Church and State

This article and the actions of this priest make me mad.

No letters like this were sent during the Clinton presidency, and by all accounts, he was as pro-choice as they come. If we had elected a white, pro-choice Democrat, would this letter still have been sent?

But the thing that makes me most mad is that this priest has no idea what the disposition of these people's hearts is. He doesn't know why they voted for Obama. For that matter, he doesn't know why people voted for McCain. It's entirely possible that some of the people who voted for McCain did so out of sense of hatred for Obama's skin color, and that those same people are pro-choice. Isn't that worse than someone who voted for Obama because because of his stance on the war or healthcare, and is against abortion?

There is a reason why we separate church and state in this country. And I know that it is more so the government doesn't interfere with churches, but the churches need to stay out of government, too. I have no problem with individuals using their faith as part of the criteria of how they vote. It is - or should be - impossible to set aside that part of your personality. But I don't think clergy should have the ability to judge the disposition of a person's heart based on how they voted.

Quick Post...

I was feeling under the weather today, so no real post. Instead, enjoy this interview with David Tennant from a British morning show the day after he announced he is leaving Doctor Who. My little geeky heart broke when he announced that, even though I knew it was coming.

Post 1001

And I wish it were just frivolous.

It is the 21st century. We have just elected the first ever non-white man as President of the United States. And yet, this kind of crap still exists in Louisiana (and a whole bunch of other places). And look at the ages - all under 3o, except for the leader.

This is just so depressing.

Under construction...

...I had a weird blue line on my old template that I can't figure out where it came from, and I can't find anything in the code that would make it appear - not that I've been monkeying with the code or anything - I haven't.

I downloaded to take a closer look, or to get someone who knows more code than I do to take a closer look. Enjoy this temporary view in the mean time.

I'm so excited!

Season 4 of Doctor Who is finally coming out on iTunes, and they finally have the Christmas specials from the other 3 seasons up! And, best of all, I'm off tomorrow! I can have a Doctor Who marathon!

Yes, I'm aware that I'm both a major geek and very mood swingy today. But it's Doctor Who! David Tennant! Cap'n Jack! Who wouldn't geek out a little bit?

OK. A lot.

If you think this is bad, you should have seen me back in high school when Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered. Oh, and back then I had all the Star Trek novels, too - original series and TNG.

And I wonder why I don't have a man in my life.

in other depressing news...

I'm totally bummed by how fast Mama Cat abandoned me when she realized that I can't feed her anymore. She scratched at my door all night last night into this morning, but when I came home tonight, she didn't even put in an appearance.

I hope she didn't die that fast.

I know - I'm pathetically attached to a cat that doesn't belong to me, and to whom I was just an easy source of food. I just want to be loved, even if it is as a glorified vending machine.

School thoughts

So, after reading an article and doing a little digging, it appears that all of the schools the Obamas are looking at for their children appear to have tuition in the $30,000 range. That's per child, per year.

During my college years, that was about 3 years of undergrad at Gannon - including room and board.

As much as I liked Obama (though he wasn't my first choice among the Democrats - I liked Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd), I have an issue with this. I know the DC schools suck, as do most of the public schools in all the big cities, but think what a statement it would make to send your kids to one of them. If you claim you support public education, then your actions should reflect that - even if you are the President.

Here in Louisiana, most white, middle class parents send their kids to private schools. And, as a result, our public schools are among the worst in the country. When you don't have to care about issues facing public schools because they don't impact your kids - you don't.

That drove me crazy when I worked at the CCC. The kids who went to non-Catholic schools (about 10% of the total in the parish) got the short end of the stick all the time. Everything we did reflected a bias toward the kids in Catholic school. And every time I'd try to change it I heard, "Oh, they are such a small minority. We just can't accomodate them." It drove me up a wall.

So, Mr. President-elect (and Mrs. First Lady to Be), you have a choice. You can put actions to your words about supporting public education, or you can spend $60,000 a year to educate your children and show that it's all just lip service for you, too.

Brr...

I think I must have adjusted to Louisiana weather. How else to explain why I thought it was cold this afternoon when it was 65 degrees? I had the heat on last night, and it didn't get below 45. There was a time when I wouldn't even think about putting the heat on until it hit 40.

Have I become a weather wimp? Possibly. It may be 59 degrees outside right now, but I'm freezing.

When I first moved down here, it amused me that the kids I worked with would beg not to do anything outside when it was in the mid-60's in November or December, when the kids in PA would be begging to wear shorts in that weather.

It's taken 6 years, but I get it now.

I don't think I will ever adjust to the heat, though.

Oh...

...and I'm watching Torchwood at the laundromat, one of my very favorite episodes, and realizing that an image of two men kissing romantically probably won't play well at the laundromat on a Sunday afternoon in South Louisiana.

Sunday Observations

• I've said it before and I'll say it again - middle class white folks of northern European descent with Midwestern roots should not sing gospel or spirituals in church. We try, but we do not succeed.
• If you would like to see a really good documentary, I would suggest Sister Helen. I found this movie entirely by accident when I was looking for a movie to show to my Sunday school class. It was a very long week, and the suggested Bible study for this week was all about the election. We accidentally covered that last week, even though we were supposed to be talking about saints, talk vs. actions, faith (and lost faith), etc. Anyway, I clicked on it in iTunes because I initially thought it was about Sr. Helen Prejean. When I saw what it was about, though, I was intrigued. I watched it last night (staying up until 3), and was really moved and fascinateds. We watched the first half today, and the kids were ethralled. There is some rough language, though, so think high school age or older.
• I thought I was ready to take on ministry again. I thought I had recovered enough from the St. Al's CCC ordeal. I was wrong, I think. At least as far as youth ministry is concerned. I think the CCC damaged me permanently in that regard. I like teaching, and I'm willing to consult in developing a comprehensive youth ministry at my congregation, but I think someone else needs to do the heavy lifting after this year. I'm ready to be a grownup.
• I was going to cook soup today, but it's already 4:19 p.m., and I'm still at the laundromat.
• I got bitten by something, and I don't know what.
• Now the hard news, news I was waiting for, but it makes me sad nonetheless. The building maintenance person asked me to stop feeding the cats that don't belong to me. He wants to keep them around for rodent control, and he thinks they won't hunt if they get a handful of food a day. I'll listen, but it breaks my heart, especially when the mama cat scratches at my door. I bought some citronella candles to try a little aversion therapy because I read that cats don't like citrus scent. It kills me, though, because I love petting the mom cat (though I don't like forgetting I petted her, touching my eyes, and having the itch and swell). I've been a little depressed since Thursday as a result. I know it's stupid.
• Oh, and last night I had the realization that I tend toward insomnia because I am terrified I will die in my sleep and no one will notice until the notice the stench. That was a cherry thought at 3 a.m.

I don't feel the least bit guilty about backdating this entry and cheating on NaBlo. I haven't slept yet, so it's still Saturday.

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

Here is my obiligatory post for today. I'm still at work.

I'm still at work and don't have time for a real post. So go look at the post Sweet Juniper made today instead. I found it funny (mostly because I have a book just like that for teenagers from that era).

Now that the Country is Sorted...

...I can concentrate on what's really important - figuring out what to wear to the company Christmas party this year.

I'd kinda like to wear some color this year I think. I was thinking I would just buy a new top to wear with one of the 70 jillion black skirts I have. The only problem is that all those black skirts are too big, and they have hurry-up tucks in them that I made to make the skirt fit. I guess I could take one of them to the tailor to get the alteration done right, but I don't want to.

Sigh. I was never cut out to be a girly girl. Though I do enjoy the handbags....

If anyone feels the need to send me flowers anytime soon, I really like this arrangement.

I'm just sayin'.

Just in case...

...I don't get back here today, enjoy this bit from the Muppet Show.

You know, I never in a million years thought that we would see an African-American (or female, or Hispanic or Asian or fill-in-anything-other-than-a-white-man-here) President in this country. Even though this country has become increasingly less white, I never thought we would overcome that last hurdle.

Now I truly believe that anyone - ANYONE - can grow up to be President. It isn't just lip service anymore.

Amazing.

I Voted

And unlike 2004, I can say I am happy (or at least satisfied) with my choice.

I've just spent the past 15 minutes watching the live webcam feed of the pile of Shiba Inu puppies. The one with the yellow collar it is a troublemaker. Both yesterday and today all he/she wants to do is play, and keeps waking up the others to do it. The one with the green collar is almost as bad.

One of our incumbent Senators, Democrat Mary Landrieu is running for re-election. The Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has been running ads against her for months now, and most of the ads accused her of corruption. Despite that, she opened up a commanding lead over her Republican opponent, John Kennedy (who has not played on his name at all during the campaign - I sure would have).

This week, the RSCC has started running ads that literally say, "Not only is Mary Landrieu corrupt, she's LIBERAL!"

I guess someone finally clued the RSCC in to the fact that here in Louisiana, we can deal with corrupt if the politician is doing good work for the state (which she mostly has). But liberal - that's an unforgivable sin.

Sigh.

I'm on a soup kick lately, so I made some corn chowder tonight.

I don't know what it is, but it is missing something. Again.

The only thing from the original recipe I didn't add was the Worcestershire sauce, and that's because I refuse to buy it when I will only ever use it in corn chowder.

The only other thing I did differently is that I didn't fry the potatoes and onions in bacon fat, because the last time I made it it was too greasy. Maybe it isn't greasy enough now? Who knows?

Next weekend I'm making cream of mushroom. Wish me luck.

I think I need to mention to my endo when I see her this month that my hormones seem really out of whack. Today I cried in church because an old man whose wife died earlier this year (I didn't know them, as they don't typically come to church because they are really old - his son brought him today), looked really sad when he came back to the pew after lighting a memorial candle. Then when I got home, I cried when I clicked on to the Project Linus website to see if they had a chapter in Baton Rouge yet (they don't for what it's worth, and I have no intention of starting one - I think. No, I really don't have time. Sigh), just because the idea of sick or scared children makes me sad. And just a few minutes ago, an ad for Alzheimers medication brought tears to my eyes.

That can't be normal, can it?

Someone, somewhere in my building, is playing some kind of horn (maybe a trumpet, but I can never identify brass instruments by sound, except for saxaphone). They aren't playing very well, which is how I know it isn't a record.

Weird.

In other news, I should have known better than to discuss anything remotely controversial with my high school students so close to the election. One of them doesn't want Obama to be elected, even though he thinks Obama is the better candidate because, "some right-wing, crazy whacko is going to kill Obama and then there will be riots."

Ah, the reasoning of high school students.

I've felt really miserable this week. The combination of cramps, migraine, hormones, coming down with a cold, and an awful proposal have me just on the edge. For example, I went to Whole Foods tonight to get a sandwich because I couldn't face cooking anything. The kids were there, trick or treating, and they had games and crap for them all through the store. When I walked in the store, in the fruit section, was a woman dressed like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz playing the guitar and singing "Polly Wolly Doodle" while little kids dressed up as bunnies or Iron Man or ballerinas walked around with their trick or treat bags. I almost started crying, and I have no idea why. I wasn't having a biological clock moment, and I wasn't ticked off with them. I just felt like crying.

I'll be better if I can get some sleep this weekend, I guess.

Sigh.

Happy NaBloPoMo!

If you ever need a little bit of a pick-me-up and can stream video, go to this site. It's just a live cam trained on a pile of puppies doing what puppies do, but it is so incredibly sweet.

I missed 6 questions. I bet they were all in music, though that section seemed pretty easy to me...

Your result for The 80's Test...

The Master of the Universe!

You slapped a radical 24 out of 30 High-Fives!

Bodacious, you are truly the Ferris Bueller of 80's quizzes. Take this opportunity to lay back and drink your cherry cola, flip down your mirrored aviator sunglasses and listen to your favourite beats on your walkman - you deserve it!

If you enjoyed this test or have any suggestions at all on how to improve it, or even if you spotted a question thats just plain wrong, please let me know! My website is http://www.chimpwithalimp.com or you can catch me on OKCupid as "chimpwithalimp". I love to get messages of any kind so feel free to contact me.

Thanks,

Anthony (Proud child of the 80s)

Take The 80's Test at HelloQuizzy

Updates

I started writing a long post about church stuff Sunday or Monday at the laundromat (I can't remember what day I went). I have the draft saved, and I'll finish it and post it sometime.

Yesterday I had a migraine, but I didn't realize it until this morning. I only get them once or twice a year, and they aren't the debilitating kind that I know other people get, so I don't really do anything about them. But the one I had yesterday, combined with really, really bad cramps was enough to send me home from work. I know it's TMI for the fellows out there, but every now and then the first day of my cycle hits me really hard. Guess I was due.

Anyway, like I said, I didn't realize until this morning that it was a migraine. For a little while, I thought I was having a stroke or an aneurysim (I bet I spelled that wrong). One side of my head hurt, and 600 mg ibuprophen wasn't touching it. But then I realized that the pain wasn't all that bad, and not even the worst I'd ever had (that would be when I had an almost 105 degree fever when I had a staph infection that I didn't get treated in a timely fashion because I didn't have insurance). So then I decided I had a sinus infection on top of the monthly unpleasantness. That option is still on the table, actually, but for other reasons.

So this morning, when I was coherent again, I put all the pieces together - headache, sensitivity to light, sound, and smell, hormones - and realized it was a migraine. When I get them, it's always on the first day of my period. Just thought you should all know that.

But that's not the reason I've gathered you all here. I want to share my plans for November, seeing as it is only three days(!) away.

Yes, I am doing NaBloPoMo again. So you may reliably expect a post of some sort from me every day in November.

But I have also decided to get serious about The Great American Novel. I really think I have something that could be publishable someday. But if I keep putting someday off, it will never come. I'm not going to go crazy and do NaNoWriMo, because I hate quantifying things. So what if I haven't written 1500 words today if the 500 I did get down are good? But I am going to commit to actually putting pen to paper - or pixels to screen as the case may be - on a regular basis during November.

November is also looking crazy at work. One of our junior writers will be out on paternity leave the first two weeks, and the rest of us will have to pick up the slack. I also have a feeling the guy I wrote about before who drives me crazy may be saying goodby this month. I could be completely wrong about that, however.

So that's my November. Just wanted to keep the world apprised.

Huh.

Yet another person I went to high school with died. I didn't know him well - just recognized the name. But that makes 6 that I know of from my graduating class of 221 who have died.

That seems like a lot, considering we are all only 37 or 38.

What's up with that?

Just to prove to you all just how much of a geek I am (as if there was any doubt in your minds), I am having to fight with myself to keep from buying the Face of Boe action figure from Amazon. I just think he would make a fantastic addition to the collection of crap on my desk.

And yes, I am aware that the fact that most of my readers don't know Doctor Who from Doctor Spock (the pediatrician, not the Vulcan) makes me an even bigger geek.

I have a longer post in progress, but I feel the need to tell you all that I have had "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" stuck in my head since yesterday morning. It won't go away. I thought for a moment that "Enter Sandman" had replaced it when I heard it on the radio this morning, but no, it's back.

Who knew Martin Luther wrote earworms?

Here's a fun little meme...

It's an oldie, actually, but I ran across it reading someone's archive today. I did this once before, but I don't think I posted it.

1. Go to this site. The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. Go to this site. The last four words of the last quote on the page form your album title.

3. Go to this site. The third picture on the page is your album cover. You may have to refresh to find one that you can copy, but you should not refresh otherwise.

4. Put it all together in the graphics program of your choice, and the results are your album cover.

I used Paint Shop Pro, which can't hold a candle to Photoshop, but is much cheaper.

Here is what I got:

This is the original photo, just to give the photographer, mevsim1, credit:

Interesting...

I do like Impressionism - and the description isn't too far off, either.

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.

13 Impressionist, 5 Islamic, -1 Ukiyo-e, -10 Cubist, -4 Abstract and -9 Renaissance!

Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.

People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aestically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impresssionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

So, I'm just finishing what amounts to a 35 hour shift.

I'm not happy.

See, it all started earlier this week. The three junior writers in the department don't have any proposals of their own to work on at the moment, so they are supposed to help the senior writers. So one of them, dutifully, asked me on Tuesday if I had anything he could do. The answer on Tuesday was no. I was waiting for inputs from our technical people so I could prep for a review team, I was waiting on inputs from another company, basically, I was just waiting.

Well, all three of the boys apparently decided that that meant that I would never need any help, ever. On Thursday, when I could have started to use some help, one called off because his wife had the sniffles, and he didn't want to pass it to anyone else. Mind you, his wife was sick, not him. The other two were helping another one of the senior writers who had a proposal going out first thing Friday morning. One thought he was helping by printing the resumes, but they hadn't been reviewed yet, and they were incorrect. Another one took two hours to write a three paragraph letter, and another two hours to put together a box. Just to give you some perspective, I put together two boxes in five minutes today. Then he couldn't figure out how to print labels to put on the tabs for the binders, even though I have shown him more times than I can count. Then he decided he had to go home because his wife had the sniffles, too.

I try to be patient and tolerant of people with families and kids. I do. But sometimes I feel like the single among us really get the short end of the stick.

Anyway, I stayed and helped the person who had a Friday morning deadline, putting off my own stuff, which I now had in droves. If I hadn't, she wouldn't have made the deadline. She ended up working all night on Thursday. Yeah, she's single, too.

She gave the two junior writers who were "helping" her on Thursday a simple list of about 7 things. Nothing complicated, nothing that required research or writing (except for the three paragraph letter that took two freaking hours), but little detail things that had to get done for her proposal to meet deadline. With two of them working on it, it took them all day to accomplish what should have been the work of about 3-4 hours, at most. It would have been 3-4 hours for any of the senior writers. And the didn't finish everything!

So on Friday, needless to say, the person who had the proposal going out that morning did not come in at all. I wouldn't have either. And one of the junior writers decided he was going to take the day off because he had his 80 hours in for the week. No big loss - if it takes you 2 hours to tape up a box, I really don't need your help, thanks. The other senior writer had to leave early because she had a contractor coming to her house to see about post-Gustav repairs.

Now, that should have left two of the junior writers. But what do they do? They decide to take the day off because there wasn't anything for them to do.

Did they ask me if I had anything for them? No. Did I have anything for them? Oh, you betcha.

So that left me, by myself, to wrap this proposal. I had to make all of the review team changes (there were 134 comments that had to be addressed) because all of the technical people were either off, at a customer site, or traveling. I had to rewrite all of the input from the other company because it reached a new level of sucking (seriously - I would be ashamed to send writing of that quality to a teaming partner - let alone someone who has been and might be again a competitor some day). I had to make 16 tabs for each of 8 binders, I had to write a cover letter, and I had to do a hundred other little detail things that someone else could have done quite easily...allegedly.

But no, I was left on my own.

Oh, and did I mention that I woke up with a raging staph infection? I called my primary, but since I am a new patient to her, they wouldn't make any effort to get me in on Friday (the earliest she could see me was Wednesday, according to whoever answered the phone), and wouldn't prescribe antibiotics for me over the phone even though I knew what I had. So I called the dermatologist who has treated me for multiple staph infections in the past. She wasn't in, and because I haven't had one on over a year, she wouldn't prescribe over the phone either. I ended up having to take time out of my day that I could ill afford to go to the urgent care center, where the doctor looked at me for all of 30 seconds and prescribed the antibiotics I needed. He also charged me $30 more than either my primary or my dermatologist would have.

So yeah, I'm sick, I have a metric buttload of work to do, and all I want to do, frankly, is go home and get naked because whenever I have a staph infection, my clothes feel like sandpaper on my skin.

TMI. I know.

Instead, I worked in the office until 8, then worked at home from 9 until 6:30 this morning when I took a shower and dozed for about an hour and a half. Then I came back in. I wrapped my proposal at 4:40 p.m. Production alone took me almost 3 hours, because I had to do it myself.

I'm really, really frustrated. I've helped all the junior writers when they've been on deadline and were in danger of missing it because they messed something up. I'll pretty much bend over backwards to be a team player. Isn't that what you are supposed to do when you are part of a team?

For two of the junior writers, I blame it on their age. They are both in their early-to-mid 20's, and I'm discovering that that generation just thinks differently about work. They don't think twice about taking time off whenever they feel like it, sometimes they work kind of haphazardly, and honestly, they are just kind of immature. They have room and time to grow, however.

The other junior writer, though, is in his 40's. He is the one who takes very, very extended lunches almost every day, who disappears to go socialize around the building several times a day, can't tape up a box without help, and will never, ever manage to make tabs on his own. I feel for him, with a wife and a baby at home (though she is a nurse, so it isn't like he's supporting them all on his own). But it is really hard to be sympathetic toward someone who slacks off as much as he does.

I don't know what to do about it, though.

Sigh.

Well, I'm off to buy new glasses (I'm apparently even more blind than I was 18 months ago), and then I have to go shopping for baby gifts for one of the young guys who is about to have his first (well, his wife is about to, at any rate).

Have a lovely Saturday.

Food for Thought

A meme about food floating around. Someone came up with a list of things you should eat before you die. If you want to play, bold the ones that you've eaten.



1. Venison. Like it, but don't love it.
2. Nettle tea.
3. Huevos rancheros. - I'm not a fan of eggs, though
4. Steak tartare.
5. Crocodile. - No, but I've had alligator
6. Black pudding/Blood pudding/Blutwurst. - Yes, but I didn't like it at all.
7. Cheese fondue.
8. Carp.
9. Borscht. - Beets. Eww.
10. Baba ghanoush.
11. Calamari. - I've also had pickled squid. Can take or leave both
12. Pho. - Tried it, but didn't like it..
13. PB&J sandwich. - Every day for two straight years in 5th and 6th grade. I haven't had one since.
14. Aloo gobi.
15. Hot dog from a street cart. In New Orleans
16. Epoisses.
17. Black truffle. - Got to try a teeny, tiny piece at a food tasting for charity here. Yum.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes. Manechewitz Blackberry Wine. Cheap and full of alcoholy goodness.
19. Steamed pork buns. - At our Christmas party last year. It had this weird Asian/Louisiana theme.
20. Pistachio ice cream. - Don't eat nuts ever.
21. Heirloom tomatoes.
22. Fresh wild berries. - Elderberries. Yum
23. Foie gras. I will eat muscles from animals, but not organs. Except for chicken hearts.
24. Rice and beans. - Yes, but I pick the beans out. Just like I pick the pecans out of pecan pie.
25. Brawn, or headcheese. - see organ comment above.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper. - I can barely handle jalepenos.
27. Dulce de leche. - Heaven.
28. Oysters. - Not my favorite shellfish, though.
29. Baklava. - Heaven, despite the nuts.
30. Bagna cauda.
31. Wasabi peas. - Didn't know what I was eating. WAY too hot.
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. - Highlighted because I have had both clam chowder and soup in a sourdough bowl. Not together, however.
33. Salted lassi.
34. Sauerkraut. - I'm pretty sure they would take away my German membership card if htis wasn't bolded. Honestly, though, I don't like it. I should, because I like cabbage and I like pickled thing, but I don't
35. Root beer float.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar. - Yuck, to both
37. Clotted cream tea. - Not a fan of clotted cream. Guess they'll be taking away my British card now.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O. - Is it possible to make it out of your 20's without having at least one Jello shot? I think not.
39. Gumbo. - At least weekly.
40. Oxtail. - My dad used to buy this all the time. He liked Oxtail soup. It's OK, I guess.
41. Curried goat. - UGH! Not a fan of curry (though used judiciously, it's OK), and I could never, ever eat goat. They are too cute!
42. Whole insects. - Not on purpose, anyway
43. Phaal.
44. Goat's milk. - Not a fan at all.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$130 or more. - Don't like whisky, and wouldn't waste my money on something like that.
46. Fugu/Pufferfish. - Can't see this without thinking of The Simpsons. Wouldn't eat it, though.
47. Chicken tikka masala. - One of few Indian dishes I can stand.
48. Eel. - Tried a friend's when we went to a Japanese restaurant. Didn't like it. I had tempura shrimp.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut. - Of course. I like Mary Lee better. In fact, Krispy Kreme had to close several locations here because they couldn't compete with Mary Lee, a local chain. Go local guys! (Starbucks faced the same thing here. Go CC's!)
50. Sea urchin.
51. Prickly pear.
52. Umeboshi.
53. Abalone. - Food tasting again.
54. Paneer.
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal. - Seriously. I can't stand the sauce.
56. Spaetzle. - YUM. We used to put spaetzle in soup instead of noodles.
57. Dirty gin martini.
58. Beer above 8% ABV. - Don't like beer. Yet another threat to my German cred.
59. Poutine. - All of the components of this are wonderful, but the thought of putting them together creeps me out a little.
60. Carob chips. - Blech.
61. S'mores. - I've been camping.
62. Sweetbreads. - See organ comment.
63. Kaolin.
64. Currywurst.
65. Durian.
66. Frogs' legs. - Food tasting again.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake. - Deep fried dough and powdered sugar. Does it get any better?
68. Haggis. - Organs, again
69. Fried plantain. - They're OK, but not as good as I thought they should be.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette. Is andouillette the same as andouille sausage? If so, then I've had that, but not chittterlings. No organs.
71. Gazpacho. - Not bad.
72. Caviar and blini.
73. Louche absinthe. - The literary part of me would like to try this, but the idea freaks me out a little.
74. Gjetost, or brunost.
75. Roadkill. No, no, no, no...
76. Baijiu.
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - Used to get those in my lunch box, too. Haven't eaten them since, either.
78. Snail. - Food tasting again. Yuck.
79. Lapsang souchong. - Didn't care for it. Too strong a smoky taste.
80. Bellini.
81. Tom yum.
82. Eggs Benedict. Don't like it.
83. Pocky. - Eh. I'd rather have traditional shortbread.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. - HAHAHAHAHAHA.
85. Kobe beef. - Tiny piece at the food tasting.
86. Hare.
87. Goulash. - It's OK. Not a fan of tomatoes and meat in the same dish, though.
88. Flowers.
89. Horse. - Blerg.
90. Criollo chocolate.
91. SPAM. - Yeah. Yuck.
92. Soft shell crab. - Fairly inexpensive around these parts.
93. Rose harissa.
94. Catfish. - Duh. I do live in Louisiana.
95. Mole poblano.
96. Bagel and lox. - Don't like lox, though.
97. Lobster Thermidor. - Never had lobster, but I've had crawfish. Those are like tiny little lobsters, right?
98. Polenta. - Not a fan at all. Don't like the texture.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. - I don't drink coffee.
100. Snake. - People have tried to convince me on this one, but no one has succeeded.

Regardless of how you feel about the war, or anything else, I defy you to watch the video Andrew Sullivan embedded in this entry and not cry.

And now for somethig completely different...

This news story was sent to you by request

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Sheryl has sent you this news story from post-gazette.com with the following message: Read this column by Tony Norman. I couldn't put my finger on what bothered me about Sarah Palin (beyond the obvious) before, but he nails it. I'll comment more later. Click here to access the story: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08281/918018-153.stm The story originally appeared on post-gazette.com, the web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. If you choose to reply to this message, it will be directed to the e-mail address supplied by the sender. DISCLAIMER: This e-mail was sent at the request of the sender based on information the he or she supplied. PG Publishing cannot confirm the identity or the e-mail address of the sender of this e-mail message.

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I'm glad I don't believe in reincarnation...

...because this is really, really scary...

Your result for Reincarnation Placement Exam...

Lol Cat

After much consideration, we have decided to make you a LolCat.

Actually, there wasn't much consideration at all. It was the easiest decision we've made all day.

Why? Because, according to your answers, you want to have your good times, but don't seem too interested in all that "other stuff." You know... civilization, adventure, that sort of thing.

We hope you like being fluffy.

I don't know... Can you has cheezburger?

Take Reincarnation Placement Exam at HelloQuizzy

I really regret the fact that, in one move or another, I managed to lose almost all of my teenage writings.

Because, seriously, I wrote some angst-ridden poetry that would be perfect for an event like this.

One of my "poems" ends with the following three lines. Thankfully, my brain has spared me from remembering the rest of it.

The destruction of joy
The absence of hope

The Death of a Dream.


I had a tendency to be a wee bit melodramatic over really, really tiny things back then. I don't remember exactly the circumstances under which I graced the world with that...dreck, but I do remember that it was my freshman year of high school (and isn't 14-15 the best time to write angst filled poetry?) and I was convinced that every dream I had ever had in my whole entire life had been shattered by...something. I wrote in on the back porch of the house in Pittsburgh, in my pink calico print journal, probably while waiting for the sun to set - just to make sure the mood was right.

If I can say nothing else about my college career, I am grateful to the professor TG called "The Taskmaster" in a comment to a previous post for convincing me when I took her creative writing class that I was not a poet. Not even a little bit. Not even for pretend.

Ohio Readers...

Michelle Obama wants me - personally - to reach out to everyone I know in Ohio and tell them to vote for Barak Obama on November 4th.

So, Tim, TG, and other-Ohio-reader-who-appears-in-my-stats-every-now-and-then-and-who-I-think-I-know-who-you-are-but-I-respect-your-anonymity...consider yourselves reached out to.

Seriously, though, vote for who you think is the best candidate. If it's Obama, fine. If it's McCain, fine. If it's Barr, fine. If you decide to write in your high school ceramics teacher, who you are pretty sure was high three days out of five, that's fine, too (what do you mean, I'm the only one who had one of those?).

The important thing is taking part in the democratic process, even when your choices suck.

I guess.

Prosperity?

Just read this article from Time.

There are a lot of churches down here in the Bible belt that preach the prosperity Gospel. You see them all the time if you flip through the channels late at night or early in the morning. And it always makes me mad.

I don't understand how these "churches" can be tax exempt. They prey on their congregants, and the pastor lives the high life. But the congregants are all for that (the high life part, not the preying) because it is an example of God's largesse. But that largesse is coming from their pockets, which keeps them down while they are waiting for their miracle. It's a twisting of the actual Gospel message, and it makes me mad.

And yes, I know I have been cantankerous for a few weeks now. I guess it's the post-hurricane, early fall blues. I'll get over it eventually.

I just ate a turkey sandwich that tasted an awful lot like ham.

It's a good thing I'm not Jewish or Islamic, because I'm pretty sure it was ham.

Sigh.

Regular readers and folks who know me outside of the internet probably all know where I stand politically, which is on reason I avoid talking about politics on my blog. The fact of the matter is, that I have political views that are probably to the left of most of my readers, though how far to the left is debatable.

Still, I have to share this little slideshow because I found it really, really funny. Plus, it really encapsulates how a lot of people on my side of the political aisle are starting to feel about the VP candidate from the other side.

And I'll let you try to figure out who is who in that comment.

I was reading this entry at a blog I look at on occassion.

I don't understand all of the deadly food allergies that are suddenly around. In my elementary school, we had one kid with a nut allergy (he happened to be my neighbor - I babysat him on occassion). And that was it. No one was going to be on the verge of death if they looked at a carton of milk. No one was going to explode if they ate a piece of bread.

And that one kid with a nut allergy? His parents didn't expect every kid in the school to go nut-free because of him. He ate his lunch alone during the actual lunch-eating period, then all the kids washed their hands and they went outside or to the gym for recess. The parents in his classroom were asked not to send snacks with nuts for birthdays and the like, but that was the only real accomodation that was made.

Now, all of a sudden, everyone has deadly allergies to some food or another. And parents expect the whole school to change to accomodate their kid. Why should I not put cheese on my kid's sandwhich because one kid on some other classroom has an allergy? It's ridiculous.

Sorry if I'm offending the parents out there. I admit I'm not one, and my perspective may be different because of that. I was a teacher, though. And if we had a kid with allergies at the school where I taught, the snack rule I mentioned above was in effect, but parents weren't told they can never give their own kids peanut butter sandwiches, or bread with gluten in it, or milk or whatever because one kid in the class was allergic. It was that kid who sometimes had to make sacrifices. Because you know what? Sometimes in life you have to sacrifice. I don't like amusement park rides that go upside down. Does that mean I ask the park to suspend operations of those rides whenever I go so I don't feel left out? No, it just means I don't ride those rides. Food with blue dye in it makes my stomach do unpleasant things. Do I require that the cakes people at work bring in for birthdays or whatever never have blue icing? No, I just don't have a piece of cake that day. See how it works?

Is it a hard lesson for a kid to learn. Sure. But it is a lesson all of us need to learn someday.

And I firmly believe that the reason we have so many allergies, and "sensitivities" and whatnot popping up these days is that kids aren't allowed to get dirty any more. Parents are always on the lookout for the slightest bit of dirt and standing by with hand sanitizer, wet wipes, etc. When I was a kid, we were outside in the dirt all the time. I probably ate my weight in dirt (and lead paint, to boot) by the time I was five. And aside from some ear infections and some upper respiratory infections (that were most likely caused - or at least made worse - by my mother's smoking), I made it through kidhood unscathed.

OK. Cranky time is over. Back to your regularly scheduled...internet.

Go read the last two blog entries from TG.

I rather enjoyed the one where she summarized our whole economy in the form of a loose tooth.

Tomorrow, I will share with you the latest Sunday School adventure, in which I gained three more students this week. I am amazed that we have so many already confirmed teenagers still coming to Sunday School.

I listed my status on Facebook today as "sad and frustrated." And I am.

The sad is probably 75% hormonal. I go through that every now and then. And it magnifies everything else that is going on around me.

Like my office mate taking a 3 and a half hour lunch today. It frustrated me to the point where I was close to tears. Of the 6.5 hours we overlapped today, he was only at his desk for two of them. Other than the lunch, he roamed the building for 25 minutes one time, came back to his desk for 15 minutes and then roamed for another 35. It makes me mad that they rest of us work like mad to get things done, and he takes off whenever he wants (seriously. I can't figure out how he does it considering he has the same number of sick and vacation days as I do.), wanders around the building, takes 3 hours to do one resume (it should take no more than an hour). I know my boss is aware, so I'm not going to tattle or anything. But it is still frustrating.

I have tried being patient with all this. He has a baby at home and his wife is a nurse. It's harder for her to take time off than it is for him. And honestly, if it was just the time off, it wouldn't bother me. The extended lunches, however, and the socializing around the building when we are on deadline, those kind of things just tick me off.

I don't even feel guilty about eating Raising Cane's while watching The Biggest Loser.

When I fantasize about getting my book published (of course, that would mean I actually have to finish it first - in my fantasies, that isn't an issue), I don't have any grandiose thoughts about being given multi-million dollar advances, multibook deals, or seeing my book turned into a major motion picture starring...well, I can't think of anyone famous who would fit in the lead role.

Anyway...no, I fantasize about three things.

1. Handing over a check to pay off my student loans

2. Being interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air

3. Going back to my high school reunion and saying to all the popular people who made my life a living hell at times, "Bite me, Bitches!"

I'm not particularly proud of that last one, even in fantasy, but it would feel sooo good when I did it.

I wish Oprah would stop endorsing books. I really, really wanted to read this one, but I made a vow to never read any book she picked for her "book club." I just don't believe that celebrities should be telling us what we should read, and I especially don't think that Oprah should have so much influence on the tastes of the United States that as soon as she recommends something it becomes a best seller.

Oprah is not the second coming, folks. (At least I assume she isn't. Somehow, I think the Big Guy would choose a less consumerist person for His reappearance on the third rock from the sun).

I bought a piece of what was advertised as pumpkin pie at Whole Foods tonight.

It has pecans in it.

And it doesn't say it has pecans in it on the ingredients list.

First of all, who puts pecans in pumpkin pie?

Second, with all the nut allergies out there, how can anyone sell anything with nuts in it without saying "Hey! There are nuts in here!"

How disappointing.

My alma mater's student newspaper is finally online.

I didn't write for them when I was in college. I was too shy as a freshman to go to their offices, and, truth be told, not all that interested in journalism. One of my regular readers did, though, so she'll appreciate this.

On the first day of Sunday School, Jesus gave to me...

...a much bigger class than I was expecting.

Based on the estimates I was given, I was expecting somewhere between 4-6 ninth through 12th graders yesterday morning. I ended up with four high school students, 3 eighth graders, one sixth grader, and a 20 year old who can't bring herself to sit through the adult forum, where the youngest participants are more than twice her age (I feel her pain...)

The eighth graders will eventually be taught by the interim pastor for confirmation when she arrives. I suspect the 6th grade will join them, even though she is too young for confirmation. She already made her first communion, so asking her to sit through that class with the 5th graders isn't fair.

I wasn't expecting to have such a wide age range, and the high school kids weren't really happy about it. They were even less happy about the "opening ceremony" which is planned for the opening of classes each week. It's intended to get everyone together to pray together before class, but the problem with that plan is that it is absolutley impossible to plan prayer for a group of kids from preschoolers through 12th grade. The middle school and high school students absolutley don't want to jump up and sing, "Allelu, allelu (Praise ye the Lord)" or "Jesus loves me." The preschool kids can't dig deep into prayer like the older ones can. It just doesn't work.

I told my class yesterday that if they didn't want to sit through that every week, they didn't have to. I can't subject them or myself to that every week. The problem is that the woman who is organizing that is a pinnacle of our congregation, well respected, very...outspoken, etc. She is also a first grade teacher who, I think, just doesn't get how...offended middle school and high school students are to be asked endure that. And it's not like they are being asked to plan, or read, or anything else, which I could get behind. They are just being asked to sit in the pew like good little boys and girls and jump up whenever the song calls for it. Blerg.

Oh, the supply pastor we had this week (who we've probably had more than any of the others) had an awesome stole for the Feast of Holy Cross. It consisted of patchwork crosses in different shades of green, but at first your eye only saw the darkest ones. It's very hard to describe, but it was very cool.

And the children's sermon was awesome yesterday. It was only three preschoolers up front with the pastor, but they were really listening and interacting, and climbing all over her. It was really fun. To see those little kids with so much energy and enthusiasm really gives me hope. I just hope the world doesn't crush it out of them down the line.

I'll write about our first week of Sunday School later (in which I'll tell the tale of how I ended up with a class of 9 that ranged from 6th grade to college sophomore, when I was expecting 6 - and two of those didn't make it this week!).

But first, here is part of what is wrong with FEMA.

I understand requiring states and local governments to pay their share of disaster response and recovery costs. But there has to be some kind of sliding scale. East Feliciana is a small, rurual parish. They don't have a big tax base, and they don't have high property values. I belive the police jury there (a police jury is kind of like a county council) when they say they don't have the money to pay their share.

Yet, in terms of damage, East Feliciana was one of the hardest hit parishes. Gustav itself didn't do a lot of damage there, but the tornados it spawned sure did. I counted about 15 separate tornado warnings for East Feliciana - and those are just the ones I heard.

I'm not enough of a libretarian (and I probably mangled the spelling of that) to believe that we should abolish the federal income tax and let the states handle these things for themselves. But I do believe that if we are going to pay taxes to the federal government, they need to be there in times of need, regardless of whether a county or parish or whatever can afford to match at 25%.

Also, it's pretty wrong of FEMA to tell the police jury after the fact that they would have to reimburse FEMA for the blue tarps issued to residents. In the heat of the moment, when people have holes in their roofs and are desperate to protect their homes, no one should be thinking of how much this is going to cost the parish down the line. Will it make small counties and parishes less likely to accept that kind of aid later on down the line? What will they do then?

And Ike...ugh. But it's good to see that the media is generally not treating this as such a big deal either. I don't feel quite as left out now. All those downtown skyscrapers losing windows? Who cares? A couple million without power long term? Not sexy. Very few deaths? We're ready to move on. At least they are consistent.

I have to say though (on a slightly unrelated note) that I'm really, really glad that one of the Longs (and I have no idea which one - they all run together) declared that East Baton Rouge Parish couldn't have any buildings that were taller than the state capital (which is the tallest state capital in the country). We don't really have any skyscrapers as a result. That's a good thing in hurricane country.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the movie Saved!. I had been wanting to see it for a while because it got really good notices when it first came out, but it sure didn't play here. Any move that might suggest that maybe the fundamentalist approach to Christianity isn't necessarily the right one wouldn't play here, in the heart of the Bible belt. Of course, very few independent films actually make it here regardless, but the theme of this one really, really made it unlikely.

Anyway, it was a fantastic little movie. If you liked Mean Girls, you'll probably like this one, too.

A local TV station here started a run on gas around here yesterday when they reported on their noon newscast that gas could go has high as $5 a gallon overnight (from $3.54 on average) as a result of Hurricane Ike. Of course, they did say that it would likely not increase more than $0.75, and some chains of stations said not more than $0.13.

Naturally, no one heard that last part. Lines at gas stations stretched out onto the roads and blocked traffic all afternoon and well into the evening.

People are stupid. Yes, gas will increase. That's what happens when refineries shut down for several days. No, it will not suddenly spike to $10 a gallon. That is price fixing, and it is illegal, and the attorney general here is watching for it. Folks, when you panic like that, all you are doing is making life more difficult for all of us. Think of all the gas you wasted sitting in line. All to save $1.30 on 10 gallons of gas? Is that really worth it?

Sigh.

Listen to this interview with Kip Holden, the mayor of Baton Rouge. This is what we are dealing with.

By the way, Kip is a very popular politician here. He is honest, and he gets stuff done. And he is the rare breed of southern politician, an African American man extremely popular among whites.

I get to go home tomorrow.

I'm listening to a coworker help his son (about 7 or 8) with his homework. It makes me want a kid.

It will pass, though.

Totally Not Hurricane Related...

I'm still in Anniston waiting to see where Ike goes, and I still don't have power in my building in Baton Rouge.

Yesterday, I went to church with and and lunch with some lovely, if really, really old, Lutherans. It was a tiny little church, with a pastor from Birmingham coming down every Sunday (though they are about to get a lay minister all their own). There were maybe 50 people in attendance (if they were lucky), and they were all really, really old. They insisted that I join them for their fellowship hour (which consists of a potluck every week - even really, really old Southern ladies insist on cooking for potlucks, I guess). The food was good, they had no idea Gustav was so bad (thanks, national media!), and they made me take leftovers back to the hotel with me.

Oh, and LP, you would have loved this church. Traditional architecture, Stations of the Cross on the walls, a side altar with a cross and icons (I couldn't get close enough to see them clearly, but I think one was Christ Pantocrator, and the other one might have been Marian).

My church missed out on the opportunity to get a discount on the Gathering 2009 in New Orleans (Lutheran Youth Conference). We got a really late start because of the retirement of our pastor and the fact that no one stepped up to take care of the youth in his stead until I did. So now, instead of having to raise $200 per person, we have to raise about $600-700 per person. And doing that is complicated by the fact that so many of our parishoners had severe damage to their homes. I hate asking people for money when they've taken such a big financial hit. Oh, and we've missed the deadline for applying for scholarship funds, too.

Sigh.

Oh, and (for those of you with ties to Gannon), when did they start a Catholic House in addition to the Kirk House, and why? I liked the fact that the KH was interdenominational. I think it was a good thing for all concerned. It sounds like a lot less fun than the KH was, too (well, except for the election of '92...but we don't need to talk about that...).

Also, can y'all figure out where exactly this place is? Isn't 6th and Myrtle Wickford Apts (well, Wickford, the Erie Women's club, a law firm, and...no idea what is a across Myrtle from Wickford)?

The things you discover when you are in exile in the middle of nowhere, waiting to get to go home.

I know I said I'd write more when I'm settled here in Alabama. I will do that.

I want everyone to know, though, that Louisiana is still receiving damage now, even though the rains and winds have passed. There is one neighborhood that started flooding today, when debris blocked a drainage ditch for a creek that flows from the Comite River. Ironically, the creek's name is Hurricane Creek. 100 families have anywhere from 3-8 feet of water in their homes.

Despite what it seems from the national media, Louisiana is really in bad, bad shape. And I'm talking about the whole state. The northern parishes didn't have much wind damage, but the got absolutely dumped on with rain, and hundreds upon hundreds of homes flooded. I was going to say nice things some of the government entities responding to this thing (even the one that starts with an F and ends with an A), but I changed my mind.

I will say, however, that Bobby Jindal, is doing a heck of a job (sorry - I just realized that echoed GWB from three years ago, but I mean it sincerely). It pains me to say that, because he is a Republican. Pay attention to him, because you are looking at your Republican nominee for president in either four or eight years. And, even though it pains me to say it, I will probably vote for him.

I'm OK...

...but Louisiana isn't.

I'll write more tonight. I've relocated to Anniston, AL for a while so I can continue to work.

I'm really, really frustrated that the media (and therefore the rest of the country) isn't acknowledging how bad all this really was. New Orleans is fine, so the rest of the state must be fine. In reality, about 90% of the state is in really, really bad shape. At one point in time, the largest energy company in the state had 1.4 million of its 1.9 million customers without power, and in fact still has 750,000 without. It is going to take a long, long time to recover from this because of how widespread the damage was.

But New Orleans is fine, so who cares?

I'm crying for the first time

and I don't know why. All things considered, I don't have it bad. A leaky ceiling is deal-withable.

 

I guess I'm just crying for my city. There is so much damage, and...I don't know. We're a smaller city than New Orleans, and not as important (despite being a state capital), but it hurts to see and hear about the damage the city has endured.

 

My battery is almost gone, so you might not hear from me tomorrow.

Last Post

There is a ton of damage throughout the entire southern part of LA. We got hit harder in Baton Rouge than they did in New Orleans. Our entire parish is without power. Trees are down everywhere.

If I ever get a better connection and the chance to plug in my laptop, I'll share some pictures.

My ceiling is leaking...

...and I'm on the first floor. If it is leaking here, the upper floors must be really bad.

Gustav Update

The entire parish is without electricity, as is all of West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension, and a whole lot of other ones, too. Overall, with the storm not reaching the western part of the state yet, over 750,000 households are without power. They said it could take up to a month to restore all the power.

 

EBR is under curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. tomorrow because we have no power, because trees and utiltiy poles are down all over the place, and because there is debris all over the place.

 

By 6, the winds should have died down enough that I can go see if I still have a functioning car.

 

Sigh. I really hate this.

Gustav is still here...

Water is leaking under my door (I've blocked it with towels and it's fine.

 

Lots, and lots of wind. We've had a couple gusts that have shook the building, and there are branches down everywhere.

 

I think I parked in a very bad place, and I'm fully expecting my car to have broken windows at the least, be totalled at the worst.

 

I really can't afford to have that happen right now.

I'm on dial up now...

This is worse than Katrina in terms of wind and rain for Baton Rouge, and I think it will be worse in terms of rain than Rita.

 

Next time, I swear I'm coming north.

Still no power...

...but I have an internet connection. Weird.

 

Rain and wind have both picked up, but they are still saying that the intensity will be less than what they were originally forecasting.

Power is out...

...but apparently cable is still good because I got an internet connection.

 

If I post at all going forward, it wil be rarely, I don't know when I will be able to get somewhere to plug in my computer to recharge my battery, and I don't want to run it all down today since it will be at least Wednesday, most likey.

 

Lots and lots of rain right now. BR. hasn't gotten the worst of Gustave yet, though.

Still Fine...

Still Here.

Nothing new to report. I just happpened to wake up. I tried to eat nectarines for breakfast, but they were all really gross. So I'm skipping breakfast instead.

Wind is picking up a little, but it isn't supposed to be bad here until at least 9.

Nevertheless, I'm probably signing off now.

Look for me on Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.

Still here...

Still fine.

 

We dodged a little bit of a bullet here in Louisiana. Gustav will still be a Cat. 3, but it apparently picked up some dry air on its way to the coast, which caused it to be a little less organized. That's a good thing.

 

In Baton Rouge, it looks like we won't get any hurricane force winds. We are expecting tropical storm force winds, though, for about 12-18 hours starting sometime this morning, and we are still expecting around 10 inches of rain. We are on the bad side of the storm for that.

 

Pop music had it right when they said, "Waiting is the hardest part."

THIS may really be my last post...

...David Tennant (the 10th Doctor - I'm watching Doctor Who again) is really, really dishy in a nerdy kind of way. He's definitely got the Geek Hot.

This may be my last post...

...I'm getting sleepy, and who knows when the power will go off.

Pray for us down here, especially for the people who were just finishing their rebuilding process who may lose everything again.

For those of you who are Catholic, Our Lady of Prompt Succor is the patron of those in the path of a hurricane.

Update

The sustained rain is on its way. We are supposed to get 8-15 inches. The ground is already saturated because it has been pouring for the past two weeks.

Should be interesting.

Oh, and college students are weird. They're all over the place outside right now. Granted, nothing is happening at the moment, but if it were me (and it is), I would be hunkered down and waiting.

Did I ever tell you...

...about the house I lived in for four of my five years of college?

Go read this post that Amy wrote a while back. That's her perspective. Someday, when I'm not waiting to find out if my city will be blown away in the next 24 hours, I'll share the student view.

I'm freezing...

...but it's on purpose.

 

I have the A/c down really low so that it will be cool when the power goes out, and it'll take longer for it to become unbearable.

It's weird...

...to see news from elsewhere or read blogs from elsewhere and realize that not everyone is obsessed with Gustav.

test

test. i'll delete this later.

Part of me...

...wants to get in the car, dive north, and not stop till I get to Pittsburgh.

The rest of me knows that would be a bad idea.

Update

My internet connection is shaky. If I vanish, don't worry.

Rain is here

and a little wind.

Just thought you should know.

Great...

...now there are tornados.

For my fellow English majors...

...Sylvia Plath reading "Daddy"

(the video is just stock footage - the audio is her, though)

Outer Bands

We've been seeing the clouds from the outer bands all afternoon.

If you've never been waiting for a hurricane before (and I know that most of the people who read this who "knew me when" haven't), it is hard to describe what the outer band clouds look like. Basically, the whole sky is overcast, but the sun still shines through that. Then, layered on top of that overcast, are long, thin, horizontal clouds.

The weird part about them is that they don't really move like you would expect them to. If you look at satellite footage of a hurricane, you would expect them to be moving pretty rapidly. But really, they just kind of sit there. There is not much wind. It truly is the calm before the storm.

I'll probably be going silent sometime tomorrow morning, when the power goes. You probably won't hear from me Tuesday, and maybe not Wednesday. If you haven't seen me put something up by Thursday evening, though, click through to Amy's blog on my sidebar and leave her a comment or e-mail her asking her to call my cell (Amy, I hope you still have the number!). I'll tell her how to post to my blog via e-mail so that she can let you know that I'm alive.

Churchy stuff

It was weird to have a completely mundane conversation about youth ministry today after services, when the whole area is preparing for...who knows.


But I did, and it was good. I talked with a parent who has been trying to get things working, and was unsuccessful. The more I find out about what has been going on the parish over the past few years, the guiltier I feel. It turns out that the pastor kept everything youth-related pretty close to the vest. He didn't even report to council about youth activities. I feel guilty about that because when I first started to explore the possibility of becoming Lutheran, he asked me if I would be willing to work with youth ministry. At that point, I was still so raw from my experiences at the CCC that I still wasn't sure I could tolerate participating in in organized religion, let alone doing any kind of formal ministry (meaning beyond the ministry all should be doing every day as followers of Christ). I couldn't bring myself to say yes.

So, because the pastor didn't have enough time to devote to it, youth ministry in our parish kinda died. Now, we don't have a whole lot of high school students, but the exciting thing is that seven out of the eight we do have are active in the congregation in some way. The deserve to have someone acknowlege that they have needs that are different from the 60 year olds who are the ones who are active in most of our ministries.

So, the parents I talked with are really excited, as are the young people I had a chance to meet (next week is Rally Day - the kick-off of the Christian Formation "year"). They are really psyched about the chance to go to the ELCA youth gathering in New Orleans. I really like what they are doing with it this year. The young people (and the adults who are with them) will be going out into the city and actually doing service the whole weekend. There will be talks and stuff too, but the core of the weekend is service.

It's almost a year away, but I worry what kind of impact Gustav could have on plans.

Update

Laundromat was packed. All the early-week regulars were coming in today. All the TV's had the Weather Channel on.

The ELCA TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod has a website with information about the storm both for those who are affected and those who want to help. Here it is.

In a few minutes (as soon as I'm done being too sticky to actually change clothes), I'm going to go wash my deck chair, then I'm as ready as I'm going to get, I think. I need to take out some trash from my refrigerator (might as well get rid of the stuff that I know will go bad almost instantly - or that already has!).

I'm nervous as all get out, but I know the Big Guy will provide. I wore my necklace with this symbol, which means "By God's Grace, All Will Be Well." By the way, you should patronize this artist. She is fantastic!

Preparing

After church this morning, I need to go to the laundromat, wash my Adirondak chair so I can bring it inside (one of the cats likes to sleep there, and I'm not having cat in my apartment if I'm going to be stuck here for a couple days), buy some crackers (to go with the sardines), and...I guess that's it.

The really cool thing about watching preparations around the state is knowing that my company had a lot to with the fact that things are moving so much more smoothly this time around. I know the people who helped develop the post-Katrina plans at a lot of the agencies involved. It's an honor, and it's humbling.

You know it's going to be a big one...

...the Shrimp and Petroleum festival is cancelled.

Hurricane Update

I have a really bad feeling about Gustav. I know that we here in BR will pretty much be fine. I have food and water, and batteries. Still, I'm nervous. Call it the Katrina Effect, I guess.

Everyone in BR seems really tense, and is really going nuts to buy batteries, canned goods, etc. There is not a can of tuna to be had anywhere. I had to settle for sardines (which is fine - I like sardines).

Our brand new interim pastor was planning on driving down here from Arkansas on Monday. I would guess that isn't happening.

Just wanted everyone to know that I'm fine here. I'll continue to blog every now and then while I have power.

I don't need anything but prayers. Although, if you want to send me an iTunes gift certificate, that wouldn't go amiss. I'm trying to download as much as I can onto my laptop so that I can be entertained when the power goes (now that I have an iPod, and since I'll likely be back to work on Wednesday). I've already spent way too much money.

Sigh.

Gustav Update

Well, projections right now have it hitting the coast around Lafayette at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday. Based on experiences with Katrina and Rita last year, that means we here in BR will get a heck of a lot of rain and some wind, but not as bad as we got from Katrina. But, I think the wind will be worse than it was for Rita, which hit a little further west.

Of course, all of this could change considerably once Gustav actually makes it into the Gulf.

You know, I always say Katrina didn't affect me much, but I'm actually pretty anxious about this storm.

You know you've been watching too much Doctor Who when...

...the air conditioning system in your building starts to sound exactly like the TARDIS. And you find yourself looking around for a bright blue police call box. And you actually kind of hope to see it, because being the Doctor's companion for a while sounds like great fun, ostly because you are kind of tired of your job because you've been working on very boring things for over a week, and a hurricane is approaching anyway.

Sigh.

Gustav is coming...

...everyone look busy.

This is my first hurricane working in the wonderful world of emergency managment. It definitely gives you a different perspective on things.

I'll write more as the week progresses. Right, now, I'm off to the laundromat.

Good times.

I've spent the past several hours watching clips of British talk shows on YouTube.

Why does American TV suck so much?

Go read this.

It is simple, but profound, and a message I always try to communicate whenever I'm asked to speak to young people.

This makes me sad.

Jenny Lee was an institution in Pittsburgh. Even for families where most baked goods were baked at home. There was a store in the Crafton-Ingram Shopping Center when I was growing up. We bought cinnamon bread all the time, and pies on occassion (though my mom's were better), and doughnuts and cookies, and in a pinch, cakes (Karns's on Route 60 was our place for cakes, though. They aren't there anymore, either.).

The Walmartization of the country needs to stop. Big box stores have their place, and Lord knows I love Target and Circuit City. But we are rapidly losing all those little local hardware stores where Bill (they all have a guy named bill) knows exactly what you need even though you are tool-illiterate, and those local bakeries where Teresa (they all have a lady named Teresa) always slips an extra cookie or two into the dozen you just picked up.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a city girl, through and through. But I always loved living in a city that had distinct neighborhoods, with their little shops and real character. Baton Rouge doesn't have any of that (except for Spanish Town, and maybe the Garden District and parts of Mid-City). Everything is just...homogenous. And I could tell during my last visit to Pittsburgh that it is getting like that, too.

I can't tell you how despondent that makes me. Even more than the fact that I feel like I'm back in my junior year of high school with all the talk about icy relationships with Russia again, and the threat of nuclear war being bandied about. I thought we got past that when the Berlin wall came down, and Glastnost reigned during my freshman year of college.

Sigh. Don't mind me. I'm just in a depressed kind of place for no good reason today. I blame hormones.

I just spent the past half hour or so at work arraning my Beanie Baby teddy bears in slightly naughty poses.


I should feel guilty about that, but I don't.


Sigh. I'm tired, hormonal, and slightly sick.


I want to go home!

Church Chat

I'm not 100% sure how it happened. Maybe my defenses were down after this vacation. Maybe my hormones were out of control. Maybe I was suffering from some vague, baseless guilt over past failure.



I don't know how it happened, but I somehow or another volunteered to work on redeveloping my congregation's youth program.



Sigh. I swore I wouldn't do youth ministry again. I had been burned one too many times. My congregation in Pittsburgh decided that I could handle the whole youth program completely on my own, with no support from anyone. You all know about my experiences at the CCC.



And I was totally off the hook. I had already said that I would teach the 5th and 6th grade Sunday school class (all 3 of them). Then the council president (who is also handling the Christian Formation committee because...well...let's just say that you can't escape congregational politics no matter where you are) started reading the names of our post-confirmation students. There were about 8 of them, all currently active and regularly attending. And then she said that she didn't know if she would be able to find someone to teach them, and they might have to go into the adult class (where the youngest regular is about 50).



And then I heard myself saying, "You know...I have more experience with older kids than I do with younger. Why don't I take the high school class?" I'm still not sure exactly how those words came out of my mouth.



Oh, but it gets better. I was driving home from the movies (Swing Vote - not bad, but not great either...though I do have to say that Kevin Costner has found his niche with playing trailer trash-types). And I started wondering if the Sunday school class I said I would teach was part of a larger youth ministry of if it just stood by itself. So when I got home, I e-mailed the council president and asked her, and without really thinking about it, I told her that if a program didn't exist, I would be willing to help organize or ressurect one.



Yeah...nothing exists. The reality is that we have been in a transition phase for a whole lot longer than the 8 months or so ago that the pastor announced his retirement. Youth ministry got lost in the shuffle. And yes, that makes me sad. We already have so few young people, I don't want to see us lose the ones we have. And I really do remember what it felt like as a teenager to think that I didn't have a place in the Church (captial intentional). I hate it when anyone feels like that.



So, yes, I am doing youth ministry again. It can only be the Holy Spirit, because I don't think I would have made this choice on my own.



It's funny that the first reading today was about Elijah looking for God, and not finding Him in the wind or earthquake, but in the silence (in the NRSV version...the NAB says "tiny whispering sound" and the KJV says "still, small voice", which is one fo the few instances I prefer that translation). I wonder if being invited to speak to the youth group from the church where I used to teach - and the fact that I accepted, which I didn't think I would do - was just preparing me for this.

In a completely unrelated thought, Michael Phelps has an incredible body. God does really, really good work.

I think I'm ready to go back to work...

I just took this quiz...

Your result for The Harry Potter Husband Test...

Mrs. Longbottom

Your perfect HP man is Neville Longbottom.

You like the nice guy. You don't need the best looking guy, or the most talented, or the most popular, or the most powerful. You want a guy who'll be there when you need him, who knows how to stick through the hard times, and who stands up to even his friends when necessary. You can't go wrong with a guy like this. Sure, you may not have the most exciting life with him, but it'll be a good one.

Take The Harry Potter Husband Test at HelloQuizzy

I'm going to say something that could lose me my "Mega Dorky Nerd Queen" status (see badge of honor on the sidebar if you are curious).

I didn't like The Dark Knight at all.

I didn't hate it, and I thought the acting was good, but it was boring, boring, boring. It was about half an hour too long, I think. I kept wantint it to just end already. Even the violence (and there was a TON of it) and action scenes weren't all that exciting.

Sigh. Am I getting old?

I'll tell you all about the pedicure (and why I didn't get a manicure) later.

Vacation, Day 1

Well, I didn't sleep at all last night. I think it was a combination of caffiene (3 glasses of iced tea at the Chinese place and an iced tea and a chai latte at CC's) and the three hour nap I took yesterday afternoon. The 9:30 service time has that affect on me.



Anyway, I got a ton of work done last night. I can easily see and get to my craft stuff now, so I'll stop buying yarn that I already have. I filled the two carts I bought last night, and went to buy a third today. I also bought a spatula (because I'm making scallops tonight - that's my thing outside my comfort zone for today), an exfoliation thingy, a headband, nail clippers (because I can't find the 15 I already own), some lily of the valley sachets, shampoo, foot lotion, and peanut butter bars.



I've been running around all day. It is approximately 900 degrees outside. I'm exhausted. I should go to the grocery store and Whole Foods, but I'm too tired, I think.

Hellooooooo...

I'm coming to you live from CC's Coffee House on Coursey, though I suppose that it is actully officially Community Coffee House, now. CC's is a local coffee house chain. They have a higher market share here than Starbucks, which is a rarity. The are so dominant around here, that Starbucks is actually closing all but two of their freestanding stores in Baton Rouge (9 total) because they can't compete with CC's. Just thought you should know all that.



In other news, I made an appointment for a manicure and pedicure. That's about as adventurous as I could get. But it is a step outside my comfort zone, and it is something totally frivolous and just for me.



I've also decided to buy a new bed. I've been putting it off because of the looming "they're-tearing-down-my-building-to-build-more-overpriced-condos", but it seems like the guy who owns the property is giving up on that plan since the existing overpriced condos aren't selling very fast. I've been sleeping on the sofa for three years because my mattress (a hand-me-down) kept giving me staph infections, despite having several layers between me an the mattress (a fitted sheet, a mattress cover, a comforter, and another fitted sheet) and repeated sprayings with Lysol. So it's time.



The only problem with the plan is that I have been using the bed as storage for the past three years, so I have to find a place for all that crap. That is my big adventure this week.



Tonight, for my stepping-outside-my-comfort-zone adventure, I went someplace to eat all by myself - and it wasn't a drive through window. Granted, it was only the local Chinese buffet, but I still went all alone. Also, I never want to eat again.



What else...made it to church for the third week in a row. It was a close call, though, because I woke up at 9 a.m. (service is at 9:30). I honestly probably would have skipped this week, if it weren't for the fact that I had school supplies to drop off. My church sponsors a local public elementary school. That is pretty common around here because the public schools are horribly underfunded. They need churches and businesses to make up the slack. We buy school supplies for their students (98% at that school receive free or reduced price lunches), make repairs to the school, tutor students in reading and math, and generally do what we can to make the school a better place.



We had a supply pastor again this week. We still haven't hired an interim. It's hard to get a Lutheran pastor to move to south Louisiana to be with a small congregation for a year or so. Go figure. There are three Lutheran pastors in South LA who don't currently have congregations. Two are special assistants to the bishop who are working with Katrina/Rita recovery, and the other is CEO of a hospice organization here. Between them, they provide supply pastor serivces for ever congregation from the Mississippi border to the Texas boarder. Granted, that is only about...1o congregations total, but still. The woman who presided today (one of the special assistants) is a good preacher, but a little weak liturgically. The woman we had the previous two weeks (the hospice CEO) is a fantastic preacher and and pretty good liturgically. I've enjoyed the change of pace they have provided.



The only other people currently in the coffee house are a group of teenage girls. They are really loud, really giggly, and flirting like mad with the barista. I'm pretty sure he is gay, but as we have established, my gaydar sucks. Just thought you all should know.



Anyway, I wonder where I congregation will be going in the future. We don't have that many kids. I may find myself teaching middle school Sunday School this fall, and in grades 6 and 7 (8th grade is confirmation which is traditionally taught by the pastor) there are a total of 8 kids. That makes me sad for a lot of reasons. I really wish more people around here knew what the Lutheran denomination is about. There are a lot of non-practicing Catholics around here who I think could find a home with us (the big issues around here are women not having a big enough role and the overly political role the Church takes around here). But down here, a lot of people have never heard of Lutherans. You are either Catholic, Baptist, or (maybe) Methodist. I've kind of spread the word, but I don't know if it has meant anything.

Oh, and I learned how to make a motif in crochet this weekend. That is a major victory for me. I've been avoiding them because of some bad experiences with granny squares, but I learned how to make a simple, really pretty hexagon this weekend. it's exciting.

Well, I'm going to get kicked out of the coffee house in about 5 minutes as it is close to 10 p.m. I will, however, be sitting in my car for about 30 minutes because I am downloading the second to last episode of Torchwood.

This has been the official report for the first day of my vacation. Tune in tomorrow for the laundromat report. We now return you to your regularly scheduled internet, already in progress.

Vacation

So, I talked myself out of actually going away somewhere next week. I overthink things too much. While I can afford to go where I was planning to go, it just seemed...frivolous to me. I guess that's what happens when you don't go on a single vacation from the time you were 5 until the time you were 33. I can't bring myself to waste the money.

 

But I am contemplating treating myself to a spa day here at home. Only problem is, I can't convince myself to spend the money for that either. My little voice (and I can't decide if it sounds more like my dad or my mom or Suze Orman) says that it isn't worth spending the money on.

 

But I haven't had a whole week off in two years (since I started at this company, which was almost exactly 2 years ago). I want to pamper myself a little bit.

 

I'm also more than a little intimidated by the whole spa experience. Do I really have to change into a robe for a manicure, pedicure, and facial? I'm not skinny or pretty like all of the women on the websites (I know, I know - they are just models in stock photos for the most part). I'm self-conscious, and working class (despite my college degree and nice, new salary increase), and what if I don't fit in?

 

So, if you read this, convince me to spend a little money on something completely frivolous. And convince me that the ladies at the spa won't look at me with contempt.

 

(I know, I know. The therapy thing helped a lot, but I have a lot of issues from a whole lot of years. I'm working on it).