Sorry, honey.
So I just dropped in and found out that he'd posted about the Worthington Christian thing too. Sorry to all my faithful readers for double dipping on such an unsavory topic.
I still didn't read his post though.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
It's media inspired dream night!!
Last night I was driving around with House and Wilson in a car full of prostitutes. We stopped by our house (which was pretty nice and included a pool) where Dwight from The Office was there to fix something. But the water fountain in the hall (yes, there was a water fountain--the greyish green kind you find in old schools and office buildings) was plugged into the wall and the hole around the wire was slightly too big. Dwight was ready to demolish the whole wall to fix this and I spent a lot of time chasing him around and begging him not to bother. Then I was at church ready to meet Voldemort out in my car in a mob boss style meeting. He magically controlled the steering wheel and the locks on the doors (of course, since he's Voldemort) and I really had no choice but to deal with him.
And I'm adding this because . . . it's funny and it sort of almost has a link to my dream.
And I'm adding this because . . . it's funny and it sort of almost has a link to my dream.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU and other anti-social behaviors
Moira's last soccer game was on Saturday. Ben's dad came--okay, tangent here, but someone from Ben's class sent him and e-mail today and called him Mr. Iten--weeeeeeird-out. I'm pretty sure he told them they could call him Ben. If I taught a class the first thing I would say is, "Call me Ishmael." Nah, that'd be freaky.
Okay, so Ben's dad came and whenever Ben's dad comes he and Ben stand up to watch the game. This is because we only have two chairs and if either one of them were to sit in one then the other would be left standing and that would be awkward. And hell if I'm gonna give up my chair--there are just a few perks to being a woman and getting chair rights is one of them. So we had this extra chair and there was a large group of girls next to us and all but one of them had a chair. So I thought to myself, "Self, you have an extra chair--give it to those people." And so I did. Baaaaaad choice. What I should have done was give them the chair and then RUN.
My act of kindness soooooooo backfired. I don't know why but suddenly the woman who had brought all these girls (ah, the joys of sleep-overs) felt like we had bonded because of this chair business and proceeded to yack her head off the rest of the game. She told me all about the previous night and their adventures going through some haunted corn maze thing. Then when she'd exhausted that topic (and, boy, did she exhaust it) she proceeded to tell me all about the Halloween party she was going to throw that night and what her costume was. And then it was time to tell me all about the puppies they have and how her husband wanted to put them outside during the party but she was against this idea because it would get too cold. And theeeeen she told me her plans for putting the puppies in the bathroom and all the stuff she would do to puppy proof it. The worst part was how she would pause between these things just long enough to make me think she'd finally shut-up then BAM! there she goes again. Yak, yak, yak. It made it so much worse getting my hopes up each time. I just wanted to scream, "Lady, I don't know you and I don't care!"
I never know how to extricate myself from these situations. I wanted to watch the game without my facial muscles in agony from the fake smiles I was forcing. I'm too nice.
Later we went to Cici's for an end of season pizza party. Moira had sweats and a shirt underneath her uniform and felt too hot. So we went to the bathroom to change and suddenly there was Upwards soccer bathroom bonding time. It was okay with the actual Upwards mom in there, but when a stranger started telling me about how her daughter wanted to do Upwards and where they lived and blah, blah, blah, and where do you go to church, and where's that--I kind of shut down. To answer the question of where my church was located I just pointed in the general direction and said, "That way." Moira was finished changing and I let the other mom fill in with better directions as I fled the scene.
I don't like bathroom conversations and I especially don't like bathroom conversations with complete strangers. I know it's awkward standing in the bathroom waiting for a stall or whatever but let's not make it even more awkward with insincere chit-chat. At least it's insincere on my part and I wish I could have enough courage to make that show on my face and stop this madness. Get a clue, people! I don't want to talk to you!
Okay, so Ben's dad came and whenever Ben's dad comes he and Ben stand up to watch the game. This is because we only have two chairs and if either one of them were to sit in one then the other would be left standing and that would be awkward. And hell if I'm gonna give up my chair--there are just a few perks to being a woman and getting chair rights is one of them. So we had this extra chair and there was a large group of girls next to us and all but one of them had a chair. So I thought to myself, "Self, you have an extra chair--give it to those people." And so I did. Baaaaaad choice. What I should have done was give them the chair and then RUN.
My act of kindness soooooooo backfired. I don't know why but suddenly the woman who had brought all these girls (ah, the joys of sleep-overs) felt like we had bonded because of this chair business and proceeded to yack her head off the rest of the game. She told me all about the previous night and their adventures going through some haunted corn maze thing. Then when she'd exhausted that topic (and, boy, did she exhaust it) she proceeded to tell me all about the Halloween party she was going to throw that night and what her costume was. And then it was time to tell me all about the puppies they have and how her husband wanted to put them outside during the party but she was against this idea because it would get too cold. And theeeeen she told me her plans for putting the puppies in the bathroom and all the stuff she would do to puppy proof it. The worst part was how she would pause between these things just long enough to make me think she'd finally shut-up then BAM! there she goes again. Yak, yak, yak. It made it so much worse getting my hopes up each time. I just wanted to scream, "Lady, I don't know you and I don't care!"
I never know how to extricate myself from these situations. I wanted to watch the game without my facial muscles in agony from the fake smiles I was forcing. I'm too nice.
Later we went to Cici's for an end of season pizza party. Moira had sweats and a shirt underneath her uniform and felt too hot. So we went to the bathroom to change and suddenly there was Upwards soccer bathroom bonding time. It was okay with the actual Upwards mom in there, but when a stranger started telling me about how her daughter wanted to do Upwards and where they lived and blah, blah, blah, and where do you go to church, and where's that--I kind of shut down. To answer the question of where my church was located I just pointed in the general direction and said, "That way." Moira was finished changing and I let the other mom fill in with better directions as I fled the scene.
I don't like bathroom conversations and I especially don't like bathroom conversations with complete strangers. I know it's awkward standing in the bathroom waiting for a stall or whatever but let's not make it even more awkward with insincere chit-chat. At least it's insincere on my part and I wish I could have enough courage to make that show on my face and stop this madness. Get a clue, people! I don't want to talk to you!
I'm finally going to talk about this
THE WORTHINGTON CHRISTIAN SEX SCANDAL
da, da, da, da
This whole disgusting situation is just one more reason I would not send my kids to a Christian school. Not that child molesters aren't in public schools, but at least a state school would not be so stupid (or allowed to be so stupid) as to rehire someone who'd confessed to such a crime. At the time that Worthington Christian was rehiring Dwayne Smith (he'd confessed and gone to counseling--yippee! all's forgiven) they were in the process of firing a science teacher who had the gall to believe in theistic evolution--the bastard! These are obviously solid theological priorities.
It's not that I don't believe in forgiveness and redemption. I do. But once you've gotten to the point where you're molesting children, you are seriously and, in my opinion, forever fucked up. You can repent and confess as much as you want, but I think a line is forever crossed and you no longer have the luxury of trusting yourself. Recovering alcoholics set up boundaries for themselves all the time and child molesters need to do the same. It's just inconceivable that Worthington Christian rehired Smith and put him in direct contact with children, acting as their authority figure and protector. After what he did, he shouldn't be with underage children anymore. He shouldn't be persecuted and driven into hiding, but he should definitely change careers--I hear they're hiring at Staples.
And dammit--Jason Crary signed off on Moira's homeschooling portfolio. Granted we never met with him or anything, but now I forever have to see his signature on my kid's work. Ugh, the Crary thing really bothers me too. Even though those accusations are only now coming out, there were definitely bad vibes around that guy. He was one of my sister's teachers and she talked about inappropriate, creepy ways he'd act towards the girls esp. one in particular--there was a joke between them involving the Police song Don't Stand So Close to Me. If other teachers and staff had been a little more observant, I'm sure they'd have noticed signs too. Not that you can necessarily fire someone on vibes, but at least you could set up some boundaries like not letting the guy drive students home.
I just think there's a serious blind spot in Christian schools. Parents and students feel like it's safer there and I think that leads to a loss of vigilance. But creeps abound.
*sigh*
da, da, da, da
This whole disgusting situation is just one more reason I would not send my kids to a Christian school. Not that child molesters aren't in public schools, but at least a state school would not be so stupid (or allowed to be so stupid) as to rehire someone who'd confessed to such a crime. At the time that Worthington Christian was rehiring Dwayne Smith (he'd confessed and gone to counseling--yippee! all's forgiven) they were in the process of firing a science teacher who had the gall to believe in theistic evolution--the bastard! These are obviously solid theological priorities.
It's not that I don't believe in forgiveness and redemption. I do. But once you've gotten to the point where you're molesting children, you are seriously and, in my opinion, forever fucked up. You can repent and confess as much as you want, but I think a line is forever crossed and you no longer have the luxury of trusting yourself. Recovering alcoholics set up boundaries for themselves all the time and child molesters need to do the same. It's just inconceivable that Worthington Christian rehired Smith and put him in direct contact with children, acting as their authority figure and protector. After what he did, he shouldn't be with underage children anymore. He shouldn't be persecuted and driven into hiding, but he should definitely change careers--I hear they're hiring at Staples.
And dammit--Jason Crary signed off on Moira's homeschooling portfolio. Granted we never met with him or anything, but now I forever have to see his signature on my kid's work. Ugh, the Crary thing really bothers me too. Even though those accusations are only now coming out, there were definitely bad vibes around that guy. He was one of my sister's teachers and she talked about inappropriate, creepy ways he'd act towards the girls esp. one in particular--there was a joke between them involving the Police song Don't Stand So Close to Me. If other teachers and staff had been a little more observant, I'm sure they'd have noticed signs too. Not that you can necessarily fire someone on vibes, but at least you could set up some boundaries like not letting the guy drive students home.
I just think there's a serious blind spot in Christian schools. Parents and students feel like it's safer there and I think that leads to a loss of vigilance. But creeps abound.
*sigh*
Monday, October 29, 2007
Chick Flick Night
Friday I went over to my friend Kim's house to watch Evening and drink margaritas and just be generally sappy and girly. We didn't succeed in the sappy part, although both of us teared up a little during the movie. (But why was everybody so head over heals for Harris? He seemed kind of boring to me. Definite weakness to the whole plot of the movie.)
I felt like the margarita thing was a big step, since the last time I had margaritas . . . was not good. Here's the whole sordid story--I do likes me my alcohol but I must admit I've been a virgin to the whole drunkenness thing. I've gotten tipsy, sure. Been unsafe to drive, yes. But I've never been all out drunk. And I was kind of proud of that. But sometime last winter I decided that margaritas weren't strong enough by themselves (they really aren't) and chose to spike them with vodka . . . a lot of vodka. Then I drank a lot of this concoction. But everything was fine, I was watching a movie, felt sober, was completely coherent, blah, blah, blah. But then the movie was over and I made the mistake of standing up. That standing up part was brief. I basically crawled to the bathroom and puked for most of the night. No hangover the next day but my stomach felt like I'd been in a boxing match. Unfortunately, that was the day I was supposed to help do breakfast at the homeless mission. I bailed. Ben took my place but the guilt was HUGE. I made Ben swear that he'd never tell anyone. Later I met our friend's mother who also helps out with the mission and she said she'd met Ben but hadn't met me because I was sick that day. Yeah, yeah--sick, that's it, I was sick. Guilt.
Anyway, my guilt over this incident has finally faded, so too my aversion to tequila. I told Kim about this and it was nice to hear all her horrific drunk stories. Actually, I learned a lot about Kim that night. After Evening I introduced her to Absolutely Fabulous via the Death episode (more humorous than it sounds) and then we just talked for hours and hours and hours. It's so nice to have a friend that you can be yourself around. Granted, I didn't go into the true depths of how postmodern I am (ahem, Lauren) or give her my list of actresses I'd go lesbian for (that's another post, but I'm almost ready to add Polly Walker). But there was a great deal of sharing and it felt nice. I ended up leaving sometime after 2 a.m. It was also nice not to feel anxious when I got home. For some reason relationship intimacy usually causes residual anxiety on my part. Should I have said that? Did I give the wrong impression on such and such a topic. This happened A LOT at our last church and it felt fabulous not to have to deal with that. I'm really feeling free to be myself and that's enormous. I'm so blessed to have the friends I have.
And I drank three margaritas in a row and didn't feel tipsy in the slightest. I have overcome.
I felt like the margarita thing was a big step, since the last time I had margaritas . . . was not good. Here's the whole sordid story--I do likes me my alcohol but I must admit I've been a virgin to the whole drunkenness thing. I've gotten tipsy, sure. Been unsafe to drive, yes. But I've never been all out drunk. And I was kind of proud of that. But sometime last winter I decided that margaritas weren't strong enough by themselves (they really aren't) and chose to spike them with vodka . . . a lot of vodka. Then I drank a lot of this concoction. But everything was fine, I was watching a movie, felt sober, was completely coherent, blah, blah, blah. But then the movie was over and I made the mistake of standing up. That standing up part was brief. I basically crawled to the bathroom and puked for most of the night. No hangover the next day but my stomach felt like I'd been in a boxing match. Unfortunately, that was the day I was supposed to help do breakfast at the homeless mission. I bailed. Ben took my place but the guilt was HUGE. I made Ben swear that he'd never tell anyone. Later I met our friend's mother who also helps out with the mission and she said she'd met Ben but hadn't met me because I was sick that day. Yeah, yeah--sick, that's it, I was sick. Guilt.
Anyway, my guilt over this incident has finally faded, so too my aversion to tequila. I told Kim about this and it was nice to hear all her horrific drunk stories. Actually, I learned a lot about Kim that night. After Evening I introduced her to Absolutely Fabulous via the Death episode (more humorous than it sounds) and then we just talked for hours and hours and hours. It's so nice to have a friend that you can be yourself around. Granted, I didn't go into the true depths of how postmodern I am (ahem, Lauren) or give her my list of actresses I'd go lesbian for (that's another post, but I'm almost ready to add Polly Walker). But there was a great deal of sharing and it felt nice. I ended up leaving sometime after 2 a.m. It was also nice not to feel anxious when I got home. For some reason relationship intimacy usually causes residual anxiety on my part. Should I have said that? Did I give the wrong impression on such and such a topic. This happened A LOT at our last church and it felt fabulous not to have to deal with that. I'm really feeling free to be myself and that's enormous. I'm so blessed to have the friends I have.
And I drank three margaritas in a row and didn't feel tipsy in the slightest. I have overcome.
A confession
I bailed on my resolution to watch Heroes. I can't help it--I don't care and I don't have the patience to find out if I'll care sometime in the future.
But here's what I REALLY want to bitch about--Sylar guy as Spock in the new Star Trek prequel movie? WHAT?!? He's not even Jewish! How can a Gentile play a Vulcan, I ask you!
Damned fools.
But here's what I REALLY want to bitch about--Sylar guy as Spock in the new Star Trek prequel movie? WHAT?!? He's not even Jewish! How can a Gentile play a Vulcan, I ask you!
Damned fools.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
I just sat here for 30 seconds thinking of a title and I give up
That's probably because the thoughts I have to post have no relation to each other in the slightest.
First, random memory. I was just reading Sam's post in which he mentioned his immaculate kitchen and I was thinking how my kitchen has never been immaculate consistently pre- or post-kids. And then I had a flashback to my Grove City College days when my roommate and I didn't have a bowl to put our popcorn in. The bowl was holding all our dirty dishes and there were a lot of them stacked to resemble something like a Jenga game. We should have definitely gotten kudos for our excellent dirty dish balancing talents. But we really wanted that popcorn so we put an upside down umbrella under the air popper and ate the popcorn out of that. Extreme laziness is a thing of beauty.
Next, my thoughts on romantic comedies and movie endings. Romantic comedies . . . hmmm, not a big fan. There are a few I've liked but they usually fall into the unusual sort of romantic comedies. The formula is just annoying--boy meets girl, they usually hate each other at first, they overcome some obstacle and end up getting together, conflict erupts usually over the lie that made it possible for them to get together, somebody does something sappy to smooth things over, they kiss, the end. Even if they manage not to be ridiculously corny and stupid they still feel the need to tie up all th
e loose ends and have this big slap-you-in-the-face happy ending.
Then I was watching Something's Gotta Give and I found myself actually enjoying it. There were some interesting things about age and gender and societal double standards (and who can resist Diane Keaton?) In the movie she and the Jack Nicholson character break-up and the Keanu Reeves' (why in God's name is this man employed?) younger man character kisses her in the kitchen and she finishes her play and I thought YES! what a perfect way to end this. But nooooooo--there was another tedious half hour left and it just got sappier and the ending got all nice and tidy and everything was juuuuust perfect. Gag.
I have come to realize that I am a huge fan of the enigmatic ending. I like not having everything spelled out, I don't require closure. It's nice once in a while but too much closure is just tedious. We watched Laurel Canyon last night (good movie, not a romantic comedy, yay for Frances McDormand) and it had an absolutely perfect ending in my opinion. I won't say anything but obviously things were left open in the end. I looooove that.
And finally, my thoughts on food. (That's because I happen to be really hungry right now.) I eat solely not to be hungry. I guess that's a good thing in a way--it means that I don't snack because I'm bored or eat something just because it's there and yummy. But it also means I don't really have the need for variety or the patience to plan out what I want to eat. And that in turn means that I eat a lot of weird and not necessarily healthy food because I'm lazy and uninspired. So lunch could be two scoops of peanut butter or maybe some cold leftovers or maybe just bread. Ben is the one that wants to try out new recipes and make food that actually tastes good and he's been filling in admirably with all these new vegan recipes of his. He's even making his own seitan and soy burgers--both quite yum. There's no point to this paragraph is there? Ummm, new topic.
Ben went to see Barack Obama on Friday. He sat in the front row and shook Barack's hand. Now, having actually made contact with him, Ben's been healed of any illnesses he may have had prior to the handshake. Unfortunately he didn't see Obama stop time with his mind in order to save a little girl from getting run over by a bus. Samantha Bee's so lucky.
First, random memory. I was just reading Sam's post in which he mentioned his immaculate kitchen and I was thinking how my kitchen has never been immaculate consistently pre- or post-kids. And then I had a flashback to my Grove City College days when my roommate and I didn't have a bowl to put our popcorn in. The bowl was holding all our dirty dishes and there were a lot of them stacked to resemble something like a Jenga game. We should have definitely gotten kudos for our excellent dirty dish balancing talents. But we really wanted that popcorn so we put an upside down umbrella under the air popper and ate the popcorn out of that. Extreme laziness is a thing of beauty.
Next, my thoughts on romantic comedies and movie endings. Romantic comedies . . . hmmm, not a big fan. There are a few I've liked but they usually fall into the unusual sort of romantic comedies. The formula is just annoying--boy meets girl, they usually hate each other at first, they overcome some obstacle and end up getting together, conflict erupts usually over the lie that made it possible for them to get together, somebody does something sappy to smooth things over, they kiss, the end. Even if they manage not to be ridiculously corny and stupid they still feel the need to tie up all th
e loose ends and have this big slap-you-in-the-face happy ending.Then I was watching Something's Gotta Give and I found myself actually enjoying it. There were some interesting things about age and gender and societal double standards (and who can resist Diane Keaton?) In the movie she and the Jack Nicholson character break-up and the Keanu Reeves' (why in God's name is this man employed?) younger man character kisses her in the kitchen and she finishes her play and I thought YES! what a perfect way to end this. But nooooooo--there was another tedious half hour left and it just got sappier and the ending got all nice and tidy and everything was juuuuust perfect. Gag.
I have come to realize that I am a huge fan of the enigmatic ending. I like not having everything spelled out, I don't require closure. It's nice once in a while but too much closure is just tedious. We watched Laurel Canyon last night (good movie, not a romantic comedy, yay for Frances McDormand) and it had an absolutely perfect ending in my opinion. I won't say anything but obviously things were left open in the end. I looooove that.
And finally, my thoughts on food. (That's because I happen to be really hungry right now.) I eat solely not to be hungry. I guess that's a good thing in a way--it means that I don't snack because I'm bored or eat something just because it's there and yummy. But it also means I don't really have the need for variety or the patience to plan out what I want to eat. And that in turn means that I eat a lot of weird and not necessarily healthy food because I'm lazy and uninspired. So lunch could be two scoops of peanut butter or maybe some cold leftovers or maybe just bread. Ben is the one that wants to try out new recipes and make food that actually tastes good and he's been filling in admirably with all these new vegan recipes of his. He's even making his own seitan and soy burgers--both quite yum. There's no point to this paragraph is there? Ummm, new topic.
Ben went to see Barack Obama on Friday. He sat in the front row and shook Barack's hand. Now, having actually made contact with him, Ben's been healed of any illnesses he may have had prior to the handshake. Unfortunately he didn't see Obama stop time with his mind in order to save a little girl from getting run over by a bus. Samantha Bee's so lucky.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
To answer a few questions
Quick answer for Sam--here.
And now I'll satisfy everyone's burning curiosity about Moira's school adventure. She looooooves school. I really wonder at her confidence and adaptability--where did she get it and how do I get some too? If she didn't look just like Ben, I'd think she was switched at birth or something. Anyhoo, no problems at all. She made friends instantly, adapted to a group setting instantly, and acted like she'd been taking tests and quizzes her entire life. I was always a little lax on that aspect--except for spelling quizzes which, oddly enough, is her worst subject. Her teacher finds it funny that Moira has this enormous vocabulary and yet can't spell the words.
(arbitrary paragraph spacing) We found this out at our first parent teacher conference. It was odd not to be in the driver's seat--wait, I'm not the teacher anymore and someone else is telling me how my kid is doing in school--weeeird. But, apart from the spelling, it was all good news. Oh, and she needs to work on "sensitivity." I was completely bewildered when the teacher said this because she'd already told us that Moira was a great friend in the classroom and now suddenly she's mean and insensitive to people? But, duh, she was talking about Moira and how she still gets emotional sometimes when frustrated. I guess she's teared up a couple times. This doesn't really bother me because this is something that she's struggled with, literally, since day 1. Every year she gets more control and I think it's something that she'll eventually beat--but it'll take time. The best part of the meeting was when she complimented me on the job I'd done in homeschooling. She said a lot of homeschooled kids come in really behind, but Moira was doing great. That boosted my confidence a lot. (But fear not--I still have my backup insecurities.)
In other news, she's started an environmental club with her best friend, Nia. I thought this would just fizzle out, but they're getting more members and they give each other weekly assignments. This weekend Moira needed to research groups that help specific endangered animals so the club can decide who to donate money to. They're also helping the janitor clean the playground and they've talked to the guidance counselor to see if there are other projects that they could do around the school. She and Nia are also part of the buddy program and spend one recess time a week helping first graders in reading.
God, she sounds like such a girl scout. This week Moira helped 3 old ladies across the street, officially earning herself a goodie-two-shoes badge.
That's really all there is to report. No bullies, no perverted kids, no jerks of any kind--I wish I'd spent my elementary years in Dublin schools. Of course, now she's completely spoiled and I'm terrified about what kind of school district we'll end up in when we move. What if it totally sucks? She'd be devastated to go back to homeschooling and frankly I don't know if I could handle the higher grades--hippie homeschooling can only take you so far. Dread.
And unrelated to school but still of interest to adoring aunts and uncles--she finished her soccer season today. To mark the occasion they all sprayed their hair different colors at half time. Why? I don't know. But somebody should have told them that silver is not a good choice for festive hair coloring--they looked like a bunch of old ladies afterwards. Old ladies with splashes of pink and purple in their hair who can run really fast and like to jump and squeal--but old ladies nonetheless.
And now I'll satisfy everyone's burning curiosity about Moira's school adventure. She looooooves school. I really wonder at her confidence and adaptability--where did she get it and how do I get some too? If she didn't look just like Ben, I'd think she was switched at birth or something. Anyhoo, no problems at all. She made friends instantly, adapted to a group setting instantly, and acted like she'd been taking tests and quizzes her entire life. I was always a little lax on that aspect--except for spelling quizzes which, oddly enough, is her worst subject. Her teacher finds it funny that Moira has this enormous vocabulary and yet can't spell the words.
(arbitrary paragraph spacing) We found this out at our first parent teacher conference. It was odd not to be in the driver's seat--wait, I'm not the teacher anymore and someone else is telling me how my kid is doing in school--weeeird. But, apart from the spelling, it was all good news. Oh, and she needs to work on "sensitivity." I was completely bewildered when the teacher said this because she'd already told us that Moira was a great friend in the classroom and now suddenly she's mean and insensitive to people? But, duh, she was talking about Moira and how she still gets emotional sometimes when frustrated. I guess she's teared up a couple times. This doesn't really bother me because this is something that she's struggled with, literally, since day 1. Every year she gets more control and I think it's something that she'll eventually beat--but it'll take time. The best part of the meeting was when she complimented me on the job I'd done in homeschooling. She said a lot of homeschooled kids come in really behind, but Moira was doing great. That boosted my confidence a lot. (But fear not--I still have my backup insecurities.)
In other news, she's started an environmental club with her best friend, Nia. I thought this would just fizzle out, but they're getting more members and they give each other weekly assignments. This weekend Moira needed to research groups that help specific endangered animals so the club can decide who to donate money to. They're also helping the janitor clean the playground and they've talked to the guidance counselor to see if there are other projects that they could do around the school. She and Nia are also part of the buddy program and spend one recess time a week helping first graders in reading.
God, she sounds like such a girl scout. This week Moira helped 3 old ladies across the street, officially earning herself a goodie-two-shoes badge.
That's really all there is to report. No bullies, no perverted kids, no jerks of any kind--I wish I'd spent my elementary years in Dublin schools. Of course, now she's completely spoiled and I'm terrified about what kind of school district we'll end up in when we move. What if it totally sucks? She'd be devastated to go back to homeschooling and frankly I don't know if I could handle the higher grades--hippie homeschooling can only take you so far. Dread.
And unrelated to school but still of interest to adoring aunts and uncles--she finished her soccer season today. To mark the occasion they all sprayed their hair different colors at half time. Why? I don't know. But somebody should have told them that silver is not a good choice for festive hair coloring--they looked like a bunch of old ladies afterwards. Old ladies with splashes of pink and purple in their hair who can run really fast and like to jump and squeal--but old ladies nonetheless.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
There was a little bit of panic
with the demise of tv-links but FEAR NOT--you can still watch Weeds online!!!!! Okay, I realize that everybody else has cable or doesn't have any desire to watch Weeds or would eschew such a thing as sitting in front of a computer to watch a tv show BUT I like talking to myself so--
Weeds the blog!
Oh, and Dumbledore's gay. What was the point of that, JK?
That rhymed.
Weeds the blog!
Oh, and Dumbledore's gay. What was the point of that, JK?
That rhymed.
I forgot to talk about my surprising church experience
Ben and Traci were doing an acoustic . . .
Hold on, I have to talk about Traci for a minute.
This is Traci--it's a really bad picture but it's the only one I have. Bobo is the drummer in the background--he kinda looks like John Goodman there.
When we first came to Cypress she was singing with Chris and Leanna (who cuts my hair--yay!) and doing the music for the Sunday services. I remember thinking she must be a snob. I think this was because of her stage presence (which back then tended to be pretty serious) and the fact that she's gorgeous and is usually wearing perfect clothes. Well, she is gorgeous and has a nice wardrobe and a beautiful voice but she's anything but snobby. Getting to know her has been amazing--I was so intimidated by her but in reality she's friendly and funny and sassy--the exact opposite of how I imagined her all those Sundays as I sat in the audience. And as I learned last Saturday, we should not sit next to each other during a service because random bouts of giggles and whispering is the result--Ben thought he was going to have to separate us. Damned irresponsible considering she's the worship leader--people in charge are always bad influences.
Anyway, Ben and Traci did a special acoustic service without the band at Meadow Park this Saturday. So the girls and I skipped out on Cypress (woo-hoo!) to go see them. I don't know if I've talked about Meadow Park before, but this is the church right down the street from us that we almost went to instead of Cypress. We were all set to settle down but we discovered that there were hardly any kids--probably because the children's ministry aspect was really lacking there and many weeks the kids just had to sit in the service. Their new Saturday service (that Ben and Traci and the band play for) is no different--the kids just have to sit with the parents. This seems really stupid to me. For years we went to a really small church but we always had stuff for the kids to do--even when we were just renting out spaces and we had to haul everything in and out on the same night. I really don't think it would take that much effort to babysit a few kids for an hour but for some reason kids don't seem to be a huge priority there.
Okay, I'm getting off track. The service was great and I remembered how much I liked Meadow Park. (Darn the kids ministry!) It has been such a long time since I've gone to church and felt anything other than alienated, irritable and bored. Wow. It was so refreshing. They don't pass a plate (they provide baskets in the back) and they even give people the opportunity to give money to other causes (Habitat for Humanity, etc.) if they're uncomfortable giving to a church. What the heck? Am I in heaven? The message was on stewardship and the pastor didn't mention giving money to the church once. And they have a connection with local services for the homeless, etc. and collect necessary items for food banks constantly. *sigh* If only my kids weren't bored out of their minds sitting through the service.
We still got together with our friends from Cypress afterwards and it all felt great--the best of both worlds. We'll definitely be going to Saturday services at Meadow Park more often. Now I understand why Ben was so reluctant to give up playing there. After experiencing it for myself, I told him to stop the search for a guitar player to replace him. He shouldn't pass up the opportunity at a good church experience.
Hold on, I have to talk about Traci for a minute.
This is Traci--it's a really bad picture but it's the only one I have. Bobo is the drummer in the background--he kinda looks like John Goodman there.When we first came to Cypress she was singing with Chris and Leanna (who cuts my hair--yay!) and doing the music for the Sunday services. I remember thinking she must be a snob. I think this was because of her stage presence (which back then tended to be pretty serious) and the fact that she's gorgeous and is usually wearing perfect clothes. Well, she is gorgeous and has a nice wardrobe and a beautiful voice but she's anything but snobby. Getting to know her has been amazing--I was so intimidated by her but in reality she's friendly and funny and sassy--the exact opposite of how I imagined her all those Sundays as I sat in the audience. And as I learned last Saturday, we should not sit next to each other during a service because random bouts of giggles and whispering is the result--Ben thought he was going to have to separate us. Damned irresponsible considering she's the worship leader--people in charge are always bad influences.
Anyway, Ben and Traci did a special acoustic service without the band at Meadow Park this Saturday. So the girls and I skipped out on Cypress (woo-hoo!) to go see them. I don't know if I've talked about Meadow Park before, but this is the church right down the street from us that we almost went to instead of Cypress. We were all set to settle down but we discovered that there were hardly any kids--probably because the children's ministry aspect was really lacking there and many weeks the kids just had to sit in the service. Their new Saturday service (that Ben and Traci and the band play for) is no different--the kids just have to sit with the parents. This seems really stupid to me. For years we went to a really small church but we always had stuff for the kids to do--even when we were just renting out spaces and we had to haul everything in and out on the same night. I really don't think it would take that much effort to babysit a few kids for an hour but for some reason kids don't seem to be a huge priority there.
Okay, I'm getting off track. The service was great and I remembered how much I liked Meadow Park. (Darn the kids ministry!) It has been such a long time since I've gone to church and felt anything other than alienated, irritable and bored. Wow. It was so refreshing. They don't pass a plate (they provide baskets in the back) and they even give people the opportunity to give money to other causes (Habitat for Humanity, etc.) if they're uncomfortable giving to a church. What the heck? Am I in heaven? The message was on stewardship and the pastor didn't mention giving money to the church once. And they have a connection with local services for the homeless, etc. and collect necessary items for food banks constantly. *sigh* If only my kids weren't bored out of their minds sitting through the service.
We still got together with our friends from Cypress afterwards and it all felt great--the best of both worlds. We'll definitely be going to Saturday services at Meadow Park more often. Now I understand why Ben was so reluctant to give up playing there. After experiencing it for myself, I told him to stop the search for a guitar player to replace him. He shouldn't pass up the opportunity at a good church experience.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
I am just full of worthless posts--but this one is for Sam
Sam told us about the 4 Yorkshiremen a few years ago ("Luxury!") and today (in which I wasted a record amount of time in between Evie's schooling) I stumbled upon it on a fabulous site that no one else would ever find fabulous. Thankfully, it was also on YouTube.
But I actually think the second version is funnier and you appreciate it even more when you've seen the first and realize how far they've taken it. That and the way they crack each other up. So carve out a few moments of your precious time for this truly cultural bit of entertainment.
But I actually think the second version is funnier and you appreciate it even more when you've seen the first and realize how far they've taken it. That and the way they crack each other up. So carve out a few moments of your precious time for this truly cultural bit of entertainment.
COMPLETELY random
I like how in Strangers with Candy, Amy Sedaris' character is always offering to bring hot fruit to parties.
Sadly this scene was deleted from Love Actually, but I really appreciated this exchange between Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman's characters--
Karen: (looking in a mirror) Oh, God. Since when did my bottom stop being my bottom and turn into Britain's second largest sea port?
Harry: Don't be rude. I've invested a lot of time and emotion in that bottom.
I got two different packages today and both times the knock at the door scared the crap out of me.
Hot fruit!
Sadly this scene was deleted from Love Actually, but I really appreciated this exchange between Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman's characters--
Karen: (looking in a mirror) Oh, God. Since when did my bottom stop being my bottom and turn into Britain's second largest sea port?
Harry: Don't be rude. I've invested a lot of time and emotion in that bottom.
I got two different packages today and both times the knock at the door scared the crap out of me.
Hot fruit!
Monday, October 22, 2007
She took it like a girl
Evie got her 5 yr. vaccinations today. She was kinda sorta maybe supposed to have gotten them in April but, you know--April, October--they're so similar, it's easy to get confused.
Anyway--5 shots. Ouch. I was thinking she'd need 2 or 3. Once we found out it was 5, her ice cream at Graeters reward was upgraded to ice cream and a stuffed animal. I believe in bribery.
But that kid didn't cry. She didn't even flinch. She is woman, hear her roar!
Well . . . that's all I had to say.
Anyway--5 shots. Ouch. I was thinking she'd need 2 or 3. Once we found out it was 5, her ice cream at Graeters reward was upgraded to ice cream and a stuffed animal. I believe in bribery.
But that kid didn't cry. She didn't even flinch. She is woman, hear her roar!
Well . . . that's all I had to say.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Third post of the day--nothing can stop me
We bought our second picture from Kids with Cameras--the cat one. Yay!
Buuuuuuuuuuuuy one, you know you want to.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuy one, you know you want to.
Somebody's putting up Season 3 of Weeds on tv-links
We're all caught up, but my joy is tempered by the NUDITY! All of a sudden there has to be nudity everywhere and it has to be total. What staff meeting decided this?!?
So far it hasn't topped Rome though. They did try the "let's shock everyone with the guy who has the enormous penis" bit--tiresome. But their guy didn't have jewelry on his so Rome wins. Bejeweled penises. What will those Romans think up next?
So far it hasn't topped Rome though. They did try the "let's shock everyone with the guy who has the enormous penis" bit--tiresome. But their guy didn't have jewelry on his so Rome wins. Bejeweled penises. What will those Romans think up next?
I have glimpsed our future . . . in the Callahans?
Last night we made our annual trip to Wendy's with Grandma and Grandpa Callahan. It was good to see Jeanette (did I spell that right? Probably not--for some reason I can't get her name right but that's okay b/c she usually spells my name wrong too) after the stroke. I was encouraged to see that it hadn't done as much damage as I'd feared.
Anyway, during the meal there was some disagreement or misunderstanding between the two of them that Grandpa obviously thought was taking too long to clear up. He put an end to it by rolling his eyes and saying crankily, "Oh, be quiet and drink your water." This cracked them both up, but Grandma ended up laughing too hard and choked on her water and then spent a good long time coughing. I thought we were going to have to do the heimlich or something.
What was scary was how much this was like something Ben and I would do. Grandpa made that remark and Ben immediately said, "So that's where I get it." But I'd be the one to laugh, choke and then die right there in Wendy's. So let's all hope Ben learns to be nicer for the sake of my longevity. Or maybe that I start taking him seriously and stop laughing so much.
Nah.
Anyway, during the meal there was some disagreement or misunderstanding between the two of them that Grandpa obviously thought was taking too long to clear up. He put an end to it by rolling his eyes and saying crankily, "Oh, be quiet and drink your water." This cracked them both up, but Grandma ended up laughing too hard and choked on her water and then spent a good long time coughing. I thought we were going to have to do the heimlich or something.
What was scary was how much this was like something Ben and I would do. Grandpa made that remark and Ben immediately said, "So that's where I get it." But I'd be the one to laugh, choke and then die right there in Wendy's. So let's all hope Ben learns to be nicer for the sake of my longevity. Or maybe that I start taking him seriously and stop laughing so much.
Nah.
Monday, October 15, 2007
*Gasp*
Mandy expressed ignorance of both William Sledd and Christine Ebersole so allow me to do some educating . . . the lazy links way.
Christine Ebersole's imdb page.
And William Sledd's YouTube page. Definitely check out the cupcake baking video. The fashion victim videos are fun but can get kind of mean. And the video where he goes through his own closet and shows all his preppy clothes and his 18 million pairs of underwear is also fun.
Evie just said, "Hey, Bitches."
CRAP!!!
No more William Sledd.
Christine Ebersole's imdb page.
And William Sledd's YouTube page. Definitely check out the cupcake baking video. The fashion victim videos are fun but can get kind of mean. And the video where he goes through his own closet and shows all his preppy clothes and his 18 million pairs of underwear is also fun.
Evie just said, "Hey, Bitches."
CRAP!!!
No more William Sledd.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
I have such a weakness for William Sledd
Yes, the gay fashion guide from Kentucky. There was a brief time when I hated him because of his snobby trip to the thrift store video. I swore he was dead to me, but William is really hard not to forgive. The kids love his cupcake making video, but I try to limit their Sledd watching because I can see "Hey, Bitches!" becoming Evie's new favorite phrase. I'm looking to avoid that.
William is branching out from his YouTube world and becoming more and more famous. It all kind of started with Christine Ebersole mentioning him on The View. So he made a trip to New York to visit her and now she's returned the favor and dropped by his house in glorious Paducha. I just think Christine Ebersole is fantastic and her advice about wearing sweat shorts just in case you get lost in the forest should not be ignored. Enjoy.
William is branching out from his YouTube world and becoming more and more famous. It all kind of started with Christine Ebersole mentioning him on The View. So he made a trip to New York to visit her and now she's returned the favor and dropped by his house in glorious Paducha. I just think Christine Ebersole is fantastic and her advice about wearing sweat shorts just in case you get lost in the forest should not be ignored. Enjoy.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
I feel like I should post something
I have to be quick though--in 7 minutes we leave for church. That is, the girls and I leave for church. Ben's been playing music on Saturdays with his group from Cypress (our church) for another church down the street from our apartment. I find this whole situation quite odd, but whatever. It's only temporary until they can find musicians of their own to take over. They're just starting a Saturday service with "contemporary" music and needed help in doing it. So I go alone to church and sit alone in the service with no one to commiserate with. Then we go out with our friends and Ben manages to get a ride to wherever we're eating.
Last week I laughed out loud in the service at something that wasn't supposed to be funny. It was a very quiet laugh but it still surprised me. I couldn't help it though. Our pastor was talking about Abraham and the whole sacrificing Isaac thing and human sacrifice in general. "Unfortunately, this was a very common practice in secular society at the time." Sacrificing people to a god hardly seems secular. Ancient history snobbery humor, I know.
We got tickets to see Feist in concert at the Wexner Center. Yay.
The weather for watching Moira's soccer games and practices is becoming increasingly unpleasant. Brrrr.
We went to the Aryan household again for Evie's little friend Bethany's birthday. This time it wasn't on her actual birthday and it wasn't a big party--just Evie coming over to play. I didn't know if I was supposed to bring a present or not so I aired on the side of laziness and went sans gift. I was sitting next to Bethany while we ate lunch (that's a story for another time) and she leaned over and whispered, "I think you forgot to bring my present." Oops. So we went shopping today and got her something and that is the ONLY reason I'm going to church tonight. I promised her she'd get her present on Saturday. Otherwise I'm totally in the mood to bail no matter how much the kids whine that they want to go.
$500,000 dollars of the building campaign money is going to build up the church's sports facilities. $100,000 is going to general outreach i.e. Costa Rica and Zambia. Priorities.
Last week I laughed out loud in the service at something that wasn't supposed to be funny. It was a very quiet laugh but it still surprised me. I couldn't help it though. Our pastor was talking about Abraham and the whole sacrificing Isaac thing and human sacrifice in general. "Unfortunately, this was a very common practice in secular society at the time." Sacrificing people to a god hardly seems secular. Ancient history snobbery humor, I know.
We got tickets to see Feist in concert at the Wexner Center. Yay.
The weather for watching Moira's soccer games and practices is becoming increasingly unpleasant. Brrrr.
We went to the Aryan household again for Evie's little friend Bethany's birthday. This time it wasn't on her actual birthday and it wasn't a big party--just Evie coming over to play. I didn't know if I was supposed to bring a present or not so I aired on the side of laziness and went sans gift. I was sitting next to Bethany while we ate lunch (that's a story for another time) and she leaned over and whispered, "I think you forgot to bring my present." Oops. So we went shopping today and got her something and that is the ONLY reason I'm going to church tonight. I promised her she'd get her present on Saturday. Otherwise I'm totally in the mood to bail no matter how much the kids whine that they want to go.
$500,000 dollars of the building campaign money is going to build up the church's sports facilities. $100,000 is going to general outreach i.e. Costa Rica and Zambia. Priorities.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
What is with the nudity?
I started watching the first season of HBO's Rome, but the nudity really put me off. There was just soooooo much of it. A little I can take, but when there's complete nudity multiple times in one episode and it seems like they only throw it in there because they can, it starts to bother me--a lot. After a while I had to decide if I really cared about the characters and plot line enough to make it worth enduring yet another shot of a slave's crotch. I decided no.
So I bailed half way through the season and the discs went back to the library--or at least I thought they did. Turns out Ben hadn't returned them, they'd just been hiding underneath all the papers and random crap on our desk. And the library has recently increased their late fees for videos. Poo. So if I was paying excessive late fees, I was determined to get my money's worth and view every naked slave and all the humping nobility I could before those discs were returned. But then the story started to revive itself and there were two whole episodes without any nudity and I thought, Hey, this show is pretty good after all. The respite in nudity was brief, but I ended up staying hooked on the story despite the incest subplot. Ah, when in Rome...
Then I was watching Therese Raquin (another early Rickman movie--this hobby is beginning to wear on me) and there was a ton of nudity there too. I thought 1980 Masterpiece Theater--what could be more tame than that? Nope.
I am so tired of naked people! Can't we tell a story without nudity? I guess some people feel the same about language, but I actually think excessive bad language is more realistic and, as odd as this may seem, refreshing. When watching House I always think how bogus it is that these people aren't swearing up a storm. Of all people, House would be the one to use language to its fullest off-color potential. Creative swearing is one of the things I love about Weeds too. We watched the first episode of season 3 on the Weeds site and they faded the sound whenever anyone swore. What the heck? Half the show was muted and I knew I was missing out on so much great Weeds humor. It was quite distressing.
I suppose you could make the claim that nudity is more realistic just like bad language, but . . . but I don't want THAT kind of realism. So I guess I don't really have a point in this post other than I don't like excessive nudity.
Yep.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Deep thoughts
On the subject of mosquitoes--
Why are they here? I guess bats eat them, but couldn't the bats get by without them? They're not good for anything. All they exist to do is procreate and cause problems. Of course, that's pretty much all people do.
On the subject of geriatric Komodo Dragons--
Komodo Dragons keep growing as long as they live. What if people were the same way? Old people would be HUGE. No one would ever pick on the elderly because they'd be so frickin' formidable.
Wow.
Feeling Filthy
Last night I stayed up too late again. It was inevitable. Two nights in a row I went to bed at a decent time and felt great and energetic all day--one just can't maintain that kind of goodness. I even tried to go to bed early at 10:30 but only succeeded in taking a short nap and then being unable to go back to sleep. So there I was at 2:30 finishing up Bram Stoker's Dracula. (Was that movie supposed to be that bad? Was it attempting to pay homage to the B movie vampire films of the past or was it genuinely just the worst thing ever made? And will somebody just shoot Keanu Reeves so he will never "act" again?)
Anyway, there I was watching Winona Ryder stab Gary Oldman when I heard Stella's food bowl. Usually you don't hear sounds from your pet's food bowl unless your pet is eating from said bowl. But Stella was lying at my feet. Oh crap. So I stood in the dark in the kitchen on a mouse stake-out and, yes indeed, I spotted the little creature coming out from under the fridge and stealing Stella's food out of the bowl. Ew. It was kind of fun though because I'd turn out the light, wait a second and the mouse would come out, then I'd flick on the light and ZIP! there it'd go, running for its little life. Then off go the lights again, the mouse comes out, on go the lights and ZIP! I did that over and over again just for kicks. Sad really. You'd think a mouse would be smarter than that . . . you'd think I'd have better things to do.
So now I'm feeling very dirty because there's a rodent sharing my home. I must find a way to get rid of it humanely, though the idea of borrowing someone's cat did cross my mind. Stella's definitely not going to do anything about it--she's probably the one that showed the mouse the bowl in the first place, she probably invited it in and found it a nice safe place to hide, they probably get together after everyone goes to bed so they can gossip and do each other's nails.
After all that, I went to bed and STILL couldn't fall asleep.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
A post inspired by the meaningless post that was inspired by the long depressing post that was inspired by Mandy's comment on another post
These two bits caught my eye when I went searching for the January Man clip. I have labeled them appropriately as--
AND
44 seconds on why it's impossible not to hate Laura Linney:
This meaningless post is an antidote to the last really long, depressing post
I saw January Man. Bizarre movie. Marketed as a comedy, but not funny. Apart from the goofy scenes where women are strangled and a chase scene at the end that was (I think) supposed to be amusing, there were no hints that this was a comedy. They didn't even try to make things funny. I would call it a bad drama. No, I would just call it bad.
The only minutely worthwhile scene happened during the serial killer stake-out when Alan Rickman's character hands out the food. His idea of what comprises a dinner and the way he pulls out the Dunkin' Donuts bag with a subtle look of evil glee amused me--I think that's the way we all feel about doughnuts.
In other meaningless news--I've found that going to bed at 1 a.m. and getting up at 7:30 makes me tired. I feel like a real loser. I've always looked down on those people who say, "I need at least 8 hours of sleep." Looking at things through Darwin's eyes, I always thought they'd be the first ones to be picked off in a crisis. Oh, and women as skinny as Keira Knightley. But now I am one of them (the wimpy tired ones, not the skinny ones) and I'm forced to conclude that I may have to start going to bed earlier for the sake of Evie's education if nothing else. I am just NOT a morning person. I'm a late night person that wants to stay up as late as I darn well please and never have to wake up earlier than 9:30. Why can't the world bend to accommodate me?
I love pita bread.
Consider yourself antidoted.
Okay, Okay
All I have to post about falls under the gripery section and I didn't want to drag people down, but you asked for it so here goes.
Church
*sigh*
Definitely experiencing major church disconnect. You see, I have this naive little idea that a church is supposed to be good for something. I have these completely bizarre and unrealistic visions of a church that really cares, I mean, really, really, actually, in reality CARES about the poor. We happen to belong to a church that treats the issue of helping the poor like window dressing.
The building campaign. Excuse me while I retch. We are about to embark upon a multi-million dollar building campaign under the catchy title of Building Bridges. I think that's supposed to throw us off a bit--No, no, no, it's about building metaphorical bridges not buildings. Now, as part of this campaign we are also doing some nice things like continuing to help a church in Costa Rica build their church and helping an orphanage etc. place in Zambia. They're also flirting with the idea of joining up with Habitat for Humanity and doing stuff locally with them (I predict this will never happen). But these are such sidelines to the ultimate goal of having a big ass building to do big ass white suburbanite shit that will do very, very little in the way of actually changing lives.
The sad thing is, I think the leadership actually believes that they're doing really well in regards to the poor. I think they really sit around slapping themselves on the back for the great work they're doing. And what they're doing is great--there's just not enough of it. I think they skipped learning about percentages in school.
I know! Let's do a story problem!
You have $100 dollars. You send $1 to an orphan in Zambia and $1 to a church in Costa Rica. You spend $98 dollars on new shoes you don't really need.
Question: How big of an asshole does that make you?
And most of the good things the church does do (the things I love about our church) are volunteer based. In many cases, the church administration isn't sending money out, it's coordinating members of the church to spend their money and then sending out what's been purchased. Don't get me wrong, coordination of resources is HUGE. Without it nothing would get done. I'd be thrilled if they did more coordinating. People want to help, people want to do something good with their money. Unfortunately, without direction most people just pop their cash into the offering thinking that the church is going to put that money to the best use possible. Now THAT is naive.
Churches are like any other non-profit--you need to keep an eye on how much of your money is going back into the business itself, how much money is spent on advertising and drumming up more money vs. how much money is actually going to the people that need help. Our church is under the delusion that a big, slick new building is going to change lives. They wouldn't say that, but that's what they believe. If you build it, they will come. The problem is, they're not reaching the people they do have. They're continually trying to get people to be involved, to join a small group or class, to volunteer. A bigger building with more perks filled with even more people who feel even more anonymous isn't going to prompt people to get involved, it just won't. And, God knows, those teachings aren't going to change anyone. *snore*
And what's worse is that this decision is definitely from the top and only the top leadership. All our friends, even our friend who is a pastor in the church, (hm, come to think of it, she's in charge of all the helping poor people stuff--no wonder she's not into the building idea) are against it. And these are the people who are really involved, these are the people who serve. So who is this building really for? What needs is it really going to meet? Because the people who really want to help others don't want it.
So on Saturday our pastor had a couple who work in Zambia stand up and talk about what's going on there. They told a story about a woman who'd been widowed, sent away penniless by her dead husband's family and ultimately turned to prostitution in order to feed her children. Now she has AIDS. The thing is, she knew she'd get AIDS eventually but she thought AIDS is a slow way to die and starvation is quick, so she sacrificed her own health and future for the immediate needs of her children. She and her family are some of the people being helped by the center in Zambia. There are 11 million people in Zambia and 1 million of those are orphans. They also talked about a 20 year old man who's desperately trying to get work in order to earn enough money to finish his last two years of school. Of course, since he has no education he's completely unskilled and any work he can do will only earn him enough to maybe survive--certainly not enough for school. The Zambia center is now putting together a work training program. These are good things, good things worth supporting. These are the kinds of things that I would like my money to go to. I want the resources I have to be spent on changing lives.
And our pastor just stood there nodding and smiling while these people told heartbreaking stories of need. And when they were done he said, "Isn't that cool?" I just don't know how you could hear a story about a woman wrestling with her conscience about becoming a prostitute to save the lives of her children and not be outraged. Yes, it's good that the church will be instrumental in helping these people, but how can you then turn around and promote a huge building campaign that will probably spend as much on bathrooms and parking lots as on orphans? Ben and I could probably pay for that man's yearly education expenses ourselves. Things in the third world are CHEAP and so much can be done with so little. And here in the States so little can cost so much and the really meaningful things for the prosperous people are free (community, love, connection, spiritual guidance) and yet we insist on pouring our money into our suburban physical wants.
*sigh*
Thanks for prompting a post, Mandy.
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