limited brain space

Well, I'm a soldier now...

2009-04-09T17:42:00.007-05:00

Tuesday afternoon at work, I got a phone call from my son.

"Where are you?" I asked him.

"Home again."

"Yeah? How'd it go?"

"Well, I'm a soldier now."

He had just gotten back from an overnight spent with two busloads of other new recruits, out near the airport. During their day and a half together, they sat around, bored, while the officers were getting all kinds of paperwork assembled and filled out.

Then they had extensive physical check-ups, some basic testing of their physical condition (how fast can they run a mile, how many pushups and situps, etc).

And then he signed three years of his life over to Uncle Sam, eight years if you count the commitment of inactive reserve status.

He's going to be a CBRN Specialist. Impressive sounding, eh? Here's what the Army has to say about it:

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Specialist (74D)

As a CBRN Specialist you will plan, employ, and coordinate CBRN defense systems in support of joint and combined arms operations including CBRN reconnaissance systems, biological agent detection systems (BIDS), obscurant systems, CBRN decontamination systems, and other CBRN hazard detection and warning systems. In addition, CBRN Specialists coordinate assets and efforts for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) force protection programs, CBRN defense support to civil authorities, CBRN vulnerability analysis, CBRN sensitive site assessment/exploitation, WMD elimination, technical escort operation, CBRN reconnaissance, and CBRN decontamination. The Chemical Branch provides the Army with a highly trained corps of CBRN experts.

My baby's going to be a specialist in chemical weapons.

Lots of people ask me how I'm doing with it. Since it's been a couple of months that he and I have been talking seriously about this possibility, I'm doing much better. Actually, in this whole anxiety producing process, once the decisions were made and action taken, the anxiety lessened considerably. The fear comes with the unknown.

My son let me come with him to the recruiting station when he went to pick out a job. I think he may have regretted that decision when I was was finding yet more questions to ask the officers. But hey, if I'm not going to question things for my son, who is? He doesn't want to appear like too much of an arrogant jerk, but I don't really care what they think of me. I want him to have the best opportunity possible.

And it didn't help when I got to the recruiting office, and all the officers were babies, under 30 themselves. It was much more comforting and helpful for my peace of mind when we were able to spend time with an officer over 40, who had close to 20 years of service.

Another help in this whole process has been being able to email and phone a good friend who can give me her insight and wisdom from the perspective of being an enlisted soldier herself. She's been in the Air Force for some years now, and gave us good advice about things like jobs to check, questions to ask, and things to expect.

So in a few months, I'll be packing up my boy and kissing him goodbye as he leaves for Basic Training. When he's done with that, he'll go to school for 20 weeks to learn how to deal with all kinds of dangerous and hazardous materials.

Because I'm an external processor, I've been talking everyone's ear off about this whole change of direction in his life. The nice thing is, I've been given tons of support from my friends. And both he and I have been prayed over more in the last couple of weeks than in a long time, I think!

We are blessed with our friends and our family. Without them, this would be a much more difficult process.

I Think I Love You

2009-03-26T13:01:00.015-05:00

...so what'm I so afraid of? I'm afraid that I'm not sure of... a love there is no cure for. (da DUM, da da da DUM DUM, da DUM!)

Wowee. David Cassidy used to make my heart go pitter pat (kinda still does, if we're being honest here).

And Davy Jones! Squeee! The cute Monkee. You know, the short Brittish one who played the tambourine. *sigh* I play the tambourine, too.

Such a huge flood of teen and tween memories accompany those two names. Remembering, in both cases, my sisters and I so looking forward to the new television season because we'd heard about the new show with the cute singer(s). Being envious of the girls down the street who had every issue of Tiger Beat and 16 magazines - their dad owned candy and smokes store, so of course they got theirs for free. Hmph.

I was just young enough for the Monkees that I listened to my sisters' lps, but The Partridge Family was totally my era. My next oldest sister and I bought a teen magazine if it published lyrics to their songs, and we'd make up our own tunes if we didn't know the real ones. Singing on the stage of our beds with our next door neighbor, our hairbrush as our microphone.

David and Davy both lived pinned up on my wall for who knows how many years. Among my very first record albums. Definitely my first crushes. Such sweet innocent times! :)

And two nights from today, both David Cassidy and Davy Jones are going to be IN CONCERT, one night only, just half an hour away from my house. And there are still tickets...

(ED: If I'd not been sick as a dog, I absolutely would have bought tickets; as it was, I was able to get tickets to another show from the same era, JCSuperstar, which I will write about at a later date...)

I'm Wol-ver-ine!

2009-02-23T15:30:00.004-06:00

This has got to be the best, funniest opening number I've ever seen on the Oscars. I haven't ever seen any of Hugh Jackman's movies, but his fabulous performance last night has made me a fan. I may even have to rent X-Men!

Sexiest Man Alive, you betcha!

I'm Dreaming of a Green Spri-ing

2009-02-21T16:10:00.007-06:00

Yes, it's only February 21, but I don't care. It's snowing today, and we'll end up with around four inches of the white stuff. I've already cleaned several heavy inchess off my car this morning, tomorrow morning will necessitate the same.

And I'm thinking of Spring.

That's the thing about Chicago Winters. We were treated to a few gorgeous days that reached the sixties. Trees all over the place have little knobbly buds beginning, because they were faked out by the warm weather. Lawns throughout the city shone emerald from the mixture of precipitation and sun they'd received.

People want to burst out into our own form of Spring-selves, too. Our faces smooth, our eyes lose their squint, our backs straighten as we stand taller, reaching for the sun and its warmth...

"Faked out again," the snowflakes silently taunt us as they continue to coat us back into our Winter-selves.

I won't bow down to the snow and cold. I've set the picture below as my desktop wallpaper, reminding me that inside, it's warm, it's green, and full of life!

(If anyone feels so inclined to use this photo as their desktop wallpaper, please be my guest - it's quite calm-invoking.)

New Years Tradition

2009-02-20T21:55:00.018-06:00

For the first time in years, decades probably, I spent New Year's Day curled up in front of the TV, watching the Tournament of Roses Parade. When I was a kid, I guess I thought that's what everyone did, that's what you were supposed to do on New Year's. We watched lots of parades, it seems. (Maybe that's because there were four channels to choose from, not 250 channels, and a much limited list of programming.)

This year Bob Eubanks was one of the announcers, and was one of several familiar faces, which also included Cloris Leachman and Jack Hannah.

It was fun to watch and listen as an adult, and learn all kinds of interesting facts about the participants in the parade:

The Tournament of Roses Parade is now 120 years old. The Vally Hunt Club created the parade as a way to advertise Pasadena's great weather, even in winter. I thought it was particularly fitting that the Anchorage, Alaska, Visitors Bureau had a float in the parade!
The Rotary Club was started in Chicago, and derived its name from the fact that the men would rotate homes in which the met? (it's true!)
The hooves of the horses in the parade are painted with black shoe polish (not sure why, though).
John Philip Sousa once played in the USC Marching Band (who participate yearly, I believe)
Sons and Daughters of the Old West are a riding club made up of descendants of TV and movie Westerns.
The Lions Club reproduced a newly discovered photo of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan on their float.
Andalusian horses get darker as they age.
An Essex, England band financed its trip by going on a TV reality show and won 40,000 in either dollars or pounds.
Another band traveling a long distance was from Puebla, Mexico - the Aguilas Doradas, Golden Eagles. They win the prize for best headgear, for sure!
A number of bands, including the band from Hawaii, are specifically assembled for this parade - which means the musicians only have a couple of days to play together as a group.
Bob Eubank's wife traveled with Bob Hope and the USO.
Huntington Beach has been known as Surf City since 1925, ever since a legendary surfer from Hawaii moved there, bringing his surfboard and his sport.
The word "buccaroo" is originally derived from the Spanish word "vaquero", which means cowboy.
June Lockhart's parents were set up by Thomas Edison.

Some other highlights for me were seeing the Penn State marching band, football team and cheerleaders.

"We are!" "Penn State!"
"We are!" "Penn State!"

Watching the fabulous band from Prairie View A&M University. They were definitely the most energetic of the bands, in my opinion.

I can imagine walking, even marching, for 5 miles, but dancing!?

My favorite floats, judged on beauty and interest, were The Bollywood float (the photo at the top of this entry, the Vera Bradley float,

the City of Duarte / City of Hope float,

and the Rain Bird Corporation float.

Watching the parade was enjoyable not only because of the nostalgia factor, it was fun and interesting and beautiful all at once. Maybe I'm going to have to revive this tradition!

(All photos from www.marching.com website)

Being Known, Being Loved

2008-12-18T18:45:00.007-06:00

Some people have an eye for gift giving - or gift choosing, perhaps I should say. I am kind of gift giving challenged. Almost every year for me, it's the same old thing as Christmas approaches, racking my brain trying to think up interesting gifts to get for friends and family.

In the past few days, I've been given a couple of gifts that astounded me. Not because they were so fancy or costly or rare, but because my friends saw something that so reminded them of me, they were moved to get it and give it to me.

I had to miss the annual "girls' day out" with a small group of friends. They told me that they had missed me, and gave me a little present to demonstrate it. It was perfect - a little ornament in the shape of a front door with a wreath hung on it. It's just too cute! My friends know I have a thing for doors and windows, and have several door-like objet d'art hanging on my living room wall that this ornament matches perfectly.

Then last night another girlfriend and I exchanged gifts. Since she likes monkeys, I found another silly monkey-related present for her (a pair of slippers that look like sock monkeys, which she assures me are very comfy!). She gave me an object whose purpose was a mystery for a moment. It was a designed rack of some sort. My first guess was a plant rack, but it wasn't really the correct proportions.

It turned out to be a teacup rack that displays four cups and saucers. I was very moved because while she and her husband were browsing antique shops on vacation in August, she saw it and thought of me. She knows I have a number of old teacups that used to belong to my Mom. While the store had a number of antique teacups for sale, she knew that a more meaningful gift would be a way to display the cups from my Mom.

She also bought me a vintage glass Christmas ornament in the shape of Big Ben, because she knows I've been planning a trip to the UK (unfortunately delayed till the US$ gets a little healthier).

Now these three gifts are proudly set out on my living room table. My former pastor used to say that being known is important for us humans. Exchanging gifts with friends is fun, but much more meaningful than having the gifts is having friends whom I know and love, and who know me and love me. I feel very blessed this Christmas.

(To my special friends: you know who you are and that I love you!)

Drastic Changes

2008-12-18T06:20:00.004-06:00

I hate playing around with my hair. That's basically the reason I grew it so long. Of course, once it got growing, it got to be a little contest with self to see just how long I was willing to let it go.

A couple of years ago when I cut a considerable length off of it, I was able to donate it to Locks of Love. However, I only had 6 inches, instead of the preferred 10 inches. That's okay, they Locks of Love can sell it 'to offset costs', as they say. But this time around, I wanted to give enough hair to make a wig.

So yesterday, my favorite hairdresser, Olivia, put my hair into a bunch of smaller ponytails - after asking me about sixteen times if I really wanted to cut that much off - and made my head several pounds lighter. (It will be interesting to see if it makes any difference in frequency of headaches.)

Even though I've been through this once before, fairly recently, I was still surprised at just how much hair that made, when gathered all together. I've been told I've got a lot of hair, but blonde hair tends to be smaller in circumference than other colors, so it appears thinner... not true here.

We ended up with a big hunk of ponytail about as big around as my wrist.

Here are some of the fun residuals. I posted the photo of me and Olivia on my Facebook page, and have gotten a bunch of comments on it. One of my friends said that she'd done the exact same thing yesterday. If I'm reading her comment right, my appointment was at 1:00, and hers was at 2:00! I wonder if she went to the same shop...

Is there such a thing as too much time spent online??

2008-12-14T17:51:00.010-06:00

Okay, I realize that I am not an active person (coughunderstatementcough). That part I get: sitting all the time means that you're not getting enough exercise, no matter why you're sitting. You could be reading, writing, crafting, solving world peace, or ~~stalking~~ connecting with people on Facebook.

But really, I love connecting with people! And I think it's a really cool thing that these friends whom I haven't seen or had real contact in decades, I can communicate with them, let them know they're in my thoughts, know a little bit about their lives, their families, their sorrows, their joys.

(And send them oh-so-thoughtful-and-free cyber gifts from time to time, like an egg that hatches into a little puppy, f'rinstance.)

Oh the joy I feel when the little notification turns out to be a friend request - especially from someone who really is an old friend, not just some passing acquaintance through work or some other network.

"Will you be my friend?"
"You want me to be your friend?? Yes! Yes! Of course we are friends!!"

But if you talk about Facebook, people think that's the only thing you're doing, regardless if half your online time is spent doing all your shopping, correspondence, flickring and blogging.

I've been told (by good friends, actually) that I really need to get a life.

Hmmm. While that might be a valid observation, even if a cruelly delivered one, I still maintain that spending time virtually connecting with people is valuable, particularly when it's not possible to connect with them in person.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Sick of sick, sick of alone

2008-11-22T12:59:00.009-06:00

For the past four and a half days, I've been cooped up in my condo, only venturing out when I can force myself to take the dog out. She, meanwhile, has been loving having me home, and has been cuddling up to her sick mom quite nicely most of the time.

It's amazing, though, that even though I'm stuck here, I don't exactly feel disconnected. I've been more or less living on Facebook, not only trying to beat high scores on Tetris, but checking out what friends are posting, looking at pictures, commenting on friends' pages.

The outside world seemed pretty close two days ago, when looking out the window, I noticed a dog walker friend walking with a police officer, quite purposefully. As they approached the corner, a few squad cars and unmarked cars pulled up. The focus of everyone's attention was a distraught looking woman, hands gripping a handkerchief as she spoke to them, my friend obviously trying to comfort her. I'll have to wait until she and I bump paths walking our dogs to find out the story on that one...

I also received a text message from a dear college friend, telling me that she and other members of her family had just sung her father into the next life. I called her immediately, but of course, there is nothing real to say beyond 'sorry'. Her father was a pastor; they know his salvation is sure. They knew the end was upon them. Doesn't really help. Prolonged or sudden, it's never easy.

Yesterday was also a day for family contacts. I played a little game on the FB sites of some nieces and nephews, then got email news about my sister's knee surgery, and pictures of another sister's grandson. Chatting back and forth, sharing little bits of each other's lives, it makes us seem so much closer.

I received phone calls from both of my bosses - one preparing some work for next week; the other had a recap of what I'd missed and plans for two weeks hence.

Then later last night, another email from church, regarding songs for this coming Sunday. I'd also had contact with my pastor in previous days concerning the Thanksgiving Eve joint service with our Hispanic sister congregation.

And of course, almost every day, my son has been around for part or most of the day.

So why do I feel so cut off?

It's that human touch, that face-to-face factor that's so important. There are times when I do just want to be alone, but if I go for extended periods without some serious human interaction, my extroverted spirit gets restless, lonely.

We read a The History of Love for book club, and one of the main characters was a slightly crazy old man who lived by himself. He would do odd things now and then to make sure that people saw him, noticed him - like dropping all his change on the floor as he was buying something at the convenience store. He'd get food delivered to his house so that he'd know at least one person had seem him that day.

So yes, I did in fact just order in pizza even though I've got a fridge full of food. I'm sick of being sick, and I'm sick of being alone, and I'm sick of being cooped up. Three seconds with the pizza man isn't exactly my idea of high quality discussion time, but at least I'll know someone else has seen me today!

ED: Well, pardon me for whinging a little... it's nice that the cold finally made it's way out of my system (only after 2 and a half weeks), and I seem to be left with the obligatory runny nose and cough that are more or less constant companions during the winter in Chicago.

Behind the Scenes Obama

2008-11-08T23:20:00.006-06:00

Browsing through my Facebook friends' updates, I was intrigued to see where my friend Shaun King had posted a link to Barack Obama's Flickr page.

Get out! Barack does Flickr!?

Yes he can, and yes he does have a Flickr page, where there are photos taken at the Hyatt on Tuesday night, photos of him and Michelle voting, of him playing basketball on Tuesday afternoon, and tons more (more than 50,000 photos, in fact!).

(Both of these photos are credited David Katz/Obama for America)

In fact, his account goes back to Feb 2007 when he announced his candidacy in Springfield. Yep, this is one more reason why I like this guy. He's sending out text messages and emails to everyone who signed up on www.barackobama.com, and he's also photo-chronicled his campaign and put it out there for anyone to see (and comment on). He functions in the digital age.

One friend who went to Grant Park on Tuesday night said that one of his major impressions of the evening was all the digital devices present. Everyone who was there had a camera, a cell phone, a video recorder, some kind of device to record the proceedings. One of my favorite images I saw from that night is a shot of the distant stage, with many arms raised in the foreground, all holding cameras or cell phones! As one flickr comment read, "We're all press now."
(ED. Since posting this, I've revisited his page, and the election night photos have been pushed back to page 45 by much less interesting photos of his and Michelle's visits to NV.)

Us and Them

2008-11-06T18:34:00.007-06:00

Us and them.

I think that maybe the majority of people do tend to think in terms of 'themselves' (and their people, or people just like them) and 'others', unless they have made a conscious effort not to.

This is fostered in us from an early age. Take our love of team sports, our faithfulness to our schools. Our national pride. But it translates to state-vs-state rivalry, to genders, to political parties, to races...

It's been a number of years now since I saw the movie "Bowling for Columbine", but the part that always stuck with me was the cartoon section (A Brief History of America), where they talk about fear and guns going hand in hand. That cartoon section highlights the tendency to separate into groups of us and them.

Probably since prehistoric times, the 'us vs them' mentality has been a means of survival, one tribe versus another, one country versus another. Ignorance of who 'they' are, what 'they' are like, translated into fear and hatred of 'them'.

But ignorance CAN be conquered.

Minds CAN change. People can change. Who we are now does not have to limit who we can become.

Twelve years ago, my church called a female to be our pastor. In a survey beforehand, only one person checked 'female' when asked whether they preferred a male or female pastor. One. But a woman candidated at the church and absolutely blew us away. We realized that God had led her to us, so we called her. And after a short time, maybe a few months, basically everyone wondered why they had said they'd prefer a male. It was simply the unknown that they were afraid of. It was like a switch was turned in their minds, saying, "this is okay. better than okay. this is GOOD."

I realize that the opposition toward women in ministry is significantly different than racial prejudices, even though both run deep. It's not a perfect comparison. I don't have a lot of hope for the hardcore haters. But I do think that lots of people who are unsure about the efficacy of any person of color in the presidency, whatever their reasoning, who will be able to realize the unfounded nature of their fears, once they are continuing to live their lives as usual under his presidency.

I have been overflowing with excitement for what I hope President-elect Obama's administration will do to turn that switch in lots of people's minds that it IS possible for people of color to have authority, to have power. And it will be a GOOD thing, not something to fear, hate, or a cause of suspicion.

There's so much "us-and-themming" going around, whether you're talking race, politics, religion, gender... I really liked what he said in his acceptance speech, about no red states and no blue states, just united states.

But a long time ago another public speech was given, which said that there is no more us and them. We are all one.

Still gazing in wonder.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, He's Ours!

2008-11-05T07:15:00.005-06:00

I'm still too overwhelmed (and tired!) to speak coherently on my excitement and wonder in the knowledge that Barack Obama is our president elect. As usual, songs do it best for me, and the words of Sam Cooke have been playing through my brain for the last couple of days.

It's been a long, a long time coming, but I know a change gonna come. Oh, yes it will. (Sam Cooke)

I'm proud of our country. Oh, yes I am.

Obama and Prosper

2008-11-03T20:16:00.005-06:00

...more evidence that Obama is the intelligent choice!!

(although when he talks about CHANGE we can believe in, I don't think this is what he has in mind!)

Women's Right to Vote

2008-11-02T20:32:00.008-06:00

Yes, I realize I've posted this photo of my grandmother before. I've got it up again because today, Sunday, November 2, celebrates two anniversaries. It is my grandparents' (88th!) wedding anniversary. They were married in 1920.

November 2, 1920 is also the anniversary of the first time women in the United States voted. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was passed August 26th, giving the right to vote to women. The first election this affected was two months later, when Warren G Harding won by a landslide, replacing the by-then unpopular Woodrow Wilson.

Some other interesting dates in US voting history:

February 3, 1870: 15th Amendment passed:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

August 18, 1920: 19th Amendment passed:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

August 6, 1965: Voting Rights Act passed.
The Constitution alone apparently not enough to guarantee all citizens the right to vote, this act was passed to outlaw discriminatory practices which prevented many people of color from voting. The odd thing about this, though, is that it is not permanent - it has to get re-ratified every 25 years. The last time it was renewed was July 27, 2006, when G W Bush signed a 25 year extension.

July 1, 1971: 26th Amendment passed: lowered the US voting age to 18.

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

November 4, 2008: The first time a person of color is elected as President of the United States. Okay, so it's positive thinking. See me about it in two days!

In the meantime, my women friends (and men friends, for that matter), if you haven't voted early for the historic election, GET OUT AND VOTE on Tuesday. Women suffered and even died so that we would have this privilege; let's honor their sacrifice, do our civic responsibility, take advantage of our ability to participate in our government.

Piece of the Past

2008-11-02T01:25:00.008-05:00

Last year, after Mom died, my siblings and I went through my parents' home, dividing and distributing many of their possessions - Mom's jewelry, framed art, old photos, etc.

One of my sisters went through the strong box Dad used to keep under the bed. She found a couple of Dad's old wallets. Dad had only been in the nursing home under a year at this point, so my sister was surprised to see slips of paper that looked old - years, even decades old.

One of the documents was a 50 year old receipt. Only for a small amount, less than $2.00, I think. But Dad had held onto this particular receipt from when they had lived in Texas. It was for the poll tax. That small amount of money he paid in order to cast his vote. That tax, that for years was used to erect one more barrier for people of color to be able to participate fully in our country's democratic system.

Here's an example of a poll tax receipt - I don't have a copy of my Dad's. This one is also from Texas, a few years after my family had moved back north.

We were somewhat astonished that Dad had kept this little piece of history, and proud of him that he had recognized it for what it was.

On Tuesday, I'm going to the polls to cast my vote. I won't have to take a made up 'citizenship quiz'; I won't be threatened and bullied; I won't have to pay a tax. I'll just go in and vote.

And like many other of my fellow Americans, I will be proud and excited to cast my vote for president, for the first time in US history, for a person of color. For free. For free.

Last Days in Venice

2008-10-31T02:14:00.007-05:00

Can we ever have too much vacation? Absolutely no way! We squeezed every bit of opportunity out of our time in Florida. These then, are our last few days there:

Day 5, Tuesday

Today we decided to go south a bit, and see what we could see. We were not disappointed! We began by driving down to Boca Grande, on Gasparilla Island. Very cool beach, with not so much sand as shells to walk on. And talk about deserted! It was a picture perfect day.

On the advise of the toll booth guy we met as we crossed onto the island, we checked out the pride of Gasparilla, the Lighthouse built in 1890, and also went to the South Beach Bar and Grille for lunch.

We spent only a short time on the beach after lunch. In the meantime, we decided to keep heading south to Sanibel and Captiva Islands. We stayed for an hour or so on the Lighthouse Beach on Sanibel, then drove as far up the island as possible, almost to the tip of Captiva.

We met another friendly local, this time a Park Ranger, who told us that from the beach parking, we could walk down to a place called the Mucky Duck, where lots of folks congregate to watch the sunset.

We did just that, and spent a lovely evening watching the sun go down with people from Chicago, Wisconsin, England, Germany, and who knows where else. God was given polite applause as the last rays disappeared over the horizon. We drove home tired but happy.

Day 6, Wednesday

Today found us driving all the way back past Tampa to Clearwater (where we had found Honeymoon Beach, the day we arrived), to take that ferry over to Caladesi Beach, this year's #1 rated US beach. On the ferry ride, we saw some frolicking dolphins up close.

We figure part of the reason for Caladesi's rating is that it's not accessible by car, therefore way less populated. Even during peak season, I bet this beach feels roomy compared to the ones you can drive to. We were disappointed that the water was a tad too chilly to swim in, but we did wade quite a bit, searching the shallows for shells.

The ferry captain had told us it was a living beach, and to be careful to check any shells we picked up for signs of life. Sure enough, the beautiful big, wonderfully intact conch shell had little feet inside it, and so I had to throw it back. Same thing for lots of sand dollars we found - they practically litter the beach and shallows.

The other wierd thing about Caladesi was that we'd been warned about stingrays buried in the sand. (I may have freaked out prematurely at the feel of a fish that I may have thought was a stingray, causing me to scramble back out of the water with heart pumping.)

On the ferry ride back to Honeymoon, we had one of our high points of the vacation - the sighting of a bald eagle. Wow - it was really quite majestic. My picture may be blurry, but enlarged, you can tell what it is! All in all, a good day, even if the drive was a little long.

Day 7, Thursday
This being our last day, we didn't plan anything other than getting all the cleaning and closing up of the house. I also had my fourth and final visit to my Dad in the morning (the real reason for my trip in the first place!)

The one cool unplanned sighting on our last day was the trio of sandhill cranes that were chillin' at a house around the corner from my parents' home. I was able to walk almost right up to these birds without ruffling any of their feathers, although one of them did get a little ninja on me. :)

It was back to the airport (3 hours of sitting there due to a flight delay), back to Chicago, and back to icky weather for us. We came home with burned skin, shells, new sandals, lots of photos, and even more memories of a great trip!

The Democratic Process

2008-10-30T20:46:00.005-05:00

Can a cynic also be an idealist? I think so.

I still get inspired listening to audio of JFK's speeches, even though we all found out years after his death what a womanizer he was. Same goes for Clinton, although the reveal came much sooner! I believe even as good and Christian as Jimmy Carter was painted, he had to be just a little bit crooked or compromised to make it all the way to the Oval Office.

I think there's good and evil in most of us. The proportions might be different, and some of us might hide the evil (or the good) better than others.

All this to explain why we see so many examples of people spewing ignorance and hate. Videos show rampant name calling, rumor spreading, and lying at political rallies. Internet searches for political posters for my candidate yielded anti-propaganda results that are disgusting and immoral, not to mention untrue. I'm almost afraid to read articles or view videos anymore because it's so nauseating to witness the naked hate expressed by women, men and even children. (I could link to examples, but won't because they were just so offensive.)

I know my candidate is not perfect. Neither is the other candidate. Both of them have good and evil inside them, because they are human.

In the midst of all this negativity and cynicism about our country and our fallen nature, I still hold on to (cling to, even) the following ideals:
* my vote matters
* there is hope for this country
* things can get better
* we can unite to help bring about change

I'm going to vote first thing next Tuesday, and stay up late waiting for the returns to come in. If my candidate wins, I'm sure tears will be shed. (Probably the same would be true if the other candidate were to win, God forbid!)

God Bless America. God bless our democratic process.

Venice, Day 4

2008-10-20T21:25:00.009-05:00

Three words: Siesta. Key. Beach. Rated the #3 most beautiful beach in the United States for 2008.

Just south of Sarasota, it's home to sugar sand, which is incredibly white, soft, and doesn't get hot in the sun, so it's lovely to walk on.

We spent two lovely hours there, enjoying the breezy day, watching the pelicans and gulls nosedive into the surf for fish.

People watching was also good - we saw people building sand castles, flying kites, swimming, fishing (and throwing lots of fish back, causing a small feeding frenzy among the gulls), parasailing, and just generally enjoying themselves.

On the way home, we stopped off (of course) at Nokomis Groves for more citrus ice cream. I had another orange / vanilla; my friend tried the orange / pineapple. (Both received top marks!)

I decided it would be fun to take a walk in the actual groves, to see the fruit trees up close. It was cool until my foot started stinging from dozens of teeny tiny ants biting me furiously!

Meanwhile, I did get in a shot of the melon-sized grapefruits. (ED. Found out the next day that this particular species is called Chinese grapefruit, they're really meaty, and delicious!)

Once it was approaching dusk, we headed out again, this time to the Venice Audobon Center Bird Sanctuary to watch the birds come home to roost for the night. I'm coveting a nicer camera about now, one with better zoom, better color filtering, and ability to take photos at dusk.

This one blurry shot was actually quite interesting - a couple of egrets seemed to have a disagreement over a certain branch...

There were tons of egrets, blue heron, anhingas and some others I couldn't name. We got some lovely close shots of one great blue heron who really liked a nearby tree. He didn't seem to mind as we snapped photo after photo.

Home again, we're trying to bunk down at a decent time, to get ready for another full day tomorrow!

Laying in the sun is exhausting! (Venice Day 3)

2008-10-19T20:16:00.009-05:00

Tonight my friend and I are two tired vacationers! We are all worn out from... erm, sitting in the sun at the beach. Oh, yes, we floated in the waves, too! And we ate ice cream.

But first things first. On the advice of my sister, we ate at a wonderful and charming Mexican restaurant in Venice called Mi Pueblo. Our food (chiles rellenos for me, tacos de camarones for her) was delicious, but the ambiance was what made it a very lovely experience. The building is kind of mission style architecture, and shares a quaint courtyard complete with fountain with several other businesses. Inside, murals on the wall framed with brick, warm colors, lots of plants, interesting lighting fixtures all make you wonder if you didn't step across the threshold into Mexico. Thanks, sis!

After lunch, we headed out to Venice's Casperson Beach - the Sharks' Tooth Capital of the WORLD! We followed the time honored tradition of vacationers (and locals, for that matter), and walked around bent at the waist, peering intently at the sand, in search of prehistoric teeth from prehistoric sharks.

We were honored for our search, as our reward is pictured here. 26 teeth, from teeny-tiny to larger than my own teeth, was our total haul. Not bad, actually, considering we spent way more time sunning and swimming than searching. It does get addicting, though. Once you're on a streak of finding teeth, you can't bring yourself to go. Like playing slots or drinking, you keep thinking "just one more, I'm sure the next one will be a big one, let me find just one more tooth." (Maybe if I go back real early tomorrow, ...)

Floating around in the Gulf of Mexico, letting the waves lift me up and bring me back down again, is very relaxing, yet somehow draining. Must be all the sun. It sure did feel good just bobbing about (like a cork on the wave, to quote a former ECC president). I did wonder just a tiny bit about the sharks whose teeth will wash up in ten thousand years or so, and whether they might be bobbing around in the currents like I was...

Back on land, we cleaned up and headed back out in search of treasure of a different kind: Nokomis Groves homemade citrus ice creams! (On the left is lime & chocolate; on the right is orange & vanilla.) This place is fabulous. It doesn't look like much, but their ice cream, made from oranges, lemons, limes, and pineapples, not to mention chocolate and vanilla. Their main store is closed for the season, but they keep the ice cream stand part open all year round. Lucky for us!

A visit to Nokomis Groves has become a tradition in my family, often one we take seriously enough to observe more than once during our visits here! (I think we're going back tomorrow - market research, you see, to find if orange/pineapple is better than lime/chocolate.)

On our way home, we had intended to shop for new swimsuits, but alas, the lycra gods were not in a flattering mood today. We did each end up with groovy new beach footwear, however - mine are pictured.

Home again in time to watch a DVD before heading off to bed. It's been a long day.

Venice, Day 2

2008-10-18T23:20:00.008-05:00

Today was filled with Myakka River State Park and a visit to the South Jetty here in Venice.

Now I'd been to Myakka several times with Mom and Dad on previous visits, but had only ever taken the boat ride on the chuck-full-o-gators Myakka Lake and the tram ride.

Today, we started by going on the nature walk through partially swampy ground - walkways kept us out of the muckier parts - to the Canopy Walkway.

First you climb the 'short' tower to the swinging bridge, 25 feet off the ground. Then you climb the 74 foot tower, and get an eyeful of beautiful country.

My friend had to talk me up, since I'm so scared of heights. I hung back on the next to the highest level for at least 10 minutes before I had the nerve to go all the way up to the top.

We saw an amazing array of birds: hawks, vultures, cranes, egrets, herons - nesting, flying, screeching, whirling. It was pretty awesome.

Back on the ground, we went back to the lake. Too late to take the b oat ride, we found out that today wasn't a good gator-viewing day, so we weren't too disappointed.

Right alongside the boat, we got a bit of a treat. One of the rarer birds in the park, the Limpkin was wading around looking for food, so we got a nice close look.

From there, we went over to the little dam, where we were about as close to a gator as you can get and keep all your body parts intact.

After brats and floats, we decided to go over to the Birdwalk, which extends a ways out into the swampy land, almost to the lake, and saw lots more birds and lots more beautiful lake.

By the time we were heading back to Venice, it was getting later, so we decided to go straight to the South Jetty to see if we could spot any dolphins as the tide was coming in.

In all the many times I've been out dolphin watching on the Jetty, I've never seen as many at once, and as playful a bunch of dolphins as today.

They weren't just breaching and swimming around; they were blowing, jumping a little bit and coming down with a big splash; they were slapping the surface of the water with their tails. It was really fun!

Trying to take pictures got a little hard, because there so many off in several directions.

While we were there, we saw two bridal couples taking wedding shots, and what was probably an engaged couple getting their photos taken, too.

We were there for almost two and a half hours, just watching people, dolphins, waves, and the sunset.

All in all, a great day spent in the beauty of West Central Florida!

We have arrived! (Venice, Day 1)

2008-10-18T09:11:00.006-05:00

Hooray! After months of thinking we were coming to Florida in October, agonizing over what dates to select, only to have a false alarm thinking that my boss didn't want me to take this particular week off, we have arrived in the land of sunshine!

We landed in Tampa yesterday around noon, and took advantage of our proximity to Clearwater to visit the attractions there before heading south to Venice. While we weren't able to visit the US's number one rated beach at Caladesi State Park because of the ferry hours, we did check out Honeymoon Island State Park (so named for honeymoon bungalows built there in the 30s).

What a pleasant surprise! We walked along the Osprey Nature Path. We did see one osprey flying away from us, and a couple of giant nests up high in the trees. Our walk was hurried along by the carniverous noseeums, unfortunately.

Escaping the bugs, we took a walk along the beach and cooled off in the waves a bit. Then we drove down and visited the ferry landing, where we saw lots of water birds and jumping fish. This really is a beautiful area, and we may be back to visit the beach when we leave.

At my folks' house now, I wonder if I'll ever be able or want to retire down here. The pace of life is slower, that's for sure. But there are lots of things to do - it's not like the streets roll up at night.

Of course, there are the hurricanes to consider...

One more reason to love 7-Eleven

2008-10-10T14:01:00.007-05:00

Here's yet another reason to love 7-Eleven.

You can go in for a tasty cup of Joe (can I call ya Joe?), and come out supporting your candidate for President!

There's an arrow pointing to the UPC symbol that says "this is how we count your vote!" And you can see how the candidates are doing, by checking 7-Election.com.

They have an online political java-map, which is looking encouragingly blue these days. You can also read results of 7-Election 2004, which came out eerily similar to the national results!

Yes, I do love my 7-Eleven and my Obama coffee cup. I just wish they had it in the 24 oz. size!

(ED. 3 days before the election, and it seems like all area 7-Elevens are out of the blue cups! Gobama!!)

Political Junkies Unite!

2008-10-08T15:55:00.004-05:00

I've found a great website for polling results. Every day their US map is updated with whatever polls have been conducted. One of their links has an animated history of how the polls place our candidates, beginning with June 2, 2008.

	Strong Obama
	Weak Obama
	Barely Obama
	Exactly tied
	Barely McCain
	Weak McCain
	Strong McCain
	Needed to win: 270

'My Very Own' first installment...

2008-10-06T21:27:00.008-05:00

Today I received my first three meals prepared by My Very Own Chef!! I had my son pick which one he wanted to try. He decided on Ratatouille. I was a little less than completely enthusiastic, because it has eggplant, right? And I'm not enthusiastic about eggplant, but still wanted to try the dish.

Well.

First of all I was starving because I worked late again today, and didn't get home till almost 7:00. So by the time we talked about it, decided what to eat, then cooked it, it was about 8:00. Then bit by bit, the house started getting infused with the most delicious smells.

When the food was ready, I served up our two plates. Son was less than enthusiastic about trying goat cheese, but he decided to be brave.

(Fred Astair song/dance break) "Heaven, I'm in heaven. And my mouth's so full that I can hardly speak! But I seem to find the happiness I seek, when there's ratatouille stuffed inside my cheeks!"

The flavors were so yummy, and so good together. Between the slices of veggie, the sauce it's cooked in, the tang of the goat cheese, and the basic goodness of the couscous, I really did feel like I was in heaven.

My son loved it. He expressed himself weirdly though. Here was our conversation:

Me: So, did you like it?

Him: Yeah, it was okay.

Me: Okay?!!

Him: Yeah, I mean it's not like my normal kind of food I eat every day. But it was delicious. But I wouldn't eat it every day, you know? But I really thought it was delicious!

Me: Um. Okay.

As I'm writing this, he hollered at me from his room, "Hey Mom, is it okay if my girlfriend comes over to try the ratatouille?" There's actually still enough for two servings in the pan. I said yes, but I'll make sure there's still enough for me to have another serving!

ED. Since I posted, the official website for My Very Own Chef has gone live, and the kitchen is definitely open for business!

Sarah Palin taught me a vocabulary word.

2008-10-05T16:24:00.015-05:00

HANNITY: Senator Barack Obama yesterday was attacking Senator McCain for saying that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Do you believe that the fundamentals of our economy are strong?

PALIN: Well, it was an unfair attack on the verbiage that Senator McCain chose to use. The fundamentals that he was having to explain afterwards, he means the work force, he means ingenuity of the American people. And of course, that is strong, that is the foundation of our economy. So that was an unfair attack based on verbiage that John McCain used. Certainly, it is a mess, though.

(Thanks to The Huffington Post for this quote.)

Verbiage. Dumb old me, I didn't realize it could be pronounced with three syllables (Merriam Webster says 'ver-bee-age' and 'ver-bage' are both correct). I also didn't realize how negative a word it was until I looked it up for the pronunciation and spelling confirmations. Hmmm. Sarah's talking about her running mate, her potential boss and commander-in-chief's (God help us!) "profusion of words usually of little or obscure content." Do we give her too little credit for her insights?!

Speaking of a profusion of words of little or obscure content, the other night I listened to the debate (sans Bingo card, unfortunately), rather than watch it. I've been watching it online today (and forgot to use my Bingo card AGAIN!), and the difference is incredible. Body language adds a whole new dimension to the conversation. Biden has been called to task for appearing condescending - I was astonished to see Palin acting like that a number of times toward him! As my sister said to me, "she's a little too condescending for a relative newcomer."

You know, it's so easy to make fun of her, to celebrate the latest SNL skit, but the video clips I like are from various news shows, because so many of them are including SNL clips in their newscasts! CNN, Fox, MSNBC are all including Tina Fey's impersonations in the regular news!

The clip below gives Gwen Ifill's (and Queen Latifah's) reaction to the VP debate.

And just so all you grammarians can have fun, too, here are a couple of sites that address her rather, erm, unusual oratory style: Palin Grammar and Palin Poetry.

Simply the BEST!

2008-10-05T00:06:00.010-05:00

What can you say about Tina Turner that hasn't been said before? Well, this is what I can say: I WENT TO SEE HER IN CONCERT LAST NIGHT!!!!!

(*significant* happy dance pause here)

Here's the thing about Tina: she gives a kick-ass show. She lights up the stage all by herself. Granted, she isn't quite as frenzied a dancer as her four "flowers" (her term, not mine, sorry) are, although their moves are strictly Tina's dance moves.

Yes, they did the rapid-butt-shake; yes, they did the arms-extended-360-turns; yes, they did the dizzying-head-flip (yes, I was exhausted just watching them!), and more! Whenever Tina joined them in the more energetic dance moves, the crowd went crazy.

It was a love fest. We loved her. She loved us. We chair-danced within an ounce of our lives. We sang - the entire crowd at the United Center sang - WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? at the top of our lungs and Tina loved us for it! We sang our hearts out for BETTER BE GOOD TO ME, PRIVATE DANCER and SIMPLY THE BEST, too. It was wonderful.

Before the concert actually started, we heard this big "Eeeeee!!" coming from down on the main floor. Oprah had arrived, and was making her way to her seat. The ladies in front of us lent us their binoculars, with which I saw Steadman, a whole lot of hands holding camera phones, and the top of Oprah's head (I think).

During the intermission, we heard an even bigger "EEEEEE!!", from a bit closer to us. We hung over the railing to gawk at Tom Cruise on the level below us, signing autographs for those lucky schmucks who happened to have seats close to his private box. (These photos are proof that I was standing close enough to Tom Cruise to holler out his name with a bunch of other middle aged women, causing him to turn his head, look at us, and wave meaningfully at us... If you can't see him clearly, then buy me a better camera phone!!)

The sets were beyond cool. Her basic set had two storeys with staircases that people jumped on, flounced down, or draped themselves upon, depending on the song. At one point, this half steel cage thing came down, guys were acrobatically fighting in it, the screens were showing clips from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, and Tina comes out in her alien queen looking costume to sing WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HERO, with some totally huge scupted practically naked man standing behind her just looking pretty, while pyrotechnic flares went off behind them. Yeah, that's showmanship!! :D

At the end, when she was singing NUTBUSH CITY, she had run over to the edge of the stage, where there was a kind of circular rail. Next thing we knew, a long section of the stage lifted up and became a huge arm that swept her out into the audience, and she kind of hung over that rail, communing with her fans and pointing her mic at them, encouraging them to join in the "Nutbush - Sing it Again" chant.

Okay. I've got to say something about sensuality here. It's no secret - Tina oozes sensuality, sexuality ("it's physical, merely logical"). Last night, watching her in her many spangly skimpy outfits, seeing video images of her costumes over the years, watching her and her women dance so provocatively, whether live or on video, listening to some of the lyrics, I had the feeling that this was a celebration of the total woman, in all her glory. Woman are sexual creatures, women have beautiful bodies, and the celebration going on last night - while sexual - was not untoward or vulgar by any stretch of the imagination. It was provocative; it was empowering; it was playful; it was fabulous. And I feel better for having experienced it.

It should come as no surprise that the best moment of the night was PROUD MARY. That was her final song, except that she came back and sang two encores. Wow. Even though it was originally CCR's song, you can't think of it without thinking of Tina Turner. And, yes, she did it nice... and rough!! It seemed like they made it last 10 minutes long. The crowd went crazy when she did a long dance to it with her four dancers. We sang for her, we cheered for her, and we hollered long enough when she left the stage for her to come back and sing a little bit more.

Unquestionably, PROUD MARY was the highlight of the night. Here's a clip of her performing it at the 2008 Grammys with Beyonce. I dare you to watch without singing or dancing along!

Yeah, girl, you should be proud! Tina, I love you! Thank you for my Quality Friday!

Maybe you can go home again

2008-09-26T21:32:00.022-05:00

When the Town & Country Commission decided to hold their fall meeting this year in Sugar Grove, PA, just 15 minutes from my hometown of Warren, I jumped at the chance to tag along. I get back home so infrequently anymore, and a free trip there was too good to pass up.

The anticipation was building as we drove down from the airport - it's been a year since I was last in Warren. I was going to stay at my sister's house, and it would be nice to see her, but because the meetings would be held in Sugar Grove, I'd also be able to see several cousins there who still live on the land they grew up on.

I had forgotten about the fall colors, and wouldn't have dreamed what strong feelings they would evoke in me. Reflecting on it, I realized it's probably been almost 30 years since I was last in Warren at the height of the autumn brilliance. Turn after turn of the road revealed heartbreakingly beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, greens and browns of deciduous splendor.
I was desperate to stop and capture it on film, but we needed to keep moving, to get to our destination, and I didn't want to scare the passengers in my car with my drive-and-click method of photography (which yields admittedly questionable results). :)

The next unexpected joy was waiting for me at the church. The pastor, Brian, had told me that my carpenter-contractor cousin Bob was working on a construction project in back of the church. This church I have always thought of as a sleepy country church is almost doubling the size of their building! We arrived in time for me to talk with him for a while and catch up a bit, then we were off to his big brother's buffalo farm.

I'd been there last year at the reunion - I knew the buffalo would be cool. But when my cousin John started telling us all about the animals, from breeding to feeding to disease prevention to behavior patterns, and more, I was tremendously impressed with how knowledgeable he is. Things like this: they buy bugs, actually import specialized insects that prey on the kind of flies that plague the buffalo, and can cause eye disease. And how buffalo are so intelligent, that, unlike cattle, they don't hurt themselves by overeating.

I was glad that we'd arrived just in time for me to see cousin Barb and cousin-in-law Sherry, as well!

The whole weekend, although a bit crazy busy, was wonderful! We were able to tour two other local businesses, including a lumber mill (with the biggest, scariest saw I ever wish to see!), and a diesel engine plant where they make two products - a big engine and a bigger engine! (Now who would have thought assembly line work could be so fascinating!??).

Best of all, of course, was the people. Our commission invited four area pastors and their spouses out to a nice dinner on Friday, and all four pastors are friends of mine. It was very special to spend a bit of quality time with them, and hear how their ministries are going.

The reason the commission holds one meeting a year at a town & country church is two-fold: to learn about the individual churches, and to encourage the pastors and congregations. We always pick locations where there will be a cluster of several T&C churches. And while I think we did encourage the pastors by our interest in them and our visit, there's no question in my mind that I was on the receiving end of some big time encouragement by being there.

All of my trip photos are here (as well as explanations as to what they are), but below are several of my favorites from the weekend. Enjoy!

Ethical Obligations

2008-09-23T00:30:00.005-05:00

Here's a question: if you hear what sounds like a fight through your neighbors' open windows, are you required ethically / morally to do anything about it?

Tonight I heard what sounded like a very intoxicated female neighbor yelling at whoever she shares a home with - husband? child? roommate? If I'm correct, it's a woman I know only by reputation, not even what she looks like. But the gossip on the block is that she's been picked up on occasion being drunk and disorderly, beating up on her husband.

What I heard tonight wasn't anything to report (just yelling), but what if I were to hear someone actually beating on their spouse?

A few years ago, I gradually became aware of some odd noises coming in my open window. Five or six neighbors were gathered in the alley behind my house. I joined them, and found out they were all there because they had heard what sounded like a guy beating on his wife. He was yelling, she was screaming. I think one of them had called the police. One or two of them had shouted up to him to stop it. I think he may have shouted down some choice words at them. We were out there for some time. If the police had been called, they must have taken their sweet time getting there, because I think I left before they ever came by.

So what is our responsibility to our neighbors, our fellow humans? It's nice to know that my neighbors at least pay attention to what's going on in our streets.

What is the Key? The RENEWED MIND!!!

2008-09-22T09:17:00.004-05:00

Okay, it was really funny (in a horrifying way) the first time I saw this video.

Oh, man, but it was funnier still when I saw what The Soup had to say about it.

Boy, my worship team almost never has matching spangly dresses and choreographed dance moves, including (gasp) the moon walk. (Of course, since I'm the only one there not sitting or holding an instrument, I guess it would have been up to me...)

DWLL Victory!

2008-09-17T22:42:00.010-05:00

I've heard of (and blogged about, kinda) DWB (driving while Black). DWLL was a new one for me. My son came up with it while he was telling the story of how he lost his license.

He said he got pulled over on the West Side for no good reason. "DWB," I interjected, "you know, driving while Black."

"No, Mom, not on the West Side. Over there, they get me for Driving While Looking Latino. Everyone thinks I'm Puerto Rican," clarified my son.

Back to the story, the cop who pulled him over said nothing about his speed, a burned out light bulb, failure to signal, nothing. Instead, he just looked at my son and said, "you got any sh** on you?"

My son said no, but the cop asked for his registration and insurance. He did have insurance, but not with him, and the cop took his license and gave him a citation. He couldn't get it back because he owed money on parking tickets. But meanwhile, the citation only said that he didn't have insurance - in other words, he was stopped simply because the cops were profiling him.

So today, my brave, strong, sh**less son went downtown and fought to get his license back, based on the cop racially profiling him, and WON!! HA HA!! Take that, you LWR (living while racist) cop!!

(Disclaimer: The photo here is just something I found on the internet - my son says he can't remember what the cop looked like who stopped him, including what race he was. Hooray for my colorblind son!)

Dry again

2008-09-16T21:48:00.005-05:00

Quite a change from Sunday! I drove past Anderson Hall today, and was surprised to see that the parking level was completely dry. Amazing how fast the water comes, then leaves...

Rain, rain, go away

2008-09-14T19:52:00.006-05:00

In thirty years of living in Chicago, I have now lived through two "great floods". The first one was in 1991, and it was actually the result of a boat crashing into the side of the Chicago River, allowing water to flow into basements all through downtown, and flooding out the subways.

This one is caused by Mother Nature herself, dumping record rainfalls on our fair city over the past couple of days. A friend and I went out and took some pictures...

... of the river threatening to crest its banks and flood the auditorium at North Park University,

... of Anderson Hall, which along with the Campus Center at NPU, is evacuated and closed,

... of the sandbags keeping the waters on Carmen Ave from flooding onto Kimball Ave,

... and of Foster Ave at Pulaski, where the entire street and much of Gompers Park lie covered by water and news crews.

We always think of Chicago as a flat plain. You realize, when checking for standing water, that the City definitely does have its higher and lower ground. (I'm very thankful I live at one of the high points.)

It's very scary to see water entering your home, and there's not a thing you can do about it. I've lived through that, and hope to God I never have to again. I just pray for all the people affected by this flood, that they can dry out and clean up quickly. And for my alma mater, I pray that its buildings will not be damaged to the breaking point.

Salivating...

2008-09-12T20:48:00.008-05:00

Okay, food trivia fans. Here's a little quiz. What do the following items have in common?

stuffed peppers
grilled chicken parmigiana
chicken cordon bleu
pulled pork
swedish meatballs
melt-in-your-mouth meatloaf (can'twaitcan'twaitcan'twait!!!!!)
classic lasagna
tuscan pot roast
chef's special gazpacho :)
ratatouille for me-eee (and Jazz)
chicken pot pie
beef bourguignon
stuffed pork tenderloin
chicken chili
melt-in-your-mouth meatloaf

If you guessed they are things that I'm not cooking in October, you are CORRECT!

If you guessed they are things I am eating in October (well, at least 10 of them), you are ALSO CORRECT!

If you want to point out that meatloaf is on the list twice, no duh! It's only the best thing in the whole wide world!

Finally, if you'd like to point out that I'm using way too many exclamation points, get used to it!!!!!!!

who cooks for you?

2008-09-11T01:17:00.008-05:00

I'm not going to start talking about my very own personal chef... not yet, anyway (sorry, dear, that has to wait for some future time!)

No, what I really want to talk about is the Barred Owl I met the other night. I had gone outside to try and take a nighttime photo of USML's beautiful chapel, but it was a wasted effort with my substandard camera.

The stroll outside wasn't a waste, however, when I heard someone asking, "Who cooks for yooouuu? Who cooks for yoooouuuuu?"

I wasn't ever able to see much more than his (or her) outline against the night sky. I was later told that this is the distinctive call of the Barred Owl. I remembered my sister saying that when they do night walks through the woods, the owls sometimes answer their calls.

So I responded to the owl (enigmatically, I might add), "Who cooks for youuuuu?", hoping I wasn't being too rude by not answering and that I didn't sound too much like a rooster.

He and I traded questions several times. He also flew around a bit, from the roof of the dormitory, to one tree, then another. The last time he flew, he went almost directly over me, and I was able to see his rather impressive wing span as he flew across the campus and out of my sight.

He never did give me the name of his chef.

Repeat Witness

2008-09-08T00:18:00.006-05:00

So, in February, I wrote about being a witness. It's happening again, right now. I'm in the same place, even, with some of the same people. We're talking about who we are as Christians, who we are as the Covenant, who we want to be as the Covenant, what challenges we will face in coming years, what responsibilities we have to God, to our churches, to our pastors, to our communities, our conferences, our country, the world.

Just a small conversation...

The setting is interesting. We're at the University of St Mary's of the Lake in Mundelein. It's the same place we held the meeting where we talked about being intentional about ethnic diversity. It's the same place where we held a meeting to look at the implications of our numeric growth on our current structures. Not to mention countless other retreats and meetings we've had here.

This is becoming a very meaningful place for the ECC. Who would have thought that a Catholic seminary / retreat center would be so instrumental in the direction of our church?

Sankofa Processing #4

2008-09-07T21:12:00.008-05:00

So, Sankofa stills keeps coming to mind almost every day.

A couple of days ago, I was going to blog about how the upstairs neighbors' daughter plays the same song over and over again; that it's not loud, just annoying, and compare it to some old upstairs neighbors who must have had a Mr. Microphone. At this point, being the eager blogger that I am, I wanted to link in a reference to Mr. Microphone. Lo and behold, there's an old ad for it on YouTube!

The only thing is, I was so horrified when I watched it, I couldn't post the blog after all. At one point there's an African American man dancing down the street waving his radio around, singing on his Mr. Microphone. *shudder* Watch this ad at your own risk of being offended.

Granted, the white guy who hollers out of the car ("Hey, good lookin'! We'll be back to pick you up later!") makes me shudder, too, but not in a offensive-race-stereotype kind of way (more like a you're-such-an-incredible-dweeb kind of way).

At least this has the excuse of being about 25 years old, and thankfully isn't being aired anymore. Kind of reminds me of the old I Love Lucy shows, where she calls Ricky "sir", or he actually spanks her. They thought that kind of offensive 'humor' was funny, too, rather than simply misogynistic.

good neighbors

2008-09-02T15:06:00.005-05:00

They say good fences make good neighbors. I talk to and like a lot of the people on my block, even if I don't actually socialize with them beyond our sidewalk conversations. I think I have pretty good neighbors.

There's a 3-flat across the street from me. The owner is not a huge gardener, nor does he take exquisite care of his lawn (as opposed to the people in the 3-flat right next door to him, whose lawn is as green as I imagine their homeland of Ireland to be!).

Over the years he's gotten some nicer plants, and he's tried to put little mini-fence things to protect his grass. But the mini-fence things keep getting knocked over, stepped on, bent, by who knows who. And the neighbor kids from the corner apartment building have begun extending their play area to include his lawn.

I remember walking by his yard and seeing that someone had systematically bent over all the top decorations on his mini-fences, and also flattened every other one to the ground. Nice.

So today, I come home, and what's across the street? A good (and pissed off) neighbor...

It is God's will that I don't listen to the Republicans!

2008-09-01T19:25:00.007-05:00

Can anyone convince me that John McCain has a serious chance of winning this election? I don't think so!!

But I like to think of myself as a fair and open minded person, and so while I thrilled to hear the Democrats' speeches last week, I would make the effort and listen to the Republicans' speeches this week... except that God apparently has other plans for my listening ears. Because the audio absolutely doesn't work on the Reps' website. None of their videos have audio to them now. And it's not even a problem with this computer - I can listen to iTunes just fine.

My story and I'm sticking to it is that God's ways are higher than mine, and who am I to question them?

:)

Sankofa Processing #3

2008-08-27T21:59:00.008-05:00

Trying to encapsulate thoughts about Sankofa is like playing one of those video games, where just when you think you've gotten a handle on things, the game pieces start multiplying, and spill over the top again.

One thing that was reminded to me on the trip was the fact that I'm an external processor, and have to either talk things out or write things out a couple of times before I'm satisfied with them. It's been helpful to talk things out with a couple of friends the last few days.

In The Color of Fear, Victor tells David that he expects people of color to act like him, talk like him, be like him. David is continually coming at things from a one-sided viewpoint, never stopping to consider that other people, other people groups, come at things from a different viewpoint than his.

In her paper, White Privilege, Peggy McIntosh suggests that the people with the power, the advantage, the privilege, want to level things out by trying to raise others up to their level rather than giving up some of that privilege and power. Again, they're coming at it from the wrong direction.

Similarly, I've been wondering if instead of deciding, "I'll treat all the people of color I come across just like my White friends and acquaintances," one should decide, "I'll treat my White friends and acquaintances just like I treat people of color.

Can we do this? I don't know.

The fact that I have friends - good, trusted, loved, intimate friends - who are different ethnicities than me does not mean I've "gotten over" my ingrained prejudices. Now and then I am disgusted to realize that I'm profiling as I walk down the street. Who's a gangbanger? Who's just a thug? Who can I ask for directions/change/to take a picture with my camera? Who hates me because I'm White? Who is a working man/woman just like me? Who...

Notice none of those questions were directed at myself... Do I make more pay for doing the same job as him/her? Do I have a lower mortgage rate than him/her? Am I looking at a man coming home tired and dirty from a hard day of work and assuming he's homeless?

The thing with ingrained prejudices is that they're ... well, ingrained. Deep. Hard to dig up, hard to root out.

But we need to do the hard work. God help me. God help us.

Sankofa Processing #2

2008-08-27T21:20:00.005-05:00

One reason why it's been difficult to process through Sankofa is that it seems like so much has happened since then that is also pertaining to race, or racial righteousness, or discrimination. Maybe it's that I'm looking at everything through a different lens. I don't know, but check this out:

The very next day a dog-walking neighbor and I were talking, and she started railing on the people in her building (she's White - they're African American and southeast Asian) and I had nothing to say in response
Our whole group got an email from Mona, one of the event co-leaders, about her son who was almost arrested for DWB (driving while Black)
My son's and my less-than-fabulous (yet oh-too-common for many) experience at Cook County Hospital
Seeing the homeless guy at 7-Eleven
Reading Eugene Cho's blog entry about the Spanish basketball team taking a picture making slanty-eyes, and all the comments it's engendered (p.s. all of Eugene's blog is a worthy read, btw)
Telling a friend that I don't think a joke is funny because it has racist undertones
(From before I went) Refugee families from Burma (Myanmar) continuing to come to our church; council trying to figure out what we can do for them, as their needs are great
Wondering why my son can't seem to get a full time job, and wondering if his race is working against him
Listening to the advertisements for This American Life, where they were telling a story about BWB (biking while Black)

And just tonight I finally read a paper called White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack. Man. It is deep. It says so much in a relatively short paper. We talked on the bus about a number of the points that Peggy McIntosh, the author, writes about.

Her list of privileges is incredible. This is the stuff we, I, White people, don't have to think about, and often refuse to think about. And many of us have no idea, no freaking idea, that we have it so well.

Enough with the non-point!

2008-08-27T09:18:00.006-05:00

First of all, you gotta give Hillary props for her speech last night. That girl spoke her butt off! I realize I can be a sucker for political speeches, but I won't lie. I got teary-eyed. Partly because I was wondering how she was feeling, speaking on behalf of Barack and Joe, instead of herself. Partly because - hey! - she was inspiring! And she really came through. Like she said, she is a proud Democrat, and she proved herself to be a real team player.

There's only one thing. She kept doing the non-point. You know, that not-quite-pointing, kind-of-fist that someone makes when they want to point but don't want to seem like they're pointing at you.

It seems to me that this little gesture was made popular by none other than Hillary's husband, when he was running for president. And now not only politicians but a lot of other people have inexplicably embraced it as a nice non-offensive point-making... non-pointing... thing.

And I'm sorry, but it just looks weird. Point at me if you want. Or use your whole open hand. But the non-point looks like your almost fist is on an elastic band where your arm can't quite stretch out; it bounces back in and just looks awkward.

G'head! Uncle Sam did it - he inspired a whole nation to enlist by pointing at them! Be direct. I want YOU to make your point!

Sankofa Processing #1

2008-08-27T00:25:00.009-05:00

What to say about Sankofa?

I could write about the schedule - almost 72 hours together, half of which was on board a bus, awestruck at the sites we visited, moved by the videos we watched, especially The Color of Fear, inspired and intimidated by the conversations we had.

Or I could focus on the sites we visited: the 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma; the John Perkins Institute in Jackson, and the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, which has been converted into the National Civil Rights Museum.

In some ways, Sankofa now seems a world away - perhaps because of the very nature of it. We are separated off, cocooned into a bus that becomes our world for several days. Our sense of time gets a little goofy, because of the long hours we spend viewing films and discussing them or the places we have visited.

As much as possible, I tried to capture sights on film and impressions on paper, which I have yet to transfer into understandable notes. Overall, I still have an overwhelming feeling akin to despair. On one hand, Sankofa was a wonderful experience, one I intend to repeat. But it is not a feel good trip. It is not like going on a weekend retreat. You do not (hopefully) come out of it saying, "oh, God is so gooood, my eyes are ooopened, now I'm awaaare, praise the Lord, and life will be better from now on."

At the start of Sankofa, a couple of the women said that they were frankly tired of having to deal with these issues; they've lived them every day their whole lives. And I can't blame them.

No matter how awaaare (of self and/or society) I might become, the truth is, I can go on with my life, enjoying the benefits of not having to be aware of my race, not worrying about being profiled by the police while I'm driving, not being looked at suspiciously by people on the street or in shops. I don't have to think about the fact that I am White.

Freedom to be oblivious to matters of race. In The Color of Fear, one man asked another what it was like to be White. The White man really had no answer. He didn't have to know.

At the start, we were all asked how we thought of ourselves in terms of race. Several of the White people said White, or European American. I was the first person asked, and I didn't interpret the question as 'how do I label myself'; but rather what I thought about myself in terms of race. The first word that came to mind was privileged, but I was hesitant to speak that aloud until someone else did.

Another woman said that she felt no identity as 'White'. I agree. There is no feeling of common identity or of shared experience, whether it be good or bad.

No, this was not a feel good time. And lots more processing has to take place.

A Test for Sarah

2008-08-25T16:37:00.001-05:00

My wonderful friend Sarah actually reads some of the stuff I write!! So I decided to let her know whenever anything new was posted. Yay!

:)

OMG My pastor said SUCK!!!!!!

2008-08-22T23:33:00.007-05:00

My pastor said suck. In front of everyone. From the pulpit. During the sermon. Ohmigoo-oosh!

Here's a more-or-less quote: "How do we stay pure to relationships even when things suck?" It took my enough by surprise that I had to write it down in my notebook. [p.s. disclaimer at end]

Here's the thing. She gave a fabulous sermon (no surprise there, she pretty much always does). To put that quote in context, she was preaching on faithfulness, in a series on the fruit of the spirit. And she used this great term to describe our culture: A Culture of Impermanence (that's from the book Life on the Vine by Philip Kenneson). It's all about how everything is disposable, planned obsolescence, undependable, untrustworthy... and that extends to our relationships.

We are amazed when we hear about marriages lasting 20, 30, 40, 50 years. The idea of growing old together is a thing of the past. Therefore, what makes us value those relationships enough to honor them, to honor the vows we take that are meant to give those relationships a strong base? Being bound to anything (house, job, possession, person) is something our culture resists. So how do we stay pure to relationships even when things suck?

Oh. There's that word again. It reminded me of that famous Tony Campolo quote: "I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."

I leaned over to our sound guy and whispered, "pastor said suck!" He kinda cracked up and nodded.

Here's the thing. Our language, our vocabulary is also one of those victims of the culture of impermanence. When I was young, that word in particular was pretty nasty. It came about, of course, as a sexual reference.

I think using suck as a vulgarity started gaining popularity in the Sixties, and by the Seventies, was hugely widespread. But it was not something you said in front of parents, teachers, youth group friends. It was not something I said - it was dirty.

Okay, I'd better make a DISCLAIMER here. I've used it since. Sometimes to express myself, sometimes to shock people or make them laugh. But I have used it, and it doesn't seem as dirty as it used to when I was young. But it still feels like I'm saying a bad word.

Here's one result of my pastor saying suck from the pulpit. I REMEMBERED HER SERMON. Yes, I had to go back into my notes to get a few more details about it, but the point is, I remembered what she said.

County Blues

2008-08-22T21:20:00.010-05:00

My son recently hurt his ankle. He couldn't put any weight on it, and he was even having a hard time not crying, the pain was so great. He had a totally useless visit to a physician, who told him to ice it, keep it raised and keep off it (really - not even an Ace Bandage). If the pain was still there after two days, go to the Adult Clinic at County Hospital. Thanks, doc.

So last Wednesday, we set off to Cook County Hospital (I refuse to call it the new name they've given it). We had been told to get there at 7:30; we actually arrived at 8:10 am.

Let's back up a bit. Wanting to be prepared, on Tuesday night, we tried looking up the clinic online, so we'd know right where to go, where I had to drop him off, etc. Right. Trying to get information from their website was about as helpful as the other doctor had been. So right off the bat, I'm pretty annoyed with them.

Okay, forward back to 8:00 Wednesday morning. We got up later than expected, so the day started off badly. Of course I had to stop for coffee, and my car cupholder is not very deep, so one sharp turn started spilling my scalding hot brew on his good leg.

After a stressful drive down to their campus, we were driving around, trying to find where in the world the front door was. The old building is still there, being taken down brick by brick apparently. I dropped Son off at the new main entrance and started circling back around to find the parking. After accidentally trying to go into the employee entrance, I turned the corner to find the visitor entrance, and was greeted by a man who shoved a paper into my hand, saying, "This lot's full - go park down at Juvenile Hall."

I don't think so. Screw it - I decided to park at Rush and not care about the price. As I walk over, Jazz called telling me that he wasn't in the place where I let him off; he was across the street from it, and he gave me the street address of the clinic. And told me he had to turn off his phone because he was inside the hospital building.

You'd think people should know a little about their workplace. Oh, well, you'd think a lot of things that never come true. Anyway, after asking around a while, I finally made it to the place where Son was waiting for me, in Fantus Clinic waiting room. He had already gone to the first counter and given them his name.

This place is way worse than the DMV. Everyone sits there waiting for their name to be hollered or broadcast over the PA. We waited for a while, and they finally called his name - hooray, finally get to see someone. Wrong. They took his temp and blood pressure.

So we wait again. This time, after an incredibly long time, they called his name. This time he came back to the seats with a registration card in his hand, good for one year. We wait... and wait... and wait... way longer than we've waited the first two times. Finally at about 2:30, Son went up to the front to see if he had missed his name being called. They said that, no, the doctor he needed to see wouldn't be at the hospital until 5:00 pm. And if he did want to leave - which they didn't advise - he'd have to be sure to be back by 4:30 at the latest. By now, we decide to just gut it out.

Okay, let's pause this for a second to take a little look around the Clinic. During the entire day I was there, I could count on one hand the number of White people there. That included me, and I wasn't there for services. Two of the other White women were speaking some eastern European language. Everyone else was Black or Hispanic.

The washrooms were just a tad scary. Garbage on the floor, dirty tiles. I had to wash my hands about three or four times just to take this picture while no one else was in there with me.

He got to see the doctor at 4:30, and had to run (hop) across to the main building for X-rays. We didn't make it back in time to be seen before the doc's meeting, so we waited another hour. By this time, the room was really thinning out. There was actually camaraderie building in little groups of people here and there, commiserating at having to wait all day. One man came out saying, "Now that just ain't right. I wait here 12 hours to see the doctor for four minutes. Something's wrong with this equation!"

Finally, Son actually got to see the doctor. He was told he had a second degree strain, and that it would likely be months healing. He was told to ice his ankle, keep it raised, and keep off it. And they gave him crutches. And an Ace Bandage.

We were not the last ones to be waited on. We left there at 7:45 pm.

Son was also told to come back for a check up in a week, but of course no appointment time. This time I left him at the door, it was only a half-day experience, and he was able to take the bus home, as his foot was much better.

During our day there, I couldn't help but think about the thousands and thousands of people (mostly of color) for whom this is a totally ordinary experience. And, God forgive me, I was thankful I was not one of them.

Are you my neighbor?

2008-08-21T01:08:00.006-05:00

Yesterday on my way to work, I stopped off at my 7-Eleven. Instead of the usual homeless guy sitting on the window ledge, there was this (presumably drunk) guy, sleeping. How do we react to this? Call the police? ER? Try to get him taken to a shelter or something?

Seriously, what is the proper response? Pray for him? Surreptitiously take his picture, hoping no one will notice?

I saw a guy drunk out of his mind and trying to sleep on the sidewalk once years ago when I used to work in a different neighborhood (Belmont/Pulaski area, where unfortunately the sight of drunk Poles was all too common). The sidewalk he was on happened to belong to the bar where he most likely got trashed, and I notified the people inside, hoping that they'd do something for one of their patrons. (I don't think they did squat.)

Still freshly post-Sankofa-generally-thinking-about-righteousness mindset, this kind of thing keeps churning around. Wish I had me some answers.

Cicada Killer

2008-08-21T00:52:00.005-05:00

These things won't hurt you. They don't sting people. In fact, we like them because they kill cicadas. Why, here's one of them now, hauling off a live cicada so that she can stun it, bury it alive, then lay her eggs in it, so they have some fresh food to feed on as they hatch. Appropriately, this picture was taken as she tromped along the picnic table out back at my job.

The fact that they look like hornets on steroids does nothing to ease one's fears. They nest in the ground, so if you walk past them in a dress, who's to say what their reaction would be if they fly up said dress and can't get out? Would I find myself being dragged around the wooden support of a picnic table somewhere, just waiting for the implantation of baby cicada killers to feed on my stunned flesh?

I don't really think I want to risk that.

Atlanta in August

2008-08-06T02:05:00.004-05:00

Sankofa. What was I thinking, signing up to go to the Deep South in the middle of the hottest month of the year?

It's about 36 hours till the bus leaves, and I'm feeling anxiety for any number of reasons... the discomfort of spending so much time on the bus... wondering how we'll change clothes, wash up the first morning... will the others think I'm shallow... what will I dredge up from within that I don't want to face...

I really am eager, too. I figure the current state of busy-ness will work in my favor in that I won't have as much time to worry while I'm frantically trying to get a number of things done before we leave.

Sankofa. What will you bring?

Half-Blood Prince!

2008-08-02T08:13:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm not as much a fan of the movies as I am of the books, but the new trailer for the Half-Blood Prince movie looks really good. (Even if the half-blood prince himself isn't in it!) Will the movie disappoint again? Who knows. I am still looking forward to it. I just hope they do justice to the scene where Harry is chasing Snape and Malfoy off the Hogwarts grounds at the end, and Snape screams at Harry, "Don't. Call. Me. Coward!" As I read, it was as if the movie was playing out in my head, it was so visual.

Here's the trailer, also available directly on youtube and moviefone.

Random Act of Kindness

2008-07-27T17:42:00.005-05:00

I love my church. I love that we have air conditioning. I love singing in my church's worship band. But I don't love that while we're on stage, we're under the fry lights, out of range of the AC, and I end up sweating like crazy.

Today's sermon was on Kindness (already done Love, Joy Peace, Patience, the rest are yet to come). Good sermon, talked about the difference between Being Nice and Showing Kindness. At one point Pastor was talking about the idea of random acts of kindness that was made popular a number of years ago.

As I sat in the back pew, listening to her speak, someone tapped my shoulder. It was a guy (who'd been sitting in the comfy chairs in the way back) with a wet paper towel for me to put on my neck. He'd seen me fanning myself, then twisting up my hair to get it off my neck, and decided to do a li'l random act of kindness right then and there.

~~Nice~~. Kind. :)

We are FamiLY! I got all my sistas with ME! Hey-hey-HEY!

2008-07-24T22:33:00.015-05:00

So my family totally rocks! I know this because... well, they just do! I got a couple of cool emails today. One was from my cousin-in-law, who sent me photos from last year's big 50th family reunion. Very cool, especially since I'd been waiting a year for it. I really love that ALL of my siblings and I, and most of our kids, were able to go. We had at least 90 people there.

And the other cool email just came from my sister, who's down visiting Dad right now, and sent us an update. You never know who/what he'll remember, or what he'll fixate on in conversation. Sometimes he can be really funny, like when he kept exclaiming "Wowiekins!" at points during their visit.

Yep, definitely a cool family - we're talking wowiekins cool! :D

Spam, spam, spam, spam, SPAM!!

2008-07-22T08:15:00.006-05:00

SPAM - who in their right mind really wants me to know:

nazi Toddlers ruined my birthday
Michael Jackson is a hermaphrodite. Watch the video.
Good news!
How to have more sperm
Magst Du etwa nicht mehr?
Horse kicks Harrison Ford in stomach
What is your credit score?
A person is searching for you. Discover who.
Best way to cure yourself

...and what were they thinking when they came up with their domain names?

@takeyourbonus.com
@mx1.affirmationsbuildconfidencedaily.com
@funnewday.com (subject line referred to learning medical billing, of all things!)

and 'mill' domains seem popular for some reason:

@thebigmill.com
@oldmillband.com
@foundrymill.com
@millvalleybaby.com

Is it just me? I just don't get it........

Birthday plans

2008-07-21T10:07:00.008-05:00

So I've sent out this email invitation to some friends, and am waiting (im)patiently to see if we can make a party of it for this Sunday. I'm so excited!!

TO MY BESTEST BUDDIES,

I am beginning to feel my age (beginning, hah!), and want to start doing things I've always thought were cool, but never got around to it, didn't think I could spare the money, whatever.

So my birthday is coming up next week, and I think it would be fun to celebrate by doing one of those things I always wanted to do - CHICAGO BOAT TOUR!!
(you can tell I'm excited by the double exclamation points!!)

This coming Sunday, July 27, I'm booking tickets four an architectural cruise with Wendella Boat Tour. Do you want to come along? They have an internet price of $22. (Realizing, of course, that our friendship is PRICELESS!!)

Let me know ASAP, and I'll book enough tickets for all of us.

Hoping you'll be able to come,
Waiting with baited breath (get it - baited - boats - fish - BAIT!!!!!),
Me

I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope they can all come. I've never done a Chicago boat anything, except for that one time I could wish I could forget when I was young and stupid and got drunk and then had a seizure on a guy's boat, then got back to my apartment really late the next morning, and there was Big you-know-who coming out of my apartment because everyone was worried about me because I wasn't answering my phone and they didn't know where I was, and thought maybe I had a seizure or something (which I had, but...) and so you-know-who came up and we had been separated for over a year by then and it was really weird and uncomfortable because it was kind of evident that I was still a little hung over - not to mention the fact that I had been with another guy - plus the fact that he was feeling a bit put out by coming all the way to the North Side to see if I was all right like some kind of big humanitarian gesture or something, so that experience doesn't really count. Plus I could never make the toilet flush on that boat.

So anyway, it would be nice to get a positive boating experience for my birthday this year!

(By the way, all these photos were lifted from the Wendela website and are from the architectural tour.)

Because it's always good to know these things

2008-07-17T22:29:00.001-05:00

Don't laugh until you've taken the test yourself...

Created by OnePlusYou

Sitting Pretty

2008-07-17T09:58:00.002-05:00

return to me
Originally uploaded by Swedish Colombian

We take photos because we want to remember, record something. I often take pictures of places I think of as ideal sitting, thinking, reading, chatting, dreaming spots. Some day, I'd like to make myself a photo book of all these places.

Like this bench in the Botanic Gardens. Almost everyone was walking past it on their path to see everything the Gardens have to offer. Its hard to slow down and just sit somewhere, when you feel you have to keep going. But I always think of the places I want to go back to...

Oh, Thank Heaven!

2008-07-15T14:08:00.009-05:00

I love my 7-Eleven. I really do! Every morning I stop there on my way in to work or church for my 24 oz cup of steaming Joe.

The people there know me and my coworker who carpools with me. They greet us cheerfully and enthusiastically every day.

My preferred drink is a fake latte, using their steamed milk mix (which is really, really hot, by the way!), added to vanilla nut flavored coffee, with a dash of cinnamon.

It tastes and smells really good, except when it's been spilled all over the floor of your car. Twice.

The first time it was because they went environmentally responsible, replacing the styrofoam cups with paper ones (good!), and topping them off with new lids that come off as soon as the cup falls on the car floor (really, really bad!). Well, my car was overdue for an inside & out wash.

The second time was because there were no hot sleeves (needed for really hot steamed milk mix), and so the guy gave me one of those cardboard cup holder things, which of course is useless when you only have one cup to put in it. Grrr... At least the second time around I was able to clean it up myself before another trip to the hand car wash was needed.

This is one of my wonderful 7-Eleven guys. He's amazingly cheerful every morning, considering he's usually been working since the night before. (I cut myself out of the photo, since I didn't know how to photoshop away my big belly. My thought was that it was less creepy to ask if I could take a photo with him, rather than take a photo of just him... my friends assure me it's really not that much less creepy.)

It's great being known, even if the sum of almost every one of our conversations is basically, "Good morning." "Good morning, miss. Have a grrreat one!"

Oh, thank heaven for my 7-Eleven!

Bad Dancer, Good Traveler

2008-07-14T09:53:00.004-05:00

Add this blog to the plethora of ones linking to the dancing traveling fool, Matt Harding, as he travels and dances his way around the globe, mixing his dance clips into joyous expressions of goodwill and fun. Am I the last person on earth to have heard of this guy?

It seems millions of people have watched his bad_dancer videos on youtube, or before that was popular, his own site. I wonder how many go on to read through some of his journal entries, which tie to a handy map, so you can just click on the country you want to read about, instead of having to troll through lists and lists of entries.

Matt's video is fun, funny, and feel-good. His journal is fun, funny, and interesting, not to mention all the beautiful photos he shares. Makes a great reference, too, if you're interested in traveling any of the places he's been.

Walking

2008-07-14T06:14:00.017-05:00

Yesterday my friend and I took advantage of the beautiful day and took a walk down McCormick Ave, from Bridge Street to Dempster.

I've always wondered what kind of people actually walked those paths, that extend from Greeen Bay Road all the way down to Devon Avenue.

Well, turns out that I'm that kind of people! We walked for almost 3 miles, round trip. It was just the perfect length for someone like me who doesn't get much exercise.

The walkway has beautiful gardens, lovely green spaces, lots of picnic tables and benches to stop and read, have a lunch, play a game of chess, talk with friends, or just sit and enjoy the beautiful views.

Most of the time we were walking, we were at least a little aware of the traffic noise along McCormick.

But along a good part of the walk, you really feel like you're in a kind of hideaway, separated from the business of the city for a little while.

This sense was increased when we were somewhat startled to see a deer running along the line of trees (take a close look at the picture, or click to enlarge it - the deer is there!).

The deer past us, then stopped and hesitated for a bit, barely hidden in the shadows, flipping its tail as it watched bikers and runners pass by it, all oblivious of its presence.

Finally, he ran on again. We kept looking for him near the river as we walked, but saw no more sign of him, although we did see and hear some beautiful birds, including this red winged blackbird.

While we didn't get as far south as the Sculpture Park this time around, we did stop at the sculpture of Ghandi, who appears frozen in mid-stride atop a plinth inscribed with some of his quotations.

All in all, it was an afternoon well-spent. I don't know when we'll decide to go walking there again, but we have decided that next time, we'll park at the next lot south, and continue our walk from there.

Did You Know?

2008-07-13T21:33:00.004-05:00

Last year a friend came to Midwinter with a little video tucked under his laptop called "Did You Know?" I actually thought it was something he had put together, but found out it's the work of some folks in Colorado. This year he and his coworkers brought the updated version, and showed everyone who'd watch. It's a pretty incredible piece:

will i really spend $600 on a phone?

2008-07-11T09:46:00.005-05:00

I'm checking out the Nokia n 95b phone (super-duper phone that includes internet, pda, and a better camera than my current one). This would be a big move for me, since I don't really like changing things, and I'd need to change services from the one I've had for the past 7 years. Although the company did change on me (I started out with PrimeCo, and no one even remembers who they were these days), so I guess I have changed a little.

Here's a picture of the phone/pda/browser/camera. Pretty cool, does the slidey thing to get to the keyboard. Of course there's way more stuff you can do with it than I would ever do, like connect it to my entire home entertainment system so that I could play my music stored on my phone through my living room speakers (right, that'll be the day!). (but I could)

trying something out from Nokia's website...

...which doesn't work, or at least I can't figure it out. Techies, stick to stuff that works on Everyone's computers, blast you!!!

In order to view the Nokia N82: The urbanista diaries you need JavaScript and Flash Player 8+ support

feeling special

2008-07-10T10:39:00.004-05:00

This morning on the radio (gotta love NPR, right?) they were talking about epilepsy and medication, and one physician they interviewed called himself an "epileptologist". Huh?? Wha??

Speaking as an epileptologee, I always consulted a neurologist, not realizing I had to specify that I wanted to see an epileptologist instead.

It was bad enough years ago when I had to tell people I worked for a suicidologist (really). Come on, do we really need to microsubsubteenyweenyspecialize so much that we only can do one thing?

Do I have to ask for time off for an appointment with my cuticologist, my hurtykneeologist - or heaven forbid - something really embarrassingly specialized that would be the adult equivalent of telling whether we had to number one or number two?

What about social situations? If I say I'm dating a penologist, does that have to do with male anatomy or criminal incarceration?? (Or a happy combination of both, eh?) Sheesh!

Great Quote

2008-07-08T15:17:00.002-05:00

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson

Ahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-08T00:51:00.003-05:00

Just finished watching the first episode of the Vicar of Dibley wedding series. OH. MY. GOSH. I laughed out loud (although apparently not quite not loud enough to wake my son) when she did the Sense and Sensibility thing. Holy cow. LMAO, as they say!!
Okay - here's the scene in S&S where Emma Thompson has a cow when Hugh Grant tells her he's not married and really wants to marry her:

And now here's where they basically parody that in VoD:

Yep, a good laugh before bed!

Under 200!

2008-07-07T01:21:00.002-05:00

Just noticed we've gone below the 200 point in our countdown of days until the Big Faker leaves the Oval Office!!

196 days and counting...

(scroll down, it's on the right!)

Déjà vu all over again

2008-07-07T00:52:00.005-05:00

Okay. So this is weird. I'm reading, and the story line says something about a precise time that day. And so I think, how do you know it's that exact time, and my mind keeps stream-of-consciousness-ing along, and I remember calling Time and Temperature when I was a kid.

(streaming, streaming) I squint my eyes and think, what was that number we used to call? Like all of Warren, PA, it had to be 723 something - no! It was that other prefix, 726! Yeah!

(streaming) I dig deep, really deep down in my unused brainwaves and come up with a version of myself, singsong chanting, 7-2-6-1-6-oh-oh! Yeah! The whatchacallit bank we could dial up and hear the voice saying, "the time is 7 o'clock, temperature, 58." Or whatever.

I google the number, 814-726-1600, and sure enough, it comes up with Time & Temp Ser-Warren, Pennsylvania (really they can spell out 'Pennsylvania', but have to abbreviate 'service'?) Way to go, brainwaves!

So what the heck. I call the number. Just like old times. Except for the very long advertisement about whatchacallit bank's services (ser's) first, of course. To make up for that you get not only time, not only temp, but a weather forecast for tomorrow. (High eighties) And can you believe it's like 72 degrees at 1:30 in the morning there!??

By the way, here's the bank building, also known as the Flatiron Building. I took a photography class there once the year after high school. Became friends with the teacher, and saw him at our 25th class reunion, where he was taking our group picture. He's a town councilman now, I think. (streaming, streaming)

Hummingbird don't fly away, fly away...

2008-06-21T10:04:00.007-05:00

So a really cool thing happened just now. I got back to my room and opened some windows to let in the fresh air. Just as I threw open the second window, a hummingbird zoomed up to the other side of the screen, hovered for a second, then flew away again. It was like he was checking me out for that second.

There and gone again, just like that. Of course too quick for me to even think of pulling out my camera, but he looked like this guy, a ruby-throated hummingbird. Just long enough for the two of us to look at each other for a second. Little blessings for the day...

Welcome to the DARK side!

2008-06-21T10:04:00.005-05:00

There's nothing that can make you feel okay about your addition as when a friend of yours shares that addiction!!

Yesterday I helped my friend Deb set up a deadly FACEBOOK account... she has nowhere near the obsessive personality that I do, but I can only cackle with glee, thinking of the hours and hours she will waste online. (avoiding writing her dissertation... muahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I even helped take her picture, "handy" friend that I am. Here's her profile picture - recognize her?

(heeheehee)

New kid on the block

2008-06-06T10:55:00.006-05:00

Chris and Trish are two dog walker friends who live down the block from me. I met them and Max, an adult husky, and their (then) new black lab Dave when I first moved in, and introduced them to my Emily. They sympathized and grieved with me when I lost Emily, then rejoiced when I got Lucy. Last fall, I sympathized and grieved with them when their beloved Max crossed Rainbow Bridge (it's a pet owner thing - don't ask).

A couple of days ago, Chris and Trish introduced me to the newest member of their family - Tank. What a cutie! He's an 11 week old Basset Hound, silkier than satin, and just darn funny. You simply can't keep a straight face when you look at him. They've told me that total strangers look at him and start giggling.

Here he is with big brother Dave and Trish's legs! I understand Dave and Tank (Tanky to his friends) begin wrestling at about 6:00 am daily.

Tank has this funny little waddley way of walking, plus his stretched-out shape that together are so endearing, it's hard not to love him at first sight. Everything he does looks cute. And Lucy actually was getting along with him. I can't wait to hear him bay, although his mommies say they're trying to discourage that by not letting him know how funny he is when he howls.

So here he is. The new kid on the block. Tank. (heeheehee)

A sign of blessing

2008-06-01T20:34:00.016-05:00

Last week we were in Plymouth Covenant Church, outside Minneapolis, for an assessment center. Not for church planters - well, there actually was one for them going on in the other rooms - but ours was for revitalization pastors.

It was an exciting time, partly because of what this will mean for lots of our churches, but also because it marked the culmination of a dream that has been several years in the making. While our processes and tools still need plenty of work, the fact is that we held an assessment, put two candidates through the paces, and were able to come up with an end result. In November, we'll be ready to try it with five candidates.

Now lately there's been a lot of talk about what the ECC is going to look like in the year 2020. And for a number of years, we've been bringing out the charts that show how the ECC has grown since 1993, mainly due to church planting - that's when the big CP initiative started.

So I can't wait till 2020 to be able to say, "look where the ECC is, look at these charts, and see how we've grown and become stronger and healthier because of revitalization!" And we were there at the very beginning!

On Friday evening during break, someone happened to look outside and exclaimed, "Wow! Look at this rainbow!"

It was a complete arc, from one edge of the horizon to the other, and impossible for me to capture entirely in one photograph. We still had hours of work ahead of us, but everyone stayed outside for long minutes gaping at the beauty of this sign in the sky.

Now, I know that a rainbow occurs when there is the right amount of moisture in the atmosphere at the same time that the sun is shining.

But this seemed more than that. This seemed like a sign of blessing for us that in this whole business of revitalization, there would be rain, but it would be followed by the rainbow.

getting out of the city (II)

2008-05-30T18:55:00.007-05:00

This Memorial Day I did something really fun - I took the Metra to Fox Lake and spent the day at my friend's home in unincorporated Spring Grove. Taking the train was fun. The conductor looked about 19 years old, and he so strongly resembled Harry Potter (is this the Hogwarts Express?) I had to keep myself from staring! Once I got settled, I kept trying to think of ways I could snap a picture of him without either a) looking like a total psycho stalker, or b) getting arrested, or c) getting thrown off the train. No worries - I never saw him again after I first boarded. (Was it all a dream?.......)

Wow. Gorgeous setting, lots of tall trees, large 1-5 acre lots, great yard and gardens, unpaved roads, wildlife nearby, property bordering on state park property. It's like a little taste of Heaven to go there. This is the house my friend's husband lived in before they got married and he moved to her condo in the city. I've wondered before why they didn't just sell the other house and live in one place. Now I wonder why they didn't just opt to live out there, it's so great!

We had a really nice time, laid back, just mostly chatting around a meal of steaks and corn cooked on the grill, then the first game of croquet I've played since I was about 12. Mosquitos notwithstanding, it was simply a perfect afternoon and evening.

On our way home, we drove through Chain of Lakes State Park, which was surprising to me in that it was mostly flat wetlands, instead of hilly forest, my usual experience of state parks.

We were all tired when we got home, but boy was it worth it. (I'm trying to see how I can use their country home as a weekend retreat sometime! Hah!)

getting out of the city (I)

2008-05-29T16:08:00.011-05:00

While it's great to live in Chicago, now and then it's really nice to be able to leave the city for a short time, even just a few hours, and go to a different place. This year on Memorial Day weekend, I was able to do it not once, but twice.

e e e
On Saturday, my friend and I went to the Botanic Gardens. It ended up being the perfect day for it, too - warm enough that you didn't feel like you were freezing, but cool enough that it was great to be walking around. The place was packed - families, couples, young, old, kids, everyone was there. Seemed every group we passed was speaking a different language, too. Even the birds were in on it, beautifully colored and noisy birds everywhere we went on the paths.

e e e e e e
It's a prime people watching place. Many of my photos are of people taking pictures, either of plants or of their loved ones.
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We laughed to see some shirtless body-builder guy posing by the statue. What the heck - I took his picture too! Just before we left, we saw not one but two bridal parties file past. What nice wedding albums they'll have!
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Now I've been to the Garden before, but this time was somehow more fun. Maybe because I'd been there before, and so it wasn't completely new. Maybe since it was Spring (my favorite season after all), and so many flowers and trees were in bloom. I kept finding spots that would be perfect to sit and read a book, have a conversation, or just sit and enjoy the view. The Garden has seats and benches all over the place that lend themselves to contemplation and appreciation of the beauty all around. So many times I thought to myself, if only I lived closer, I could come here more often, and more casually, instead of feeling like I have to peruse the entire place every time I came.
e e e e
All in all, the day made me appreciative of nature, of friends, of people's goodwill, and to God for creating us and this beautiful world in which we live.

That Swoosh

2008-05-24T09:16:00.004-05:00

Recently one of my coworkers asked us, "Did you ever have one of those Swoosh moments?" She went on to explain that she thought she had not reserved enough hotel rooms (a major element in her work right now), but then realized that she had indeed resolved the situation the day before.

She went on to define for us what a 'swoosh' moment meant. It's that feeling you get in your stomach, that 'oh, [crap], what did I forget' mixture of uncertainty and panic, accompanied by rapid heart rate, shortness of breath and knowing, just knowing, that because of your incompetency, some big disaster is about to happen. 'I've let something fall through the cracks.' or: 'I've left people high and dry.' or, and almost always: 'Everyone will be so disappointed in me.'

Of course, often the Swoosh is usually followed by a realization that all is well, the fear was unfounded. However the accompanying relief is not exactly pure, more like a 'dodged that bullet' kind of feeling.

I hate the Swoosh. When my friend brought it up, I immediately recognized what she was talking about - I'd just never given it a name (other than an 'oh [crap]' moment). I've had it too many times. Does that mean I'm too busy? Too disorganized? Not confident enough in my skills or work? I'm not certain.

I could say God is doing a great big tap on the shoulder, because my knee-jerk reaction is to yell silently, "Oh, God, help!!" But I don't think he's really that masochistic...

Lucy's Haircut (Darth Lucy)

2008-05-22T19:19:00.005-05:00

For months, I've been saying I need to cut Lucy's hair. Poor thing, I've neither been brushing her nor taking her to the groomers. But really, there's a point at which her hair gets so matted, they'd charge me an arm and a leg to groom her. Plus they yell at me and make me feel like a terrible mother. I hate that. Enough with the guilt trip, man!

So it's up to me to trim her hair enough that a groomer could take over and only charge me, say, a finger and a toe. And when I say trim her hair, I mean approach her with scissors and great trepidation. She has this thing where she kind of freaks out and tries to bite you, then feels really guilty and gives you the old puppy dog eyes (what other kind, after all?) and sheepish look, wagging her tail to let you know she's not really a tazanian devil, just slightly psychotic.

And do you know how long it takes to trim an entire dog body with just scissors? When the dog isn't actually cooperative? And there are enormous hairmats to cut through in numerous places? Well, in truth, once I got my nerve up, it got done faster than I thought it would take. Oh, yes, and the M word. The last time I got her groomed, they told me that they were going to use a (whispers) muzzle. That psychotic-bitey-guilty thing, after all. With the M-word in place, I was able to work a lot faster, even though my pores were seeping guilt at confining her. And a practical matter: how do you cut the hair under the M-word?

So Lucy is currently sporting a helmet head worthy of Darth Vader. Jazz conveniently pointed that out to me. And her arms and legs kind of look like they've got biker leather fringe or something. It's actually a kind of cute look, if it had been on purpose.

And we ended up with such a huge pile of cut off hair, I feel like I have a whole second dog. I'd donate the proceeds to Locks of Love, if it weren't for those pesky mats in it. Plus the fact that it would be a little creepy sending them dog hair. I always like to think of myself as not very creepy. By the way, the thing hanging on the box o'hair? M-word.

Sproing!

2008-05-08T19:25:00.006-05:00

After what seems like the longest winter I've ever spent in Chicago, the weather finally changed, and the new life of Spring has come. Just a couple of warm days (and a bunch of rain) were all that was necessary for the flowers and leaves to burst out everywhere!

Spring is always my favorite time of year. I don't even care that it rains so much. Every winter, I watch the trees for signs of buds, which signal to me that the end of dreariness is here. And now with colors and warmth abounding every direction you look, it truly feels like new life is here for all of us.

It's so fitting that Easter comes in the Spring. The promise of new life is so evident in nature. Of course, because this year winter lasted so long, it made Spring that much more special.

The actual landscape changes. Here is a series of photos of my neighbor's front yard (that I lust after), that he's turned into a garden. In the first shot (taken April 14), the tulips are just coming up, and his larger plants are just skeletons. Check out how high those yellow tulips are in the second picture (taken April 28). They peaked at about two feet plus, and the flower was bigger than my fist! They're gone now for the most part - some of his smaller ones are still hanging around.

Now the third picture, taken this morning. The plants are getting so full you can hardly see the dirt underneath. His pretty tree in the foreground has lost all its blossoms and has really filled out. His hydrangeas (previously the skeletons) are totally green. His tall stately (once referred to by a friend as the Michael Jordans of flowers) now line the back, where in the previous pictures they had yet to appear.

With the flowers and new vegetation abounding, especially on a blue sky day such as we've been having, there arises in my heart such a fullness of feeling, I give thanks to God for Spring!

2008-05-02T20:19:00.003-05:00

I wonder about people. I really do. I don't ever watch TV news, I get my news from NPR, for the most part. And I like their news; it seems like they cover the world better. Which I like; I like to think I'm at least a little bit informed about what's happening on our planet.

But lately, I don't know if I want to listen to what's happening here on earth. How far can we sink? In Chicago a few weekends ago, there were 32 shootings and 6 fatalities. In one weekend. An anomaly? Spring fever?

Then I hear about the man in Austria who kept his daughter imprisoned in the basement for 24 years (starting when she would have been about 18) and had children by her, one of whom died, three of whom had literally never seen the light of day. The wife, meanwhile, was living in the very same house, and had no idea her daughter was being kept in the basement.

As I googled this case, another case of a woman being held for 30 years came up. What is wrong with the human race?

First Fly of Spring

2008-05-01T23:00:00.004-05:00

This morning, as I walked outside on my way to the dentist's office, I was looking around, gazing at the beautiful blue sky, the vibrant color of green of the grass, the strikingly bold colors of the tulips in the planters around Swedish. The birds were singing, the daycare children were out playing in the walkway, waving at me as I passed by. I practically burst into song, but held myself back from breaking into "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning!"

So many of us had felt so oppressed, so beaten down from the winter this year. It just didn't seem to let up. So now that Spring's here, all the normal reactions of being glad to see the new leaves and flowers are multiplied in contrast.

As I drove home, I was thinking, "I have to remember to blog about this, the feeling I got from all the beauty and freshness and life all around." Tonight, as I write this, I've just gotten back inside from walking the dog. It's still pretty warm out. Several windows on the block are open, airing out the staleness of winter with the freshness of Spring.

As I look at my computer, in my peripheral vision there is motion... sure enough, there it is. The first fly of the season. Hello Spring!

Stars Motel

2008-04-17T22:02:00.006-05:00

Lately I've had several obsessions which sometimes converge... taking pictures, cool old signs, and the changing face of Chicago. This is the sign for the Stars Motel on Lincoln Avenue, just across from Lincoln Village shopping center.

The sign really is a beauty, and is in quite good shape. I'd love to see it lit up at night, but doubt that's possible these days. The poor thing is looking more than a little abandoned, though, as it stands alone, next to an empty parcel of land surrounded by a hurricane fence, waiting for the developer to come get going.
Realizing that I'm romanticising, I'm sad to see this sign go. Granted, it's part of the seedy strip of motels that used to dominate Lincoln Ave, north of Foster. I've wondered from time to time... who sees their signs and says, "now, this is the place I'm eager to spend the night!"?

There are several websites I've been watching lately. One is a group on flickr.com, called Vanishing Chicago, where people take pictures of parts of Chicago that are soon dust in the wind. The other is a blog here on blogspot called A Chicago Sojourn, where the blogger gives bits of detail on the photos he takes in and around the city. Really fascinating stuff, all of it.

So, when you drive around the city, past blocks and blocks of development, cranes, and teardowns, think a moment on the pieces of Chicago's history, seedy or glorious, that will be gone forever very soon.

Nice to remember some things for longer than it takes to replace them.

when dreams die...

2008-04-04T06:47:00.025-05:00

This is the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination. The day before he died, Martin told us that he might not come with us, but he had already seen the promised land. Witnesses say tears were rolling down his face as he spoke these words.

xx Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.
xx And I don't mind.
xx Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
xx And so I'm happy, tonight.
xx I'm not worried about anything.
xx I'm not fearing any man!
xx Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!
(See/hear/read the entire speech.)

Bobby Kennedy was out campaigning at the time, and had planned on speaking in a neighborhood in Indianapolis that the police told him was unsafe; in fact, his police escort left him when he entered that neighborhood. He was the one who brought the news to the largely African American crowd who had gathered to hear him that King had been killed. Below is the text of his speech. (Lots of youtube videos have the speech, this one has a nice montage of photos.)

x Ladies and Gentlemen - I'm only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening. Because...
x I have some very sad news for all of you, and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.
x Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.
x For those of you who are black - considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible - you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
x We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization - black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love.
x For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.
x But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond these rather difficult times.
x My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote:
xxx . "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
xxx . falls drop by drop upon the heart,
xxx . until, in our own despair,
xxx . against our will,
xxx . comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
x What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.
x So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, yeah that's true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love - a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke. We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past. And we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.
x But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.
x Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.
x Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much. Robert F. Kennedy - April 4, 1968

Even 40 years later, the tragedy of promise cut short brings back sharp feelings of pain. Two months and a day after this speech, Bobby also was dead.

How do we honor those who have gone before us? How do we keep dreams alive? Continue to work so that their deaths, their sacrifices, their work is not in vain? Like Bobby suggested, let's start by praying for ourselves, for our country, and for our world as we attempt to live out the answers to these questions.

You're on vacation... permanently

2008-04-03T06:42:00.002-05:00

Imagine the shock of many vacationers arriving at Midway and other airports, only to discover once they got there that not only was their flight canceled, but the entire airline was discontinued. Horrible? Terrible? Yes.

But now imagine the shock of the employees of the same airline who received the same shock when they arrived at work today. No advanced notice given to travelers. No advance notice given to employees.

I feel bad for the vacationers. I can't imagine what my own reaction would be if I were in that situation. The website advises those people who bought their tickets by credit card to seek refunds from their credit card company, but no refunds are available for customers who bought with cash or check. At least, not from the company. Customers can submit claims as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.

But while many people have had their vacations ruined, imagine those people whose lives have been ruined because their employer has suddenly ceased to function. God help them as they look for new jobs in this economy. God help us all.

A Sad Life

2008-04-02T22:17:00.004-05:00

Now and then I feel a bit sorry for myself... my life is not the most thrilling one on the planet, and I do have my share of problems; not everything is always copacetic. But I'm also realistic enough to realize how much I've been blessed. Especially when I see a movie like the one I just finished watching, La Vie en Rose, about the life of Edith Piaf. How one person can survive such a hard life is beyond me: her parents deserted her; she was raised in a brothel; numerous important people in her life died suddenly, violently and tragically.

It was probably just over a year ago that I really became aware of who she was, and began familiarizing myself with her music. Thankfully, they used recordings of her voice for the film - it is so distinctive, they couldn't have gotten away with anything else.

I love her songs, "Hymne à l'amour" and "Non, je ne regrette rien". Both are so passionately sung that one doesn't need to know French at all to appreciate them. Here's a bit of film of her singing probably her most well known song, and the title song of the movie, La Vie en Rose.

We Are The Ones Song

2008-03-29T09:15:00.007-05:00

Well, this was supposed to have a nice embedded link, showing a couple of videos from www.dipdive.com, a site created by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

Instead, here are some screen shots from the video called "We Are the Ones", and here's a link to www.dipdive.com, so you can go there and watch the two videos yourself!
::

I have 34 friends :)

2008-03-18T09:13:00.008-05:00

I have 34 friends. I have 34 friends!!!!! (on Facebook, that is)

I can view my friends. I can edit how I know them. I can confirm how they know me. I can see what friends we have in common. I can look at pictures of them (one of my friends is pictured here), unless they didn't upload any photos and just have a great big question mark instead of a face.

I can check out their interests, find out things like their birthday, college, their relationship status (including whether they're looking for men or women), books they've read, how fast they've done sudoku, even their extremely accurate IQ testing, if they've done it.

I think I need to 'unfriend' one of my friends because when I looked at his photos, he had pictures of STRIPPERS!!!!!!!! And he is in the North Park Network!! For shame! Yes, remove that friend, definitely! (turns out he has the same name as someone I went to school with, but he's obviously neither that person nor too picky about his friends, since he blandly accepted me as a friend without even seeing if he knew me)

I can see how many friends my friends have. (They range from having 7 to 914 friends; I've given up trying to figure out how many we have together.) Wait... 914??? Compared to my measly 34 - well actually 33 - friends? Now I'm feeling a little inferior.

My son says he quit Facebook because it was just a popularity contest to see how many friends you can get. Hmmm... I joined a group on Facebook called "I bet I can find 1,000,000 people who dislike George Bush." (haha! They not only found 1M people, they've now started the search for FIVE million)

So maybe they should include another category of who you're NOT friends with - I have two people already (Bush and stripper-friend guy) to put there...

Ssppprrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnngggggggg

2008-03-14T23:09:00.004-05:00

If we have to drag it kicking and screaming, Spring WILL come to Chicago.

This view of the sidewalk in front of my house is actually somewhat welcome, because the puddles tend to appear each afternoon and mostly recede overnight. This means that the seemingly never-ending snow is actually disappearing, bit by bit.

If you look very closely, you can see the reflection of actual blue sky here. And as I walk around my block, the last couple of days have uncovered lots of yard space, the brown grass finally being able to show itself again and receive the light of the sun!

I heart Medellín!

2008-03-07T20:26:00.006-06:00

I uploaded a bunch of pictures from my trip to Medellín 15 months ago. I also looked up other people's photos of the same places I visited. And I have come to the following conclusion: I LOVE MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA!

There's a feeling when you think of a person, a place, even a pet, and your heart just pulls with the desire to be with that person, in that place again. I don't know how long it's going to take me to be able to visit again, but I will be back. And I can't wait to see some of my favorites and go to some new spots, too. If I could stay three weeks, I would. But I will be back.

It's a small world after all

2008-03-07T13:28:00.011-06:00

Okay, so I know that the internet connects everybody, it's a small world after all, blah blah blah. And I've used it to check out pages in a few other countries, and tons of locations within the US. But I've always felt like I've been getting information, rather than being connected.

My photo pages on flickr are totally giving me that connected feel. I am so delighted when I see that someone has actually viewed my photo. My photo!!! And I didn't even ask them to!!

So I now have three people (total strangers, all) who have become my contacts - I've connected with them as we discuss our photos. They post a comment on one of mine, I post a comment on one of theirs. I can look at my contact page to see who's posted fresh stuff.

And the cool thing about it is that they are Photographers. Really. Big P. My pathetic attempts at photography pale in comparison with theirs, but they are gracious and say nice things to me.

Late last night (early this morning, really), I was uploading more photos from my Colombia trip. Before I had titles and captions done, a couple of them had visits.

Small world? You bet! (yea!)

Why Buy Expensive Toys?

2008-02-26T15:29:00.005-06:00

This is very possibly the. Funniest. Video. In the world.

This came with the title 'why buy expensive toys?' Now, they must be referring to the paper being an inexpensive toy for the baby, rather than the baby being the toy for the dad... The dad sure is enjoying his plaything, though!

Caution: Perusal of this video may result in extreme spit-taking, gut-busting, snorting, and side-splitting. Watch at your own risk.

meow meow song

2008-02-23T00:20:00.006-06:00

ummmm... luxuriating in the expanse of a king size bed, soft fresh hotel linens that somehow always feel better than clean linens at home, get to bed at a decent time for a change...

...and I wake up at 12:15 am with the same song running through my head that's been there for the past week.

(ba-dum, ch, ch, ba-dum) It's such a good feeling to know you're alive, it's such a happy feeling, you're growing inside. And when you wake up ready to say (piano glissando) we're gonna have a snappy new day (snap, snap, snap)...

Ghost of Fred Rogers, I love you (just the way you are), but get your song OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

(meow meow song out meow meow head right meow!)

Stargazing

2008-02-21T00:50:00.011-06:00

When I took Lucy out for her walk tonight, I was struck by the beauty of the clear night sky. The Big Dipper was immediately visible as I looked up, quite the rarity in the city.

Sometimes I wish I could go out and stargaze every night, in a place where the night sky was unpolluted by city lights. Here's a picture of the constellations in the winter sky. Hmm... not quite what I see when I look up at the sky in winter. If I'm lucky, I can count maybe 20 sky objects on a clear night.

Tonight there's supposed to be a red moon due to a lunar eclipse.
Historically, they say Colombus fooled the Native Americans into giving food to him and his men by telling them the gods would make the moon turn red in anger if they didn't... of course he had an almanac on his side. Cheating Spanish bastard...

But I just can't see dragging myself out at 3:30 on a frigid winter night to look at the moon - even on a beautiful clear night like we're having here. *sigh* I'll just google images tomorrow and see if anyone captured it and wish I would have taken the picture myself.

Year of the Rat

2008-02-16T03:31:00.022-06:00

It was Chinese New Year a week ago. This is the year of the Rat, also known as Wu Zi (woozy?).

I'm a rat. At least, according to Chinese astrology. As a kid, going to a Chinese restaurant was fun, until we started examining our printed paper placemats. I would be reminded that I was born in the year of the rat. Now, wikipedia lists all kinds of nice and complimentary things about rat people, which is all well and good. But come on, a rat???

...... Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking (sounds good, can you just change the animal? maybe a puppy?). Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat's natural charm and sharp demeanor (oh, yeah, that's me!) make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.
...... Behind the smiles and charm, rats can be terribly obstinate and controlling, insisting on having things their way no matter what the cost. Rats are masters of mind games and can be very dangerous, calculative and downright cruel if the need arises. Quick-tempered and aggressive, they will not think twice about exacting revenge on those that hurt them in any way. (um, er...) Rats need to learn to relax sometimes, as they can be quite obsessed with detail, intolerant and strict, demanding order, obedience, and perfection.
...... Rats are fair in their dealings and expect the same from others in return, and can be deeply affronted if they feel they have been deceived or that their trust has been abused (really now, who wouldn't?). Sometimes they set their targets too high, whether in relation to their friends or in their career. But as the years pass, they will become more idealistic and tolerant. If they can develop their sense of self and realize it leaves room for others in their life as well, Rats can find true happiness.
...... Traditionally, Rats should avoid Horses (well, I did fall off a horse once), but they can usually find their best friends and love interests in Rabbits (please, no rabbits!), Monkeys, Dragons, and Oxen.
...... Professions include espionage, psychiatry, psychology, writing, politics, law, engineering, accounting, detective work, acting, and pathology (hmmm... no mention of secretarial work).

Oh well, at least I can call my son a Rat and get away with it - he's one, too!

The Franklin Sings!

2008-02-08T17:20:00.000-06:00

Well, little movie clips from my camera, anyway. He sang with me a little bit yesterday. Here's a verse of Amazing Grace and the chorus to The Holy City. He made up a little song, too, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch it. It was cute, though!
(Now if I could only figure out how to rotate the image so that I don't have to bend over to view!)

Amazing Grace
The Holy City

Lobster...

2008-02-06T15:30:00.001-06:00

...is what I feel like about now (not eating it, being it!), after 5 hours on the beach! Various limbs and other exposed body parts are about as red as one of the lifeguard stations here.

We went to Siesta Key, off the coast of Sarasota, and spent hours just reading, sunbathing, listening to the waves. Great relaxation method.

We took a look at Turtle Beach first, but went on to Siesta Beach because of its beautiful sand...white sand some call sugar sand, because its consistency is like confectioners sugar. It's so soft, so white, kind of sparkly when it's on your skin. That's because it's made from quartz.

Hardly anyone was on the beach when we arrived at about 9:30 this morning. Kids being in school, not prime vacation season, plus the early hour guaranteed us a close parking spot and a choice of locations to park our beach chairs.

We had seen the weather forecasts change from possible rain showers to sunny, so figured it was a good day for the beach.

But after a while the clouds started blowing in. We held our ground though, and after an hour or so of threatening clouds, they blew away and the sky cleared again.

Of course the clouds moved so fast because it was so windy, in fact, perfect kite-flying weather. I don’t know when the last time was that I’ve seen people flying kites. But there were a number of them there, including this cool pelican kite.

There was one shaped like a big barrel, another bird shaped one, one that had some noise-making thing in it, one with a long multi-colored tail, a red, white and blue kite (which later had a flag hoisted up its tail). Finally we saw a kite that had two gliding heads connected to each other that made loop-de-loop shapes with the tail connecting them. Pretty cool.

We stayed out probably an hour to 90 minutes too long. Both my sister and I got burned, me far worse than she. Good thing we had plenty of aloe back at Mom’s house! Hopefully the worst of it will be gone by the time I go home.

One of the most interesting things was all the people watching. This guy was out for quite a while, doing what looked like TM or something. He would put his hands in a receptive posture for a while, then stretch them out, then bring them together in a prayer pose. And he sat there in a lotus position for the longest time.

There were also lots of parents with pre-school kids, some really cute and laughing, one that kept crying (and finally left, to our relief!). Some people had their metal detectors or sand sifters, looking for natural or man-made treasure.

All in all, it was a great, relaxing way to spend a day. It’s probably been 30 years since I’ve just lain out a beach like that, and 10 years since I’ve spent any quality time at any beach (last time being mission trip free day on the other side of the Gulf).

So I think this time the lobster skin is a small price to pay!

Chairs

2008-02-04T16:38:00.001-06:00

Many people have written about this, but one aspect of snowy Chicago just cracks me up.

Chairs.

I refer, of course, to the time-honored tradition of saving the parking spot you've taken the time and energy to shovel out by blocking it with a pair of folding chairs. The last several winters, we haven't had tons of snow, so the chairs haven't manifested themselves much. But we just got 12 inches the other day, and they're baaaaaack!

Some people don't have chairs, and use things like cardboard boxes and sawhorses to mark their spots. Other people get a little more creative. Like this picture - it looks like a broken vacuum cleaner piece and a giant spring. Who knows?

The day I saw a kid's Fisher Price riding car out on the street, I just about lost it!

Part of a Family

2008-02-01T19:26:00.001-06:00

During this past week of Midwinter, I realized something. At some point in the week, I connected with people from every decade and every phase of my life.

Becky and John E have known me since I was a year old, and Karen H was my pastor's wife at our church in the mid sixties. (Of course, I could also name my own sister, who attended Midwinter, and whom I've known since, well...)
I met Keith S, Bob A, Pete H, Bruce L, Rick M all at Camp Mission Meadows in my early teens in the seventies. I would have been at Scandia Cov at the time.
I met Eric Sparrman, Dave G, Dave K and Lana H at North Park in the late seventies. I went first to North Park Cov, then Iglesia del Pacto de Albany Park.
Baxter and Margie S let me live in their home in Medellin, Colombia in 80-81. I also met Carol B that year (in Ecuador), and Ray D, who was head of World Mission at the time. In Colombia, I mostly attended house services.
I had classes with Noel C, and knew who Pat G was at North Park in the early eighties. Back to IdP Albany Park.
Bob S, Dave and Laurel G, Eric H, Steve and Mary Jane D are all friends made at Grace Covenant in the early nineties. Stuart M and Deb G were my two pastors during the nineties.
The list of people met since 2000 is simply too long to name - people both at Grace and through work, and who were all at Midwinter.

This list is just people I know; if I expanded the list to include people who knew Mom and Dad, or siblings, it would be huge. (And I run into people who knew my sisblings from their camper days or working stints at Mission Meadows, or those who know my siblings from the churches they've attended, or from their time at North Park.)
Family. Awesome... gives me a warm feeling inside.

Being a Witness

2008-02-01T01:02:00.001-06:00

"There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear...
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down"
- Buffalo Springfield, For What It's Worth

There is something happening here, although it is clear that it's something good that's going down in the ECC. These are interesting days; this is a very interesting and critical point in our history as a denomination.

And I feel like I'm a witness.

I've been able to personally watch the 5-fold test emerge from a brainstorming session in an Ethnic Commission meeting into a movement of the ECC. (photo: Gary Walter tallying responses at the 5-fold round table in 2004)

I've been able to watch as the position of director of congregational vitality went from proposal to funding approval to hiring to practice. And the word is spreading. Churches around the country are excited and hopeful of reigniting that spark again.

I've been able to watch as data was collected and predictions made about the future of the ECC if our attendance continues to grow as it has been. This past week, numerous presentations / discussions were held on the topic of the ECC in 2020.

I'm watching now as our denomination prepares to vote on a new President in 5 months time. It's exciting to think about both what has happened under Glenn's presidency and what will happen under Gary's.

Being a witness is cool...

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

ack!

2008-01-25T20:43:00.000-06:00

...midwinter time...

can't...talk...
can't...think...
eyes...glazing...
head...nodding...
must...keep...copying...
more...handouts...
more...slides
ungh!
(clunk)

Snow, snow, snow

2008-01-24T22:05:00.000-06:00

We've had more snow this year than the last several, it seems. I love walking Lucy in the snow because she gets so excited and does this manic scamper/hop through it.

We get three inches, and she's practically hip deep. Seeing her unbridled joy at running through the snow is like balm to my soul. Little children and pets have a way of being all-out in their exuberance.

On New Year's Day this year, I spent quality time with my pet. Having finally cleaned off the clothes hamper otherwise known as my overstuffed rocking chair, I decided that reading a book in a comfy rocker would be a good way to bring in 2008.

Lucy thought it was a good idea too, insisting on joining me in the chair. So we sat, read, watched the people walk back and forth outside while we were warm and happy inside.

All too soon the light faded, and it was time to pull the shades and join them for a short while as we took our own evening walk in the snow. Happy 2008. :)

Was I ever really that small?

2008-01-22T00:29:00.000-06:00

Today as I was picking up, I folded a couple of paper bags from the grocery store and a memory picture popped into my brain. I remember playing with paper bags, making clothing out of them by cutting neck holes in the bottom, arm holes in the side, a long cut down the front, and fringe along the bottom. Color with crayons and presto! A very cool vest type thingie. (hip, me? oh, yeah!)

As I looked at the paper bag, holding it upside-down to get the image of the temporary play clothes we used to construct, I was struck by how small it was. Was I really ever able to fit my torso inside a grocery bag!?

What would my grandson say if I took away his transformers and spiderman action figures, and replaced them with crayons, a grocery bag, and a pair of scissors? Are there kids anywhere that still think it's fun to play with such homemade toys? *sigh* Ah, the wonders of the unjaded imagination!

I wanted to illustrate this entry with a photo of a paper bag vest, and found photo evidence that yes, kids still are doing this (although the level of enjoyment in this kid's face is questionable-btw, this is some random kid; I just found him through the miracle that is google). Apparently someone thinks the craft is difficult enough to have created illustrated directions, too. Although they should have mentioned how difficult it is to get realistic fringe that's narrow enough.