Saturday Morning

My lazy Saturday morning thoughts (because you asked....or didn't):

-It's lazy because I should be studying and I'm not. My motivation is dwindling. Suck it, delayed gratification!

-Still having a love affair with Tears for Fears album "Everyone Loves a Happy Ending".

-Why do I keep choosing books that offer a promising synopsis on the back cover but don't deliver?

-I need to go get my keyboard from the church building right now but am unmoved to do so.

-I'm grateful to be on the other side of a crazy few days.

-I'm surprised at how pessimistic and negative I have become about Christianity and the Christian experience. I think this is idea will show itself in a more thought out post at a later time.

-What should I eat for breakfast or, because it is 10.55, should I just wait for lunch?

-I never learned the correct way to type so anytime I type the word 'just' it comes out jsut and I have to go back and correct it.

That's it. Aren't you glad you asked....or didn't?

Suck It, Borders

Now I know I should have known better, but I couldn't help myself. I was drawn into an ad for a $500 gift card to Borders. If you have had any contact with me in the past 6 months or so, you would think that I might want to get in on this deal. You would be right.

I figured I'd have to fill out some survey and participate in some offer and I'd be good to go. I took their dumb survey and was shuffled to the page where I pick an offer. I already had it in mind to do a Blockbuster deal since they always have one of those (which they did). I chose Netflix instead and then was shuffled to another choose an offer page.

Turns out you have to do 4 offers!!! As much as I will probably enjoy Netflix for the 2 weeks that I have the free trial, I don't want any Raw Minerals that promise to even out my complexion or to lose 25 pounds in 25 minutes on the Oprah Winfrey diet. Sheesh!

At least I didn't do something totally impulsive and buy a Shark vacuum cleaner from an infomercial....oh wait.....

Knuckles!!

A shot of Barack Obama doing knuckles. Pretty hip for a politician. Maybe it's the extra push off the cliff he needs to clinch the Presidency. Doubtful that McCain (who's he?) will look cool doing knuckles. He'd have to come up with a gesture of his own but it'd still be kinda lame because he didn't think of it first. Plus everyone knows that knuckles beats chest bump in a game of knuckles, chest bump and not yet invented gesture. Kudos, Obama...you're the bomb.

Jesus in the Amazon

Every once in a while a headline from Yahoo! News actually piques my interest. Today they posted aerial pictures accompanying a brief article about an "uncontacted indiginous tribe in the Amazon." The article notes that there are some 100 uncontacted tribes like the ones pictured throughout the world. Only 100? Have we really explored every place there is to explore on this earth and deduced that there are only about 100 tribes that have been untouched by civility?

Second, and more the focus of this post, now that we are more aware of at least this one particular tribe and its whereabouts, do you suppose that some missionary is going to go evangelize to these people? All sarcasm aside, should they be evangelized to? I don't think it's necessarily arrogant to say no, but I'm not sure I wouldn't say yes.

The word evangelism itself brings up an image that makes me uneasy. In my mind I see evangelism as brow beating and evangelists the brow beaters, wielding the Bible like a weapon. It reminds me of my Intro to Evangelism class at Cincinnati Bible College where we were to "evangelize" to 2 people during the semester and write up a report about it for a grade. One of the criteria of the report was to note whether or not I thought my evangelism worked. Did the person I evangelized to "come to Christ" as a result of my evangelism technique? I fear that this is the mindset that will bring a missionary or even a whole group (oh, I mean team) of missionaries to "bring Jesus to the ends of the earth." In this case I am comfortable in thinking that this tribe is fine just as it is and is, in fact, better off without the missionary team.

On the other hand, what do we do with verses like Acts 1:8 and Acts 13:47 and any number of other passages that speak to taking the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. I guess it depends on your view of salvation. If this tribe never knows about Jesus how can they be held accountable for it? No doubt this tribe worships something, and something that makes perfect sense to them. Does God accept their genuine worship even though it may not be specifically directed toward him because this tribe does not specifically know his name?

Should a missionary go in and teach them about Jesus? How would that change that tribes way of life? Does it matter that their way of life was changed if they now know about Jesus? What if that knowledge changes the tribe for the worse because it could confuse what they've always known or cause divisions in the tribe between those who may have accepted the knowledge and those who may have rejected it. Then there's a whole new cycle of the acceptors thinking they are better than the rejectors, and oh the rabbit trails this takes you down.

I didn't even address the bit in the article about how the tribe and others like it are in danger of losing their land because civilized people are knocking down all the trees. At that point there's more of a justice aspect that enters the picture rather than a salvific aspect.

Ultimately my question is simple though the answer, if there is one, is not so much. How does God/Jesus apply to this tribe of people?

HOCKEY!!!HOCKEY!!!HOCKEY!!!!!!

There was an Amerks fan that used to scream that really loud at Amerks games and spill his beer all over the place.
At any rate, now that the Pittsburgh Penguins are in round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs I'm very interested in hockey. When I was a kid my father, uncle and grandfather were huge Penguins fans and it rubbed off on my impressionable mind. I don't really follow the teams anymore, but I'm hella nostalgic right now. The last time the Pens won the Cup it was in 92. I'm pretty excited that they are in the running again as they have had a slew of pretty rough seasons. Go Pens!!

In the News...

Headlines from Yahoo! News' featured news articles from today:

1. Showdowns and Sightings: The Dems get defensive, a rare creature rears its head, and a movie star mourns her father.
2. Second 'G.I. Joe' vixen revealed
3. The top 5 list of sports dumbest on-field injuries
4. Why the pope wears ruby red shoes

It's GOLD, Jerry!

One of my professors brought this to clinic last week to dip her apples in. It's a surprisingly good combination! One of my classmates said she always thought Nutella was French because she ate it at her grandmother's house (who is French). I always thought it was a German product because I had eaten it there when I was 8, and all my folks crazy German friends swear by it. My teacher didn't care where it was from, only that it was delicious. Which it is. But I was curious about its origins so I turned to wiki, which never disappoints. Turns out (despite the German label in the picture) it is Italian. If you've never tried Nutella please use it as an excuse to come to my house. I just bought some an plan on having it as soon as I finish this post.

No Country

I really enjoy Coen Brothers movies. Even when the subject matter is comedic they seem to approach each project tastefully and with respect to their art. No Country for Old Men is no exception. Since I am not a movie critic I won't attempt to critique the film here. Suffice it to say that it is one of the best movies I've seen in a long while, in that hours after watching it the characters are still in my mind-especially the psychopathic killer, Chigur. Somehow I connected with him than any of the other characters. I'd like to hear some other opinions from people who have seen the film to see if it struck a chord with you as much as it did me.

I'm Building a Henge

From Yahoo! News' section entitled: Odd News. Indeed. A man from Australia is building a replica of Stonehenge. Why? "Because I can." I wonder who he will convince to roll over the massive stones on tree logs from England. "10,103 miles in this day and age? I don't even know where I live anymore!"

Music Snobbery

I just reread that last post. Dag! I'm a music snob!

WXXI

I've recently started listening to WXXI again. It's been a while since I've tuned in but I've found it to be the salve for my rocked out ears. I grew up listening to classical music and really enjoyed it as a kid, oddly. I genuinely liked the music I learned in my piano lessons (not so much practicing, though). I very much still love to play these pieces. I find I can draw much more emotion out of myself and my audience in playing Beethoven than in something I've written myself. I get lost in it. Without words I find it frees the listener to absorb the fullness of sound and to truly feel the music literally as you sit in a concert hall and figuratively. It becomes wide open to interpretation as you imagine what the context this piece was born from. It seems as though emotions and passions are intensified because the composer has found a way to convey them wordlessly.

Crap-tastic

Have I ever mentioned that I don't care for stupid people? I care even less for stupid people who are mean. The only reason I think these people are still around is because our society seems to like helping stupid people feel they are smart and deserve jobs in doctor's offices. For instance, the wretched secretary of one Dr. Strangelove (names have been changed to protect the innocent). Now I'm pretty sure that I'm supposed to have a God-like attitude and show this person some true God-like love. That's probably the reason she has gotten this far in life. I think it is cruel to let her go on believing that she is someone special. I think she is a perfect example of why survival of the fittest is a concept that has some merit. If society worked this way she would have been done away with eons ago and wouldn't be crapping up my day. Needless to say that if I were lying in a ditch covered in petrol on fire I wouldn't call Dr. Strangelove.

Dear supposed literary genius William Faulkner,
WTF?! Because of your reputation as one of the great writers of the day, I decided to pick up a copy of "The Sound and the Fury" thinking it was a book I should know. I started the book several days ago and have managed to read a whopping 19 pages (technically 16 since the Norton's Critical Edition begins your story on page 3). Please note that I am of about average or slightly higher than average intelligence. I'm not slow, but I'm not tipping the scales on the genius side either (as you probably noted from my atrocious grammar). That being said, I don't get your art. Who is telling the story? I've counted three different first person accounts so far. What's with the italics? You don't use them in any way I've ever understood. What's the plot? So far it has yet to be determined. There is a new character in ever sentence, it seems, but you haven't really introduced them. There is no timeline. I can piece enough information together to understand that you are jumping back and forth around some event (that you haven't yet disclosed). Sometimes you are writing before this supposed event and sometimes you write after it. You don't let me know when you are switching either, you just assume I've come along with you. I guess I will give you the benefit of the doubt because you are William Faulkner for God's sake, but I hope that you will resolve some of these issues as the story unfolds...if there is one to unfold. Thanks for reminding me that I should have paid better attention in school.

Sincerely,
your mom

Dissonance

The scope of my last semester's study of Dental Hygiene (the course not the program as a whole) covers the topic of Ethics and Jurisprudence. In 4 weeks of textbook reading, website searches and classroom discussions I have discovered that I'm not sure I like the business of dentistry. Those who are employed in the field of dentistry are expected by the dental profession and by the public at large who receive dental "services" to uphold a code of ethics. This is all well and good. I have read and found great wisdom in the code of ethics for my profession and will have no problem adhering to what seems to be a reasonable set of principles that will guide and govern my practice. This code, however, seems only to exist in a dream world. I have left class every Friday feeling like my contribution to the health of the community bubble has been savagely crushed by fear of litigation and of dentists who are businessmen, not public servants-or at least individuals who are concerned with the overall welfare of their patients. Codes of ethics have been replaced by what insurance companies will pay for and by how much malpractice insurance you have. Yet we are still expected to uphold the code. I am not interested in working for a dentist who has no problem sending a patient away because he can't pay for a procedure that he needs (because thats super ethical right there). Nor am I interested in spending the first few years being afraid that I'm going to be sued because a guy with gingivitis bled while I cleaned his teeth. Here's where hypocrisy fits in. I wanted to be a hygienist because I was attracted to a stable and ample paycheck and and environment that allows me to spend time with my family. Oh yeah, and I want to make sure people are healthy too. Having almost finished school I still like the idea of having a nice paycheck, but now realize just how important my role is in keeping people healthy and preventing disease. I also have just realized how scared I am to find a job and to find one where I don't have to choose between my personal values/ethical code that I have taken on and ultimately selling out (working for a businessman) for a paycheck. I guess I'd have to decide if the paycheck is worth it. I could work for an inner city clinic, though that has it's own red tape issues probably just as frustrating as the ones I've just described. Though I have to say, I'm tired of being poor. I don't need to be rich by any means-but I also don't want to have to borrow from the family or throw hundreds of dollars on a credit card that I will spend 3 years paying off because my oil pan needs to be replaced....oi. Such weighty thoughts for a Friday evening. I'm going to ignore them now and watch American Gladiators.

Thank You, Captain Obvious

Kudos again to Yahoo! news for excellence in finding useless information. It appears that the National Institute of Health has funded a study on scratching and its effect on the portions of the brain. "They scratched 13 healthy people with a soft brush on the lower leg on and off in 30-second intervals for a total of five minutes."
The results: "'It's possible that scratching may suppress the emotional components of itch and bring about relief,' Yosipovitch said." Well, that's a load off now isn't it? I get pretty emotional about my itching. I like how he worded his results-scratching may supress itching. Researchers noted that "the study is limited because people were not scratching in response to an actual itch." I guess they can't just sit around waiting for people to get an itch. Maybe the subjects could watch The Seven Year Itch with some sensors on their heads or something so they can think about itching.
At the end of the article, almost as an aside (much like it is here), they let readers know how the study might actually be useful: "...understanding what goes on in the brain may lend clues about how to treat people tormented by chronic itch, including people with eczema and many kidney dialysis patients." If knowledge is power, I wonder what countries I can take over with this information.

Satellite Pt. 2

"Disabled spy satellite threatens Earth" The grim headline just in from Yahoo! news. Officials report that the satellite can no longer be controlled, may contain hazardous materials and they have no idea where it might hit sometime in late February or March. A little vague on the details. Did Yahoo just hire a writer from the Weekly World News? Is the hazardous material that could be on this satellite really the remains of Hitler? "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation" Appropriate government agencies? I'm beginning to feel better. Really what they mean to say is "We don't know jack." And folks- don't tell. This information is classified as secret. At least important details such as where this thing might land...will I be late to school one day because a hazardous freaking satellite containing beryllium dropped from the sky onto my car?! The article goes on to say that breathing beryllium can cause chronic, incurable respiratory problems. Which kind of respiratory problem? "No ma'am we can't divulge that information at this time. It has been classified as secret." Listen, pal-didn't your mom ever tell you secrets don't make friends? Of course you won't have any friends left anyway because they are all dead from this satellite that fell from the sky crushing them beneath. Many thanks to Yahoo! news for a sensational story. "This paper contains facts. Pregnant man gives birth....that's a fact!"

New Books!

I've just received conformation from Amazon (that I did not get to by using Scott's link...sorry Scott) that they got my money! That means in 7-10 business days I get many books that are must haves in any library that I don't have yet. I got The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Chronic-WHAT-cles of Narnia (in the original order) and Grace Eventually by Anne Lamott. I enjoyed Lamott's first 2 books on the subject of faith, so hopefully this on won't disappoint. The others I have read excepting the Grapes of Wrath. I'm looking forward to rereading these books and having them for when the girls are of age to read them as well.

Tahitian Treat

Does anyone else remember drinking Tahitian Treat as a kid? My folks brought over this 7Up that's basically carbonated juice and it reminded me of Tahitian Treat. I have such excellent memories of this delectable beverage and the sugar highs that it caused. Apparently you can still order Tahitian Treat online. 24 cans for $38!!!! The ad says you can take a trip down sugar infested memory lane which does sound totally enticing. But not for $38. *Sigh* I'll have to resort back to mixing pixy stix with mountain dew again. What a disappointment.

Where have all the cowboys gone?

A nagging question. Really. I'd guess they are wherever cowboys go. I actually really don't care where they are because I don't care about cowboys. This post has nothing at all to do with cowboys or their location. I guess if you count not caring about cowboys it kind of applies. The facts are these. At this moment young Mel has been a pastor's wife for 10 months, 3 days, 2 hours and 4 minutes (go watch Pushing Daisies and then you'll understand the phrasing). I haven't really considered myself to be a pastor's wife as such. I don't do all the things that typical pastors wives do like form knitting parties and ladies Bible studies or run the children's room or anything else of that nature. The past few months or so I've been wondering what that role means to me and to the people at Artisan. I don't know how approachable I am. I don't see myself as the warm and inviting person that I envision pastors wives as being. I'm sometimes socially awkward (mostly in large groups or around many women) and I don't always like to be around people who require me to give more of myself than I feel like giving (emotionally demanding people). Do not misunderstand me and think that I don't like people because I do. Sometimes I don't (like when I'm driving). Mostly I'm just retarded when it comes to relating to people or being able to help someone through a problem. And sometimes I'm a downright jerk and don't do things I probably should for various selfish reasons. At any rate, the purpose of this post was not to get down on myself for sucking at life and being a subpar pastor's wife but to throw it out to see what other people's conceptions are. Somewhere along the way I will arrive at a place that I can live with whether I'm comfortable or not (as I don't believe that God is always terribly concerned with how comfortable I am).

It's been a while

I've just remembered I have a blog page! What fun. Now that I can remember how to get here I will probably start writing again. I hope no one died waiting for my next post. Its an awful long time to hold one's breath.