Maybe I don't get it. Maybe someone should explain it to me.
Why do people care so much that Hillary Clinton cried? And she didn't even cry! She just got a wavery voice. I'm watching coverage of New Hampshire primaries and although I probably shouldn't be, I am totally flabbergasted by the amount of coverage Hillary's "emotional moment"is getting. It's almost MORE coverage than Britney Spears going into the hospital. Which...is ridiculous.
I will probably vote for Obama (a decision made a while ago), but when I first saw the "incident" on TV, I had a moment of thinking "Oh, that's kind of touching. It kind of makes me like her more. Aaaaand moving on."
All I am saying is, someone tell me what's going on.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Thursday, January 03, 2008
things that may happen next year (if my mom is prophetic)
So my mom had a dream that it was October 2008, and she was at my wedding. When she was telling me, I tried to be all casual and nonchalant while still probing for details, all "Oh, Mom (chuckle chuckle), you're so silly (chuckle chuckle). What was his name? What did he look like? Was he at least taller than me? ANSWERS, woman!"
Turns out, she didn't see him (only me, and I was wearing a plain, straight dress, "not one of those poofy ones"). The only thing she knows is that in th dream he was Swedish, and that's only because I was apparently going, "We're going to have Swedish babies!" and doing a fist pump.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
as the new year dawns....
I used the above line in a sermon once and got teased endlessly for it. I actually teased myself for it...
Anyway! shamelessly stealing from Rainster:
XTINA'S FIRSTS!! OF 2007.
Getting a masters. This was pretty significant (obviously). The actual graduation experience was just the end to a three year journey during which I grew into myself, as a woman, as a theologian, as a pastor...
(easy segue way) Becoming a pastor. This is still sort of surreal. I worked in ministry before, in fact most of my jobs have been in ministry, but the title of pastor gives a person the sort of authority I don't always feel ready/qualified for. It's not like a regular job, it's a job where people ask you to help them hold their pain, where people expect you to explain God to them. All that is... kind of scary. But kind of exhilarating at the same time.
Did a funeral. Case in point. The senior pastor at our church was away and I had to conduct the funeral for an elderly woman at my church. When the family left they said "Thank you, pastor." Heavy, heavy words.
Tried internet dating. On a lighter note! Craigslist, eharmony, match, crazyblinddate.com. None too successful, but each time I am a little bit better at not being a spastic mess. I can carry on a conversation and it has seemed more possible that I might meet someone who is interested in me for who I am.
Went to a Celtics game. Bonus! Big Papi was there.
Started and extinguished a grease fire. Trying to craft sides for a sideless baking sheet out of aluminum foil so you can cook bacon in the oven instead of on the burner does not work. But! baking soda does put out oven fires. But then you can't use your oven until you clean it. Which takes 3 months, if you're me.
Watched more TV via internet than actually on TV. This comes from having the internet and not having cable. Doing this also got me into watching international shows, like BBC's Robin Hood, Project Runway Canada, and Asian dramas (shut up.)
Lived by myself. This is amazing. I love love LOVE having my own space.
Drove (and continue to drive) a totaled car. Did you know you could do that? You can, because I do, everyday. For the past 3 months.
Visited LA. Liked Venice Beach (except for the scary muscle men). Seeing the enormous houses in Bel Air/Beverly Hills was interesting, but disheartening at the same time. Why does anyone need that?
Saw Alcatraz/ Learned about Native American occupation of Alcatraz. I can't believe I didn't know about it before... a great story, for more info see this page.
Met lots of babies These included 1. Torgo's Sequel, who liked me when his mom was around, but not so much when she left. Actually not at all when she left. There was much screaming. BUT, when smiling, Sequel is adorable. 2. Eddie K., child of previous roomates in college. Eddie and Sarah (the mom) stayed with me and ate my bananas. Also adorable. 3. Oskar G., child of seminary classmate. Oskar and I each thought the other was great. He was really easy to make laugh.
Watched (almost) every version of Jane Eyre. Blockbuster online at its best. Still would recommend the Zelah Clarke/Timothy Dalton version.
Visited Walden Pond. "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and to be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion." -- Thoreau
Wrote a REEEEEAAAAALLLLLY long paper. Otherwise known as a thesis. Otherwise known as a year of my life, or 90 pages. Otherwise known as Ain't I a Mother?: A Theology of Motherhood informed by and Beneficial to Women in the Innercity. Otherwise known as a thing of which I am immensely proud.
Had my car towed by city officials. Dern street sweepers!
Anyway! shamelessly stealing from Rainster:
XTINA'S FIRSTS!! OF 2007.
Getting a masters. This was pretty significant (obviously). The actual graduation experience was just the end to a three year journey during which I grew into myself, as a woman, as a theologian, as a pastor...
(easy segue way) Becoming a pastor. This is still sort of surreal. I worked in ministry before, in fact most of my jobs have been in ministry, but the title of pastor gives a person the sort of authority I don't always feel ready/qualified for. It's not like a regular job, it's a job where people ask you to help them hold their pain, where people expect you to explain God to them. All that is... kind of scary. But kind of exhilarating at the same time.
Did a funeral. Case in point. The senior pastor at our church was away and I had to conduct the funeral for an elderly woman at my church. When the family left they said "Thank you, pastor." Heavy, heavy words.
Tried internet dating. On a lighter note! Craigslist, eharmony, match, crazyblinddate.com. None too successful, but each time I am a little bit better at not being a spastic mess. I can carry on a conversation and it has seemed more possible that I might meet someone who is interested in me for who I am.
Went to a Celtics game. Bonus! Big Papi was there.
Started and extinguished a grease fire. Trying to craft sides for a sideless baking sheet out of aluminum foil so you can cook bacon in the oven instead of on the burner does not work. But! baking soda does put out oven fires. But then you can't use your oven until you clean it. Which takes 3 months, if you're me.
Watched more TV via internet than actually on TV. This comes from having the internet and not having cable. Doing this also got me into watching international shows, like BBC's Robin Hood, Project Runway Canada, and Asian dramas (shut up.)
Lived by myself. This is amazing. I love love LOVE having my own space.
Drove (and continue to drive) a totaled car. Did you know you could do that? You can, because I do, everyday. For the past 3 months.
Visited LA. Liked Venice Beach (except for the scary muscle men). Seeing the enormous houses in Bel Air/Beverly Hills was interesting, but disheartening at the same time. Why does anyone need that?
Saw Alcatraz/ Learned about Native American occupation of Alcatraz. I can't believe I didn't know about it before... a great story, for more info see this page.
Met lots of babies These included 1. Torgo's Sequel, who liked me when his mom was around, but not so much when she left. Actually not at all when she left. There was much screaming. BUT, when smiling, Sequel is adorable. 2. Eddie K., child of previous roomates in college. Eddie and Sarah (the mom) stayed with me and ate my bananas. Also adorable. 3. Oskar G., child of seminary classmate. Oskar and I each thought the other was great. He was really easy to make laugh.
Watched (almost) every version of Jane Eyre. Blockbuster online at its best. Still would recommend the Zelah Clarke/Timothy Dalton version.
Visited Walden Pond. "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and to be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion." -- Thoreau
Wrote a REEEEEAAAAALLLLLY long paper. Otherwise known as a thesis. Otherwise known as a year of my life, or 90 pages. Otherwise known as Ain't I a Mother?: A Theology of Motherhood informed by and Beneficial to Women in the Innercity. Otherwise known as a thing of which I am immensely proud.
Had my car towed by city officials. Dern street sweepers!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
fun for me (possibly not for you)
Google Image Search your answer
- pick one image from the first page
- and post
1. The age you will be on your next birthday
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. A place you'd like to travel to
3. Your favorite place
This is "with friends," not cavorting in the snow. See previous post.
4. Your favorite object
5. Your favorite food
.jpg)
6. Your favorite animal
7. Your favorite color
8. The town in which you were born
9. The town in which you live
Same town, in case you were confused. The first is an awesome picture of Boston, isn't it?
10. The name of a past pet
I find it kind of hilarious that there is a Fritz the cat comic book, and our first pet was Fritz the cat. AND our Fritz looked like this. But our Fritz was a girl and never tried to rock a red blazer or pick up chicks.
11. The name of a past love
David Mcfadden, 3rd grade. I can imagine this is what he would look like if he was old and a poet.
12. What you wanted to be when you were little
This is a picture of a "lady archaeologist" (their designation, not mine). I looked up archaeologist then thought I should find a picture of a woman and this is what I got.
13. Your nickname/screen name
Kind of boring, but tinglypoet did not yield a lot of options. Neither did triggermarie, my other one.
14. Your first name
15. Your middle name
Don't know who this lady is, but her name is marie.
16. Your last name
These are both interesting, because the first is a picture of a group project that I did in seminary raising awareness about the lack of handicap accessibility in the seminary building. What's funny is that this picture came up because the caption says that the woman in the chair is me, which she is obviously not. She's Deborah Penny, for the record.
The second is interesting because this guy, O.G. Tinglof was not only an original gangster, but a pastor in a church in New Hampshire that was from the denomination my church sprung out of, The Swedish Evangelical Mission Church. I'm carrying the flame, O.G.!
17. A bad habit of yours
I am no lazier now than I was forty years ago, but that is because I reached the limit forty years ago. You can't go beyond possibility.
- Mark Twain in Eruption
18. Your first job
19. Your grandmother’s name
I had two grandmothers. This makes one look slightly more distinguished, but they were both on par.
20. Your major in college
- pick one image from the first page
- and post
1. The age you will be on your next birthday
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. A place you'd like to travel to
3. Your favorite place
This is "with friends," not cavorting in the snow. See previous post.
4. Your favorite object
5. Your favorite food
.jpg)
6. Your favorite animal
7. Your favorite color
8. The town in which you were born
9. The town in which you live
Same town, in case you were confused. The first is an awesome picture of Boston, isn't it?
10. The name of a past pet
I find it kind of hilarious that there is a Fritz the cat comic book, and our first pet was Fritz the cat. AND our Fritz looked like this. But our Fritz was a girl and never tried to rock a red blazer or pick up chicks.
11. The name of a past love
David Mcfadden, 3rd grade. I can imagine this is what he would look like if he was old and a poet.
12. What you wanted to be when you were little
This is a picture of a "lady archaeologist" (their designation, not mine). I looked up archaeologist then thought I should find a picture of a woman and this is what I got.
13. Your nickname/screen name
Kind of boring, but tinglypoet did not yield a lot of options. Neither did triggermarie, my other one.
14. Your first name
15. Your middle name
Don't know who this lady is, but her name is marie.
16. Your last name
These are both interesting, because the first is a picture of a group project that I did in seminary raising awareness about the lack of handicap accessibility in the seminary building. What's funny is that this picture came up because the caption says that the woman in the chair is me, which she is obviously not. She's Deborah Penny, for the record.
The second is interesting because this guy, O.G. Tinglof was not only an original gangster, but a pastor in a church in New Hampshire that was from the denomination my church sprung out of, The Swedish Evangelical Mission Church. I'm carrying the flame, O.G.!
17. A bad habit of yours
I am no lazier now than I was forty years ago, but that is because I reached the limit forty years ago. You can't go beyond possibility.
- Mark Twain in Eruption
18. Your first job
19. Your grandmother’s name
I had two grandmothers. This makes one look slightly more distinguished, but they were both on par.
20. Your major in college
Friday, December 21, 2007
pros and cons of living in boston in the second snowiest december EVER (or, why i'm glad i have slippers)
UPDATE: people who come here from Google: if you want the REAL pros and cons of living in Boston, this post will not help you (sorry). Go here instead.
PROS:
It's pretty: yesterday when I was driving home all the soft and fluffy snow was still clinging to the branches -- lovely, like a winter wonderland (to be said with hands clasped by cheek, all romantically)
It brings neighbors together: people are all out, shoveling together. And for every mail truck guy that drives by and goes "Boy, you got a long way to go," there's a middle aged Brazilian lady who helps you clean off your car. And everyone has something to talk about.
It's cozy: It's fun to sit inside and drink tea and wrap presents (with your slippers on) when it's snowy outside...it feels like Christmas.
CONS:
Parking (or owning a car in general) makes me want to poke my eyes out. I had to park on the street in Chicago, but I never remember it being this bad. It's taken me a total of 3 hours to shovel my car out on various occasions, last night I realized why it's bad to leave your windshield wipers on when you get out of your car in a snowstorm (I don't think there's been so much snow in my car...well, ever.) Also, there are like half the parking spaces available because there are huge piles of snow and ice in the other ones.
This past Sunday, there was a snowstorm, and we canceled church! Well, we didn't cancel it, but nobody came!
People drive crazy in the snow! And park crazy (because they are desperate to find a space to park).
And it's pretty, BUT (big ol' but), it gets dirty and gross pretty quickly. Like, big piles of chunky, grungy ice, and big puddles of slush that you have to jump across. And people shovel their sidewalks, but nobody shovels ways INTO the sidewalk. So you have to scale the piles or slog through the slush. So your shoes and socks and such get soaked. BUT (big ol' but and a new pro) then you can wear your slippers. =)
PROS:
It's pretty: yesterday when I was driving home all the soft and fluffy snow was still clinging to the branches -- lovely, like a winter wonderland (to be said with hands clasped by cheek, all romantically)
It brings neighbors together: people are all out, shoveling together. And for every mail truck guy that drives by and goes "Boy, you got a long way to go," there's a middle aged Brazilian lady who helps you clean off your car. And everyone has something to talk about.
It's cozy: It's fun to sit inside and drink tea and wrap presents (with your slippers on) when it's snowy outside...it feels like Christmas.
CONS:
Parking (or owning a car in general) makes me want to poke my eyes out. I had to park on the street in Chicago, but I never remember it being this bad. It's taken me a total of 3 hours to shovel my car out on various occasions, last night I realized why it's bad to leave your windshield wipers on when you get out of your car in a snowstorm (I don't think there's been so much snow in my car...well, ever.) Also, there are like half the parking spaces available because there are huge piles of snow and ice in the other ones.
This past Sunday, there was a snowstorm, and we canceled church! Well, we didn't cancel it, but nobody came!
People drive crazy in the snow! And park crazy (because they are desperate to find a space to park).
And it's pretty, BUT (big ol' but), it gets dirty and gross pretty quickly. Like, big piles of chunky, grungy ice, and big puddles of slush that you have to jump across. And people shovel their sidewalks, but nobody shovels ways INTO the sidewalk. So you have to scale the piles or slog through the slush. So your shoes and socks and such get soaked. BUT (big ol' but and a new pro) then you can wear your slippers. =)
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
the latest and greatest
in theaters: Gone Baby Gone
LOVED it. It was a really honest view of Boston, the gritty, uncouth side of Boston, the place where the people who are poor and white live. Ben Affleck, who annoys me to no end on screen because, I don't know, he looks too polished or something, is GREAT behind the camera. He used a lot of locals to make the film more authentic, which worked so well that the bigger names, like Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris, actually pulled me out of the story. I don't want to give away too much, but I do want to say that Casey Affleck is great and a far cry from the dude that wanted to sit in the front seat in Good Will Hunting, and also, I don't ever want a private dectective boyfriend (which is what Affleck plays) because I thought Affleck was going to die about 7 different times in this movie and that would be too much for my frail little heart.
Also, one reviewer from the Boston Globe said that B. Affleck did a great job portraying class (which, I agree, phenomenal) but struggled a bit with race. The reviewer said that the great Boston movie will deal with race expertly, but no one will want to see it.
online: Project Runway Canada & Robin Hood BBC. I guess I'm not very patriotic these days.
on PRC:Canadians are just calmer than Americans it seems, and, don't tell Tim Gunn but I almost love this show better than the US version. Less drama, more sewing, and they even made dresses that were auctioned off to benefit AIDS relief in Africa.
on Robin Hood: Robin Hood is campy and cheesy and horribly inaccurate and purposely anachronistic and so predictable and cliche (like the weekly-Robin-and-Merry-band-sneak-into-the-castle-will-they-escape business, or the love triangle between the cocky and dashing Robin, the headstrong Marian, and the vile (but increasingly softhearted) henchman Guy of Gisbourne)...BUT I LOVE IT. I've come to the realization that I don't necessarily want intelligent TV, because usually it's just TV that tries to be intelligent and fails and drives me crazy (hello, LOST). I like a little cheeseball melodrama with a dash of humor. That makes me happy.
in life: Christmas music! and lights, the tackier the better. There's a guy in Jamaica Plain who put up 500,000 Christmas lights as well as a 650 lb crown this year, but mostly I really love driving down the street and passing a little row house all decked out with different size and color lights. I could think about wasted energy, wasted money, etc., but this time of year, especially, I prefer to think about people feeling cheered and ready for the season.
You know what this post has told me? especially the last two bits? I'm a sap. Might as well embrace it.
LOVED it. It was a really honest view of Boston, the gritty, uncouth side of Boston, the place where the people who are poor and white live. Ben Affleck, who annoys me to no end on screen because, I don't know, he looks too polished or something, is GREAT behind the camera. He used a lot of locals to make the film more authentic, which worked so well that the bigger names, like Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris, actually pulled me out of the story. I don't want to give away too much, but I do want to say that Casey Affleck is great and a far cry from the dude that wanted to sit in the front seat in Good Will Hunting, and also, I don't ever want a private dectective boyfriend (which is what Affleck plays) because I thought Affleck was going to die about 7 different times in this movie and that would be too much for my frail little heart.
Also, one reviewer from the Boston Globe said that B. Affleck did a great job portraying class (which, I agree, phenomenal) but struggled a bit with race. The reviewer said that the great Boston movie will deal with race expertly, but no one will want to see it.
online: Project Runway Canada & Robin Hood BBC. I guess I'm not very patriotic these days.
on PRC:Canadians are just calmer than Americans it seems, and, don't tell Tim Gunn but I almost love this show better than the US version. Less drama, more sewing, and they even made dresses that were auctioned off to benefit AIDS relief in Africa.
on Robin Hood: Robin Hood is campy and cheesy and horribly inaccurate and purposely anachronistic and so predictable and cliche (like the weekly-Robin-and-Merry-band-sneak-into-the-castle-will-they-escape business, or the love triangle between the cocky and dashing Robin, the headstrong Marian, and the vile (but increasingly softhearted) henchman Guy of Gisbourne)...BUT I LOVE IT. I've come to the realization that I don't necessarily want intelligent TV, because usually it's just TV that tries to be intelligent and fails and drives me crazy (hello, LOST). I like a little cheeseball melodrama with a dash of humor. That makes me happy.
in life: Christmas music! and lights, the tackier the better. There's a guy in Jamaica Plain who put up 500,000 Christmas lights as well as a 650 lb crown this year, but mostly I really love driving down the street and passing a little row house all decked out with different size and color lights. I could think about wasted energy, wasted money, etc., but this time of year, especially, I prefer to think about people feeling cheered and ready for the season.
You know what this post has told me? especially the last two bits? I'm a sap. Might as well embrace it.
Monday, October 22, 2007
let's go red sox (clap clap clapclapclap)
my parents took part in this Jordan's furniture promotion that will give them their mattress for free if the red sox make it all the way to the series.
on saturday night, my mom thought it was all over, and she was ready for her mattress...we had to tell her, "not yet, mom."
even though he didn't do much last night (i like to think he allowed the younguns to have some glory), i still love me some david ortiz. i found this video on youtube, and even though the interviewer's annoying, i am a sucker for a man in an apron, especially a man with an apron and a big smile who can actually cook (and well -- i was ready for those plaintains), ESPECIALLY a man with an apron and a big smile who can actually cook and hit homers in his sleep.
i just want to give him a big hug around his belly.
on saturday night, my mom thought it was all over, and she was ready for her mattress...we had to tell her, "not yet, mom."
even though he didn't do much last night (i like to think he allowed the younguns to have some glory), i still love me some david ortiz. i found this video on youtube, and even though the interviewer's annoying, i am a sucker for a man in an apron, especially a man with an apron and a big smile who can actually cook (and well -- i was ready for those plaintains), ESPECIALLY a man with an apron and a big smile who can actually cook and hit homers in his sleep.
i just want to give him a big hug around his belly.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
mouse update.
bought the humane traps. but then the mouse disappeared! rainster and i thought perhaps the downstairs neighbor's cat killed/ate it, but i guess i'll never know what happened to that brave little sucker.
also, made potato leek soup yesterday. YUM!
also, made potato leek soup yesterday. YUM!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
city mouse
there are few things i thought to blog about this week, but ended up being too lazy to, like:
1. my thoughts on me possibly doing karaoke with rainster
namely, that my voice is such that i could not try and sing normally, because people would be embarrassed for me. i would have to try and be ironic, like the guy this past week who did britney spears a la robert goulet (on a side note, although i do enjoy covers done in completely different styles, like the acoustic guitar guy who did "real love" by mary j. blige at a dido concert torgo and i went to once long ago, ironically singing britney spears is overdone). but i'm not confident enough to be ironic without practicing exhaustively. i could also try and be funny, but i'm more the witty-story-writer type funny, not the sing-and-dance-goofily-get-the-crowd-going-along-with-you type funny.
2. a random question i had:
namely, where are those trucks that are driving along pulling one long log behind them going? why don't they have a bunch of logs? is this for some log throwing contest for giants? an enormous log cabin being built really inefficiently?
but then, that same day, i figured it out -- ELECTRIC POLES. duh.
but what is it that made me come on here and post? the fact that right now there is a MOUSE in my HOUSE. and by house i mean ONE ROOM APARTMENT.
my parent's house has mice. mostly in the kitchen. so i felt a little better sleeping there because i could convince myself that the mouse was going to stay put in the kitchen, and wouldn't possibly get close to my bed. however, in this apartment, my bed is about four (human) steps from my kitchen
. moreover, i have seen the mouse running round under my bed.
it's not a rat or anything. it's just a little mouse. but i am FREAKED OUT. like, right now, i don't know where it is. it could be right under me as i sit on the futon. i know tomorrow i can call my landlord and hope she can do something (i don't want to set a trap), but for tonight, we might have to co-exist. where will the mouse go once i shut all the light off? will the mouse crawl on me in my sleep? on my FACE? oh. oh my.
1. my thoughts on me possibly doing karaoke with rainster
namely, that my voice is such that i could not try and sing normally, because people would be embarrassed for me. i would have to try and be ironic, like the guy this past week who did britney spears a la robert goulet (on a side note, although i do enjoy covers done in completely different styles, like the acoustic guitar guy who did "real love" by mary j. blige at a dido concert torgo and i went to once long ago, ironically singing britney spears is overdone). but i'm not confident enough to be ironic without practicing exhaustively. i could also try and be funny, but i'm more the witty-story-writer type funny, not the sing-and-dance-goofily-get-the-crowd-going-along-with-you type funny.
2. a random question i had:
namely, where are those trucks that are driving along pulling one long log behind them going? why don't they have a bunch of logs? is this for some log throwing contest for giants? an enormous log cabin being built really inefficiently?
but then, that same day, i figured it out -- ELECTRIC POLES. duh.
but what is it that made me come on here and post? the fact that right now there is a MOUSE in my HOUSE. and by house i mean ONE ROOM APARTMENT.
my parent's house has mice. mostly in the kitchen. so i felt a little better sleeping there because i could convince myself that the mouse was going to stay put in the kitchen, and wouldn't possibly get close to my bed. however, in this apartment, my bed is about four (human) steps from my kitchen
. moreover, i have seen the mouse running round under my bed.it's not a rat or anything. it's just a little mouse. but i am FREAKED OUT. like, right now, i don't know where it is. it could be right under me as i sit on the futon. i know tomorrow i can call my landlord and hope she can do something (i don't want to set a trap), but for tonight, we might have to co-exist. where will the mouse go once i shut all the light off? will the mouse crawl on me in my sleep? on my FACE? oh. oh my.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
tuesdays are for discoveries
DISCOVERY #1: my taxes
duh, xtina, shouldn't you KNOW about your taxes by now? well, yes, i should, if my taxes were still regular taxes. but ACTUALLY my taxes are now unusual. clergy, you see, are considered self-employed, so don't get any taxes taken out. instead, i have to pay estimates on a quarterly basis.
but wait! there's more!
salary for clergy is actually divided into a salary and a housing allowance. why? who knows? and income tax is just taken out of the salary, and social security is taken out of both...plus i need to keep track of all my deductions.
i used to be able to do the 1040EZ. no more! but happily, clergy also get standing room only access to all red sox home games...that kind of makes up for the tax confusion. that and the whole living into my calling thing.
DISCOVERY #2: Party Mix, March 2007
so the other day i was in my mom's car and she hands to me a CD with the words "Party Mix, March 2007" written on it. i don't recognize it, i don't remember any parties in march, and it doesn't look like the handwriting of anyone i know. whatever, i take it anyway. i play it. it doesn't sound like anything my friends would listen to, kind of a mixture of funk, oldies, really fun music...i recognized only a few of the songs (TOTALLY rocked out to Stevie's "signed, sealed, delivered"), but i liked them all. it was like an early Christmas present.
duh, xtina, shouldn't you KNOW about your taxes by now? well, yes, i should, if my taxes were still regular taxes. but ACTUALLY my taxes are now unusual. clergy, you see, are considered self-employed, so don't get any taxes taken out. instead, i have to pay estimates on a quarterly basis.
but wait! there's more!
salary for clergy is actually divided into a salary and a housing allowance. why? who knows? and income tax is just taken out of the salary, and social security is taken out of both...plus i need to keep track of all my deductions.
i used to be able to do the 1040EZ. no more! but happily, clergy also get standing room only access to all red sox home games...that kind of makes up for the tax confusion. that and the whole living into my calling thing.
DISCOVERY #2: Party Mix, March 2007
so the other day i was in my mom's car and she hands to me a CD with the words "Party Mix, March 2007" written on it. i don't recognize it, i don't remember any parties in march, and it doesn't look like the handwriting of anyone i know. whatever, i take it anyway. i play it. it doesn't sound like anything my friends would listen to, kind of a mixture of funk, oldies, really fun music...i recognized only a few of the songs (TOTALLY rocked out to Stevie's "signed, sealed, delivered"), but i liked them all. it was like an early Christmas present.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
my destiny calls and i go!
so last night i went to see Man of La Mancha at a theater that I didn't even know existed in downtown Boston. A tiny little venue, but worked perfectly well for the stage set up, which is supposed to look like a prison. the main character, Miguel Cervantes, is a playwright who uses the props in the prison and his fellow prisoners to act out the story of Don Quixote.
i think you'd have to work pretty hard to wreck MoLM because it's such a fun, energetic show with really catchy songs, but this group did a fabulous job, and i liked the multicultural-ness of their company. Don Quixote had the perfect mix of earnestness and dottering age. the Padre was hot (can i think that?) the only thing that was weird to a person who is used to going to musicals (i do love a good musical) in big venues was the pre-recorded music (as opposed to, obviously, an orchestra)...a little distracting. (ed. note: apparently, i am in a parenthetical mood today)
if you haven't seen this show, and are in Boston, go see it where i did. if you haven't seen the show and are not in Boston, find someplace that is playing it, and go see it. at the very least, watch this, which is what turned me on to this musical in the first place.
*for those who don't know, this is the fabulous Scott Bakula in the fabulous Quantum Leap. He sings with a little too much macho gusto for this particular role, but i love him anyway. also, yes, i know it's in spanish. it's the only one i could find.
**also, I just put a video in my blog! praise me.
Friday, September 14, 2007
why i don't speak french
The Chair-Caner
Whatever it cost to make the old peasant give in
who had refused to yield his ancestors' land,
cost to have the swamp sanded over, and the bridge built
and the reception for state dignitaries, he knows nothing of it
the Sunday painter devoted to flowers
to cats' eyes, to young girls' blossoming
on an imaginary dune, just as such things are not noticed
by the gods of this palace who smoke and talk of art
with the gestures of Greek statues. He only
knows that for painting, a sparrow in the sky
suffices, or a sun-ray on the straw of his chair
if in the depth of silence for an instant that shadow
loosens the grip that makes him drop his eyes.
(Text of the poem in the original French)
Guy Goffette
..because translating poems like this, which i really like, would be really hard. don't you think?
Thursday, September 13, 2007
so the most recent thing i'm procrastinating on is this licensing paper i have to write to get started on the ordination process.
once i do that, i will be on my way to really, really being a pastor, and that's amazing and kind of knee-knockingly scary. early in the summer i went to talk to the grandmother of one of my kids who was going through a hard time. she answered the phone once during the middle of our meeting and said, "let me call you back, i'm talking to a pastor right now" and she meant me...
crazy.
once i do that, i will be on my way to really, really being a pastor, and that's amazing and kind of knee-knockingly scary. early in the summer i went to talk to the grandmother of one of my kids who was going through a hard time. she answered the phone once during the middle of our meeting and said, "let me call you back, i'm talking to a pastor right now" and she meant me...
crazy.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Fudge vs. Gore
so last thursday i saw harry potter and the order of the phoenix, which was good, but i always hate watching movies based on books because i want the WHOLE book in the movie, and that hardly ever happens. but i was entertained.
and just this very evening i watched an inconvenient truth.
and i decided that when jk rowling wrote the order of the phoenix, she may have been thinking about global warming.
no, wait, really, just listen.
so in order of the phoenix one of the main themes is that the governing body, the ministry of magic, does not want to admit that voldemort is back, and so they get increasingly strict in their monitoring of people who disagree and increasingly shrill in their denials that anything is wrong, even while evidence that something is gravely wrong is staring them in the face. (i mean, hello, dementors in little whinging? mass breakout in azkaban? c'mon, fudge! wake up and smell the soul-sucking!)
let's see. a governing body, not wanting to admit a dangerous situation is imminent? well, ok, that doesn't have to global warming, it could be any number of things. but global warming makes sense also.
one of gore's most chilling facts (and there are a lot of chilling facts) was the results of a study that looked at over 900 scientific articles over the last ten years and over 600 popular press articles. 0% of the scientific articles disagreed that global warming is a serious problem of which humans are the main cause, while over 50% of the popular press disagreed. as gore says, no wonder people are confused.
just like how the prophet called harry a liar, despite the endorsement of one of the greatest wizard who ever lived, dumbledore.
what i'm trying to say is this. don't be like seamus finnagin's mom, believing what the press says, denying a potentially horrendous situation, until the death eaters are practically at your door. be like luna lovegood's dad. that is to say, believe the evidence, and then use your power to put what you know out into the public to convince the doubters.
Friday, July 06, 2007
everything's gravy
it's been a long time since my last update, sorry about that!
what have i done? i went to camden to hang out with some kids and adults at the ministry i used to work with. all the kids seemed older and stretched out and had facial hair and deeper voices (well, the boys had facial hair and deeper voices). the ministry had changed a lot too -- but everything still felt so familiar.
me and gabby (who is now leaving to work with street children in peru)
(joey in shades and a hat i made him wear)
(tony, pookie, me, albert -- the twins are the guys i gave piano "lessons" to)
(tyrone & cj -- had a great time reminiscing about how awful they were to me when they were in the 8th grade)
(abby, little myron, jason, justin -- the last time i saw jason he was up to abby's elbow. and now, what was i saying? all stretched out. facial hair. i'm old)
(jesse -- he's preaching at his church now!)
(shawn wasn't around for lunch so i sat on his porch with him and we talked for a long time...this kid's going to be a famous dancer some day)
i got back sunday night and felt rushed and struggled to get a discussion ready for youth group on Monday, but we talked about the supreme court decision on the case against seattle/louisville school systems (which i will blog about when i DON'T have a sermon to write) at youth group on Monday and had a very lively discussion that went around and around and came back again. the kids didn't know what they thought, but they got pushed to articulate, which was awesome.
also, i had a GREAT 4th. my friend steve had a party, and i am typically the type that wants to go home at 11 because i'm sleepy, but this time i was wide awake even when we were driving home against the lightening sky. my old high school crew got together and talked forever -- and then continued it the next day when we met for brunch at lisa's house and ate and talked until i was hungry again and looked at the clock and it was SEVEN. so then we went to chili's
(this is us on the porch)
the point being: it's been a superb week.
what have i done? i went to camden to hang out with some kids and adults at the ministry i used to work with. all the kids seemed older and stretched out and had facial hair and deeper voices (well, the boys had facial hair and deeper voices). the ministry had changed a lot too -- but everything still felt so familiar.
me and gabby (who is now leaving to work with street children in peru)
(joey in shades and a hat i made him wear)
(tony, pookie, me, albert -- the twins are the guys i gave piano "lessons" to)
(tyrone & cj -- had a great time reminiscing about how awful they were to me when they were in the 8th grade)
(abby, little myron, jason, justin -- the last time i saw jason he was up to abby's elbow. and now, what was i saying? all stretched out. facial hair. i'm old)
(jesse -- he's preaching at his church now!)
(shawn wasn't around for lunch so i sat on his porch with him and we talked for a long time...this kid's going to be a famous dancer some day)
i got back sunday night and felt rushed and struggled to get a discussion ready for youth group on Monday, but we talked about the supreme court decision on the case against seattle/louisville school systems (which i will blog about when i DON'T have a sermon to write) at youth group on Monday and had a very lively discussion that went around and around and came back again. the kids didn't know what they thought, but they got pushed to articulate, which was awesome.
also, i had a GREAT 4th. my friend steve had a party, and i am typically the type that wants to go home at 11 because i'm sleepy, but this time i was wide awake even when we were driving home against the lightening sky. my old high school crew got together and talked forever -- and then continued it the next day when we met for brunch at lisa's house and ate and talked until i was hungry again and looked at the clock and it was SEVEN. so then we went to chili's
(this is us on the porch)the point being: it's been a superb week.
Friday, June 22, 2007
part time job hunt part two
OK, so there was a LOT of interest in me taking the nit picking job.
i went to an open house about it, which at first i was really nervous about, since it was a job off craigslist, and how did i know there wasn't a crazy person on the other side of the door of this "open house," ready to trap me in their monstrous newton house.
but there was no craziness or monstrousness, unless you count some of the stories she had about lice: people putting their kids in chemical baths, people on farms giving her fresh eggs in exchange for payment, people with over a thousand nits on their head, people who told their kids to call her "goddess of lice."
i could definitely do it -- it's totally within my capabilities and i don't think it's gross -- but i haven't decided yet if i have the time to commit to it.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
part time job hunt part one.
so, only working at the church part time job leaves me time to pursue another part time job.
so guess what i applied to do?
be a professional nit picker! go around and pick lice eggs out of people's hair!
so guess what i applied to do?
be a professional nit picker! go around and pick lice eggs out of people's hair!
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