, shaking my head at the oil prices or the topics on war and destruction.  This morning, well, this morning was different.  The headline read: Whale poop?!  10 worst jobs in sceince.  I couldn’t click fast enough on that one and I was greeted by this gem of a statement:

“Brown stain ahoy!” is not the cry most mariners long to hear, but for Rosalind Rolland, a senior researcher at the New England Aquarium in Boston, it’s a siren song.

It goes on to say that they actually have a dog trained to sniff out the poo and then when they get to it, they collect the matter in order to learn more about the whales internal going ons.  Ew.

It makes me wonder what the other 9 jobs are………….

Make Levees, Not War May 28, 2008

It has been a busy past 7 days.

Last Thursday, I went with a group from South Pittsburg, TN - Christ Church to New Orleans to help the Epsicopal Disaster Relief team.  We slept in a one big room with foam mattresses, showered in a trailor outside that once you were clean, walking into the open air made you instantly sweaty again.  We ate fabulous seafood and drank lots of Abita beer.  I visited the Art Museum to enjoy the George Rodrigue display and even made it to a Greek festival.  All of this was over shadowed by the main purpose of our trip.  Family of 11 living in the one car garage, lost everything during Katrina and we helped lay tile down in their home.  It is so close to being finished I could almost celebrate with them.   It really gave me great perspective at least for a little while.

Stories and pictures from our trip to New Orleans

So, I got home and Wil had earned major husband points by cleaning the house, including brand new sheets on the bed (my favorite part of cleaning) and he had bought flowers which I never get to have.  We celebrate our 4 year anniversary this week so we went out for a fancy meal last night and saw the new Indiana Jones movie.  I will say, as not to spoil it for anyone that it did not disappoint but it didn’t wow me either.  Indiana Jones is a simple hero and this movies continues with that tradition.

Call Me May 15, 2008

Nobody ever calls me anymore.  I come home and there’s no little light blinking, no notepad with a persons name and the word “called” next to them.  I rarely even hear the phone ring and when it does, it’s usually for Wil.

I was thinking about this last night at spiritual directon and I wouldn’t say I’m lonely but I can feel my unpopularity gripping at my well being.  When I call my mom, we have a 10 minute phone call about once a week.  What’s weird since I love my mom and I consider her a best friend so why the heck don’t we talk more?  The woman hates talking on the phone.  All of my years, I never saw her spend more then a few minutes  on any one phone call. 

This leads me to a thought about myself….I think I have phone anxiety.  I don’t even know if this is a real thing but I know I have it.  I do not like to call people.  Once I’m on the phone with them, I’m great and I love hearing what they’re doing and how they’re doing and I think about people often and wonder what’s new.  It is the actual act of calling that I have issues with.  I think, “What will we talk about? Will they be busy?  Will the cell phone cut in and out and drive me crazy?”  When I get an answering machine, I am somehow relieved because I have done my duty as a friend and have shown I care but I don’t have to actually talk.

Girl time is crucial in my life and when I make dates with my gal pals I always have so much to talk about and I always have a great time.  I rather them be here in person then on the phone.  Wil gets agrivated with me because I do have a cell phone but I never carry it and hardly use it unless I’ve gone “down the mountain.” 

What’s weird is that I haven’t always been this way.  I think it started in college and has progressed each year and each time I move.  Back in high school I would talk so long that one of my friends actually fell asleep while I was talking to him.  I remember pausing mid- sentence only to hear a soft snore on the other line.

Maybe tonight I’ll spread my wings and face my fears and call a few friends to say hello.  Or maybe I’ll watch the season finale of America’s Next Top Model………..

Stupid Best Buy April 29, 2008

I have some bad news.  Our computer is broken and Best Buy had to erase the hard drive therefore……my baby paper is gone!!!  Now, I’m not just saying this because no one will ever read it but the paper was a work of art, a masterpiece.  It made the reader laugh, cry, feel uncomfortable and fill with love all at the same time.  I think it was destined to win an award or two.

This leaves the question, “Will I write it again?”  The answer is as unsure as Hulk Hogan’s armpits.  My baby fever is definitly to a low simmer if that and to rehash subjects I had already researched, documented and learned about (like folic acid, cravings, and the increase of breast size) does not appeal to me.  So we’ll see.  It doesn’t help that I’ve been seeing a lot of scary baby news lately.  I was watching Jericho (great show by the way) and a woman died during child birth and then of course there’s Angelina and her “difficult pregnancy” amongst other things.  I’m just not in the mood anymore…I have a headache.

 

  += A head scratcher

Good Vibrations April 23, 2008

Last night at Spiritual Direction, we had the one where we say good bye to the seniors.  We did Eucharist which is not our usual thing and at first, I found myself very uncomfortable with it.  No doubt, I’ve done Eucharist before and will do Eucharist again but we sang songs about Jesus dying for us and I guess what I am saying is that even after these 5 years of being Episcopalian, I am still not comfortable with all of it.  When I hear phrases like, “He has risen” or “He dies for my sins” I tense up and wonder if I should be singing or saying the phrases knowing that I am truly not a believer.  I keep thinking that I will come to the answers but you see, that’s the problem, I’m thinking when I should be praying.  I know that the answers may never find me and I’m okay with that but I do wish I was more comfortable with the things I know I will be faced with the rest of my church going life.

It was really sad to say good-bye, especially to Becky.  At first, I felt nothing when other people were talking and then my heart started to move up into my throat and when i began to speak, it came out as a cry.  I love that woman and she has been so much a part of my life here.  If it wasn’t for Becky, I would definitly feel out of place and lonely even more then I usually do.  She is an amazing parent, an amazing Christian, and an amazing friend.  It was awesome because during her little speech about what Sewanee means to her, she said that I taught her how to be honest.  I will carry that with me and try to live up to what that means for me.

And here we are, at the end of another semester at Sewanee……………

Anniversary of Male Genatalia April 15, 2008

I saw Frat Penis this past weekend and not the good kind.

A year ago, I wrote about seeing frat dudes peeing out in public and not even trying to conceal their business.  Well, it happened again Friday night.  I was driving down Univeristy which is the main strip and peeing towards the passing cars was a frat dude.  He didn’t even try to hide behind one of the cars or go behind a tree.  Just plopped it out, wiggled it around, zipped it back up. Yuck!

Keepin it Real while Keepin the faith April 15, 2008

What a day, what a day.  I tell ya, life is somethin.  This past weekend I had the honor of being one of the people that got to go to dinner with Richard Schori.  For you non-Episcopalians or Episcopalians that live in a dark, bat ridden cave, Richard Schori is the husband of the presiding Bishop.  So, pretty big deal from my perspective.  He sort of felt celebrity-ish to me and I was a bit nervous before drinking my first glass of red wine.

Mr. Schori was here because the spouses of the seminary had a little retreat where we got to hear from spouses of the past that are now in churches with their man or woman Priest.  It was good and all but there’s always this negative undertone.  Everyone starts out all faith and love and ends all sacrifice and difficult.  I realize that Wil being a Priest will have its disadvantages and that it is more then just a job as are many careers that touch lives so deeply.  I just don’t buy the whole “life will be really hard” stuff.  I get that I can’t cuss (a lot) and I can’t wear a tube top and daisy dukes to the grocery store but I probably wasn’t going to do that anyway.  I can’t get wasted at the pot lucks or talk about the end of the world and conspiracy theories and that, I will actually have to be careful about. 

In this fantasy bubble that is Sewanee, these things are not real to me yet.  We all are  flawed  and anything we have issues with here seem to surface so easily.  I don’t want to hide who I really am at any point.  I likes to keep it real!

Cuckoo Thoughts March 26, 2008

For my birthday, Wil’s dad gave me a cuckoo clock.  He had apparently searched for quite some time to find me one that he thought I’d like and when he presented it to me, he beamed with pride.  I watched as he set it up and he showed me how to make the time current and how to wind it.  It’s pretty elaborate.  It has wood carvings of deer and birds and even some sort of hunting rifle.  The cuckoo bird comes out of a little door and little people dance around in a circle while the music box plays a happy tune. 

Honestly, at first, I wasn’t so sure about this thing.  Rifles and deer aren’t my bag and I’m not keen on hearing a clock chime every hour.  Wil put it up for me about a week after my brithday and it took my dog, Sylus, a little while to stop perking his ears up at every cuckoo. 

Last night, I was lying in bed reading the end of a great book and at 11pm, the clock went off with its 11 spaced out “cuckoo’s” and its little whimsical song.  I closed my eyes and thanked God for Wil’s dad and all the blessings that the day had brought me.  And then I realized why I had been given this clock.  It wasn’t because Wil’s dad thought that I was in need of a good clock or that I was being forced to take something that I’d never use and hardly liked.  I realized this clock made me think about family and I told myself right then each time I was present when the clock cuckooed, that I would thank God for atleast one blessing of my day.  It can be a simple blessing or something amazing that’s happened but as long as I take that moment, every hour I’m near the clock, to be thankful then this clock has brought me so much love and happiness with every tic toc.

This is not the actual clock but pretty darn close……..