Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Super November around the world

We don't hold anything over Romania when it comes to presidential elections and voting complications. Translated from Le Monde's site.

"I voted four times," a young I.T. technician from Bucharest (the capital) informed the reporter. "I made a bet with my friends on who would have the courage to vote more than once. It was a question of adrenaline because you can go to prison for that. But hey, the stickers stamped onto our cards are easy to take off. In fact, I lost the bet. One of my friends voted seven times."

Another good reason to move to Romania, where the young and the daring can swing elections!

Friday, November 26, 2004

Donuts and things

It's strange to be blogging from Mommy's chair, in front of Mommy's computer at Mommy's desk. But I had to take advantage of Ardith's nap. By the way, Mommy, the plant hanging above your chair is growing long beautiful tendrils around the Burpee picture and down to the chair arm. . . I'm sure by the time you're back, it will have curled its way all over your desk.

Yes, good to be home. I don't have any thrillingly frustrating stories to equal Ardith's, although we were in the car about 10 hours instead of the usal 7 1/2. Traffic was stop-and-start most of the way to Chicago, and through Chicago, and past Chicago. Tammy drove the first half (the slow, long half); by the time we switched, the roads had cleared out and I could drive the speed limit. After quite a long stretch, the cars in front of me started braking. Ice! I must have hit the brakes too, because the car started skidding and spinning around. . . over 180 degree turn. . . I hung on, waiting for us to hit something. But we didn't even go in the ditch, although 3 or 4 other cars had already succeeded. That was scary. That's why we prayed for safety at the beginning of the trip.

After that it was smooth sailing to Waterloo. Since it was Tammy's car and Tammy likes to keep her speed up, I did too. . . but I promise I wasn't reckless. We got into Waterloo about 10 Iowa time, 11 Indiana time (left 1:30). Then I learned I would be staying the night because Ardith had missed her flight. Great job, Ardith. Cars may be slow, but they beat flights you never catch. Yeah, she knows I'm kidding. Pastor John and I almost walked past her at the airport the next morning. It was a very fast airport stop, since her luggage had somehow disappeared.

So, we got home. Ardith planned the dinner prep times and we managed to carry it out, with help from everyone else. After everyone had eaten their fill, or more, we sat around the table and laughed at Derek's attempt to re-word the title "The Taming of the Shrew" so he could avoid copyright laws. Why? I guess he wanted to write about a real taming of a real shrew. Most people know that Shakespeare's play describes how a man brings his headstrong wife to submission, but we did learn from Jason that the title also refers to how the woman had a nose shaped like a shrew's. It does hurt to laugh on a full stomach!

Today has been very relaxing. Sleeping in till 11, playing Dutch Blitz, doing a little homework. . . Ardith was working on her collation of Greek manuscripts, me on my French dissertation, on which I have to give a presentation a week from today.

As long as I was home and free from Grace's restrictive firewall, I took that molecule test. Looks like I'm glucose. All I remember is that I'm sweet, caring, and people feed off of me. Kinda makes me not want to be sweet and caring. I think there's some plot behind this.

Tomorrow, provided no cold suddenly descends to smite Ardith and me, we'll drive up to visit Daddy and Mommy in their ritzy little establishment. Might be a temperature shock, from a 73 degree house (if that) to 77 plus. But I'm definitely willing to take the risk!


Wednesday, November 24, 2004

From the library desk

As long as the library's paying me to sit here in front of a computer, why not write another post? Isn't this a wonderful country? Maybe that's what the 'liberal' arts college experience means. Ardith knows what I mean. Even if she is at a tech school that is only slowly beginning to live up to the idea of a liberal arts school.

I had to try the Narnia quiz that Martinez linked on his blog, short and dumb as it was (yes, that could have been worded more carefully - of course I meant the quiz, not the blog - but why not allow a few moments' worth of interesting reactions?). They assigned me to The Horse and His Boy, with the labels of wistful, alienated, goal-driven. Not bad. The Horse and His Boy has always been my favorite Narnia chronicle. Wistful, alienated. . . that's fairly accurate for the last few weeks. Goal-driven? Conversely, this hasn't been true, until the new motivation of Thanksgiving break.

But enough of trite personality quizzes. Why are they so fascinating? In my case, I think it comes down to selfishness. In fact, the more time passes, the more convinced I am that selfishness is deeply entrenched in me, and radical surgery is often required just to make me aware of it.

The library's Christmas decorations and the Christmas music playing is making me nostalgic. But I enjoy it now, because tomorrow is home!



Monday, November 22, 2004

Spiegel had some interesting news today, from Chancellor Gerhard Schröder:

"Wenn eine junge Frau in der Gesellschaft ein Kopftuch tragen möchte, halte ich das für tolerabel. Wenn sie es als Angehörige im öffentlichen Dienst tun möchte, würde ich sagen: Nein, da erwarten wir eine andere Weise, sich anzuziehen."

Why?

"Wer hier lebt und sich integrieren will, der muss sich an die gesetzgeberischen Regeln halten und er muss unsere Sprache lernen."

For those who don't read German, the Chancellor announced on television that women in teaching positions should not wear headscarves, because they are holding public office. Behind this is the idea that if someone wants to live and integrate himself (or herself) into German society, that person must follow the legislated regulations and learn German.
The French have been dealing with the same issue, only in their case, Muslim girls who attend a university and don't want to be expelled cannot wear the traditional head scarf. I find these similar themes interesting, considering the large variance between the church/state relations that French and German history has seen. Of course, their economic and political ties bind them much more closely now.

Those who want to read the article can visit http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,329017,00.html

No, I don't feel like learning how to set up links tonight, because it's almost 10 and I want to catch some of the sleep I missed earlier this weekend.

And yes, this was last night, but my computer must have been as tired as me, because it didn't have the energy to succesfully publish.

Saturday, November 13, 2004

Survived till Friday

Tonight seems like a good time to write. The writing urge is tugging, which it hasn't done for a long time. . . probably because I haven't had time to give it a chance. Now, my real challenge is keeping on track while I type this in the lobby where "Friends" is on TV. Believe me, I'd be in my room, but I'm afraid my computer may decide to shut down and take its weekend rest when I'm about 89% done with the blog. And believe me, "Friends" doesn't intrigue me at all, but it does interrupt my thought trains.

Tonight Festival Chorus performed the second half of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, with guests for the solo parts. Sitting on stage is much different than sitting in the audience, in fact, standing on stage is rather different. I hovered between the happy extremes of feeling the glory of the music lift me toward the roof, to momentary panic that I had missed a cue from Prof. Faber, to the uncomfortable certainty that I was feeling dizzy and wobbly and would faint, just because I've never fainted before and performance night would be the perfect time to do it. But the night turned out to be a success, mostly because I was only one of forty and couldn't do too much to ruin it. It has been very pleasant to participate in some music this semester, which is now over, leaving the sad predicament of free Thursday evenings.

Let's see, I promised more details on our budding poetry club. So far we have met two or three times, depending on which of us is the subject, since Kat and I missed last night's meeting due to a three-hour dress rehearsal in which no one dressed at all like performance night, but we did rehearse - excuse that rabbit trail, I'm just trying to figure out how 'dress rehearsal' got its name. Our still-developing goals seem to be 1) to read and discuss poetry, 2) to write poetry to read and discuss, and 3) to find inspiration to write poetry to read and discuss. In other words, it's actually an inspiration club. Our main problem is to meet these three goals, because a few more easily distracted individuals distract the remaining compliant ones. Since several good ideas have sprung from these distractions, we continue to make progress and press toward the ultimate goal of being "the coolest club at Grace" (not my words) and promoting the general literary culture on campus.

Returning to tonight. . . it has been a relaxing evening of tidying, laundry, reading blog posts, talking to a friend, lifting weights. That last makes three times this week, which means I'm almost back to re-establishing a habit from last semester. More importantly, it means I'll be ready to come home for Thanksgiving Break and give piggy-back rides and play Dutch Blitz and beat thick banana bread batter and whatever else may be necessary. Thanks to some very wonderful friends - you know who you are, even if I don't! - Ardith will be home as well. This will undoubtedly be our most memorable Thanksgiving ever. Even if we have to celebrate it from two locations.

And now it's nearly 12:30 a.m., late for this little girl.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

When my words fail. . .

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;

indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves
so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

who delivered us from so great a peril of death,
and will deliver us,
He on whom we have set our hope.

And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers,
so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf
for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

II Corinthians 1:8-11

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

News

And that's good news!

Daddy is out of surgery, into intensive care. Transplant was "satisfactory". He'll be closely monitored during the 24 hours post-surgery, the first crucial period.

Thank you for all the prayers, and many thanks to God for answering them!

Sunday, November 07, 2004

Life

C'est pour cela aussi que nous nous efforçons de lui être agréables, soit que nous demeurions dans ce corps, soit que nous le quittions. Car il nous faut tous comparaitre devant le tribunal de Christ, afin que chacun reçoive selon le bien ou le mal qu'il aura fait, étant dans son corps.
2 Corinthiens 5.9-10

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.


What made me think of these verses was the Thursday chapel message by Roger Peugh. He showed us how deeply words, careless or not, can hurt others. Now I was sure that there exists a verse saying that we will give an account for every careless word we speak. Not finding that one, I thought of these. I'm still thinking of them.

My apologies for not posting earlier. This week I had several tests plus Homecoming, which entails a few responsibilities for senators. Let's see, if I wanted to give you a snapshot through one day, Thursday would be a good example.

6:00 - wake up and shower
6:30 - back to sleep (don't laugh)
8:00 - get ready, eat breakfast
9:00 - work at Language department
10:00 - chapel
11:00 - work again
12:00 - fast lunch
12:30-2:00 - Sociology
2:30-4:00 - work at library
4:00-5:10 - meeting with Senate's Alpha Dining committee and Sodexho personnel
5:30 - supper
7:00-9:00 - Festival Chorus practice
9:15-9:50 - Poetry Club
10:30-12 a.m. - help decorate dining hall for Homecoming Banquet

Probably the busiest day this week.

Sometimes it feels like everything solid is slipping away. Habakkuk must have felt like that, when God told him that the Chaldeans would invade Judah.

I heard and my inward parts trembled,
At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us.
Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,
And there be no cattle in the stalls,

Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.