Is it too late to protest the results of a middle school spelling bee that took place in...1985? The statute of limitations on protests has to be at least 25 years, right?

I was in 8th grade. We were down to 5 people left in the competition out of...60 or so (three representatives of each of the diocesan schools within the city limits). It was my turn. The word I was given was "backfisch".

Now had our coach, Sister I-forget-her-name-because-I-have-blocked-her-from-my-mind had used the booklet we were given for our prep sessions, I probably would have gotten the word. But no, she used the classroom dictionary. Middle school classroom dictionaries aren't known for being comprehensive.

Anyway, I left out the "c" and got the word wrong. I got really curious about the word, and I looked it up in the unabridged dictionary in the school library. It wasn't there. Then I looked it up in two different unabridged dictionaries in the local branch of the public library. Wasn't there. When I was in high school and allowed to go to Oakland to the big Carnegie Library, I looked it up in every unabridged dictionary I could find in the reference section. The librarian must have thought I was nuts. I never did find it.

So I got it in my head to look it up on the internet today, because hey, what is the internet for but looking up obscure spelling bee words from 23 years ago while avoiding doing actual work for a proposal that is due in 3 days? And do you know what I discovered? The word is 1920's era German slang that never actually caught on in English. In fact, the only example of English usage I can find is from Nabokov's Lolita.

So I think I have grounds for a protest. Of course, the newspaper that sponsored the spelling bee no longer exists. And the nun who judged it is dead. And my school doesn't exist anymore, either. But those are mere details.

What do you think internet? Should I start an online campaign to have the city Catholic schools round of the Pittsburgh Press Spelling Bee from 1985 replayed? I bet I could kick those scrawny geeks butts now.

I Hate Technical Support

I've been on with Dell's tech support people for the past half hour. I know the problem is with my power adaptor. There is a short in the cord or something. The only reason I called tech support is because I was pretty sure I was still under warranty. I know it is the adaptor, because when I unplug the part that goes from the outlet to the little box thingy and plug it back in it resets, but it doesn't when I do the same from the part that goes from the computer to the box thingy. This guy has had me do everything on earth with my computer. He even tried to take it over remotely so that he could look something up that I could do just as easily (my firewall didn't like that idea one little bit). All this for him to say that they would send me a new adaptor.

The problem with tech support people is that they assume that everyone who calls knows absolutely nothing about computers, even when the person doing the calling makes it clear that they know what they are talking about. I don't need to be handheld through everything. Tell me that you want me to go to the classic view of the control panel, and I can get there. I'm smart like that.

Now the guy, who is obviously new and working on his English, is asking me all kinds of questions about what I am doing in the new year, how this past year was, what the weather is like, etc. I understand that they want to humanize their representatives, but boy, that is annoying. The conversation is very stilted.

On the other hand, I can tell from his accent that he is from the same part of India as one of my co-workers. If I didn't know any better I'd think co-worker was moonlighting. Boy, that commute would be killer.

I will have to save my reflections post for tomorrow. I wasn't expecting to have to be on the phone with tech support for...45 minutes now.

I was going to write something, but by the time this window opened, I forgot what it was. Sigh. I'm getting old.

Tomorrow, I'll share with you some end of the year reflections.

Quantum Leap was indeed one of the best TV shows ever in the history of television. I just started season 3. The premier of that season is so incredibly moving. I loved that show when I was a kid, and I love it still. Consider adding it to your Netflix cues if you either don't remember it or didn't watch it back then. It is intelligent, moving, fun, and thought provoking.

This is actually my favorite critter...

You Are A: Turtle!

These reptiles, famous for their hard outer shells, spent their days roaming for food and relaxing in the water. As a turtle you are not very speedy, nor are you soft and cuddly. You tend to hide in your shell and you aren't much of a sprinter, however you are as cute as you are fascinating.

You were almost a: Lamb or a Frog
You are least like a: Squirrel or a DuckCute Animal Quiz!

Huh.

Just a little more on the "lovingkindness" thing.

LP mentioned in a comment that he had always seen that particular Hebrew word translated as "steadfast love". I find that really interesting, because those two things (lovingkindness and steadfast love) seem to express somewhat different ideas.

This is why I really love Scripture. There are so many levels when you really study it. And when you think about how many different versions of the Bible exist, both in common usage and outdated ones, it's truly amazing. I love to see how the commonly used modern versions (NAB, NIV, NRSV, and even NKJV) both parallel and differ from each other.

I get that feeling every weekend at church. I've spent most of my life hearing the Sunday readings from the Catholic lectionary, which uses the NAB version of the Bible. Now, the lectionary readings are from the NRSV (which is actually the version my Sacred Scriptures prof. used in college). Now, after 30 some years of both hearing and proclaiming the same readings on a three year cycle, I pretty much had them all close to memorized. But now, hearing the same readings from the NRSV, it's like its a revelation. Those subtle differences in language can add layers of meaning.

If I had unlimited money and unlimited time, I would so go back to school to study Scripture. I have nine credits in it already, and I loved every minute of those three classes. I wish there was a graduate-level mainline seminary around here. Even if I couldn't afford to actually take classes, I would see about auditing for my own knowledge.

That's the one thing I really wish my congregation did more of - either Bible study, or a book study, or something like that. We have one Bible study a week, and it's at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and is comprised of people old enough to be my great-grandparents. I would love to do something with other adults (some of whom aren't retirees), but apparently it is really hard to get people to do anything in our church in the evenings during the week. We are small, and so many people consider themselves a part of the LSU community first, and anything else comes after that.

Sigh.

Crap

I just realized when I saw someone in Sitemeter found me through a search for "new years pretzel Pittsburgh" that I meant to order one of those for this year. I totally forgot, and it's too late now.

Sigh.

Dear Internet,

You are not entertaining me very much as I wait for all the stuff on earth to print.

Point me to fun, work-safe stuff, people!

Thank you.

Still at Work

Just thought the blogsphere would like to know.

Sometimes I hate my job.

But mostly I love it.

Just not so much when I'm stuck in the office alone at 10:19 p.m., with no end in sight.

I hate the fact that I lost my help completely, even though his propsoal isn't due for a couple weeks, and the boss told him to help me.

I do like the overtime, though. It's paid at straight time, but still...

Back to the grind.

OK. The Advocate isn't the only paper capable of making me cry this week.

Stupid hormones.

Boy, I'm Having a Bad Day

I had a document get all corrupted on me while I was working on it. This is a document that has to be completed and driven 50 miles away by 11 a.m. I had to recreate the whole thing, and I'm less than halfway done. Plus, I have a whole 'nother document that goes with it that I haven't even touched. Nor have I done resumes.

Plus, I have to oversee all the other proposal stuff that's going on because boss and number 1 proposal coordinator are both out all week.

They are never allowed to take vacation at the same time again (I almost wrote "together" but then I realized that implied something that I totally didn't mean to imply. Though they are in the same state. But it's Texas, and that doesn't mean much. Plus, number 1 proposal coordinator is female, and Boss is a gay man). I do not like being in charge.

So why am I here instead? I needed a mental break.

OK. Back to work.

I did some research (because I am avoiding work) and discovered that "lovingkindness" is apparently one translation of a word found 30-some times in the Old Testament. It is the word translated as "love" in the NAB version of Psalm 136.

Interesting. I knew it couldn't be a typo, but I didn't know it was a real thing, either.

Made a couple small changes to my template. Sorry the sidebar looks weird. Still trying to get rid of the corners, and they are more noticeable with the widened sidebar.

You'll see there is a new thing over there under "Make a Difference." Kiva.org is an organization that provides microloans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. The ask individual "lenders" to make loans of $25 each. The badge over there is of the group I loaned to. They are expanding a pig farming operation, and need the money to build more pig sties.

And it really is a loan. When the lendee pays back their loan, you get your money back, which you can either keep or loan to someone else.

I did my research and discovered that all of the money you loan goes directly to the lendee. You have the option of adding 10% (a whole $2.50) to help with administrative costs. I like that.

So, if you have $25 burning a hole in your pocket, think about this organization. Sounds worth it to me.

Chicken review

It's not bad - really. It is tender and moist, but it is kind of bland. Also, I cooked it for the minimum time in the cookbook, but it absolutely fell apart when I tried to take it out of the crock pot. For as often as I make a whole chicken, I don't see this taking the place of roasting.

I do have a tip on the stuffing, though. I followed the directions on this, and it was easy for stuffing from a mix, but so much better.

Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a skillet or saucepan (the saucepan is neater, I think). Saute one small, diced onion and three, diced celery stalks (or buy creole mix at the grocery store so you don't have to do any work at all - it also has green pepper) for about...5 minutes. Throw in four cups of stuffing mix (that is a whole canister of Stove Top), and mix it up. Then throw in enough chicken broth to moisten up the stuffing. It tastes so much better than regular Stove Top, and doesn't really take any longer.

So Christmas dinner was good, overall. Plus, I had pancakes for lunch. It doesn't get much better than that.

Food

If you can find them, you have to try No Pudge Fudge Brownies. Someone whose blog I read regularly turned me on to them, and I just tried them for the first time.

Basically, everything in the mix is natural (meaning no high fructose corn syrup), and you make it with vanilla yogurt instead of oil and eggs. If you can find fat-free yogurt, the brownies are fat free. I couldn't - or at least I couldn't find any that didn't have high fructose corn syrup (except for some ridiculously expensive organic stuff), so I bought low-fat Dannon Natural, which only adds 3 grams of fat, which is next to nothing. They are in the oven now, and smell sooo good. And the mix tasted wonderful - bonus: you can eat the mix without fear because there is no raw egg in it.

For those of you in the Ohio area, I know you can find it at Kroger, and if there is an Albertson's in your area, you may be able to find it there. Otherwise, Google it, and it should take you to a website with a list of stores that carry it.

I'll let you know how they taste later.

I'm making chicken in the crock pot. It does, in fact, cook all the way through, but the skin does not get crisp, despite the pictures. Oh, and you may want to use a baster to drain fluid every now and then, at least if you use a fryer. I couldn't find a roaster, and I know they have less fat than fryers.

Damn You, Advocate!

You've made me cry more times than I can count this week.

And it's good to know the caliber of young men playing for LSU.

So...Christmas

First, let me say that I'm feeling very guilty. It was very cold last night (for Louisiana - it hit 30). The semi-feral cats, Fido and Rover (yes, I did name them. sigh.) would usually go inside my neighbor's apartment on nights like that. However, neighbor is a student, and she is somewhere else right now. So all last night, whenever I'd move, or turn on a light or anything, Fido would scratch furiously at my window. I'm talking 10 or 15 minutes straight. I think she and Rover wanted in, but I can't do that. I'm horribly, horribly allergic, and I have no cat supplies, if you get my drift. I put out extra food and water, and I put out a box with a couple old t-shirts in it, along with an old rug on the concrete of my "deck" so that they could find someplace semi-warm at least if they wanted it. But I feel really bad. I guess I'm just an old softie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas Eve worship at my church always leaves me feeling conflicted. I always go to the 11 p.m. liturgy, because the earlier service has a whole lot of kids and no Eucharist. I love it, because it is quiet (no choir - of course, we don't have a choir on Christmas for either service. That's the disadvantage of being in a university town and depending on the school of music for not only the director but also about half the members), and dark, and intimate. I love night time workship in general for that reason.

But at the same time, I spend about half the service trying not to cry. Christmas was one of the only times during the year when my mom, dad, and I all went to church together (Easter and one or two other weeks were the others). My mom either went to her church, the Lutheran church that was closer to us (but that she didn't really like because she didn't know anyone), or the Presbyterian church down the street (because everyone needs a Presbyterian church down the street). Even though she married a Catholic, and was raising a Catholic child (and doing a better job of it that most of the Catholic parents, thank you very much), she really wasn't comfortable in the Catholic church. I can't blame her. I don't think I'd want to worship somewhere where I was unable to participate fully, either.

So worship on Christmas always reminds me of those times together. Going to church was always my favorite part of Christmas because it was the three of us, and just the three of us. I didn't have to face my aunt (who really didn't seem to like me, though she was never nasty in her words - just her actions), or any cousins I barely knew. I didn't have to sit at a kids' table by myself when I was well into my teens.

But now, when I go to church on Christmas, and see all those families together, it makes me really sad. I still miss my parents, as acutely as I did right after they died. And it's not like it's only been a few years. As of this April it will be 15 years (!) since my dad died and as of June, 13 years since my mom died. I wonder sometimes if that will ever fade. I mean, I get through "real life" just fine, though I think of my parents every day. But those special occasions, holidays, Mother's Day, weird little random days during the years, it hits me hard.

Maybe it's because I spend most of those days alone. Oh, I get invitations for holidays most of the time (though I didn't for this Christmas), but I hate spending holidays with other people's families. It's weird and awkward, and sometimes makes the missing more...tangible.

Sigh. What a downer. Sorry, internet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But to end on an up note, I'm cooking for the third day in a row. This time, I am trying to make a roast chicken in the crock pot. My mom was always afraid to try that (she worked with meat, and knew all about salmonella), but the internet says it really does work well. And the internet never lies, does it?

If it does work I'll post the recipie. I'll post the recipie for the beef tips I made yesterday, too. Except I couldn't find sirloin at the grocery store (what's up with that?), so I had to use stewing beef, which meant the meat utterly fell apart while cooking. Still, it was good, and the gravy was tasty.

OK, I need to get to work now, I suppose. Yes, you read that right. I'm working from home, at least (unless I didn't copy everything I need onto my jump drive), but I have about 5 hours of work ahead of me today.

Crap. As I typed that, I realized that there are about 5 or 6 files I didn't copy. Sigh. I'm waiting until it gets warmer to go outside, though. It's still in the mid 40's

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One more thing, if LP happens along here...is "lovingkindness" something that is written in some worship materials somewhere just like that? Is it a throwback to German (I don't know much of it, but I know they are well known for smushing words together to make new ones)? Or does our church secretary just think that it is all one word? It appears in our worship bulletin like that just about every week, and it drives me crazy just about every week.

I have lots to say, but it will wait until tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to all (or Happy Christmas to my reader or readers across the pond)!

So I'm watching that CBS show, "In the Name of God" or whatever it is. One of the things they asked all the religious leaders about was faith and doubt. If they asked Pope Benedict, I missed it, but they did for sure ask the Archbishop of Canterbury, the presiding bishop of the ELCA (who is also president of the the Lutheran World Federation) and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Both of the two bishops admitted to having doubts, but nevertheless trusting their faith in God - even when it was hard. The Southern Baptist Guy said he never has any doubts about anything. I don't know quite what to make of that.

I did, however, make a big batch of corn chowder. It is yummy, and I have lunch for the next two weeks. Tomorrow, I am making beef tips and noodles, another favorite dish. Yes, I'm trying to cook more. I find that if I use the crockpot, I'm much more likely to cook regularly. I can do the prep work at night and then just throw everything together in the morning.

One final note - I don't think I have ever heard a hymn sound better on the organ than "Joy to the World." We sang that today, and organist played the living heck out of that song. I didn't know it was an Advent song, but our worship book identifies it that way. I think it would fit better on the third Sunday, but I guess the Christmas program takes presidence (sigh).

And since when do Southern Baptists do trinitarian baptisms? The Southern Baptist guy on this show just did one. I thought they only baptized in the name of Jesus. When I worked with RCIA, former Baptists always had to be catechumens (those seeking Baptism) rather than just candidates (those seeking full communion through the Eucharist and Confirmation) for just that reason, even if they had already been baptized.

Huh. You learn something new every day

Need something to either lift you up or rip your heart out during this crazy time of year? Go read this article.

The Advocate kind of sucks as a paper, but every now and then they manage a feature article that brings tears to my eyes - both happy ones and sad.

An Open Letter to Parents of Teenagers

My dear moms and dads,

I know that parenting a teenager is tough. Well, I don't know from personal experience, but I know how difficult I made things on my parents, and I've worked with teenagers in school and youth ministry settings. They are difficult, moody, and generally miserable 95% of the time.

And for those of you who make the effort to get your kids to church, I applaud you. Again, I know how hard that is.

But please, for the love of God and your fellow parishioners, if you can convince them to go to church, make them leave their cell phones at home, or at least in the car. Even if you have to search pockets and purses to do it, please, please do it.

What brings this up today, you ask? Well, there was a family sitting behind me in church. The have three teenagers (17, 15, and 13), and the youngest had a friend who was obviously a non-churchgoer. Now this family has issues with their kids and church. The kids are almost always there, but the two girls (the two youngest) are always dressed incredibly inappropriately, and the oldest spends most of the service in the bathroom, or any place else in the church building other than the sanctuary.

Well, today, during the readings, one of their cell phones went off. It was on vibrate, but against the wood of the pew, it was plenty loud. Apparently it was a text message, because all throughout the rest of the service, I could hear her (the middle one) punching keys on the phone. The parents had to see it - they were sitting right next to her. I could see it out of my peripheral vision. Then, during everything that was sung (and we do a lot of singing), the boy was texting as well, thinking that the music covered the beeping of the keys on his phone (it did not).

The parents did not correct those children, or the younger girl and her friend who were mocking pretty much every prayer and song we prayed.

Parents, you are not doing yourselves, your kids, or your fellow parishioners any favors by dragging kids who don't want to be at church to church, then letting them do whatever they want without correction or consequence during the service. What does that teach them? That they can do whatever they want or act however they want as long as they show up? Who does that help.

So parents, either teach your kids the right way to behave in church (and in public for that matter), or leave them home. That is something I never thought I'd say.

Thank you.