say what?

i've been collecting conversations with anne for your entertainment.
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1) Google Chat Confusion

setting: phone conversation

Anne: how come i never turn orange?
me: because you only turn orange when you're idle
Anne: nuh uh, 'cause everytime i look on my screen it's green
me: that's cause you're not idle anymore
Anne: well, you're orange right now
me: that's 'cause i'm not at my computer
Anne: oh.... well, will you bring your computer over sometime so i can see myself turn orange?

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2) Candy Man

setting: PennStation

enter 2 mentally handicapped men

Anne: i feel like they're going to come over here and talk to us
me: what? no they're not
Anne: i just have that feeling

(10 minutes later)

mentally handicapped man (hands anne a mint): wanna piece of candy?

(looks of amazement and disbelief)

Anne: sure, thanks
mentally handicapped man: you're hot!

(awkward silence, laughter, departure from PennStation)

good friday, indeed

today was a fun-filled day of adventure with anne. i thought i'd fill you in on some highlights....

1) at za's, a waitress definitely spilled an entire plate from the 'bus-boy' tub down my back

2) during our shopping trip, i bought the most expensive flat iron, whose brand name was 'generic'.

3) at target, we bought 2 patio chairs for anne's front porch.... however we couldn't fit them into her car. we decided to fit them 1/3 of the way in the trunk, pull down the back seat, and i laid half-way in the trunk and half-way in the back seat, holding them the entire way home.

4) we decided to do my laundry.... 8 loads, $20, and 2 hours later, we were finished.

5) anne wanted to call all of her friends to come sit on her front porch.... even though she only had 2 patio chairs. she ended up calling erin, and said, "wanna come over and sit on my porch? i got these awesome new patio chairs!! if you come over, i have this extra fold-up chair you can sit in."

6) we ended up getting arby's for dinner and..... sat on her front porch.

7) and perhaps one of the funniest conversations:
me: i hate traffic.... i want to invent teleportation
anne: no kidding....hey, i'll do the math part of it, and you can do the biology part
me: uh..... anne,.... there's no biology involved in teleportation
anne: uh huh, you've got to get your body to a new place
me: yeah,..... that's physics
anne: ah ha! that's why no one's invented it yet.... they're all looking with the wrong science!

oh, what a day!

love thy neighbor....

as long as he's a christian, that is!

i just read this..... and i want to vomit already!! and they'll know we are christians by our love? 'yeah, and if our love doesn't impact them, we'll resort to berating them because of their sinful lives!! wow, it's a good thing we're perfect!'

this, my friends, is where christianity gets a bad name:


Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she's a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.

With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.

The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. "Christians," he said, "are going to have to take a stand for the right to be Christian."

talkin' dirty

lauren: so, i had to do this sex talk for my nursing clinical.

robert: yeah, they started giving those to us in charleston in like the 7th grade.

lauren: ha! that's where i gave it.

robert: just be glad you didn't have to give it in paris, illinois.... it has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the state.

lauren: oh, paris/arcola, i know where that is... isn't that where you get off when you go home?

perfect timing

i have returned from the hell known as "thesis mode". my beast of a paper is done and in the hands of the reviewers as we speak..... let's keep our fingers crossed.

in other news, I WAS BAPTIZED!! i know this is a controversial issue with me being baptized as an infant, so we'll just go with the idea that i wanted to re-affirm my faith. no re-baptism or any such business. i was honored to be in the presence of many of the most influential people in my life, as they saw me take a step further in my faith... and even though the heavens didn't open and boom "here is my daughter, of whom i am well pleased", i have felt an increasing desire to know God and fully appreciate what he has done for me. in going through my testamony, i cannot believe where i am today and how he's taken me this far.

so,... i thought i'd just fill you in with a recent "spiritual epiphany" (as lauren and i love to call them). my dear friend anne (known for her expertise in books), recommended "changes that heal" by henry cloud...... and by 'recommended', i mean, 'bought it for me as a baptismal gift'.
we're supposed to be going through this together, but since she could probably read the whole thing in one sitting, i decided to get a head start (and i am only on chapter 2).

however, chapter 2 is about the necessity of time for healing. cloud uses the parable of the farmer who gets frustrated with his fruit tree, after the 3rd year of no fruit, and demands, "cut it down". i often question how many times i decide to "cut it down" in lack of patience. frustration mounts when i struggle with the same issue after years, but i am comforted by the fact that my God continues to work through those struggles, and eventually will prevail. i must remember that, "quick growth with no firm root will always be superficial and short-lived. deep growth is always slower" (cloud).

i've added a little background music by one of my favs, anna nalick. here are some thoughts from her:

cause you can't jump the track
we're like cars on a cable
and life's like an hourglass
glued to the table

no one can find the rewind button girl
so cradle your head in your hands
and breathe....

there's a light at each end
of this tunnel you shout
cause you're just as far in
as you'll ever be out

and these mistakes you made
you'll just make them again
if you only try turnin' around