To Quote John Garrett...

Today I babysat John Garrett (2 years old) and as soon as I got there he asked me to read him some books. We read one called Corduroy's Christmas Flip the Flap book or something like that, where you flip open the little flaps to reveal the illustrated Christmas joys. On the first page, you had to "open" Corduroy's Christmas decoration boxes and try to find the angel to go on top of the little bear's Christmas tree. As John opened the boxes, he would yell out what they contained:
"Angel!"
"Candy Canes!"
"Vitamins!"

Vitamins?

"No, John, those are ornaments..."

"Ornaments!"

Drawers for Cribs

Yesterday Nate told me that when he was a baby, his parents lived in an apartment, and his room was actually a closet with a dresser. He slept in one of the drawers as a crib. And when he cried his parents would shut the drawer. No, he was kidding about that, but he really did sleep in a drawer.

alive, yes, but tired.

Hello devoted readers... if there are any. Lisa Czapski updated her blog, about a month ago, and has inspired me to write in this thing again, just in case someone checks it.

Last you heard, I was:
1)Going to Switzerland
2)Learning French
3)Tap Dancing
4)Tutoring Korean Kids
5)Applying for a Fulbright
6)Dating Nate
7)Following Jesus
8)Quitting Smoking

Well... Since then I have:
1)Decided not to go to Switzerland
2)Ditched French
3)Stopped Tap Dancing
4)Quit Tutoring
5)Applied for the Fulbright
6)Stayed with Nate
7)Still an adherent, of course (of course? hm. yeah. yes, of course.)
8) Uh...

1)I joined forces with a theater group called Walk and Squawk--the very group that introduced me to my Fulbright Connection in South Africa. I decided that instead of joining them for a month and then saying "Nice to meet you, now I gotta split..." I would stick around. They are doing the exact kinds of work I proposed to do in South Africa. The money I saved up is now going toward a trip to Durban this summer with the group. In January I will start a story collection with them in the Cass Corridor, but right now I am helping put together a Humanities Convening in Detroit for 2006.

2) No more Francais for me. I got busy with other stuff, like I was just in a play called Flowers for Algernon.

3)I hurt my knee, and then I got a job at JC Penneys that sometimes scheduled me during the class (now they schedule me M-F, 5-11am. LORD HELP ME. This is why I'm tired. I have to get up at 4am). I may start up again after the New Year. I'd like to... We'll see.

4)I gave the job to Jenni when she got back from her honeymoon, because I was just too busy with the play and work and babysitting and Walk and Squawk. Gosh I miss those kids though.

5)Done applied already... Now I'm waiting to hear back. I will know if I did not make the first "cut" at the end of January. If I do get the Fulbright, I will be gone from Jan-Nov, 2006. If I don't, I'm applying for Grad School and Moving Out.

6)Yes, of course. Who wouldn't stay with a guy who interrupts you while you're talking to sigh and say, "I love the sound of your voice" ? (HAH, we'll see how long he loves it, because Lord Knows, I can talk.)

7)Yep, still following Jesus, and still learning things about Him.

8) I haven't smoked in a week! Hahahaha.

OTHER NEWS:
9)In February I will be playing Margot in the Jewish Ensemble Theater's annual remount of Diary of Anne Frank

It's probably good that I haven't updated in a while, because I'm sure that many of the blogs would've been chock-full of political acerbity. But don't worry if you feel bad for missing it... I'm pretty sure there will be for more years of my attitude problem documented.

Tappa Tappa Tappa

I found Otis.

I googled his name and then found that he was teaching tap at the Motor City Dance Factory. I took one lesson there, but it was too easy, so now I'm in an intermediate class that meets in Otis' basement. That class was almost too hard... But I'm so glad to be tapping again. Hurray, Hurray.

OTHER NEWS:

The Fulbright Application is in. Now whether or not I'm going to South Africa is not in my hands.

I'm in a play. It's called Flowers for Algernon. You may know it--a retarded guy gets a miracle cure and becomes a genius, falls in love with his teacher, visits his parents who don't remember him, and the cure fades out and he goes back to being retarded. I play the teacher. It's at Rosedale Park Players (my neighborhood theater) and goes up before Thanksgiving in November. Let me know if you want to come and I'll keep you posted.

I'm still tutoring and I may start working at JC Penny's. I have an interview on Monday.

That's all folks.

Hop shuffle hop, slap step-step

___________ and Chocolate Milk

I went to Chicago last weekend with Nate. We quit smoking together while we were there, gradually weaning ourselves of the cigarettes. I haven't smoked since Tuesday and then I only had half a cigarette. I spent Wednesday and Thursday warding off cravings with gum and I spent Friday with a sore jaw.

I cried once on Thursday night when I was drafting my Fulbright proposal. I couldn't get more than two sentences out and cigarettes are a quick fix for my writer's block. Today I cried again, after I'd spent four hours straight writing another draft and my mother had found tons of mistakes and pointed out that my opening paragraph needed to be re-written (the very paragraph that blocked me into tears on Thursday.)

A couple of my friends call Nate a Sunshine Boy. This means that he is happy--almost never sad. He is enthusiastic and fun, gorgeous and kind and, yep, bery very happy. This compliments my instability and tendency to dip to emotional lows pretty well. But he can't understand why its much harder for me to quit smoking than it is for him. I get frustrated with a paragraph and, without a cigarette, put my head down and try to collect my thoughts. But my thoughts don't collect, they bleed into harsher thoughts and I can't get them to stop, so soon I'm no longer dripping tears of writer's block frustration, but sobbing tears of anguish at what a difficult person I am, at how I am a walking nightmare to anyone who wants to get close to me, at why and how I possibly could have ended up this way.

I told myself that I can sort my thoughts through another means than smoking. Like, playing the guitar and maybe writing a song. ENNNNGH. No. It doesn't work. I still feel like crying and if I start I can't stop. Crying leaves me feeling exhausted and helpless. Smoking leaves me feeling stable and perhaps indifferent. Is this what anti-depressants do?

My parents are downstairs avoiding me like the plague. "Nora's crying, let's get the helloutta here!" My boyfriend and Lisa are going to be here soon, and I'm afraid that when they see my mood they are going to want to run, too.

Anyway, I quit smoking. Aren't you proud?

(I'll write again when I'm feeling more positive... Sorry people.)

Post Campout Extravaganza Update

Hello faithful readers. Long time no see, sorry. I just got back from the Northwest Fellowship Campout. Lots has been going on.

My mother broke her arm and pulled her shoulder out of joint. Now she's recovering and has never been in so much pain. Prayers for her are appreciated.

I moved out of AA and into the D. This has been kind of rough for me but I've been thinking about that beatles song, "you say good-bye, and I say hello." I've said good-bye to one life and on to the next phase.

I have a boyfriend. Many of you know him, Nate Rivard. This happened on the campout. I'm pretty excited about this, I think it's going to last, Switzerland and all. He was really seeing things about Jesus at the campout and so that has been thrilling for me. We've been friends for a while, but he decided, after a week of living with me in the woods, that it was okay to tell me he liked me. I said, "I like you too" (which I doubt was any sort of surprise to him) and then we prayed about it. What's nice about getting a boyfriend after a week devoid of showering, is that you know that he's seen you at your absolute worst--sanitation-wise--so it must be something real (The only showers I got were baths, in a river. I did this by choice).
He has an amazing family--three siblings and really cool parents (all believers), and I'm happy that they are going to be a part of my life. Nate, for those who don't know, is a rock-star (okay, maybe not a star yet, but he is to me...) He's in a band called Ace and Asher, and they are really fantastic. I'm looking forward to seeing them play frequently. I hope they last a while.
How did I meet Nate? I sort of grew up with him--I met him through family friends. They belong to the web of metro Detroit christian fellowship. I've known him since I was probably 15, but didn't really start getting to know him until Memorial Day this year. My friend Xander brought him to the NWF picnic, and we were hanging out there, but we have just been friends since.
The other night, when we started going out, he told me he really wants to encourage my relationship with Jesus, which has given me a strong sense of security in him. More about him... Let's see. Besides the fact that he's one of the most caring and considerate people I know, I am happy to tell you that he was an Eagle-Scout. Translation: he's a handy guy. He knows stuff like how to make camp fires and survive plagues. I don't know about plagues, but at least he can survive the wilderness. He's an adventurous guy as well, and I think we're just going to have a lot of fun together. A while back his mother told me that she knew her husband was it when she realized she felt at home with him. Well, I don't know what God has in store, but I can definitely say that I feel at home with Nate. I'm taking this one seriously. Oh, one more thang. He's also an NJ. His middle name is John, so he's Nathaniel John and I'm Nora Jean. I'm Nojay and he's Najay. Okay. I'll stop.

Jenni's wedding is on Saturday. AH!!!! I'm thrilled and stressed about it. So I'm making trips back and forth from AA all week, coming home to my invalid mother.

At the campout, I made this realization: I have a lot of regrets, but one thing I have not regrets about is deciding to follow Jesus. He has never let me down. I've let Him down, sure, but He has been so faithful to me. I'm sure that it probably has something to do with God that I'm not doing theater and my life has taken a few swings and had some misses, but He's been guiding me and I don't regret that.

Here's something I realized at the campout, too. There's a verse in Hebrews that says He's the author and perfector of our faith. I was riding back to Oscoda when I asked God to be the author of my story--that I wanted Him to run the plot and develop my character. But then I wanted to know what the title would be. Would it be, "How Nora Went From Theater to Writing"? Or maybe, "How Nora Saved Detroit," or "How Nora fell in love with Nate Rivard." But then I made the realization of what my story is called. "My Faith." He's the author and perfector of "Our Faith." This made me laugh, but I like it. I know that God doesn't add uneccessary details, that he makes all parts of the story fit into the flow of my faith, the tight theme. And the story never ends, when he's writing it. That's cool to me.

Okay, I'm going to try to figure out how to post a picture of Mr. Nate on here, but if I don't, you can see a slide show of Big Doings on Bigdoings.com Nate is the guy with the bass in the first picture, singing with Ace and Asher. I think it's the first... one of them.

Thanks for reading this epic entry.

A Story About One of My Kids

On Friday I tutored Paul, age 8. When I met Paul I was introduced to him as "Pole" by a previous family's mother. "Are you sure his name isn't Paul?" I asked. "No. Pole," she reiterated. It wasn't until I met him and had him write out his name that I knew his name was Paul. Many of these families are Christian, so I asked him if he knew where his name came from. "He has two names..." the boy told me. So I guess they are Christian.

Okay, so I use Mad Libs as a teaching tool because it helps the kids learn their nouns and verbs adjectives and adverbs. Usually the kids take forever telling me the part of speech I ask for--like any english speaking american.
"Verb."
Uh... "Running. I mean..." Uh.... "Squat"
Not Paul. He thought this game was a race. I'd say, noun and then he would start to shoot them off his tongue as fast as they'd come. "Shirt! Bed! Stone! Cloud! Sun!" So I'd just choose the one that was funniest in the text. When I read it back to him he cracked up to tears. It was a joyful tutoring session indeed.

Revelation

Today I find comfort in the idea that, though I am far from perfect, I would be a lot worse off if it weren't for Jesus.

I think I should take time, since I've mentioned the rehearsal dinner, to say that the wedding last night was beautiful and very reflecting of Emily and Alex. The secret to a good wedding is do as few of the cliche's as possible. No garters at my wedding. No throwing the bouquet. Pick the ones you like. If you like dancing, do dancing. But you don't need the bubbles.

The Loney wedding was elegant and simple--nothing real complicated and everything seemed to fit well. The music during the ceremony was classical. It was nice to hear John Downer play his trumpet--I hadn't. There was a small orchestra, a quintet? And Ian sang some Handel. The gowns were pretty and also simple. I was impressed with the suits (I think I just like guys in suits. This is weird to acknowledge...) though the poor groomsmen were were too hot, as in temperature, as in sweating, in them.

Ian and I MC'd the reception. We think we are funnier than we are, and this was apparent. We saw early on that our brand of clever wasn't really hitting home with the "audience," so we kept it simple. For instance:

IAN: Many of you have asked us what it meant that we were mistress and master of ceremony tonight. Nora, what does that mean?
NORA: It means that this is a hostile take-over and the wedding is ours.

...dribbles of laughter...

IAN: Just kidding
NORA: We were kidding.

It's weird to see Ian and Nora written and not be talking about Ian Bonner.

The music was provided by the Steve Sharp Quartet--Swing Standards and Jazz music. Very classy as well. Oh, the reception was at Weber's. The Ceremony was at the Methodist Church on the corner of State and Huron.

I danced a little. I'm not too good at that, though I'd like to improve. Toward the end of the night I had a very interesting conversation with one of Alex's groomsmen, who took a lot of playwrighting courses here at UM with Oyamo. The kid looked like John Lennon, which was kind of weird. If you're going to look like a celebrity, though, that celebrity might as well be John Lennon. Anyway, I get such a kick out of talking to writers. I think once I got such a kick out of talking to actors. This is a weird thought.

Nice Wedding though. A nice reminder of God's relationship with the church. I guess marriage is good for SOMEthing... ;)

Some Cat Stevens

Lisa gave me a copy of Footsteps in the Dark. Here is the lyric that is with me today:

"But sometimes you have to moan when nothing seems to suit yer
But nevertheless you know you're locked towards the future

So on and on you go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to findout"

I have felt like moaning all day. It's an interesting thing to think that sometimes we HAVE to do that. And that we're locked toward the future. No matter what happens or what has happened, we're only moving in one direction: forward. I guess the real question is are we moving on an upward plane or a downward spiral?

Last night I went to Emily Harris and Alex Loney's rehearsal dinner. This was a lovely gathering on the Huron River in one of Ann Arbor's Metro Parks. I don't know really where, Ian Drove. Rivers remind me of the campout or sadly and nostalgically, the roadtrip. Ian and I, as I may have mentioned, have the job of MCing the reception. I felt really honored to be there. The food was lovely and the wine was good--donated by Alex's uncle.
It's hard for me to admit to myself that I am old enough to be married. Maybe I am not, but some people my age are. I still feel very young, as I've said, and don't know what a husband would do with my scheming habit, a habit I am not ready to let go of.

I met with my favorite Irishman, James McNaughton, yesterday for coffee and had a blast chatting about how to get around Europe. Irish citizens have Europe and all its employment opportunities at their disposal. James was very encouraging about me learning French. "Oh, you'll pick it up after living there for a little while. It's easy." Yeah right, Mr. McNaughton. French is going to kick my ass in the challenge, but that's something my first English teacher here at UofM knows all about--kicking my ass in the challenge. This is a man who makes his incoming freshman study James Joyce as soon as they walk in the door. Well, anyway, it was a fun visit.

While I was at the Dinner my friend Tait asked me who I would dedicate my first book to. I said, depends on what that book is about. He said, "Your travels."
I said, "Around the country? Lisa."
He said, "Okay, how about on a private trip to Europe."
"Switzerland?" I said. He nodded. I told him my first book would be called "Neutral" about the land of no political stances. The book would be dedicated to Paul Simon, who has given us the lyric, "I have no opinion about that. I have no opinion about me."

Another Step Closer to Conquering the World

Life is still exciting out here in the big AA. Claudine Mamo called me with some job ideas in mind for my stay in Switzerland. Her brother-in-law owns a theater/jazz singing cafe in Lausanne. Her sister offered to set up a room for me in there. It's in the basement of a building that, apparently, according to Bill Mamo, looks like a castle. And it's in the center of the city, so I would be in walking distance of all the shops, etc. "It's nothing luxurious" says Claudine. To me, it sounds outrageously exciting. In return I would help out with the cafe. There is also a job opportunity for me to help tour youngsters around in the mountains as a teacher's aid type deal. This will require me to learn french phrases such as "not so close to the edge" or "come back" or "no, it's too cold to go swimming." This job would provide lodging for me as well, and food. I would be able to do that for the month of May. So, okay, here's the itinerary for my trip so far:
Jan 4-March 21--L'Abri
End of March, April--live in cafe, meet people and look for job opportunities
May--Hike with the kids
June and beyond--tentative
I believe that I will get a visa for January to November (or, if I have to get a year, a year, but I plan on returning before Christmas 2005), and hopefully opportunities will come up for work. Claudine mentioned I may get tutoring jobs teaching kids English. I am hoping to make some money so I can pay her sister for the place and for much of the food I'll be eating. Her sister has been very gracious in her offers though. I'm pretty excited about this. I should be forced to learn french, which is scary and good for me.

While I'm at L'Abri I will hear about the Fulbright. If I get the scholarship, I may come home earlier than November so I can get a job and make money to spend in South Africa. It's all up in the air about that. But the application process is coming along. I wrote a Fulbright advisor (called the "commission") in South Africa and heard back from him today. His name is Solomon. Hm, thought I. An advisor named Solomon. I made this connection mainly because I'm reading Proverbs. Anyway, Wise Solomon said I will need to apply at the University of Kwazulu-Natal as a Masters student in Theater Studies. The idea of being a grad student as early as 2006 is strange to me, but maybe by then I'll be ready.

Today I met Annette Masson, who is writing a letter of recommendation for my application. She was the dialects teacher for the theater dept. Turns out, she used to be on the Fulbright committee here at UofM, so she is full of good advice herself. Now I just need to continue specifying my proposal. Annette advised me to tell as many people as I can about what I plan to do there, as good practice for knowing what I want to do and sounding like I know what I'm doing for the interview portion of the application.

After seeing Annette, I tutored Paul and Gyu Rie, my two 8 yr old Korean kids. Then I went to see this woman read at Shaman Drum, who is a non-fiction writer. I bought her book (I'm such a splurge) because it sounded so good and interesting. She signed it and asked me if I was a writer and I said yes, fiction and non-fiction. She told me to look into her University where she teaches, in North Carolina, where they have a MFA Non Fiction program. After that I went to the Ann Arbor Brewering Company and saw my friend D. from the theater dept. She is a PhD candidate and she just got a Fulbright for Australia next January. She's going to Sydney tomorrow to work for two weeks with a theater company there. Then she's going to Helsinki for a theater conference. I have gotten to know here a bit in the past few months, and all her graduate student friends, which has been interesting. I still feel so young.

After D's going away party at the bar, I went to my friend Emily's bachelorette party. I had a good time. We played games and ate desserts. It wasn't all that raunchy, which is nice. I still think the bachelorette party would be the most nerve-wracking part about a wedding. I don't know why, it just really makes me uncomfortable to think about.

Okay, I'm going to bed. Sorry these updates are so sparse that they have to be so long.

One Step Closer to Conquering the World

Hello my faithful readers. There has been lots of goings-on around here. Let me tell you of more of the pipe-dreams that have been sprouting out as well of what has been occupying my time.

WHAT I GET PAID FOR:
Jamaican Jerk Pit: As my days here are winding down, I can only hope that I will never have to wait tables again. But the job, as a whole, has been good to me and there are not very many complaints. Working with Ian has been a blast, as well as with my co-worker Derrick, our only authentic Jamaican. Lisa, he wants to know when he will get to speak to you again. Haha. My Jamaican accent has improved considerably over the last couple of month

Tutoring Korean Children:
I had to let go of two of my kids today, Julie (8) and Sophia (11), as they are returning to Korea this weekend. This saddens me greatly, because of all the kids, I'd say they loved me the most. Or at least they pretended to love me the most (when I'd arrive at there home, they would fight about who would get to tutor first). They were delightful children and I am going to miss them. I did, however, pick another student up. He's a boy this time. Paul, age 8. I now tutor six hours a week--more than I have my in my whole experience with this job. I am finding my tutoring skills have come along way, and I am considering, one of these years before grad school, going over to Korea to teach English for a year. I might as well see an Asian country while I'm out conquering the world.

The Bug Range:
I still sort grasshoppers. I go when I can, which hasn't been that often lately. Hopefully I can get myself to go to that job more often because money is good.

WHAT I DON'T GET PAID FOR BUT IS TAKING UP MY TIME
Writer's Groups:
I've joined two writer's groups. Both are small and both welcome additional people, if you're interested. On Saturdays I meet Cat Williams, a friend through a friend who is becoming a good friend, at Espresso Royal on State Street at 1pm. We've only met once, but are trying to make it a weekly thing. And I think Kristina is joining us tomorrow, so I'm pretty excited about that. We exchange a draft a week, and during the meetings do writing excersizes. I also meet with a bi-weekly group of less-familiar faces on ever other Thursday at a different ERC on Plymouth Road. These group, I'm hoping, will help me really get cracking on my writing, an area in which I've been slacking wayyy too much lately. When I'm not writing I feel useless; just working and making money does not satisfy me.

The GRE:
I've been trying to learn how to take that damned test. I hate this world, mostly because of standardized tests. I'm hoping to be able to just get it over with so I can go travel and not think about it.

Big Doings:
I'm the only prose reader in this potluck/concert event. Nate and Xander and Charlie's band are playing. Erik Thor is playing. I'm pretty excited about this. I've been getting a piece together and so it's nice, like I said before, to be writing and have a project. Right now the thing's too long. I have 20 mins to read and I think I have about 40 mins of material. Hopefully my 1st writer's group will help me to cut cut cut.

Fulbright Application:
Do you know that part in "I know what I know" by Paul Simon when he asks the girl "aren't you the woman who was recently given a Fulbright?" Well, I'm applying for that scholarship to study over-seas. My destination (Godwilling) would be South Africa to study writing and do independent research in personal histories. My application process made huge strides today when I went downtown Detroit to see a performance by this group called Walk and Squawk who has close ties with South Africa. I found a woman there who is a theater professor at a University in Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu Natal. She has agreed to help me narrow down my proposal and write a letter that I need to give to the Fulbright people stating that she wants to work with me in South Africa. The fact that I met this woman today is a shear miracle--I was about to give up this pipedream because I didn't know how I would make the necessary connections I would need to apply. Hopefully, these connections will be strong enough that even if I didn't get the Fulbright, I'd still maybe have an opportunity to go there for a while. The fact that I have met the connection face to face should help my application to shape and compete with the other kids trying to get Fulbright's to South Africa.

Weddings:
Emily Harris is getting married to Alex Loney in about a week or something? They have asked Ian and me to MC the Reception and Weber's. I'm looking forward to this and think it should be a fun event.
I'll be standing up in my roomate's wedding on August 21. The intense preparation period is in full swing and I live with a stressed couple of people. But I'm excited about this wedding too.

NEAR-FUTURE PLANS:
I'll be moving back to Detroit in the first week of August, and then I'll go to the NWF Campout August 6-13. When I get back to the D I will have to find a job so I can rake money in for my trip to Europe in January (I'm planning to go to L'Abri in Switzerland from Jan 4-March 21, and then depending on Fulbright results and personal funding, stay in Europe for as long as possible). I also will probably participate in some volunteer work with Walk and Squawk since their projects have really appealed to me: www.walksquawk.org I also aim to take the GRE in December, maybe? There's also all that passport and Visa stuff to settle.

FAR OFF PIPE DREAMS:
I still want to, eventually, apply to an MFA program in creative writing, but first I have been shooting around the idea of applying for a Master's degree in Urban Planning at UofM's architecture school. Of course, we'll see how I feel about this when I get back from travelling. Right now, I want to get out of here and stay out for a while.

Nightmares

"When you're young, you think everything you do is disposable. You move from now to know, crumpling time up in your hands, tossing things, and people too--leave them behind. You don't know yet the habit they have, of coming back.
...
Time in dreams is frozen. You can never get away from where you've been.
~Margaret Atwood, THE BLIND ASSASSIN

I've been having such dreams, meeting people I have tried to forget. I don't cry about them any more, in real time. Just in my dream's time. Is it possible that Christians make mistakes that they can never escape? Jesus shows us a new world, but do we ever get out of the old one? My life isn't over. Some how, I must believe, he reforms the old into something useful.

Though it hurts to remember, I must be persistant in prayer, in praying for those who I want to forget. If I am reminded of them, I can remember to pray.

" Smiles and laughter and pleasant times
There's love in the world but it's hard to find
I'm so glad I found you -- I'd just like to extend
An invitation to the festival of friends.

Some of us live and some of us die
Someday God's going to tell us why
Open your heart and grow with what life sends
That's your ticket to the festival of friends.

Like an imitation of a good thing past
These days of darkness surely will not last
Jesus was here and he's coming again
To lead us to his festival of friends.

Black snake highway -- sheet metal ballet
It's just so much snow on a summer day
Whatever happens, it's not the end
We'll meet again at the festival of friends. "

A little update

I've been keeping pretty busy. This weekend started when Rebecca Ridenour, Nate Rivard and his sister Rose came out here on Friday night. Rose went to a concert for much of the evening. The Bible study we usually have was cancelled because Niki and Jenni were up north for one of their three wedding showers. Rebecca, Nate, and I went and grabbed Thai food before heading over to Top of the Park for a free concert. My friend Dan met us there and we hung out until Rose called because her concert was over. then we all went back to my apartment and Bekah Brown joined us there for a game of that hot-potato/taboo thing--what's it called? Catch Phrase. It was a highly enjoyable evening.

On Saturday I worked at the Pit. In the morning, before work, Rebecca and I had a nice visit. We had our own Bible study (studying proverbs) and then we went over to the Farmer's Market so she could find a present for a graduation party. The pit was dull and slow, but there was one funny occurance. Right before we closed, this man and his wife walked in and ordered tea and a vegetable boat and started to ask me about how business was. I gave them the usual shpeal about how business was slow b/c the students were gone, but not too bad because we had a nice review in the paper. "How would you like to be in the Freepress?" he asked.
"You work for the Freepress?"
"I'm just enjoying a nice evening out." At 11:45pm. At the Jerk Pit. Hm.
I told him that I wanted to be a writer, but he wouldn't talk to me about his obvious job as a writer. He also mentioned that he had visited 6 restaurants that evening, so it was pretty clear that he was reviewing us. I wonder if he thought we were psycho.

Yesterday I faced the day with a mere 2 hours of sleep the previous evening. I went to church and stayed attentive for Randy Baxter's teaching. Then I met Nate and his family at the Detroit Festival of the Arts downtown. I LOVE MY CITY. The festival was fabulous. We saw this Cuban Jazz band play and that was probably my favorite part. Nate and Rose got up and danced the little bit of Salsa they learned together, which was fun to watch. Then their little sister, Emilie, was a but bummed that she didn't get to dance with him so he went up there with her too. The crowd was pleased. So, the group I was with at that point was Anne Rivard, Nate, Emilie, Rose, Greyson Buckingham, and Rebecca R. who came out with me. At about 4 the Rivards and Greyson left for a graduation party, and Rebecca and I ran into Jay and Scott from the Psalters, who were there playing with this guy named Ken Butler, who specializes in hybrid instruments (making guitars out of shovels and violins out of umbrellas, etc.) We watched them play, and then we went over to see Hugh Masekelah (sp?), a political South African trumpeter who was exiled during the Apartied.

After visiting with most of the Psalters band, I got to talking to this guy from Nigeria for a while and he gave me the scoop on South Africa. I've had a growing interest in apartied, so this was very cool for me. Then I went up closer to the stage and it started raining. This woman named Toni came up to me and shared her umbrella with me "Girl, you stand under here with me," she said. She was very sweet. Rebecca joined us later and we all started talking. Toni asked what my plans are (big surprise) and I told her about how I like to write about Detroit. She gave me some interesting resources and ideas for how to keep going with this collection of Detroit Essays I may or may not be working on. Anyway, talking to her was like a big kick in the ass to get cracking on my writing. I was really happy to talk to her. She was a believer, and kept encouraging me to keep going with my project and let the Spirit guide me. I miss this about the city. So many believers.

Rebecca and I decided to get going soon after we talked to Toni, and Nate called us to tell us to come over to his house in Royal Oak to watch the game, which we did. The Pistons won. Over all, it was a great day to be from the D.

At about 12:30am, I drove Rebecca to her car, still at the YWCA where my church meets. I was going to drive back to Ann Arbor, and I prayed before I left that God would protect me on the drive, I was soooo wiped out. And then I heard his voice say, "If you want to live to see tomorrow morning, I suggest you spend the night at your parents." 4 mins away instead of 35. So I did.

Calling all Narnia experts

Go to Narnia.com and take the "Test your knowledge" quiz about the Chronicles of Narnia. It's fun. :)

And did you know that Tilda Swinton'll be playing the White Witch in the Disney Movie?.... DISNEY movie?

RATE ME

On a scale from 1-10, 10 being masculine and 1 being feminine, which am I?

1.........................5........................10
Really girly / In the middle / Shoulda been a man.

Haha, this is a game i play with my friend Ben P. Just wondered what you all thought.

Political Mish Mash

Okay, so I don't know what it is specifically, but lately the politics news have really creeped me out. I think it's because I have created the habit of checking the CNN.com page in the past couple of weeks, and everything seems faulty. Why were there Army Officials who didn't say they were sorry about the abuse in the prisons, who actually came off like they were defending those who were guilty? Why did the CIA guy just quit, 3 mos. before the election? I try not to think about these things too much, but they're really getting under my skin.

Summer Reading

Now that I'm out of school (for a while) I'd like to remind myself of the freedom I have to read what I want and write what I want...

It's funny when "summer reading" becomes "well, if i don't finish it by the fall I can read it then!"

Not bad, people. Not bad.

More Romans

I have been reading Romans, obviously, and I read chapter 14 today. It was so good that I decided to post it, because I think this subject is something God has been teaching me about since I'vebeen following Him.

CHAPTER 14:
"1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. "

I love how Paul calls vegetarians weak! Hahaha. I actually think that word is used because of some word translation problems... or maybe he just thought that it took more faith to eat a steak. It's funny that there's a part in the Bible that instructs how christians should treat vegetarians (and vegans...) But I love that line, "Who are you to judge someone else's servent?" If one man feels called to sacrifice something, be it rated R movies or pork chops, we are not to judge them. This was good for me to read, because I often shake my head at Christians who are always sacrificing things--shutting the world out, I call it.

"5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. "

That last verse here is priceless. If only we could live like that. WHETHER WE LIVE OR DIE, WE BELONG TO THE LORD.

"9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
11It is written:
   " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow before me;  every tongue will confess to God.' "[1]
12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food[2] is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. "

DO NOT BY YOUR EATING DESTROY YOUR BROTHER FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED. Don't get nit-picky! We need to hear this constantly, I think. If only we'd all stop wasting our time on issues that didn't matter--can you imagine how unified the Church would be?

"19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. 22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. "

Keep your opinions between yourself and God. I think that's pretty damn good advice--though, that is my opinion... I love that idea though, that we should not "Condemn ourselves by what we approve." Way to go, Paul.