Yes, I know that "unbreak" isn't(I don't think) technically a word. But "unbroken" and "unrest" both have different meanings that the one I was aiming at, though they sound like they could work. Anyway, that's what my time off from classes has been. (As every college student knows, they hear the words "Thanksgiving break" and smile at the Thanksgiving part. They snort at the "break" part, because there's loads of projects and tests and quizzes and papers and homework that need to be finished before finals, and in basically every class piles of material are passed out to students as a result of missing three class days.)
Still, it was great to be around the family(both immediate and extended) and have time to read for pleasure and play cards and Wii games and wrestle with siblings and do laundry. And food, that's very important. And laughter and sarcasm. Not to mention fetch and cat-cuddles and picking out spirituals and Christmas carols.
Monday was a little cold. Not that that was particularly newsworthy in itself; it always is in some way or another on campus. Half the students showed up for class, many deciding to get out of town as fast as possible. Had to go to nutrition, though; we were getting instructions on how to do our final project(which is miserable, involving copious amounts of math and unnecessary data-tracking the NSA could track down). Anyway, class let out early, so four of us wandered into our psych classroom and waited for twenty minutes after checking email. And...nobody showed up. Not even our professor. So, we waited about five-ten minutes longer into class-period-time, decide it must have been canceled, and go our separate ways.
Latin was good like always, but Seminary was freezing. Like, seriously. It was so bad that a secretary in the Liberal Arts college office unlocked the conference room to provide shivering students a warmish place to wait. Social media lit up with complaints. "Is the A/C on? This is ridiculous." Turns out the heating systems broke in Seminary and the Science building, kind-hearted instructors canceled classes for the rest of the day. Also, the water-heaters in Leoser went down, leaving those residents without hot water, and the warped Ross heat did something, we're not sure what. Needless to say, everyone who could get away with it rocketed homeward at the first opportunity.
A handful of SWAT members went on an expedition of Christmas caroling at this assisted-living facility place in town, consisting of me, Bubba Jacob, Becca, Susan and James. We pile into Becca's silver Impala, James as navigator in shotgun since he was the only one who knew the address. James tries to get us to scrap the idea, since almost everyone else bailed for various reasons, but the rest of us shoot that idea down immediately. "We are not bailing on two events we were supposed to be at in the same week." "And besides, what's so bad about about singing? Or spending time with old people?"
We explore around, trying to find our contact-person, and coming up with merely an empty office. So we go back to our starting point and wait for Haley, who was late because she got lost. She gets here, we begin anew. And apparently our contact-person had forgotten we were coming, as she wasn't there. Her husband was, however; and he directed us in the right direction. So we sing about eight or so Christmas carols to maybe twenty or thirty elderly people, it was fun.
Food at Burger King, then back to the BCM for the Bible study/worship service, then HOMEWARD BOUND...(Nope, not with Chance the bulldog, Shadow the golden retriever and Sassy the Siamese on their way through the California wilderness. And not the 1961 book, either, which the movie was based on, about Luath the Lab, Bodger the terrier and Tao the Siamese in the Ontario wilderness.) Mom said later that night, "Caroling...three days before Thanksgiving? You crazy college kids..."
Tuesday was a nice day, both lit and editing had been canceled, so I could play Wii with Caleb and Trevor, get started on homework, and pet Rags. Didn't really do much useful of anything, other than sort of rest. Watched "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" that night, and got three chapters of my psych textbook reviewed for the quiz next Friday. And got a blog post written.
Wednesday I was woken up pretty early by Rags jumping into her favorite vantage point of my windowsill, we had lunch in Tulsa with Aunt Kim and Logan and Kenzie. Hideaway Pizza is an interesting place. Sort of like a chain version of Sam and Ella's, but that doesn't quite capture it right. Felt very out of place, so did everybody else. But it was good to visit with Logan, he was very glad to return from his freshman year in Illinois. Started to listen to an audiotape of The Wizard of Oz in the van, but soon gave up due to the outlandish stupidity and strangeness of it. Apples to Apples with Courtney, finished writing haiku(same singular/plural, like "deer" or "sheep") for literature, and got the last(hopefully) nutrition chapter quiz finished. And watched the newest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and reread old favorite The Christmas Puppy for the twenty-eighth time. (Seriously, it's close to that number.) Also got a good distance farther on a massive history of small-town America, really cool book written in readable academic style. (Nope, that isn't a misprint. Merely an interesting and encouraging oxymoron.)
Amy woke me up at seven today, some more studying and reading and cat-petting and Wii-tournamenting and music-playing before heading to Grandpa's. Good to visit with them, we ate delicious food, sort-of watched the Packers-Lions game while talking, then really watched the Raiders-Cowboys game while eating pecan pie. And of course games of fetch with Fancy and Gretchen. (Whew...that's a tongue-twister.)
Then it was time to head to Louise's just after halftime, great to see Damon and Trish and everybody else. Admired the new baby, played fetch with Trish's dog Mason(star of several picture books), more talking, and tuning up the mandolins and making 'em sing. Everyone forgot to take charge of the betting pool, so it was left abandoned for the second year in a row.
There's a lot to be thankful for, something we ought to be all the time, as much as we can. It's the little things that add up to so much, hard to encapsulate.
Nothing special happened, but it was a very good day.
Tomorrow night is the Ruscos' square dance, that should be enjoyable, hopefully. Still have lots of work to finish, maybe I can try to watch a bit of football somewhere in there. Banjo the new red heeler is extremely scared of me, oh well.
Two weeks until finals....just have to keep pushing through. Stumbling or collapsing through isn't encouraged, but as long as you're moving forward in some way... Because of higher-than-normal panic mode/study drive, I may either post almost nothing on here until then, or my fingers will be flying almost as fast as the swirling sentence structures in my brain.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Definitions of Winter Olympic Events
I wrote up some satirical Definitions of Olympic Events last year, figured it was about time to write the second part. Living in Oklahoma, I don't know much about most of these things, which takes away most of the fun...
Anyway, let's try this refresher course...
Alpine Skiing - First of all, skiing is strapping a pair of sticks on your feet and pushing yourself along. The downhill portion is sailing along on these sticks down a hill as fast as possible. The slalom is doing the same thing, but weaving in and out of brightly-colored poles. If you miss a pole, there's a penalty.
Biathlon - A mix of skiing and target-shooting. If you miss, you have to ski in huge circles for a while as a penalty, and the first person across the finish line wins.
Bobsledding - Two or four people leap into a souped-up sled and sail down an iced waterslide at fifty miles an hour. WHO thought this was a good idea?
Cross-Country Skiing - Using skis to get from one place to another. In the individual competition, starts are staggered, and the fastest clock-time wins. In the mass-start, everyone begins at the same time and the first across the line wins. There are also relays in this.
Curling - This must have been invented out of necessity to prevent someone from dying of boredom(and also to get the house clean). Bowling on ice, with rocks for balls and pins, and there's lots of ice-sweeping. Takes longer than baseball, too. You get points if after every frame/inning/section you have more of your rocks inside the target area than the other guys.
Freestyle Skiing - "Skiing" always looks like I've spelled it wrong. Anyway, freestyle skiing is the type where you do all these tricks, skateboard or snowboard-style. Moguls is a race down an extremely bumpy slope, with two jumps somewhere along the way. Aerials is like moguls, but all about the tricks. High scores win. Ski slopestyle is doing tricks on rails, jumps and whatever other random obstacles are thrown onto the course. Ski halfpipe is pretty self-explanatory, doing tricks while wearing skis on a massive snowy halfpipe.
Figure Skating - This is the Winter Olympics' version of gymnastics, except it makes a little more sense as far as practicality goes. Still, that's not much. Consists of leaping and spinning and kicking your leg wayyy up into the air, skating to a piece of music, and each step has a special name that means somethin'. The women's event is the best to watch, the pairs can sometimes be interesting. "Ice dancing" is extremely dull, and men's figure skating is almost as horrendous as men's diving, and also should be outlawed by the FCC.
Hockey - Violence! Action! Sharp skates! Flying rubber! Mullets and beards. Cool sweaters! And wearable murals on the goalies' helmets! And it gave us the Mighty Ducks movies. It's also the favorite sport of MacGyver and Joey Gladstone, and pretty much hockey is soccer on ice, with neat stickswords. Tow teams of six players try to get the puck into the net, after an hour or so, the team who does this more often is the winner.
Luge - A French word meaning "sled", jumping on a Radio-Flyer sled and hurtling down that icy waterslide at fifty miles an hour. Again...WHO thought this was a good idea?
Nordic Combined - A boring cousin of pentathlon for the wintertime, combines ski jumping with a 10 km ski race. Probably to give you a good long time to think about the stupidity of jettisoning yourself through the air very fast without a parachute.
Speed Skating - The most basic of all winter Olympic sports: If you can skate, you naturally want to see if you're faster than anybody else. Same principle as track. Racers clad in Spandex onesies race against the clock for 500m, 1000m, 1,500m, 3,000m(women only), 5,000m, 10,000m(men only) and team pursuit events.
Short-Track Speed Skating - Take speed skating into a hockey rink, and an extremely high-energy event follows, great for TV. The closest thing we humans have to Jack Russel hurdle racing. 32 skaters race four at a time in an elimination tournament-style bracket, collisions and wipeouts are quite likely. A team relay is - never mind, you guys know what that is.
Skeleton - Named for what you become after taking that Radio-Flyer down the icy waterslide head-first. ...WHO would have thought this was a good idea?
Ski Jumping - Parachuting sans parachute with skis on down a killer mountain incline, then launching oneself into the sky. The farthest distance, assuming nobody died on landing, wins. Who thought this was a good idea, either?
Snowboarding - This sounds awesome, just sayin'. Never had a chance to try it, but it sounds great. The halfpipe competition is just like with skateboards, sliding around a gigantic bowl and doing physics-and gravity-defying tricks. Scored on style points. The parallel giant slalom is a head-to-head tournament-style series of races down a mountain while weaving between brightly-colored poles, and the last person left standing wins. Boardercross is like dirt bike racing on snow; sailing down the mountain four at a time in a race over a course filled with highly-banked turns and unexpected jumps.
Anyway, let's try this refresher course...
Alpine Skiing - First of all, skiing is strapping a pair of sticks on your feet and pushing yourself along. The downhill portion is sailing along on these sticks down a hill as fast as possible. The slalom is doing the same thing, but weaving in and out of brightly-colored poles. If you miss a pole, there's a penalty.
Biathlon - A mix of skiing and target-shooting. If you miss, you have to ski in huge circles for a while as a penalty, and the first person across the finish line wins.
Bobsledding - Two or four people leap into a souped-up sled and sail down an iced waterslide at fifty miles an hour. WHO thought this was a good idea?
Cross-Country Skiing - Using skis to get from one place to another. In the individual competition, starts are staggered, and the fastest clock-time wins. In the mass-start, everyone begins at the same time and the first across the line wins. There are also relays in this.
Curling - This must have been invented out of necessity to prevent someone from dying of boredom(and also to get the house clean). Bowling on ice, with rocks for balls and pins, and there's lots of ice-sweeping. Takes longer than baseball, too. You get points if after every frame/inning/section you have more of your rocks inside the target area than the other guys.
Freestyle Skiing - "Skiing" always looks like I've spelled it wrong. Anyway, freestyle skiing is the type where you do all these tricks, skateboard or snowboard-style. Moguls is a race down an extremely bumpy slope, with two jumps somewhere along the way. Aerials is like moguls, but all about the tricks. High scores win. Ski slopestyle is doing tricks on rails, jumps and whatever other random obstacles are thrown onto the course. Ski halfpipe is pretty self-explanatory, doing tricks while wearing skis on a massive snowy halfpipe.
Figure Skating - This is the Winter Olympics' version of gymnastics, except it makes a little more sense as far as practicality goes. Still, that's not much. Consists of leaping and spinning and kicking your leg wayyy up into the air, skating to a piece of music, and each step has a special name that means somethin'. The women's event is the best to watch, the pairs can sometimes be interesting. "Ice dancing" is extremely dull, and men's figure skating is almost as horrendous as men's diving, and also should be outlawed by the FCC.
Hockey - Violence! Action! Sharp skates! Flying rubber! Mullets and beards. Cool sweaters! And wearable murals on the goalies' helmets! And it gave us the Mighty Ducks movies. It's also the favorite sport of MacGyver and Joey Gladstone, and pretty much hockey is soccer on ice, with neat stickswords. Tow teams of six players try to get the puck into the net, after an hour or so, the team who does this more often is the winner.
Luge - A French word meaning "sled", jumping on a Radio-Flyer sled and hurtling down that icy waterslide at fifty miles an hour. Again...WHO thought this was a good idea?
Nordic Combined - A boring cousin of pentathlon for the wintertime, combines ski jumping with a 10 km ski race. Probably to give you a good long time to think about the stupidity of jettisoning yourself through the air very fast without a parachute.
Speed Skating - The most basic of all winter Olympic sports: If you can skate, you naturally want to see if you're faster than anybody else. Same principle as track. Racers clad in Spandex onesies race against the clock for 500m, 1000m, 1,500m, 3,000m(women only), 5,000m, 10,000m(men only) and team pursuit events.
Short-Track Speed Skating - Take speed skating into a hockey rink, and an extremely high-energy event follows, great for TV. The closest thing we humans have to Jack Russel hurdle racing. 32 skaters race four at a time in an elimination tournament-style bracket, collisions and wipeouts are quite likely. A team relay is - never mind, you guys know what that is.
Skeleton - Named for what you become after taking that Radio-Flyer down the icy waterslide head-first. ...WHO would have thought this was a good idea?
Ski Jumping - Parachuting sans parachute with skis on down a killer mountain incline, then launching oneself into the sky. The farthest distance, assuming nobody died on landing, wins. Who thought this was a good idea, either?
Snowboarding - This sounds awesome, just sayin'. Never had a chance to try it, but it sounds great. The halfpipe competition is just like with skateboards, sliding around a gigantic bowl and doing physics-and gravity-defying tricks. Scored on style points. The parallel giant slalom is a head-to-head tournament-style series of races down a mountain while weaving between brightly-colored poles, and the last person left standing wins. Boardercross is like dirt bike racing on snow; sailing down the mountain four at a time in a race over a course filled with highly-banked turns and unexpected jumps.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Personality Testing
Came home this weekend, wanted to see everybody, even if Thanksgiving break is Tuesday. Needed to meet Banjo the new dog, spend time with Rags, do laundry, all those types of things. We found this free version close to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test online Friday night, had fun taking and researching what all they meant. I got an ISFJ, which is highly accurate, but INFJ is right-on as well, it's like I'm in the middle of both of those. (Introversion 44% dominance, Sensing 1%, Feeling 12%, Judging 10%).
According to a description from TypeLogic.com, "ISFJs are characterized above all by their desire to serve others...they specialize in the local, the personal and the practical." (Sounds right.) Loyal and capable of high-quality work, they don't enjoy drawing attention to themselves, and often are overworked. (Uh-huh...) Methodical and accurate in their work, they have very god memories and are good with people one-on-one or in small groups. (Yup!) Strong loyalties can be developed; of the personal variety rather than institutional. (Yep.) Typical careers include nursing, teaching, religious work, social work, or almost anything clerical or secretarial.
"While they have a high-priority work-ethic, their families are the center of their lives...They place a strong emphasis on conventional behavior, if any of their nearest and dearest departs from the straight and narrow, it causes the ISFJ major embarrassment. (Pretty much.)
"ISFJs have a few close friends, and are extremely loyal to these, ready to provide emotional and practical support at a moment's notice." They do, however, find it hard to conceal or articulate internal distress." (Yes.)
Typically tentative and unsure about their opinions, they dislike taking firm stances on things. They enjoy practical jokes and puns. (Yep...)
Famous ISFJs include Louisa May Alcott(!), Lord Tennyson, Robert E. Lee, Johnny Carson, Robin Roberts, Kristi Yamaguchi and Dr. Watson.
And this is a summary of the INFJ report.
"Beneath their quiet exterior, INFJs hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life." (I guess.) Rarely fooled by others' motives due to accurate suspicion. "Though affable and sympathetic to most, INFJs are selective about their friends. Such a friendship is a symbiotic bond that transcends mere words." (Yup.)
They have a knack for fluency in communication, usually self-expression comes more easily on paper, due to strong writing skills. (Yes!) Writing, politics, teaching and religious work are typical career paths.
This report is divided up into two sections, the second section is more elaborate and clearer, and thus harder to summarize. Click the link for more info.
Famous INFJs include Fanny Crosby, Shirley Temple, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Landon, Billy Crystal and Jerry Seinfeld.
Mom and Courtney both were ENFJs, Dad was an INTJ with some elements of ISTP. There's lots of interesting things to ponder and read about on this topic.
According to a description from TypeLogic.com, "ISFJs are characterized above all by their desire to serve others...they specialize in the local, the personal and the practical." (Sounds right.) Loyal and capable of high-quality work, they don't enjoy drawing attention to themselves, and often are overworked. (Uh-huh...) Methodical and accurate in their work, they have very god memories and are good with people one-on-one or in small groups. (Yup!) Strong loyalties can be developed; of the personal variety rather than institutional. (Yep.) Typical careers include nursing, teaching, religious work, social work, or almost anything clerical or secretarial.
"While they have a high-priority work-ethic, their families are the center of their lives...They place a strong emphasis on conventional behavior, if any of their nearest and dearest departs from the straight and narrow, it causes the ISFJ major embarrassment. (Pretty much.)
"ISFJs have a few close friends, and are extremely loyal to these, ready to provide emotional and practical support at a moment's notice." They do, however, find it hard to conceal or articulate internal distress." (Yes.)
Typically tentative and unsure about their opinions, they dislike taking firm stances on things. They enjoy practical jokes and puns. (Yep...)
Famous ISFJs include Louisa May Alcott(!), Lord Tennyson, Robert E. Lee, Johnny Carson, Robin Roberts, Kristi Yamaguchi and Dr. Watson.
And this is a summary of the INFJ report.
"Beneath their quiet exterior, INFJs hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life." (I guess.) Rarely fooled by others' motives due to accurate suspicion. "Though affable and sympathetic to most, INFJs are selective about their friends. Such a friendship is a symbiotic bond that transcends mere words." (Yup.)
They have a knack for fluency in communication, usually self-expression comes more easily on paper, due to strong writing skills. (Yes!) Writing, politics, teaching and religious work are typical career paths.
This report is divided up into two sections, the second section is more elaborate and clearer, and thus harder to summarize. Click the link for more info.
Famous INFJs include Fanny Crosby, Shirley Temple, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Landon, Billy Crystal and Jerry Seinfeld.
Mom and Courtney both were ENFJs, Dad was an INTJ with some elements of ISTP. There's lots of interesting things to ponder and read about on this topic.
Friday, November 22, 2013
SWAT Quotes of Fall 2013
The title of this post is pretty self-explanatory...and it should probably give me some good candidates for the Best Quote of 2013. As for the actual content....well, SWAT's like a family. And families typically have some really weird conversations...and these snippets were exceptions, not the rule of general conversation.
10-7-13, Samantha to James, randomly interrupting a rehearsal with "Why are you wearing my purse?!"
10-13-13, Samantha to me at a Mazzio's invasion after our first program sorta-successfully ended, half the toppings fell off her slice while passing it down the table. "Wes! You gave me a naked slice of pizza! What kind of a teammate are you?!" Elizabeth mutters, "Wasn't expecting that...at least not from her." Later, I pass another slice down the table. "Here ya go, this one is fully clothed."
10-14-13, Haley commenting on new guy, Justin, dropping by to see what SWAT was like. "See, he offers to give her a ride home last night, and there he is, sitting right there. We ought to send Elizabeth home with someone every night." Everyone looks uncomfortable and slightly shocked, Elizabeth looks like she wishes the floor would swallow Haley up. Samantha, maybe, "Haley...that was...just....no." She realizes what she said. "Ohhhh...yeah. That was NOT what I meant."
10-14-13, Ja Li Si in a wonderful bit of improv in "The Parable of the Big Push", where Bubba Jacob is complaining about the car being so hard to manhandle around. "Maybe that's cause you're barefoot?" (His shoes were soaked from the rain, so he'd taken them off to dry.)
10-16-13, Me ad-libbing after getting whacked by Bubba Jacob's sword/knife as the Killer is trying to murder Susan in "Go With the Flow" at the Carter youth lock-in, "Uh, does anyone have a first-aid kit we can use...?"
10-16-13, Haley's driving, we're on our way to Taco Bell after the lock-in, Susan in shotgun, with Justin, James and I scrunched into the back. I get a text, and James to me, "Your phone is vibrating." Haley, after a second, "That's awkward."
10-21-13, Four straight references to our game-show skit "Go With the Flow" in casual conversation during dinner with Elizabeth and Justin somehow morphs and leads into an hour-long discussion about going to the bathroom. Really...
10-21-13, during the introductions at practice...."Hi, I'm James, and I'm from...uh, Fairland," (We stare curiously, he mutters) "I forgot where I was from..."
10-27-13, in the car with Bubba Jacob and TJ, he answers Becca's phone because she's driving. "Hey. Yeah, we're on our way to Carter Baptist Church, near Keys....Uh, no, this is Jacob. Becca's driving. Do you want to talk to her?" TJ and I snicker. Later on the way back, "Oh, that girl said to call you when we got there." TJ: "Well, we got there..."
10-27-13, getting set for the human video, Elizabeth opens the backstage door, smiles sweetly at audience, then slips inside. "WHERE is Jacob?!! I'm gonna kill him!"
10-27-13, at McDonald's after the Carter show, Samantha using her authoritative director tone to me, "Now be sure to get something for your throat, either hot or cold, it'll make it feel better and heal up sooner. And we NEED you healthy as soon as possible." Becca: "Something to drink that's either hot or cold? That's...like, any kind of drink..."
10-27-13, still at McDonald's. I'm looking for somewhere to eat. TJ: "You can sit by me if you want, there's room." Bubba Jacob frowns at her from across the table. "He can sit by you, but I can't?" "Yup. Cause he's nice to me," (she sticks her tongue out) "unlike some other people I know." He starts to object, she cuts him off. "Besides, Wes isn't exactly nice to me...more like just the right level of nice-ish." Bubba Jacob looks confused. "What, there's different levels of niceness?!" TJ nods matter-of-factly. "Yeah."
10-28-13, Haley and Becca shooting pool before practice. Haley: "So why can't you talk?" Becca: "My vocal chords are enlarged, and one of my professors told me that I shouldn't talk for like, two days." Haley thinks a minute. "That's physically impossible for a woman."
10-28-13, Samantha at end of recap of things to improve, "....and, Caleb, what was that you were wearing for the human video? A bright orange bandanna and a GRANDMA sweater?!" "Oh, was that what it was?" Explosion of laughter from everyone in the room. "Ye-ahh...you looked like...some ancient ninja....lady."
10-28-13, Scott: "I want to be a woman for once!" The rest of us, "Okayyy...moving on now..."
10-28-13, Samantha filling in for Ja Li Si in rehearsal of "The Parable of the Big Push", "...and Tuesday night we'll get the illusion of illustrating with our left shoulder..."
11-4-13, Elizabeth and I are shooting pool before practice. I hand her the cue stick. "Whenever you're done texting..." She types away happily. "Oh, yeah, that's me, just texting between shots...okay, taken out of context, that sounds really bad..."
11-4-13, while we're shooting pool, Becca and Justin are playing ping pong. Haley forgot something and yells at someone to go to her car and get it. "WESLEY!" "Yeah?" "Not you - uh..." she blanks out on the right name. Justin returns from an expedition to the supplies closet to get a new package of ping pong balls. "JUSTIN! That's who I meant! Where were you, anyway?!" "I just came out of the closet." Me and Haley stare at each other, unsure if we'd heard right "Not THAT closet!"
11-4-13, I throw a crushed ping pong ball(most likely the same one Justin smashed into Becca's mouth ten minutes earlier, splitting her lip) halfway across the basement into the trash can. Except it banks off of Susan's glasses on the way down and drops somewhere. "Are you okay?! SO didn't mean to do that..." She laughs. "I'm fine, it's a ping pong ball. And besides, it went in!"
11-4-13, Skylar sort-of-filling in for Scott during "Go With the Flow", at that part near the end. He just ad-libs flatly, unsure of the line, "That's it. I'm out of here." and stalks away.
11-10-13, we enter FBC-Tahlequah to get ready, everybody's staring at the fancy interior. Elizabeth, in rapture: "Holy cow....we have A REAL STAGE!!!!!!"
11-10-13, TJ and I are sharing that light blue robe, as it's the smallest. I'm using it for the monk skit, it's still swallowing me up, almost, I'm just trying not to fall down. (Or get killed by James.) I mutter to myself, "How do brides not trip over their wedding dresses?!"
11-10-13, Elizabeth, Bubba Jacob, Susan, TJ and I are eating dinner at Sam and Ella's after the FBC--Tahlequah show, they just merrily chat away (quite loudly) about carrying drugs around, how that worked -etter than gum at making friends in high school or at work. They meant things like Tylenol and ibuprofen, but still....
11-10-13, the girls are deep into a conversation about how awkward and messy crying in public can be, Susan suddenly, "We're all like, talking about this crying stuff, and you guys are just sitting there staring into space..." Elizabeth: "Hey, that's right...sorry, guys." We shrug. "It's all right, we're just...not sure how to react. When you let us know, then we'll find something to say." Bubba Jacob, as an aside to an imaginary audience, "So, tune in next week, same time, for another episode of Wes and Jacob's therapy sessions! (To the girls) Seriously, that WAS therapeutic, wasn't it? Don't y'all feel better now?"
11-10-13, They're trying to explain Twitter to me. Bubba Jacob: "....it's like, a faster way of getting your message out to people." Susan: "Right, but you can only use, like 160 characters?" TJ: "And your parents aren't on there, usually, that's another big draw." Jacob: "Yeah, cause, I mean, you don't necessarily want everyone to know what you're doing every day." Elizabeth: "That's how come there's posts like 'I pooped.' Yes, people do post things like that..."
11-10-13, TJ makes some stupid-drunk-tired comment about a leaf being a little flag. Bubba Jacob laughs at her. "You are TIRED, girl....you need to let me bed you down." (Instant pause while Elizabeth comes out the door, followed by Susan.) Elizabeth: "..What'd I miss?" Wes: "You don't wanna know...." (It hits Bubba Jacob and TJ what he said, they explain, everyone looks rather horrified.) Jacob: "I MEANT that she looked tired and needed to go to bed...." Elizabeth: "Annnd that's why word order is so important, sweetheart..."
11-11-13, Samantha to Caleb and Holly, randomly interrupting a rehearsal with "No playing beer pong during practice!" Caleb: "We're not playing beer pong...we're playing....GCP. Jesus Christ Ping Pong." Holly, unimpressed: "'Jesus' is spelled with a J..."
11-11-13, killing time between practice and the worship service, we're all gathered in the living room talking. Samantha found an empty abandoned Bud Light bottle somebody tossed into her yard to use as a prop for a silent skit we're doing for the dessert theatre fundraiser the next Friday night, it's in Bubba Jacob's jacket, and then passed around from person to person like a peace pipe. I've been holding it for a while, Susan looks at me. "You do know how weird that looks, don't you?"
11-11-13, Just after that, Elizabeth is giving me crap about something, I'm dishing it back, Susan, Bubba Jacob and TJ are all joining in, typical stuff. Me to Elizabeth: "You are such an evil sister." (We play siblings in "The Parable of the Big Push") She nods sweetly. "I know. It comes with the territory." Susan, sitting beside her on the couch: "Ya know...evilness is almost a job description of sisters...it's like the words 'college student'. What'd you guys immediately think of when I say that?" The other four of us together: "Broke!"
11-15-13, all during the dessert theatre fundraiser night, we were happily singing snippets of Disney songs at the top of our lungs.
11-15-13, prepping for the dessert theatre, Bubba Jacob, Becca, Elizabeth and TJ get into a conversation about random same-sex people flirting with them...
11-15-13, Becca whispers across the table to Bubba Jacob midway through the show: "Are you wearing pants?" Me and Elizabeth look at each other. He catches our look, hisses indignantly back, "Yes, I'm wearing shorts! Had to take off my jeans so they wouldn't get caught in my robes onstage." Becca: "Okay, thought that's what it was." Elizabeth and I sigh with relief.
11-15-13, BCM director Deb is teasing Becca about getting into trouble. Becca: "Me? Oh, no....I'm sweet and innocent and not at all a troublemaker." Deb: "Hmm...nope. 'Becca' and 'sweet and innocent' don't go together. At all."
(Repeated line, after Samantha used it as Matt Kojak's cousin Maddie on the night I was sick.) "Well, whatever helps you sleep at night, guuurlll...."
(Repeated line in many variations, first used by Bubba Jacob in rehearsal of "The Parable of the Big Push" one night.) "Oh, it's a FAAAAAB-you-luss car..."
11-17-13, James as we're leaving for FBC-Keys to nobody in particular, "I meant to say 'I need to spit', only..." Everyone Else: "...Huh?!"
11-17-13, Becca's driving, Elizabeth in shotgun, with me, Susan and her friend Rachel in the back. Susan is looking out the window and remarks, "It's sad...the trees all get dressed up, and then they get naked." Awkward silence for a minute. "Oh. I wasn't thinking of it like that, but..yeah..."
11-17-13, still in the car. Elizabeth: "The basic theme of all our road trips is, like once we get there, you ask, '...But did we die?' And that sums up everything perfectly."
11-17-13, praying before our final show of the semester. "Lord, thank you for this family. They're so....so...." Susan: "Dysfunctional." "Yes, thank you! And please be with us tonight, Lord, and let us glorify You and hopefully encourage these people..."
11-18-13, practicing our second silent skit for the end-of-semester BCM meeting, after about eight rehearsals of bruises, scrapes, carpet burns and slapping people, several of us say excitedly: "I like playing a demon! It's fun." In the middle of it, Deb and Daniel P. both come in at different times and stand there, wondering if we'd perhaps lost our minds. (We're kind of like the loose cannon of BCM ministries...) "Uh....what are you guys doing?" "We're practicing! What's it look like?!" "...I'm not sure..." "Yes, of course we're practicing. What else do we do?"
10-7-13, Samantha to James, randomly interrupting a rehearsal with "Why are you wearing my purse?!"
10-13-13, Samantha to me at a Mazzio's invasion after our first program sorta-successfully ended, half the toppings fell off her slice while passing it down the table. "Wes! You gave me a naked slice of pizza! What kind of a teammate are you?!" Elizabeth mutters, "Wasn't expecting that...at least not from her." Later, I pass another slice down the table. "Here ya go, this one is fully clothed."
10-14-13, Haley commenting on new guy, Justin, dropping by to see what SWAT was like. "See, he offers to give her a ride home last night, and there he is, sitting right there. We ought to send Elizabeth home with someone every night." Everyone looks uncomfortable and slightly shocked, Elizabeth looks like she wishes the floor would swallow Haley up. Samantha, maybe, "Haley...that was...just....no." She realizes what she said. "Ohhhh...yeah. That was NOT what I meant."
10-14-13, Ja Li Si in a wonderful bit of improv in "The Parable of the Big Push", where Bubba Jacob is complaining about the car being so hard to manhandle around. "Maybe that's cause you're barefoot?" (His shoes were soaked from the rain, so he'd taken them off to dry.)
10-16-13, Me ad-libbing after getting whacked by Bubba Jacob's sword/knife as the Killer is trying to murder Susan in "Go With the Flow" at the Carter youth lock-in, "Uh, does anyone have a first-aid kit we can use...?"
10-16-13, Haley's driving, we're on our way to Taco Bell after the lock-in, Susan in shotgun, with Justin, James and I scrunched into the back. I get a text, and James to me, "Your phone is vibrating." Haley, after a second, "That's awkward."
10-21-13, Four straight references to our game-show skit "Go With the Flow" in casual conversation during dinner with Elizabeth and Justin somehow morphs and leads into an hour-long discussion about going to the bathroom. Really...
10-21-13, during the introductions at practice...."Hi, I'm James, and I'm from...uh, Fairland," (We stare curiously, he mutters) "I forgot where I was from..."
10-27-13, in the car with Bubba Jacob and TJ, he answers Becca's phone because she's driving. "Hey. Yeah, we're on our way to Carter Baptist Church, near Keys....Uh, no, this is Jacob. Becca's driving. Do you want to talk to her?" TJ and I snicker. Later on the way back, "Oh, that girl said to call you when we got there." TJ: "Well, we got there..."
10-27-13, getting set for the human video, Elizabeth opens the backstage door, smiles sweetly at audience, then slips inside. "WHERE is Jacob?!! I'm gonna kill him!"
10-27-13, at McDonald's after the Carter show, Samantha using her authoritative director tone to me, "Now be sure to get something for your throat, either hot or cold, it'll make it feel better and heal up sooner. And we NEED you healthy as soon as possible." Becca: "Something to drink that's either hot or cold? That's...like, any kind of drink..."
10-27-13, still at McDonald's. I'm looking for somewhere to eat. TJ: "You can sit by me if you want, there's room." Bubba Jacob frowns at her from across the table. "He can sit by you, but I can't?" "Yup. Cause he's nice to me," (she sticks her tongue out) "unlike some other people I know." He starts to object, she cuts him off. "Besides, Wes isn't exactly nice to me...more like just the right level of nice-ish." Bubba Jacob looks confused. "What, there's different levels of niceness?!" TJ nods matter-of-factly. "Yeah."
10-28-13, Haley and Becca shooting pool before practice. Haley: "So why can't you talk?" Becca: "My vocal chords are enlarged, and one of my professors told me that I shouldn't talk for like, two days." Haley thinks a minute. "That's physically impossible for a woman."
10-28-13, Samantha at end of recap of things to improve, "....and, Caleb, what was that you were wearing for the human video? A bright orange bandanna and a GRANDMA sweater?!" "Oh, was that what it was?" Explosion of laughter from everyone in the room. "Ye-ahh...you looked like...some ancient ninja....lady."
10-28-13, Scott: "I want to be a woman for once!" The rest of us, "Okayyy...moving on now..."
10-28-13, Samantha filling in for Ja Li Si in rehearsal of "The Parable of the Big Push", "...and Tuesday night we'll get the illusion of illustrating with our left shoulder..."
11-4-13, Elizabeth and I are shooting pool before practice. I hand her the cue stick. "Whenever you're done texting..." She types away happily. "Oh, yeah, that's me, just texting between shots...okay, taken out of context, that sounds really bad..."
11-4-13, while we're shooting pool, Becca and Justin are playing ping pong. Haley forgot something and yells at someone to go to her car and get it. "WESLEY!" "Yeah?" "Not you - uh..." she blanks out on the right name. Justin returns from an expedition to the supplies closet to get a new package of ping pong balls. "JUSTIN! That's who I meant! Where were you, anyway?!" "I just came out of the closet." Me and Haley stare at each other, unsure if we'd heard right "Not THAT closet!"
11-4-13, I throw a crushed ping pong ball(most likely the same one Justin smashed into Becca's mouth ten minutes earlier, splitting her lip) halfway across the basement into the trash can. Except it banks off of Susan's glasses on the way down and drops somewhere. "Are you okay?! SO didn't mean to do that..." She laughs. "I'm fine, it's a ping pong ball. And besides, it went in!"
11-4-13, Skylar sort-of-filling in for Scott during "Go With the Flow", at that part near the end. He just ad-libs flatly, unsure of the line, "That's it. I'm out of here." and stalks away.
11-10-13, we enter FBC-Tahlequah to get ready, everybody's staring at the fancy interior. Elizabeth, in rapture: "Holy cow....we have A REAL STAGE!!!!!!"
11-10-13, TJ and I are sharing that light blue robe, as it's the smallest. I'm using it for the monk skit, it's still swallowing me up, almost, I'm just trying not to fall down. (Or get killed by James.) I mutter to myself, "How do brides not trip over their wedding dresses?!"
11-10-13, Elizabeth, Bubba Jacob, Susan, TJ and I are eating dinner at Sam and Ella's after the FBC--Tahlequah show, they just merrily chat away (quite loudly) about carrying drugs around, how that worked -etter than gum at making friends in high school or at work. They meant things like Tylenol and ibuprofen, but still....
11-10-13, the girls are deep into a conversation about how awkward and messy crying in public can be, Susan suddenly, "We're all like, talking about this crying stuff, and you guys are just sitting there staring into space..." Elizabeth: "Hey, that's right...sorry, guys." We shrug. "It's all right, we're just...not sure how to react. When you let us know, then we'll find something to say." Bubba Jacob, as an aside to an imaginary audience, "So, tune in next week, same time, for another episode of Wes and Jacob's therapy sessions! (To the girls) Seriously, that WAS therapeutic, wasn't it? Don't y'all feel better now?"
11-10-13, They're trying to explain Twitter to me. Bubba Jacob: "....it's like, a faster way of getting your message out to people." Susan: "Right, but you can only use, like 160 characters?" TJ: "And your parents aren't on there, usually, that's another big draw." Jacob: "Yeah, cause, I mean, you don't necessarily want everyone to know what you're doing every day." Elizabeth: "That's how come there's posts like 'I pooped.' Yes, people do post things like that..."
11-10-13, TJ makes some stupid-drunk-tired comment about a leaf being a little flag. Bubba Jacob laughs at her. "You are TIRED, girl....you need to let me bed you down." (Instant pause while Elizabeth comes out the door, followed by Susan.) Elizabeth: "..What'd I miss?" Wes: "You don't wanna know...." (It hits Bubba Jacob and TJ what he said, they explain, everyone looks rather horrified.) Jacob: "I MEANT that she looked tired and needed to go to bed...." Elizabeth: "Annnd that's why word order is so important, sweetheart..."
11-11-13, Samantha to Caleb and Holly, randomly interrupting a rehearsal with "No playing beer pong during practice!" Caleb: "We're not playing beer pong...we're playing....GCP. Jesus Christ Ping Pong." Holly, unimpressed: "'Jesus' is spelled with a J..."
11-11-13, killing time between practice and the worship service, we're all gathered in the living room talking. Samantha found an empty abandoned Bud Light bottle somebody tossed into her yard to use as a prop for a silent skit we're doing for the dessert theatre fundraiser the next Friday night, it's in Bubba Jacob's jacket, and then passed around from person to person like a peace pipe. I've been holding it for a while, Susan looks at me. "You do know how weird that looks, don't you?"
11-11-13, Just after that, Elizabeth is giving me crap about something, I'm dishing it back, Susan, Bubba Jacob and TJ are all joining in, typical stuff. Me to Elizabeth: "You are such an evil sister." (We play siblings in "The Parable of the Big Push") She nods sweetly. "I know. It comes with the territory." Susan, sitting beside her on the couch: "Ya know...evilness is almost a job description of sisters...it's like the words 'college student'. What'd you guys immediately think of when I say that?" The other four of us together: "Broke!"
11-15-13, all during the dessert theatre fundraiser night, we were happily singing snippets of Disney songs at the top of our lungs.
11-15-13, prepping for the dessert theatre, Bubba Jacob, Becca, Elizabeth and TJ get into a conversation about random same-sex people flirting with them...
11-15-13, Becca whispers across the table to Bubba Jacob midway through the show: "Are you wearing pants?" Me and Elizabeth look at each other. He catches our look, hisses indignantly back, "Yes, I'm wearing shorts! Had to take off my jeans so they wouldn't get caught in my robes onstage." Becca: "Okay, thought that's what it was." Elizabeth and I sigh with relief.
11-15-13, BCM director Deb is teasing Becca about getting into trouble. Becca: "Me? Oh, no....I'm sweet and innocent and not at all a troublemaker." Deb: "Hmm...nope. 'Becca' and 'sweet and innocent' don't go together. At all."
(Repeated line, after Samantha used it as Matt Kojak's cousin Maddie on the night I was sick.) "Well, whatever helps you sleep at night, guuurlll...."
(Repeated line in many variations, first used by Bubba Jacob in rehearsal of "The Parable of the Big Push" one night.) "Oh, it's a FAAAAAB-you-luss car..."
11-17-13, James as we're leaving for FBC-Keys to nobody in particular, "I meant to say 'I need to spit', only..." Everyone Else: "...Huh?!"
11-17-13, Becca's driving, Elizabeth in shotgun, with me, Susan and her friend Rachel in the back. Susan is looking out the window and remarks, "It's sad...the trees all get dressed up, and then they get naked." Awkward silence for a minute. "Oh. I wasn't thinking of it like that, but..yeah..."
11-17-13, still in the car. Elizabeth: "The basic theme of all our road trips is, like once we get there, you ask, '...But did we die?' And that sums up everything perfectly."
11-17-13, praying before our final show of the semester. "Lord, thank you for this family. They're so....so...." Susan: "Dysfunctional." "Yes, thank you! And please be with us tonight, Lord, and let us glorify You and hopefully encourage these people..."
11-18-13, practicing our second silent skit for the end-of-semester BCM meeting, after about eight rehearsals of bruises, scrapes, carpet burns and slapping people, several of us say excitedly: "I like playing a demon! It's fun." In the middle of it, Deb and Daniel P. both come in at different times and stand there, wondering if we'd perhaps lost our minds. (We're kind of like the loose cannon of BCM ministries...) "Uh....what are you guys doing?" "We're practicing! What's it look like?!" "...I'm not sure..." "Yes, of course we're practicing. What else do we do?"
Reflections on the Gift of a Watermelon Pickle
This is an amazing poem. Written(I think) by a man named John Tobias, it bears the extremely long title "Reflections on the Gift of a Watermelon Pickle Received from a Friend called Felicity." Read through it yesterday in lit, which is where I came across it. Sort of a poetic equivalent to Lucy Maud Montgomery's The Golden Road, and the spirit of other books like it.
"During that summer
When unicorns were still possible,
When the purpose of knees
Was to be skinned,
When shiny horse chestnuts
(Hollowed out
Fitted with straws
Crammed with tobacco
Stolen from butts
In family ashtrays)
Were puffed in green lizard silence
While straddling thick branches
Far above and away
From the softening effects
Of civilization;
"During that summer -
Which may have never been at all,
But which has become more real
Than the one that was -
Watermelons ruled.
"Thick imperial slices
Melting frigidly on sun-parched tongues
Dribbling from chins,
Leaving the best part,
The black bullet seeds,
To be spit out in rapid fire
At the walls
At the wind
At each other;
"And when the ammunition was spent,
There was always another bite:
It was a summer of limitless bites,
Of hungers quickly felt
And quickly forgotten
With the next careless gorging.
"The bites are fewer now
Each one is savored lingeringly,
Swallowed reluctantly.
"But in a jar put up by Felicity,
The summer that maybe never was
Has been captured and preserved.
And when we unscrew the lid
And slice off a piece
And let it linger on our tongue
Unicorns become possible again."
"During that summer
When unicorns were still possible,
When the purpose of knees
Was to be skinned,
When shiny horse chestnuts
(Hollowed out
Fitted with straws
Crammed with tobacco
Stolen from butts
In family ashtrays)
Were puffed in green lizard silence
While straddling thick branches
Far above and away
From the softening effects
Of civilization;
"During that summer -
Which may have never been at all,
But which has become more real
Than the one that was -
Watermelons ruled.
"Thick imperial slices
Melting frigidly on sun-parched tongues
Dribbling from chins,
Leaving the best part,
The black bullet seeds,
To be spit out in rapid fire
At the walls
At the wind
At each other;
"And when the ammunition was spent,
There was always another bite:
It was a summer of limitless bites,
Of hungers quickly felt
And quickly forgotten
With the next careless gorging.
"The bites are fewer now
Each one is savored lingeringly,
Swallowed reluctantly.
"But in a jar put up by Felicity,
The summer that maybe never was
Has been captured and preserved.
And when we unscrew the lid
And slice off a piece
And let it linger on our tongue
Unicorns become possible again."
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Getting Lost
Wellll....that sure didn't go as planned.
We were supposed to head down to Sallisaw(about an hour south) tonight for a special re-do of that award-winning "Everything" silent skit for the dessert theatre fundraiser for a revival.
We get there to our takeoff point of the BCM basement just before five, set to leave at 5:20, except a couple people are late. So we play ping pong and nervously check all the props while waiting. They get there, and we discover we've lost two of the most important props, a huge wad of fake cash and a beer bottle. So we have to make a quick detour to Dollar Tree for the money and the other half of us go to Wal-Mart, buying a six-pack of root beer. Then we head out, Justin and Ja Li Si in his truck, Susan, Elizabeth, Bubba Jacob and me in Becca's car, and Caleb and some random girl none of us really know riding with Holly. It would probably be a pretty drive, if it wasn't so dark and foggy...lots of twists and hills and curves and trees, mostly in the middle of nowhere.
We make it to Sallisaw about 6:30, giving us half an hour to find the church and get set. Easy enough. Except we can't find the address on our phone's maps. So we drive through town, inspecting churches, stopping in three parking lots that are the wrong ones. It would be a really cool town to explore around in, like on a Saturday or something. So finally we talk Bubba Jacob into calling the pastor, who gives some very confusing directions that sounded really simple. "At Wal-Mart, turn right onto Maple and then drive a ways, then another right." So we hunt down Maple, and begin searching again....it's raining pretty hard by now, and we find ourselves in a neighborhood that looks pretty sketchy.
"Um....let's try that one?" someone says on seeing a parking lot next to a church that turns out to be the Assembly of God. "So, now what?" Becca asks. "Uh....we ask somebody here, I guess. There's lights on." Susan and I both say at about the same time. "I'm not doin' it." Elizabeth says firmly. "I'll do it...but I'm not going by myself," again, we say about the same time. (We're in a strange place, in a strange town, and things look kinda scary. And it's VERY DARK.) So Susan and I walk up to the doors and try them. They're locked. Knocking on the window brings two construction-worker type guys who stare somewhat alarmed. (Susan's already in costume as Death, using the Killer's robes.)
"Hi. We were wondering if you've ever heard of this church, and would you know how to get there?" One of the guys says, "Uh...well, no, I've never heard of it. But there's a Baptist church near the firehouse down there..." "Okay, thanks, we'll try that."
We relay this information to Justin and Ja Li Si, and promptly lose them at this gas station called Cox's Corner Store. "This place looks....sorta dangerous. I don't think I like it here..." Elizabeth says, Bubba Jacob agreeing. The rest of us disagree. "No....I've seen much worse." "You have no idea...." The church near the firehouse turns out to be First Baptist, which is very much the wrong one.
Finally Bubba Jacob volunteers to go ask the clerk for directions, and comes back with this report: "Well, he had no idea, said he'd never heard of the place, but there's apparently supposed to be this church that used to be called 'Blood Baptist Church' down here, maybe that's it, they were supposed to have had a name change." "Blood Baptist Church??!!!" "Yeah, like, Christ's blood, y'know?" "Uh...well, yes....but...." "I don't like this..."
We follow this new rabbit trail several miles out of town, pass three extremely empty and rather burned-out buildings that used to be churches. "Umm....you were right, Wes....this has been an adventure....I just didn't want to admit you were right," Elizabeth mutters. "I don't really like it at all....feels like we're in a horror movie." Still nothing but empty bare blackness. "We gotta turn around, as soon as possible. We're in the middle of nowhere, and there is nothing out here." Becca says. "I'm starving!" Susan complains. "Me too." Elizabeth adds. "So am I! And it does feel like a horror movie..."
Regroup back at the gas station, we've now been searching fruitlessly for an hour and fifteen minutes. Quick vote, five for giving up and getting something to eat, none for trying to get to this place. We tell the others, they gratefully agree, sick of driving in circles. "This is so frustrating....but it's almost funny, too..." Bubba Jacob says. "Yes!" "I'm sure we'll, like, look back and laugh at this later..." "We're laughing right now." "Yeah, cause we're so mad."
We get food and make the return drive back to Tahlequah, blasting the radio and singing "Don't Stop Believing" spontaneously(which was awesome.) Much quiet, then we turn the radio back on to K95 and sing along quietly to the songs we know. It seemed like something Sam and I would have dragged Josh and Dylan into, or if at camp that Jon would have masterminded, with Jed and Amanda jumping onto and pulling a couple others along. The more things change, the more some stay the same...
We drop our stuff off at the BCM building, then collapse our separate ways as we halfheartedly try somewhat to finish homework. James texts me after Bubba Jacob explains what happened while dropping the props inside, "Well, how was the road trip?" "Eh....it was interesting."
There's a lesson in here somewhere...I'm just too worn-out right now to find it. Probably it's "Don't accept spontaneous invitations on two days' notice without careful planning!" But "Deliverance Baptist Church" either is invisible, or it doesn't actually exist.
We were supposed to head down to Sallisaw(about an hour south) tonight for a special re-do of that award-winning "Everything" silent skit for the dessert theatre fundraiser for a revival.
We get there to our takeoff point of the BCM basement just before five, set to leave at 5:20, except a couple people are late. So we play ping pong and nervously check all the props while waiting. They get there, and we discover we've lost two of the most important props, a huge wad of fake cash and a beer bottle. So we have to make a quick detour to Dollar Tree for the money and the other half of us go to Wal-Mart, buying a six-pack of root beer. Then we head out, Justin and Ja Li Si in his truck, Susan, Elizabeth, Bubba Jacob and me in Becca's car, and Caleb and some random girl none of us really know riding with Holly. It would probably be a pretty drive, if it wasn't so dark and foggy...lots of twists and hills and curves and trees, mostly in the middle of nowhere.
We make it to Sallisaw about 6:30, giving us half an hour to find the church and get set. Easy enough. Except we can't find the address on our phone's maps. So we drive through town, inspecting churches, stopping in three parking lots that are the wrong ones. It would be a really cool town to explore around in, like on a Saturday or something. So finally we talk Bubba Jacob into calling the pastor, who gives some very confusing directions that sounded really simple. "At Wal-Mart, turn right onto Maple and then drive a ways, then another right." So we hunt down Maple, and begin searching again....it's raining pretty hard by now, and we find ourselves in a neighborhood that looks pretty sketchy.
"Um....let's try that one?" someone says on seeing a parking lot next to a church that turns out to be the Assembly of God. "So, now what?" Becca asks. "Uh....we ask somebody here, I guess. There's lights on." Susan and I both say at about the same time. "I'm not doin' it." Elizabeth says firmly. "I'll do it...but I'm not going by myself," again, we say about the same time. (We're in a strange place, in a strange town, and things look kinda scary. And it's VERY DARK.) So Susan and I walk up to the doors and try them. They're locked. Knocking on the window brings two construction-worker type guys who stare somewhat alarmed. (Susan's already in costume as Death, using the Killer's robes.)
"Hi. We were wondering if you've ever heard of this church, and would you know how to get there?" One of the guys says, "Uh...well, no, I've never heard of it. But there's a Baptist church near the firehouse down there..." "Okay, thanks, we'll try that."
We relay this information to Justin and Ja Li Si, and promptly lose them at this gas station called Cox's Corner Store. "This place looks....sorta dangerous. I don't think I like it here..." Elizabeth says, Bubba Jacob agreeing. The rest of us disagree. "No....I've seen much worse." "You have no idea...." The church near the firehouse turns out to be First Baptist, which is very much the wrong one.
Finally Bubba Jacob volunteers to go ask the clerk for directions, and comes back with this report: "Well, he had no idea, said he'd never heard of the place, but there's apparently supposed to be this church that used to be called 'Blood Baptist Church' down here, maybe that's it, they were supposed to have had a name change." "Blood Baptist Church??!!!" "Yeah, like, Christ's blood, y'know?" "Uh...well, yes....but...." "I don't like this..."
We follow this new rabbit trail several miles out of town, pass three extremely empty and rather burned-out buildings that used to be churches. "Umm....you were right, Wes....this has been an adventure....I just didn't want to admit you were right," Elizabeth mutters. "I don't really like it at all....feels like we're in a horror movie." Still nothing but empty bare blackness. "We gotta turn around, as soon as possible. We're in the middle of nowhere, and there is nothing out here." Becca says. "I'm starving!" Susan complains. "Me too." Elizabeth adds. "So am I! And it does feel like a horror movie..."
Regroup back at the gas station, we've now been searching fruitlessly for an hour and fifteen minutes. Quick vote, five for giving up and getting something to eat, none for trying to get to this place. We tell the others, they gratefully agree, sick of driving in circles. "This is so frustrating....but it's almost funny, too..." Bubba Jacob says. "Yes!" "I'm sure we'll, like, look back and laugh at this later..." "We're laughing right now." "Yeah, cause we're so mad."
We get food and make the return drive back to Tahlequah, blasting the radio and singing "Don't Stop Believing" spontaneously(which was awesome.) Much quiet, then we turn the radio back on to K95 and sing along quietly to the songs we know. It seemed like something Sam and I would have dragged Josh and Dylan into, or if at camp that Jon would have masterminded, with Jed and Amanda jumping onto and pulling a couple others along. The more things change, the more some stay the same...
We drop our stuff off at the BCM building, then collapse our separate ways as we halfheartedly try somewhat to finish homework. James texts me after Bubba Jacob explains what happened while dropping the props inside, "Well, how was the road trip?" "Eh....it was interesting."
There's a lesson in here somewhere...I'm just too worn-out right now to find it. Probably it's "Don't accept spontaneous invitations on two days' notice without careful planning!" But "Deliverance Baptist Church" either is invisible, or it doesn't actually exist.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Wednesday Night Reflections
It's Wednesday night, which usually lasts forever. But this has been a pleasant one, even though I've just been working on homework. It's also very close to Thanksgiving break, which though not actually much of a break, is still a good time. Been thinking over the last couple months, and the year in general, working on the "year-end recap" post, comparing this semester to last, that type of thing.
After I get back, then we go straight into dead week and then finals. So there's quite a bit of homework to juggle as projects and things are handed out in everything as students grow ever more frazzled and overwhelmed.
This semester hasn't exactly been easy, but I've gotten through it. There's been encouragement of various types many, many times, and it's good to have people praying for you. It's good to be able to pray for them, too, when possible. Over the last couple days, I've been thinking on 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he(the Lord) said to me(Paul), "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
It's been easier in a lot of ways. Used to the radical temperatures changes, able to see how most of the subjects I'm taking interconnect, and classes are going well, for the most part. Neighbors are mostly pretty easy to deal with, and I've made some friends. The aimless walks aren't taken nearly as often. And life is just a lot easier when you aren't trying to argue with God about where you might be, what the future should be like. Slowly, very slowly, learning to rest in the fact that God's in control, and things will go as He directs. I was praying over the last year, maybe, that I could just accept whatever He said and that I could serve Him in some way, wherever that might be.
What that looks like it turned into apparently meant staying in Tahlequah at NSU for a while, at least. So I've tried to make the best of it, as well as I could, and it's gone okay. I don't understand some of the things that have happened, and there's even, unfortunately, been several times when I've asked why He would organize events in that way over the last year. Not really proud of that, but....maybe it's a part of maturing, both in my faith and as part of growing up. There's a passage from the very last page of one of Wilson Rawls' books, it's dancing around just out of reach....wishing I could remember exactly how it went. Something about how our dogs may leave us, but we always carry them along in our travels, no matter where we might end up going.
Been talking to Jon a couple times within the last week, good to catch up with him, see how we can be praying for each other, that type of thing. And we got into one of our classic zany conversations with Amanda, which was pretty great. Jessica mailed a short note, mailboxes are better when something's in them. Also heard from Daniel, which was good, and talked to Steven, grateful for that.
Coming up with creative analogies all by themselves is kind of difficult, more so than you'd imagine. Especially for those really abstract concepts like "benevolence" and "honor".
Zach and I are thinking of starting a Bible-study time in spring, looking at a chunk of Scripture about once a week.
Looking forward to seeing the family again, seems like it's been forever.
Finally went to Wal-Mart yesterday, and the orthodonist appointment went better than expected, things must be working the way they're supposed to.
After I get back, then we go straight into dead week and then finals. So there's quite a bit of homework to juggle as projects and things are handed out in everything as students grow ever more frazzled and overwhelmed.
This semester hasn't exactly been easy, but I've gotten through it. There's been encouragement of various types many, many times, and it's good to have people praying for you. It's good to be able to pray for them, too, when possible. Over the last couple days, I've been thinking on 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he(the Lord) said to me(Paul), "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
It's been easier in a lot of ways. Used to the radical temperatures changes, able to see how most of the subjects I'm taking interconnect, and classes are going well, for the most part. Neighbors are mostly pretty easy to deal with, and I've made some friends. The aimless walks aren't taken nearly as often. And life is just a lot easier when you aren't trying to argue with God about where you might be, what the future should be like. Slowly, very slowly, learning to rest in the fact that God's in control, and things will go as He directs. I was praying over the last year, maybe, that I could just accept whatever He said and that I could serve Him in some way, wherever that might be.
What that looks like it turned into apparently meant staying in Tahlequah at NSU for a while, at least. So I've tried to make the best of it, as well as I could, and it's gone okay. I don't understand some of the things that have happened, and there's even, unfortunately, been several times when I've asked why He would organize events in that way over the last year. Not really proud of that, but....maybe it's a part of maturing, both in my faith and as part of growing up. There's a passage from the very last page of one of Wilson Rawls' books, it's dancing around just out of reach....wishing I could remember exactly how it went. Something about how our dogs may leave us, but we always carry them along in our travels, no matter where we might end up going.
Been talking to Jon a couple times within the last week, good to catch up with him, see how we can be praying for each other, that type of thing. And we got into one of our classic zany conversations with Amanda, which was pretty great. Jessica mailed a short note, mailboxes are better when something's in them. Also heard from Daniel, which was good, and talked to Steven, grateful for that.
Coming up with creative analogies all by themselves is kind of difficult, more so than you'd imagine. Especially for those really abstract concepts like "benevolence" and "honor".
Zach and I are thinking of starting a Bible-study time in spring, looking at a chunk of Scripture about once a week.
Looking forward to seeing the family again, seems like it's been forever.
Finally went to Wal-Mart yesterday, and the orthodonist appointment went better than expected, things must be working the way they're supposed to.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
This Must Be College Life
The first part of our editing final went pretty well, so did the Latin test. The service project thing went all right, Zach and I kept track of how many people came in through the doors.
I've been thinking, from time to time, it's like I'm starting to lead a normal college student's life. Not exactly sure if that's good or not...there's up- and downsides to that, I guess. Downsides are oversleeping in the mornings and near-complete lack of motivation to study. That means rushed mornings and not as much productivity as would be ideal, probably a lot of that is due to the semester winding down. Upside is that I'm making friends, which is helpful. Also good contacts to work with in major classes.
The dessert theatre fundraiser went pretty well, TJ could make it after all, so she was able to do her role in the silent skit. So I just filmed; we had a great time singing Disney songs and acting like complete dorks. James sang a couple songs, so did Ja Li Si, there were a few entertaining monologues, and on a spur-of-the-moment decision to fill a large empty time-gap, I grabbed TJ and Bubba Jacob to do the (extremely) short "Is It Time?" skit.
Afterwards most of our gang that was assembled(half the team was missing last night for various reasons) set out for a walk downtown. Susan, Elizabeth and Ja Li Si couldn't make it, so me, Bubba Jacob, TJ, Becca and Justin all meandered downtown and on seeing that the coffee shop, Morgan's and Boomerang were all closed, played on a playground in the park. We then hiked down to McDonald's, after small detours at a merry-go-round, a creek and a small exploration through very dark woods, eventually getting to McDonald's and getting coffee. (Still singing Disney songs, by the way.)
Conversation turned to how to infuse the Gospel and Biblical thinking principles into ordinary conversations with teachers and other students, we discussed that all the way home, too. Also the different roles we each play in the body of Christ, globally and around campus and within SWAT. On the way back, Bubba Jacob said it well, "It's like....I don't know what it is, but all of a sudden I've found out that I've got these really awesome things called friends!" We all agreed. "That's just what I've been saying!" We also were leaping around and on top of and off the sides of every single object imaginable in our paths, parkour style. It was pretty great. Four miles of good times, late at night, and our ever-important caffeine infusions.
Today's been the other side of that college-life coin, the side I'm more used to seeing: Stuck in your chilly dorm doing homework all day, with not much interesting happening. Caf didn't have anything appetizing, so I walked down the the gas station and got some supplies there. Got my psych quiz pretty much finished for Monday morning, charged the videocamera, did the last nutrition assignment this week. Watched a bit of the OSU-Texas football game, and Pixar's Cars was on TV, so of course I watched that. Love that movie. Love almost all the Pixar movies, actually...wait, that's not news.
There was a football game and back-to-back basketball games this afternoon/evening/night, but I don't know of anybody who went, except a cheerleader who had to be at all of them. It's just....I don't know. NSU sports are depressing. And besides, there's homework that needs to be done.
In the morning we're heading out bright and early(for a weekend) to head to our last shows of the semester, then working on various holiday-themed projects Monday night, Harry's giving me a ride to my orthodonist appointment Tuesday afternoon, and then just not much going on until Thanksgiving break. And then dead week and finals. But after that comes Christmastime, and then it'll be time for another four-month sentence, and hopefully it will go all right. Just gotta remember Matthew 6:34, I guess...no use worrying about tomorrow any more than you have to.
Mom said they got a blue heeler puppy named Banjo Wednesday night, looking forward to getting to meet him. Caleb's going to Dallas with for a rap concert with Bennett, Laura, Callie and some other people, Steven and Jamie are taking them all, he's pretty excited about it. Not sure when, that might have been tonight.
I've been thinking, from time to time, it's like I'm starting to lead a normal college student's life. Not exactly sure if that's good or not...there's up- and downsides to that, I guess. Downsides are oversleeping in the mornings and near-complete lack of motivation to study. That means rushed mornings and not as much productivity as would be ideal, probably a lot of that is due to the semester winding down. Upside is that I'm making friends, which is helpful. Also good contacts to work with in major classes.
The dessert theatre fundraiser went pretty well, TJ could make it after all, so she was able to do her role in the silent skit. So I just filmed; we had a great time singing Disney songs and acting like complete dorks. James sang a couple songs, so did Ja Li Si, there were a few entertaining monologues, and on a spur-of-the-moment decision to fill a large empty time-gap, I grabbed TJ and Bubba Jacob to do the (extremely) short "Is It Time?" skit.
Afterwards most of our gang that was assembled(half the team was missing last night for various reasons) set out for a walk downtown. Susan, Elizabeth and Ja Li Si couldn't make it, so me, Bubba Jacob, TJ, Becca and Justin all meandered downtown and on seeing that the coffee shop, Morgan's and Boomerang were all closed, played on a playground in the park. We then hiked down to McDonald's, after small detours at a merry-go-round, a creek and a small exploration through very dark woods, eventually getting to McDonald's and getting coffee. (Still singing Disney songs, by the way.)
Conversation turned to how to infuse the Gospel and Biblical thinking principles into ordinary conversations with teachers and other students, we discussed that all the way home, too. Also the different roles we each play in the body of Christ, globally and around campus and within SWAT. On the way back, Bubba Jacob said it well, "It's like....I don't know what it is, but all of a sudden I've found out that I've got these really awesome things called friends!" We all agreed. "That's just what I've been saying!" We also were leaping around and on top of and off the sides of every single object imaginable in our paths, parkour style. It was pretty great. Four miles of good times, late at night, and our ever-important caffeine infusions.
Today's been the other side of that college-life coin, the side I'm more used to seeing: Stuck in your chilly dorm doing homework all day, with not much interesting happening. Caf didn't have anything appetizing, so I walked down the the gas station and got some supplies there. Got my psych quiz pretty much finished for Monday morning, charged the videocamera, did the last nutrition assignment this week. Watched a bit of the OSU-Texas football game, and Pixar's Cars was on TV, so of course I watched that. Love that movie. Love almost all the Pixar movies, actually...wait, that's not news.
There was a football game and back-to-back basketball games this afternoon/evening/night, but I don't know of anybody who went, except a cheerleader who had to be at all of them. It's just....I don't know. NSU sports are depressing. And besides, there's homework that needs to be done.
In the morning we're heading out bright and early(for a weekend) to head to our last shows of the semester, then working on various holiday-themed projects Monday night, Harry's giving me a ride to my orthodonist appointment Tuesday afternoon, and then just not much going on until Thanksgiving break. And then dead week and finals. But after that comes Christmastime, and then it'll be time for another four-month sentence, and hopefully it will go all right. Just gotta remember Matthew 6:34, I guess...no use worrying about tomorrow any more than you have to.
Mom said they got a blue heeler puppy named Banjo Wednesday night, looking forward to getting to meet him. Caleb's going to Dallas with for a rap concert with Bennett, Laura, Callie and some other people, Steven and Jamie are taking them all, he's pretty excited about it. Not sure when, that might have been tonight.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
8,000 MPH and Counting
It's that time of year....and of the semester...where we fly around at 8,000 miles per hour and are sorta overwhelmed about most everything.
Saturday was one of those slow, gloomy days where absolutely nothing gets done. Kinda frustrating, but some days are like that. Watched part of The Princess Diaries, it was on TV. Made me think of this one time just after it came out on video when Mom went to our neighbor's house across the street to watch it with her, and I went to Katie's to escape such a girl's movie. When I got there(literally, it took like maybe twenty seconds between houses) her brother Chris was in the living room watching....The Princess Diaries.
Winter is settling in, I'm not exactly welcoming it, but temperatures are starting to be pretty even indoors and outside now, so that's something. (Outside temps are easier to be in, but it's still a bad idea to try to play mandolin on a 27-degree night.) And it's only TWO WEEKS UNTIL THANKSGIVING, my favorite holiday of the year. And then after that it's only A MONTH UNTIL CHRISTMAS, my favorite time of the year. Of course, that does mean finals and all the rush leading up to them....ugh.
Had to rearrange my schedule for next semester, Multimedia Writing was scrapped in the shuffle to cover Mike Brown's(the Media Studies department's photography expert) classes with him being out for a while. So I dropped government and instead am taking Broadcast Production and Advanced Video Production, since they're both core classes and they aren't going to be taught for much longer. Still at 15 hours, though, we'll see what happens...
Sunday was the beginning of a three-day productive stretch, those are good sometimes. Woke up ridiculously early, so finished a chapter in my psych textbook that I was studying, then walked down to Grace Baptist for church, got there for Sunday school, even. (Usually I never can remember what time it starts.)
Strange happening of the morning: Archibald Asparagus' line as King Saul in Dave and the Giant Pickle running through my head for no reason as I was studying: "Ahem...Excuse me, but my ears must be failing. I could've sworn that I'd heard you say that you were going to fight Goliath. But you didn't say that...did you?" And then what is the pastor's sermon on? David and Goliath. Looked for the Galdamezes, but I guess they were on vacation.
We were kind of stunned when we got to First Baptist-Tahlequah at how fancy everything was, and there was some nerves for sure gong on. But somehow it all worked together to be (by far) the best show we've done yet. Here's a clip, with the rest of them easily accessible as well. Elizabeth, Bubba Jacob, Susan, me and TJ all went to Sam and Ella's for dinner afterwards, not something you do every day, but divided among five people it's acceptable. And besides, we all agreed that it wasn't right that TJ had lived in Tahlequah most of her life and never eaten there, so that had to be fixed. That was cool, good food and interesting conversation.
Monday morning's classes went well, headed to the library to find some articles that Jessica asked me to track down for a paper she was working on. Got those sent to her, then typed up the day's Latin notes and got this week's nutrition quiz out of the way, and got a good chunk of my psych textbook read. Would've won $10,600 in the Teacher's Tournament on Jeopardy. Then practice and the worship service, and then a bit more work on a skit coming up.
Tuesday's lit class was canceled, so I slept in til about 9:45, that was good. And especially since I've been back into the 4-6 hours of usually interrupted sleep track. We all kind of panicked in editing, hearing about the changes to the schedule, but the homework was turned in, workbook stuff done, and then we had the first section of our six-part final. That....eh, we'll see how it went...everyone bombed our midterms, so the entire class's confidence was shot, so I don't feel good about it, but hopefully it went okay. Then rearranged my class schedule, got that worked out. Called Mom, got caught up on news, and then a bit more homework after watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Lost a quarter in the vending machine, too. (I know, it's just a quarter. But I'm a college student!)
Got to sleep just after midnight, woke up from a really strange dream at 4:30 a.m. Now I can't go back to sleep because then, if I did fall asleep, I wouldn't wake up until about 9 or 10, so...yeah. Shivered for about an hour, started this post, then went to the caf for some breakfast and Flo's for a coffee. It was cold this morning, 18 degrees. Then off to nutrition, psych and today's Latin test, which seemed to go better than I expected, but still not feeling too great about it. It's warmed up to high 30's, too, so it isn't too bad. (Of course, it could just be possible that my temp gauge has been forever shattered by living here for a year and a half....) And the sun's shining brightly, which always helps.
Out of Diet Coke and soap, nearly out of toothpaste, need to go to Wal-Mart...don't want to. Raaawwwrr. We haven't had a fire drill in like six weeks...that's got me a little nervous. I hate them, but that nagging feeling in the back of your mind...now watch and they'll cram eight into the last three weeks of school.
Off to work on editing homework in about an hour with a couple classmates, then tomorrow night is the faith-based floor's service project thingy serving food at First Methodist, a fundraiser for the BCM mission trip to Haiti over Christmas break Friday, nothing planned yet that I know of for Saturday(Rest? Homework? Thor?), our last two shows of the semester on Sunday, a doubleheader morning and evening; then turn in the psych quiz Monday morning and an orthodonist appointment after Tuesday afternoon's editing class. So life's pretty busy. If I can make it just about another month, then it'll be time for a quick break...Keep Calm and Carry On, right?
Saturday was one of those slow, gloomy days where absolutely nothing gets done. Kinda frustrating, but some days are like that. Watched part of The Princess Diaries, it was on TV. Made me think of this one time just after it came out on video when Mom went to our neighbor's house across the street to watch it with her, and I went to Katie's to escape such a girl's movie. When I got there(literally, it took like maybe twenty seconds between houses) her brother Chris was in the living room watching....The Princess Diaries.
Winter is settling in, I'm not exactly welcoming it, but temperatures are starting to be pretty even indoors and outside now, so that's something. (Outside temps are easier to be in, but it's still a bad idea to try to play mandolin on a 27-degree night.) And it's only TWO WEEKS UNTIL THANKSGIVING, my favorite holiday of the year. And then after that it's only A MONTH UNTIL CHRISTMAS, my favorite time of the year. Of course, that does mean finals and all the rush leading up to them....ugh.
Had to rearrange my schedule for next semester, Multimedia Writing was scrapped in the shuffle to cover Mike Brown's(the Media Studies department's photography expert) classes with him being out for a while. So I dropped government and instead am taking Broadcast Production and Advanced Video Production, since they're both core classes and they aren't going to be taught for much longer. Still at 15 hours, though, we'll see what happens...
Sunday was the beginning of a three-day productive stretch, those are good sometimes. Woke up ridiculously early, so finished a chapter in my psych textbook that I was studying, then walked down to Grace Baptist for church, got there for Sunday school, even. (Usually I never can remember what time it starts.)
Strange happening of the morning: Archibald Asparagus' line as King Saul in Dave and the Giant Pickle running through my head for no reason as I was studying: "Ahem...Excuse me, but my ears must be failing. I could've sworn that I'd heard you say that you were going to fight Goliath. But you didn't say that...did you?" And then what is the pastor's sermon on? David and Goliath. Looked for the Galdamezes, but I guess they were on vacation.
We were kind of stunned when we got to First Baptist-Tahlequah at how fancy everything was, and there was some nerves for sure gong on. But somehow it all worked together to be (by far) the best show we've done yet. Here's a clip, with the rest of them easily accessible as well. Elizabeth, Bubba Jacob, Susan, me and TJ all went to Sam and Ella's for dinner afterwards, not something you do every day, but divided among five people it's acceptable. And besides, we all agreed that it wasn't right that TJ had lived in Tahlequah most of her life and never eaten there, so that had to be fixed. That was cool, good food and interesting conversation.
Monday morning's classes went well, headed to the library to find some articles that Jessica asked me to track down for a paper she was working on. Got those sent to her, then typed up the day's Latin notes and got this week's nutrition quiz out of the way, and got a good chunk of my psych textbook read. Would've won $10,600 in the Teacher's Tournament on Jeopardy. Then practice and the worship service, and then a bit more work on a skit coming up.
Tuesday's lit class was canceled, so I slept in til about 9:45, that was good. And especially since I've been back into the 4-6 hours of usually interrupted sleep track. We all kind of panicked in editing, hearing about the changes to the schedule, but the homework was turned in, workbook stuff done, and then we had the first section of our six-part final. That....eh, we'll see how it went...everyone bombed our midterms, so the entire class's confidence was shot, so I don't feel good about it, but hopefully it went okay. Then rearranged my class schedule, got that worked out. Called Mom, got caught up on news, and then a bit more homework after watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Lost a quarter in the vending machine, too. (I know, it's just a quarter. But I'm a college student!)
Got to sleep just after midnight, woke up from a really strange dream at 4:30 a.m. Now I can't go back to sleep because then, if I did fall asleep, I wouldn't wake up until about 9 or 10, so...yeah. Shivered for about an hour, started this post, then went to the caf for some breakfast and Flo's for a coffee. It was cold this morning, 18 degrees. Then off to nutrition, psych and today's Latin test, which seemed to go better than I expected, but still not feeling too great about it. It's warmed up to high 30's, too, so it isn't too bad. (Of course, it could just be possible that my temp gauge has been forever shattered by living here for a year and a half....) And the sun's shining brightly, which always helps.
Out of Diet Coke and soap, nearly out of toothpaste, need to go to Wal-Mart...don't want to. Raaawwwrr. We haven't had a fire drill in like six weeks...that's got me a little nervous. I hate them, but that nagging feeling in the back of your mind...now watch and they'll cram eight into the last three weeks of school.
Off to work on editing homework in about an hour with a couple classmates, then tomorrow night is the faith-based floor's service project thingy serving food at First Methodist, a fundraiser for the BCM mission trip to Haiti over Christmas break Friday, nothing planned yet that I know of for Saturday(Rest? Homework? Thor?), our last two shows of the semester on Sunday, a doubleheader morning and evening; then turn in the psych quiz Monday morning and an orthodonist appointment after Tuesday afternoon's editing class. So life's pretty busy. If I can make it just about another month, then it'll be time for a quick break...Keep Calm and Carry On, right?
Saturday, November 9, 2013
SWAT
I've mentioned SWAT before, and meant to write this post earlier, just haven't had time until now. It's one of the BCM ministries, led by Samantha and Haley. With the full name of "Students With a Testimony", it's basically like a drama group, and we go around to different churches in the area and do skits and music and things like that.
How effective a ministry tool is it? I'm not sure...but it's more encouragement-focused, anyway; a way to remind other believers of truths that can be forgotten all too easily. And like Elizabeth said once, it's a neat way to evangelize without having to go five thousand miles away from home and spend tons of money. As college students, we don't really have much spare time, and we're definitely on a budget. So that's cool.
Samantha was a part of another school's SWAT group before she came here; and wanted to bring the program to NSU and the Tahlequah area. So she talked to Bob and Deb(the BCM directors) about it, and they were all for it, and then it was just needing to find people to join... She's a people person, can talk to anybody. And so that's what she did - talk to random strangers, explain what the idea was, eventually pulling together a group of twelve, including her husband Nick, Caleb and Holly.
She talked to me about it early on in the fall semester at CCF, thought it sounded really neat, but wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle anything extra with the courseload I was taking, it being the first time I'd ever been part of "real" school, haha. And I thought I should try to maintain the tradition or whatever of being a part of CCF, since Mom and Dad were, and Ryan. So I didn't explore the BCM until sometime in February, but I liked it. And she kept asking me about joining SWAT, by late spring I decided that I'd at least try and see what it was like in fall.
That's pretty much how everybody was recruited, word-of-mouth, pretty much.
I said in March that if there was anybody of the Race of Joseph on campus, they'd probably be involved with the BCM in some way. And I was right. The organization itself, for being so large and multi-layered, has a remarkable home-like feel, and the SWAT team totally has a familial air. What exactly those imaginary roles would be, we haven't fully locked down yet, but they're there.
Haley is kind of the drill sergeant aunt, Samantha the mom of the group, together they're keeping things together with a mix of strictness and sweetness. Bubba Jacob is something of the male leader, that kind of older sibling/cousin/cool uncle type. The rest of us would be an assortment of siblings, cousins, friends and neighbors. (Come to think of it, we could almost be a sitcom...Full House meets Friends meets "Messy Mondays".)
I think Haley was a part of the group last year, now taking the role of co-leader, and Caleb and Holly were back for another ride. Then the new additions were me, Becca, Elizabeth, Bubba Jacob, Ja Li Si, James, Scott, Skylar and Susan. Others only came that first day and decided it wasn't for them; a couple other people dropped out for one reason or another, and then in a couple weeks Justin and TJ were inserted.
Put us all together, and yeah, it'll be weird. But it's a good kind of weird, even if we do act like we may want to kill each other at times. We've got each others' backs, because that's what you do. As a group, we probably actually encourage each other far more than whichever audience might be watching. Because life is tough, things can be hard to deal with sometimes. Whether it's recovering from poor decisions pre-conversion or the suicide of a close friend, having autism or working as a janitor, the ordinary ups and downs of life or a myriad of putdowns people could apply to our personality quirks, there's safety in numbers(Ecclesiastes 4:12) and hopefully wisdom as well(numerous verses in Proverbs and elsewhere).
We're short, a lot of us. Some of us wear glasses. Skin tone can be more ghost-white than tan. We love reading. We really enjoy drama(like, acting.) We'll throw quotes from every conceivable pop culture reference material possible into ordinary conversations. We'll make fun of each other incessantly, and sometimes compare hunting tales. We'll beat up each other up with ping pong balls and have long dinnertime conversations that seem ridiculous. And carpooling most places, there's two types of drivers: "No way I'm riding with them!" and "Why did I pick this car?"
But all those things are okay. Maybe they're part of what stories we'll tell of things that happened in college. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the Okmulgee group, with the same kinds of people: The Outdoorsy, The Intensely Focused, That One Couple, Those Along For the Ride, etc. And there's that same spirit of messiness that somehow always seems to come together to pleasantly surprise everyone when we need it to. There are roughly equivalent personalities to Annette, the Hollises, Billy, Mariah, to name a few. They're good people.
About a third of us live in Ross, and then most others are nearby in Leoser or Logan. So we can complain about horrible living conditions and the hassles of dealing with people and broken things and insect invasions and all that other crappy stuff filed away under "Only at NSU..."
We're not going to win any awards or anything, but every practice, every show, we're improving. It's just a really good group, making some friends, and I'm so extremely thankful I'm able to be a part of it.
How effective a ministry tool is it? I'm not sure...but it's more encouragement-focused, anyway; a way to remind other believers of truths that can be forgotten all too easily. And like Elizabeth said once, it's a neat way to evangelize without having to go five thousand miles away from home and spend tons of money. As college students, we don't really have much spare time, and we're definitely on a budget. So that's cool.
Samantha was a part of another school's SWAT group before she came here; and wanted to bring the program to NSU and the Tahlequah area. So she talked to Bob and Deb(the BCM directors) about it, and they were all for it, and then it was just needing to find people to join... She's a people person, can talk to anybody. And so that's what she did - talk to random strangers, explain what the idea was, eventually pulling together a group of twelve, including her husband Nick, Caleb and Holly.
She talked to me about it early on in the fall semester at CCF, thought it sounded really neat, but wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle anything extra with the courseload I was taking, it being the first time I'd ever been part of "real" school, haha. And I thought I should try to maintain the tradition or whatever of being a part of CCF, since Mom and Dad were, and Ryan. So I didn't explore the BCM until sometime in February, but I liked it. And she kept asking me about joining SWAT, by late spring I decided that I'd at least try and see what it was like in fall.
That's pretty much how everybody was recruited, word-of-mouth, pretty much.
I said in March that if there was anybody of the Race of Joseph on campus, they'd probably be involved with the BCM in some way. And I was right. The organization itself, for being so large and multi-layered, has a remarkable home-like feel, and the SWAT team totally has a familial air. What exactly those imaginary roles would be, we haven't fully locked down yet, but they're there.
Haley is kind of the drill sergeant aunt, Samantha the mom of the group, together they're keeping things together with a mix of strictness and sweetness. Bubba Jacob is something of the male leader, that kind of older sibling/cousin/cool uncle type. The rest of us would be an assortment of siblings, cousins, friends and neighbors. (Come to think of it, we could almost be a sitcom...Full House meets Friends meets "Messy Mondays".)
I think Haley was a part of the group last year, now taking the role of co-leader, and Caleb and Holly were back for another ride. Then the new additions were me, Becca, Elizabeth, Bubba Jacob, Ja Li Si, James, Scott, Skylar and Susan. Others only came that first day and decided it wasn't for them; a couple other people dropped out for one reason or another, and then in a couple weeks Justin and TJ were inserted.
Put us all together, and yeah, it'll be weird. But it's a good kind of weird, even if we do act like we may want to kill each other at times. We've got each others' backs, because that's what you do. As a group, we probably actually encourage each other far more than whichever audience might be watching. Because life is tough, things can be hard to deal with sometimes. Whether it's recovering from poor decisions pre-conversion or the suicide of a close friend, having autism or working as a janitor, the ordinary ups and downs of life or a myriad of putdowns people could apply to our personality quirks, there's safety in numbers(Ecclesiastes 4:12) and hopefully wisdom as well(numerous verses in Proverbs and elsewhere).
We're short, a lot of us. Some of us wear glasses. Skin tone can be more ghost-white than tan. We love reading. We really enjoy drama(like, acting.) We'll throw quotes from every conceivable pop culture reference material possible into ordinary conversations. We'll make fun of each other incessantly, and sometimes compare hunting tales. We'll beat up each other up with ping pong balls and have long dinnertime conversations that seem ridiculous. And carpooling most places, there's two types of drivers: "No way I'm riding with them!" and "Why did I pick this car?"
But all those things are okay. Maybe they're part of what stories we'll tell of things that happened in college. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the Okmulgee group, with the same kinds of people: The Outdoorsy, The Intensely Focused, That One Couple, Those Along For the Ride, etc. And there's that same spirit of messiness that somehow always seems to come together to pleasantly surprise everyone when we need it to. There are roughly equivalent personalities to Annette, the Hollises, Billy, Mariah, to name a few. They're good people.
About a third of us live in Ross, and then most others are nearby in Leoser or Logan. So we can complain about horrible living conditions and the hassles of dealing with people and broken things and insect invasions and all that other crappy stuff filed away under "Only at NSU..."
We're not going to win any awards or anything, but every practice, every show, we're improving. It's just a really good group, making some friends, and I'm so extremely thankful I'm able to be a part of it.
Gone Forever
This poem was written by a guy named Barriss Mills, I probably wouldn't have ever heard of it if I wasn't taking this literature class this semester.
"Halfway through shaving, it came -
The word for a poem.
I should have scribbled it
On the mirror with a soapy finger,
Or shouted to my wife in the kitchen,
Or muttered it over and over to myself
Til it ran in my head like a tune.
"But now it's gone with the whiskers
Down the drain. Gone forever,
Like the girls I never kissed,
And the places I never visited,
The lost lives I never lived."
"Halfway through shaving, it came -
The word for a poem.
I should have scribbled it
On the mirror with a soapy finger,
Or shouted to my wife in the kitchen,
Or muttered it over and over to myself
Til it ran in my head like a tune.
"But now it's gone with the whiskers
Down the drain. Gone forever,
Like the girls I never kissed,
And the places I never visited,
The lost lives I never lived."
Friday, November 8, 2013
Unexpected Encouragement and Praise
So I didn't really like that essay at all last week. It was one of those self-reflective types, on "What Really Matters in Life". I mean, in a five-page doublespaced essay...that's nowhere near enough room. And really, even if it was, there wouldn't be enough time to write something well that was concise and deep enough to fully cover the topic. Even Ecclesiastes would probably come to about ten-to-twenty pages if you typed it out as a Word doc(but I don't feel like trying to make sure of this point). And that's about as well-done as anything can be on that subject.
Besides, I was in a hurry, having to get it finished and printed by the next morning, and not feeling completely well from the sinus infection just yet. So I didn't have time, really, to check for mechanical errors or word choice, just a quick glance-through to make sure I had the margins set right and no awful glaring misspellings. So it was full of comma splices and there was far too many pen-ink comments on the paper than I would've liked.
We got the essays back this morning in Lit, and finally finished the "Gone Forever" poem, which was good. A slightly-more-abstract poem called "To Look at Any Thing", too. At the top of the front page was an 86, which was very accurate and fair. And a bit disappointing, too. But sometimes you just have to accept that you can't polish everything as well as you'd like before deadline. Anyway, after class I'm headed out of Seminary toward Leoser or the UC or somewhere, Prof. Semrow says, "Hey Wes! Do you have time to go over your essay?" Me, wondering what was so terrible and not feeling very hopeful, "Um, sure. Next class doesn't start til 12:30, so, yeah." "Okay, great. Come on up to my office."
It's a rather disorganized workspace, filled with papers and houseplants, with a huge window with a nice view. And interestingly enough, the office right next to it belongs to Dr. Faulds. Prof. Semrow points out all the comma splices and unintentional sentence fragments, offers some suggestions on cleaning those up. Then the part I wasn't really expecting. She points to the score. "You know that's just my opinion, right?" I nod.
"Good. Cause it's like I keep telling you all, that grade is just my opinion, like all grades are, really. Just the opinions of the teachers on what we think your effort level was, and they won't really matter in the big scheme of things. And it doesn't mean it was a bad paper, just needs some work with the mechanics. And if you have to make a grammar mistake, comma splices are about the best ones to mess up on, they don't really affect the quality very much." I nod again.
"There was something about reading yours, though....you have a talent. You sort of skip around from one thought to the next, but it's interesting; makes your audience think. Some people, you know, they go from one thought to the next and follow perfectly every grammar rule, and then you wonder, 'Why did I come here?' But when I read your essay, I enjoyed the trip, it was worth it." [She's an English professor who, probably because she is an English professor, doesn't really like reading, so that's saying something.]
"There was a few scores higher than this, but you guys who were homeschooled generally had a better structure, it was clearer to understand, than most of the others." [She's also a homeschool mom, her daughter is the same age as Courtney. Besides me, there's Shelby on my left, also homeschooled all the way, and Alyssa in the corner, homeschooled until high school.]
She mentioned something called "stream-of-consciousness writing", I'm gonna have to Google that. Supposed to be some kind of flowing together nicely logic-wise of our points or thoughts or arguments, though not necessarily in an ordinary manner. Like when you go from talking about football to flowers and you wonder, "How did that happen?" But it makes sense within the conversation's context. "I don't know where that style could have come from and how you learned to imitate it, or who you picked it up from, but it was great for reading. You just can't teach someone to write like that, it's a gift."
I'll need to Google this guy named Mel Ellis, apparently he was a good writer and I write a little like him. Wrote for a Milwaukee paper and books about nature and farm life. "You've got a lot of fragments in here...but that's not all bad. If you know how to use them correctly, they can be extremely effective. And it's like you've almost got that down....most of my students are still trying to write a basic sentence, first-graders could do better sometimes. So I wouldn't even suggest that they play around with techniques like that, but you're almost at that point where you can do it. Just needs some work. Some of them were probably by accident, but then there were others that I was like, 'Whoa...that was really good."
I wasn't expecting that sort of feedback, it was so great and unexpected. "You've mentioned before you're hoping on going into journalism, and I could pick up traces of that in your style. That'd be great if you can do that, but wherever you end up, you need to keep writing, okay? You've got something....great, that doesn't happen every day. It may not win any awards or anything, but...you'll go places. Thank you for being in my class."
Honesty is a hallmark of good writing, that's one of her main class rules. And really, to some extent, the rules of any great piece of literature, however broadly you wanted to define literature. I mean, I know a handful of comic strips that could easily enter the realm of "literature", easier than something like "The Hunger Games" or John Steinbeck....anyway, Prof. Semrow mentioned several times how much she liked how the honesty seeped into the pages. Mrs. Hollis has called it "authentic and down to earth." Occasionally other people will comment that they enjoy it, people like Steven, Mr. Gundersen or Mrs. Perry, or something Damon or Trish or somebody would say in the middle of our Idol emails. Valerie always was a fantastic editor. These types of appreciative comments are extremely encouraging, because they're so unexpected. Jason said once that my writing was "direct and stylish", Prof. Semrow that it was "very unique and inviting - calming, honest and enjoyable."
I guess that means I'm on the right track.
Besides, I was in a hurry, having to get it finished and printed by the next morning, and not feeling completely well from the sinus infection just yet. So I didn't have time, really, to check for mechanical errors or word choice, just a quick glance-through to make sure I had the margins set right and no awful glaring misspellings. So it was full of comma splices and there was far too many pen-ink comments on the paper than I would've liked.
We got the essays back this morning in Lit, and finally finished the "Gone Forever" poem, which was good. A slightly-more-abstract poem called "To Look at Any Thing", too. At the top of the front page was an 86, which was very accurate and fair. And a bit disappointing, too. But sometimes you just have to accept that you can't polish everything as well as you'd like before deadline. Anyway, after class I'm headed out of Seminary toward Leoser or the UC or somewhere, Prof. Semrow says, "Hey Wes! Do you have time to go over your essay?" Me, wondering what was so terrible and not feeling very hopeful, "Um, sure. Next class doesn't start til 12:30, so, yeah." "Okay, great. Come on up to my office."
It's a rather disorganized workspace, filled with papers and houseplants, with a huge window with a nice view. And interestingly enough, the office right next to it belongs to Dr. Faulds. Prof. Semrow points out all the comma splices and unintentional sentence fragments, offers some suggestions on cleaning those up. Then the part I wasn't really expecting. She points to the score. "You know that's just my opinion, right?" I nod.
"Good. Cause it's like I keep telling you all, that grade is just my opinion, like all grades are, really. Just the opinions of the teachers on what we think your effort level was, and they won't really matter in the big scheme of things. And it doesn't mean it was a bad paper, just needs some work with the mechanics. And if you have to make a grammar mistake, comma splices are about the best ones to mess up on, they don't really affect the quality very much." I nod again.
"There was something about reading yours, though....you have a talent. You sort of skip around from one thought to the next, but it's interesting; makes your audience think. Some people, you know, they go from one thought to the next and follow perfectly every grammar rule, and then you wonder, 'Why did I come here?' But when I read your essay, I enjoyed the trip, it was worth it." [She's an English professor who, probably because she is an English professor, doesn't really like reading, so that's saying something.]
"There was a few scores higher than this, but you guys who were homeschooled generally had a better structure, it was clearer to understand, than most of the others." [She's also a homeschool mom, her daughter is the same age as Courtney. Besides me, there's Shelby on my left, also homeschooled all the way, and Alyssa in the corner, homeschooled until high school.]
She mentioned something called "stream-of-consciousness writing", I'm gonna have to Google that. Supposed to be some kind of flowing together nicely logic-wise of our points or thoughts or arguments, though not necessarily in an ordinary manner. Like when you go from talking about football to flowers and you wonder, "How did that happen?" But it makes sense within the conversation's context. "I don't know where that style could have come from and how you learned to imitate it, or who you picked it up from, but it was great for reading. You just can't teach someone to write like that, it's a gift."
I'll need to Google this guy named Mel Ellis, apparently he was a good writer and I write a little like him. Wrote for a Milwaukee paper and books about nature and farm life. "You've got a lot of fragments in here...but that's not all bad. If you know how to use them correctly, they can be extremely effective. And it's like you've almost got that down....most of my students are still trying to write a basic sentence, first-graders could do better sometimes. So I wouldn't even suggest that they play around with techniques like that, but you're almost at that point where you can do it. Just needs some work. Some of them were probably by accident, but then there were others that I was like, 'Whoa...that was really good."
I wasn't expecting that sort of feedback, it was so great and unexpected. "You've mentioned before you're hoping on going into journalism, and I could pick up traces of that in your style. That'd be great if you can do that, but wherever you end up, you need to keep writing, okay? You've got something....great, that doesn't happen every day. It may not win any awards or anything, but...you'll go places. Thank you for being in my class."
Honesty is a hallmark of good writing, that's one of her main class rules. And really, to some extent, the rules of any great piece of literature, however broadly you wanted to define literature. I mean, I know a handful of comic strips that could easily enter the realm of "literature", easier than something like "The Hunger Games" or John Steinbeck....anyway, Prof. Semrow mentioned several times how much she liked how the honesty seeped into the pages. Mrs. Hollis has called it "authentic and down to earth." Occasionally other people will comment that they enjoy it, people like Steven, Mr. Gundersen or Mrs. Perry, or something Damon or Trish or somebody would say in the middle of our Idol emails. Valerie always was a fantastic editor. These types of appreciative comments are extremely encouraging, because they're so unexpected. Jason said once that my writing was "direct and stylish", Prof. Semrow that it was "very unique and inviting - calming, honest and enjoyable."
I guess that means I'm on the right track.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Early November
Amanda asked how I was doing yesterday. I said basically that I was trying to take it about an hour at a time, then once that hour was done, start over and begin again. And that's pretty much how the last couple days have been.
It was good to be at GBC Sunday. Then back to school for the new week to begin, with a bunch of homework to finish. Well, I got through it all, not as much this week, which is a little frustrating. Next week looks to be pretty busy, and the week after that.
How is it that when you don't want to be in class at all, they run as scheduled, but when you really need them to take place, that's when it's out of session? It's like Maria told Liesel in The Sound of Music: "You can't use school to escape your problems, you've got to face them!" Yeah, but...it'd be a welcome distraction to focus on school subjects.
We were all set for lit Tuesday morning, reading over a poem called "Gone Forever", going to dissect it during the next hour or so. There's this loud noise - BRUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..........
We all leap up out of our chairs at the sudden noise, then nobody does anything, just sits there hoping the sound will go away. (Even me. Do I win a prize or something?) The fire alarm keeps droning on for somewhere between five and ten minutes, I can slightly start to smell smoke, maybe it wasn't a false alarm this time? Finally Prof. Semrow just says, "Welll....you wanna just regroup and come back on Thursday?"
We all shuffle out. "Well, that class was gone forever..."
So...there's still editing. Or not... The class mostly assembles in our usual positions around the room, all set to face down a relatively-easy day of spelling work. Then Dr. Eversole comes in and says, "Turn in your homework and y'all can leave. We'll take the workbook chapter Thursday and go home now." (It was in honor of two girls in the classcompeting? taking part in? being part of a beauty pageant that night.)
So I finally figured out which classes to take in spring and ran around the entire campus working out the kinks in the registration system. It took about two hours and two or three miles, and four tries, but I did eventually register for government(ugh), speech(unsure about this), Latin II(Yay!), Multimedia Writing(Hmm...I'll learn a lot, hopefully it'll go okay) and Media Management and Planning(No idea what to expect here, but it's one of those required core major classes.)
15 hours, Monday-Wednesday-Friday at 9, 10 and 1, Tuesday at 9:30 and 11, then online assignments on Thursdays, I think.
We've got a SWAT program at First Baptist-Tahlequah coming up this Sunday night, there will be a lot more people in the audience than we're used to. And we'll know a lot more of those audience members. And it's an enormous church. So those are a bit of extra pressure, but it should probably go all right. Basketball and acting don't line up perfectly parallel, but it's sort of like when Coach Dale measures the court at Hinkle Fieldhouse when his Hickory High team arrives for the state tournament in Hoosiers. One of the best movie scenes ever. We know the script, we know where and when we enter/exit the stage, we know our lines, it's just the building is (much) bigger, that's all. It's the same ballgame as we always play.
It's been raining a lot of this week.
Been playing mandolin and guitar a bit, little of everything except country. Mostly hymns, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness", "You Are My All in All", etc. And reading through Psalms. Just sort of trying to preach to myself as much as possible.
Bennett and Daniel each texted me, kind of sympathy, "Sorry about Copper" kind of thing.
Jessica and I pondered for a while whether animals went to heaven, hoping that they will. Can't exactly come up with concrete proof with Scripture spelled out that says that, but it seems like they would. If there are horses and freaky lion-creatures, couldn't there be more ordinary animals like dogs and cats? And if all things are supposed to be good, well, pets are good things.Of course, they don't exactly have souls, so... I don't know, and this could be completely off base. But it makes things a little easier sometimes to think that. The conversation then turned to "why do some movie scenes make us cry" and The Crippled Lamb.
Last week bought a new copy of Alan Jackson's "Let It Be Christmas" CD off his website, it came Monday, which was good. That's like, the BEST CHRISTMAS MUSIC EVER. And Dad hunted up a space heater out of the wellhouse to take to the dorm, that's been useful. Except there's this weird smell that makes me wonder sometimes if I'm at the house in the middle of January without electricity sorting through what can be salvaged from the fire...and that's not really very pleasant. But it is very warm, which is helpful. And it makes a good hair dryer.
It was sort of cold this morning...then I get back to the dorm, check the weather on KOTV's website, and it says "Temperature for Tahlequah: 41 degrees, feels like 37." Well, that would explain it...
It was good to be at GBC Sunday. Then back to school for the new week to begin, with a bunch of homework to finish. Well, I got through it all, not as much this week, which is a little frustrating. Next week looks to be pretty busy, and the week after that.
How is it that when you don't want to be in class at all, they run as scheduled, but when you really need them to take place, that's when it's out of session? It's like Maria told Liesel in The Sound of Music: "You can't use school to escape your problems, you've got to face them!" Yeah, but...it'd be a welcome distraction to focus on school subjects.
We were all set for lit Tuesday morning, reading over a poem called "Gone Forever", going to dissect it during the next hour or so. There's this loud noise - BRUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..........
We all leap up out of our chairs at the sudden noise, then nobody does anything, just sits there hoping the sound will go away. (Even me. Do I win a prize or something?) The fire alarm keeps droning on for somewhere between five and ten minutes, I can slightly start to smell smoke, maybe it wasn't a false alarm this time? Finally Prof. Semrow just says, "Welll....you wanna just regroup and come back on Thursday?"
We all shuffle out. "Well, that class was gone forever..."
So...there's still editing. Or not... The class mostly assembles in our usual positions around the room, all set to face down a relatively-easy day of spelling work. Then Dr. Eversole comes in and says, "Turn in your homework and y'all can leave. We'll take the workbook chapter Thursday and go home now." (It was in honor of two girls in the class
So I finally figured out which classes to take in spring and ran around the entire campus working out the kinks in the registration system. It took about two hours and two or three miles, and four tries, but I did eventually register for government(ugh), speech(unsure about this), Latin II(Yay!), Multimedia Writing(Hmm...I'll learn a lot, hopefully it'll go okay) and Media Management and Planning(No idea what to expect here, but it's one of those required core major classes.)
15 hours, Monday-Wednesday-Friday at 9, 10 and 1, Tuesday at 9:30 and 11, then online assignments on Thursdays, I think.
We've got a SWAT program at First Baptist-Tahlequah coming up this Sunday night, there will be a lot more people in the audience than we're used to. And we'll know a lot more of those audience members. And it's an enormous church. So those are a bit of extra pressure, but it should probably go all right. Basketball and acting don't line up perfectly parallel, but it's sort of like when Coach Dale measures the court at Hinkle Fieldhouse when his Hickory High team arrives for the state tournament in Hoosiers. One of the best movie scenes ever. We know the script, we know where and when we enter/exit the stage, we know our lines, it's just the building is (much) bigger, that's all. It's the same ballgame as we always play.
It's been raining a lot of this week.
Been playing mandolin and guitar a bit, little of everything except country. Mostly hymns, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness", "You Are My All in All", etc. And reading through Psalms. Just sort of trying to preach to myself as much as possible.
Bennett and Daniel each texted me, kind of sympathy, "Sorry about Copper" kind of thing.
Jessica and I pondered for a while whether animals went to heaven, hoping that they will. Can't exactly come up with concrete proof with Scripture spelled out that says that, but it seems like they would. If there are horses and freaky lion-creatures, couldn't there be more ordinary animals like dogs and cats? And if all things are supposed to be good, well, pets are good things.Of course, they don't exactly have souls, so... I don't know, and this could be completely off base. But it makes things a little easier sometimes to think that. The conversation then turned to "why do some movie scenes make us cry" and The Crippled Lamb.
Last week bought a new copy of Alan Jackson's "Let It Be Christmas" CD off his website, it came Monday, which was good. That's like, the BEST CHRISTMAS MUSIC EVER. And Dad hunted up a space heater out of the wellhouse to take to the dorm, that's been useful. Except there's this weird smell that makes me wonder sometimes if I'm at the house in the middle of January without electricity sorting through what can be salvaged from the fire...and that's not really very pleasant. But it is very warm, which is helpful. And it makes a good hair dryer.
It was sort of cold this morning...then I get back to the dorm, check the weather on KOTV's website, and it says "Temperature for Tahlequah: 41 degrees, feels like 37." Well, that would explain it...
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
It Couldn't Be Done
One of the finds at the book sale this year was a book of poems, well, actually two books put together, of poems by Edgar Guest, my favorite poet of all time. In it is found the full version of "It Couldn't Be Done", from "The Path to Home When Day is Done", published in 1919.
"Somebody once said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
"Somebody scoffed, "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one has ever done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
"There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackled the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it."
"Somebody once said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
"Somebody scoffed, "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one has ever done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
"There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackled the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it."
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Copper
You'd think I'd be used to it by now, wouldn't ya?
Seems like I ought to be...and in some ways, just numbed to the pain...but...no, not really, I'm not.
It hasn't been the best week ever. In fact, it's been a hard, unpleasant one. Sick with a horrible sinus infection all weekend, so I sort of stumbled through a bare minimum of homework. Had a psych quiz Monday, that went okay. Then a psych test Wednesday, nutrition quiz in the afternoon, still wasn't feeling completely well, had to write an essay - one of those self-reflection type essays - by Thursday morning, it was finished on Wednesday night, and I didn't really like it at all. Course, I don't like those where you have to talk about yourself. But it was better to have something to turn in on time than nothing, right?
Playing catch-up all week to get the stuff I should have done earlier while I was sick...it's tiring. And not much fun. And a little overwhelming. Tuesday was a bad night. Overslept Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, which is a very bad way to start the day. It was pouring rain all Wednesday morning into the afternoon, which is right where I'm in the middle of it. Killed several wasps this week.
I think I've been to church about three times in the last two months. I don't like that. But I've either been sick, or had a ton of immediate homework, or something else, and well, there you are. Don't like Halloween much, though I did actually dress up for about an hour. (MacGyver.)
Friday was a beautiful Oklahoma fall day, one of the rare times you can slip out of "distressed college student" mode and just be able to marvel and appreciate the trees and colors and sunshine. Nobody showed up for an extra-credit nutrition assignment of walking two miles, so I went down to Morgan's and got some snacks, a mile-and-a-half trip. Came back home yesterday afternoon, found a new Lucy Maud Montgomery book to read, played music with Courtney, heard about her trip, petted the goats, etc. Did laundry today(Saturday), watched Amy, got a little bit of homework done. And said goodbye to Copper.
I was reading a book in the living room, possibly a Thoene book or Mitford, on the night of Sept 13, 2010, sprawled out sideways on the blue chair. (I know the date because I mentioned this in my journal that I kept then.) I hear this bark. And it doesn't stop. So eventually I tune into it, don't recognize the tone. It isn't Sunny, and not Sport. Not Skeet, either, or any of the neighborhood dogs. Dad looks out the window. "It's a dog." Someone sets some food and water out on the porch. "Come here, dog! We've got some food for you!" The dog retreats farther down the sidewalk.
"You try it, Wes." I crouch down, set the bowls on the weathered boards. "It's all right, it's okay. We've got some food here, you came to a good place. You knew that, didn't you?" The dog scurries into the far corner from the door, but still, that's on the porch. She wags her tail slightly, thwapping it on the wall. (During the Depression, hobos had this special sign that they made on houses designating the good places, I think animals have a similar system, and ours is marked as such.)
The red heeler's hurt leg eventually heals, she sticks around and becomes Copper, sort of fills the void left by Eclipse and all the cats. She was a little of everything - watchdog toward the UPS man, barking menacingly and scaring him to death; friendly to Mrs. Perry or whoever else might be visiting. Once in a while she'd kill a chicken, but it was usually one of the neighbors'. She would placidly endure Amy tugging on her ears and tail, or getting right up in her face while trying to eat. She was always hanging around somewhere near the porch to bark the Welcoming Committee Song and wag her entire body happily. She'd sometimes eat up the leftover scraps from dinner, but she was a picky eater. Didn't like dog food much at all.
Always there to cheer you up when you looked like you needed it. If you were worried with school or whatever, a happy thumping tail could be heard as she made her way over to wherever you were, slipping her nose under your hand and gently smiling. She really didn't like me going off to college. Always would leap up excitedly and give me a bear(dog?) hug and lick me all over with kisses whenever I came back to visit.
She got hit by something on Hwy. 16 either late Friday night or early Saturday morning, we wondered where she was. Finally searching in the evening, we found her, with a broken leg, head slightly burned...I was watching Amy, keeping her distracted. There wasn't anything possible to do, though...other than try to say goodbye, and "thank you", and weep bitterly.
I know, life isn't fair. And I know she was only a dog. But dogs are family. Most pet-animals are. But now, to be dogless in the space of four months... Completely dogless, surrounded by people and ice-cold concrete and thinking way too much. And when I'm still trying to deal with Sunny being gone...I just...I don't know what to do. How do you cope?
"You try it, Wes." I crouch down, set the bowls on the weathered boards. "It's all right, it's okay. We've got some food here, you came to a good place. You knew that, didn't you?" The dog scurries into the far corner from the door, but still, that's on the porch. She wags her tail slightly, thwapping it on the wall. (During the Depression, hobos had this special sign that they made on houses designating the good places, I think animals have a similar system, and ours is marked as such.)
The red heeler's hurt leg eventually heals, she sticks around and becomes Copper, sort of fills the void left by Eclipse and all the cats. She was a little of everything - watchdog toward the UPS man, barking menacingly and scaring him to death; friendly to Mrs. Perry or whoever else might be visiting. Once in a while she'd kill a chicken, but it was usually one of the neighbors'. She would placidly endure Amy tugging on her ears and tail, or getting right up in her face while trying to eat. She was always hanging around somewhere near the porch to bark the Welcoming Committee Song and wag her entire body happily. She'd sometimes eat up the leftover scraps from dinner, but she was a picky eater. Didn't like dog food much at all.
Always there to cheer you up when you looked like you needed it. If you were worried with school or whatever, a happy thumping tail could be heard as she made her way over to wherever you were, slipping her nose under your hand and gently smiling. She really didn't like me going off to college. Always would leap up excitedly and give me a bear(dog?) hug and lick me all over with kisses whenever I came back to visit.
She got hit by something on Hwy. 16 either late Friday night or early Saturday morning, we wondered where she was. Finally searching in the evening, we found her, with a broken leg, head slightly burned...I was watching Amy, keeping her distracted. There wasn't anything possible to do, though...other than try to say goodbye, and "thank you", and weep bitterly.
I know, life isn't fair. And I know she was only a dog. But dogs are family. Most pet-animals are. But now, to be dogless in the space of four months... Completely dogless, surrounded by people and ice-cold concrete and thinking way too much. And when I'm still trying to deal with Sunny being gone...I just...I don't know what to do. How do you cope?
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Expectation
This post, typed on my bed with Rags lying asleep under my chest, is an essay written by Quaker pastor and novelist Philip Gulley, the creator of the Harmony series. It's from his 2001 book Front Porch Tales.
"Was over visiting my folks one morning, and Ray stopped by to borrow Dad's car. Dad and Ray became friends when Dad served on the town board and met Ray, who worked for the sewer department. Ray's one of those eminently useful men it pays to know if you need something done - from getting a raccoon out of your attic to nosing out the most likely spots for morel mushrooms to setting off the town fireworks on the Fourth of July. In a specialist world, Ray's a generalist, which inclines me to think well of him. The problem today is that too many folks know a lot about a thing or two, but not enough folks know a little about a lot of things. If you don't believe that, just try to find a doctor who'll mend your feet and your nose in the same visit.
"Ray started working for the town when he graduated high school. College was out of the question, it costing money and Ray not having any. Instead, he married his high school sweetheart. They settled into a small house on outside of town and slipped into the lifestyle Ray's parents had come from - work, raise your kids, hope they turn out right, and pray to Jesus that Social Security is still around when you retire. And every now and then, lie awake at night frustrated that your kids can't have the same things the doctor's kids have.
"Ray and his wife had a first-born daughter who hit school like a cyclone. Made straight A's, which startled the teachers, she being Ray's daughter. It wasn't that Ray lacked enthusiasm for learning, it's just that he never was one to let school get in the way of his education. His interests lay elsewhere. I'm that way myself. Took me until eighth grade to figure out that algebra wasn't a line of Playtex undergarments.
"Ray's daughter kept up her grades. Outhustled the doctor's kid to becoming the class valedictorian. But the halls of Harvard don't exactly overflow with sewer-worker offspring, so she was trying to get used to a career in fast food. Then a college in Ohio, scouting around for smart kids with gumption, offered her a free education, and her dream of becoming a psychologist grew closer. So she went to Ohio, and Ray, whose truck kicks up a fuss when driven past the county line, borrows my dad's car once a month to go visit his daughter, of whom he's fiercely proud.
"There's a heap of people pulling for that young lady. Lot of folks who stop Ray on the street to ask how she's doing. When she went to Ohio, she carried a passel of expectation with her. If she fails, the entire town will basically lose its will to live. other than that, I don't think she's under much pressure.
"Some people would crumble under her heavy weight of expectation. But what would crush others seems only to enliven her. What I'm betting is ten years from now she'll be charging a doctor's kid two hundred dollars a session to help get his head on straight. He'll moan about how his parents expected too much, and she'll tell him to grow up and get a life - in a therapeutic way, of course, and with appropriate sensitivity. Then the next time she sees her dear old parents, she'll give them a hug and whisper "Thanks for believing in me."
"She's learning early on what takes most of us a whole lifetime to uncover - that expectation is a blessing, not a curse. It's a beautiful thing when people expect something decent of you. It means you've given them reason for confidence. Like when John the Baptist was born and his father sang a beautiful song about all the things his boy would do. Then his boy went out and did them.
"Many a powerful life has its start in expectation."
This has repeated itself in my mind many, many times over the last year or so.
"Was over visiting my folks one morning, and Ray stopped by to borrow Dad's car. Dad and Ray became friends when Dad served on the town board and met Ray, who worked for the sewer department. Ray's one of those eminently useful men it pays to know if you need something done - from getting a raccoon out of your attic to nosing out the most likely spots for morel mushrooms to setting off the town fireworks on the Fourth of July. In a specialist world, Ray's a generalist, which inclines me to think well of him. The problem today is that too many folks know a lot about a thing or two, but not enough folks know a little about a lot of things. If you don't believe that, just try to find a doctor who'll mend your feet and your nose in the same visit.
"Ray started working for the town when he graduated high school. College was out of the question, it costing money and Ray not having any. Instead, he married his high school sweetheart. They settled into a small house on outside of town and slipped into the lifestyle Ray's parents had come from - work, raise your kids, hope they turn out right, and pray to Jesus that Social Security is still around when you retire. And every now and then, lie awake at night frustrated that your kids can't have the same things the doctor's kids have.
"Ray and his wife had a first-born daughter who hit school like a cyclone. Made straight A's, which startled the teachers, she being Ray's daughter. It wasn't that Ray lacked enthusiasm for learning, it's just that he never was one to let school get in the way of his education. His interests lay elsewhere. I'm that way myself. Took me until eighth grade to figure out that algebra wasn't a line of Playtex undergarments.
"Ray's daughter kept up her grades. Outhustled the doctor's kid to becoming the class valedictorian. But the halls of Harvard don't exactly overflow with sewer-worker offspring, so she was trying to get used to a career in fast food. Then a college in Ohio, scouting around for smart kids with gumption, offered her a free education, and her dream of becoming a psychologist grew closer. So she went to Ohio, and Ray, whose truck kicks up a fuss when driven past the county line, borrows my dad's car once a month to go visit his daughter, of whom he's fiercely proud.
"There's a heap of people pulling for that young lady. Lot of folks who stop Ray on the street to ask how she's doing. When she went to Ohio, she carried a passel of expectation with her. If she fails, the entire town will basically lose its will to live. other than that, I don't think she's under much pressure.
"Some people would crumble under her heavy weight of expectation. But what would crush others seems only to enliven her. What I'm betting is ten years from now she'll be charging a doctor's kid two hundred dollars a session to help get his head on straight. He'll moan about how his parents expected too much, and she'll tell him to grow up and get a life - in a therapeutic way, of course, and with appropriate sensitivity. Then the next time she sees her dear old parents, she'll give them a hug and whisper "Thanks for believing in me."
"She's learning early on what takes most of us a whole lifetime to uncover - that expectation is a blessing, not a curse. It's a beautiful thing when people expect something decent of you. It means you've given them reason for confidence. Like when John the Baptist was born and his father sang a beautiful song about all the things his boy would do. Then his boy went out and did them.
"Many a powerful life has its start in expectation."
This has repeated itself in my mind many, many times over the last year or so.
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