Reading Rainbow comes to the end of its 26-year run on Friday [August 28]; it has won more than two-dozen Emmys, and is the third longest-running children’s show in PBS history — outlasted only by Sesame Street and Mister Rogers.

———-

Grant says the funding crunch is partially to blame, but the decision to end Reading Rainbow can also be traced to a shift in the philosophy of educational television programming. The change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, he explains, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading — like phonics and spelling.

Grant says that PBS, CPB and the Department of Education put significant funding toward programming that would teach kids how to read — but that’s not what Reading Rainbow was trying to do.

NPR

So yeah, phonics, the thing that literally funded my graduate education in reading has killed my favorite childhood reading show. It’s a full circle moment.

My beautiful college computer: still at least 75% functional and good enough to get me onto the internet.  No word so far.

My house was burglarized a few hours ago.  I was expecting much worse, but all they took was my laptop.  I reported the serial number and there is a tag number to the suspect so we’ll see.  I know that’s a lot more that most people have when they get burgled. 

I hope you come home.

Krinkles “Joyful Lion”
If you’re a good enough student he’ll let you ride around on his back.

Sivada Pumpkin Cupcake, Jacksonville, Florida

Today I’m at work, and it’s been very quiet (a fact that we will pay for tomorrow), but last weekend I went on a road trip to Jacksonville.  I had been planning to renew my lay speaking certification by taking the required 10 hour class that was offered in Crawfordville about a month ago, but it conflicted with my work schedule.  Most of the classes are offered on two consecutive Saturdays, which does not work with the way my work works .  So they were offering one more class this year in Jacksonville on Friday night and Saturday all day.  I could go to that and only have to take a few hours off from work instead of a whole day.  They had a spot left in the advanced “You Can Lead Worship Class.”

I left work at 3 on Friday to get there in time for the 6:30 start time.  And I was able to spent my down time that day planning what I could do with my extra time while I was there.   I even considered getting the hotel room for 2 nights so that I could visit the young adult ministry at one of the Big Churches and go to the Fort Caroline National Memorial, but my cheapness won out and I decided that would have to wait until next time.

But here’s what I did get to do.

1.  I went to the class.  It was mediocre to bad, I am sad to say.  And I guess that’s mainly because I did not learn very much.  The content level was only slightly higher than confirmation class.  And the tone was so pessimistic, whining about how no one wants to got to worship service and no one ever listens to what the pastor says.  And things like spending at least a half hour talking about acrostics that have to do with prayer (PUSH= Pray until something happens…groan.)  On the positive side I am encouraged by the number of people seeking leadership development, and how course there are the people in general who are just the best part of the operation: the leaders and the participants, kind and generous and with great stories and testimonies.

2. I decided to skip the provided lunch so that I could go to “Cozy Tea.”  Which was a bit pricey and caused me to be late back to class, but was totally worth it. Best Scone EVER!!!

3. After class I went to the bank, because they have Compasses in Jacksonville so I was able to make a night deposit. Then I went to the Cupcakery. It is no longer called Vanilla’s even though the canopy still says that. They were apparently involved in a trademark dispute with a California company. Now it’s called Savida’s which is the chef/owner’s name “A.Davis” backwards. How Oprah of him. They have 24 different kinds of cupcakes on the menu, but when I arrived 30 minutes before closing time on Saturday, there were only 8 cupcakes in the whole store, 2 coconut and 6 pumpkin. I went with the pumpkin, which was ok by me, because I very well might have picked it any way. I a sucker for a special. I took my cupcake to a park around the corner that my GPS sent me to so I could have an al fresco moment.

4. Speaking of things that I am a sucker for… 6 months ago my mom said to me “So I see that they are carrying Martha Stewart stuff at Walmart and Macy’s, I’ll bet they are getting rid of the stuff at Kmart.” “Oh, no” say I “that’s just craft stuff at Walmart and it’s a different line at Macy’s. I was just at Kmart checking on my favorite kitchen gadgets and they are all safe and sound.”

Well fast forward to October, and I’m at Kmart buying my cell phone refill and I find the doomsday predictions have come true. All Martha Stewart items are being clearanced off. This is sad on so many levels. First there are things I need, MS Grandpa pillows are the only ones I use, my MS bath mats could really use replacing, and I want some new MS pillow cases to match my MS comforter and sheets. And that’s not even mentioning the kitchen gadgets and the green glass bakeware set that I definitely don’t need but love anyway.

Well what is to do but to go to as many Kmarts as possible. How can anyone blame me? (Btw, this is not my first Kmart odyssey. I once hit all the Kmarts on the way down to the performing arts center in Tampa and got my lovely fire pit at a bargain basement price as well as the matching sheets and shames to the clearance quilt I had. Fun times.) I got to 4 Kmarts in Jacksonville, where I got 4 of the 5 pieces to my green glass bakeware, (anyone need some pyrex?) the toilet shaped bath mat, the matching lamp to my MS “Retro Table Lamp” that was $9 marked down from $45, and some pillow cases that are not quite the right color but will work and were $4 instead of $19.  I did decide to leave behind the best cake stand, for alas I don’t bake cakes, and that sucker was big and heavy.  See, I have some self-restraint.  And with the end of Martha’s line it may be the end of my Kmart love.  Except for Christmas stuff they had their Christmas stuff up and it was still MS.

5. My last stop was to Anthropologie.  My happiness about them is a bit off kilter considering that 75 percent of the store is dedicated to clothes that would barely fit my thigh.  But I can’t help loving all their kitschy housewares.  It’s a fun place.

Google maps said that it was not a mall, so I asked it to tell me what other stores were at that address.  A list of about 6 other stores shows up, one being Swoosies.  So that’s what I’m expecting 7 stores maybe in a little shopping strip.  As I’m following my GPS directions I am noticing that it’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere. Curious… until I round the bend and see the ”Jacksonville Town Center.”  It turns out to be like a giant mall… with streets, like the one in Lakeland and the one in West Palm Beach.  Only it’s much bigger, with its own hotel.  And those 7 store were probably only the stores that shared a block.  They had a Publix, Pier One, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cheesecake Factory, Movies, Dillard’s, Blockbuster, Pottery Barn… and on and on.  You name it they had it, including whole sections of designer boutiques.  As you might have guessed, parking was near to impossible, especially since I wanted to be somewhere near the one store I wanted to go to.  It’s a tease to have the spaces there but have them all full so you have to walk blocks and blocks. And in driving try not to hit one of the 50 percent of the Jacksonville population that was there.  I hope they rethink the setup if they every try to build something this big again.

So I eventually made it.  Anthropologie was as cute as ever.  I decided I was going to get a clearance headband for my trouble.  I didn’t buy anything at Swoosies, next door, but came perilously close to getting the Krinkles “Flying Lion” ornament. It was sparkly and had a christmas tree person riding on its back.  But $40 seemed too much… unfortunately that’s what it costs everywhere on the internet too.  Christmas clearance perhaps? I must have it.

Finally I decided to have Yoga Berry green tea frozen yogurt for dinner.  It was just across the street.  Though I now know we have one in Tallahassee on Ocala Street, but I’m never over there so I had no idea.  No need to drive to Jacksonville.

-Then I came home… made it by about midnight. I had a busy day.  And it was fun because if I’ve ever been to Jacksonville I was too young to remember it.  And I still want to go to the Fort Caroline Memorial, and I could go to the tea room again (I miss tea rooms.)

All photos included in this post are borrowed from various internet sources and are used with love and gratitude. Please contact me if you own the rights to any of these and would like them removed.

“so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” -Romans 15:6

It just so happens that I drive God’s favorite car.

This house is 2 doors down from the last one, and currently for sale so you can look at a virtual tour of it online, which I love.  It has an alley, and a back yard with an arbor and great landscaping.  It looks so lush and a little crowded, it’s like my ideal yard and you can kind od see it peaking through as you drive by.  I also love that round part of the roof.

It’s back… but a little worse for wear.  I think a bug found a good snack.

I love my neighborhood, its the best one in Tallahassee. Want to see?

This house is just around the corner from me.  It’s pint size and yellow, with a red door.  The front porch is great, and the mini picket fence, love.  They must be Tennessee fans,huh, they always fly that flag.  I totally could live there.

Guess what tomorrow is!  The fall premier of my favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance!  Last week they showed a clip show of Nigel’s top 15 dances of a five seasons.

So I thought I’d share my favorites from season 2 until now. (I didn’t watch season one, curses.) Featuring Youtube clips and Comments by me.  Beware the sappiness abounds… it’s just what I like.

Benji and Donyell: You Can’t Stop the Beat… because it’s Hairspray with Benji and Donyelle

Benji and Heidi: Black Mambo… because they rock there own style

Travis and Heidi: Bench Dance… because Travis is my favorite ever, Heidi is a revelation and it’s such a story

Sabra and Neil: Table Dance… because Neil can do a plange

Danny and Lacey: Hip Hip Chin Chin… because what? Demetri what? and the crazy music

Danny and Lauren: Then You Look at Me… because it’s Celine and running up stairs

Lion King Group Number… because it reminds me of Zach (long story) and it’s big bad Broadway

Joshua and Katee: No Air… because this was week number one and hip hop can be moving who knew

Mark and Chelsie: Bleeding Love… because Mark is crazy and dances in character like no other and Chelsie can really shake her hair

Brandon and Janette: Ruby Blue… because it made me like Wade on a gut level, and it made me pick Janette for the win (even though she didn’t)

Jason and Jeanine: If It Kills Me… because it’s Travis on the choreography and Jason Marz song, double love

My Favorite: Forever and ever…

Alison and Ivan: Why… because it made me fall in love with the show, that was it hook line and sinker, showcases the potential growth that a dancer can have.  Ivan was the biggest surprise ever.

And how!  We were so busy today.  I ended up working ten hours straight though.  At about 4 was thinking wow I’m really hungry.  That 7:30 yogurt couldn’t last that long.  We received 13 clients during my shift… about double of a normal shift.  And then I had a lady who we were trying to transfer out because her insurance wouldn’t pay.  That took up every spare moment on the phone with the insurance company, the hospital, my administrator on call, and the behavioral center in Panama City that they wanted us to send her to.  My RN said today was trial by fire.  All those spare moments I used to have… I didn’t have one today.  Tomorrow will be better because we will start the day at capacity, so we won’t have to deal with as many transfers our way.  Well here’s hoping!  I’m going to bed.

Well, I won’t have been anyway because it’s 7:50pm.  And I actually did go into work today for a going away celebration for two of my office mates.  One is moving to New Jersey to be with her boyfriend.  That’s great because we actually trained together and like 2 weeks after we started in the office, her long time friend was coming to visit from Crestview to see if they wanted to start dating.  Well anyway it’s nine months later, he got moved away in the Air Force, and now they are planning on getting married.

The other is the girl who had my same job.  After much drama, weird things with HR, passive-aggressive prospective supervisors, not to mention talks of lay offs and crying… she got a promotion to a Case Management position in the out patient department.

But anyway… I did not have to work today because I got a promotion too! WooHoo.  I stayed in the same department, but I had to switch over to the twelve hour shifts that inpatient staff does.  Yesterday was my one week of doing it.  So far so good.

I had much HR drama as well, and after seeing what my friend went through I’m convinced that the HR system is broken.  We both happened to reach our one year of experience at about the same time in June and put in for a promotion then after much encouragement from our supervisors.  (That’s always nice.)  At the time I applied for a transfer as well (as to avoid the 12 hour shifts)  but my friend wanted to stay were she was because our job was so low stress and she was starting grad school.  She could just pick some weekend shifts for some extra cash.   Well bottom line is that HR never got back to either of us.  We puzzled out that they were unsure as to how or if they were going to count my part time experience.  Her’s didn’t have her experience documented properly (even though she had work a year at the company.)  And there may have been some wrong position numbers (which you know came for the HR website, so that I just don’t get.)

Well time goes on and thing are not straightened out.  The positions for my out of department transfer are all filled up.  So I told my boss that I’d take the 12 shift that was opening up, if we can get the HR ok.  Well like the next day, we here that our positions are being eliminated and that the majority of what we did day to day would be transferred up to a clerical position.  At that point they said we could keep our jobs with a demoted title but no cut in pay.  Well that did not sound good to either of us and we let people know it.  I continued to pray for the HR ok, for the job that I was already doing and she put in applications for various other promotions, but was met with, “well we already have so many applications…”

Well luckily by the next week (magically when the person left the job and they needed shift coverage) and a matter-of-fact letter calculating out my full time equivalent experience for them, I was approved for the promotion.  And my friend was resigned to make the move to the clerical job.

Well things really got dicey when on Tuesday, the head of HR called her to say that, no they would not be letting her just move over, she would have to reapply and take a pay cut.  I mean really?  So she basically would have been laid off.  She sent up the application (because who want to be without a job) and got called to meet with the clerical supervisor.  And it did not go well, she was apparently none to pleased that we were not happy campers about a demotion and pay cut.  My friend asked if she would have a place to work on Monday, and was told that they’d be getting back to her on that.  Hence the crying.  Oh my gosh, I don’t know what I would do if it was me (which, you know, it almost was.)

So … happy ending after all… she got called to a mystery meeting on Wednesday afternoon.  She thought she was going to get fired.  But it turns out they wanted to interview her for a Case Management position.  And it went great, of course, because she’s been working for the company for a year and at the end of the day the called her to tell her she got the job.  So she gets a promotion and to keep her 8-5 job and doesn’t have to work with the crazy clerical supervisor.

And I have to go to work tomorrow, my first weekend shift: 7:30am-8pm Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I like it so far, the mid week breaks are kinda cool.  I have much more to do, and I feel more challenged.  I used to (this is not any exaggeration) listen to a 3 hour radio show and read (well scan) the updates on about 200 blogs everyday at work.  But I had to change when I listen and I picked out about 20 blogs that I will keep up with at off times.

But so far I feel a lot more useful and important, and it makes the time go faster.

Catch me over at Heat Eat Review taking down a Pesto Panini.  It’d been a while since I wrote this so I surprised myself on the biting sarcasm.  I kinda like it.  And what was I thinking giving it 3 stars?

The bean salad that I made for our young adult retreat.

Can of Green Beans (rinsed)
Can of Garbanzo Beans (rinsed)
Can of Kidney Beans (rinsed)
Can of Black Beans (rinsed)
Can of chopped Water Chestnut (rinsed)
Half a red onion, chopped
6 Tbsp French Dressing (I used Publix brand)
3 Tbsp Medium Salsa
1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Mix everything together and refrigerate for at least an hour.

John 6:51-58 NRSV

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’
——————
I love to cook. I don’t even really remember when I started. It just seems like something that I always did. From mixing up kool-aid to cutting boiled eggs with a safety knife. In middle school I had this signature dish that I got from watching an Italian cooking show on PBS on Saturday mornings. It was called black olive pasta, and was basically black olives tomatoes and garlic sautéed together and served over bowtie pasta. It got rave reviews from my family. And we ate it enough, until we all eventually got sick of it. But you can still find the recipe in the back of one of my mom’s cookbooks, even though I can’t remember the last time we ate it.

When I was in high school, and not away at drama practice, and when I was home from college during the summer, I took up a lot of the dinner cooking duties at home. Mom was working and she’d always say that if you want dinner when you want it, then you’ll have to cook it yourself. So I may have been a little begrudging in the beginning, but I eventually grew to love being able to pick meals, try new things and make what I wanted to. I didn’t like stir-fry so we didn’t ever have it. It worked out great.

Now days I don’t cook a lot because I live by myself. I fix things, but I don’t do a lot that requires chopping measuring or more than about four ingredients. I guess it something about cooking for other people that makes me happy. Preparing food is like giving a gift. I think that’s why I like doing it. It gives me that warm fuzzy feeling.

So whenever I have the opportunity I like to try new things out on people. I’ll see something new I want to try or I go in search of just the right thing. I made mushroom asparagus risotto for the thanksgiving potluck, I made dill yogurt dip for a cast party, I made couscous salad for our last United Methodist Women’s circle meeting, and on our young adult retreat I made a four bean salad that turned out to be a hit.

One of my favorite places to find new recipes is on a website called “Love and Olive Oil.” It is written by a girl about my age, and she has some of the best sounding things and the loveliest pictures of them: Proscuitto, Pear and Goat Cheese Panini, Chipolte lime glazed shrimp, halibut with grapefruit berblanc. Yum.

And now I even know what a berblanc is. It’s a white wine butter sauce. I learned this from the movie Julie and Julia that I saw last weekend when I was home with my parents for my mom’s birthday. It’s about Julia Child, the famous cook, and Julie Powell the woman who wrote about cooking all the recipes from her book in one year. Through cooking and following there passion, both Julie and Julia find a new zest for living.

There’s just something about food. It means love. The best part about the Love and Olive Oil site is the cupcake recipes. There are all sorts of colors and varieties. It’s amazing. And when the author’s now husband proposed to her, he did it by spelling out “Will You Marry Me?” in rows of mini cupcakes. We take dates to fancy restaurants; we give food as gifts to people we love. We make our children’s favorite meal when they come home to visit.

The bread that Jesus offers comes out of love too. The disciples and the audience here did not get it yet but we know the rest of the story. Jesus’s love was willing to go all the way to death. The bread he offers cost him more than some time and hardwork. If he’s the food then it would have to cost him his very life.

That’s the way food works you know, living things eat other living things. And just like the high priest would eat the sacrifices offered to god as a burnt offering. We get to eat off of the ultimate sacrifice. To participate in a love that goes to the furthest that it can go. Giving up everything, even unto death on a cross. Love Death Food then Everlasting Life.

It sounds weird though. Eating Jesus. The Old Testament talks about eating scrolls of god’s word, to take it fully into your life. But it’s something else when you are talking about eating a person. The Jews did not get it. ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Jesus said. No… really unless you chew on my flesh, you won’t have a place with me.

Folks this something that you are going to have to participate in.

Food is not meant to just be pretty. It’s no good unless you take it in. You chew it up and swallow it. It has to become part of who you are. Not something detached. It’s like Jesus is saying, “This is not going to work if you treat me like a rubber bunch of grapes or a plastic pork chop. This is the real thing.”

We have to take a bite. We have to let him become a part of us. To let him come alive through us. And even better for us to become alive through him.

Julie Powell said that before Julia’s cookbook no one really cooked anything for there family, it was all frozen dinners. But then this thing came along that showed them a better way. “You can have real food… right at home, anytime you want.”

And just like that, Jesus is offering us something that’s real. It’s not the second rate stuff, the substitute for what is really possible. When I would come home from college I’d always be so excited for a home cooked meal. My parent’s would ask where they could take me out to eat. But I’d say I’ve had plenty of the industrial cafeteria food for a while I want the real stuff, stuffed shells, meatloaf and baked potatoes. My favorite things. Things that reminded me of home.

It’s easy to live your life just on the fake stuff. Stuff that’s all about this world. It could be career ambitions, fleeting relationship, mindless hobbies. Filling up on momentary success, temporary happiness. And you could miss out on the stuff that’s home-made. From our heavenly home. Because when you eat the bread of life that means forever. Your concerns change, the way you fell about other people changes, the way you spend your time changes. And you are less willing to make due with the imitations.

I had creamed spinach once that was made with non-dairy creamer and it was awful. It wasn’t the same. And just like there is imitation chocolate and cheese, and even imitation creamed spinach out there, there’s also imitation joy, imitation love, imitation hope. And when you’ve had the real thing you won’t settle for less. We won’t settle for shadowy, half existence, being alive for only a moment. We need to be really alive.

Food means life, in a very real way. Countless people in the world and even in our own country will die today because they don’t have enough food. There’s no getting away from that fact that we need it. Food means providence, sustenance. The passage talks about the food that the ancestors ate. Jesus is probable talking about the manna that God provided in the desert when the Israelites were fleeing Egypt and had run out of food. But Jesus said that even this gift from God was not the real bread because it only saved their earthly life for a moment. They all eventually died. So it’s not that the fake stuff in inherently bad or sinful. It’s just less than. When you live only for now there’s a infinite set of possibilities that you can’t even see.

The food that Jesus offers means life forever. It means giving up the old ways of this world and letting Christ live in you. It means yearning for heaven. It means working for the kingdom of God now. It means giving more than you can. It means living like Jesus, loving like Jesus, and sacrificing like Jesus.

This bread is about sharing. We share food with the people that we share our lives with. Jesus invites us here to share in his life. To become part of his family. To become fully alive.

Today we will be taking communion. Jesus told us to do this to remember him. To remember his love, his sustenance, his gift, his sacrifice. But here comes our end of the bargain. Are you going to take a bite? Because things are going to be different. Your life is going to change.

They say you are what you eat. Come chew on a piece of Jesus.

“Jesus is your sandwich” by Erin K. Thompson
August 16, 2009 Saint Pauls UMC Tallahassee: Vespers Service 7pm

I’m watching Top Chef Masters live because there is nothing on TV tonight.  That means commercials, a rarity for me.  The commercial for BandSlam came on.  All of the sudden I thought “I know that song”… from the lyrics “I’ll be your prince, I’ll be your saint…”  I think I could win a name that tune contest, as long as there were only Jason Robert Brown songs. The song is from his solo CD, not a musical so that takes an extra geek-hood. It reminds me of the “Food Network Throws Your Wedding” episode that was won by sublime Broadway star Aaron Lazar and his fashion model fiance. At the rehearsal dinner he sang “Shiksa Godess” from The Last Five Years to her.  And I think that I was in my dorm room saying,”I know that, I know that!”  But nobody was there.  And few people would care.  Except my Tallahassee theatre friends, who have been known to pull out JRB songbooks and have impromptu karaoke around the piano during rehearsal downtime.  Oh I found my people.

Today made me think about my friends for a lot of reasons.  We miss you, David.

So, I’ve already admitted here that I *heart* Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite, or considered, you know, a good movie.  But I can’t help my love for it.  You can not believe my delight when this week I was told on This American Life that Peter Sagal (host of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me) has story credit for the movie.  It was from a movie (his only one) that he was commissioned to right about intersecting stories of Cuban Revolutionaries and the girl that love one of them.  He got the note to make the story more “like Dirty Dancing.“  The movie never got made.  Until someone had an idea to make a Dirty Dancing sequel and they remembered his script.

It’s kind of like discovering that my two friends already know each other.

Anyway… Erin is a nerd, with dubious taste in movies.

You can listen to the episode here. And I do take offense to calling it “one of the worst movie sequels ever made.”

Happy one year anniversary WordPress blog!  In honor of the occasion, I’ve started an “About me” page… it’s about time. Check it out.

I don’t like ‘night Mother because it’s long and capital D depressing. And for me it put the proof to that fact that I was never going to be a genuine good actress, performer sure, but not an actress.  So besides the ideal circumstances of the venue, the scale, and my job, I got over my dislike for the show because unless you are a high school teacher, directors don’t get to pick their shows.  So that’s that.  You have to take the opportunities that come. If you wait around for the board to pick just the right thing you may be waiting forever.

I think that I’m a glutton for punishment, because I put in an application to direct at TLT again this year. I really didn’t do much on the getting experience front because, you know I was feeling that generous to them, and they never followed through on, well, anything. And I’m here to report that that trend has not come to an end. I requested access to the scripts for the season and somehow they were all gone, so then I was going to have them emailed to me. Well today, one month after proposals were due, I still haven’t any scripts besides the one that I decided to go and get from the library myself.

Enough whining.

So I decided to do a proposal for (shhhh don’t tell the committee) one of my least favorite shows, ‘night Mother. But the confluence of circumstances made this show one that I was actually likely to get a shot at. First it’s being produced in the “Coffee House” i.e. lobby. That means smaller scale and smaller budget. The show itself has very few technical elements, a unit set, a semi-modern setting and a cast of two. I think that means that they will be less nervous to have a novice at the helm. And besides that I have performed in a scene from the show, and I work in mental health. So that seemed to work because I had an interview on Wednesday, one step further than last year when I just got a no thank you call. The interview went well, I felt very prepared. And it was pretty fun to just talk about my plans, my understanding of the show, the challenges that I saw. I was little surprised that they didn’t ask me more esoteric questions, like “how do you view your role as a director”, or my favorite from district talk backs for student directed scenes, when two years in a row I got asked “what were you going for in this scene?” Instead they talked specifics of my draft scenic design and what I would look for in auditions, and how I would get a stage manager, mainly very practical things. At the end they asked if there was anything else that I’d like to share. I’m still a bit conflicted about if this was the right thing to say, and I felt nervous and looked at the ground a bit too much I think. But I told them that I hoped that my lack of experience would not be the final deciding factor, I of course elaborated a bit about how I was prepared and I think that this was the right next step. I just hope I didn’t come off desperate. I took up my whole 30 minutes allotted, and hey I would pick me. We’ll see, I’m supposed to be getting an email any day now.

To do works of justice, Lord grant us courage.

To see hurt in the world and respond from love and disappointment, Lord grant us open eyes and soft hearts.

To accomplish small tasks that seem unnoticed and large tasks that earn acclaim, Lord grant us patience.

To earn the trust and respect of our communities, Lord grant us wisdom.

To recognize the vision of youth and the experience of age, Lord grant us humility.

To hear your voice of guidance, Lord grant us quiet.

And in the quiet we will gather strength for the work to come.

We will know that you have equipped us to serve your world, to love your people.

Father , you have given us big dreams; help us rise to meet them…

To lead passionately, to challenge boldly, to give deeply, to work tirelessly, and to love unconditionally

Love like you, Jesus.

Amen.

I Tivoed the Tonys and watched them live at a house party with a bunch of my community theatre friends.  This was definitely the right thing to do, I laughed so much.  And I got to completely geek out on my useless theatre trivia. Who else would appreciate it? 

Highlights:

1. Is that Bret Micheals on the Tony Awards? Then him getting taken out by the flys.
2. The best supporting actor in a play bringing his wife on stage with him and her almost  falling out of her dress.
3. Frank Langella is seriously bitter.
4. Alice Ripley’s dramatic reading of the Kennedy Center sign.
5. The Billy Elliot performance that was about the only time when the room got quiet.
6. Counting the number of crew that got caught in a shot, and the number of people who will be loosing there jobs due to the horrendous sound issues.
7. Picking your favorite Frankie Vallie.
8. The three Billy’s acceptance speech. So cute.
9. The guy standing behind the producer accepting for Hair, who’s every thought came flying across his face.
10. And finally… best moment of the show had to be Neil’s 11:03 number. Brilliant.

Check out my friend Tyler on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Love the Lion King T-shirt.  I think that this was his senior trip.  Not bad, huh?

April 24- May 3 Sound of Music

The rest of the run of the show went off with relatively little incident. Thankfully. Things got in a grove and were able to anticipate the problems that would come up. One of our Gretls had the urge to wave at her friends in the crowd, one Kurt decided he needed to ham it up and would add different line readings, longer exasperated sighs, and bigger facial expressions every time he was on stage, and the other Kurt would get a wild hair and do things like kicking the Nazis and grabbing people’s hats. Oh, kids.

The only other thing of note was the night when the computer running the light board froze. That cause the lighting for one scene to stay up through the scene change that was supposed to be in black out, and caused a black out in the middle of another scene. Our Marta was already doing a potty dance, so when that happened I told her she could go to take care of it, and she almost missed her entrance when the lights came up again, three minutes later. And for our last weekend I had to donate my black socks to the cause, when “wild hair” Kurt lost his. He offered to give them back to me, but I said no thanks.

Nights, we’d go out with the grownups, and talk about the kid’s antics and the crushes our middle school nuns had on the college boys. I love theatre because it takes all kinds.

The day we closed was strike, of course. I think that I had the most fun tearing down the mountains, and the least fun making the sixth and final pass through the boy’s dressing room. I think 15 people took a pass at it and it was still a wreck when we were closing up to go to the cast party.

Our stage manager (loosely termed…nice guy, little short on the organization and leadership skills) hosted the cast party, which was a stand up thing to do, but made him miss strike, a primary stage manager duty. I gave all my kids a few others “cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, door bells and sleigh bells” for a little present (a paintable plaster pony, an apple with a strudel recipe and a jingle bell.) We took advantage of our double casting and had a red verses blue field day. I abstained (how could I choose?) and instead got to hold Jessica’s (our Maria) baby during the events. Tommy was 10 weeks old at auditions… that is one brave woman. He’s such a button and only wanted to be held against your shoulder for maximum shirt drooling and earring pulling.

Read Part 2: Confirmation Sunday

So I had this great idea that I’d blog about all the cool/ interesting things that happen to me on Sundays. But I didn’t really follow through and now things are a bit fuzzy as they tend to get over time. I’m going to catch us all up in the next few days and see where we go from there.

The week after Easter was Confirmation Sunday. Did I tell you what I great trip the Confirmation Retreat was? We did the labyrinth and we got to hang out with the girls from Gray Memorial UMC that we car pooled with. And I got to pray for Lydia. Maybe I did tell you. I didn’t go back to look. This was a great class. I did my standard cards for confirmation Sunday and I got to announce their names and to walk them up the aisle after the service. We did not have the regular reception; we had the fundraising lunch for the Nicaragua mission trip. I was not going to go because I was feeling poor and fundraisers are expensive and they were having roasted chicken with bell peppers, yellow rice and coconut cake. But I got an invite from one of the families of the confirmands. So I took them up on the free lunch and a chance to hang out.

After the service we all took pictures in the sanctuary and then we went to over to lunch. By the time we got there, being last, nearly the whole place was filled up and they had not saved enough seats in the reserved section. Joyce found a spare chair all the families sat together but one who had to be moved to some opens spots at a far table. Just because it’s my kind of luck they ended up with one whole empty table and the rest full. They offered me a place there. This was a bit (well a lot) upsetting to me because it just throw me into seventh grade flash backs and feeling stupid because I didn’t even want their pepper chicken anyway. So I went over to find Joyce and see if there was going to be any programming and stay for that then hit the road to Quincy for Tech Week of Sound of Music.

She of course said, “Aren’t you going to eat something? Oh there’s no place to sit.” Well that was it. There, in front of God and my whole church family, I lost it. I’m so private with my feelings, maybe even to an unhealthy level, in fact it’s bugging me a little to write this. But there I was bawling right in the middle of the fellowship hall. Jill (our children’s ministry director) grabbed my hand and we walked over to her office where I could gain some control. I think it was just a wave of overwhelmed-ness and stress and happiness and loneliness and a stupid circumstance. They ended up fitting me in at a table and the chicken was not all that bad. And Joyce told me not to feel bad because she was crying during the benediction and when we where all walking out.

Read Part 1: Easter Sunday

Fun Stuff on the Internet:  The series in which I promote web apps that are already highly successful… I just like them.  Today’s edition… Delicious.

I am a bit bookmark obsessed.  With my delicious I have all my bookmarks at my finger tips when ever I have the Internet.  Plus they have a tagging system for categorisation, allowing multiple tags on one bookmark.

I must admit that I prefer Hugh Jackman and Liev Scheiber in period costume rather than bone claws.  But that might be just me.

“Well, insertion of bread into that so-called toaster produces no toast at all, merely warm bread! Inserting the bread twice produces charcoal. So, clearly, to make proper toast it requires one and a half insertions, which is something for which the apparatus doesn’t begin to allow! One assumes that when the General of Electric built it, he might have tried using it. One assumes the General might take pride in his creations instead of just foisting them on an unsuspecting public.”

This is old news I know, but I was bummed that Adam Lambert did not win American Idol.  I could be influence by my love of tenors and or the fact that he was a professional theatre actor before coming on the show.  But the weeks that have followed have got me thinking.  Kris is completely my type of artist… my taste, you know? Singer, acoustic guitar the whole bit… and he did the song from “Once”, great stuff.  So why did I find him so boring, never bad just dull?

This and I’ve been using my iPod as intended lately (for music, as opposed to just podcasts) and so I decided I’d listen to the whole Tyrone Wells (singer songwriter, former “Christian” artist) CD on my car trip home for memorial day weekend.  And I have to say that it moved down a few pegs in my esteem.  I bought the CD in iTunes late one night about a year ago after hearing some songs (“Wondering Where You Are” rocks my socks)… and “Dream Like New York” and “Sea Breeze” and “What are We Fighting For” are awesome.  That first listen through the whole thing, I thought “this is going to be one of those CD’s that I love every song.” I was lying in bed smiling the whole time.  But this time I found myself scoffing at some of the lyrics’ predictable metaphors and slant rhyme.  It bummed me out.  When did I get so hypercritical?

Could be the hipster music on TBTL, my newest podcast/ something to do at work.  And I would not even know what a slant rhyme was had in not been for Musicaltalk… my first podcast/ still something to do at work, (besides write blog posts.)  My iPod is at war… the podcasts against the music.  The music is holding ground, no Sondhiem or She & Him yet. But who knows what tonight will bring.

They canceled my show …again.  Curses ABC!

From UMC Young Clergy’s 40 days of prayer.

Beginning today, join young leaders in our church in praying for the future of our denomination. You can read a prayer a day on the UMC Young Clergy website or buy the book here.

What to look forward to: confession and learning from the past, asking for guidance, and visions for the future.  It’s my pleasure to contribute and I hope that we will all become inspired and energized during this Annual Conference season.

What is more annoying than Super Walmart?  Mini Walmart… all the inconvenience with half the selection.

Join a group of young United Methodists in a 40 day prayer campaign for our church.  For more info click in the “prayer” link on umcyoungclergy.com.

I spend a good amount of time on red cast days in the boys dressing room helping one of our Kurts with his costume changes.  Boy stink, ew.  But my street smells like wisteria tonight so that kind of makes up for it.

So I am going back to Quincy tonight for the last weekend of “The Sound of Music.” And all I have to say is that I hope that this weekend goes better than last weekend. Last Friday night was horrific enough for an entire run, thank you very much. Let me just share. There is a stair unit and a balcony unit that we use in the living room scenes. They were ready to go pretty soon in the process so that we could use them for rehearsal. The escape stairs to get down the other side was not added until a few weeks before the run. The issue is that the theater has very little wing space, so the escape stairs have to have a couple steps down then a landing and then a 90 degree turn. So when you are coming off that 10 foot unit you have two steps down and then a seven foot drop off. I did not let the kids use the escape steps until a rail was put up there. The other issue is that those first steps are not as wide as the unit so there are gaps were you can step off and not hit steps but go all the way down to the landing.

So on the first dress rehearsal and the first night we did not use work lights (meaning it was dark back stage) we finally got the rail up so that the kids could use the escape steps like they had to. And I made it a point to be over there to supervise the stairs whenever the kids needed to be using them.

But last Friday was when it happened, during the last time the escape stairs were used all the kids come down in a line carrying boxes and we have the whole crew over there to collect boxes and hold hands. That night there was a little too much pushing and shoving and Tiffany, one of our seven year olds stepped off into the space with no steps on the down stage side of the unit. She fell into the curtain and the down to the stage, that whole seven feet.

Jessie the assistant director (haha, what does that mean?) was a step or two closer to her when we watched it happen. She tumbled down the curtain and landed on her bottom on the cardboard box that she was holding. Jessie stepped right in swung open the curtain and scooped her up. She teared up right away but didn’t cry out in pain. We were met in the dressing room by the director and her husband who had saw (and heard the whole thing from where they were watching in the house, and then Tiffany’s mom (she is playing Frau Schrader) who got run down by the director and her husband as she was removing her mic pack in the work room.

By some miracle Tiffany was fine besides being a little sore and bruised from the corner of the cardboard box. She even made it back for her next scene. And we got rails around all sides of the escape steps the next day.

Like I told the Facebook world, I spent most of the day crying on Easter. It was obviously a very emotional day. First think I was up at 6:00 to sing at the sunrise service and that’s enough to make anyone cry (well me.) It was bit chilly but not like it was last year. Singing went fine, we did this kind of old fashioned-y “Easter Anthem.” No, that’s really what it was called, creative right? Joyce preached the sermon for the morning service, and it was great. I think she’s getting to be a really great preacher. I love that she always uses personal stories, it’s really brave and vulnerable, and it really makes the message seem sincere.  She was discribing a scene from a movie to illustrate a point. 

There was little boy in a consentration camp that got assinged to cleaning the commander’s bathroom. One day he stole a used bar of soap and brought it back to his teenaged friend to show it off.   The theft was soon discovered and everyone was called together to be questioned.  Just as the boy was holding his hand out with the soap, his friend snachted it away and yelled out that he had the soap.  He was shot on the spot.

Wow… that got me.  There is just something about sacrificial love.  Someone else taking the blame.  It’s real easy to say “Jesus died for our sin.”  But it’s good to feel it sometimes.

We had bruch of Sam’s pastries and frozen fruit, not quite the Easter spread we get in Pensacola.  But when Cynthia sat on one of the said pastries that almost made up for it.  That kind of made me cry too, with laughter.

For 8:30 service we were in the sactuary.  The theme for Clarke’s sermon was transformation, and we used butterflies to decorate the window sills and we brought in potted plants to the narthex.  During the service we added butterfly garden stakes to the plants… you know like the tranformation had just taken place.  It was very pretty and colorful, but a little less impactful than it could have been because our narthex is a bit cluttered (my hospitality workshop told me that’s not a very welcoming thing.)    That work great for 8:30 but the service was so long that the 9:45 people were already waiting and saw them before the other service let out.

The thing during 8:30 that made me cry was the lady that was sitting next to me in the pew.  We had a bunch of kids, of course, and they were all being cute during the children’s sermon.  But the whole time the lady who was maybe in her late fourties was holding her husband’s hand and weeping.  I don’t know anything more than that, what happened, if she had a loss.  She was just sitting there in pain.  Besides my empathy for her, I just thought about all the other people who feel pain and regret during happy times.

Then I had to teach Sunday School, which was maybe a little too creative.  I took the kids to the 9:45 service to remove the butterflies from the plants, and to watch my friends play in the pickup band that was playing that day.  Then we had our lesson outside, which was a bit challenging and distracting for my little people.  Then we went back to play Easter symbol memory, which is always the biggest hit ever.  They love it.  Cokesbury must be up on their developmentally appropriate materials (I think I want that job) because they always include at least three memory card sets for each unit.

Then I had my Easter Whataburger meal and had a laundry and movie day.  That night was the Tallahassee episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  Which was just sad in the classic, human interest story way.  You can watch it for yourself.  But that was so sad.

I told my Sunday Schoolers that Easter is the happiest day of the year.  For me it was little crazy too.

Oh my poor neglected blog! I have so much to tell you. Two shows in a row is a bit much.

I really don’t know what to think about the electronic billboard that said “Follow Ashton on Twitter.”  It must have worked considering he’s made national news… and Oprah, for being the first one to get a million followers.  But please tell me who’s money is paying for a billboard in Tallahassee, and toward what end?

Update… I interrupt this rant to share that fact that Demi Moore via Ashton’s twitter feat, was just promoting “Nothing but Nets.” Could that have been on the billboard too?  The duel against CNN was apparently for a pledge of 10,000 bed nets.

Follow me (I think I have like 4 tweets… don’t get your hopes up) ErinKT…. But only if you buy a net.

I love it.  Tonight’s permiere was just as good as the 1998 series.  It’s like a romantic show based on mythology and psychology.  Like, it’s made for me.  Now everybody watch Cupid so it will last more than half a season.

Seriously, watch.

And that love advice from Captain Kirk?  “Go Boldly.”  And in this case it was to Ireland to find your deported singer songwriter boyfriend, so that works for me.

Tonight’s Etsy homepage theme, gross! I’m gonna have to remove this because it’s making me queasy.

The saga continues…

So besides speaking at the rally, I got word at our Wednesday morning research meeting that the choir that was supposed to sing had dropped out. Gloria said that someone had volunteered to contact my choir (Selah) to see if they could do the opening music. I said I’d email around and see, but I didn’t feel too confident as we have trouble finding Sunday mornings in advance that we can all get together, let alone the Monday night coming up in five days none of which was a practice day. To everyone’s delight, Gary responded to my email that very night and agreed to lead some hymns. Over the next two days I got six people to agree, and a few nos (including our director.) So I gave the go ahead, with the proviso that we would need an accompanist as I had not heard from ours yet. Gloria said no problem they had someone lined up to play who could do our pieces, I just needed to get the music to her.

So I made plans to bring the music to her house.  And when I got there things were not ok.  She said that she could not play the music and she seemed a little annoyed to be asked.  “I knew I should have said no.” So at that point I have a commitment to the gig, my members coming and no one to play for us.  And Gloria still thinks that music is something that just happens. “Can you sing accapella, or don’t you all know some songs she knows?”  Well, I guess we have some hymns. So I called the grumpy lady back and we land on Let There be Peace on Earth, This is the Day, and Here, I am Lord. I’ll print the sheet music to If I Had a Hammer and she’d pick up a Methodist hymnal after the 11:00 service.

At pickup rehearsal on Sunday, we found out that our pianist could come, and most all of the members that I had not heard from agreed to come.  Now we are getting somewhere. I had a busy day on Sunday and after doing a skit singing with Selah twice, teaching Sunday School and trying to look for a friend I invited (who didn’t show) I just was hanging out in the sanctuary chatting, and waiting for her to coming.  Well my friend left and I decided to change locations.  Then I saw her sitting up front, apparently since before the end of the service ten minutes ago.  She crabbed at me some more and told me how the arrangement of the song I had printed was not right.  Good night, lady!

Which brings us to the night.  It turned into a comedy of errors.  There were no escape steps from the choir loft that didn’t go right up front, parking was a bear, one of the songs I decide we should sing I forgot had this wordy fast bit and not everyone had their music,  at three minutes till we were going to start the accompanist had not shown up, the projector was shining into the face of the top row, the keyboard that was set up was not full size, the piano was not mic-ed.  We were accosted by cranky pants again, because she apparently had not whined to me enough, asking for our player to stay and to do the closing, I reminded her that I already told her that Lori had to go back to class.  Then we were ready to go.  We could not hear the piano at all from the loft.  So we had to run down so that we could stand by it, and it is wildly out off tune anyway and you can still barely hear that she’s playing.  They through up some mics which I don’t think were even meant to pick up group singing.  By the time we started we only had time for 2 songs instead of the three we had planned for.  No one introduced us we just go.  And it takes a few minutes for the people up front to pick up that something was happening and people in the back never got it and continued with their conversations.

After the singing nine of the people left, and three of us stayed.  Thus ruining the grand plan my SPUMC TEAM fellow leaders had of recruiting people from the choir to start coming to our event.  Well that and the fact that one of the members said it was “the worst singing experience I have ever had.”

Gloria asked us to sing again at the Action in April.  Think I can convince them?

It’s Rally and Action time again for TEAM. Which means Erin is living outside of her comfort zone. Monday’s Rally brought a whole new set of challenges because now besides just worrying about bringing a bunch of folks, I was all of the sudden part of the program. First I got delegated to speak for my research committee. I am one of three who’s been active with them for the last few months and of the other two one is the chair who’s been giving the talks every time for two years and one of our clergy who happens to work for the City of Tallahassee in the planning department, so he always bows out. So I got to be the one.

I did have the advantage that Gloria (the lead organizer) pretty much wrote my speech. I did tweak it a bit, including rewriting an entire section that I did not think was saying what I wanted it to say. I also had a problem about what our issue actually was, since I was at all those meetings I know that it was thrown together really just to have something to present. The purpose of the rally is to get everyone excited about the issue, and our issue is just frankly not that exciting. I really pushed my committee to work on asking the city to fund a housing advocate, but it just didn’t get off the ground fast enough. And all the stuff that I was working on did not make the cut anyway. So are you ready… it might just be too thrilling for you to handle. We want the city to put out an RFP in order for a CDC to run the Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program. And if you don’t already know what those acronyms are, well it’s too boring to care.

Let me just say that no one was thrilled. It was fine, and I think I did the best that I could but I don’t know how you can really fire people up about grant procedures and contract writing. It’s long been a criticism of our organization that we don’t work on things that are exciting enough, that actually meet our own criteria for what makes a good issue. There’s work to be done there for sure.

We did have the Marching 100 (or 30 of them at least) play some music for us that included a drum roll before I got up to speak. But I think it may have had the opposite effect that they were intending, well on me. The opening speaker was talked about Les Mis, and I know what happens after drum rolls during the French Revolution. Gulp.

I learned about Purim 2 years ago when I was getting ready for Confirmation. Who knew that Esther has her own holiday? (Well Jewish people probably.) I was hoping that the number 200 had some symbolism, but alas. There’s only triangle cookies for Haman’s three cornered hat. Who knew he had a three cornered hat?

I made these at home once.  Remember, family?  But they involved too much rolling pin to do again.

I went to Temple with this years confirmands on Friday and it was interesting of course. I think that the last time I went to a Jewish service was for Molly’s confirmation.  It was really a good object lesson for what I’ve learned lately about hospitality.  Feeling welcome takes more than a warm hello.  (Though that’s always a good place to start.)  You have to think about what the whole experience will be like.  And it made me remember what it’s like to be a visitor and particularly one who doesn’t know what’s going on.  I did really enjoy the rabbi’s sermon, which was from a Torah selection in Exodus about what sort of clothes a priest should wear.  I bet you rarely hear a church sermon on that.  Plus he did this whole Project Runway bit.  I think sermons need more bits.

We have a Lent/Easter symbols card game to play in second grade Sunday School. We were looking at the one that had the crown of thorns on it. I said, “look at that, wouldn’t it hurt to wear that on your head?” Amanda said, “Not if he had poofy hair like you, Miss Erin.”

You’d think that I’d learn my lesson, but I managed to overdraft my checking account for the second time in a month.  It makes me mad at myself because I prided myself on being in tight control over my finacial life (maybe one of the only areas really.)  The problem is that the job I have now literally pulled me back onto the finacial cliff.  I did not have enough money to pay my November rent.  But it also marked the first time in 3 years that I was back to living on a paycheck basis.  I lived two years being paid in big chunks and then I lived off the savings of the big chunks.  And about 3 years ago I stopped using my checking account.  I’d pay my bills out of the chunk, I’d make purchases on my credit card, then pay it off in full at the end of the month from the chunk.  While I was working I alway had the big chunk and it was plenty and more.  In fact I managed to save about a third of what I made that got me through the year.  But as that chunk started running out I started to carry a balance on my credit card.  Which I don’t like at all.  So now that I’m working again and living literally paycheck to paycheck (which are luckily enough) my chunk mentality is still getting me in trouble.  My expenses have gone up at least as much as my salary from the last time I was on the tight biweekly pay. Stupid grocery costs plus internet plus about $1000 more per year in rent.  So that control  I need it back.  But some things are hard to learn and when you make money mistakes you literally pay.

Jane Austen was a just as bad a speller as I am. She didn’t have spell check to fall back on. She once misspelled one of her teenage works as “Love and Freindship” and is infamously known to have spelt scissors as scissars. I have to say that this makes me like her even more.
ht: Mental Floss

These are the coolest things ever. I ran to Walgreens yesterday to pick up some bandaids for my chronic blisters, which are only made worse by stupid character shoes. (Too much information?) I thought I’d pick up some more bobby pins while I was there. You can never have enough when you are in a show. And these were on the shelf right there too. It said they were for “excessive amounts of hair.” Well if there was ever anything to describe my hair that’d be it. So I picked up a pack, but I was still a little skeptical. Many clips have come against my hair and failed. But I was wrong. These things really are like magic. I got all of my hair up in a reasonably 1913 style, and secure at that, using only nine pins. Plus they are brown plastic so they will blend in nicely on stage. Score one for me in the battle of the hair.

This is the baby otter that was rescued from the cold and carried around in a mail bag in England. I love otters.

What’s more beautiful: a mistake or something done on purpose? Or is there a necessary difference? An accident in the paint store that comes out as the Mona Lisa, or the Mona Lisa itself? If there’s no objective difference, which is better? Come up with some more examples then decide for yourself.

This is the show that I’m in now, the original Broadway cast, that is.  We finally got to hear this song with our cast last night.  i personally think that this is one of the best musical theatre songs ever written. Beautiful.

I was telling AJ, our Leo, how I remember seeing this on the Rosie ODonnell Show and falling in love with it.  He said,  ”Oh I go watch it on YouTube all the time. ” So I thought I’d spread the wealth. 

Today Heath Ledger was nominated for an Oscar on the first anniversary of his death. That bums me out.  I miss him.

I have to admit that I have just not been all that motivated to write lately… hum that sounds familiar. But I thought I put down a few things about my eventful weekend. I went down to visit my sister in Jupiter for a rare free weekend, and a long one at that. My car continues to act up, and finally the cooling system gave up the ghost about 20 miles outside of Tallahassee. I had to get a tow in to my mechanic, but luckily it was able to be fixed the next day while I was at work. I also had some lovely over draft charges thanks to not balancing my checking account before I left town. Duoh. And ouch…though they have only charged me 6 times even though it shows I had 8 charges. I won’t tell if you won’t.

What else… Tuesday was the first blocking rehearsal that I made it to (on Monday I was stranded on the interstate.) Eric , our director, is a little dictatorial for my taste, but I knew that going in. My favorite is the eye rolls when actors get some blocking that they don’t think makes sense. I guess that when you are doing a full length musical with ten ensemble songs in two months kind of eliminates all the time for creative freedom. Tuesday was also our dance rehearsal, which was an interesting beast because we don’t have a choreographer. We have 3 songs to dance to, the first is a turkey trot that involves walking and kicking like a turkey while in dance hold… nice. The second is a two step that we have been told to just dance to, in social dance fashion. We’ll see how that goes, the people dancing in the scene are not really the usual dance ensemble type (and I certainly include myself in saying that.)

The music in this show is also a killer and they have me singing first alto, because I choose quite a low song for my audition piece in hopes of getting the Mrs. Phagan role (even though I’m way too young with much too high a speaking voice.) I didn’t get that role just a spot in the alto section. But the crazy thing is that singing alto seems to bere little correlation to the range of notes I have to sing. I just get to sing super hard harmonies. Thanks Jason Robert Brown.

What else… I volunteered to right the first draft of a “Tenants’ Bill of Rights” for TEAM. Fun stuff, and I’m going to go to the Creative Worship Committee meeting so that I can better recruit members for it, and also work on some issues we are having with the contempary worship service. Shake things up.

So that’s what I’ve been up. Busy in a mostly good way.

You get a golden star and certification as a fellow nerd if you get the joke about Jeremy Piven.  If you are not a Broadway nerd all will be revealed in the comments. NPH rocks my socks.

Happy New Year to everyone… and I’m back once again.

Okay I’ve been gone awhile, but keeping up a blog while you’re unemployed is immensely easier than when you are working full time. But like everyone else in the world does it. So I’m gonna work back up to posting more often. And in the meantime I’m going to continue to get used to having a real job.

All Things Considered, December 17, 2008 · By the Rev. James Martin

It’s the middle of the day, and I’m opening my Christmas cards. And what do I see when I tear open the envelope? Not Baby Jesus in his manger. Not the Virgin Mary. Not even the Wise Men. No, chances are the card will be a photo of a family on some beach in the Caribbean. Or a picture of somebody’s house. Or someone’s dog wearing reindeer horns.

These are the new favorite Christmas cards, for even the most pious Christians: the family cards.

Family cards display — on the front — a photo of a happy family, typically wearing red-and-green scarves or red-and-green sweaters. Sometimes the family dog is included, wearing a scarf covered with slobber. Just as often, family cards show the clan on their summer vacation, posing jauntily in bathing suits in the Caribbean. These cards don’t say “Merry Christmas” as much as “Look where you didn’t go!”

Look, I love family photos during the holidays. Plus, I actually read those annual holiday letters, all of which start with “What a busy year it’s been!” Seeing photos of my friends and their families and even enjoying a few sunny beach scenes when it’s cold and dark outside is a highlight of December.

But I enjoy the photos more when they’re inside the card, not the card itself. Because more and more, even devout Christians have been replacing Jesus, Mary and Joseph with themselves. Doesn’t it strike you as weird to set aside the Holy Family in favor of your family? Does a photo of Cabo San Lucas trump the story told by the original San Lucas? Is Christmas really about you?

Still unconvinced? Try a thought experiment. For your next birthday, how would you feel about getting a birthday card with my photo on it? “Happy Birthday! It’s a photo of me!” My modest campaign against family cards has less chance of success than another Ralph Nader presidential bid. People will accuse me of being anti-family. But I’m not: I’m more pro-Holy Family. Plus, I’m battling Snapfish, Shutterfly, Kodak and a lot of online card stores that have been promoting this idea with more resources than a poor Jesuit can muster.

So I’ll leave you with a simple plea. Place those great photos inside the card. Or how about this: When choosing your Christmas cards this year, think more Jesus and less you. Or, more Virgin Mary, and less Virgin Islands.

The Rev. James Martin is a Jesuit priest and author of My Life with the Saints.

It was Heifer Project market day today and my second graders agreed to sell the bunnies.  The first 45 minutes they were not so into it.  They wanted to color their coloring sheets and stick the pins in each other, not to mention eat cookies and spill lemonade on themselves.  But when the 9:45 service let out and the fellowship hall started filling they suddenly got excited about the marketing of the bunnies.  Hannah was our barker.   She shouted “Hop on over and buy a bunny” solid for that whole fifteen minutes.  Her mom came over to pick her up, she said “but she’s so shy.”  And when we’d get a potential costumer Mira would dutifully tell them that one bunny costs $20, half a bunny is $10, and a forth a bunny is $5.  And Corrine set out decorating the table.  She made a hat for our stuffed rabbit that said “I’m a bunny” and hung a sign around his neck that said “Bunnies Rock.”  And the whole class rallied around handing out our material and doing a little bunny dance.  The kindergateners had chicken costumes and chicken favors, the middle schoolers had cupcakes with candy bees, but we were the hit of the market.  Everyone was eatting up my little sales people.  I was so proud.  Hey, does anyone want to buy a bunny?

I think that there was a staff writer on “West Wing” from FSU.  The episode on tonight had a suicidal pilot from Tallahassee.  The pilot (the first episode not the suicidal one) had a couple of FSU political science majors who recognized Josh in a cafe. And Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) almost took a professorship at FSU after he lost the election before he took the Secretary of State position.

Anyway… Erin is a nerd.

So I got this new job and I thought I was going to be doing the job that Access Coordinator IIs do. But I’m an Access Coordinator I.  Which means I’m an NPR (New Patient Registration) specialist instead of an E&A (Evaluations and Admissions) specialist.  So I get to make appointments for outpatients all day, while the ACIIs get to see and process  the new inpatient clients.  I think the idea is that we all will kind of know what each other is up to so that we can be flexible answer eachother’s phones and stuff like that as necessary.  Oh and the other weirdness is that we don’t have a supervisor that’s directly in our department right now, she’ll start next week.  So right now we are reporting to the Vice President of Inpatient Services, crazy right?

So today the morning shift ACII didn’t show up. (I say morning but she really works from 7:30 to 8:00.)  So the problem came when it got to be 4:30 and everyone realized that the day shift counselor would be alone from 5 till 7:30.  So the VP came down and was frantically calling the scheduleing person and all the ACIIs to get someone to come in for those 2 and a half hours or even someone who’d been promoted from out of the department.  And she had no luck.  So I volunteered to stay and at least answer the phones and run insurance verifications until the night shift guy came.  So now I hopefully will have some extra credit plus 2 and a half hours of double pay. Woohoo.

And I actually had a good time. It was like being thrown head first into the fray.  I think that’s why I like Stage Management too, because it’s like a hundred little issues being thrown at you at once and you have to figure out what’s most pressing and what has to be put off.  So do I like it because it was novel or because it really was fun? Once I know all the answers it won’t be as challenging. Hum.

Stay tuned…

Excited?

I’ll have to check the employee handbook to see if blogging is permitted on duty.  MP3 players are not allowed so you never know.  Today’s my first full day of real work.   I sent the first three hours working straight through, but it’s been hit or miss since then, I spent about a third of the data doing data entry, a third of the day fielding appointment calls, and a third of the day hanging out waiting for the next thing to come in.  I have to take calls and determine whether the people who want appointments are qualified or not and basically follow up on all appointments.  That’s part one of my job.  Part two is being administrative help to the rest of the folks in the office.  And finally we heard today that we are going to be in charge of the insurance prescreening process for all inpatient clients.  And I think that’s why we’re over here in the psychiatric hospital… so that we can be in the know about client status and be the “how are you going to pay?” part of crisis patient intake.  Anyway… positives and negatives… just like anything else.

I think the key will be to be proactive about getting clinical experience.  The funny thing is my supervisor is the clinical person and she was telling me I was going to be doing like all data processing.  And then the data processing people came down today and told us how they really needed us to do clinical things that they couldn’t do.  Anyway, I think the bottom line is they took two positions (and four people assistant level people) and made one new position for two of us degree-d people.  And they still haven’t worked out the kinks.

Oh and here’s a thing.  The CEO came to welcome us on orrientation and I was introducing my self and he said “oh, I’ve heard about you.” Now since it was the first day I think that must be good, right?  He didn’t say that to anyone else.  But I have been know to missread a situation… infamous on the first day…sheesh.

That’s right… baby animals.  I didn’t even mean to. How about a baby bear for today?

Because Sunday school classes don’t teach themselves, when you had a power outage and your alarm doesn’t go off.

So I went and bought a battery powered alarm clock that has a outdoor temperature sensor, bonus! But it’s just not that fun to hug.

——–

“There are always uncertainties ahead, but there is always one certainty–God’s will is good.”
-Vernon Paterson

Always, huh? I guess so. I guess that’s why you have to be content in the way things are now, because God always has what’s best for you in mind.

• It’s freezing.
• I’m working.
• My throat hurts.
• I seriously thought my house was on fire, there was so much smoke in the street when I drove in on Tuesday.  Luckily it wasn’t.  My neighbors must have had a fireplace malfunction.
• There are things I want do to that scare me.
• Maybe if I did some of those things I wouldn’t feel so chronically bored.

See when I went in to have my portrait taken for the church directory I was envisioning something like this…

But I folded… I told myself I’d ask for a straight-on standing picture, but… but the guy was telling me how I looked like Drew Barrymore, so I thought he must be an expert right?  So he took all my shots 3/4 to the camera and siting.  Meaning my pictures came out more like this…

Now I realize that some people may want their boobs to look as big as possible in their photos, but some of us don’t need the help.

Whatever.

I was on my way to Walmart to do some grocery shopping, and I was sitting waiting to turn on Tennessee street when I say this glow in the sky.  It took me a few minutes to figure it out but it was a hot air balloon that was down the street at the Ford dealership; they were having some sort of party.  The flames flickered so that it looked like a gigantic candle, and then when the flames would go out you couldn’t see it at all.  Way cool.

We were talking about war and peace in or series on “Virtue in Public Life” in Everyothers tonight.   The series is based on some of the social principles of the United Methodist Church.  The Book of Discipline is annoyingly wishy-washy on the issue. We got on this track of talking about how certain wars are justifiable.  I had to civilly disagree.  So I started talking about what Jesus says about loving your enemies and self sacrifice.  I didn’t feel it, but people told me that I looked like I was going to cry.  See, my head cares about a lot of things that don’t necessarily inspire me with passion and feeling.  But some times I surprise myself.  I guess my heart cares too.

Sunday Quotation: “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:27-31, NIV

My new jacket.. but I think it looks better on me.  It’s looking a little maternity-ish on this poor girl.

That’s right… Fifteen extra days of made for tv Christmas movies in case 25 wasn’t enough. I love it.

It’s full out hot tea weather.

Please see the puppy cam for further evidence.  I’m watching them turn over their bed and tear out the stuffing from the bottom. Adorable.

Oh my gosh, whoa.  I was going on to CBS.com to catch the episode of How I Met Your Mother that I missed last night and I saw the add to the new CBS online mini show called Novel Adventures presented by Saturn.  And boy is it ever presented by Saturn.  About ever other word is ” and that’s why I love the safety features of the Saturn Vue Hybrid.”  The main character is the wife of a Saturn dealer (who’da thunk.)  It’s completely cheesy.  Oh and in the latest episode Lizzie starts out by missing her friends in Boston, when her new friends of 2 weeks surprise her with a male stripper on the set of CSI:NY.  She says as she’s driving away in her…wait for it… Saturn Vue, that it was the best birthday of her entire life.  I just don’t get it.  They are obviously trying to to market to women (it’s about a woman’s book club) but it seems like it was written by male ad writers on a strict deadline.  Our lead, the one with the Saturns and the birthday, wears twin sets and buns, but do you know what her favorite music is?  50cent and The Vampire Club (or something like that.)  Oh and guess what the they’re doing next week… pole dancing lessons.

They say that product placement is going to take over advertising… with all the people being able to fast froward through commercials.  But if this is what it looks like were in trouble.

• Wet carpet smells like wet dog.  I know.
• I signed up for the beta test of the new Netflix player… for Mac… ’bout time.
• Mini muffins should not be cooked at 425 degrees in a plastic muffin tin.  (Or would that be a muffin plastic?)  I now have a cookie sheet, melted plastic, and  burnt lemon poppy seed muffins sandwich.

So in college we all used AIM… and I used to put quotes up on my profile.  And now I have this list of quotes just sitting around.  So I’m instituting “Sunday Quotations.”  I’ll share a quote and something else every Sunday.  Because I think just posting quotes is pretentious.  So you’ll get a thought or a picture or a question or something too.  Let’s start this shall we?

The Brain – is wider than the Sky -
For – put them side by side -
The one the other will contain
With ease – and You – beside-

The Brain is deeper than the sea -
For – hold them – Blue to Bue -
The one the other will absorb -
As sponges – Buckets – do

The Brain is just the weight of God -
For – Heft them – Pound for Pound -
And they will differ – if they do -
As syllable from Sound -

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

So I thought I’d tell some stories about the things that I did from my list.

I have been to the highest point in Florida… but that’s not really a mountain.  The mountain I am thinking about is in South Carolina at Camp Awaninta.  We went there with youth group a few times for the end of Mission-fest.  That was one week in the summer when we’d gather to do in-town mission work in the morning and then have devotions and fun stuff in the afternoons and evenings.  Then at the end of the week we went on a trip someplace fun.  We went to this camp at least 3 times.  They had all sorts of fun stuff to do and then we went whitewater rafting.  They have a zip line and a hummer ride and a ropes course.  It was always a lot of fun.

At the top of one of the mountains they had a cross that you could climb up to, and benches to sit and think and pray.  There was a steep face of the mountain that is clay and then a back way that was more like a nature trail.  So we climbed up the nature trail way and we decided we’d go down the steep way.  I don’t know who’s idea it was but it was not a good one.  We started out walking down but the momentum was so great that at about half way down you couldn’t help but run or fall down.  The only problem was that… you know… mountains end.  And boy did I see it coming.  I came running down full tilt this steep hill, I took one step onto the leavel ground and my body kept moving down that incline right into the clay.  And right in front of my group.  And to add insult to literal injury, I had to go to dinner with my red-clay stained outfit.  Man.

They match my blog.

• I should have a new job by Wednesday.  Step one.
• I stepped on the scale again because it’s the one year anniversary of starting Weight Watchers.  I lost 20 pounds in the three months I was active in the program.  Now I’m 35 pounds down from my starting weight.  Which I think is okay for not trying.  I could tell because my jeans fit me much better this winter. Maybe I’ll go back to really trying.
• I think I need some stinking goals.
• I don’t know what my stinking goals should be.
• I’m moving on. Not in a direction that I know yet (is it forward or back), but the brakes are off and I’m moving on.
• I will create my own happiness.

And thanks for that.  There’s been entirely to much money spent on this campaign, local and presidential.  I heard that the candidates will have spent 10 dollars per vote.  More than double the amount of money was raised than in the last election.  I also heard that the Obama-murcial was done because the campaign could not spend all it’s money. So much waste.  How about feeding a hungry child with that 25 dollars next time.  This is getting ridiculous.

Here’s the Deal. Bold the ones you’ve done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theatre
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on a television news program as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote article for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Well I suppose some of those are open to certain interpretation.

It keeps recording the same two episodes of Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style and Mythbusters over and over again.  And today it was supposed to record Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on FX from 8-10 and instead it recorded the Style channel from 8-10:30 which was like two and a half episodes of Clean House.  I don’t know what’s going on. I think it needs a reboot.

I forgot to say that our young adult group won the “Best Christian Theme” at the Trunk or Treat last Sunday.  Our decor was the leftover VBS surf boards that said “Be Kind” and “Be Bold” and “Believe.”  But I got extra points for coming up with the title of our installation… “Saint Paul’s Spring Break.”

There’s this scene in Becoming Jane, when the neighborhood rich lady strongly suggests that Jane marry her uptight nephew.  She tells Jane that she doesn’t have children and it has caused her a lonely existence and she didn’t want Jane to suffer the same pain.  The directors point out of course that’s just what happened to Jane.  She never married.  That she did suffer the pain of not having children… but also the freedom; the freedom to write her books and not be burdened by children.

So I was thinking about that… the relationship between pain and freedom.  I think that you can’t have freedom without pain of regret.  Because when you can choose to go down one road and not another there’s always the thought about what could have been.  And you don’t have anyone to blame but yourself.  You don’t generally regret the things that you are forced to do because you didn’t have the choice, you weren’t free.  And maybe that’s why we are sometimes reluctant to make choices. We’re afraid to miss something good.

I rented Becoming Jane to watch again.  And since I had the DVD at home I went ahead and watched the commentary track.  It was pretty interesting, especially the parts that they told you how they had changed the real known history of Jane Austen to make a more entertaining movie.  In fact they used many of the plot points of Austen’s novels to flesh out the story lines, like how Mansfield Park was supposed to be based on Jane’s brother’s romance with their cousin.  I think that my favorite part was how there is record of the Austen family staying on a certain street in London.  There were only five houses on that street and no inn and the only people that the Austens would have know would have been Judge Langlois, Tom Lefroy’s uncle and benefactor.  So that’s how they deducted that Jane and Tom’s relationship continued past the two meetings that there is direct evidence for; that trip was about a month after they first met.

What else… the cousin (the one who married the brother) was the widow of a French Aristocrat.  And one of Jane’s other brothers was adopted by like the third riches man in England.  And Tom Lefroy became the Prime Minister of Ireland during the potato famine.  Oh and then we have Jane Austen, inventor of the omniscient narrator.  All these fancy people hanging out together.  So what’s the difference from today?  How come pastors’ daughters don’t move in the upper realms of society?  It’s the rise of the middle class.  The fact that so many more people can afford to keep themselves in a comfortable manner.  So in Edwardian times connection and family were almost everything… you could be struggling to get by and still be seen as high society.  In fact that conflict between money and status is a major theme of all of Jane Austen’s novels.   Because she was witnessing the first time when money could buy the entry ticket to a respected life.  Now that’s about all you can do is buy your way in.

Kristin at E! says the ratings are bad… here’s her suggestions:

• SIGN UP: Sign the Save Daises online petition.
• TURN ON: Go to ABC.com and play old episodes. If you have some spare change, download a few from iTunes. If Daisies brings in enough digital dime, that revenue might offset the on-air losses.
• REACH OUT: Contact ABC online or use the quaint ol’ post office to send a letter explaining, in your own passionate but polite words, why and how Daisies is the birdhouse in your soul. The address for ABC is 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-4551.
• PUSH THOSE DAISIES: There are 23,000 species in the daisy family of flowers, including marigolds, coneflowers, sunflowers, chamomile, chrysanthemums, dahlias and zinnias. Send a bunch of your faves to ABC, or better yet, send flower seeds. They’re light and therefore cheap to ship. Seeds last for years and won’t go bad or go to waste, and they could be planted to grow into something beautiful in the spring. Don’t forget to include a note explaining that this is for the love of Daisies!

The booth next to mine at the craft fair was selling tie dye tee shirts.  The guy running the booth is also the owner of a hair salon in town.  He had his mom and a couple of his hair dressers to help him. So I got to talk a about the hair business.  Some one asked him about his prices and he said they were reasonable, not “200 dollars for highlights like Haute Heads.”  He said they people that work there “go to the gym and eat right and look a certain way and they think that gives them the right to overcharge people. But most people just want a good hair cut.”  And he made the point that they have people there with barely any experience that are charging more than his stylist with 20 years experience do.

I went to Haute Heads about three time a few years ago.  I started going there because the outside of the building was cute, and I continued to go there because it was cute on the inside.  It has jewel toned walls with gold scroll work and mirrors with fancy frames.  The sitting room has these big purple poofy chairs.  And they sell beaded jewelry that’s a lot like the kind I make.  It’s great.  It reminds me of the set of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella… my kind of place.  But I quit going mainly because of the cost.  It was about double the cost of a mall hair cut.  And I didn’t like the fact that the girl kept saying that may hair was mousey brown and that I needed to dye it like chestnut brown.  But I like being a blonde, dark blonde, but blonde none the less.

Anyway I was more taken in by the beautiful decor rather than the beautiful people.  But it gave me a different perspective.  I would rather just get a good hair cut.  And you know what really impressed me?  All of the customers who came down to the craft fair just to support their friend.  I think that’s priceless.

I got called by a political poll tonight, which is exciting to me…but they only wanted to speak to a boy.  Yeah thanks for rubbing it in, people.

I spent more time at church this weekend than I did at home or at least that’s what it feels like.  On Friday and Saturday I was pedaling my wares at the craft fair.  I did about as much business as I did last year.  But besides just the bracelets I sold one scarf, the tutu I made, and one of the ribbon necklaces, and two pairs of the watermelon earrings.  I decided I was going to reduce my prices from last year hoping to be more attractive so I did, by about 33 percent on everything that I had there last year.  But I think that the plan did not work.  I guess there’s like this tipping point where you are willing to buy something just because it’s a good deal, but beyond that if your price is reasonable people just decide if they want it or not. I have this magnet that I got which is cute but that I got mainly because it was a dollar fifty. But I also got this wall hanging for my mom that was no deal for sure but it was so perfect that I could not let it go.

This morning was Laity Sunday again so I got to help lead worship again this year.  I was much less nervous.  And I also got to do the children’s sermon.  That was too much fun; I loved it. I had a couple of laugh lines even.  And the preschool choir sang so we had a bunch of takers.  I think next time I am going to pay more attention to my tone of voice because I found myself talking in that “I’m talking to a kid voice.”  I also think that I needed to engage with the kids a little more.  I was a little over eager about getting the word out that I neglected to look and see if I was getting a reaction and that the kids were understanding.  But over all good and practice makes perfect, right?  Luckily I remembered to do all my parts this year.  And I got lots of compliments on the prayer that I wrote.  So I thought I’d give you all an excerpt.

“…and we also give thanks on this special Sunday for the ministry of the laity.  Those who respond to God’s call on all Christians’ lives, who choose to take time to offer God’s love in action through teaching and speaking and singing and witnessing and serving. Today we ask you to renew us all, to give us a clearer vision of the ways we can give sacrificially.  Help us to leave what is comfortable to meet you challenge.  Let us be the voice of peace in a warring world.  Let us be the ones who are generous even in difficulty.  Let us be a welcoming face to the stranger.  We ask this all in true sincerity and with the confidence of children of the Lord of the universe. Our God who created all things from the tiniest bacteria to the greatest mountain.  Who continues to do great works even in our own lives and will still be comforting and protecting our great-great-great grandchildren….”

My favorite story… apparently one of our medical doctors appreciated the fact that bacteria got a shout out in church.  Happy to oblige.

I think there’s been a dirth of substantive posts here on my corner of the internet.  I can tell by my list of topic ideas that are piling up.  So I’m gonna try to go back to 300 words everyother day.  Ok… just after i finish my children’s sermon… peace.

What’s the one musical act that will help us get over our depression from the plummeting economy?  That’s right… Il Divo. Everyone’s favorite quartet of overly polished European Tenors. Thanks Oprah for bringing us what we need.

How about a cute puppy?

When I’m cold enough to bring out the comforter, I know the seasons are changing.

“A million residents of the Chelyabinsk Province in Russia found out what happens when radioactive waste is not properly stored or cooled, between 1948 and 1990 -not that they were told what was happening. The Worldwatch Institute calls it the “most polluted spot” in history.” mental_floss

Why yes, that is me standing by a lake in Chelyabinsk. How picturesque.

I was going say that I liked SNL last night because it was so meta.  Then I think parody is by definition meta. So it was like double meta. Wow.

I had two errands today.  To go get some jalapenos and to mail a few things that I didn’t put out in time for the mail carrier to come get.  I planned to drive through Sonic after the post office for a vanilla coke with a side of jalapenos (homemade salsa is addictive.)

So I got to the post office a couple minutes after it closed and had to go through that drive through too.  That of course meant that that I missed the last pickup too so my mail run was for naught.  But there was this woman standing on the curb by the post office exit. She’d been standing there the whole time I was in the parking lot and had a carry-on size piece of luggage.

I pulled up to turn on to the street and she looked at me and held up the sign she had in here hand.  It was written on ballpoint on a sheet of loose leaf.  The wind was strong enough that the paper was flapping so that the only thing that I could read was “for food.”  It’s getting cooler but I’m still wearing shorts and she had on a winter coat.  She looked like she could be someones grandma.

So I decided I’d go to CVS instead of Sonic and pick-up some trail mix for her along with my jalapenos.  When I pulled back around she was gone from the post office.  And then I looked around and she was sitting on the window sill at the convenience store next door, with her coat on her bag, smoking a cigarette. I didn’t stop.

Thing is, I don’t know what she really needs, or what the right thing is to do. Maybe I’ll hold on to the cranberry trail mix so I’ll have a better plan next time.  And I don’t mean that “dang, I was dooped and now I’m stuck with the cranberries.”  But she is a person, with a life, and a family, and a story and obviously a difficult one at that.  And I can’t do anything that will make a real difference, or not be patronizing.  Or maybe it is that I’m unwilling to.  All I have is the fragments that I gleaned from observation of this women, nothing that tells me anything about who she really is.

—————-

Stephanie had the youth do an exercise a few weeks ago.  They all started by making bags to give to the homeless with a granola bar and a Vienna sausage and an apple sauce.  They then had a scavenger hunt to look for their dinner.  Everywhere they went they were turned away until they found the homeless bags that they had made waiting for them in the sanctuary.  And man did they not like that twist.  Apparently not everyone like Vienna sausages like I do.  But it’s obviously no grand gesture to give away the food you’re not willing to eat.  It humbles you a little, and makes you think about person-hood apart from status and possessions.  So even though I got to be the one denying my spaghetti to the youth, I think I learned a lesson too.  Because today I felt a little something extra. And it wasn’t good.  I think that’s called empathy. And praise God for that.

Jesse Palmer, ESPN commentator and former Bachelor and Gator QB, says the Seminoles look good.  And he’s particularly complementary to the offensive line.  Um, don’t really know which games he’s been watching.  Do you think he’s trying to put some sort of hex on us?

Yeah Smith and Hawkin

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
-Luke 4:18,19

So I’ve been singing a song in my head all week, and when I went to look it up on Itunes it completely jumped out of my head.  I looked at the Pop Songs to jog my memory, and this is what I found.  How fun.  I love Edwin McCain. And that song make for a first class pun.

L20 Blog:

“The sea bean is a succulent plant that is a one of the Salicornia species. It is not really a bean and it does not grow in the sea, but near in the water. They grow wild around the rocks on the seashore, where they get washed by the waves. They do not get very big, usually less than 30 cm tall, with a main stem that grows up horizontally, with small branches coming out. The leaves are so small, that the sea bean looks like it has small scales instead of leaves. Many of the varieties are green, but like trees, their foliage turns red in autumn. They produce hermaphrodite flowers that are pollinated by the wind and ocean breeze. Their fruit is small and succulent, with a single seed.

Sea bean can be eaten raw or cooked and used in many different preparation. I like them with citrus, raw mushroom, crab meat and salads. The flavor is delicate and very marine with a high amount of saltiness that reminds you of the ocean.”

4 cans of diced tomatoes drained thoroughly
4 cans green chilies drained thoroughly
1 small bunch of cilantro chopped
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Lime Juice
1 medium onion chopped
6 slices of pickled jalapeno chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic

Combine…. Some may be pureed and then reincorporate for salsa that is less runny. Let sit for about an hour to let the flavors marinate.

This fact became painfully clear when I tried to sub in handbell choir last night.  People usually get to play four bells and I got demoted to one.  Its a bit like dancing but you have to count your own measures. It was painful.

Featuring reality TV losers (country singers not withstanding) and did you see this slogan? It’s like they know my inner shame. “Erin loves sappiness, reality shows, and cheap things. Do we have the commercial for her?”

I think that it was the perfect storm of church jobs today.  And happy World Communion Sunday to you too.

We were singing in honor of the day, a fun African piece.  But that also meant that we had to be there to rehearse at 7:45.  My helping began when Laurel brought her grandchildren in, a four year old and a two year.  She is like 98 pounds and was trying to lift them both up on to her hip. But the little one kept sliding of.  So I when to give her a boost and she burst into tears when I put my arms out to her. Ouch, burned by the two year old.

After we were done practicing Sally asked us to help move the left over garage sale junk off the parking lot.  So there I am in my insensibly high heels and a-line skirt, carting nineteen fifties vacuums and knitting kits, and humidifiers across the lot.  We sang for the call to worship then I left to set up for Sunday School.  There was plenty of time left so I got to make copies and cut out shields for the coat-of-arms craft.  But I left my curriculum at home so I had to wing it a little.  By the way it is very confusing to a second grader that Abraham was once named Abrahm and that Abraham was not named after Abraham Lincoln.  They even asked “what does Abraham mean?” Well luck has it the Bible tells us that it means “the father of many.”  My favorite thing… we were putting pictures of ancient buildings on the map and I told them that the first one was a Ziggarat.  The next one was these domed buildings…Amanda says, “oh, it’s an Egg-arat.”

Had to leave early to sing again.  Then I got asked to be a “pew buddy” by our childrens’ director. There’s no childrens’ Sunday School during the eleven o’clock hour so the kids whose parents go to the contemporary service and then 11 adult class, go to the regular Sunday School and then sit with volunteers during the 11 service before childrens’ church (wow that’s a mess.)  We didn’t have many takers today but Grace came to sit with us and she was having some nose running issues, but I didn’t have any tissues or anything, I felt so inadequate.

Before the service started Sally asked if I’d do part of the “presenting of the breads” which involved reading a paragraph… mine was about sun-dried tomato bread.  I think I only stumbled on a few words sheesh. I think I told God to remember that there was waring in the middle east.  Um I think God’s all over that, we’re the ones that need to remember.  We got to the communion part of the World Communion Sunday and we were singing the opening song and Clarke and Sally were looking distressed.  The sent out one of the acolytes to get me to help serve communion.  I think that at the 8:30 service they had a retired minister helping but he must have bailed.

The highlights… Me trying to grab the bread dish, Clarke “I’m serving you.” Oh yeah…  Me being the last one done every time because the line is “The blood of Christ shed for you.” and saying that to everyone takes longer than the minister version that is many more sentences and covers the time it take to serve three or four people. This must be why they need a master’s degree… My designated acolyte tripping and spilling a whole tray of juice on the floor and her white gown…  Me running out of juice cups with one person left, making me take even longer, and generally interrupting the reverent service with my inability to count… Oh yes and remember the high heels…ouch, and we are all glad I went with my crew neck black shirt instead of the v-neck if you know what I mean….And we don’t have hymns going on so you just feel everyone watching your communion incompetence.  I obviously needed the training session.

So I was writing the post I am going to put up in a few minutes.  I was walking around with my computer and noticed some gunk on my skirt. I went to the bathroom and set the computer on the edge of the tub and I put my skirt under the spigot.  Well I had not turned the shower off last time.  So me and my macbook got a 10 second shower.  Luckily I turned it off, dried it and set it in front of the fan while I went to church for a couple of hours.  Everything appears to be working fine and dry now. Dodged that one. Sorry for being so careless Macbook, my buddy.

I’ve always thought of myself as a nice person.  But I have subjected myself to some introspection recently and I have cast some doubt.  Now I am fairly sure that I do plenty of acts of kindness, so that maybe enough in the truest sense but I’m talking here about people’s perceptions.  See I’m quite shy so I mainly have two ways that I relate to people.  One in a socially awkward, quiet…”shy” kind of way and the other is with confidence and even aggression maybe?  See I’m also a performer.  It makes for a weird mix.  I have no problems with public speaking or leading a group, but put me in a cocktail party and I’m like a different person.  But I think ultimately both of those ways are pretty cold.

When I was in tenth grade, my English teacher told me that I ought to smile more on the first day of class.  Like from the front of the room, in the presents of all my classmates.  It was harsh.  Hear that teachers?  Don’t do that.  I do find myself scowling occasionally when I’m thinking but I don’t mean to.

In college one of my best friends told me that one of her friends who had become a mutual acquaintance found me intimidating.  That’s really the first time I thought about that I could intimidate anyone (well except maybe a second grader.)    And speaking of that, I don’t have that “kids-want-to-sit-on-my-lap” thing anymore.  My VBS kids loved my high school co-teacher, but not me so much.  And when I’ve worked wit the youth they just don’t think I’m as cool as some of the other helpers.

And I even got in trouble when I was working on “Once on this Island” for being too mean to the cast.  I told them in notes one night that I was going to come hit them if they did not stay quiet backstage.  Of course I was joking, I mean that’s not a hard one to figure out.  But on the other hand I was basicly left to be the long arm of the law, with the director whinning about behavior but not setting any standards or doing things like start rehearsals late.  But the one good thing that came of that was I may not have made any best friends, I came out the end with everyone still respecting me (something the other staff couldn’t say.)  The good word from that whole fiasco (the show was great somehow, I mean the offstage drama) traveled far and wide I’m sure and it makes me wonder if that’s some of the reason that I’m having issues with the directors selection commitee and the excutive director.  One would hope that they’d give me a chance to tell my side of things.

So I guess that’s it; I’m not a warm and fuzzy person. I’m not so nice.  But I try to be good…sincere, friendly, loyal, loving. And I try to think about smiling more.  That’ll have to be enough.

As if I would order this, Pizza Hut was kind enough to send me a coupon.  The regular price for pasta, $12.99.

So I sent my complaint letter to Tallahassee Utilities.  I sent it certified mail because that’s what the complaint letter experts tell you to do (oh I miss the Bryant Park Project.)  Something about really meaning business, you know?  I addressed it to “Customer Service Manager.”

Well yesterday I got a call from the front desk woman who I talked to when I was in the last time.  She was very apologetic and said that it was a busy time, that she can’t believe that she did not tell me about the charges, that it didn’t matter if I had good credit or not that everyone would get that charge.  Then she asked me if there was anything that she could do.  Wait is that a trick question?  I said that if she couldn’t remove the charge then not really.  Then she asked if I wanted her to speak with her supervisor and see what could be done.  Wait is that a trick question?  I said yes I would like that.

Then she called me back later and left a message saying she’d taken care of it and the charge had been removed from my bill.  Woohoo.  I wrote her a little thank you note.

So then I was watching the local news and heard the announcement that Tallhassee Utilities is raising rates eight percent across the board.  Um I guess they’ll be getting my 56 dollars after all.

I love book swaping.  It’s addictive.  Trade in a book you’ve read for the one you’re looking for. Free but the shipping.

The following is based on a comment that I left on Shaun’s post and his was based on Ted’s post.  I supposed it should be said that neither Shaun nor I have seen the movie, Fireproof, that we are critiquing.

Shaun said, if I may take the liberty of summarizing, Fireproof does a lot of telling (sermonizing) instead of showing.

The first time I heard the dictum “show, don’t tell” was in my eleventh grade English class.  In that context what our teacher meant was “don’t overuse your omniscient narrator.”  Describe characters by their actions and words, comment on situations by showing their consequences.

I’ve not seen the movie but what I’m assuming Shaun means is that the characters portrayed in the film are given to over-analysis and sermonizing that is unrealistic for who they have been shown to be.  To me that’s less of a problem because it is not a fundamental flaw of the story telling but rather of characterization (like if a pastor gave a sermon we wouldn’t have a problem with it.)  I feel like one can be preachy without messing up their storytelling effort, if the circumstances are right… you have to forgive my over-analysis but I’m a sometimes playwright and amateur dramaturg so I have spent some time thinking about things like this.

Shaun says “Have you ever seen the movie gang member or the mafia guy or the serial killer go to his son and explain his philosophical and moral position on violence in a long chunk of dialogue? Again, heck no.”  But I say that is more a matter of the character’s motivation… if the plot of the story is serial killer dad wants to convince reluctant serial killer son that killing is good I’ll bet there would be some dialogue about it.  Or how about just in real life, my parents do a lot of telling to me.

There is also in my view a difference in saying, “violence is acceptable” versus “violence is good.”  A bunch of movies say, “violence is acceptable.”  It’s a lot harder and uncommon to get a “violence is good” message across.  I think this movie is saying “unconditional love of your wife is good,” a more difficult proposition than say “unconditional love for your wife is sweet when it happens.”   The dad is saying “Please Kirk Cameron(‘s character and also the rest of the world) start acting this certain way all the time.”  That’s his character’s motivation.  I find a movie like The Notebook to be more of the “isn’t it sweet” variety; no one is trying to convince or change each other.  Shaun talked about the filmmakers’ motivation was to motivate the audience to act Jesus-y.  I think there’s the rub… few other movies are trying to motivate anyone to do anything.  Can it be done with more finesse? Definitely, but I think that you’d be hard pressed to find something motivational that isn’t at least a little bit preachy.

So who does write with the “doing this thing is good” message in mind?  Commercial writers.  So in a way I see this movie as a big commercial.  I guess it also could be called propaganda.  And what do I know about commercials? First, some are better than others with better dialog and characterization.  But also… commercials work, they sell things and convince people “candidate X is good.”  Luckily there are more Budweiser purchasers than serial killers.

From the reviews I have read I think most would agree that the insufficiencies of “art” makes the movie a less successful commercial.  But is it bad just for being a commercial? For being Christian propaganda?

Shaun replied to me “A movie is not a commercial.  or at least the audience doesn’t expect it to be.  And so if they get one when what they thought they were getting was a movie, well…”

Yes, most movies are not commercials, they don’t want to make you do anything.  Some do, say Michael Moore documentaries;  I think everyone’s clear they are getting a commercial there.  Most people who go already agree with his slant on things, but I know at least one republican who rethought her gun control postion because of seeing  Bowling for Columbine. …if we only reach one…  Or take Crash, on the other side of the “good art” question, it could be considered an motivational piece don’t you think?  Saying “not being racist is good.”  It’s a bit preachy, but in a good way.

My point is just that if you are making something preachy or telly you probably do have to be twice as good as your commetition who’s offering a take it or leave it message.  But I think that Superbowl commercials prove it’s not impossible to make something both directly motivational and entertaining.

Tyson is sending food to San Fransisco food banks based on the number of comments received on this post.

Do you remember the time not too long ago, when the price of gas at the pump was not a weekly news story?

I finally watched the premeir of ER.  Man they have a high death rate of the staff there especially from tramatic injuries.

I was in middle school in 1996 when RENT opened on Broadway. I was singing with the children’s chorus at the time and the high school group did this whole Broadway medley that included “Seasons of Love.” Which I of course thought was awesome.  But by the time I was in drama in high school the craze and phenomenon was over.  It was just another show that was on and we were more excited about the new shows like Jekyll and Hyde and Ragtime and Titanic.  When I was in college the tour came by Tampa and a bunch of the theatre folks went in a group together, but I missed out on that.  So the first time I saw the songs in context was the 2005 movie.  Then the tour came to Tallahassee about a year and a half ago and my friend and I went see it.  It was in the civic center and we were defiantly in the cheap seats.  We were farrrrrrr from that stage.  I am such a Broadway fan when I heard about the showing of the final Broadway cast and performance was a opportunity I could not miss.  It’s such a rare thing to have access to a recording of a Broadway show.

So what did I think of “the Rent movie that doesn’t suck” as one blogger says.  First this is something that producers defiantly need to do again.  I hope they made enough money to justify it.  Tallahassee was a little sparsely attended.  The performances of course are sublime and sounding so much like the original cast by the way.  The crowd noise was fun too as they cheered all the actor’s entrances and most of the songs.  And getting to see the production at the Nerderlander, that’s priceless.  But I hope that they’ll learn from some of the mistakes.

Almost from the beginning it was clear that the camera was right there on the stage because of the extreme close-ups and I later found that this was actually a composite of footage from an earlier performance with the closing night footage.  Well I don’t feel so bad for the live audience, but I then felt a little duped.  I found the camera work frantic at times and the editing to be suspect.  Even in duets the camera would flip back and forth between the actors.  There were these odd close-ups of Rodger and Mimi’s backsides during “Light my Candle.”  I think the one song that I appreciated the in-your-face-ness was “One Song Glory,” a monologue song in spotlight.  But even that was unfortunate for Will Chase the actor playing Roger who is 38 years old.  Not that he’s bad looking he’s just obviously older than his cast mates and is playing a 23 year old(ish) character.  And “Contact” looks like a music video with all of the cuts.

At the end of the show many of the original cast members came on stage for an encore of “Seasons of Love” minus Adam Pascal, Idina Mendzel and Taye Diggs.  Too bad, but we can see Taye on Private Practice every week and Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp will be touring with the show in 2009.  Another thing that I appreciated was the great! sound quality.  It really showed me how much the civic center eats the mix.  You have to turn the sound so high that you miss the subtle things, especially in the songs with counterpoint.  I love actually being able to tell what everyone was saying all of the time.

Over all this reminded me why everyone loves RENT.  I think that lots of people can write a heart breaking song or two, but to have 10 couched in between recitative that actually sounds like words people might say, is emotionally deep, and has a lovely melody.  That takes a special author.  Jonathan Larson was a genius.  Granted there are moments that don’t feel period enough yet to not be a bit clique, but I think that will fade with time.  Man, I got out of the theatre thinking how much I’d like to direct it.  Now I’ll be able to.

It’s not too late to see it; the last showings are Saturday and Sunday at noon.

Here’s to RENT, we were the lucky ones!

To Tallahassee Utilities,

I am writing to protest the 56 dollars of connection fees that I am being charged on my utility account that I have had connected with no interruptions for over three years.

Let me take time to explain the situation.  When I moved to Tallahassee four years ago my father was kind enough to activate my utilities in his name and social security number so that the deposit would be waved due to his good credit with his utility company.  But since that day I have received and paid the utility bills with my own money.

Three years ago I moved across town to a new house.  At that point I decided it would be logical to change the name on the account from my father’s to my name.  I called and inquired and was told that I would have to pay a deposit (approximately $250) in order to do that.  That of course was unsatisfactory to me.   So I asked about what would be done if someone had died or gotten a divorce or sublet a house and needed to change a name on an account.  The customer service representative told me that I could add my name to the account and then after two years of good history I could remove my father’s name from the account.  To do this we had to both (my father who lives out of town and I) appear in person at the Renaissance Center.  So we did that and in June of 2005 my name and social security number were added to the account so that in two years I could remove my father’s name.

Earlier this month I happened to be in the Renaissance Center to meet with Gwen Lightfoot about affordable housing issues on behalf of Tallahassee Equality Action Ministry.  I remembered that it had been plenty of time now and I was in the building I could stop by the Customer Service desk and remove my father’s name from my account.   I got to the front of the line and told the representative what I wanted to do I was first told that had to pay a deposit.  But I explained that I had been on the account for over two years had been told that I could now just remove his name outright.  She looked up my account and told me that was okay and she had me fill out a form and show my ID.  I asked “So now my father is off my account?” and was told yes.  At no time during this meeting or during any of the other conversations and meetings three years ago was I told that there would be any charge if I followed the procedure proscribed.  So that is what I did.

Three days ago I received a bill in my name that included 56 dollars combined of “connection fees” for gas, water, and electricity.  Since my utilities had never been disconnected and I was not expecting any charges I called the customer service line and spoke to a representative.  I asked about the charges and she said, “it says that you had one account that was closed and another that was opened.”  So I explained the situation to her and the steps that I had taken.  She then told me that the way I had handled the situation forced them to send a meter reader to my house and that is what the fees were for and that I was lucky because I only had to pay 56 dollars instead of the $250 deposit.

There are two major problems I have with this.  One, I was never told that I would be charged anything.  The bill I received was the first indication. Had I been told about the charges I would not have done it this way.  And second a deposit would be potentially refundable; where as these “connection fees” I will never see again.  And again, nothing was ever disconnected.

I have over four years of good history with Tallahassee Utilities, three of which are under my own name.  I feel like I am being taken advantage of by an unfair and unclear policy that now I see little way out of.   I hope that I will receive satisfaction by getting a bill that reflects the removal of these unfair fees.

Thank you,
Erin K. Thompson

I went to see Rent tonight.  How about a review tomorrow?  I was going to do on tonight but it’s a bit late. Stay tuned it’s going to be good.

That’s how much money is waiting for me in my account on predictify.com.  It’s a site where you can predict stuff like football winners and the cost of gas and consumer confidence index.  You get money for certain premium questions that people have paid to have asked.  It’s based on accuracy and the time when you predict.  And you get bonuses for overall accuracy across all the questions.  The problem? You get paid when you reach $20 … man almost.

I added my new stuff, wanna see?

Lets say that you and group all comitted to giving 15 percent effort to something.  If you only produced at about 3 percent effort do you have the right to be mad at the people who gave zero?  What about the person who did five percent?  I suppose that maybe the issue was that we all really only needed 5 percent to meet the goal so that gave me (and everyone) an inflated sense of securtity.  We didn’t meet our goal.  Guess who’s the effective boss?  Me. Who’s ultimately incharge of all 100 percent? Me by defalt.  So long 15 percent effort.

Saying “maybe” means I don’t really care enough to make a real commitment. Somethings are important enough to say “yes” or “no.”

I promised one more so here it is; I’ve been stewing on it for a while now.

You know how during the coverage they’d cut away to do special interest pieces sometimes about the biography of the athletes sometimes about Beijing?  Well one that I saw was an piece about the reason the athletes do what they do.  They interviewed all sorts of people and to a man they all said they do it for themselves.  That it’s not for the country or the glory or their parents or anything else.  They spend so much time and effort on training and competing and sacrificing only because they want to.

A couple of things that struck me… First their level of achievement was separate from the accolades that they stood to achieve.  And second they were not trying to prove anything.

So I was trying to come up with the things in my life that I approach with this attitude and the things that I don’t.  What have I really worked on to get better at?  Two things I think psychology and theatre.  Both things I really love.  One that I had to work on but mostly comes naturally and one that I still have to work really hard at to make even the barest improvement.

But the issue is that I have approached my psychology career and well most of my academic career with let’s say that anti-Olympic attitude.  I spent all my time trying to prove myself, to my family, to my teachers, to people that I just met.  Prove that I’m smart and special and worthy.  And it was always about accolades and achievements; what’s the next thing you can get?  When I say it, it makes sense why I’d be dissatisfied right?

So I guess what I need to do is decide if I can or I want to change my attitude about it.  To do it just for me.  I still don’t know.

I had this video on my google reader like 10 times.  I had to jump on board when it made it to The Soup and Joel added the funny tag.

I have watched exactly 3 minutes and 25 seconds of Made of Honor.  They are talking about the “coffee collar.”  The thing that keeps you from burning your hand on a paper coffee cup.  Now I know for a fact that Patrick Dempsey did not invent that.  That thing is actually called a zarf.  And it’s been around as long as there has been coffee.   It used to be these brass handle things to use on a glass cup.

How do I know that.  The potty paper and the book of lists.  When I worked in the counseling center my fellow student assistant and I were in charge of making the potty papers (it’s not as gross as it sounds.)  They were the counseling center’s news letter that got hung in all the campus public restrooms.  You know for some reading material.  So they’d have announcements and info, but they also had interesting information.  Our favorite place to get the fun info was the book of lists.  And one list we used was the list of things that you didn’t know had names.  My favorite word… zarf.  So there you go.

Update: Man that was one bad movie.  I have liked many that critics haven’t like Because I Said So, and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, but this is really bad on so many levels. Besides the bad acting, camera work, and sight gags, I’m like “Tell her you fool.” Stupid.

Can some one tell me who thinks this is a good idea?  Maybe if you are a size 2, otherwise it’s like a bad eighties flashback.

Maybe… read my first review.

Smart Ones Fruit Inspirations Cranberry Turkey Medallions

Thanks Heat Eat Review