So lately I've been bored silly. What being bored silly has made me realize is that, whenever I don't have anything to do, I automatically look for entertainment in the form of movies/tv shows, novels, gossipy websites (like facebook), or online chatting. These are my three staples. My question:
WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY TIME??? WHY DO I WASTE IT LIKE THIS???
You see, I'm pretty sure that there are much more interesting, profitable, adventurous things out there to do. I simply don't do them. Of course, one problem with finding Things To Do is that most of them cost money. But that's just an excuse. I could join a club, or a society, or research useless things online, or use the craft materials I already own to make something, or go to the gym/pool, maybe actually exercise my body... but NO! I do none of these things.
I'm pretty sure this says something fundamental about my nature as a person, or the nature of people in general. Not altogether sure what it is though... Something along the lines of, man seeks pleasure rather before anything else, or, I'm too comfortable with my lifestyle.
Of course, it's a rare time when I have absolutely nothing that I have to do. So, I'm pretty sure that this seeking entertainment is mostly habit, since generally if I have any time the spending of which I can dictate, I make a beeline for something I can do to relax/laugh a little.
But that's not a good excuse for my lack of go-do-it-iveness. (like my new word? :P)
Oh, I promised to talk about the muffin man. yes. Apparently, he lives in GA, because there's a Drury farm around here somewhere, so why wouldn't there be a drury lane?
This rather disappoints me, because I always thought he lived in England. Ah well.
over 'n out.
E.O.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
...if i could feel the world turning
once upon a time there was a girl so sensitive to the universe that she was born feeling the earth spin. because of this, she always felt like she was rushing toward something far, far in the distance, and always in the same direction. she became really good at things like hiking and driving, because, as her mother said, it was like she had her own internal compass. of course, her mother didn't know that her daughter felt like she was constantly falling sideways- all she knew was that ever since she was a baby, her little girl had known exactly which way she was going.
for the girl, every thought was in terms of with, against, or beside. it's hard to say whether or not she realized that she was different from other people in this way. so many people think in terms of with/against, although of course, not quite as literally as she did, that she could get along with most people just fine without ever noticing the difference.
tbc.
just fyi, the idea came more from here
http://xkcd.com/417/
than from Dr. Who, although he does mention feeling the world turn. =)
Also, I don't think I'll ever actually continue this, so whoever reads this, feel free to think up the rest of it. :P
for the girl, every thought was in terms of with, against, or beside. it's hard to say whether or not she realized that she was different from other people in this way. so many people think in terms of with/against, although of course, not quite as literally as she did, that she could get along with most people just fine without ever noticing the difference.
tbc.
just fyi, the idea came more from here
http://xkcd.com/417/
than from Dr. Who, although he does mention feeling the world turn. =)
Also, I don't think I'll ever actually continue this, so whoever reads this, feel free to think up the rest of it. :P
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Baldfaced
The realities behind my lack of romantic entanglement. Posted here on the web for any surfer to see. I figure, tons of other ppl spill their guts here, why can't I? What I have to say is not embarrassing or private. So, the facts.
1. I firmly believe that a relationship begins in friendship.
2. I have yet to make a guy friend that I want to go out with.
3. I'm not really sure how I'd know anyway.
4. I just can't make the first move. And I seem to miss other ppl's, which doesn't really help matters much.
5. I find I need to be comfortable with most of the rest of my life before I'm willing to put myself on the relationship market. It just seems like you've got a 75% to 80% chance of getting hurt, and I need for that relationship not to be the one that makes or breaks my entire life's contentment.
6. I just don't know how. How to approach such a thing, how to enter it, how to behave within it. For all the stories and movies and books I know, for all the people I've watched go through these things, I'm still pretty clueless.
So there. The truth. I doubt more than 5 people will see it. I doubt that they will be people who would attempt to harm me with this information.
But would the world PLEASE stop bugging me about it? Contrary to popular belief, a romantic relationship IS NOT the answer to all of life's problems.
Sheesh.
over 'n out.
E.O.
1. I firmly believe that a relationship begins in friendship.
2. I have yet to make a guy friend that I want to go out with.
3. I'm not really sure how I'd know anyway.
4. I just can't make the first move. And I seem to miss other ppl's, which doesn't really help matters much.
5. I find I need to be comfortable with most of the rest of my life before I'm willing to put myself on the relationship market. It just seems like you've got a 75% to 80% chance of getting hurt, and I need for that relationship not to be the one that makes or breaks my entire life's contentment.
6. I just don't know how. How to approach such a thing, how to enter it, how to behave within it. For all the stories and movies and books I know, for all the people I've watched go through these things, I'm still pretty clueless.
So there. The truth. I doubt more than 5 people will see it. I doubt that they will be people who would attempt to harm me with this information.
But would the world PLEASE stop bugging me about it? Contrary to popular belief, a romantic relationship IS NOT the answer to all of life's problems.
Sheesh.
over 'n out.
E.O.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
no wonder...
No wonder teenagers have a reputation for being rebellious and angry.
Adulthood (such as I know it, anyway) is a rude awakening.
Wouldn't you be angry too?
Of course, I know that that's not the whole of it. It's about other things as well, like becoming your own person. But, well... this is how I see it right now.
Children are protected, made to believe they are special. No one criticizes them or ignores them, or tells them how little they really matter in the world. No, most children are the apple of someone's eye. So when they grow into the realization that, apple of that person's eye or not, their world so far has been all smiles and indulgences and kid gloves, and that they've left that world and are forbidden re-entry...
Wouldn't you be angry too?
Adulthood (such as I know it, anyway) is a rude awakening.
Wouldn't you be angry too?
Of course, I know that that's not the whole of it. It's about other things as well, like becoming your own person. But, well... this is how I see it right now.
Children are protected, made to believe they are special. No one criticizes them or ignores them, or tells them how little they really matter in the world. No, most children are the apple of someone's eye. So when they grow into the realization that, apple of that person's eye or not, their world so far has been all smiles and indulgences and kid gloves, and that they've left that world and are forbidden re-entry...
Wouldn't you be angry too?
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
what's weird about birthdays
what's weird about birthdays isn't the fact of passing the mark of a year, becoming numerically speaking a year older.
what's weird about birthdays is trying to figure out what to do with them. for two reasons.
1. generally people are taught to at least preTEND to be humble. so how does one act graciously in the face of all the birthday wishes and congratulations and open demonstrations of affection?
2. people are also generally taught not to openly express huge amounts of affection or appreciation for others. it's just not something we do on a regular basis. it's ok when it's a holiday like christmas or thanksgiving or something, where the entire society is geared up to be more loving toward one another. but when all that affection and attention is turned toward YOU, Emily Jane Leigh of Nowheresville Kentucky (pardon, Kentuckians, but I have to pick somewhere) it's somewhat... disconcerting.
now, whenever one of my friends expresses the wish to be ignored on their birthday, i am immediately up in arms. it's a day when others get to celebrate you, i say. they are reminded to think about how you have affected their lives, and how happy (or otherwise, but hopefully happy) they are that you're alive. It's a time for your loved ones to celebrate your birth. The idea being, that the celebration isn't so much for the person being celebrated as it is for those celebrating.
that's a nice line, and fully true when it's other people's birthdays. that is, in fact, part of why i like celebrating people's birthdays. but, when it comes to my own... well. it feels like a different matter entirely. (the cyinic in me says, of course it does.)
at any rate. in case you hadn't guessed, my birthday's coming up. it's an odd number, but that's all i'll tell you. not 'cause i'm lying about my age, but because this is the ineternet. who knows who could be snooping around?
over 'n out.
E.O.
what's weird about birthdays is trying to figure out what to do with them. for two reasons.
1. generally people are taught to at least preTEND to be humble. so how does one act graciously in the face of all the birthday wishes and congratulations and open demonstrations of affection?
2. people are also generally taught not to openly express huge amounts of affection or appreciation for others. it's just not something we do on a regular basis. it's ok when it's a holiday like christmas or thanksgiving or something, where the entire society is geared up to be more loving toward one another. but when all that affection and attention is turned toward YOU, Emily Jane Leigh of Nowheresville Kentucky (pardon, Kentuckians, but I have to pick somewhere) it's somewhat... disconcerting.
now, whenever one of my friends expresses the wish to be ignored on their birthday, i am immediately up in arms. it's a day when others get to celebrate you, i say. they are reminded to think about how you have affected their lives, and how happy (or otherwise, but hopefully happy) they are that you're alive. It's a time for your loved ones to celebrate your birth. The idea being, that the celebration isn't so much for the person being celebrated as it is for those celebrating.
that's a nice line, and fully true when it's other people's birthdays. that is, in fact, part of why i like celebrating people's birthdays. but, when it comes to my own... well. it feels like a different matter entirely. (the cyinic in me says, of course it does.)
at any rate. in case you hadn't guessed, my birthday's coming up. it's an odd number, but that's all i'll tell you. not 'cause i'm lying about my age, but because this is the ineternet. who knows who could be snooping around?
over 'n out.
E.O.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Streetcars and Ironies
Today was a momentous day. I saw Star Trek for the second time. Still love it. And James T. Kirk still reminds me of a guy I know, John W. Which strikes me as really strange, but there you have it. I also went on a wild goose chase through the city with a friend of mine, trying to find the house where the meeting we wanted to go to was being held. I think I saw more of the city today than I have all year, and we certainly did some seriously poor navigating. :P We had fun though, getting lost and conversing for the first time in two weeks - which felt like forever for two reasons. One, we lived across from each other for about 9 months, and so were constantly in one another's lives, and two, I've not been around peers for a full two weeks - except for that one trip to the movies last week. So, despite the fact that we wandered around the city for two hours peering at streets, and saying things like "I feel like we should turn left here, don't you?" or "Hey, this looks familiar!" (which was almost inevitably followed by "...I'm pretty sure we've never been here." or, later on, "if you say 'that looks familiar' one more time...!" and "now I KNOW that wasn't on the way back to Uni." :P); despite all this, we had a pretty good time. The city was beautiful in the sunset, and we discovered some quaint little roads, and laughed a lot. :) Why this always seems to happen to me in cities, I couldn't tell you. But I'm sure some of you readers can attest to the fact that I can get lost absolutely ANYwhere, and have been with me on multiple occasions, eh, Annalisa?
In fact, I got lost in my own area just yesterday. As I think about it, it occurs to me that I've gotten turned around - which is a eupemism for lost - 4 times this week. And each time my mom has proved to be a veritable knight in shining armour, riding in with Google maps and her excellent navigation skills to save the day!
The moral of the story? Never send me out anywhere without at LEAST two sets of directions on how to get there, and at least one map, and the phone number of someone who knows the area. That is, unless I've been wherever you're sending me multiple times before. :P
Oh, and the title is from a song of Chris Rice's that I found the other day with the help of a friend, and which is running 'round my head. Here's a link, if you'd like to hear it. :) I know now that the actual title is "Punchlines and Ironies," but for some reason my brain insterted "streetcars" instead. Must be all the city scenery from today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5SeObCybo
In fact, I got lost in my own area just yesterday. As I think about it, it occurs to me that I've gotten turned around - which is a eupemism for lost - 4 times this week. And each time my mom has proved to be a veritable knight in shining armour, riding in with Google maps and her excellent navigation skills to save the day!
The moral of the story? Never send me out anywhere without at LEAST two sets of directions on how to get there, and at least one map, and the phone number of someone who knows the area. That is, unless I've been wherever you're sending me multiple times before. :P
Oh, and the title is from a song of Chris Rice's that I found the other day with the help of a friend, and which is running 'round my head. Here's a link, if you'd like to hear it. :) I know now that the actual title is "Punchlines and Ironies," but for some reason my brain insterted "streetcars" instead. Must be all the city scenery from today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5SeObCybo
Monday, May 18, 2009
All Quiet on the Southern Frontier
And on the subject of prayer, and since there's no news to speak of, I thought i'd share with you something that occurred to me during church today.
so at my parent's church, there is a pastor. Normal, you say, most churches do. Well, at this church they have a - special - way of praying. The pianist plays sweet, albeit intermittent notes/chords as the pastor or youth pastor prays. Now, the senior pastor has this habit of imitating the piano, namely, pausing in random places. Apparently the idea is to let the congregation ponder what he just said, or add their own pleas. But all too often he'll stop after saying something like "and we pray that you- *silence* - in all your great wonder..."
Now, I don't know if you pray a lot, but the basic idea is that his pauses are unpredictable and not necessarily connected with any sort of meaning in the prayer. They're just there for effect.
And today it occurred to me that it's entirely possible that, 10, 15 years from now, when he's a bit older, this same guy will be praying up there, and the poor man will have a heart attack and stop talking... and NO ONE will notice. For a good three minutes, at least.
A somewhat irreverent thought to have during prayer, but well... there it is.
May your prayers be sincere, and your silences, if they exist, full of God's presence.
so at my parent's church, there is a pastor. Normal, you say, most churches do. Well, at this church they have a - special - way of praying. The pianist plays sweet, albeit intermittent notes/chords as the pastor or youth pastor prays. Now, the senior pastor has this habit of imitating the piano, namely, pausing in random places. Apparently the idea is to let the congregation ponder what he just said, or add their own pleas. But all too often he'll stop after saying something like "and we pray that you- *silence* - in all your great wonder..."
Now, I don't know if you pray a lot, but the basic idea is that his pauses are unpredictable and not necessarily connected with any sort of meaning in the prayer. They're just there for effect.
And today it occurred to me that it's entirely possible that, 10, 15 years from now, when he's a bit older, this same guy will be praying up there, and the poor man will have a heart attack and stop talking... and NO ONE will notice. For a good three minutes, at least.
A somewhat irreverent thought to have during prayer, but well... there it is.
May your prayers be sincere, and your silences, if they exist, full of God's presence.
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