Song of the Month: "When I Fall" by the Barenaked Ladies
Song of the Day: "Love Like Winter" by AFI (Note that this song will be despised come January, because I'll be sick of winter by then.)
In all honesty, this week has been the most unfun yet, despite a plethora of highlights. This is due to the fact that I have been staying up much later, eating much less, more sporadically, and fighting a sinus thing which I haven't been winning because of my inadequate self-care. So, with that being said, my Monday sucked, my Wednesday night sucked, and Thursday during the day sucked to. I was thanking God all week for the three day weekend.
Despite feeling physically miserable, I have had much to be pleased about. Last weekend, as you may know, I spent with my Dad. We went to see a production of Man of La Mancha, which was fantastic. Ironically, I wore my Gatsby shirt to the show and it occurred to me that both James Gatsby and Don Quixote have significant parallels as characters. Both being delusional idealists, I naturally find myself inclined toward both characters. Eventually, I need to read Don Quixote, but preferably after I read I Once Was Lost and The Wind in the Willows. (Also need to read Frankenstein, Dracula, and a novel Haley recommended. Ah! Too many books!)
My weekend was fantastic, as Grandma made me a splendid dinner Saturday night and Aint Kathy took Dad, myself, James, and David to a Turkish restaurant with amazing food. The restaurant is owned by a man named Ibrahim Parlak, a man who was granted political asylum by the United States after being imprisoned and tortured by the Turkish government for 17 years because of alleged connections to a dissenting group in Turkey. However, as the United States has tried to get more on Turkey's good side, they have declared said group as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that this group poses no threat to the United States whatsoever. Now, the immigration courts are planning to deport him, but there is a petition online (which, as a legal citizen, I was happy to sign and comment in paragraph form on page 39) to keep him here with his family and his restaurant. I tried to find a good, non-biased article online about the situation, but I'm not sure what article Aint Kathy found that we read last weekend. The petition itself, though, does a good job of outlining the situation, and I do have the link to the petition. Please check out the situation, and if you feel the same way I do, please sign the petition. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freeibrahim/index.html.
Okay, now that I've gotten my social justice out of the way for the week, I can celebrate two other events that occurred last weekend. The first is the stash of rosemary and olive oil bread now sitting in the freezer here waiting to be baked for me. ^_^ The second is ALL OF THE BEATLES ALBUMS REMASTERED! I love just looking at them, but they sound fantastic too. Especially White Album Disc 2. If anyone wants old copies of my Beatles CD's, now I don't have anything to do with them. Email or comment letting me know if you want any of the following:
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Please Please MeHelp!
Beatles for Sale
Abbey Road
White Album Disc 1Past Masters Vol. 1 & 2
The White album and Past Masters have labels, because 1 is the original CD and the others my Dad just made to look like the original CD's. Can't pass up that deal, can you?
In addition to being sick on Monday, it especially sucked because it was the last Salsa class. I have definitely learned my share and look forward to teaching Emily (and whoever else asks) what I know. It's sad, my Monday night motivation has vanished. But no worries about my physical activity: capoeira will definitely keep me busy. Thursday night we had a guest come with musicians and he led us all in some basic moves and we even got to participate in a roda, which was so exciting. I was very honored to get my ass kicked by this guy, as he was amazing. Though I doubt I can ever get that good, I look forward to improving to the point where I can spar slightly less newbishly with a guy like him. If it hadn't been for capoeira on Thursday, my entire day would have just been miserable, but it was so much fun and we did it for two hours, during which time I forgot that life existed outside of that room.
A very spiritually inclined week. At girl's bible study we were challenged to actively apply 3 fruits of the spirit to our daily lives this week. I decided to pick the ones I felt I was struggling with most at the time, since anyone could potentially fulfill any three fairly easily, or so I think. What's sad is I know the seven deadly sins better than I know the fruits of the spirit. Goes to show that we view sin as more fun.
At chapel hour, Rev. Luckie decided to talk about the Sabbath, and how it was actually created for us. God knew we needed rest at the end of the week, as he did at the end of his, and therefore he gave us the Sabbath to recreate ourselves. She then made the connection between the words "re-creation" and "recreation," and so chapel hour was spend playing Wii sports, molding play dough, and blowing bubbles. Thanks to Wii sports, we have discovered that Barrack Obama is better than Jesus at tennis, but Jesus is pretty good at bowling. (I challenge all of you with a Wii at home now to create other historical figures with WiiMii's.)
Wednesday too, was active. Intervarsity cohosted with the Atheist, Agnostic, and Nonreligious group a discussion between atheists and Christians. The two co-presidents of the latter group were the panelists for the atheists and representing Christians was one of the bible-study leaders and a professor from University of Illinois. The discussion went alright. Unfortunately, the more interesting topics never really came up. What was interesting about it, though, wasn't so much the discussion, (though the professor was amazing and made me wish I had his class) but some of the observations I found myself making. Atheists, I've noticed, who tend to be heavily involved in atheistic organizations or dedicate much of their time to being atheist, tend to be reactionary. Two clarifications on that last statement: 1) I am not saying that atheists themselves are reactionary, there are plenty of atheists out there who simply don't believe in God. The ones who tend to be outspoken and active about it, though, are generally reacting directly to a religious experience or experiences. My logic here is that when Christians form groups, the idea is to advance in their faith. Atheism's only real advancement can be in their argument, since there isn't much advancement in what isn't there. By forming groups, the point is more to advance knowledge in the argument against God and, therefore, the more active atheists are reactionary. 2) I am not using the word "reactionary" as synonymous with "aggressive," because that simply is not the case. The atheists on the panel were hardly aggressive, and most aren't. Reactionary simply means they are responding to the existence of religion. Being reactionary is not necessarily a bad thing either, debate is healthy for the mind and challenging conventions is important in a society. Therefore, on both of these premises, I am not making a criticism of atheists active or not, I am simply stating an observation. The reason I'm spending so much time on a disclaimer is because I know just how many atheists read this, and I truly don't want to offend anyone. The easiest way to do this would be not to mention it, but the integrity of the Web Wall Journal would be damaged if I didn't share my thoughts, now, would it? Therefore, a disclaimer is in order for me to express these thoughts to those I love both atheist and Christian alike.
Anyhow, my other thoughts revolved around how easy it is for a discussion to develop into a debate. Some people really are incapable of discussion, because they cannot resist giving the last word to somebody else. Other people are willing to ask questions and absorb answers. I am a discussion person, though as I said before, there's nothing wrong with a debate. However, there is a time and place for a debate and it is not when other people are waiting to ask questions. I love debaters, they make life so much more interesting, (hence why so many of you reading this fall into that category) but it is so important to acknowledge when you are that type of person and either learn to taper it for the correct occasion or just avoid occasions when it is inappropriate.
Now, this Wednesday was the highlight of my week, and not because of this discussion, but because Randel visited! I am getting quite good at my tour-guide skills here for IWU (they should be paying me for all of my shameless promotion) and I gave Randel, Sanders, and the respective parental units a tour before they took me out to eat (yeah! No Saga!) and then to ISU. I was actually very impressed, they have a beautiful campus. Too big for me, though. I'm glad I am where I am. Oi, seeing Randel was nice and I can tell I miss everyone back home. Looking forward to Thanksgiving break when I can bother everyone and nobody can stop me from sentimentally hugging everyone! What's funny is I send out these updates once a week stuffed with information about what I've been doing, and they still don't feel competent to explain everything I've been doing. I feel like I have so many stories. Randel, hope I didn't talk your ears off too much! I'll try to taper my excitement down a bit over Thanksgiving. `Twas awesome seeing you!
Now, if this update has not touched controversial soil just yet, I have one more thing. Thursday, believe it or not, was actually a good philosophy class discussion. (Only took two months...) The more I'm reading out of Legalize This!, the more I find myself frustrated indignant with the current legal policies relating to drugs. I had a facebook status earlier in the week about how my 70 lb sister takes prescribed drugs that could kill me, yet marijuana has never killed anyone on its own, and it isn't legal for even doctors to prescribe. Those of you who know me can attest to the fact that I'm not really that into drugs: they haven't really interested me for recreational use that much. However, even I can think it's wrong to punish drug users who have not hurt anyone except maybe (debatably) themselves. I got a handful of responses to this status, but the most interesting one was definitely from Trevor (whom I hope won't sue me for reproducing the comment here in this update) below:
"What's interesting is that the federal government has apparently forgotten why it pretty much banned the cannabis plant in the first place: to protect tobacco. Now that everyone is out on a witch hunt against tobacco smokers I get the feeling that the notion of protecting that particular cash crop is done for. So in theory cannabis should have been legalized again, but the reasons were so twisted to justify the ban that now even Congress has forgotten why it's predecessors actually banned it in the first place."
Again, I'm all for abstaining from drugs, but that doesn't make everything our government rules just.
(I stated earlier that I'm a discussion person, but on this topic, I think I'd be perfectly willing to debate.)
Backing off the controversy here for a bit, my weekend, thankfully, started Thursday night. After capoeira I spent from 8:30 to 2 with Michael and his friends, whom I was very pleased to discover were very enjoyable people. It's hard not to love people who will converse with you about qualities Hitler's generals and William T. Sherman shared. It was a great start to a relaxing weekend, which I spend writing an essay, completing German homework, and, on Saturday, eating lunch with my mom and Papou before giving them a tour of my campus. Because Sarah (and 70% of the campus) went home for the three-day-weekend, I was privileged to enjoy a very quiet weekend of peaceable solitude. Last night I watched A Prairie Home Companion (the movie) with Dane from Intervarsity. (The one thing I didn't expect to find here was someone who has listened to A Prairie Home Companion on the radio, but life is full of pleasant surprises.)
And, here is the important part of what I did this weekend, I finally typed up the modern-day Christ story and it is attached to this email. The last week (or two?) I have conveniently forgotten to attach a story. Even if I had remembered, I probably wouldn't have attached the only story that seemed relevant to my life at the time because "Intimate Friendships" has a very, very select audience. (The very few of you who know the story should also have at least a vague idea of why that one has been on my mind.) I also won't be attaching a story next week, as a favor to you all. You'll understand when you open the attachment for this week. Please keep in mind it is unedited and feedback is always appreciated.
Now, until my quiet weekend comes to a close, I will go and write letters. In the meantime, everyone take care and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say!
Janna
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Youth Ministry and My Professor Trimming Bushes
10 October 2009
My youth ministry class yesterday was extremely disappointing and made me pretty angry. I genuinely enjoy all of my other classes and used to enjoy this class as well until yesterday when we had two new teachers who are going to teach the rest of the semester. They are not from the college and they are quite terrible. At the end of the five hour class they had us all say something that we learned and I couldn’t think of anything. I ended up mentioning something that I had already thought about before so that they would let me go. The class was a complete waste of time and I didn’t even agree with some of the material we went over. On top of that, the class reminded of high school all over again. We were talked to as if we were in high school and our homework was to regurgitate exactly what we had just discussed. The class was so terrible that I left outraged which is a shame because I was really excited about the class before. I figured that I would give them another chance before I drop it but the more I think about it the more I am considering not even going back next week.
On an upside I just walked past one of my professors on my way to the grocery store and he was trimming the bushes. They were really overgrown and made the sidewalk useless so this great guy who, among other things, has a PHD from Harvard was nice enough and humble enough to trim the bushes for us all. What an awesome guy!
Dave
My youth ministry class yesterday was extremely disappointing and made me pretty angry. I genuinely enjoy all of my other classes and used to enjoy this class as well until yesterday when we had two new teachers who are going to teach the rest of the semester. They are not from the college and they are quite terrible. At the end of the five hour class they had us all say something that we learned and I couldn’t think of anything. I ended up mentioning something that I had already thought about before so that they would let me go. The class was a complete waste of time and I didn’t even agree with some of the material we went over. On top of that, the class reminded of high school all over again. We were talked to as if we were in high school and our homework was to regurgitate exactly what we had just discussed. The class was so terrible that I left outraged which is a shame because I was really excited about the class before. I figured that I would give them another chance before I drop it but the more I think about it the more I am considering not even going back next week.
On an upside I just walked past one of my professors on my way to the grocery store and he was trimming the bushes. They were really overgrown and made the sidewalk useless so this great guy who, among other things, has a PHD from Harvard was nice enough and humble enough to trim the bushes for us all. What an awesome guy!
Dave
Monday, October 5, 2009
Web Wall Journal #7
Song of the Month: "When I Fall" by Barenaked Ladies
Song of the Day: "Miss Murder" by AFI
It was a few years ago now, on a Lake Michigan beach, when I first witnessed this art form. The sun cast soft pink upon the sand as it dipped behind clouds and toward the water to the west. Dad, Nathan, Demetra, Aint Kathy, James, and myself heard the sounds of a drum ensemble from farther inland. Still dripping, we meandered across the cooling sand until we found the assembly of congas, bongos, and djembes. The rhythms were enticing, subtle for the conclusion of the day, with the potential energy latent for the time being, and I was content for the while simply to watch them. Then two young men stepped forward and crouched. With the rhythm behind them, they wove back and forth, then began to spar—but not the way I had seen one spar before. Their movements were coordinated and deliberate, each offense and evasion perfectly timed to follow the beat set by the drum ensemble in the background. The scene was enrapturing and I could not take my eyes off of this foreign spectacle of dance and martial art.
Why do I tell you this story? It was that night that I first witnessed the Afro-Brazilian martial art known as capoeira, and afterward, I never saw anything like it ever again. Now, three or four years later, I am learning how to do it.
Sarah discovered the class last week and went to check it out. When she mentioned it, I immediately remembered that night on the beach and decided, yes, despite my limited athletic ability and lack of background in martial arts at all, I was going to take the class. So, on Wednesday, I went to my first capoeira class. Though my legs were sore for two days afterward, (yet another testament to all the sports I never played) I am absolutely going again this week. Though salsa makes me just as tired on Mondays, I can feel capoeira wanting to alter my body. The two combined are definitely going to keep me more physically in shape than I've probably been since junior year, when I was obsessed with the weight room.
To celebrate my rediscovery, my latest mixed CD is called Capoeira. It's not a CD that will go out to everyone, not like Blasphemy, because it is a specifically tailored mix. Some of you are aware that Nathan presented me with a challenge over the summer, to make him a mixed CD of songs he didn't know that I knew he would like. Well, with Nathan, music is either pass or fail, so it was a bit of a project, but I know him well enough that I only had one "bad" song on there. (My brother will never like Pearl Jam, so I have come to accept that fact.) Capoeira came about in a similar fashion. Last Saturday after watching Stalingrad, Michael mentioned that he was actually a bit picky about music, and didn't necessarily like it when people made him mixed CD's, because it was always the music the CD maker liked. How could I resist that challenge? So, I took a little bit from basically every mix I've made in the past year and decided to see if I can pull it off.
On the topic of music, I seriously recommend some lyrics checks for song of the month. "When I Fall" takes this perspective of a seemingly prosaic character and intertwines him with these incredible emotions and thoughts. The song itself is beautiful, but the lyrics are just poetry. As for the song of the day, it may end up being the same group for a while. AFI has now grown to be a compulsion and I cannot get enough of it. I haven't reacted so obsessively toward a music group since HIM my freshman year of high school. For some reason, the group just really works for me right now, though I am limited thus far to one concert CD. (This will be changing ASAP if my life depends on it.)
Also, as far as weekly perks that go along with this, I acknowledge that last week I failed to attach any writing to the email. That was because I forgot, but even if I had thought about it, I don't think I would have attached the story that was on my mind all week: "Intimate Friendships" is a story I wrote for a very small group of people, and it would have felt wrong sending it out to almost 30 people. So, we'll just say no story last week was appropriate. This week, I'm attaching a story I wrote my sophomore year of highschool, a mile-marker in my developing perception of the world and people called "Condemned Beauty." Next week, I should be sending my latest (now finally finished work) "Blind to Its Own Beauty." Yes, the modern day Christ-story is now finished. I just need to type it, which is a task in itself that may prove slightly beastly. We'll see.
I don't know how everyone else has had it, but we have had both the most beautiful days and the most bitter days here in Bloomington this week. Personally, I like it that way. On Monday, the weather was so beautiful, and I was pleased to receive a text from Mark asking if I wanted to take a walk with him and enjoy the glorious weather. Naturally, I did, and we agreed to meet outside of Buck Memorial Library after I was done with my German tutor. I was sitting on the steps to Buck and I get a text that reads something like, "I'm in a tree on the quad in view of Buck. Come find me." So, like an idiot tourist in Chicago, I start wandering aimlessly around the quad, staring up in the trees hoping to find Mark. He gave me a hint at one point, telling me to go down the sidewalk to the right of Buck, but not the one farther back. There are three different sidewalks leaving that direction from Buck, and I took the second one. After a few steps I get another text saying, "wrong one." Eventually I did find him, though his green sweatshirt made him especially difficult to find. He enjoyed watching my helpless self searching the leaves for the enjoyment of any other students out and about that day, but we took a lovely walk and I discovered where the dollar store is. Quite useful.
That same night after salsa, I went with some of the girls from my floor out onto the quad to watch them try to fly kites. The other Sarah on our floor (who actually reads this blog, I found out) and I talked while the girls failed to get the winged plastic into the air. What Nathan, Demetra, Dad, and I have with the Beatles, she and her family have with Alice Cooper. I only have two albums, (Killer and School's Out) but she still found me worthy of her concert stories. She's also made me best-of CD's. More music for Janna!
Also, this is a little blurb for Nathan, this morning I met someone at brunch named Butters. It's actually his last name, and it was his before South Park created the character, but I thought it was pretty amusing. What's even funnier is that he's nothing like Butters from the show, he's actually more like Nathan, especially with his humor.
So, aside from South Park and Alice Cooper, classes are alright. My schedule is officially full, and I have invented a new word for my state of being: "whelmed" is the state of stress that is not quite overwhelmed, but could be a precursor to the condition. I am not overwhelmed, simply whelmed. I might need to drop Intervarsity praise band, since the time consumption every other week is pretty intense. I'm going to try to keep with it, but I haven't been on top of my chem term paper research as I should be, and if something has to go, that's going to be it. We'll see how the management goes, but this week's Tuesday and Wednesday were so crazy, I don't remember much outside of the fact that I was exhausted after thirteen straight hours each day of insanity. Though I do distinctly recall making biodiesel fuel in chem lab on Tuesday. My lab partner and I were assigned Canola oil and got a 70% yield. I thought it was cool, but I can be kind of a geek at times.
Our philosophy essay tests were finally given back to us, and mine had a "good job! A" on top, with no writing anywhere else. Part of me was slightly disappointed that I had no comments or feedback, but then I started hearing a lot of people groaning and many variations of, "I know I deserved an A on this!" I suppose I shouldn't complain.
But feedback is important. In poetry, we did some peer editing for our latest essay, and my partner marked one thing on my paper and said she couldn't find anything else wrong with it. I was flattered, but at the same time, I knew that just because my peers couldn't find anything wrong with it, didn't mean that my professor would feel the same way. I met with Dr. O the next day to go through it and get her comments, which were all very helpful. She loved the paper, actually, and despite the few things we agreed needed tweaking, she said she could understand why my peers couldn't find much wrong with it. "You're such a good writer," she said, "They might be a little intimidated." I was so honored to hear that from a college English professor, knowing I'm only a freshman at a school where writing is very highly valued. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to hear any true praises on my writing until at least my junior year here. It was a nice addition to my week.
Otherwise, my week has been full of various unanticipated activities. I managed to lock myself out of my room, have been woken up in the middle of the night twice by the central heating system, (which sounds a lot like people in the pipes with crow bars trying to compose the most cacophonous, twisted symphony you can with crow bars and a massive pipe system) and discovered something extremely valuable in Bloomington that nobody told me was here. I have found a Jewel Osco. SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!! Though, I have yet to go in and buy the precious rosemary and olive oil bread that fulfills my carbohydrate-influenced endorphins. Never fear, however, because next weekend I will be going to Indiana to visit Dad and see a play. He will feed my addiction.
On that topic, because I will be out of town for next weekend, the next update will either go out on Friday or on Monday. There is a small likelihood I could get it out on Sunday, but realistically, everything happens on Sunday nights with my crazy group. Last Sunday, I ended up not finishing my letters because I was invited to play a game of werewolf with them. It's a great strategy game that involves deception, teamwork, treachery, and theoretical executions. I can't wait to teach everyone over Thanksgiving and Christmas break.
Otherwise, I've been watching a lot of movies and shows this weekend, so I'm going to a moment of movie/TV show reviews. Friday night they were showing The Hangover at the student center. It was actually pretty hilarious, with some moments that just make you cringe, but the basic premise of the movie is that these three guys go to Vegas with their friend who's getting married in two days for his bachelor party. The next day, they wake up and can't remember what happened the night before. And the groom is missing. I enjoyed it.
The twins also own the Arrested Development DVD's, so I've now seen the first two episodes. I've heard only good things about the show, but never seen it until Friday. So far, it is quite funny. It has kind of a similar sense of humor as The Office, though not in the mockumentary form.
All of this was following the Justice League party that Young hosted before we went to see The Hangover. Basically, a bunch of us claimed various places to sit in his dorm where we could see the computer screen and watch episodes. I also finally saw Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog there. Aunt Lizzy recommended it to me, but I, unfortunately, knew everything that happened. Matthew had already told me all of what happens over a year ago. It was still very entertaining and bittersweet. Dr. Horrible is a guy trying to get into the league of evil, but he's actually a pretty decent guy and he keeps getting screwed over by the local hero, Captain Hammer, who is an absolute jerk. It's a very good 45 minutes of your time, but you have to give it a little bit to get started. It's worth a look-up on hulu.com.
Also, Fullmetal Alchemist fans, if you remember, though the TV show was inspired by the manga, they got ahead and had to keep making the show beyond the manga. Well, after the manga came out, they redid the series in Japan to resemble the manga more closely. It will be coming out in English eventually. I saw three episodes last night when I visited Mark during his work shift (because all he does is watch videos on hulu while working) and it's definitely different from the series we're used to. First, the animation is similar enough to get away with it, but not the same exactly. Lust looks a lot more anime sexy, for instance. I think the animators for the movie did this series. Otherwise, this series is much, much darker. I would like to see it once it comes out in English, but it's not anything I should be sharing with Demetra. And a lot of characters are much harder to love.
Also saw Hot Fuzz last night. It's by the same guys who made Shaun of the Dead, with the same British humor combined with gory action sequences. Very funny if you're in the mood for it, and if you like Shaun of the Dead, you'll like it.
Alright, now I'll shut up and let you be on with your respective days. Always looking forward to sharing more with y'all later.
Janna
Song of the Day: "Miss Murder" by AFI
It was a few years ago now, on a Lake Michigan beach, when I first witnessed this art form. The sun cast soft pink upon the sand as it dipped behind clouds and toward the water to the west. Dad, Nathan, Demetra, Aint Kathy, James, and myself heard the sounds of a drum ensemble from farther inland. Still dripping, we meandered across the cooling sand until we found the assembly of congas, bongos, and djembes. The rhythms were enticing, subtle for the conclusion of the day, with the potential energy latent for the time being, and I was content for the while simply to watch them. Then two young men stepped forward and crouched. With the rhythm behind them, they wove back and forth, then began to spar—but not the way I had seen one spar before. Their movements were coordinated and deliberate, each offense and evasion perfectly timed to follow the beat set by the drum ensemble in the background. The scene was enrapturing and I could not take my eyes off of this foreign spectacle of dance and martial art.
Why do I tell you this story? It was that night that I first witnessed the Afro-Brazilian martial art known as capoeira, and afterward, I never saw anything like it ever again. Now, three or four years later, I am learning how to do it.
Sarah discovered the class last week and went to check it out. When she mentioned it, I immediately remembered that night on the beach and decided, yes, despite my limited athletic ability and lack of background in martial arts at all, I was going to take the class. So, on Wednesday, I went to my first capoeira class. Though my legs were sore for two days afterward, (yet another testament to all the sports I never played) I am absolutely going again this week. Though salsa makes me just as tired on Mondays, I can feel capoeira wanting to alter my body. The two combined are definitely going to keep me more physically in shape than I've probably been since junior year, when I was obsessed with the weight room.
To celebrate my rediscovery, my latest mixed CD is called Capoeira. It's not a CD that will go out to everyone, not like Blasphemy, because it is a specifically tailored mix. Some of you are aware that Nathan presented me with a challenge over the summer, to make him a mixed CD of songs he didn't know that I knew he would like. Well, with Nathan, music is either pass or fail, so it was a bit of a project, but I know him well enough that I only had one "bad" song on there. (My brother will never like Pearl Jam, so I have come to accept that fact.) Capoeira came about in a similar fashion. Last Saturday after watching Stalingrad, Michael mentioned that he was actually a bit picky about music, and didn't necessarily like it when people made him mixed CD's, because it was always the music the CD maker liked. How could I resist that challenge? So, I took a little bit from basically every mix I've made in the past year and decided to see if I can pull it off.
On the topic of music, I seriously recommend some lyrics checks for song of the month. "When I Fall" takes this perspective of a seemingly prosaic character and intertwines him with these incredible emotions and thoughts. The song itself is beautiful, but the lyrics are just poetry. As for the song of the day, it may end up being the same group for a while. AFI has now grown to be a compulsion and I cannot get enough of it. I haven't reacted so obsessively toward a music group since HIM my freshman year of high school. For some reason, the group just really works for me right now, though I am limited thus far to one concert CD. (This will be changing ASAP if my life depends on it.)
Also, as far as weekly perks that go along with this, I acknowledge that last week I failed to attach any writing to the email. That was because I forgot, but even if I had thought about it, I don't think I would have attached the story that was on my mind all week: "Intimate Friendships" is a story I wrote for a very small group of people, and it would have felt wrong sending it out to almost 30 people. So, we'll just say no story last week was appropriate. This week, I'm attaching a story I wrote my sophomore year of highschool, a mile-marker in my developing perception of the world and people called "Condemned Beauty." Next week, I should be sending my latest (now finally finished work) "Blind to Its Own Beauty." Yes, the modern day Christ-story is now finished. I just need to type it, which is a task in itself that may prove slightly beastly. We'll see.
I don't know how everyone else has had it, but we have had both the most beautiful days and the most bitter days here in Bloomington this week. Personally, I like it that way. On Monday, the weather was so beautiful, and I was pleased to receive a text from Mark asking if I wanted to take a walk with him and enjoy the glorious weather. Naturally, I did, and we agreed to meet outside of Buck Memorial Library after I was done with my German tutor. I was sitting on the steps to Buck and I get a text that reads something like, "I'm in a tree on the quad in view of Buck. Come find me." So, like an idiot tourist in Chicago, I start wandering aimlessly around the quad, staring up in the trees hoping to find Mark. He gave me a hint at one point, telling me to go down the sidewalk to the right of Buck, but not the one farther back. There are three different sidewalks leaving that direction from Buck, and I took the second one. After a few steps I get another text saying, "wrong one." Eventually I did find him, though his green sweatshirt made him especially difficult to find. He enjoyed watching my helpless self searching the leaves for the enjoyment of any other students out and about that day, but we took a lovely walk and I discovered where the dollar store is. Quite useful.
That same night after salsa, I went with some of the girls from my floor out onto the quad to watch them try to fly kites. The other Sarah on our floor (who actually reads this blog, I found out) and I talked while the girls failed to get the winged plastic into the air. What Nathan, Demetra, Dad, and I have with the Beatles, she and her family have with Alice Cooper. I only have two albums, (Killer and School's Out) but she still found me worthy of her concert stories. She's also made me best-of CD's. More music for Janna!
Also, this is a little blurb for Nathan, this morning I met someone at brunch named Butters. It's actually his last name, and it was his before South Park created the character, but I thought it was pretty amusing. What's even funnier is that he's nothing like Butters from the show, he's actually more like Nathan, especially with his humor.
So, aside from South Park and Alice Cooper, classes are alright. My schedule is officially full, and I have invented a new word for my state of being: "whelmed" is the state of stress that is not quite overwhelmed, but could be a precursor to the condition. I am not overwhelmed, simply whelmed. I might need to drop Intervarsity praise band, since the time consumption every other week is pretty intense. I'm going to try to keep with it, but I haven't been on top of my chem term paper research as I should be, and if something has to go, that's going to be it. We'll see how the management goes, but this week's Tuesday and Wednesday were so crazy, I don't remember much outside of the fact that I was exhausted after thirteen straight hours each day of insanity. Though I do distinctly recall making biodiesel fuel in chem lab on Tuesday. My lab partner and I were assigned Canola oil and got a 70% yield. I thought it was cool, but I can be kind of a geek at times.
Our philosophy essay tests were finally given back to us, and mine had a "good job! A" on top, with no writing anywhere else. Part of me was slightly disappointed that I had no comments or feedback, but then I started hearing a lot of people groaning and many variations of, "I know I deserved an A on this!" I suppose I shouldn't complain.
But feedback is important. In poetry, we did some peer editing for our latest essay, and my partner marked one thing on my paper and said she couldn't find anything else wrong with it. I was flattered, but at the same time, I knew that just because my peers couldn't find anything wrong with it, didn't mean that my professor would feel the same way. I met with Dr. O the next day to go through it and get her comments, which were all very helpful. She loved the paper, actually, and despite the few things we agreed needed tweaking, she said she could understand why my peers couldn't find much wrong with it. "You're such a good writer," she said, "They might be a little intimidated." I was so honored to hear that from a college English professor, knowing I'm only a freshman at a school where writing is very highly valued. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to hear any true praises on my writing until at least my junior year here. It was a nice addition to my week.
Otherwise, my week has been full of various unanticipated activities. I managed to lock myself out of my room, have been woken up in the middle of the night twice by the central heating system, (which sounds a lot like people in the pipes with crow bars trying to compose the most cacophonous, twisted symphony you can with crow bars and a massive pipe system) and discovered something extremely valuable in Bloomington that nobody told me was here. I have found a Jewel Osco. SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!! Though, I have yet to go in and buy the precious rosemary and olive oil bread that fulfills my carbohydrate-influenced endorphins. Never fear, however, because next weekend I will be going to Indiana to visit Dad and see a play. He will feed my addiction.
On that topic, because I will be out of town for next weekend, the next update will either go out on Friday or on Monday. There is a small likelihood I could get it out on Sunday, but realistically, everything happens on Sunday nights with my crazy group. Last Sunday, I ended up not finishing my letters because I was invited to play a game of werewolf with them. It's a great strategy game that involves deception, teamwork, treachery, and theoretical executions. I can't wait to teach everyone over Thanksgiving and Christmas break.
Otherwise, I've been watching a lot of movies and shows this weekend, so I'm going to a moment of movie/TV show reviews. Friday night they were showing The Hangover at the student center. It was actually pretty hilarious, with some moments that just make you cringe, but the basic premise of the movie is that these three guys go to Vegas with their friend who's getting married in two days for his bachelor party. The next day, they wake up and can't remember what happened the night before. And the groom is missing. I enjoyed it.
The twins also own the Arrested Development DVD's, so I've now seen the first two episodes. I've heard only good things about the show, but never seen it until Friday. So far, it is quite funny. It has kind of a similar sense of humor as The Office, though not in the mockumentary form.
All of this was following the Justice League party that Young hosted before we went to see The Hangover. Basically, a bunch of us claimed various places to sit in his dorm where we could see the computer screen and watch episodes. I also finally saw Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog there. Aunt Lizzy recommended it to me, but I, unfortunately, knew everything that happened. Matthew had already told me all of what happens over a year ago. It was still very entertaining and bittersweet. Dr. Horrible is a guy trying to get into the league of evil, but he's actually a pretty decent guy and he keeps getting screwed over by the local hero, Captain Hammer, who is an absolute jerk. It's a very good 45 minutes of your time, but you have to give it a little bit to get started. It's worth a look-up on hulu.com.
Also, Fullmetal Alchemist fans, if you remember, though the TV show was inspired by the manga, they got ahead and had to keep making the show beyond the manga. Well, after the manga came out, they redid the series in Japan to resemble the manga more closely. It will be coming out in English eventually. I saw three episodes last night when I visited Mark during his work shift (because all he does is watch videos on hulu while working) and it's definitely different from the series we're used to. First, the animation is similar enough to get away with it, but not the same exactly. Lust looks a lot more anime sexy, for instance. I think the animators for the movie did this series. Otherwise, this series is much, much darker. I would like to see it once it comes out in English, but it's not anything I should be sharing with Demetra. And a lot of characters are much harder to love.
Also saw Hot Fuzz last night. It's by the same guys who made Shaun of the Dead, with the same British humor combined with gory action sequences. Very funny if you're in the mood for it, and if you like Shaun of the Dead, you'll like it.
Alright, now I'll shut up and let you be on with your respective days. Always looking forward to sharing more with y'all later.
Janna
Monday, September 28, 2009
Web Wall Journal #6
Song of the Month: "Economy of Mercy" by Switchfoot
Last Week's Song of the Day (since I conveniently forgot): "Redemption Day" by Sheryl Crow
Song of the Day: "Good Enough" by Evanescence
My wonderful Aunt Lizzy told me she likes to take the songs recommended in these updates and play them in the background while she reads about my week so that she can get a full atmosphere going while reading them. So, to make it easier, I chose to start placing them at the beginning of the updates. That way anyone else who decides to make playlist.com part of their Web Wall Journal routine can do so without having to scroll ALL THE WAY to the bottom of the update, then scroll ALL THE WAY back up to begin reading. (You know you live in America when the toughest chore of the day is scrolling up and down a page.)
So, at my mom's prompting, I trotted down to health services on Tuesday morning to see if they could give me flu shot. They told me there is a shortage of flu shots nation wide, so they probably won't be getting them for a month or more. Looks like they're counting on no university students getting sick until then. I'll just keep drinking tea and taking vitamins.
On the topic of plagues, all week we have been l iving in a swarm of aphids. Last weekend when Matthew and I walked to the mall I wore my sunglasses and by the end wished I had windshield wipers. A five minute walk across campus will have you brushing dead pests off of your clothes when you enter a building. I initially thought it was a consequence of all the trees, but even when I went downtown, they were everywhere. Asking upperclassmen, this has never happened here before. Enough people did some wikipedia research and apparently, because last winter was so cold it killed all the ladybugs (which eat aphids) and the weather this month has been ideal breeding conditions for the pesky breed of insect rejects. Supposedly, this is affecting the entire midwest. (Anybody wish to confirm or deny this?) We've had a few days of rain, so hopefully they will die. I actually did an interview for Titan TV about this phenomenon. Hoping people here aren't too politically correct, because I theorized perhaps we were enslaving Jews in Saga and God sent his wrath in the form of aphids. It was funny at the time.
In all honesty, this update is not going to be as exciting as the last. I've definitely been busy this week, but not as spontaneous. Sunday night went by fine, I suppose, except for dinner. The problem with Sunday dinner is that it follows Sunday brunch. Brunch is, without argument, the best meal of the week. Therefore, Sunday dinner is the worst meal of the week. 20Generally it isn't awful, it's pizza or pasta, but last Sunday was unusually awful. Basically, there was lettuce, and there were noodles (minus the marinara). I was haunted all night by Mom's letters and Grandma's emails of all the great food they're making without me. It doesn't matter when I read the emails and letters, they always make me hungry. What I really need right now is a good batch of Ghirardelli brownies. Then I might stop complaining about Sunday dinner. (Psst: anyone thinking of sending me a care package, BIG HINT.)
Updates on my classes:
In chemistry we've begun molecular geometry, which I'm finding very fun. Tuesday's lab entirely consisted of building models of molecules and isomers. Aside from not wearing goggles, I've begun doing research for the term paper. Still don't need a topic for a month, but I have a list of books I will assuredly be using for sources. I want to cover the radium craze, global warming, London smog in the 1870's, and the PG&E class-action lawsuits. Unfortunately, the latter has significantly less literature on it in our library, so I might have to ditch that idea. Though ironically, I did read in Newsweek that PG&E made their list of green companies. Anybody who has seen Erin Brockovich will find that slightly humorous.
I've decided to back off in philosophy. People are now more concerned with expressing their emotional opinions on the death penalty than engaging in rele vant debate. I did express some extended thoughts on Tuesday, but since have chosen to let the topic exist without me. At one point during these thoughts expressed, I went on a summary of ideas on the perspective of victim in rights vs. privilege and as I was speaking, I could tell by my classmates' faces that they had no idea what I was talking about, though my professor understood at least. When I finished and she began writing on the board, there was an awkward silence. Then one of my classmates muttered, "You had me at hello." The timing and delivery was very funny. Otherwise, though, there are a few too many people who are thinking in terms of vengeance in that class and aren't really paying attention to the arguments we are analyzing. A bit frustrating. So, until the end of this unit, I will withdraw my opinion. The next two units are the ones I'm excited for: drug legalization and pornography. Since I don't exactly know how I feel about either issue, it will be good to get an idea of what the arguments are and see where I stand.
For poetry, we had an essay assigned this week—a summarize and opinion essay. Every moment I spent working on it was reluctant, it is so dry. On Thursday as I was working on it, there was a knock on the door. I was greeted by six familiar faces, whom subsequently spilled into my room out of boredom. So, Sarah and I entertained six of our guy buddies with yet another YouTube party. Cramming eight people into a dorm around my computer is much more fun that writing an essay on a dry topic.
German class has been interesting. I will come back to that later
Salsa is still a fun work out. I like dancing with Chris as my partner, because we're both percussionists, so we both have the same feel for rhythm. The instructor is teaching us both salsa and merengue, the latter of which is supposedly easier. Chris and I are finding salsa easier, because in merengue, you loosely follow a count and in salsa you strictly follow steps and a count. It's hard to get out of the counting mind-set when that has been your job as a musician for eight years. Regardless, we're getting the hang of both, and it is a fantastic way to start out my week.
Tuesday girl's small group was awesome. Can't exactly pin point why, but everyone had something to say about the passage we were discussing and people were just feeling the motivation. Despite a long day, I felt awesome going to bed afterward.
Also, on Tuesday night, I had a revelation. (Kind of.) While reading "on Time" from The Prophet, it occurred to me how much we as individuals invest in a single moment. Right now, as I type, I am investing my memories of the week, my anxieties and excitement of said memories, my anticipation for how people will receive this update, my fears of somebody taking what I say the wrong way, my current tangle of emotions, and other thoughts that cling to what I am doing in this instant. It occurred to me Tuesday night how much even the most mundane moments in our lives have so much of ourselves invested in them. That thought can be daunting, because when we put so much into that moment, there is always the chance that the moment will not transpire the way we hope. But, in some ways, it's fascinating that even when we're not conscious of it, we are putting value into everything we do. I think realizing this will help me appreciate everything I do, even the prosaic, just a little bit more.
Let's take this idea a step further: if we as individuals put so much into a single mundane moment, how much does God invest into every moment? We invest dominantly for ourselves, but the moment was created by God for us. We are limited on what we can simultaneously process in that moment, but God exists outside of the parameters of time or capacity. It's incomprehensible.
So, yes, my spiritual relationship has been a major factor in my life lately. Since I've arrived here, it has definitely strengthened beyond what I had before. Another major player in my life has been my German class. Unlike most of my classes which meet twice a week, I'm in German four days a week. A lot of language exposure. Actually, now that the language is becoming more natural, I'm remembering vocabulary from highschool that we haven't gone over in class. I think my memory is just unlocking a lot of stored information.
The other day, my professor brought up the movie Das Boot. He asked if any of us had seen it and, though I know the reference very well because of Mom's endearing nickname for the cat, ("das Boots" pronounced the American way) I have never seen it. (Taking notes, Dad? There are plenty of movies you've been meaning to show me.) Nobody had, unfortunately, but Michael, who sits behind me in class mentioned he'd seen a movie by the same people called Stalingrad. So, as the rest of the class moved on to other topics, I asked him about the movie and he said he owned a copy still wrapped in plastic because nobody would watch it with him. Naturally, I volunteered to watch it with him. I wasn't going to pass up on a movie about the battle of Stalingrad. So, we scheduled Saturday to hang out.
This wasn't completely unprecedented. I actually talk to him in German relatively frequently. Since I miss lunch three days a week to work (no, I don't starve, I just get a meal exchange at the Dugout) he likes to tell me what I miss at Saga on the days I have to wait until 2:30 to eat. Actually, up until this weekend, most of our interactions were based on food. (Why not?) Watching the movie, though, I actually got to get to know him better than just snatches of comments during German class. We ended up hanging out after the movie because he wanted to=2 0show me some music (listening to an AFI CD he loaned me right now, actually) amongst other things. For those of you who have received some of my latest mixes, he was able to hook me up with a 3 Days Grace album, so I was very, very pleased. I didn't end up going to see Dead Poet's Society because I was still hanging out with him by the time it started. It was nice to hear him talk outside of German class, because learning a language kind of gets in the way of learning about someone personally.
He showed me pictures of the various resorts in Costa Rica he's stayed at, because he has parents who like to travel. He's been to a nice handful of country's, of which I'm slightly envious. Though on the subject of abroad, I did make it to the international office (finally) and scheduled an appointment to meet with someone about options for study abroad. That will happen in October sometime, so I will let people know what my thoughts are for that. An idea that Michael and I discussed was maybe doing a May term trip instead of a full semester abroad. He mentioned a possible trip to Russia. I think that would be exciting. We'll see what the future holds.
In the meantime, I hope you all are doing well. I would really, really like to speak with Emily and Randel over the phone sometime this week. (Though I suspect she won't be checking her email to read this.) Either way, I love all of you and hopefully th is update isn't too dry. (It's just hard to follow up last week's.)
Until next week!
Janna
Last Week's Song of the Day (since I conveniently forgot): "Redemption Day" by Sheryl Crow
Song of the Day: "Good Enough" by Evanescence
My wonderful Aunt Lizzy told me she likes to take the songs recommended in these updates and play them in the background while she reads about my week so that she can get a full atmosphere going while reading them. So, to make it easier, I chose to start placing them at the beginning of the updates. That way anyone else who decides to make playlist.com part of their Web Wall Journal routine can do so without having to scroll ALL THE WAY to the bottom of the update, then scroll ALL THE WAY back up to begin reading. (You know you live in America when the toughest chore of the day is scrolling up and down a page.)
So, at my mom's prompting, I trotted down to health services on Tuesday morning to see if they could give me flu shot. They told me there is a shortage of flu shots nation wide, so they probably won't be getting them for a month or more. Looks like they're counting on no university students getting sick until then. I'll just keep drinking tea and taking vitamins.
On the topic of plagues, all week we have been l iving in a swarm of aphids. Last weekend when Matthew and I walked to the mall I wore my sunglasses and by the end wished I had windshield wipers. A five minute walk across campus will have you brushing dead pests off of your clothes when you enter a building. I initially thought it was a consequence of all the trees, but even when I went downtown, they were everywhere. Asking upperclassmen, this has never happened here before. Enough people did some wikipedia research and apparently, because last winter was so cold it killed all the ladybugs (which eat aphids) and the weather this month has been ideal breeding conditions for the pesky breed of insect rejects. Supposedly, this is affecting the entire midwest. (Anybody wish to confirm or deny this?) We've had a few days of rain, so hopefully they will die. I actually did an interview for Titan TV about this phenomenon. Hoping people here aren't too politically correct, because I theorized perhaps we were enslaving Jews in Saga and God sent his wrath in the form of aphids. It was funny at the time.
In all honesty, this update is not going to be as exciting as the last. I've definitely been busy this week, but not as spontaneous. Sunday night went by fine, I suppose, except for dinner. The problem with Sunday dinner is that it follows Sunday brunch. Brunch is, without argument, the best meal of the week. Therefore, Sunday dinner is the worst meal of the week. 20Generally it isn't awful, it's pizza or pasta, but last Sunday was unusually awful. Basically, there was lettuce, and there were noodles (minus the marinara). I was haunted all night by Mom's letters and Grandma's emails of all the great food they're making without me. It doesn't matter when I read the emails and letters, they always make me hungry. What I really need right now is a good batch of Ghirardelli brownies. Then I might stop complaining about Sunday dinner. (Psst: anyone thinking of sending me a care package, BIG HINT.)
Updates on my classes:
In chemistry we've begun molecular geometry, which I'm finding very fun. Tuesday's lab entirely consisted of building models of molecules and isomers. Aside from not wearing goggles, I've begun doing research for the term paper. Still don't need a topic for a month, but I have a list of books I will assuredly be using for sources. I want to cover the radium craze, global warming, London smog in the 1870's, and the PG&E class-action lawsuits. Unfortunately, the latter has significantly less literature on it in our library, so I might have to ditch that idea. Though ironically, I did read in Newsweek that PG&E made their list of green companies. Anybody who has seen Erin Brockovich will find that slightly humorous.
I've decided to back off in philosophy. People are now more concerned with expressing their emotional opinions on the death penalty than engaging in rele vant debate. I did express some extended thoughts on Tuesday, but since have chosen to let the topic exist without me. At one point during these thoughts expressed, I went on a summary of ideas on the perspective of victim in rights vs. privilege and as I was speaking, I could tell by my classmates' faces that they had no idea what I was talking about, though my professor understood at least. When I finished and she began writing on the board, there was an awkward silence. Then one of my classmates muttered, "You had me at hello." The timing and delivery was very funny. Otherwise, though, there are a few too many people who are thinking in terms of vengeance in that class and aren't really paying attention to the arguments we are analyzing. A bit frustrating. So, until the end of this unit, I will withdraw my opinion. The next two units are the ones I'm excited for: drug legalization and pornography. Since I don't exactly know how I feel about either issue, it will be good to get an idea of what the arguments are and see where I stand.
For poetry, we had an essay assigned this week—a summarize and opinion essay. Every moment I spent working on it was reluctant, it is so dry. On Thursday as I was working on it, there was a knock on the door. I was greeted by six familiar faces, whom subsequently spilled into my room out of boredom. So, Sarah and I entertained six of our guy buddies with yet another YouTube party. Cramming eight people into a dorm around my computer is much more fun that writing an essay on a dry topic.
German class has been interesting. I will come back to that later
Salsa is still a fun work out. I like dancing with Chris as my partner, because we're both percussionists, so we both have the same feel for rhythm. The instructor is teaching us both salsa and merengue, the latter of which is supposedly easier. Chris and I are finding salsa easier, because in merengue, you loosely follow a count and in salsa you strictly follow steps and a count. It's hard to get out of the counting mind-set when that has been your job as a musician for eight years. Regardless, we're getting the hang of both, and it is a fantastic way to start out my week.
Tuesday girl's small group was awesome. Can't exactly pin point why, but everyone had something to say about the passage we were discussing and people were just feeling the motivation. Despite a long day, I felt awesome going to bed afterward.
Also, on Tuesday night, I had a revelation. (Kind of.) While reading "on Time" from The Prophet, it occurred to me how much we as individuals invest in a single moment. Right now, as I type, I am investing my memories of the week, my anxieties and excitement of said memories, my anticipation for how people will receive this update, my fears of somebody taking what I say the wrong way, my current tangle of emotions, and other thoughts that cling to what I am doing in this instant. It occurred to me Tuesday night how much even the most mundane moments in our lives have so much of ourselves invested in them. That thought can be daunting, because when we put so much into that moment, there is always the chance that the moment will not transpire the way we hope. But, in some ways, it's fascinating that even when we're not conscious of it, we are putting value into everything we do. I think realizing this will help me appreciate everything I do, even the prosaic, just a little bit more.
Let's take this idea a step further: if we as individuals put so much into a single mundane moment, how much does God invest into every moment? We invest dominantly for ourselves, but the moment was created by God for us. We are limited on what we can simultaneously process in that moment, but God exists outside of the parameters of time or capacity. It's incomprehensible.
So, yes, my spiritual relationship has been a major factor in my life lately. Since I've arrived here, it has definitely strengthened beyond what I had before. Another major player in my life has been my German class. Unlike most of my classes which meet twice a week, I'm in German four days a week. A lot of language exposure. Actually, now that the language is becoming more natural, I'm remembering vocabulary from highschool that we haven't gone over in class. I think my memory is just unlocking a lot of stored information.
The other day, my professor brought up the movie Das Boot. He asked if any of us had seen it and, though I know the reference very well because of Mom's endearing nickname for the cat, ("das Boots" pronounced the American way) I have never seen it. (Taking notes, Dad? There are plenty of movies you've been meaning to show me.) Nobody had, unfortunately, but Michael, who sits behind me in class mentioned he'd seen a movie by the same people called Stalingrad. So, as the rest of the class moved on to other topics, I asked him about the movie and he said he owned a copy still wrapped in plastic because nobody would watch it with him. Naturally, I volunteered to watch it with him. I wasn't going to pass up on a movie about the battle of Stalingrad. So, we scheduled Saturday to hang out.
This wasn't completely unprecedented. I actually talk to him in German relatively frequently. Since I miss lunch three days a week to work (no, I don't starve, I just get a meal exchange at the Dugout) he likes to tell me what I miss at Saga on the days I have to wait until 2:30 to eat. Actually, up until this weekend, most of our interactions were based on food. (Why not?) Watching the movie, though, I actually got to get to know him better than just snatches of comments during German class. We ended up hanging out after the movie because he wanted to=2 0show me some music (listening to an AFI CD he loaned me right now, actually) amongst other things. For those of you who have received some of my latest mixes, he was able to hook me up with a 3 Days Grace album, so I was very, very pleased. I didn't end up going to see Dead Poet's Society because I was still hanging out with him by the time it started. It was nice to hear him talk outside of German class, because learning a language kind of gets in the way of learning about someone personally.
He showed me pictures of the various resorts in Costa Rica he's stayed at, because he has parents who like to travel. He's been to a nice handful of country's, of which I'm slightly envious. Though on the subject of abroad, I did make it to the international office (finally) and scheduled an appointment to meet with someone about options for study abroad. That will happen in October sometime, so I will let people know what my thoughts are for that. An idea that Michael and I discussed was maybe doing a May term trip instead of a full semester abroad. He mentioned a possible trip to Russia. I think that would be exciting. We'll see what the future holds.
In the meantime, I hope you all are doing well. I would really, really like to speak with Emily and Randel over the phone sometime this week. (Though I suspect she won't be checking her email to read this.) Either way, I love all of you and hopefully th is update isn't too dry. (It's just hard to follow up last week's.)
Until next week!
Janna
First Week at BBC
26 September 2009
Well I just finished my first week of classes here at Belfast Bible College and I am quite happy. The classes that I’m taking are great and the professors all seem to be very competent in their subject and good at teaching. In fact, there are so many good things going on here that when I first arrived I was overly anxious about getting the most out of my time here. I have been looking forward to this for a year now and I’m only here for three months so I wanted to get everything perfect. I wanted to make sure that I took the right classes, hung out with the right people, and went to the right places at the right time. I was nervous that I would get something wrong until I finally realized that if I just have good communion with God then it will all be ok; he’s in control and He knows what’s best for me. If I make Him my top priority then everything else will be ok and I don’t have to worry about it. The deepening of my faith in God is a constant process that is always clear when I look back at different episodes but the process is never easy at the time.
For those of you that are interested, here are the classes I’m taking:
Biblical History-New and Old Testament
Biblical Discipleship
Old Testament Prophets
Youth Ministry
Missions in the Bible and History
Pastoral Ministry
We also have a mid-day prayer Tuesday-Friday, a devotional service and a world focus prayer on Tuesdays, and a fellowship group on Thursdays.
I
t’s great to be at a college that has such a sound theological understanding of teaching and community. The planned events throughout the week and the year are all geared towards creating a strong community that learns from the classes and each other while we each play a role in the community. The college courses are able to be offered a very low price because of donations from the community as well as work that we do while we’re here. Every student has duties to do such as cleaning up after lunch, serving tea, or locking up at night etcetera in order to keep the costs of the upkeep to a minimum.
The atmosphere created is much more relaxed then I’m used to in an educational setting. The professors are very approachable and I’ve been able to talk to some them during our daily tea break. It’s very much a community focused on real education in the many forms that it can take place and I appreciate that very much.
Dave
Well I just finished my first week of classes here at Belfast Bible College and I am quite happy. The classes that I’m taking are great and the professors all seem to be very competent in their subject and good at teaching. In fact, there are so many good things going on here that when I first arrived I was overly anxious about getting the most out of my time here. I have been looking forward to this for a year now and I’m only here for three months so I wanted to get everything perfect. I wanted to make sure that I took the right classes, hung out with the right people, and went to the right places at the right time. I was nervous that I would get something wrong until I finally realized that if I just have good communion with God then it will all be ok; he’s in control and He knows what’s best for me. If I make Him my top priority then everything else will be ok and I don’t have to worry about it. The deepening of my faith in God is a constant process that is always clear when I look back at different episodes but the process is never easy at the time.
For those of you that are interested, here are the classes I’m taking:
Biblical History-New and Old Testament
Biblical Discipleship
Old Testament Prophets
Youth Ministry
Missions in the Bible and History
Pastoral Ministry
We also have a mid-day prayer Tuesday-Friday, a devotional service and a world focus prayer on Tuesdays, and a fellowship group on Thursdays.
I
t’s great to be at a college that has such a sound theological understanding of teaching and community. The planned events throughout the week and the year are all geared towards creating a strong community that learns from the classes and each other while we each play a role in the community. The college courses are able to be offered a very low price because of donations from the community as well as work that we do while we’re here. Every student has duties to do such as cleaning up after lunch, serving tea, or locking up at night etcetera in order to keep the costs of the upkeep to a minimum.
The atmosphere created is much more relaxed then I’m used to in an educational setting. The professors are very approachable and I’ve been able to talk to some them during our daily tea break. It’s very much a community focused on real education in the many forms that it can take place and I appreciate that very much.
Dave
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Web Wall Journal
The campus is quiet on this drizzling Sunday as we approach fall. Leaves have begun falling, and a few colors can be spotted amongst the green for those searching for signs of autumn. The serene season is on its way and I believe I may take a walk today to enjoy the changing weather. But first, I must update the rest of the world on life's exciting new adventures.
After I quickly sent out last week's update, I rushed to grab a quick dinner and dress up for church. I went with a guy from my philosophy class (met him during orientation week) to his Apostolic Pentecostal church. So, dressing up included a skirt and no make-up. In this sense, they are very old-testament, but in some ways, they are much more modern than many conventional churches. There is a reason that the Pentecostal church is the fastest growing in the world of all the Christian churches. That is because they are a very passionate bunch. Their service is dominantly music, and do they know how to rock. (Dad, some of those bass lines you would have enjoyed messing with.) And the message is delivered with just as much passion. I am not accustomed to the minister leaping and shouting at various times, and I'm even less used to white people shouting "amen!" in the congregation, (though this I always found to be an enjoyable addition to any service) but this is the norm on a Sunday night service at this Pentecostal church. Thinking about it in retrospect, I think the Pentecostal church is a lot like slam poetry. Slam poetry is definitely representative of its time. As I wrote in my paper for my poetry class, poetry has not died, it has simply evolved and taken on different forms in a changing society. As times move faster, and people don't have time to sit and wrap their minds around metaphors, slam poetry comes into play, with more immediate speech and presentation that demands your attention in an increasingly distracting world. The Pentecostal church is something like that, as many people don't want to sit and gradually learn about God. They want him right here, right now, and experience you cannot ignore. That is why I think the church is growing so much right now: it fits the society of this time period.
As for me personally, I don't know if Pentecostal is my style. Definitely nothing wrong with that, but everyone needs something different at a different time in their life. Being a mellower person by nature, I would like to explore a few other churches before settling on this one. It was enjoyable, but I also have to keep in mind time. Their services are two hours minimum.
So, that was my Sunday night. Monday went by at its own mild pace, but this was nice because I had the opportunity to read everyone's feedback and comments from the last update. I hope you all keep emailing and/or leaving comments on facebook, because even if I don't personally reply to each one, I love reading them.
Yes, Monday was just another day until Sarah mentioned she was going to a salsa class at eight that night. I liked the idea of learning to dance in a way that requires some thought and skill, even though I'm not much of a dancer, and I have not gotten myself over to Shirk Center yet to use the weight room, so I figured I should go and try to get some exercise. Naturally, only two guys showed up for the class, but I knew one of them because he's an English major, and a percussionist, in Intervarsity, and he lives in Dolan, (where I work) so we see each other relatively frequently. What's even better is, he's naturally good at dancing. Where he comes from, contra (a kind of old-fashioned line dancing) is very popular, and so he has some natural ability. Together, we were able to put together some pretty sweet turns and the accomplishment and activity gave me such a high, I think I wore a permanent smile for two full hours. Near the end, he started showing me some contra turns and that in itself looks like so much fun. I claimed him as my salsa partner tomorrow too, and I look forward to dancing again.
Sarah and I also know that the Flyte twins (two guys who are in my poetry class and who play lacrosse with Sarah) know how to ballroom dance. When they left their water bottle in our room Sunday morning, we decided to hold it hostage until they agreed to teach us to ballroom dance. They said sure, so now we have to hold them too it. Perhaps next weekend.
As I mentioned before, I had to write a paper for my poetry class. On Monday, all seven of us in the class were informed that our professor doesn't hold class the day a paper is due. So, lucky duck that I was, poetry is the only class I have on Wednesday, but we had a paper due, so no class was held. So, I kind of had a break in the middle of the week from classes, but not really, since I had so much going on Tuesday, I spent all of Wednesday completing assignments and studying for my chemistry exam on Thursday. It wouldn't have been quite so crazy if I hadn't volunteered to sing for Intervarsity praise band. I was called earlier in the day with a list of seven songs, only three of which I had heard before, so while I studied for chemistry, I listened to the songs I didn't know on YouTube and promptly at five-twenty I was at rehearsal, which went until eight o'clock that night, when group started. Group itself went from eight to nine-thirty, so by the end, after we performed and group was dismissed, I felt like I had run a marathon: learning four brand new songs in a day and performing them the same day. Not to mention, I am their only female vocalist, so Kyle (president of Intervarsity) was very excited to have me lead on many songs. Had some songs that were written for female vocals, so even if I only had two solo songs, it felt like more. A lot of fun, a dose of stress, and a lack of dinner, but we pulled it off with only a few excusable mistakes.
Also tried to rip some music offline on Wednesday, but something with the Internet here won't let me. I can do it, but the recording turns out muffled and hollow. I can't do any illegal downloading either, because the school can confiscate my computer if they catch me, which I really don't want to deal with. So, when I discovered my Hard Day's Night CD missing and wanted A SINGLE SONG from it, I could get it. Looks like mixes with new stuff will have to wait until summer vacation.
Started a new book in philosophy. We're now on the subject of the death penalty, and the book argues against it, which I have no problem with. However, in order for the writer to argue effectively, he has to discredit absolute pacifism to appeal to the majority of the world who isn't. Well, me who happens to fall into the minority was offended at the mere page he dedicated to absolute pacifism with an inadequate argument (which clearly assumed the reader was not an absolute pacifist) and decided to express a grievance about it in class. She's going to allow me more time to argue against his premise on Tuesday (supposedly) where I will explain the flaws in his argument. I'm becoming quite antagonistic in this class, and I'm reminded of the good old days in Klemm's freshman world history class where I quickly became first-year teacher's worst nightmare. I kind of regret being such a pain to him now, and part of me wonders if I will regret being a pain in this class later. For the time being, I'll stand by my opinions.
I would have woken up the next morning well-rested if the Ferguson fire alarm hadn't been pulled at 2 in the morning. The truth is, I knew it was coming, as Sarah had witnessed some drunk Munsell boys attempt to do it the night before, and get pursued by a flock of RA's. Since it hadn't transpired, I had a feeling they would try again. So, at 2 am on Friday, we all stood outside in our slippers and pajamas and waited for the firemen to tell us what we already knew: that there wasn't a fire. Went back to bed grateful, actually, that it was Thursday night, and not the night before, since their original plan would have disrupted my sleep before an 8 am chemistry test. The fire alarm pranks have gotten so bad in Munsell/Ferguson that they are now offering a $1,000 reward for anyone who knows who is responsible. Sarah proposed that one of the chemistry lab projects should be a forensics investigation with finger-printing. Though I don't know who has pulled Munsell's fire alarm four times, I do have good reason to believe it was Munsell six that pulled ours the other night. But word of mouth isn't exactly hard evidence.
Fridays and Mondays aren't necessarily hard days, but everything in my schedule is really tight because of work, so I was running around like a mad woman until four o'clock. Not a bad day by far, though. Kim is my supervisor, and we spent the first hour of my second shift just talking about life's choices and lessons. I love that she enjoys talking to me, because I like hearing her talk about her grandchildren, and I respect her a lot for her experiences and advice from them. I enjoy taking time out of my week to be in Dolan.
Otherwise, Matthew came up again this weekend. Friday night was mostly dinner and conversation, though we did catch the end of Finding Nemo in the Munsell TV lounge. Saturday, we decided to walk to the airport and made it most of the way there, then walked back and took the car to the mall where we purchased much needed beverages. While we ate dinner, I received a text inviting me to an open mic night to see someone from Intervarsity sing. They heavily encouraged people in the audience participating, and though I had not planned on reading, I incidentally had two short stories with me, albeit rough draft, and I decided to just pick one and give it a shot. It was one of those impulsive decisions I don't necessarily regret, but am unsure was really for me. They're watching Dead Poets Society next week, and since I haven't seen it, I'll probably go with Sarah.
So, because I read it at open mic, I am attaching "Jazz Revival" to this update for those receiving by email. This is not necessarily a final draft, and I'm looking for feedback from those who haven't given it already. (Meaning Dad, Ms. Yaremko, and Emily do not need to feel obligated to respond to it.) The feedback I've already gotten has not gone into the editing process yet, so for those reading a second time, not much has changed. I'm still a bit unsure how I want to revise it.
Otherwise, I have information for those thinking about visiting. It is possible to get into Saga and eat with me despite the fact that you won't have student ID's. As long as you have money, they'll let you in. (I think all meals but brunch are $5.15, because brunch is about $8.) Discovered this with Matthew's visit, so people may want to keep that in mind.
Other than that, I found another Beatles fan! She lives right across the hall from me, and I discovered it when she plugged in her iPod to take a shower and she had a Beatles playlist going. I told her it made my day, we discussed a mutual love for the mop tops, and then later this week, I burned her the Love album. Yesterday, she told me how much she loved it, and how she had fun identifying which parts of songs were from where and such. Beatles fans make me smile.
Looking forward to receiving email, comments, and letters from everyone. I'm thinking about you all, and miss you very much!
Until next weekend,
Janna
After I quickly sent out last week's update, I rushed to grab a quick dinner and dress up for church. I went with a guy from my philosophy class (met him during orientation week) to his Apostolic Pentecostal church. So, dressing up included a skirt and no make-up. In this sense, they are very old-testament, but in some ways, they are much more modern than many conventional churches. There is a reason that the Pentecostal church is the fastest growing in the world of all the Christian churches. That is because they are a very passionate bunch. Their service is dominantly music, and do they know how to rock. (Dad, some of those bass lines you would have enjoyed messing with.) And the message is delivered with just as much passion. I am not accustomed to the minister leaping and shouting at various times, and I'm even less used to white people shouting "amen!" in the congregation, (though this I always found to be an enjoyable addition to any service) but this is the norm on a Sunday night service at this Pentecostal church. Thinking about it in retrospect, I think the Pentecostal church is a lot like slam poetry. Slam poetry is definitely representative of its time. As I wrote in my paper for my poetry class, poetry has not died, it has simply evolved and taken on different forms in a changing society. As times move faster, and people don't have time to sit and wrap their minds around metaphors, slam poetry comes into play, with more immediate speech and presentation that demands your attention in an increasingly distracting world. The Pentecostal church is something like that, as many people don't want to sit and gradually learn about God. They want him right here, right now, and experience you cannot ignore. That is why I think the church is growing so much right now: it fits the society of this time period.
As for me personally, I don't know if Pentecostal is my style. Definitely nothing wrong with that, but everyone needs something different at a different time in their life. Being a mellower person by nature, I would like to explore a few other churches before settling on this one. It was enjoyable, but I also have to keep in mind time. Their services are two hours minimum.
So, that was my Sunday night. Monday went by at its own mild pace, but this was nice because I had the opportunity to read everyone's feedback and comments from the last update. I hope you all keep emailing and/or leaving comments on facebook, because even if I don't personally reply to each one, I love reading them.
Yes, Monday was just another day until Sarah mentioned she was going to a salsa class at eight that night. I liked the idea of learning to dance in a way that requires some thought and skill, even though I'm not much of a dancer, and I have not gotten myself over to Shirk Center yet to use the weight room, so I figured I should go and try to get some exercise. Naturally, only two guys showed up for the class, but I knew one of them because he's an English major, and a percussionist, in Intervarsity, and he lives in Dolan, (where I work) so we see each other relatively frequently. What's even better is, he's naturally good at dancing. Where he comes from, contra (a kind of old-fashioned line dancing) is very popular, and so he has some natural ability. Together, we were able to put together some pretty sweet turns and the accomplishment and activity gave me such a high, I think I wore a permanent smile for two full hours. Near the end, he started showing me some contra turns and that in itself looks like so much fun. I claimed him as my salsa partner tomorrow too, and I look forward to dancing again.
Sarah and I also know that the Flyte twins (two guys who are in my poetry class and who play lacrosse with Sarah) know how to ballroom dance. When they left their water bottle in our room Sunday morning, we decided to hold it hostage until they agreed to teach us to ballroom dance. They said sure, so now we have to hold them too it. Perhaps next weekend.
As I mentioned before, I had to write a paper for my poetry class. On Monday, all seven of us in the class were informed that our professor doesn't hold class the day a paper is due. So, lucky duck that I was, poetry is the only class I have on Wednesday, but we had a paper due, so no class was held. So, I kind of had a break in the middle of the week from classes, but not really, since I had so much going on Tuesday, I spent all of Wednesday completing assignments and studying for my chemistry exam on Thursday. It wouldn't have been quite so crazy if I hadn't volunteered to sing for Intervarsity praise band. I was called earlier in the day with a list of seven songs, only three of which I had heard before, so while I studied for chemistry, I listened to the songs I didn't know on YouTube and promptly at five-twenty I was at rehearsal, which went until eight o'clock that night, when group started. Group itself went from eight to nine-thirty, so by the end, after we performed and group was dismissed, I felt like I had run a marathon: learning four brand new songs in a day and performing them the same day. Not to mention, I am their only female vocalist, so Kyle (president of Intervarsity) was very excited to have me lead on many songs. Had some songs that were written for female vocals, so even if I only had two solo songs, it felt like more. A lot of fun, a dose of stress, and a lack of dinner, but we pulled it off with only a few excusable mistakes.
Also tried to rip some music offline on Wednesday, but something with the Internet here won't let me. I can do it, but the recording turns out muffled and hollow. I can't do any illegal downloading either, because the school can confiscate my computer if they catch me, which I really don't want to deal with. So, when I discovered my Hard Day's Night CD missing and wanted A SINGLE SONG from it, I could get it. Looks like mixes with new stuff will have to wait until summer vacation.
Started a new book in philosophy. We're now on the subject of the death penalty, and the book argues against it, which I have no problem with. However, in order for the writer to argue effectively, he has to discredit absolute pacifism to appeal to the majority of the world who isn't. Well, me who happens to fall into the minority was offended at the mere page he dedicated to absolute pacifism with an inadequate argument (which clearly assumed the reader was not an absolute pacifist) and decided to express a grievance about it in class. She's going to allow me more time to argue against his premise on Tuesday (supposedly) where I will explain the flaws in his argument. I'm becoming quite antagonistic in this class, and I'm reminded of the good old days in Klemm's freshman world history class where I quickly became first-year teacher's worst nightmare. I kind of regret being such a pain to him now, and part of me wonders if I will regret being a pain in this class later. For the time being, I'll stand by my opinions.
I would have woken up the next morning well-rested if the Ferguson fire alarm hadn't been pulled at 2 in the morning. The truth is, I knew it was coming, as Sarah had witnessed some drunk Munsell boys attempt to do it the night before, and get pursued by a flock of RA's. Since it hadn't transpired, I had a feeling they would try again. So, at 2 am on Friday, we all stood outside in our slippers and pajamas and waited for the firemen to tell us what we already knew: that there wasn't a fire. Went back to bed grateful, actually, that it was Thursday night, and not the night before, since their original plan would have disrupted my sleep before an 8 am chemistry test. The fire alarm pranks have gotten so bad in Munsell/Ferguson that they are now offering a $1,000 reward for anyone who knows who is responsible. Sarah proposed that one of the chemistry lab projects should be a forensics investigation with finger-printing. Though I don't know who has pulled Munsell's fire alarm four times, I do have good reason to believe it was Munsell six that pulled ours the other night. But word of mouth isn't exactly hard evidence.
Fridays and Mondays aren't necessarily hard days, but everything in my schedule is really tight because of work, so I was running around like a mad woman until four o'clock. Not a bad day by far, though. Kim is my supervisor, and we spent the first hour of my second shift just talking about life's choices and lessons. I love that she enjoys talking to me, because I like hearing her talk about her grandchildren, and I respect her a lot for her experiences and advice from them. I enjoy taking time out of my week to be in Dolan.
Otherwise, Matthew came up again this weekend. Friday night was mostly dinner and conversation, though we did catch the end of Finding Nemo in the Munsell TV lounge. Saturday, we decided to walk to the airport and made it most of the way there, then walked back and took the car to the mall where we purchased much needed beverages. While we ate dinner, I received a text inviting me to an open mic night to see someone from Intervarsity sing. They heavily encouraged people in the audience participating, and though I had not planned on reading, I incidentally had two short stories with me, albeit rough draft, and I decided to just pick one and give it a shot. It was one of those impulsive decisions I don't necessarily regret, but am unsure was really for me. They're watching Dead Poets Society next week, and since I haven't seen it, I'll probably go with Sarah.
So, because I read it at open mic, I am attaching "Jazz Revival" to this update for those receiving by email. This is not necessarily a final draft, and I'm looking for feedback from those who haven't given it already. (Meaning Dad, Ms. Yaremko, and Emily do not need to feel obligated to respond to it.) The feedback I've already gotten has not gone into the editing process yet, so for those reading a second time, not much has changed. I'm still a bit unsure how I want to revise it.
Otherwise, I have information for those thinking about visiting. It is possible to get into Saga and eat with me despite the fact that you won't have student ID's. As long as you have money, they'll let you in. (I think all meals but brunch are $5.15, because brunch is about $8.) Discovered this with Matthew's visit, so people may want to keep that in mind.
Other than that, I found another Beatles fan! She lives right across the hall from me, and I discovered it when she plugged in her iPod to take a shower and she had a Beatles playlist going. I told her it made my day, we discussed a mutual love for the mop tops, and then later this week, I burned her the Love album. Yesterday, she told me how much she loved it, and how she had fun identifying which parts of songs were from where and such. Beatles fans make me smile.
Looking forward to receiving email, comments, and letters from everyone. I'm thinking about you all, and miss you very much!
Until next weekend,
Janna
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Castlewellan
I just got back from a beautiful conference center called Castlewellan just outside the town of New Castle where we spent a couple days of our orientation. I enjoyed getting to know more people and going for a nice hike around the property. Check out the pictures here. There are about 175 full time students here from over 30 countries. (my previous guess was low)
Monday we start classes and we’re allowed to sit in as many classes as we want the first week so we can see what classes we like. I’m going to go to quite a few and then decide what to take. I’ve added some pictures of the campus for you to see here, it’s very small but I like it.
Dave
Monday we start classes and we’re allowed to sit in as many classes as we want the first week so we can see what classes we like. I’m going to go to quite a few and then decide what to take. I’ve added some pictures of the campus for you to see here, it’s very small but I like it.
Dave
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
