Lindy's Blog

Snowmageddon Stats

2010-02-16T11:45:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know that it's been a million years sense I last posted. I've been busy, up until a week ago when DC was treated to the most snowfall it's seen sense 1892. Yes, as in 112 years.

I was basically stuck in the house from Friday the 5th until Friday the 12th (I did go to work in last Monday and Friday) . In honor of this dubious occasion, I thought I would share my Snowmaggedon stats.

Deepest snowdrift in our backyard- 40 inches

Time waited in the grocery store line on Tuesday night- 1 hour (Yes we were part of that particular madness, it's not my fault we were out of milk)

Number of lessons I had to reschedule- 30

Time it took me to get to work via public transportation on Monday between the snowfalls- 2 hours (It normally takes me 20 minutes)

Number of times a fell down while trying to get around outside- 4

Movies watched- 6 (The Princess Bride, Shakespeare in Love, Pride and Prejudice, Empire Records, Singin' in the Rain and Star Trek)

Heroes episodes watched- 16 (Yes I know that I'm a dork, and I know that this show isn't that good, but it was oddly memorizing while the snow was falling down.

Baked goods created out of sheer boredom- 3 batches of cookies and an apple crumble

Settlers of Catan games played in my iTouch- 200 (Ok, so this one's probably an exaggeration, but I played it a LOT, like enough that I had to fully charge my iPod twice on Wednesday)

Happiness factor of my puppy as she got to bound though snow twice her hight- 10

Happiness factor for me while tromping thought knee deep snow so my puppy could frolic- 3 (and all 3 of those points come from seeing her so happy, none from actually being outside)

Days until our street got plowed- 5

Percentage of sidewalks shoveled last Monday- 30%

Percentage of sidewalks shoveled today- 70%

Oh, the funny.

2009-06-04T09:18:00.002-05:00

My students are hilarious. Every once in a while they say something so funny that I have to write it down and add it to my facebook quote section. I thought that you would also enjoy some of my students "greatest hits" in terms of goofy stuff.

"With spagetti- gravity applies, with jello, no gravity whatsoever "- Hugo Hentoff, 11.

"Everything but by brain is annoyed. I've got to make everything right so it gets unannoyed"-Matthew Dittersdorf, 11.

"My muscles have amnesia"- Victoria Barnett, 9

"I'm going to be an actress......or a welding artist"- Victoria Barnett, 9

"I would think that zombies would prefer their brains with a side of fries....."- Hugo Hentoff, 11

I'm asking a favor

2009-03-18T07:28:00.003-05:00

I have a brand new beautiful website! I think it's amazing- but the problem is what google has no idea that it exists. I've found out the best way to solve that is by posting a link on my website- and then having people use it. So I'm asking that everyone who glances at my site to just hit the little hyperlink under the post. It would really help me out.

If anyone wants to even more amazing- the more links that exist to my website also help. So if you have some out of the way place on your blog and wouldn't mind posting my link there- you might just find out that you are my favorite person in the whole world.

Anyway- here is the link. www.firstnotesacademy.com

In other news- Luke and I are in the midst of house hunting. It's frustrating and stressful and I just want it to be over. The housing recession has NOT reached DC- so tiny little homes are still 300,000. Finding the right house in the right neighborhood in the right condition (we need it to be awful for it to be in out price range) is hard, and when we do make an offer we keep getting out-bid. I just want to pull my hair out.

Obama-mania

2009-01-20T18:40:00.002-05:00

Happy Inaguration Day! Luke and I had a great day (he got the day off because they closed every possible route between our house and Luke's work). Here was the scedule

10:30 am- Started watching the inaguration. I thought Michelle Obama's gift to Laura Bush was a great idea (no- this is not a long standing tradition, Michelle thought it up all by herself).

12:00- The inaguration actually starts. I really liked Obama's speech- it was very inspiring without just being a conglomeration of feel good sound bytes.

12:45- Head down to lunch at Ben's Chilli Bowl. I decided that this was what I wanted to do to celebrate the inaguration. Ben's is a DC institution, and Obama famously ate there a few weeks ago with our Mayor. We waited about 30 min to eat (pretty good, the wait is over 2 hours now), and it was totally worth it. Best Chili Dog Ever.

1:45- Took our picture in front of a red, white and blue "OBAMA" ice sculpture.

1:50-3:00- We decided to keep walking around and see what else was going on- so we walked to our bank in Dupont Circle, and then back home. Highlights were the street vendors selling huge amounts of Obama stuff. My personal favorite was a T-shirt with Obama's face plastered onto the body of a boxer and some slogan about him being the champian. There was a cummunity board covered with messages to Obama- many congratulations and my personal favorite: "Don't pardon Bush!"

Insert Clever Movie Quote Here

2008-12-05T11:00:00.002-05:00

I know that it's been a long time, I used to be an awsome blogger, but then my life got just a little busyer- so here is the last month in point form.

1. The "Obama is coming!" good vibes have continued here in DC. My students and moms were buzzing about what school the first kids are going to go to. They picked the same one the Chelsea Clinton went to because it has the most secure campus and such. It's about half a mile from Middle C and I have a couple of private students that go there, so it's very exiting.

2. My parents and brother and sister came down to DC for Thanksgiving. It was a fun time. I created an apple theme with thanksgiving dinner, which is ultimate proof that I can and will theme anything. The Apple Cider Sweet Potatoes were about the best thing I've ever had in my life- so I'm declaring it a sucess.

3. My very first ever Christmas tree is up! My favorite store (Word Market) sells Christmas ornaments, many of which are Asian inspired. I have mostly traditional stuff, but I also have dragons, teapots and geisha girls on my Christmas tree. I was afraid it would look silly, but it dosen't. I'm convinced that I have the best Christmas tree ever.

3.5. I have added a fifth day of teaching on Thursday. This should allow me to expand to about 50 students. Hopefully this will make buying a house easier.

4. My student's recital is today! Recital day is always fun, and stressful. I'll be happy when it's over and I can stop harping on my kids to practice. This recital features two original pieces written my my students (one called "Hard Liquor to Fight the Power"- teenage rebellion can be so funny), a drumset duet, and two sisters playing "Wild Thing" featuring the store owner Myrna on vocals. It's going to be memorable.

5. My Christmas shopping is almost finished! I need to start wrapping, but I'm having trouble finding the right paper. I want solid colors or simple graphic patterns. This is a lot harder to find that it sounds.

Shiny Happy People

2008-11-06T09:09:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday I voted for the first time ever. Walking up my street I noticed that there was a real exitement in the air- kind of like Christmas or a 4th of July. Waiting in line took over an hour and it was kinda fun, I was expecting up to 3 hours because that's what the new said the wait would be in DC.

I went to bed after they called Pennselvania- I have never doubted that Obama is going to win this election. At midnight Luke and I were woken up to fireworks, cheering, crying, horns honking and sirens going off.

That's how I learned Obama won- now lets see what happens.

The obligitory political post

2008-10-27T10:21:00.002-05:00

America sucks!

I am truly at a loss at who to vote for. I'm uncomfortable with Obama and McCain. I was going to vote for the Libertarian, until I did some research and found out that Bill Barr wrote the Patriot act back when he was the most right wing republican in existance. He has sence recanted of his previous beliefs, but I can't get behind him either.

GRRRRRRRRR.

Here come three kings a riding, with a rancy, tancy, tiddyio

2008-09-23T15:09:00.002-05:00

First Notes Academy is off and running. Now I'm filling my days preparing to sing things like the post title. The babies are way cute though.

The fall sememster of dance classes has started and I've re-entered my tap and modern classes. Fun stuff. Two hours of dance has done nothing to help me loose weight however. A little frusterating.

I was walking to Starbucks yesterday (I know, big suprise) and saw an ice-cream truck with bumper cables coming out of it getting a jump by another car. It was really funny l0oking.

My private lesson scedule is maxed! I have a waiting list, and am trying to decide if I want to add a fifth day of teaching? Money vs. free time- the age old question.

Netflix has a new "watch now" feature on it's website. I've been able to watch Heroes and The Office whenever I want- good for my happieness, not so much for my produtivity level.

It's starting to cool off. The other day I had to put on a short-sleeved cardigan over my tank-top. So sad, until I think about all my friends in Canada who are colder right now- and that makes me feel better.

4 years

2008-08-22T09:36:00.003-05:00

Luke and I have been married 4 years as of yesterday, so yea for us.

We have lived in eight places, in three time zones, and two countries.

We have entered and left full time ministry.

We are now both working full time and have small buisnesses.

We are NOT planning on having a baby anytime soon.

We are looking for the perfect house. It must be at least 75 years old and on a busy street for me.... It needs to have a backyard of some description for Luke.

I'm expecting this process to take at least 2 years.

I'm much happier in general than I was four years ago.

This is about as sappy as I'll get in a public forum, so there you go.

Running for President is REALLY Hard

2008-08-19T13:14:00.003-05:00

So Obama and McCain each gave us a list of their top ten songs. Here they are. I'm a little disturbed that our future leader bothered with such a thing. And I don't agree with a single entry on either side.......

BARACK OBAMA
1. Ready or Not Fugees
2. What's Going On Marvin Gaye
3. I'm On Fire Bruce Springsteen
4. Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones
5. Sinnerman Nina Simone
6. Touch the Sky Kanye West
7. You'd Be So Easy to Love Frank Sinatra
8. Think Aretha Franklin
9. City of Blinding Lights U2
10. Yes We Can will.i.am

JOHN McCAIN
1. Dancing Queen ABBA
2. Blue Bayou Roy Orbison
3. Take a Chance On Me ABBA
4. If We MakeIt Through December Merle Haggard
5. As Time Goes By Dooley Wilson
6. Good Vibrations The Beach Boys
7. What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong
8. I've Got You Under My Skin Frank Sinatra
9. Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond
10. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes The Platters

In honnor of that I thought I would try to make a list for myself.

You've Got to Hide Your Love Away- The Beatles
Allelujiah- Rufus Wrainright
You Can't Stop the Beat- Hairspray
I'm Not Afraid of Anything- Songs for a New World
Give me One Reason- Tracy Chapman
That Thing You Do- "The Wonders"
Loosing My Religion- R.E.M.
Change The World- Eric Clapton
By My Side- Godspell
Samson- Regina Spektor

Remember this is my top ten favorite songs, not my top ten best songs. That would be a dramatically different list. They are in no particular order, because I have things to do today.

More Gay Marriage Stuff

2008-08-13T16:19:00.006-05:00

I was really happy with the response that I got from the article I posted. I thought I would respond to parts of the article and responses.

"Liberal-minded Americans should like this proposed arrangement because everyone gets treated the same, and the state deprives no one of his or her rights based upon sexual orientation. If a gay couple is denied the right to marry, it would only be because their religious community denied it, in which case they could turn to a church or synagogue that would consecrate their marriage."

Glo said.....

"I also have a question for you, what happends when a minister, priest, bishop, or rabbi refuses to preform the marrage cerimony and the homosexual couple deside to play the bigatry card?"

Right now, it depends on the denomination. The Catholic Church is fine. The evangellical church could get bankrupted by lawsuits when same-sex marriage becomes legal. I know that the Wesleyan Church has no legal protection built into the discipline (a lawyer friend and I looked it up for fun one night). If you got sued for denying to marry a same sex couple, you would loose. If we don't have anything to do with the civil side of marriage, than that stops all law suits cold. This would be the BEST thing for us, on several levels, legal being only the first.

Dobson thinks that gay marriage can be compared to "Our D-Day or battle of Stalingrad".

Seriously? How warped must Christiantity be in his mind of our #1 priority is an American church is to make sure only the "right" kind of people get married. This makes me naucious. Lets ignore all the people dying to focus on national policy. Lets ignore the direct commandments of Christ (even stand in the way of them, lets be honest about that) in favor of an something that Christ never once mentioned! I think that the issue has poisioned the Church- distracted us from the real issues, and pushing people away over an issue that DOSN'T REALLY MATTER!

Why I do I think that same sex couples should be afforded the same rights as straight couples?

There are some situations that same sex couples find themselves in because of the current laws. It costs thousands of dollars in lawyers fees to set up next of kin with someone who you have no legal relationship with- like your same sex partner of 30 years. What happens if one ends up in the hospital? If the biological mother dies and the kids are taken away from their other parent and relocated. Cross-adoption is possible, but illegal in many states and very very expensive, which leads me right too.....

Dena said.....

"Many would say that a same-sex couple does not bring the kind of stability that a hetero couple does. Also, this would open adoption to gay couples, since it would be harder to deny them the right if they are legally married. Not sure where I stand on that one yet, just bringing up a thought."

There are no statistics avaliable about whether or not the divorce rates of homosexual couples would be higher or lower than the current national average. I think that people are people and the rates will be the same, but that's just my opinion. There is nothing about the structure of same-sex partnerships that would set couples up for failure, or guarantee success.

The adoption issue is a big one. I don't really have a problem with it personally, but I can understand why other people do. One thing I think needs to be protected is allowing both parents to still parent in the event of a death of parent or divorce. Loosing a parent is much more trumatic than being raised with two mommies. Looking at children of divorced straight parents is enough.

This is all I have for now. Feel free to comment- I'm really enjoying this discussion.

Gay Marriage: A Way Out- By Oliver Thomas

2008-08-05T09:59:00.003-05:00

I found this article on Yahoo news. It expresses my opinion perfectly, and I thought you should all read it.

Want to break up this summer's family reunion a little early? Mention gay marriage. Some of the cousins, citing the Hebrew scriptures, will call it an abomination. Others, citing the Biblical command to love our neighbors as ourselves, will say it's the proper arrangement for couples of the same gender who love each other and had no choice over their sexual orientation in the first place. Whatever your take on the subject, gay marriage may be the most divisive issue to face America's faith community since slavery. The latest opinion polls bear this out. A CBS poll in June showed 30% of Americans favor allowing same-sex marriage, 36% against and 28% favoring civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

Here's something else to consider. While California and Massachusetts have declared same-sex marriage a legal right, a razor-thin majority of one judge rendered each of those decisions. Other states like New York, and Washington as well as the federal government have rejected gay marriage as a legal right. And, although some commentators in the wake of the California decision have declared the issue to have been more or less resolved, it's far more likely that conservative religious leaders are gearing up for a protracted battle that could even affect the presidential election.

James Dobson of Focus on the Family, whose radio listeners number in the millions, once called the battle over gay marriage "our D-Day or Gettysburg or Stalingrad." Do we now expect him to cut and run? The same could be said of Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee, who proclaimed, if the prohibition against gay marriage falls, "you can kiss this country goodbye." Extremes? Perhaps, but the point is that our nation remains deeply divided with seemingly little hope for consensus.

Despite the yawning divide between the supporters and opponents of gay marriage, there may be common ground here. Consider this: Doesn't the U.S. Constitution separate church and state? In most ancient societies, it appears that the institution of marriage was conceived by religious communities, not the state. Even the ancient Code of Hammurabi suggests this. For the western world, it is Genesis (not the Magna Carta) that first declared that for this cause a man "shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

The state's interest in marriage derives from marriage's obvious benefits to the broader society. Marriage creates more stable relationships and families, more financial security and a better environment for the rearing of children. All of these are desirable things in which the state has a legitimate interest. Thus, married couples must enter into a binding civil contract that can only be dissolved by order of the court. But again, these are merely civil concerns. They do not go to the heart of whether or not a marriage exists in the truest (i.e. religious) sense of the word. Even today, some religious communities such as Orthodox Jews require a religious document called a "get" in order to dissolve a marriage. A civil divorce, albeit legally required, is insufficient and will not enable the couple to remarry within traditional Jewish law.

Given the state's legitimate, though limited, interest here, shouldn't all couples — be they gay or straight — be given the same civil contract with all the attendant legal rights and obligations? After all, legally committed couples provide the same financial and familial stability, be they gay or straight. In short, everyone who wishes to marry could be given a civil union agreement from the state. Whether a couple goes on to have a wedding ceremony would be up to them and their church. But the thing that would be enforced (or dissolved) by the state would be the civil agreement.

Theologically, this puts marriage back where it belongs. Constitutionally, it protects churches from having the government dictate to them which relationships they should or should not sanction. Finally, this sort of arrangement would be much easier to handle administratively, as couples could simply go to the County Clerk's office and sign their civil union agreements in a matter of minutes. Current practice strains the patience of the parties and blurs the church-state line. Couples must purchase their marriage license, take it to a minister, rabbi or other official recognized by the state who must then perform their ceremony, fill out the license and return it to the courthouse for filing.

Liberal-minded Americans should like this proposed arrangement because everyone gets treated the same, and the state deprives no one of his or her rights based upon sexual orientation. If a gay couple is denied the right to marry, it would only be because their religious community denied it, in which case they could turn to a church or synagogue that would consecrate their marriage.

Conservatives should like the arrangement because religious institutions will not be forced to recognize relationships that they feel are contrary to the teachings of scripture. Nor will they be forced to call something "marriage" that to them plainly isn't. At the same time, the proliferation of domestic partnerships would create more familial and financial stability.

There is, of course, the natural law argument that because procreation is the key aspect of marriage, gay couples should be disqualified. But, remember, this isn't a "marriage." It is a civil contract. Second, if procreation were our primary concern, current law wouldn't allow the elderly or the infertile to marry. But we do. Partnership, not procreation, is the primary feature of current marriage laws.

Two distinctly different paths lie before us. On the one hand, the nation can continue to fight. Indeed, California voters may overturn their high court's decision as early as November when a state constitutional ban on same-sex unions will appear on the ballot. I spoke with retired Mormon college professor Gary Lobb recently who said his church is conducting a campaign from church pulpits to overturn the decision. The Catholic bishops have also denounced it. Depending on which side turns out more voters, a similar initiative on the Florida ballot could tip the outcome of the entire presidential election.

But there is another path — one that requires compromise, but not the surrendering of principles. All it requires is for some wise state legislators to take the First Amendment seriously enough to get their state out of the religion business and put marriage back where it belongs.

In the church.

What other town has the Empire State, and a mayor that's 5 foot 2?

2008-05-26T09:48:00.004-05:00

Kara and I went into the City yesterday. It was a great day. The highlights.....

'Wichcraft- Tom Collicio (of Top Chef fame) owns a restaurant in Bryant Park. It's a series of four pagodas that does soup, salads, sandwiches (hence the name) and ice-cream. The food was amazing (I had a goat cheese, avocado, celery and watercress sandwich) and it was great to sit outside in the park and eat. Bryant Park may be my favorite place in the city that I've found so far.

The East Village- I love downtown New York. It's so beautiful and interesting. I loved going into interesting stores and people watching. I got a new bag from an Asian Store.

Union Square- The best part of my day was going to Union Square because they were having a big "Taiwan Days/Earthquake relief day. Kara and I found Bing! I'm sure the previous statement was meaningless to you, so to explain- Bing is Tiwanese ice-cream. They shave ice and put sweetened condensed milk, syrup and other stuff like nuts and/or chocolate chips. Kara and I were so exited- we haven't had bing in 15 years! The people serving it were so nice when they found out that that we lived in Taiwan.

Lion King- It was so amazing. I've never see a play so visually amazing before. The costumes and sets. So amazing. There is something so amazing about seeing a play because everything is happening right before you. No camera tricks, no second chances, just human talent. All the actors were amazing, and I loved how everything was done in a way that pointed to traditional African art. The dancing, costumes, backdrops- sometimes it seemed to be more of something Alvin Ailey would do than a Broadway show. It was definitely the most artistic play I've ever seen.

Lindy's Cheesecake- We didn't have time to go in and sit down, but I did get to go and have by picture taken in front of the sign. Depending on when my bus is leaving I'll try to make it there on Tuesday.

"Luck be a Lady tonight"

2008-05-11T14:38:00.003-05:00

This weekend stood out to me because I seemed to have a windfall of good luck.

On Friday I went to put money on my metro card. There was a transaction going on- but no one around. I waited around for a few minutes and cancelled the transaction. I was shocked when a $20 bill popped out at me! I waited around for another few minutes and took the money to the control station. They told me to keep it because they don't have a lost and found for money.

Later that day my boss called and asked if Luke and I wanted to go to the baseball game with her and her husband. The people who bought the tickets cancelled. These seats were amazing! 26 rows from the field, between third plate and home base. It was awsome! Luke was in heaven. I discovered that I'm really afraid of fly balls when they come anywhere near me. We had a great time.

On Saturday Luke called me and said that we were going to the Symphony. Another friend of ours was leaving town and has season tickets- so he gave them to us. I saw a Verdi Overture and an amazing Pagannini Concerto. I've never seen violin playing like this. The second half was a crazy piece called Final Alice, following the last chapter of Alice in Wonderland. It's a crazy book, and the music was equally crazy. There was a Soprano soloist singing and doing spoken narration. She took the crazy to a whole new level! Pigtails, sparkly dress. It was hilarious. We had a good time.

Now I'm at work (my last day of retail ever). We have more plans tonight to celebrate the graduation of a friend of mine. I'll recover on Monday.

"Time on my hands"

2008-05-07T09:35:00.002-05:00

Sense I have a wealth of time on my hands starting Friday, my goal for the summer is to get a life do stuff. Here are my Summer goals

Loose Weight- We joined a gym, securing the final nail in the Yuppie urbanite coffin. I was a bit skeptical about whether or not I would actually use it- until I visited the place. Classes are included in the price of the membership, and I should be good about going to a weekly class. Also- the tredmills/excersize machines are all equiped with individual TVs. Sense one of my issues with gyms in the past was that I've always found them boring, problem solved!

Remember how to Cook- Luke has been cooking about twice a week, and I've been cooking none. I tried the other day and realized that I've forgotten how to cook! I'm sick of eating out so much, and sense I'll have every morning free there is no reason I can't put something together every day. I really liked cooking to, so hopefully I will again.

Get involved in Church- We've been going to a Church on and off the the last 5 months. I'm working very hard at not jumping in and getting involved- and I didn't have the time. Now I do though. I like the pastor and his wife a lot- but I liked some of the other ones who turned out to be bigoted manipulators too, so I'm taking it slow. I do miss playing though, maybe I'll be ready by the end of the summer.

Go to the Park- There is this awsome park near me. It's on a hill and has a bunch of staircases and fountains cris-crossing it. It's kind gothic looking, which I think it way cool. Hopefully I will be able to bring a blanket and a book and connect with nature (or as close as I feel the need to be).

Become a little graceful- I'm taking the summer off from tap class and have decided to take the Adult Ballet class instead. Kendra's stoked. I'm a little hesitant about it- but I figure that it might help me become more graceful, which I would love to be.

Prep for the Fall- My baby classes start in the fall. I have to work out the curriculum, buy the supplies, decide exactly how many classes and for what age group.

So much for my life of leisure.......

Honest to Blog?

2008-04-23T11:58:00.003-05:00

Things are going pretty well down in DC.

I'm counting down the days until I'm done with retail, which is kind of hard because I don't know exactly when I'll be done, just that it will be sometime in the next month.

Eco-Green Lawn Services is named and legal! Now we are working on getting buisness cards, flyers and a web site up. Our test lawns have been started. I have fertalizer in my guest bedroom.

First Notes Acadamy has been named, but that's as far as I'm going to go until I'm done at Middle C.

The dace recital is coming up. I've progressed from looking completly silly to looking like an average adult student. Still a far cry from looking like a dancer, but neither does anyone else and I'm having fun even if I havn't lost any weight.

My entire family and Kendra's entire family is coming down for the recital. While they are down we will be have the "Taylor birthday extravaganza!"- a joint party for me, Ian and Kara. I have no idea what I'm going to plan for this.

For Memorial day I'm going up to NYC to visit Kara! We are going to see a show (Spamalot is our default, but we are hoping to get discounted tickets to Wicked, Spring Awakening, Putnum County, or Avenue Q). I'll be in the city for three days, and it's over Kara's birthday, so I don't know what else we are going to do. It will be nice to spent that time with Kara though.

The same weekend Luke will be going up to my parents house to help my Mom landscape her yard (for the first time ever). I love my husband.

My student recital's are coming up. I have so many students with so many conflicts that I'm have two recitals. One on Saturday May 31st and one on June 4th. The kid's solos are really coming together. I have two drumset duets that I'm super exited about!

Last quote was from Empire Records- so congratulations Dena. This one should be ubber-easy because it's on a commercial for the movie.

What's with you today? What's with today, today?

2008-04-09T10:47:00.005-05:00

All kinds of exiting things have been happening on DC, and I thought it was time for an update.

1. My position at Middle C Music is changing. I'm leaving the retail aspect of my job completly and focusing on teaching. I'm so happy- this means no more 10 hour days! It also means that I will go from working 6 days a week to 4. I could say that I don't know what I'm going to do with myself- but I do. I'm going to join a gym and loose weight. I'm also going to do more housework (more on that later), and plan my music classes....which brings me to

2. I'm starting a small buisness! I am going to teach music classes for young children. I have my cirriculem and and going to spend the summer making sure every class is set, as well as buying materials. I'm going to do this teaching at Kendra's dance studio and at Middle C. I completly terrified- to the point of being a bit irrational. I know that I can teach, but something about having a lot of kids at the same time, and having their mothers/nannies there as well completly freaks me out.

I'm trying to think of a name for my little venture. It should be one or two words and involve the concepts of kids and music/rhythm. Any ideas?

3. Luke is also starting a small buisness! He is going to be selling/applying an organinc, environmentally/baby friendly fertilizer to lawns in the area. He is starting his test lawns today. We are also trying to figure out a name for his buisness, so this should be a great post for all those creative types. Because Luke is going to stay at his job full time in addition to his new venture, the timing for me to cut my hours back was great. He's been doing all the cooking and cleaning for the last two years, and I think we are both ready to switch roles again.

Matt got my last quote- can he do it again? Hint- it's from a movie I've already quoted from on this blog.

They are totally Jesus-centric.....and gorgeous!

2008-03-10T10:45:00.002-05:00

Every once in a while I find out something that's happening in the "Christian Sub-Culture". It's usually from this very blog network, or from the very rare times Luke insists on listening to the Christian radio station while we are driving. I generally grit my teath and bear it until one of three things happens. A Ray Boulten/Amy Grant/Sandie Patti/Twila Paris song comes on, a preacher/devotional comes on, or they ask for money. Then I throw up a little bit in my mouth and turn the radio completly off and brood in silence because I'm angry at something- but I can't quite put my finger on what.

I've been thinking for about a month about what my problem is. I've boiled it down to a few fundemental reasons.

1. Quality Control

Let's be honest and say that Christian entertainment sucks. I'm sorry but it does. I think it has to do with the fact that Christian media is made seperately from everything else. We have our own recording studios, movie studios, TV Stations, publishers, ect. It's out of touch, and has poor production values. Every once and a while I come across a glowing exception. I still like Caedeman's Call and Waterdeep.

2. Message

One of the reasons I think the quality of Christian Media is low is because the message is the most important part. Quality and nuance is secondary to making sure that the reader/listener/watcher has the perscribed reaction. The easiest and most effective way to do this is through emotion. In his book Everyday Apocolypse David Dark says that this is the very definition of propoganda. He finds it immoral and repugnant. I agree. When I listen to film-makers that I respect and admire they never say "This is what I want people to do/feel as a result of this movie". They tend to say "I wanted to explore the dynamic between these things." I know it's a subtle difference- but important to me.

When I hear songs like Thank You or What I Do For You I get scared. And I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know. This isnt' a secret. As an evangelical culture we are comfortable with "tugging the heart-strings" if it brings people close to Jesus. We will admit it. I took classes about how to do it! I can no longer say "the end justifies the means". The line between being a bit emotional and being manipulative is just to hazy, if it exists at all.

3. Message Part 2

When the answers are the most important part of the artistic equation it makes it impossible for us to explore areas of life, or the Christian walk that have no answers. The result is that we completly ignore them in our media. To be fair I'm sure that there are exceptions, but they are so few and far between that I don't bother to look for them anymore. We also tend to ignore the crappy side of life. According to our media we become Christians and suddenly we are happy, fulfilled, purposful, ect. I guess that great when it's true about you- but if it's not it can develop a bit of an complex- ultimately hurting your relationship with God.

4. Sub-culture

This one's been done to death, so I don't really need to. Some people like being able to escape using their media. That's fine I suppose- but don't then try and convince the rest of us that you are being more spirtual because you can't maintain your relationship with God if you hear a dirty word.

5. Money

We spend billions of dollors every year on the "christian sub-culture". On Christian T-Shirts, the 35th vegietale DVD, on our own rock concerts and "testimints". We could be helping people instead. It's unconscionable and we should be ashamed of ourselves.

To drained to come up with a clever quote

2008-02-28T11:15:00.002-05:00

It's been quite a week.

Last Tuesday we got a phone call from Luke's mom. Chad, Luke's best friend, died. He had been sick for a long time, so there wasn't a shock element, but it will hurts. He was about to get married.

We left Thursday to head up to Canada for the funeral. It was nice to head back up there, even under those circumstances. We haven't seen Luke's family for about 2 years, so it was great to see them. Sarah's girls have gotten a lot bigger, and cuter. They managed to get me on a sled, in the snow. Yes there is something that will make me interact with cold and snow, apparently it's 3 year olds calling me "Aunt Lindy".

It was a pretty good weekend with them. Luke's parents watched the Oscars with me, and even got into it a little bit. I didn't do quite as well this year with my predictions, but still beat Luke (which is all that really matters).

We came home Tuesday, just in time for dance class. I got my recital costumes today. They are hilarious! I get to wear a pillbox hat for the tap number- I'm so exited.

Anyway- that was my week. All the good and all the bad seem to be canceling each other out leaving be feeling kind of ambiguous in general.

I wouldn't necessarily believe everything Briony tells you. She's rather fanciful.

2008-02-13T12:08:00.005-05:00

Kendra and I went to see Atonement las weekend. I had mixed feelings about it.

Plot Synopsis- Briony misunderstands the budding romance between her older sister and Robbie. Thinking she is protecting her sister Briony makes up a story that leads to multiple lives being ruined.

You guessed it- it's a laugh out loud comedy!

The things I liked about the movie- Kiera Knightly! She was amazing in this role. On a side note there was one dress that she wore that make be want to time warp myself back to 1930 so I could dress like that. All the acting was great actually.

The cinematography was exceptional. Beautiful colors and filters were used. The music was awesome. Because much of the action takes place writing letter on a typewriter, the composer used that sound of the old fashioned typewriter as a percussion instrument throughout the movie. I think that's brilliant and gave this really amazing unsettling mood to the whole thing, which is great considering the plot.

The plot twist at the end is also very interesting. It leaves you unsettled when you walk out of the theater. I liked how the plot didn't take the normal romance route. We never had to deal with a love triangle for example. It was refreshing to see a romance go in a different direction, even if it's not so happy.

Things I didn't like about the movie- I think that the filmmakers spent more time on the beautiful imagery than actually developing the characters. I can think of two specific instances where they could have cut without detracting anything and applied that time to us actually getting to know the characters. Not that they did a bad job with the time that was alloted, but I think there could have been more.

Content Alert- there is a very graphic sex scene. I don't think it's gratuitous, but still enough be offend a lot of people- so don't say I didn't warn you.

Do I recommend this movie? I can't think of anyone who reads this blog that would like it, even though it's an exceptional film, but if you want to watch a great movie with great acting for the artistic value, not entertainment value I would recommend it.

Warren- Who glued these quarters down? AJ- I did. Warren- What for, man? AJ- I don't feel I have to explain my art to you, Warren.

2008-01-30T11:57:00.001-05:00

Art vs. Entertainment.

It's an important distinction for Christians to be aware off. The are not the same- and we can't measure them by the same yardstick.

There are a lot of definitions for art. Wikipedia defines it as "a diverse range of human activities and artifacts, and may be used to cover all or any of the arts, including music, literature and other forms. It is most often used to refer specifically to the visual arts including media such as painting, sculpture and printmaking. However it can also be applied to forms of art that stimulate the other senses, such as music, an auditory art." Pretty much anything involving paint or stone or tone I suppose.

My definition of art actually comes from my definition of an artist. I believe an artist is someone who sees the word in a specific way and expresses their view of the world through some sort of artistic medium. I believe artists first and foremost see things that are happening- they make connections and maybe even try to put on paper a different way of doing things. Anything that comes out of artists is art. It doesn't matter if it is visual or auditory, or a combination of both.

Entertainment, according to Wikipedia is "is an activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience". I totally agree with this definition. Entertainment is in some ways the antithesis of art. While the artist is screaming "Wake up, don't you see this too?", the entertainer is lulling their audience into a pleasureful and relaxing mental state.

Now- don't think that I'm knocking entertainment. Laughter and relaxation are important for humans to remain healthy. I should also point out that many artist entertain to get their point across (satire for example) and many entertainers have some pretty profound things to say about the world. It's not perfectly clear cut- but the intention of the work usually puts something on one camp or the other.

This definition becomes important to me when I'm judging content of books, movies or music. I have little if any tolerance for nudity, cruelty, gratuitous violence, sex or language- in entertainment. I won't watch horror movies at all- why scare myself for fun? I refuse to see anything starring Will Farrel, Seth Rogan and whoever else does movies like that. If I want to be entertained that it's going to be good-hearted and fun. Give me Star Wars any day.
I have much more tolerance for this type of stuff in a movie that is not designed to entertain, but to say something.

If it's a movie that sets out to explore family dynamics, or failure, or even sex I'm going to be a lot more tolerant about the content of the movie because the content is not gratuitous. It's not entertaining me with sex or violence, it telling a necessary story that has to use these things as narrative devices. I'm not saying that everything is OK- I don't need to see some stories, but they have a right to be told- and they should be told honestly, even if that exposes some ugly parts of humanity.

Why are Christians so afraid of the way the world actually is? Human depravity is certainly theologically correct and chronicled in detail in the Old Testament. While I don't condone reveling in it I think that people who have lived through evil times, who have had true injustices done to them deserve for their stories to be told honestly, not watered down so that we feel good about it. And even if it's not an atrocity- simple stories that touch all of us should be told too.

I don't think that what I'm saying is really all that foreign- when the Passion came out it was embraced, for the reasons I've stated above. We need to extend this same thinking to other movies and books. Take a good look at the media that comes out- what is the intent of the creator? Why are they using nudity, language or violence? To entertain or to be honest?

Now, if you are convicted about a specific thing- nudity for example, great, I'm not about to stand in the way of any kind of personal decisions. I think it's important to remember that these are personal convictions and opinions. There is no universal standard that we can honestly hold others to.

This last quote was from Blazing Saddles- which I saw once and didn't think was that funny. It's really hard to find a quote about the Oscars though. This next quote is from one of my favorite movies. It's from the mid-90's and was Liv Tyler's break-out role.

*The quote isn't perfectly accurate, I cut out some gratuitous words :)

You will be risking your lives, whilst I will be risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor.

2008-01-22T16:27:00.000-05:00

I love Oscar season! It's the only "sport" that I follow, and the Oscar's are the culmination- kind of like the Superbowl. The nominations came out today- and I can't say I'm really surprised with most of the nominations, but some observations.

Best Leading Actor: Poor Johnny Depp- he's becoming the Susan Lucci of the Academy Awards. This is his third nomination and he doesn't have a chance! It's going to come down to Daniel Day Lewis and George Clooney. I haven't seen either movie yet (I'm going to There will be Blood this weekend), so I don't really have an opinion. A Middle Earth shout out to Vigo for scoring a nomination as well.

Best Supporting Actor: I don't really have an opinion at all on this category- other than Philip Seymor Hoffman is awesome and I love him. I'm also really happy that this is the only nomination for Charlie Wilson's War because I really didn't want to see it.

Best Leading Actress: Ellen Page Rocks! I'm so exited that she got nominated. No way she's going to win though- it's already a two way contest between Julie Christie and Marion Cotillard. I
can't say I blame anyone- from everything I've heard about these performances they are both very deserving. I might even go see Away from Me. It's going to be mad depressing though so I don't know.

Best Supporting Actress: I'm rooting for Cate Blanchett playing Bob Dylan. Think about it- Cate Blanchett= Bob Dylan. Really that should be enough said on the matter.

Best Picture- It's tough this year. I haven't seen anything but Juno yet- but I'm hoping to see There will be Blood and Atonement before the ceremony. My little sister said that I'm not old enough to see No Country for Old Men. She's usually right about movies that I'll like, so I'm not planning to see it. I don't want to see Michael Clayton because it will probobly be preachy. George Clooney only does vapid films (Oceans 16 anyone?) or preachy films. I'll let you know what I'm voting for in this category later.

The last quote was from Running with Scissors. It made me laugh. This quote is from a Mel Brooks movie released in the 70's. I'll admit I cheated on this one and found it on an online data base- so don't feel guilty if you look it up to.

According to Hope, Froyd died of kitty Lukemia. According to me Froyd died of being trapped in a laundry basket for four days without food or water

2008-01-20T16:16:00.000-05:00

Good news at last!

Dan and Joy came this weekend to visit. It was great to spend some time with this (sans twins) and show off my new apartment. We didn't really do anything all that epic- some Apples to Apples and brunch this morning at my favorite resteraunt in Eastern Market.

I now have a morning off! There are to many people working at Middle C on Friday mornings- so there is no reason for me to come in. I'm so exited that I'll have some time other than Sunday for me to get some stuff done. I've been putting off doctors appointments, DMV visits and everything else.

Maybe when all that is done I'll get some stuff done around the house- do you think that would convince people that I'm not a raving feminist? I don't think so either- but I'm sure Luke will appreciate not having to do the laundry anymore.

The last blog quote was from Seabiscuit. I even specifically picked a movie I thought might be something that a Wesleyan would watch- oh well. BTW- it's a good movie, I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

This quote is from a movie released in 2006 starring Annette Benning. Good Luck!

You don't throw away a life just because it's a little banged up.

2008-01-16T12:22:00.001-05:00

On the Ooze there was a post created titled "What have you changed your mind about?" This was my answer- "I am no longer an Evangelical. I am no longer a Republican. I am no longer in any kind of vocational or active ministry. I am afraid of Christians".

I have changed a lot. I'm trying to forge a new identity for myself. Rebuild my life up from nothing. In my honest moments I understand why people have walked away from Christianity. Only the tenuous thread that is the very existance of God Himself is keeping me from going completly off the edge.

Anyway- now that I've thouroughly depressed myself even more I'll end this before I let my thoughts wander down even more cynical and defeated paths. I don't really know what the solution to these problems are. How do you get over the repeated abuse of multiple pastors in a row? Where do you go when the only plan you had for yourself sense before you could walk closes it's doors to you because you seem to be unable to toe the party line?

Where do I go from here?

And the guitar sound... is incindiary. Incendiary. Way to go.

2008-01-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

I've become recently addicted to Guitar Hero. It's the best game ever! I'm a solid medium on everything- and I'm starting to do bass parts on hard, although having the fifth button is seriously trippingm me up.

BTW- this is the first real "guess the qoute" on my blog sense the first one turned out to be Mark Twain being clever and if you couldn't figure out the last one was from Juno you need to stop trying now.

Here's a hint- it's from a movie that came out in the last 10 years. Happy guessing.

"I mean....I'm already pregnant, what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?"

2008-01-10T10:10:00.000-05:00

NO- I'M NOT PREGNANT!

I went to see Juno on Sunday- and it was one of the best movies I've ever seen, on various levels.

Basic Plot Synopsis- Juno finds herself pregnant. She decides to put the baby up for adoption. It's the story of the nine months and how the people involved react and grow during this time.

The Script- Great script. Some of the best one liners sense Neapolitan Dynamite- except where N.D. was absurd and didn't really had a plot, the plot arc's and character development was amazing. They did so many things so well. They showed a realistic story of adoption. They showed great "not so perfect- but we still love each other" family dynamics. It also does a great job with the relationship between Juno and Bleaker (the father). They react like teenagers would react. They don't communicate well, and they don't know what the other person is thinking about this whole thing.

Eccentricity- My favorite part of the movie was the random stuff that makes Juno different without making her a freak. Juno has a hamburger phone. At one point she moves an entire living room set from one lawn to another in the middle of the night. She's funny. Her mind moves in ways that you wouldn't normally think off.

Music- Very similar to the music in ND actually. Sweet simple indie rock stuff that helps with the "we are weird but have a big heart" thing that they seem to be going for.

Political- One of the biggest issues with the pro-life vs. pro-choice is that no one seems to talk about abortion. It's one of the least discussed options- and when it does come up "Are you really going to give up your baby?" is what is said the vast majority of the time. I don't think movie is a "pro-life" movie at all, but I think it does give another perspective to the issue where teens are involved. Youth pastors especially should see this- the content isn't really that bad in terms of even watching it with your teens.

Funny- This movie is bar none the funniest movie I've ever seen. I was laughing so hard the guy next to me was giving me funny looks during the movie. Not only was I laughing- but Luke laughed, and my best friend Kendra who prefers who comedy without any sense of irony. Her husband liked it to. I don't think there has ever been a movie all four us of thought was funny before. The moral of the story- go see Juno. You will love it!

Rummers of my death have been greatly exagerated

2008-01-02T10:44:00.000-05:00

So I know that not blogging for two entire months is vaugely unforgivable- mostly because people don't read my blog anymore so it's not doing as much for my narcissistic side as it did. Not that I didn't have a good excuse- two full time jobs and a move dominated the last month, and on top of that there was that inconsequential celebration known as Christmas, that didn't take up any time really......

Anyway- here is what has happened in the oh so fascinating life of Luke and Lindy lately. Luke went full time at Mt. Vernon Estates. For those of you who slept through history class, it was the home of George Washington. He digs holes and plants trees and other such things. Now that he's full time we get medical insurance! It's a huge weight of my shoulders to know that if one of gets hit buy a car we won't have to declare bankruptcy.

I'm done with my student teaching! It's a nice feeling. I'm going to miss all my kids though. My Tuesday afternoon drum class cried when I told them I was leaving. Gratifying, in a making kids cry sort of way. Now I'm back at Middle C. I've added a bit more lesson time, but really I'm trying to figure out what to do from here. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Luke and I were itching to get out of our sardine can of an apartment, and we found the perfect place for a great price! It's back in the city in a developing area called Columbia Heights. It's a very diverse working class neighborhood within walking distance of two of the "hot spots" in the city- Adams Morgan and U St. I'm really happy to be back in the city the apartment is beautiful. It's two bedrooms with a dishwasher! It's 720 square footage and also has a good amount of storage. I'm so happy with it I can't even describe. It's also cut down my commute from an hour to about 30 minutes.

I've never made New Year's resolutions before, but this year they sort of came out, so here they are.

1. To NOT move. This is my nineth move in three and a half years. The goal is to stay here until we can buy something.

2. Go see more plays and shows

3. Buy the majority of my food from local growers and/or independently owned grocery stores. Also look into ways I can do similar thing with the other things I buy (clothing, books, ect).

4. Now that I have time on my hands again I'll blog more, so I don't have to make that a goal. What I do want to do it title every blog post with a quote from a movie, TV show or song. The person who can name the source gets a prize (in the form of a virtual high-five).

Happy November!

2007-11-02T13:02:00.000-05:00

This is my second November in DC, and I still love it so much. Right now what I'm loving the most is that it's November and I just have to throw on a sweatshirt to go outside. Take that Canada!

For her birthday, Kendra wanted to go to "Let's Dish". You go to this store and they have different meals set up for you to make, that are designed to be put in your freezer and heated up later in the month. I now have Apricot-crusted salmon, cranberry chutney chicken, burbon sirloin steaks, and chicken and wild rice chowder waiting in my freezer for Luke to heat up. It was actually a lot of fun to do. My friend Allison and I split the smallest package to make it a little more affordable (it's pretty equivalent to a grocery bill though). I have a feeling Kendra and I are going to have to make this a monthly tradition.

It's kind of pathetic that the only way to get home-cooked meals is to go to a strip-mall where they lay everything out and you can do it all in 2 hours. I guess that's the city for you. Honestly though, I just have no time to cook anything, so we have been going out to eat way to much and I'm getting sick of it. I'm sick of the money we spend and I'm sick of unwrapping my food. Sometimes I miss my old scedule from Calgary where I could spend 45 min every day cooking. It was fun. Not really an option for someone who is out of the house for 13 hours a day though.

Other happenings- I'm starting to teach more at school. I'm liking the little kids a lot, and I'm really not liking the older kids. I think that running a band program would cause me to stab myself in the eye. I'm going to concentrate on elementary general music. It's way fun- you get to play games all day long. The tough part is that you have to change the activity up every 15 min or so because small children have the attention span of small cats. Sometimes I feel like I'm a clown standing up there trying to keep their focus. When all else fails have the march around the room in a circle.

Luke has been working crazy hours this week because the president is going to have lunch with the french president at Mt. Vernon. Luke has had to re-sod a perfectly good lawn so the pictures turn out perfect. I didn't know that I could be more annoyed with Bush.....but I can.

We are looking for yet another apartment- again. This one was always meant to be temporary, it's to small and dosn't have an exaust fan in the bathroom, making everything damp. We might more back into the city, closer to my work, or into different neighborhoods. I dread moving again though. I want to take my time and find a place that will be a long term solution until we can buy a condo or something. We might also wait until Luke finds a job. I love my city, but sometimes I wish I could have it as easy as the country people.

A Sad Post

2007-10-30T15:14:00.000-05:00

Luke resigned from Cornerstone Wesleyan. I can't in good conscience share the details on a blog read by so many members of of Wesleyan Clergy, that's all you get. I don't see ourselves ever going back into vocational religious ministry with the Wesleyan Church.

There is an odd freedom that has come though. We are completely at peace with our decision and Luke is applying at non-religious non-profits like homeless shelters, soup kitchens, advocacy groups. I think that we will ultimately get more ministry done in a venue like this, especially considering Luke and I have always been called to the poor.

We are looking for a new Church. For the first time in my like I get to choose! We are going to find one were my "feminism" isn't looked down upon, hopefully with a strong compassion ministries program. We have found one United Methodist Church, but I would like something a bit less liturgical. Maybe even emergent in philosophy. I really have no idea with is out there, so this will probably take a while. Either way Luke and I aren't going anywhere this Sunday.

Update

2007-09-20T18:14:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit tired- but that's to be expected. I got sick last week so Myrna is looking for someone to take over my retail hours- what would give be two evenings off a week. I'm really really exited about that.

I found a new drum method that teaches drum set through Greenday, Blink 182, Metallica, ect. I've been sitting at a CoSi (good food and free WiFi, what more could you ask for?) for the few hours downloading all the music I will need for this. Everything from while my guitar gently weeps to roxanne.

I'm also starting to plan my winter recital, so I'm on the lookout for decent snare drum and drum set solo books. There is so much crap out there.

I went and saw Hairspray- I have to say it was probobly one of the best times I've ever had at a movie. I highly recomend i.

I'm also watching Big Love. It's pretty good, and it's nice to watch something about religon that isn't about Christianity.

We are buying a couch tomorrow- whoo hoo! It's a sleeper sofa so we can still have company in our miniscule apartment.

Creme Brule cheescake is really good.....just thought you should know.

Fall Scedule

2007-09-13T17:29:00.000-05:00

Monday- Friday

8:15-9:15- Cummute to Fillmore
9:30-2:30- Student teaching at Fillmore
2:30-3:30- Afterschool work/cummute to Middle C
3:30-8:00- Retail/Lessons at Middle C.
8:00-9:00- Cummute home
9:00- Collapse

Saturday

9:00-10:00- Cummute to Middle C
10:00-4:00- Retail/Lessons at Middle C
4:00-5:00- Cummute Home
Evening- Date Night/Hanging out with friends

I'm tired. I'm stressed. I don't know how much blogging I'm going to be able to do until Christmas when my student teaching is over.

On the plus side I hit the 25 students mark, and I'm really exited about that. I have 5 little girl students, and I love them. We are learning to drum to the High School Musical soundtrack.

Because I have no imagination......

2007-08-22T18:48:00.001-05:00

I'm copying Matthew....

Top Ten TV Shows (in no particular order)

I Love Lucy- Without this show the center of the TV industry would be in New York instead of LA. They also invented the studio audience. And it's the funniest show ever.

Firefly- One of the best examples of a TV network killing an amazing TV show. The concept of melding western's and sci fi was groundbreaking. I can count the number of character driven sci fi on one hand it's so hard to pull off. The acting and script where some of the best. If you havn't seen it rent it on DVD- even people who hate sci fi like this show. It's also my favorite show ever.

The Office- Deadpan comedy was perfected on this show. The script and acting are amazing, and it changed the way comedy was approached.

Lost/Alias- I couldn't choose between these two .J. Abrams shows. I personally like Alias better and think that because the cast was smaller the characters were better developed than on Lost. Nothing Lost can come up with will ever compare with the complexity of the Drisow family tree. However Alias made some fundemental plot mistakes, while Lost has been able to remain consistant in where it's going.

The Simpsons- It's fallen a long way from it's former glory in the late 90's. Considering that it still took social commentary presented in comedy to a whole new level and also made it OK for grown-ups to watch cartoons. Just try to forget the last five years.

Star Trek- It's an entire empire at this point! 5 long running TV shows, and 10 (I think) feature films. The have the best fans ever, and if you know anything about the cold war- Gene Rodenberry used different races to represent different countries/point of views and explored different scineros about how they can interact. It also brought Sci Fi to the masses, which I'm personally grateful for.

The Mary Tyer Moore Show- Have you seen it? It's hilarious! It was also the first TV show about a single working woman- giving girls a role model that can take care of herself. The femmanist in me salutes you.

The Twilight Zone- The poduction values where so high that sometimes they felt like watching a short movie. I loved how in the Twilight Zone most things were normal, with a small but important difference. There was always a lesson to be learned and even though they were never scary they always make me feel a little unsettled. They always made me thing about hummanity and the messes we get ourselves into.

The Sopranos- It's probobly the best show of all time in terms of quality. It changed the expectations that people had of a TV Show. The acting, writting, plot arcs were all amazing. It probobly has had some of the most profound insights into human nature that we have ever seen anywhere, certinly in TV. I don't watch it a lot because it can be tough to take, but the honesty in which they portray very mean awful people is unmatched.

Freaks and Geeks- I wanted a show about being a teenager on my list, but so many of them are just so unrealistic (90210, the O.C.) or pretentious (Dawson's Creek). Then I found Freaks and Geeks. I watched a few episodes when I was about 15. I found myself relating to the center girl who was extremly smart, but decided she didn't want to be a nerd so she started hanging out with the slackers and partiers. I watched a couple episodes a few months ago and laughed so hard it hurt. The way the portray high school was so realistic, well done, but also with intelligence. I can't say enough about this show other than to rant and rail about how networks kill all the good shows before they have a chance to find their audience. I highly recomend renting this.

So there is my list. I tried to find shows that I liked but also have high production values and either kick-started a TV genre or exemplifies it.

Book Question

2007-08-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

Here is my book list for the last 6 or so months:

Every Harry Potter Book- twice

The Farseer Trilogy- Robin Hobb

The Liveship Trilogy- Robin Hobb

The Tawny Man Trilogy- Robin Hobbb

The first book in Robin Hobb's new trilogy- Shamans Crossing

Tigana- Guy Gabrial Kay

Sailing to Sarintium- Guy Gabrial Kay

The Elinium- David Eddings

The Tamuli- DAvid Eddings

Emma- Jane Austin

Jayne Eyre and Wuthering Heights- I grouped them together because I can never remember which Bronte sister wrote which book

A Prayer for Owen Meeny- Have no clue who wrote it

I also undertook my annual "Try to read Tale of Two Cities" challenge, and was beaten, again.

What is the point you ask- well I feel like I should start reading books that challenge me instead of just reading for entertainment. I stopped reading anything non-fiction when I was doing my music study because that sapped all of my mental energy. Now I'm not really thinking all that hard anymore, and think that reading something more substantial would be nice.

What should I read?

Weekend Update

2007-08-04T09:38:00.000-05:00

We are officially moved into the sardine can in Arlington. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. The living room and bedroom are a decent size. They are long and thin which makes easier to partition off secions for the table and desk. The kitchen is a problem however. It's a six foot square cube. Sink and stove on one side, fridge counter space on the other. You have to walk through it to get to the bedroom. Oh well. Luke and I are saving a lot of money in the smaller place compared to what we will be paying for the reasonable sized place, so we are going to spend it on food that easy to cook (which means heat up, let's be honest), and paper plates and cups.

At the store I have three new students- and they are all girls! I love having girls, not that I mind my boys, but I like to enourage girls to rock out too.

Does this make me a computer nerd?

2007-07-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

For the last three years I have been a regular poster on theooze.com. I started when I was out at Prairie and surrounded by people who were still discussing whether playing goldfish with regular playing cards was a damage to your Christian witness. I needed some variety of opinion and a safe place to deal with some of the less kosher theological questions I was working on at the time. It's become a great comminuty for me, we pray for each other and support each other as much as possible considering the medium.

Lately groups of us have been getting together and starting group blogs. What started out as a running gag called the Conservative Reformed Mafia turned into a group blog that delves into some more substantial theological questions than happens on The Ooze where we talk about transubstiantian and our favorite burrito place.

Because you can't keep a good thing down there are now five off these blogs up. I have the links here. I've been asked to contribue to two of the blogs. The Liberal Arminian Blog, and the Centrist Christianity blog. Thy have just started up, but I'm really proud of them and think that some good stuff is going to happen. So if you are interested- take a look

Worth a Fight?

2007-07-28T10:11:00.000-05:00

Matt made a comment in my Harry Potter review that he wasn't going to read Harry Potter because it would really upset some people in his Church. Heather got her blog pretty much flamed because she talked about wearing jeans to Church. This got me thinking.......

What stuff is worth fighting over?

I'm not talking about anything theological. I'm talking about cultural stuff that is OK for some people and really not OK with others.

I am of the personality that dosn't stray from a fight. The first reason is because I learn through argument and conflict. It helps me grow. The second is because I wasn't raised in traditional Church settings so I often times don't know the specific mores of Church culture. When confronted with them at the age of 24 I have very little patiance for them. The third reason is because these little cultural eccentricities evangelical churches have make me feel very uncomfortable, I assume that people coming in off the street will feel even more uncomfortable.

Avoiding conflict is generally the best thing when it comes to pastoring. But on the other had how do we expect the Wesleyan Church to stay relevent if we (as the younger clergy) don't push them to do it? Remember the drumset battles? What if they were just avoided and the Wesleyan Church was still a hymn's only denomination? What do you think the drumset battles are now? What are you willing to fight for?

The Official Review

2007-07-26T12:43:00.001-05:00

[Spoiler Alert]

I finished Harry Potter on Sunday Night in three sittings. I cried once, got teary three times, and managed to not throw the book against the wall once.

I loved Loved LOVED the creepy beginning at the Malfoy Estate. It managed to get my back up about Snape even more than it was before. The chase from Harry's house was great. Voldermort flying on the snake was I thought the scariest image in the book. Very effective. When Hedwig died I had tears in my eyes, he was a great pet.

Dolores Umbridge managed to go from evil to competly satanic! Taking Mad Eye's eye, using dementors to question Muggle borns, and still in denial about Voldermort. What an effective portrayal of how racism can twist a person inside. I really really wanted her to die, but like many people who are high up in the establishment, they are always protected.

The camping with Harry, Ron and Hermione definatly got tiresome after a while. Ron leaving and coming back was great though. His character arc really hit the spot with him having to deal with his insecurities to kill the Horcrux.

All the information about Dumbledore was also great. I loved that he got taken down a notch. I felt that every other character was so nuanced with flaws and weaknesses, and then there was Gandalf-like Dumbledore. Learning about his sister and his family was great. It really showed how Dumbledore could have got bad just as easily as Voldermort or Grindelwald. What stopped him was love. No wonder he put so much store in it.

The break into Gringotts was choice, as well as the final battle at Hogworts. All of Rowling's actions scenes in previous books just built up to those two.

Seeing Neville come out of the portrait all badass was my favorite moment in the book- hands down. After 5 and a half books of Neville floundring around getting everything wrong he became a total hero. He really became the leader of the entire school, which is such a change from the earliest books. I am a little sad that he wasn't the person to finish Bellatrix off- but Mrs. Weasly kicking butt was equally awsome. In a interview I read Rowling said that she origionally had Bellatrix kill Mr. Weasly at the end of the fifth book- so I guess the ultimate showdown between the two women was planned out before she changed her mind. Either way- I'm not mourning Bellatrix at all.

Speaking of mourning- the death of Fred hit me pretty hard. I don't know why, but that was the one death that really upset me. Colin Creevy was a close second because of his innocence. Lupin and Tonks dying I can understand. Lupin had to walk with Harry's parents and Sirus when Harry goes to Voldermort.

I was really confused by the whole wand thing. I think it could have been done better. I also think that having Hary die and come back was a bit of an easy way out- and it will lead to endless amounts of fabricated connections to Christ.....whatever.

The part that made be cry outright was knowing Snapes story. How he loved Lilly (which was kind of obvious, but still). How his love for her allowed him to put himself in dangourous postions over and over again. How even though he didn't like Harry- he did the right thing even when it go him no credit and people hating on him. What a tragic character.

I'm sad that there are no more stories coming. I have a feeling that we arn't really done yet, there is infinate amounts of suplimentry materials that can be created.

In Defense of Harry Potter

2007-07-20T16:10:00.000-05:00

It's Harry Potter season again- you know that charming time that comes around every two years or so when the new book and new movie are released. Attention is back on J.K. Rowling, and members of my Church (it's been three seperate Churches too) quitely side up to me and say in an undertone- "Lindy, you like Harry Potter don't you, what do you think about it?". They ask this for a variety of reasons. The two most common reasons are that their children want to read it, or they want to read it. Because this has happened three times now- and I generally have an opinion on everything anyway- I've spent a decent amount of time researching the books and the sources of the magic in them.

Objection #1- I don't know if my kid can seperate reality and this book yet.

One thing that seperates Harry Potter from most classical fantasy is that the Harry Potter takes place "in the real world". Instead of Narnia or Middle Earth the whole thing takes place in or around London. Instead of the 2000 years ago like many fairy tales, these stories take place today, in the preasent time. Although I can understand this may make the books feel more threatening, magic is magic. Every Disney movie I've ever seen has magic in it. If your kid can seperate reality from The Little Mermaid than they should have no problem with Harry Potter.

Objection #2- I'm afraid the books will be to scary for my kids

One of the things that Rowling has gotten slack for was the fourth book. The first three Harry Potter books got released in North America together. They were pretty innocent, happy, appropriate for the average 7 year old. Then the fourth book came out. Suddenly they took a very dark turn. Harry gets kidnapped and Voldermort (the primary villan) who was previously in a severly weakened state is back and more powerful than ever. One of the supporting characters is murdered. Not for any great reason, just because he was in the way. This book (and the books after) are not appropriate for kids until they are 11-13. Many parents of small children read the first three, and assuming the fourth would be similar, didn't read it first. There were a lot of traumatized kids.

Sense then Rowling has been very upfront about the dark elements of her books. Almost to the point where sometimes she sounds like she is discouraging kids from reading them. At the end of the day, parents have to read books their kids are reading. When you get right down to it though- The Lord of the Rings are a whole lot darker. Don't even get me started in Frank Peretti. There are a lot of scary "Christian" books- why are they OK and Harry Potter isn't?

Objection #3- I'm afraid that the books will encourage my kids to get into magic.

This one drives me nuts! I've looked for a single story from a respectible source (i.e. not Baptist City) about one kid that is practicing magic because of Harry Potter. I've been in online arguments with people who have then gone off to find a story to prove me wrong. There is not a one. Sorry. These books have been around for about 8 years now. If droves of kids are going to get into witchcraft they would have done it by now.

I went through all six books looking for "a beginners guide to magic". I wanted to see if it was possible for a kid to take these books and find themself a witch. In Harry Potter it is impossible to become a wizard. You are born that way. Period. You get a wand which helps you focus your magic. You learn incantations which Muggles (non-wizards) try and it dosn't work. There is a clear and distinct seperation between the magic world and the muggle world. The only possible expection to this would be potions class. I went through every single potions recipie in every book. Most were incomplete. Every single one contained an impossible ingredient (dragon's scales, hens teeth, snake nails). It's to consistant to be a conincidence. Rowling has said in interviews that she dosn't want kids to get into witchcraft because of her books. I believe her because she has taken great care to make every element of the wizard world impossible for us muggles to attain.

Objection #4- Why would I let my kids read Harry Potter when there are so many Christian alternatives?

My first response to that would be that "Christian" fantasy is really badly written. Sorry- they suck. If you consider Narnia and LOTR Christian (which I don't) than you have 11 books. Books that are a lot better than Harry Potter and have a higher chance of developing a major interest in fantasy novels.

There would be no Harry Potter if Tolkien hadn't lead Lewis to the Lord. Lewis wrote Narnia, which inspired Tolkien to write the Lord if the Rings. Lord of the Rings was based largely on ancient Norse mythology that at one point involved human sacrifice.

If you are going to object to fantasy I would like you have have a little consistancy. Take it all out. No Rowling, no Narnia, no Hobbits. No Snow White, no princess in the tower. No Santa Clause, no Easter Bunny. No education about ancient religions. It's all the same.

Tap Shoes, Sardine Can's and Classic Rock.

2007-07-17T18:27:00.000-05:00

All kinds of things have been happening- it's crazy!

1. My best friend Kendra opened a dance studio! I'm so proud of her- and I'm signed up for tap and jazz classes starting today! Luke gets the best friend of the month award. He put in Kendra's dance floor with the help of the rest of us. For those of you who are not familiar with dance floors- they are sprung so they aren't as hard as a regular hardwood or cement floor. The way we did Kendra's was to take 1 by 2's and lay them out in a grid pattern, then we took plywood and attached it on top of that. Then we filled in the cracks, sanded it, and put a LOT of coats of polyurethane on top. While Luke and Chris were doing that, I was going over every inch of the paint job looking for mistakes. Sense every wall was painted a different color getting the corners perfect was a job.

2. We are having Rock Band Camp at the store. Every day between 10 and 2 kids come to the store and learn to be in a rock band. We have one of the founding members of the Slickee Boys running it. I'm in charge of the drummers. It's really cute to watch, but the bad Offspring songs are really starting to grate on me. The Kids name their band. Last week they were Asbestosiz, and this week they are leaning towards The Demented Penguins. On Friday's they give a concert for their parents- it's so funny. I love my job.

3. We finally found a place to live. This whole process is kind of like the story of Goldilocks. "This apartment is to small, this apartment is to big (and by big I mean expensive), but this apartment is just right"It's got the metro accessibility that I need for work, it's close to the church so that a member of the pastoral team is living in the area, and its in our price range. Unfortunatly- there are none of the perfect unit available at the moment. We talked to the building manager- and he said that he would make us a deal. He will rent the small (500 sq. ft) apartment to us, which we can live in until the right unit comes available. I've named it the Sardine Can. It's soooo small we are going to have to get a storage space for all of our extra stuff. We get first dibs on a bigger apt guaranteed, and it buys us some time, which was kind of freaking me out considering it was looking like we would be homeless August 1st. I'm exited that soon (please let it be soon) I will have a place that really feels like home.

I'm sick of living in temporary places (it's been three straight years), and I want to start feeling like I can stop frantically treading water and enjoy life. It's been a long time sense I've been able to go for a walk, or spend a day reading. Oh well- I knew that living in DC is harder than living on other places when I moved here- and God will provide considering that He is the one that called us here.

Harry Potter is the AntiChrist!

2007-07-12T16:02:00.000-05:00

Not really- I've just always wanted to post a title like that ;)

In case anyone is wondering- I love Harry Potter. They are great fun and well written. I've done a lot of research on the books to form a response to questions from Christian parents.

So with the final book only 12 days away- what are your predictions? Do you think Harry will die? Is Snape good or bad? Is Dumbledore really dead?

My official predictions are-

I don't think that Harry will die, but I think that he may end up with some kind of scar from the event- like loosing a hand or something like that. I don't see Rowling as being the kind of author to give us the perfect happily ever after with no sacrifice.

I think Snape is bad at the beginning of the book, but will save Harry's life (give up is own in the process?) as an act of redemption.

I do think Dumbledore's really dead....sigh

Happy Fourth of July!

2007-07-02T10:05:00.000-05:00

I know it's still two days away- but I'm way exited to celebrate the 4th this year. Having worked so hard to get out of Canada I apprecaite my country a lot more than I ever had before, in spite of our more obvious flaws. Seeing the Capital, Monuments, Military Basses and members of the Armed Forces every day also help with the whole patriotism thing. So- here are our plans for Wendsday-

1- My store marches in a parade in the NW- so I'm donning my musical note sneakers and marching along with some of my students. The parade ends at a park where they have Hot Dogs and Watermelon- so Luke and I are going to hang out there.

2- Chris' parents are in town- so we are going to meet up with them, I have no idea what the plans are though.

3- Hopefully BBQ is involved somewhere. I should really get on that.

4- DC has the best fireworks in the country. Going down to the mall will be a hot smelly crowded slice of touristy hell, so Luke and I are going to scout out a rooftop somewhere with the rest of the locals and watch the fireworks from there.

It's Luke's first ever 4th of July- I'm really exited for that.

Exactly How Much Can Happen in a Week

2007-06-18T17:33:00.000-05:00

It's been a little while sense I've posted- I wanted my monument to the obvious superiority of my husband to stand for a little while- but now that I've had the most eventful week in the history of the world I figure that I should share.

I should preface the story by saying that we had made to decision to move a little closer to my work about a month ago and are looking for apartments.

Wendsday- DC had it's first real thunderstorm of the season. There was lightning and thunder and the power went off on our block. Maybe I'm a wimp but I get just a little tense when the street lights go out in a very high-crime neighborhood. It's like an invitation to do illeagal things. Anyway, there were about 15 people hanging out in our hallway, smoking, which made me really angry, and then getting onto a fist fight, which freaked me out enough that I went to get Luke to kick them out. I suppose it was kind of mean to kick them out into pouring rain, but they were fighting and yelling and smoking. All in all it was a pretty crappy day.

Thursday- Someone let the air out of our tires. At first we thought they were slashed, but they wern't, which made me really happy. We filled them back up and went on with our day. Luke was really mad, but this kind of stuff is pretty common so we didn't think much off it.

Friday- There was a domestic at 4 am, but that's relatively common, it just means that I'm going to have to sleep walk through the next day. We woke up in the morning to find three of our tires slashed, for real this time. Oh- and I should mention that Friday was also my birthday. On the way to the train station Luke said that my birthday plans would have to be cancelled because we had to replace the tires on the car. Needless to say I was pretty upset. It's very threatening to find out that someone has attacked your car outside your home- I don't know why, but it is.

I went to work and started looking for apartments online. My boss immedietly asks what is wrong. I tell her the whole story and I explain to her that we were trying to move, but we would likely not be able to move into another apartment until August 1st and she just freaks out. Her exact words were "There is no reason for you to live there anymore and I'm tired of worrying about you all the time. This is unaccecptable." She then gets on the phone and calls a co-worker of mine Claire. I'm just sitting here the whole time, and Myrna comes back and says "You can move in with Claire. She has rented a whole house with 5 other girls that will not be moving in until August. She donsn't mind you taking over the upstairs for the next month at all. I just talked to her and it will be fine". I just looked at her in shock

I call Luke and tell him about this option. He thinks it's a good idea and says that I should at least talk to Claire about it. I go back to work- and the computer crashes. I walk it over to the computer repair place across the street and spent the next 3 hours dealing with grumpy custumers that can't get a recipt if they pay with a credit card. Luke tells my Mom about the slashed tires (a major no-no, I've been lying regularly to my Mom about conditions where I live sense the day I moved there) and she calls me freaking out. I calm her down and tell her about the potential move, which cheers her up a lot. The computer comes back and my day starts looking up. My Mom sends me flowers and my best friend who my Mom called to tell her about all of this tells me to come over after work and we will go out for my birthday.

The staff at Middle C gets a cake and we have a little party at the end of the day. All my students were well behaved and Luke called to say that he found a deal on tires and it will cost less than we thought. We go out to dinner and then back to Chris and Kendra's. Kendra promises me mango pie at some point this weekend, and we go home and go to sleep. We leave the car in Arlington because we suspect that the slashing wasn't random and we couldn't afford to replace the tires again.

Saturday- Get up- go to work. I talked to Claire about the house and she seems really OK with is staying there for a month. She could use the money- and having company would be nice for her to. I call Luke and we decide to move tomorrow. After work I go back to Chris and Kendra's because their family was in the town for one day and they are almost as close to me as my own family. Anyway- we got back home at 11:30 and frantically put in about an hour of packing before falling asleep.

Sunday- Go to Church. Realize that general conference is that very day and realize that Luke won't be able to get there. We get home about 1pm and pack the bare nessessities. Our friend with a truck came at 4:30 and we moved our bed, cloths, TV/VCR, toiletries, and other basics. We move into the house and just when are finishing we get a call from Kendra who informs us that she made Mango pie for me and we should come over and eat some. She also informs me that I left my cell phone there (I didn't even look for the past 24 hours), so I really had no choice. We go over there and eat pie (mmmmmm.... mango pie) and watch episodes of The Tick and Duck Tales. I had the epiphany that I was to young when I watched The Tick in my childhood, because I don't remember that show rocking like it so obviously does. Everyone- watch The Tick!

Monday- Woke up in my new house. Watched TV (there is cable and I havn't had any for 2 years)- it's amazing the drivel that I watched just because I could. I walked to work. It's about a 10 minute walk and it felt so good to not have to worry about anything- not have to look for used needles or trash or people looking to mug me. It was heaven. I gave Luke a list of more stuff I wanted for the apartment.

So that was my week. Are you exausted reading this- I exausted myself just writing about it. The next week will involve finding a storege space for the rest of our stuff to go to until we find an apartment. We need to find an apartment to live in before August first when the other roomates come back and we are kicked out. Anway- for the moment I'm pretty happy with the break I've been given. Luke and I are in transition yet again- I wonder if it will ever stop?

Three Reasons why my Husband is Better Than Your Husband

2007-06-06T12:26:00.000-05:00

Lately instead of wanting chocolate when I'm in a bad mood- I've curled up and watched Pride and Prejudice. The cinamatography is so well done, the sound track is soothing and the acting is great from everyone. I can't get enough of it.

That being said I came home from work yesterday tired and grouchy and wanting Pride and Prejudice. Luke was going out to the store anyway so he said he would pick it up from Blockbuster for me. I get a call about 30 min later. He found a great deal on previously view movies and had already picked up Pride and Prejudice and Little Miss Sunshine and was wondering whether I would rather have Babel or Running with Sissors as my third choice. Not only did he buy P&P for me (a sound financial decision considering we had probobly spent the cost of two new movies on renting it), but he picked out two more movies that he knew I wanted.

It made me feel so loved that I didn't even need to watch the movie to cheer me up.

So to review- the three reasons that my husband is better than your husband are; Pride and Prejudice, Little Miss Sunshine and Running with Sissors.

Read it and weep Canadians!

2007-05-31T16:20:00.000-05:00

It is officially 88 degrees right now- and it's 5:30. Summer is here in DC and I'm in heaven. I am looking foreward to four fun filled months of not having to wear socks, closed toed shoes, or sleeves that reach past my elbow. I'm going to go to the beach, bask in the heat and enjoy all the local freash fruit with ice-cream.

I love summer and after suffering with two in Alberta (a place that snows 12 months of the year) I can't think of anything better than consistant warmth. It's not even going to cool down significantly at night- how great is that!

Anyway- I'm sorry to all my friends up north that have just begun to enjoy spring. I'm living it up on the Mason Dixon line!

Ode to the Tourist

2007-05-23T10:16:00.000-05:00

Dear Tourist,

In many ways you are a mixed blessing. You daily amuse me with your fashion choices of bright green fanny-packs with sandles and white socks, or large groups of you wearing the same bright red T-Shirt. Seeing your face react to the beauty of my city is truly rewarding and reminds me to also look up and appriciate where I live every day. You are the economic backbone of the city, and because of you the streets are kept clean.

However, you also screw up traffic when you try to go the wrong way on a one way street, or park at a meter that clearly states that you can't park there from 7:30-9 and 4:30-7 on non-holiday weekdays. You have a tendancy to stand gaping in awe at the bottom of the escalator holding up the line of very tired grouchy cummuters who don't have the privilage of being on vacation, making us miss our train. Seriously, don't take it personally when someone tells you off, just keep moving.

You can be kind of cute when you ask for help on the metro, but please don't freak out when you find out you went the wrong way- turning around is easy, and you might even find someone as nice as me on the next train to help you out (although it is DC, don't count on it). I'll be very happy to take one of two pictures for you, but I won't take five or six- I actually have somewhere to be, remember not everyone around you is on vacation.

Jesus Camp

2007-05-16T09:11:00.000-05:00

Luke and I watched Jesus Camp over the weekend. It was certinly and interesting experience. Here are my thoughts

I relate to Rebecca and Levi a lot. I see myself as a child in both of them. I find myself really wanting to know where these kids are in a few years. I prayed one night that Levi would find a good Bible college to go to that will give him some decent theological training to round out his passion and obvious calling to ministry. I also pray that Rebecca will be exposed to people that arn't just like her- but I pray that they would be gracious to her and not kill her honest spirit in the process.
The whole "America is God's choosen nation" attitude only works in conjunction with replacement theology. The promises and prophicies they were claiming during their prayer time were given to the nation of Israel in the OT. I'm coming to see how insidious and subtle this heritical theology is in evangelical thinking. We are not Israel. It's not enough to know it, we have to teach it, and teach our congretations that not everything in the Bible relates directly to us in our current situations.
The thing that bothered me more than anything else was the abortion service scene. How do Christians that homeschool their kids to protect them from the evils of the world tell their 8 year olds about abortion? Seeing these kids look at and hold the tiny plastic models of unborn babies and be told that they are getting killed- it's practically emotional abuse. Do these people really care about the future generation of spirtual warriars than the emotional health of their kids? I was 12 when I found out about abortion and it was the most disturbing day of my life- why do this to 10 year olds?
Kids speaking in tounges. Huh. I have a really hard time believing that God would grant a 9 year old that gift. I suppose that He has done weirder things, but I think this is an evidence of how far kids will go to do what's expected of them without even realizing it.
Pastor Becky scares me. She is so comfortable with her black and white religious fundementalism. She is so upfront about the fact that she is molding kids into what she wants them to be. Maybe she scares me even more because I've been under people that when I was a child.

So there are my thoughts. The combination of emotional manipulation, replacement theology, manifest destiny, abused signs and wonders and policical extremism mixed together in kids that still think that girls have cooties. How many of them do you think will grow out if it like I did? How many will just stay in the midwest and pass it on to their kids?

I am automatically associated with these people- how do I respond to them, and to the non-Christians that bring up this movie to me? It's hard not to get angry.

I'm an awful friend

2007-05-04T10:23:00.000-05:00

A while ago Allison and her boyfriend came in to the city for the Cherry Blossom Festival, and we did dinner. I promised that I would give all my opinions of "The Boy" on this blog because I blog more than Allison. The next day however I had the awful day with the drumset and then my car got broken into..... anyway- I thought it was to late to blog, but Allison still wants me to- so here we go.

I like The Boy a lot. He reminds me of Luke in some ways, and they got along very well. I really appreicated how well he treated Allison, which is pretty much the most important thing in my book. He loves the Lord and has two really cute little girls and seems to do a good job at being a dad.

So there are my official opinions Allison. If anyone has questions just ask.

Dawn Moracco is also down with us until Sunday. We have had a really good time so far and are going to see Spiderman tonights which I'm way pumped about. We have taken all kinds of pictures of the monuments which I don't want to promise to put here because I don't know how to put pictures on my blog.

Now that Dawn and Sarah Gibbs have come down to visit I think that Luke and I have the hosting down well enough to say "Come visit us, we live in the coolest city in the world". I'm telling you, vacation down here- the weather is good and there is tons to do for free.

Epiphany of the Day

2007-05-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

When you talk in a wisper- everyone else around you does to- even when they don't need it. I have some kind of sickness that manifests itself differently every day. In the course of four days I've had feaver, aches, sore throught and exaustion. I'm calling it the fleash eating virus. Today I woke up feeling perfectly fine, but I can't speak above a whisper. At work I'm having to whisper to all the custmers, and they whisper back, even though they don't need to.

Any insights as to why this happens?

Car Break #1

2007-04-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

Our car was broken into last night. They damaged the lock and took my U2 cd, but the club proved worth every penny and no one took the car itself. I don't know whether do feel threatened or not- it kind of is a rude awakening to be really carefull to always lock the car and the house.

And the cat came back.......

2007-04-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

Do you remember the song "And the Cat Came Back"? I sang it chiors in elementry. It's this goofy song about a guy who is haunted by this cat who won't leave him alone. He tries to shoot it, scare it away, in the last verse he sets off an entire bomb, and the cat came back. It's been in my head lately because I've been haunted by a certian drumset that I'll tell you about.

The company we get drumsets from changed their colors without telling us- so I made an order for a silver jazz set thinking that I would get the same tasteful silver satin finish that I had ordered in the past. Instead they sent me this bright, competly hidious chrome/stainless steel color. It's seriously the ungliest drumset I've ever seen in my life- Ok maybe not quite as ugly as the leopard print one, but close. We have had three people come into the store looking for a drumset and not buy it because of the color, so we put it on sale. Finally I sold it! I was so exited and immedietly put in an order for another set with a better color.

Yesterday the set came back. Apparantly this was a wife buying it for her husband, and he took one look at it and started screaming at her about how it's not what he wanted and so forth. She said it was "like divorce court". I don't know what that means, but I'm glad I'm not married to him regardless. So now I'm sitting at work, staring at the world's ugliest set.

Anyone want to buy it- it's on sale........

Weekend Update

2007-03-31T09:45:00.000-05:00

Here's what's been going on last week.

Luke got his Social Security Card in the mail- it has all kinds of conditions on it which amuses me. He's looking for a job as we speak.

We bought a car. I don't remember what kind it is, only that's it's red and small. I love it. I've been meaning to take pictures, but I keep forgeting. Eventually I'll put them up.

It's the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. It's incredibly beautiful, and I'm learning a lot about how Japanese arciticture developed just by looking at the trees in full bloom. Again, I'm working on the whole picture thing.

I've cut my hours back at work. I'm now only working about 50 a week- which is nice.

My best friend is now officially a small buisness owner. She is starting dance classes in July and I am signed up for her adult tap class. I'm way exited.

I'm in the market for a new djembe. I'll miss Sarin a lot, but I can't replace the head anymore because they discontinued it. I'm trying to decide between a really ethnic drum from Ghana, or a step up LP- possibly the Giovanni Series.

We got Netflix- it was the best thing we ever did. Luke is able to watch all of his weird TV shows like 6 Feet Under and Rescue Me. I've been catching up on my Bollywood and Chinese and classic musicals. Our que looks really weird and it confusses the computer- which also amuses me.

I'm writting a cirriculem for a month long percussion class for kids 4-8 which I'll be teaching at the store. I'm terrified, but I think it's going pretty well so far. I'd like to get started on it considering it was one of the things I was hired for.

Like, totally the girliest post ever!

2007-03-23T11:41:00.001-05:00

As the weather is warming up I'm find myself having major delimas with what to wear to work. The store I work at is buisness casual/look nice everyday, and this is the first time I've actually had to dress up in warm weather. So ladies, I need some advice, I don't have a lot of money, but I basically have to drum up a new work wardrobe. What pieces do you like to wear when you can't wear blazers? What buys will give me the most milage?

BTW- I can't wear skirts when I teach, so it needs to be pants three days a week to.

Summer is leaving me again

2007-03-15T16:44:00.000-05:00

I was consistantly amused by the speed and severity of weather changes in Alberta- it would literally warm up 20 degrees when the sun came out, or go from 90 degrees to 40 in about three hours. It kept life interesting, but I was looking foreward to some consistancy in DC. I'm not sure that I'm going to get it though- it's been 70 for the last week, and I've been so happy. I got out my sandles, went for a walk around the tidel basin, and have just been a pit perkier than usual. I found out today that it's supposed to snow tomorrow afternoon. Now, I have learned that the DC media freaks out about snow with the rest of the city's population, so I'm actually expecting it to be around freezing with maybe half a snowflake. I may shed a tear about retiring my beautiful green beaded sandles for another few weeks though- winter has been entirely to long and annoying for my taste.

Come back sun, come back soon.......

I Love the Choralle.

2007-03-09T14:12:00.000-05:00

Luke and I drove up to see the Choralle last night. I took the evening off from work and we borrowed a car because hearing the Choralle sing is worth all that hassle.

It was so great to see the people that we toured with last year and catch up with Tanya and Prez. The big suprise was when we came in the door and Donnie McDougal was standing there. This was the church where he works as youth pastor. It was great to see him, and meet his wife.

The music was amazing and it was so great so hear the choir that I've been in love with for six years now. It was well worth the hour drive each way. The Choralle ministered to me, much like it always has, it was good to feel the presense of God again after a long dry spell. It felt like a homecoming.

Trust

2007-03-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

How much do you trust the peopke around you with yourself? How honest should you really be? The place that constantly and loudly said "We take you as you are" was the least accecpting, and for the first time ever I'm afraid to be myself to the people around me.

I spent my entire life- and certinley my entire time at Bethany- with the attitude of Take me as I am or not, I'm not making any apologies for it. I was pround of the fact that with me what you see is what you get. I never made apologies for who I was.

Now I'm afraid to show myself to people who I don't already know and trust. Church has become completly stressful because I'm constantly checking over what I'm saying, biting my tounge and forcing myself to smile.

I don't think anyone really wants to deal with what I'm going through (except Luke of course). I don't think that they want honesty unless the truth will make them feel good about themseves. I'm afraid I don't have anythink like that to offer people. I'm sick, I struggle with my realtionship with God everyday and I'm tired. No one wants to help me work through the three years of baggage I am carrying around as a result of going to a conservative Menonite school in Alberta. No one wanted to help me deal with it when I was there, why would anyone care now.

I don't even know why I'm writting this- maybe because I'm so tired of being dishonest that I can get some stuff off my chest and know that no one in DC will read it because no one here knows about my blog- and I intend to keep it that way.

I'd better get back to work, sorry for the silly rant.

Bible Study

2007-03-03T14:25:00.000-05:00

I'm still in planning for this Bible Study. I think that it's starting after Easter now. All I know is that I can't lead anything until I get my work hours back down below 40 a week.

I'm doing a study that is centered around a movie/short story/album every week. It came about because I realized that watching Kill Bill gave me more theology to think about, which caused me to pray, which caused me to think about how I can be closer to God than any Bible Verse or sermon had done in the last three years. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Little Miss Sunshine, Saved and Barton Fink have all brought be closer to God than anything else. You may read this and think "how spirtually immature", or "how bizzare"- I'm willing to deal with that. I need to remain close to God however I can though, even if it means wading through hundreds of dismembered limbs to find that truth.

Through conversations with other friends I've found out that I'm not really that alone in this- so I've decided to start a Bible study using these methods. I'm still looking for some other pieces to make the series 8 weeks instead of it's presant 6. I'd also love to replace Saved with something less literal.

Week 1- Chapter 1 of Everyday Apocolypse. Explaining the philosophy of modern art in cunjunction with Shalom and the Kingdom of God.

Week 2- Little Miss Sunshine- How do we deal with failure. What does the Bible say about Failure. How should we react when we do innevitably fail?

Week 3- Saved- The difference between Religion and Spirtuality. What characters represent both extremes? How should we a Christians deal with the pull to both extremes.

Week 4- Songs for a New World (Album of an Off Broadway Review)- Choices. How should we behave when we are at a crossroads?

Week 5- Barton Fink- Barton says he speaks for the "comman man" but really dosn't understand them, or care about them, he does what he does for his own self agrandizement. Does this have any paralells to how we view/treat Non-Christians? How so. How should we behave instead?

Week 6- Pleasantville- Pleasantville is a parable about what makes us human. They say without sin we are not good, or bad, only lukewarm or "pleasant". How does this relate to how we see the fall? What alternative paradimes should we as Christians embrace? Can we really comprehend good without evil? How does this effect our view of God?

Luke is coming up with Biblical examples for these- I can't think of them off the top of my head so you don't get to see them. I think he's open to suggestions though.

Anyway- what do you think?

Luke's Legal!

2007-03-01T10:21:00.001-05:00

He can work!

I am the smartest person ever!

2007-02-26T12:58:00.000-05:00

I would like to point out that for the first time ever I correctly called every single major category correctly- including the Allen Arkin suprise- and quite a few of the minor categories. That's right, I'm just that smart.

The only two things I was wrong about was Best Foreign Film and Best Origional Song.

Other than that I win as the smartest person ever!

Here's what I think will happen

2007-02-26T12:40:00.001-05:00

The Oscar's are starting in about an hour and here are my predictions

The Obvious Wins-

Forest Wittiker, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Houdsan for acting, and Martian Scrosase for best director. There is no way anyone else will win these catagories. I should probobly put Eddie Murphy in this category, but I can't bring myself to do it.

Best Picture-
It should be Little Miss Sunshine or Letters for Iwo Jima, It will be the Departed. Martain has lost to many times for really good movies, they won't let him loose again.

Best Supporting Actor-
I'm going to route for Allen Arkin, possibly Mark Wahlburg. Both preformences were great

Best Song-
Something from Dreamgirls

Best Sets-
Pan's Labrynth

Best Art Design-
Pan's Labrynth

Best Special Effects-
Pan's Labryith

Best Documentry-
An Inconvienent Truth

Best Forgin Film-
Pan's Labrynth

Let's see how I do

Indian Food Makes Me Think Happy Thoughts

2007-02-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

Kendra and I are having a girls night tonight- making Indian food and watching something very girly with our other friend Jessi. The timing of having Luke at a pastors retreat and Kendra's husband Chris away on work was timing to good to pass up.

The only advantage of having lived in Calgary I can think of is the fact that I was able to get some really good imported Indian Spices and other products (like rose water and curry pastes). I'm having trouble finding a good ethnic grocery in the city- and my basmati rice is nearly out.

Any suggestions on the movie- neither of us can handle anything to vapidly girly.

Oscar Race Pt 1

2007-02-20T13:01:00.000-05:00

The Oscars are being held on Sunday and I have to say that I'm looking foreward to it, movie award season being my equivelent to everyone else's Hocky/Baseball/Football Season. For once I can't even decide who to route for...... I dont' really care who wins as long as it's not Babel. Here are my carefully formed opinions thus far.

I think that Little Miss Sunshine was the best movie of the year, the script was great (my pick for best origional screenplay), acting good and above all it cummunicated well what it wanted to say. It managed to be profound while working in a genre that makes it hard to be profound in. What it had to say about sucess vs. failure, beauty, and family fits perfectly into where we are as a culture right now. I don't think this movie could have been made 10 years ago.

Letters From Iwo Jima I'm routing for even though I havn't seen it yet for two reasons. One- Clint Eastwook is my favorite director and I love him. Two- I would love to see a movie win that isn't in English and dosn't have any huge stars attached to it. It would be nice to give Asian actors (many of whom are incredible) some exposure to a larger audience, and the message of hummanizing the soldiers of Iwo Jima, showing how similer they are to us is an important one. Especially considering we are in a war at the moment with another culure we don't understand.

I'm watching the Departed tomorrow, I'll let you know what I think about that, and give you my opinions about actors (not that it matters this year really, they have already won)

Theology Question

2007-02-15T13:56:00.000-05:00

Can anyone help me come up with some theological justification for hating winter? It's frankly just not enough that I hate it, I feel that God must hate it to. It's got to be a result of the fall, like cockroaches and birthing pains.

I liked the canopy theory, but then found out that it was mathematically impossible. Add to it that I don't think I've ever met a hardcore young earth 7 day creationist that hasn't annoyed me, and I'll have to find something else.

Anyone want to help me with this, because I'm cold, and when I'm cold I don't think all that well.

Utter Chaos Descends on D.C.

2007-02-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

My favorite part of living in DC is laughing at everyone else when it snows. We wern't able to buy bread at the store yesterday because everyone was stocking up incase they were stuck in the the next few days. There is no other topic of conversation, only how much snow we may get, how much ice, how to avoid the major highways in the morning. You would think the world was coming to an end!

After all the stress, preperation, and everything else, we are getting about 1-2 in of snow, most of which is melting the second it hits the ground. It's not even real snow! The store has been open for 20 minutes now, I've gotten three phone calls asking if we are open today.

This is seriously the funniest thing I've ever seen. It's great.

My first ever blog

2007-02-09T10:21:00.000-05:00

Hello All, welcome to my very own blog. I must first humbly accecpt defeat because I have said for the last three years that "You will never get me to blog, it's such a waste of time". However for the last few weeks I have been enjoying reading all of your blogs and when I tried to post a comment they wouldn't let me, so I broke down and made my own blog. That's right folks, it's all about you.

So here is my update.....

Luke and I live in DC now. He is working with Urban Outreach in SE DC, which is where we live. I like it, for the most part. It's hard not being able to go for a walk, or do anything really without driving 30 min into a safer part of town, but I do feel a bit more secure now that I got some mace in my purse. We are going to United Wesleyan and have really connected with the young adults there.

I am working at Middle C Music in Tenleytown, which probobly dosn't mean anything to you, but it's a really nice area of town about 4 blocks from the National Cathedreal. I work retail and teach drum lessons, which is really fun. I'm still working on the oh so nebulous BA in Music Ed, but it's comming and my student teaching is slated for September. Until then it's work, work and more work for me.

Pretty much I'm tired. I work a lot and there never seems to be enough money to go around. I'm counting the seconds until Luke's green card comes and he can get paid as well. Then maybe we can get out of survival mode and really start planning and all that stuff I suppose grown-ups are supposed to do.