Under the pile...

OK Sports fans... I want to watch March Madness. I want to prep my flowerbeds for spring. I want to spend more time in any room but my study.

But it's crunch time for school and that ain't gonna happen!

I'll check in with you later... I'm making headway on my GET 'ER DONE list, but Facebook and Blogger are distracting me.

SO - - when the dust settles and I feel like I'm not so behind, I'll blog a little. Or when I'm so frustrated and need to vent, I'll blog a little. Or when procrastination is more interesting than Turabian, I'll blog a little. (Scratch that last one!!!)

Peace out-
Deb

Sex Sells

I suppose "it's just plastic" and "it's meant to be funny." But I have a hard time when, during prime time TV, nudity is portrayed as funny -- all to sell clothing. Was a guy pantsed? No way. And if it was really "just plastic" then why the censorship bars?

I guess I'll wait for the day that breastfeeding is broadcast with the same lack of shame and openness. (Like that will happen. The infant formula industry is far too powerful.)

OK, rant off.

Deb

Oh Taste and See

Oh taste and see
that the Lord is good
Oh taste and see
that the Lord is good to me
Hey yeah...

Cause you turned my mourning into dancing
Put off my rags and clothed me with gladness
And I will rise and I will you praise you
I'll sing and not be silent

Oh Lord our God
I will give thanks to you forever

Productivity...

Cranked it out yesterday...

I'm down to...
3 research papers, 15-20 pages EACH
5 exegetical outlines from one of the Gospels
2 systematic theology essays
2 books on pastoral theology (book reports)
3 reflective essays
0 sacramental doctrine essay

YUP! It's CRUNCH time!
Here's today's plan...
- outline and select final sources for 1st research paper due on April 4th
- finish systematic theology essays (piece of cake - 500 words each)
- skim pastoral theology book and write book report
- prep for senior pit orchs coming here at 3
- chauffeur orchs people to school
- work concessions at Beauty and the Beast

Somewhere in there is lunch... and eventually there is sleep!!

Friday Five:Signs of Hope

Songbird from RevGalBlogPals writes:

My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Song of Solomon 2:10-13 In the late, late winter, as the snow begins to recede here in Maine, we begin to look almost desperately for signs of spring, signs of hope that the weather has turned and a new day is on the horizon. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Easter and Spring twine inextricably, the crocuses and daffodils peeking through the Earth as we await the risen Christ. Share with us five signs of hope that you can see today or have experienced in the past.

AHhhhhhhhhhhhh! Spring! Here's my five, photoblog style:

1. The first snowdrops peeking through. Taken right before the last snowstorm in March.

2. Bluebirds in our backyard a few weeks ago.

3. The Cherry Blossom Festival here in DC. (This was taken March 2008.)

4. Forsythia. (Last year's - this year's blossoms are just thinking about blooming.)

5. Countdowns to summer start. Reedy Girl is famous for keeping them on her white board. Coming up this spring: two concerts, middle school band tour, vacation at the beach, state testing, AP testing, finals and high school graduation. This was last year's countdown board:

BONUS: What's left for me this semester? (in the next four weeks!)
3 research papers, 15-20 pages EACH
6 exegetical outlines from one of the Gospels
4 systematic theology essays
2 books on pastoral theology (book reports)
3 reflective essays
1 sacramental doctrine essay

Deb

Prayer for inner rest and peace

Give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love.

Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone.

Amen...

Source: New Seeds of Contemplation (Thomas Merton)

one of those songs that keeps me walking...

Just had to share this... it's a song that is one of my new favorites. It's a song that keeps me walking, believing, waiting, praying...

And always, always, ALWAYS hanging onto the One who knows and loves me not because of who I am but because of Who made me.

Enjoy... stand amazed...
Deb

Heavenly Father, you always amaze me
Let your kingdom come in my world and in my life
Give me the food I need to live through today
And forgive me as I forgive the people that wrong me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window the birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune or out of place
I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl on her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens is now advancing
Invade my heart, invade this broken town
The kingdom of the Heavens is buried treasure
Would you sell yourself to buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

Our God in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us weary sinners
Keep us far away from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

by Jon Foreman from Switchfoot

Birds on a wire

NYC, somewhere between Broadway and the NJ tunnels
(sorry for the glare - I took it through the bus window)

On our way out of New York last Saturday, we were stuck at one particular intersection for a long, long, time. I was particularly intrigued at the pigeons who were settling in on the guy wires between the traffic lights. When we pulled up to the light there were five or six birds. But they kept coming. More and more flew in and joined the ones on the wires. There was no jostling for position or flapping others away - they just made room for more and more birds.

In a moment of music trivia, I started humming...

Like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in an old midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Like a worm on a hook,
Like a knight been down in some old fashioned book
It was the shape of our love that twisted me
If I have been unkind, if I have been unkind
Oh I hope you can find the way to let it all go right on by...

I say don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry anymore
It's over, it's finished, it's completed, it has..., it has been paid for.

And that is so true. See? A Lenten theme afterall!

OK, so Leonard Cohen isn't your style and you don't know the song... you can listen here...
(If you want a more growly version, I think Johnny Cash sang it, too.)




Sweet dreams...

What's in a word?

I admit I get in a tear over stupid things. Needless sexist jokes. Using "man" when you don't mean a male-gendered person. And so on. I try not to shove it down people's throats, really.

Since there's a budding linguist in the house, I am learning that the words we use have a power beyond their use. Because they are used, they infer a specific purpose and/or meaning beyond their choice. And when they fall into disuse, they change the expressive capacity of a language. The recent flurry of Tweets about gender-inclusive language has been fascinating to me.

A recent article at CNN illustrates what I'm talking about...

(CNN) -- Twitter users may value brevity in their messages, but that doesn't mean they don't think about the social implications of language.

Is this sign sexist? Some say our language should be more inclusive of both genders.

"Can't we English-speakers just agree upon a gender-neutral pronoun?" attorney Paul Easton recently Twittered. "Tired of PC grammar gymnastics."

Easton isn't alone. There have been at least 18 recent tweets about the fact that English has no grammatically correct substitutes for words like "he," "him," and "his" that do not have a gender implied.

Consider the sentence "Everyone loves his mother." The word "his" may be seen as both sexist and inaccurate, but replacing it with "his or her" seems cumbersome, and "their" is grammatically incorrect.

"I find myself spending a lot of time reworking or obsessing over sentences to avoid sexist language, and wonder why we settled on these burdensome conventions rather than popularizing a gender-neutral pronoun," Easton said in an e-mail.

It turns out that an English speaker's mind can't instantly adopt an imposed new gender-neutral system of pronouns, linguists say. A sudden change in the system of pronouns or other auxiliary words in any language is very difficult to achieve.

(You can see the rest of the article HERE.)

This was all the sweeter to my ears as I had to read Grudem's interpretation of church government for my Systematics class this week. (Here's a shocker. He thinks only men can be pastors or elders.)

Poor dude. He can't help it. For years he's got his mind made up, and no amount of exegetical discussions will help.

I'm past arguing, though I did state a firm, but polite counter argument in a class disucssion in response to Grudem's opinions. And yes, I have written my Dean. I think that it is a crime that a whole class is forced to read Grudem without any counter-balancing presentations.

Where Talk Isn't

Where talk isn't
is nowhere.
Even in silence
my soul speaks in the language
of my culture.
So that's why,
dear friends,
I do not want to hear
freshman, you guys, chairman, man and his world, man the tables.
It's time to turn the tables
and sit down together
as equals.

from the YOUALL website

My bra ain't burned and I do have a life. Just in case you wondered. ;)

Deb

Daybook

Borrowed from DebD:

*** For Today March 16, 2009 ***

Outside my Window… a slowly brightening day. There was fog and a damp chill in the air this morning

I am thinking… about how good that shower felt.

From the learning rooms… Beth has an essay draft due and a Pre-Calc quiz, then pit rehearsal after school. CJ is prepping for band tour; she and buddy Susan will appear here after school.

I am thankful for… a quiet space to learn and study today.

From the kitchen…left-overs for dinner - curried chicken courtesy of the Bearded Brewer.

I am wearing… jeans and a comfy shirt for studying.

I am creating… an outline for my next paper.

I am reading… a whole bunch of theological articles, journals and books.

I am hearing… the cat purring in her basket.

Around the house... there's plenty to pick up or clean. But not today!

One of my favorite things… the mug of coffee with hazelnut creamer on my desk

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week… deep water aerobics Tuesday and Thursday; a road trip to a church in Philly with my co-workers on Wednesday; many late nights for dd#1 since this is dress rehearsal week for their Beauty and the Beast production; dd#2's oboe lesson sandwiched in between errands, studying, work and home.... I updated the family calendar and it is officially FULL!!!

A Picture Thought I am Sharing:
I am SO glad I don't live here... (but it was fun to visit!)