Today I can only be...
a broken cup, a cracked vase.
I know my need, for I am needy.
Too tired to acknowledge my thirst, still I know it's there.
Come, Holy Spirit, and fill this shattered vessel
with your life, love, and energy
That I may do your will.
Today I can only be.
--Mrs. Gretchen Olheiser
Monday, February 22, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Oh Jane, what have you done?
So first, a few responses to some comments (and how lovely to have you read and respond. Thank you!):
1. Hana, after reading your comment, I was struck that by the overwhelming irony that Mr. Klosterman uses a great amount of generalizations to try to criticize the generalizations of The Real World generation. You're right--he's not entirely accurate, but he makes a point worth pondering. Do we become the people we think that others want us to be or do we strive to be our own people? But that also opens up a third option--do we fight the stereotypes and try to be the opposite thereby creating another stereotypical personality?
2. Chris, I'd love to walk! I've been sick this week so exercise hasn't been happening, but I'll give you a call next week. I love Christmas in February. :)
3. Julie, you do need to read this book. It's quality. Chuck thinks we become the people that MTV has already put on tv. After all, this is a time when you can be famous for being famous. You don't need any skill or talent or even intellect. It's much easier to be who you think people want. Because what part of reality tv is real?
In my next post, we will be taking a trip down memory lane with the gang from Bayside High. But now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
I remember the day so very clearly. I was in the 8th grade English class with Mrs. Neufell at Trinity Junior High. She gave us a list of approved book, and told us to pick one. After we read it, we were going to have a test. And the book that I picked changed my life. That afternoon was the first time I read any of the words of Jane Austen. My flute needed something done to it, so mom drove us out to Barling to see the guy who fixes instruments and I read the whole way there and back (and my mom doesn't drive fast, so I got a bit of reading done--"just because the speed limit says 35 doesn't mean you have to go 35"). And by the time I was back home, I was hooked. There was this whole other world out there that I could learn about. A different time, a different place, a different culture. It was beautiful. And then later that year the BBC aired their 6 hour Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I met Colin Firth (be still my heart) and Mr. Darcy's role as my hero had been cemented in my heart.
But I've been sick this past week (yes, I feel much better now that the drugs have had time to work), and when I'm sick I go for comfort and familiarity. Which means I watch P&P. All glorious 6 hours of it. But I was struck this time by something: Mr. Darcy really is a jerk at the beginning. And then the next time Elizabeth sees him, he acts completely different. Why does she fall for that? It strikes me as odd actually. And then I asked myself the question: why am I in love with Mr. Darcy? Is it because he's brooding and handsome? Because that's great in fiction but not in real life. I don't want the emotionally distant and arrogant type that he is, but something keeps me coming back for more. I'm like a junkie--I can't stay away from all things Jane.
So it begs the question: Jane, what have you done to me? Have you turned me into a girl who is always looking for the unattainable? Have I become that girl who always wants what I can't possibly have? Is it wrong to be in love with a fictional character? Jane, Jane, Jane...have you ruined my life?
There's actually a whole new genre of literature that addresses this basic question; last year I read the book Jane Austen Ruined My Life. It's fiction, but in it the leading lady (much like myself) has spent her life loving Mr. Darcy, and she thinks she's found him only to have her heart stomped on. So she goes out into the world blaming Jane for thinking that she could have ever had it all in the first place. And later on, when she does find someone who genuinely cares about her, she doesn't trust it because she's been so hurt in the past. So can Jane ruin lives?
I think that part of the lasting appeal of Jane's books are that they're basically fairy tales. In the end, the good people are rewarded and the bad people are outed and punished in some form or fashion. And wouldn't it be nice if the real world were like that? I wish I could know within a few chapters of conversation if people have good intentions or bad. And I think it's not such a bad thing to want the world to be a little bit simpler. Maybe I read Jane because she always has hope in the end; her books in with weddings, and that's a beginning. Maybe it's about the possibility. Jane can only take us so far and then we have to figure it out on our own. But she surely does leave us with the hope that things will work out in the end, that happiness is within our grasp.
1. Hana, after reading your comment, I was struck that by the overwhelming irony that Mr. Klosterman uses a great amount of generalizations to try to criticize the generalizations of The Real World generation. You're right--he's not entirely accurate, but he makes a point worth pondering. Do we become the people we think that others want us to be or do we strive to be our own people? But that also opens up a third option--do we fight the stereotypes and try to be the opposite thereby creating another stereotypical personality?
2. Chris, I'd love to walk! I've been sick this week so exercise hasn't been happening, but I'll give you a call next week. I love Christmas in February. :)
3. Julie, you do need to read this book. It's quality. Chuck thinks we become the people that MTV has already put on tv. After all, this is a time when you can be famous for being famous. You don't need any skill or talent or even intellect. It's much easier to be who you think people want. Because what part of reality tv is real?
In my next post, we will be taking a trip down memory lane with the gang from Bayside High. But now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
I remember the day so very clearly. I was in the 8th grade English class with Mrs. Neufell at Trinity Junior High. She gave us a list of approved book, and told us to pick one. After we read it, we were going to have a test. And the book that I picked changed my life. That afternoon was the first time I read any of the words of Jane Austen. My flute needed something done to it, so mom drove us out to Barling to see the guy who fixes instruments and I read the whole way there and back (and my mom doesn't drive fast, so I got a bit of reading done--"just because the speed limit says 35 doesn't mean you have to go 35"). And by the time I was back home, I was hooked. There was this whole other world out there that I could learn about. A different time, a different place, a different culture. It was beautiful. And then later that year the BBC aired their 6 hour Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I met Colin Firth (be still my heart) and Mr. Darcy's role as my hero had been cemented in my heart.
But I've been sick this past week (yes, I feel much better now that the drugs have had time to work), and when I'm sick I go for comfort and familiarity. Which means I watch P&P. All glorious 6 hours of it. But I was struck this time by something: Mr. Darcy really is a jerk at the beginning. And then the next time Elizabeth sees him, he acts completely different. Why does she fall for that? It strikes me as odd actually. And then I asked myself the question: why am I in love with Mr. Darcy? Is it because he's brooding and handsome? Because that's great in fiction but not in real life. I don't want the emotionally distant and arrogant type that he is, but something keeps me coming back for more. I'm like a junkie--I can't stay away from all things Jane.
So it begs the question: Jane, what have you done to me? Have you turned me into a girl who is always looking for the unattainable? Have I become that girl who always wants what I can't possibly have? Is it wrong to be in love with a fictional character? Jane, Jane, Jane...have you ruined my life?
There's actually a whole new genre of literature that addresses this basic question; last year I read the book Jane Austen Ruined My Life. It's fiction, but in it the leading lady (much like myself) has spent her life loving Mr. Darcy, and she thinks she's found him only to have her heart stomped on. So she goes out into the world blaming Jane for thinking that she could have ever had it all in the first place. And later on, when she does find someone who genuinely cares about her, she doesn't trust it because she's been so hurt in the past. So can Jane ruin lives?
I think that part of the lasting appeal of Jane's books are that they're basically fairy tales. In the end, the good people are rewarded and the bad people are outed and punished in some form or fashion. And wouldn't it be nice if the real world were like that? I wish I could know within a few chapters of conversation if people have good intentions or bad. And I think it's not such a bad thing to want the world to be a little bit simpler. Maybe I read Jane because she always has hope in the end; her books in with weddings, and that's a beginning. Maybe it's about the possibility. Jane can only take us so far and then we have to figure it out on our own. But she surely does leave us with the hope that things will work out in the end, that happiness is within our grasp.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
And now for something completely different...
So I am taking the advice of Julie, the knitting preacher, and I have put away the scale for a little while. It was just depressing me, so this week I'm going to keep chugging away but not talk about it here. Putting too much emphasis on it is really kinda making me nuts. So here's something different: I started reading a new book yesterday entitled Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. It is actually quite good! He's doing some social commentary, but it's incredibly witty. So far he's talked about Billy Joel, the fake relationships we also strive to have, and the effect of The Real World on the youth of America. I would like to say that I do love Billy Joel, and it's precisely because he isn't cool. Chuck is so right on that one. Billy seems to live outside the bounds of "coolness" at least from a musical perspective. His songs are incorrectly classified as "light rock" when they deal with some very real issues, namely loneliness. A tip of the hat to you, Mr. Joel.
And as to The Real World, I agree that the heyday of the show has passed. The characters are not "real" in any sense of the world, but sterotypes that need not be represented. But I must say that I do remember lyme disease-ridden Irene getting slapped in the face by the token black guy as she was sitting in the taxi waiting to go home. There's always the goodie-goodie, the race-obsessed one, the gay one, the mean one, and a few others like that. It's not about what people are like when they're real, because not one of these people are actually real. They have molded themselves into what they think MTV wants them to be. Klosterman posits that a whole generation has become these sterotypes in response to the tv show. What do you think? True or not? I'm still trying to decide.
But I cannot wait to see what Chuck has to say about Saved by the Bell.
And as to The Real World, I agree that the heyday of the show has passed. The characters are not "real" in any sense of the world, but sterotypes that need not be represented. But I must say that I do remember lyme disease-ridden Irene getting slapped in the face by the token black guy as she was sitting in the taxi waiting to go home. There's always the goodie-goodie, the race-obsessed one, the gay one, the mean one, and a few others like that. It's not about what people are like when they're real, because not one of these people are actually real. They have molded themselves into what they think MTV wants them to be. Klosterman posits that a whole generation has become these sterotypes in response to the tv show. What do you think? True or not? I'm still trying to decide.
But I cannot wait to see what Chuck has to say about Saved by the Bell.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Let them eat cake...if they can pay...
So I'm wondering if I'm in the wrong profession. Maybe I should make cakes. I've been watching Ace of Cakes lately on the food network, and I thought I'd look at the company's website. It's charmcitycakes.com and they have their gallery of cakes (beautiful!) and a blog and all kinds of fun stuff. And then I thought to myself, "Self, how much do these cakes cost?" So I looked on there. They start at $1000. That's their minimum. It's a cake. Except when it's that expensive is it really just a cake anymore? I am in the wrong profession.
Monday, February 8, 2010
I'm Whelmed
Have you seen the movie "Ten Things I Hate About You"? One of the characters says to another, "I know you can be overwhelmed and I know you can be underwhelmed, but can you be just whelmed?" I under "whelmed" to be the place in the middle, where everything's a big flipping mush. I feel whelmed today; my highs and my lows are mashed up together to give me a big BLECH in the middle. Here's a few reasons why:
1. Grandpa is home! They released him from the hospital today, and he's on his way home. Miracles do happen.
2. Speaking of miracles (maybe of a more minor variety), did anyone else see the absolutely amazing game last night? The Saints pulled it out and it rocked.
3. I broke one of the cardinal rules for female ministers: never wear brand new heels on a Sunday morning. I knew it was a bad plan when I put the shoes on, but they're so stinking cute that I did it anyway. Anyway, I didn't break them in before I wore them and they are about an inch taller than my normal heel height, so it was not a good plan.
4. As a result of yesterday's heel fiasco, my legs hurt more today than they should. The shoes worked my calves and today I pushed them further. My body is not all that happy at the moment.
5. I'm not so much in the Valentines spirit. In fact, I wish it would just go away.
So all of this stuff is going on inside of my mind and I stepped on the scale this morning: I'm back to my original weight. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I am not the happiest of campers. Now, I know I've lost weight and gained some muscle. My clothes are looser. I feel good. I can wog with the best of them. But still...I am whelmed in the face of the numbers...
1. Grandpa is home! They released him from the hospital today, and he's on his way home. Miracles do happen.
2. Speaking of miracles (maybe of a more minor variety), did anyone else see the absolutely amazing game last night? The Saints pulled it out and it rocked.
3. I broke one of the cardinal rules for female ministers: never wear brand new heels on a Sunday morning. I knew it was a bad plan when I put the shoes on, but they're so stinking cute that I did it anyway. Anyway, I didn't break them in before I wore them and they are about an inch taller than my normal heel height, so it was not a good plan.
4. As a result of yesterday's heel fiasco, my legs hurt more today than they should. The shoes worked my calves and today I pushed them further. My body is not all that happy at the moment.
5. I'm not so much in the Valentines spirit. In fact, I wish it would just go away.
So all of this stuff is going on inside of my mind and I stepped on the scale this morning: I'm back to my original weight. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I am not the happiest of campers. Now, I know I've lost weight and gained some muscle. My clothes are looser. I feel good. I can wog with the best of them. But still...I am whelmed in the face of the numbers...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
I'm back!
Hey all. Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote, but things have been absolutely nuts lately! I spent a week in Arkansas/Oklahoma with my family; grandpa had 4 surgeries over the past couple of weeks, and I just needed to be there for part of it. But the good news is that he's doing fantastic now! The doctor is really pleased with how he came through, and I am glad I was there. Even though we got iced/snowed into my aunt's house for three days. That was super fun. :)
And other good news: I lost 2 more pounds. I don't completely understand that since I didn't exercise while I was gone. But I'm back on track here. Instead of wogging this morning (it was rainy) I did some salsa dancing with a DVD in my living room. It's another reason I'm glad I live alone.
So how are you guys doing? I'd like to welcome some new followers from Georgia! Hey guys. Where are your blogs? It strikes me that I have followers that don't know each other so here's a brief rundown:
Heidi--sweet lady from Vicksburg, Mississippi. A great Cursillo pal!
Lauren--my cousin. Known her all her life. Hails from New Mexico
Paul--my college religion professor located in Arkansas
Melissa--we went to junior high & high school together in the Fort. Lots of stories there!
Tommy--a member of my McComb family :)
Jamison, Will, and Jon--some of my favorite guys from Georgia! Have you guys set up your blogs yet? Send me links!
I think that's it for now! Hope everyone's doing well. I look forward to your comments.
PS--Heidi, I need your address for a special Vday surprise!
Everybody have a great day!
And other good news: I lost 2 more pounds. I don't completely understand that since I didn't exercise while I was gone. But I'm back on track here. Instead of wogging this morning (it was rainy) I did some salsa dancing with a DVD in my living room. It's another reason I'm glad I live alone.
So how are you guys doing? I'd like to welcome some new followers from Georgia! Hey guys. Where are your blogs? It strikes me that I have followers that don't know each other so here's a brief rundown:
Heidi--sweet lady from Vicksburg, Mississippi. A great Cursillo pal!
Lauren--my cousin. Known her all her life. Hails from New Mexico
Paul--my college religion professor located in Arkansas
Melissa--we went to junior high & high school together in the Fort. Lots of stories there!
Tommy--a member of my McComb family :)
Jamison, Will, and Jon--some of my favorite guys from Georgia! Have you guys set up your blogs yet? Send me links!
I think that's it for now! Hope everyone's doing well. I look forward to your comments.
PS--Heidi, I need your address for a special Vday surprise!
Everybody have a great day!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Hello my adoring public! I'm so sorry that I haven't written in a week, but there's a whole lot going on! Let's get to it:
1. I am back on track with my exercising. Yea me! It feels good.
2. The retreat I led this past weekend went pretty well if I do say so myself. :)
3. I peeled an orange by myself for the first time ever. Seriously. It only took me 28 years, but I did it.
4. My grandfather had his second surgery this past Friday, and they've scheduled the next one for this coming Wednesday. So I'm headed to Oklahoma. Please keep my family in your prayers.
Okay. Gotta go rescue my washing machine; it sounds like it's about to take flight. Talk to you guys later!
love, eg
1. I am back on track with my exercising. Yea me! It feels good.
2. The retreat I led this past weekend went pretty well if I do say so myself. :)
3. I peeled an orange by myself for the first time ever. Seriously. It only took me 28 years, but I did it.
4. My grandfather had his second surgery this past Friday, and they've scheduled the next one for this coming Wednesday. So I'm headed to Oklahoma. Please keep my family in your prayers.
Okay. Gotta go rescue my washing machine; it sounds like it's about to take flight. Talk to you guys later!
love, eg
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)