December 2006 Archives

You.

My cousin Adam Belz summed up his frustrations with cynicism at Covenant in this little phrase. Ever since then, I've applied it liberally, but no time was as appropriate as last night during the Christmas Celtic Sojourn at Emerson College's Cutler Majestic Theatre. Since when is text messaging during a performance okay? The young college couple in front of us didn't seem to think they were distracting anyone by doing it. Not only that, but the constant fidgeting and obvious distaste for Celtic harmony, Irish dancing and poetry, and traditional Christmas music was so irritating that I wanted to kick them in the back of their little heads. But I didn't. If you don't want to be here, just get up and leave already!

Otherwise, I enjoyed the show, though the half-egg shape of the theatre, combined with sitting in the farthest corner in the last row, made us feel like we were suspended 50 stories above the stage. I learned that all those songs the Chieftains sing about "the wren" are really talking about the old Irish St. Stephen's Day tradition of dressing up in costumes, capturing a wren in a cage, and singing songs for the neighbors to solicit money with which to bury the wren. Now apparently they gather money for charities instead.

Lovely, lovely.

My new blog description comes from the wonderful wikiquote page, where you can find, among other gems, pirate proverbs and TV comedy one-liners.

In the past couple weeks, I have completed a paper on blogs and social identity, another paper comparing Christian missionaries in the Middle East (19th century) to Christian Zionists (20th century) and their influence on American foreign policy, and several charts and analyses for a group project on Vitaminwater. That final project is due at the end of this week, and then I have three finals, two on Friday, one on Monday. Finals are the bane of my existence, for one simple reason: why should several high-stress exams in a row, at a stressful time of year, have such bearing on your final grade? For example, in my sophomore year of college, I worked like a dog to make A's in two of my more difficult classes, and I succeeded - until finals week. One final landed at 3:30 on a Monday afternoon, and the other at 7:30 the next morning (finals should NEVER happen at 7:30 in the morning!). Preparing for the 3:30 final proved to be more difficult, and I studied for hours and hours, and when all was said and done, I found it nearly impossible to regroup enough for the next crack-of-dawn test. Sure enough, I got an A on the first final and a C+ on the second, reducing my grade in that class from an A to a B+. I rested assured that injustice still prevails in America. Not that a B+ is bad, but you can see for yourself the unnecessary dramatic change.

Hopefully I will not meet the same fate this year. My hardest final consists of 10 fill-in-the-blank questions and 4 essays, 2 pages each. Though writing that many essays tires the hand, it's more my style. One of the essays will address the recent Baker-Hamilton report.

Anna is arriving from Brussels next week to drive home (in a rental - not the Scion!) with us to Chattanooga for Christmas. The night she comes, we're going caroling with our Bible study group to "advertise" (with lovely voices and candy canes) our new church. So far, a few visitors have come, some even responding to Heidi's and my marketing schemes. We'll see how it goes.

Finally, next semester I will probably work an internship at a music production company and a part-time job with a literacy program on campus, in addition to taking classes on Islam, guerrilla warfare, and non-profit organizations. I love what I study. I hadn't realized it until now.

P.S. I've added my Amazon wishlist to the links down on the right. Check it out.

1. How are you feeling today?
"Black Cab" - Jens Lenkman

2. How do your friends see you?
"Time to Cry" - Lizzie West (highly ironic for anyone who knows me well)

3. Will you get married?
"Guilty Cubicles" - Broken Social Scene (no idea how to interpret this)

4. What is your best friend's theme song?
"True Love Waits" - Radiohead (Keri? heh heh)

5. What is the story of your life?
"Walking on Wire" - Get Up Kids

6. What was high school like?
"Smoke and Mirrors" - RJD2

7. How can you get ahead in life?
"Having seen the Resurrection of our Lord" - Rachmaninoff Vespers Op. 37. Amen!

8. What is the best thing about your friends?
"To be Alone with You" - Sufjan Stevens

9. What is tonight going to be like?
"Green, Green Grass of Home" - Johnny Cash

10. What is in store for the remainder of this weekend?
"Over Your Shoulder" - Calexico

I will absolutely love watching Florida get destroyed by Ohio State.