Commercials!

I had an assignment in soc to work with a couple partners to find homophobic commercials.  While we found some that were heteronormative (promoting distinct roles for men and women) as opposed to homophobic, I did stumble across this wonderful commercial.

And here are some things I don't like about it:

1. Heteronormative - men watch women playing with kids.
2. Sexist - "master of the house"?!?  Um, don't think so.
3. Stereotypes - "protector and provider."  Apparently women can't provide.  Interesting.
4. Racist - Confederate Family with a Black gardener?  Tell me how that's NOT racist.

Commercials are fun to analyze, what can I say.  :)

Signs of winter

It's pretty clear that winter is fast approaching little Grinnell, but thankfully it has not yet arrived.  I'm not particularly looking forward to the oodles of snow we're bound to get, but once winter overtakes I'll adapt and survive just fine.

In the meantime, I've created some clever ways to survive the colder, snow-less days:

1. Since I refuse to whip out my winter jackets until there's actually snow on the ground, I'm getting by with layers.  Lots of them.  Before I leave this computer lab to go to my dorm, I will add a sweater, a fleece pullover, and a sweatshirt to the t-shirt and long-sleeve shirt I'm already wearing.  It's pretty entertaining for other people, I think . . . whenever I walk inside a building I have to stop and wrestle off about three layers.  :P

2. I've whipped out the famous and well-loved purple hat.  In case you haven't seen this remarkable icon of fashion, I'll upload a pic tomorrow.

3.  I also refuse to use my heavy gloves, heavy scarf, and warm boots, figuring that if I can't survive the low 30s, I'll never survive the weeks of 10 degrees.

4. And now you all wish you were in Iowa awaiting winter, right?  :)

Go God!

We pray before worship each week, and then we've started a team cheer.  We all put our hands in the middle, and on the count of three we yell "Go God!"  Some might find it informal or too secular, but to me it really captures Grinnell.  We're finding time in our stressful Grinnell lives to put all of that stuff away and worship God.  I have never felt stressed at worship, even when the security guards forget to unlock the piano, when we realize we're missing lyrics, or when I forget to bring food for my amazing drummer (who comes straight from swim practice and doesn't have time for dinner!), and God makes that possible.

I honestly can't believe I don't get stressed.  Here I am playing music I've practiced maybe once the week before.  I'm literally looking at letters and turning them into chords and rhythms.  It's so awesome God is working through me like this!  I don't have the best personal relationship with God right now, but He's definitely still in my life.  Always reminding me He's there.  And that He's waiting.

This week I have one song in particular stuck in my head from worship.  It's another Hillsong song (we did two this week - the song picker (ME!) is ambitious sometimes, and just happens to find Hillsong songs more interesting to play on piano), and it's fabulous.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-afZJ9_TIM

The video refused to embed properly, so here's a link!  Listen to it . . . it's. so. good.

Mighty to Save

Two years ago I was a freshman at Denison University, living life on the Hill, stressing about classes, and ready to visit my family in Texas.  I was terribly academic and book-bound, so that particular Thursday night I was editing a paper for my FYS for the umpteenth time.  Like most good college students, I remained convinced that the paper would improve drastically if I spent more time on Facebook, and I was reading through the newest updates when I saw one from my cousin, Anna.

“what the hell just happened.”

I went to her wall.  There were already so many posts from friends saying they were praying for her.  I texted my mom, “What’s wrong with Anna Basso?”

Instead of a text back, I got a phone call.  My heart was already racing when I answered the call and heard my mom crying on the other end, “She has cancer.”

That moment changed me forever.  And I can’t begin to imagine how that moment when a sore hip turned into Ewing’s sarcoma changed Anna, her sister, and her parents.  In turns out Anna was transformed into a beautiful angel, heroically battling cancer, loving everyone around her, receiving boundless love in return, and eventually ascending into Heaven to be with Christ.  Her sister became a more powerful blogger, sharing her emotions, the trials of the battle, and all her fears with an engaged audience.  Her parents grew into terrifically strong people who suffered and fought with Anna every step of the way.

And throughout the journey, people reached out to Anna.  By graduation, 1,000,000 people had pledged to pray for her every day at 12:12. 

Recently that number passed 2,000,000.

The song that helped me through this challenging period was “Mighty to Save” by Hillsong.  It took awhile before I could listen to it without crying.

Every time I sang it I thought about Anna.  I was convinced God would save her.  Even when I heard she had months, then weeks, then just days to live, I still believed that miracle was possible.  I refused to accept the reality of cancer, because God was mighty to save.  So when my dad turned to me and my brother and said, “Your mom’s going to call to say that Anna passed away today,” I was in shock.  Stunned.  Devastated.  Where was God?

Well, He was busy welcoming His newest angel to heaven.  He answered our prayers, but not in the way we had hoped.  He ended her suffering.  He healed her.  And He made her perfect.  God really is mighty to save.

12.12.  Float On.

Things I Love

1. Sarcasm
2. Taking calculus exams that cannot be completed in the allotted 50 minute time period.
2. Waking up from an otherwise lovely nap to the realization that I messed up one of the problems on said calculus exam.
3. Calculus in general.
4. Reading 70 pages of a terribly redundant book about racism (I get it.  The housing market is unfair.  I AGREE with you, for crying out loud.  NOW SWITCH TOPICS).
5. My 8 a.m. psychology class.  I really love the chance to experience a high school classroom!
6. Grinnell.
7. Watching someone in an improvised mask, cape, and flag saying "campus bikes" run across campus while pushing a broken bike.
8. Supporting people who challenge social norms.
9. [GSC] worship!
10. Other Grinnellians who challenge the hypersexuality and hypermasculinity of ads.

It never fails

I wore my 12:12 t-shirt yesterday.  Most of the day I wore a sweater over it, as the temperature has been dropping considerably, but at worship everyone could see the t-shirt and the lyrics from "Float On" on the back. At the end of worship I explained to not one but two people who asked about the significance of 12:12.  I told them about Anna and her amazing strength, and how she's touched not one but TWO MILLION PEOPLE.

Whoever said God was dead (it was Nietzsche) was clearly wrong.

Float on.

Fun fact

If you walk confidently in the rain, it doesn't bother you as much.  Even if it is a cold, drizzly, otherwise miserable rain . . . just get your swagger on and you'll be fine.

Or you could buy a new umbrella to replace the broken 5 dollar umbrella you sometimes attempt to use, but where's the fun in that?

Why hello there!

Huh.  Apparently I have a blog.  Apparently I also have at least one demanding subscriber who misses these spontaneous glimpses into her college daughter's life.  It's hard to condense the past month and half into one post, but perhaps some fun (possibly disturbing?  Depends on how you feel about laundry . . . ) facts about the last few weeks at wonderful Grinnell College.

Fun facts:
1. I am essentially the leader of a worship group on campus, which means I am currently responsible for picking the songs each week, making sure all of the musicians have a copy of the music, and fronting the band with my piano playing skills.  I am also slowly gaining the responsibility of printing out lyrics sheets and potentially finding people to speak each week.  Yay leadership!

2.  Speaking of leadership, I was also voted a captain of the tennis team.  Perk number one about being a captain: why yes, I DO claim a bed to myself.  :)  I also lead cheering when necessary and head the group of complainers.

3.  I am a tour guide!  I am now a proud (and vocal) representative of Grinnell College.  I have given a grand total of TWO tours so far, but I think they've gone at least moderately well.  I applied for this position in the spring, was sent to the reserves list, and then was asked to join in the fall to fill a couple slots.  Yay me.

4. I have had the same occupational plan for at least two weeks now, which means it must be pretty certain.  I want to be a professor.  Preferably at Grinnell College, or somewhere incredibly similar (i.e. equally awesome, friendly, diverse, liberal, and focused on social justice).  Probably in sociology.

5.  I have an A so far in Calculus.  Pretty much every day I give myself a smug pat on the back for being so brave and diversifying my classes.

6. I will be experiencing my first 10/10 on Saturday.  Apparently there is a campus wide shot at 12:00.  I'm curious to know how they herd all the drunk people onto Mac field, distribute shots to everyone, and then prevent general chaos.

7.  Women's tennis team is undefeated - LET'S GO.

8. It's one and I have class tomorrow at eight and one more thing to do between now and then (besides sleep).  Therefore I hope you can understand this admittedly brief farewell.  "Bye."

14 Signs You’re Back At Grinnell

      1.     You have a tennis racket, a computer, a phone charger, keys, and a book on your twin-xl bed.

      2.     You nap in that bed anyway

      3.     You take naps regularly.

      4.     You take cold showers because there’s no air-conditioning in your dorm.

      5.     You spend half your time explaining you’re actually a third year, NOT a second year

      6.     You can’t believe how cute the first-years are.

      7.     You can’t see the top of your desk, and school hasn’t started yet.

      8.     You looked incredibly intelligent carrying a fridge from one dorm to another.

      9.     You’re multitasking: watching tennis on-line, typing in poems for a literary magazine, and texting your mother (who is more bored than you are – haha!)

      10. There are many photos and quotes stuck on the walls.

      11.  You’re wondering where you got so much crap!

      12.  You make two trips to Wal-Mart in as many days.

      13.  You already have plans through the day school starts (in a week)

      14.  You’re being ‘recruited’ by two different Christian groups to play piano.  J

Float On, once more

I am safely and happily in Iowa, but right now my heart goes out to the White family on the loss of their beautiful daughter, Micaela.  I did not know her personally, but she and my beautiful cousin Anna lived side by side for most of their lives, even sharing the same bed during chemo treatments.  Through Anna I felt a connection, so I am devastated by this loss.


In memory of Anna and Micaela:


Alright don't worry even if things end up a bit too heavy.
We'll all float on...alright. Already we'll all float on.
Alright already we'll all float on, ok.
Don't worry we'll all float on.
Even if things get heavy, we'll all float on.


Isaiah 65:17-25:


 ¹⁷ “See, I will create
   new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
   nor will they come to mind. 
¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever
   in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
   and its people a joy.
¹⁹ I will rejoice over Jerusalem
   and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
   will be heard in it no more.
 ²⁰ “Never again will there be in it
   an infant who lives but a few days, 
   or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
   will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach^[a] a hundred
   will be considered accursed.
²¹ They will build houses and dwell in them;
   they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
   or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
   so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
   the work of their hands.
²³ They will not labor in vain,
   nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
   they and their descendants with them.
²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
   while they are still speaking I will hear. 
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
   and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
   on all my holy mountain,”
            says the LORD.



AMEN.

Iowa-bound and feeling reflective

Well, this is it.  My last post from Texas.  I can’t believe it’s the end of the summer already, but really, this past year has flown by remarkably fast.  A year ago I was debating a semester off from school, and when I decided to forgo Denison, Mom and I road-tripped it down to Texas, where I went through my teenage anger/rebellion years in approximately four months (oops – I’m still apologizing to Mom.  Love you lots, Mom!)

By the time my twentieth birthday rolled around and I escaped those dreadful teenage years, I had been at the wonderful, the glorious, the amazing GRINNELL COLLEGE for approximately three weeks, and while I did have to throw a birthday party for myself (with the help of a few transfer friends, of course), lots of people showed up.  J   The following evening I met Klevi, who somewhat soon thereafter became my boyfriend, and then suddenly we were playing tennis matches, I was hacking up a lung (or three) in Florida over spring break, we spent under 24 hours in California, it was finals week, and what am I going to do this summer?

In other words, this past year has been a whirlwind of activity, and although I never would have predicted where I am today, I wouldn’t change a thing.  And why would I?  I’m now a sociology major, which I love more than I ever loved English (side note: I read at least four soc books this summer).  I’m on a tennis team where I feel welcome, appreciated, and loved for who I am.  I’m able to play piano and to perform in a stress-free environment in the Christian worship band – can’t wait to start rocking out again.  I became involved in volunteer work at school.  I had my beliefs positively challenged in numerous ways.  I’m dating a wonderful, intelligent young man.  This summer I had a tasking but fulfilling job working with kids, which kept my spirits high and my thoughts positive.   

And tomorrow morning I fly back to Des Moines, Iowa, where I will catch a shuttle bus back to the quaint town of Grinnell, where I will lug my suitcase up two flights of stairs and then go to security to pick up my key.  On Monday I start tennis practice at 6:30 in the morning (which could be exciting – and possible devoid of any tennis whatsoever – due to my ongoing back spasms), and that day my roommate arrives. 

It’s going to be exciting.  I can’t wait to see where life takes me this year.

Now y’all take care.  ;)

Urban

Check out my new blog post at Urban Connections.  While I'm excited for the summer to wind down and school to start back up (a.k.a. bowl me over with all the opportunities and assignments), I will miss these precious kiddos.  :)

The Theology of Lady Gaga

As the title suggests, I am indeed combining theology and pop culture in a slightly unexpected way.  Recently I've fallen in love with the song "Born This Way" by none other than the inimitable Lady Gaga.  If you haven't listened to the song, you definitely should.  And if you have can't comprehend the words, then you should watch the video so you'll understand my points:

"It doesn't matter if you love him, or capital H-I-M."  Wait, Lady Gaga's singing about God?!?  Mom didn't initially believe me when I told her, but I assured her that yes, Lady Gaga was gettin' involved in religion.

The first verse is about self-love and believing in yourself.  I used to think love of self was a bad thing, because Jesus was so selfless and all, and His main commandmant was all about loving others, right?  Wrong.  "Love others as you love yourself."  I remember the Sunday School class when this message was conveyed in a new light to me - before you can truly love others, you have to love yourself and know that God has blessed you.  While Lady Gaga doesn't go that deep in this verse, I think it's important to realize that yes, self-love can be a good thing.

And then the chorus is just so motivational.  "I'm beautiful in my way, cos God makes no mistakes."  God IS perfect.  So why are we so busy criticizing His work?  Even if it doesn't make sense (sorry platypus) it is still NOT a mistake.  God knew/knows/will always know what He's doing.  Society (which is SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED and therefore can't be absolute truth) might not think you're beautiful, but you are. 

"I'm on the right track baby I was born this way."  I'm not here to get into nature vs. nurture, but nature truly affects things, and you were born that way for a reason.

"Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you're set."  It's true.  This is true for me.  It's easy to regret things and to want to go back, but hindsight is always 20/20.  If you love yourself and love God, you'll have confidence to do the right things, to always move forward, and to keep trying.

"Don't be a drag, just be a queen."  At first I didn't like this part musically, but eventually the lyrics won me over.  Point 1) sitting around and saying that shows (drag or otherwise) are no fun is quite boring, aka you're being a drag.  Point 2) It would be much more fun to be yourself and/or be a queen.  Just saying.

The second verse doesn't necessarily make sense to me, but parts of it resonate well.  It's also where I have my biggest issue.  Up until this point, Lady Gaga is making a broad statement that sits well with me.  However, now she decides to tell us what God thinks.  And I'm just not cool with that - I don't care if you ARE Lady Gaga and practically queen of the world.  I do not believe that the Bible provides conclusive, incontrovertible evidence for 'different lovers' (which I take to mean queer people), so until God definitely tells us what He wants, I personally (IMHO) believe that we need to love everybody.  I believe in a loving God, a God available to everyone. 

Moving on before religious rambling/ranting begins . . . the bridge is wonderful.  I pretty much shout the words every time.  I love how she associates ethnic/racial differences with sexuality, because I think those two 'methods of categorization,' if you will, are quite comparable.  Then she goes on to say that no matter what happened, no matter what life threw at you, you can and should still love yourself. 

That probably revealed a lot more about me than about Lady Gaga, but really I think this song provides me with a good avenue for sharing a bit more openly about some of my personal beliefs.  I am in, as I call it, the "free love" stage of my life, which basically means I have found absolutely no reason why I should not love everyone I meet and respect who they are.  It's often easier said than done (i.e. the upcoming post about my growing road rage . . . oops!), but with Christ all things are possible.

Surprise!

I definitely failed to reach my goal last week, but it’s another week and another chance for me.  Hopefully I will improve.  J

This weekend I was part of a surprise birthday celebration for my friend Erin, a coworker at Urban.  It was quite fun – perhaps not as much for poor Erin, who was subjected to a 45-minute, blindfolded ride in the van.  Meanwhile, I was busy cleaning my room and bed, which is no easy feat, making a Funfetti cake, and cutting up veggies for some epic sandwiches.

At last the birthday girl arrived, and the festivities began!  Of course, we spent half of lunch talking about the kids from work and entertaining my brother with imitations of the children.  When together, the four of us (Danielle, Erin, Mari, and myself) struggle to speak of anything except the children; work is the main thing we have in common, so naturally we exchange stories of cute/annoying kids. 

We spent the afternoon at Gruene, the historic district for New Braunfels.  Despite residing in NB for almost two years, I had not yet spent an afternoon in Gruene.  Quite frankly, I never quite understood the charm or the draw of the place; then again, I’m not generally one for moseying around and admiring clothes five times too expensive for me.  However, it turns out that wandering around with friends and trying on silly hats is FUN.  ;)

We came home for a bit, and the girls fell asleep on our couches, which was quite entertaining.  Ten we dressed up and headed out again.  I spent about 10 minutes preparing for the night out – I’d applied makeup once already, brushed my hair in the morning, and considered myself ready.  ;) 

We ate at the Gristmill after a long but pleasant wait.  They provided live music and we provided the Phase 10 cards, so the time passed rather quickly.  At last we were seated, and I sampled chicken fried steak, which, despite my professed vegetarianism, I found to be quite tasty. 

 

Then, Erin ordered a strawberry shortcake dessert, and, like good friends, we helped her eat it. 

P.S.  A not so subtle hint:  I've always wanted a surprise birthday or surprise something.  Just going to throw that out there.  :D

Float on . . .

I've had plenty of opportunities to reflect lately, and it’s hard to reflect too long without the image of my cousin Anna floating on to better places.  When I let those reflections take a darker, more existential route, I reach the upsetting realization that I had a chance to write to Anna in the month before she floated on, and I didn’t.  Now, looking back, all things considered, it hurts to realize I had that open-ended invitation to write something back to her, and that I never did.

Our exchange went like this:  “Happy Birthday Anna!” etc, and she responded (yes, she took the time to respond to me!) with “Thanks Laura!  Hope you’ve been having a good summer.  I remember reading it thinking, I should really reply.  But then something stopped me; I was petrified by what to say and by every way my words could potentially be misconstrued or misinterpreted; I worried that nothing I said could be significant to her.  Somewhere in all that hesitation, I never responded.  I forgot that important part where you actually transfer those thoughts to the computer and push the send button.

There’s so much I wish I had said.  Instead, my fear and my pride held me back from communicating with a cousin with only months to live.  Instead, I always meant to write her and never got around to it, and then suddenly Dad sat us down, looked at us, and said Anna was floating on.  Instead of being all caught up in myself and my worries, I should have thought about Anna and how my words of encouragement, support, and admiration, could have possibly brightened her day. 

“Dear Anna,” I might have said, “You are an amazing young woman.  You are so beautiful and strong.  You’re selfless, brave, and incredibly loving.  You’ve inspired me with your hope, peace, and love, and you’ve touched a million people.  I’m praying for you and your family, and I know you all will stay strong and continue to lean on God.  Keep fighting, Anna.  You’re amazing.  Love, Laura.”

Instead, nothing.  Now, instead of beating myself up over this, I’m learning.  Anna continues to impact my life and to teach the meaning of friendship and love.  Thanks to Anna, I’ve come to appreciate friends, family, and love even more, and as a result, I’ve realized you should always take that time to reach out to your friends, even if it is to just say hi.

It only takes two minutes to enter someone’s life again.  Thanks to technology, all you have to do is log into Facebook, search a friend, and leave a little note on the wall.   I’m trying to leave notes on friends’ walls when I haven’t seen them for months, or even years.   I text random people just to say hi, how are you.  So I’m challenging you to reach out to your friends again.  Take the time to say hi, to ask a few questions, to show you remember them and that you care.  You never know what could have happened in their lives or when they’re going to float on.

Because God works in mysterious ways.

Float on, Anna Lee Basso, float on.

Resolution

Ahem.  I hereby publicly and resolutely resolve to blog not once but THREE times a week until school starts, at which point I hope the habit will be firmly established and readily continued. It's not lack of ideas, really, or lack of cute, innocent stories from camp, but rather a lack of dedication and the occasional struggle to find the right voice for a blog.  There's also the issue of filtering - what exactly should be public?  Should I share the deeper musings and hope that people stay interested, or should I stick to less profound and more to the amusing?

Writing is such an interesting thing.  I still love it immensely, but blogging is a different area, and I'm still understanding how to make it work for me.  What are my goals for blogging?  Partially it serves to keep people - such as grandparents and friends from Oregon and Denison - updated on my new and exciting life at Grinnell, but I also want to share a little more, to give myself a voice, however small and sarcastic, in the big bad world of the internet.

So while I muse on what next to post, take a look at my post from Urban Connection.  I can't believe five weeks have flown by already - only three more with the kids who have brought so much joy into my life.  <3

Hello World

Hello world.

I am still working hard with the kids in San Antonio.  It’s a challenging but rewarding job, and, remarkably, each weekend I start to miss the kids and to look forward to returning to work.  I miss the giggles, smiles, and incredible cuteness.  J  Two examples: yesterday I told three five-year-olds that I was leaving for the day, and in unison they screamed, “NOOOOOO.”  I felt loved and appreciated.  Then, on Thursday, two girls were clinging to me and holding my hands with near death-grips, when one of them, Elysa, looked up on me and said, “I love you.  I’m gonna miss you!”  This was promptly followed by an “I love you” from Melanie. 

And then I started thinking about the end of the summer, and I realized I will miss all the kids quite a bit.  Also, to be honest, I’m a bit tired of waking up talking to imaginary kids.  J  It’ll be hard to leave those cute faces and those constant hugs, BUT . . . I’ll be leaving those hugs for a much bigger and much missed one . . .

You see, I love my summer job and the break from school and being with family, but I am so excited to be back in Grinnell.  I’m ready for the work again, the new classes, the exciting times with friends . . . and to be with my wonderful boyfriend, Klevi, again.  Now that’ll be one big hug.  ;)

Speaking of Klevi . . . he turned the big 21 last Wednesday.  I was sad I missed the celebration – it’s a big American milestone, but he reminded me that in Albania, 21 doesn’t mean much.  I can’t wait to be back in Grinnell to hang out with Klevi – we play ping-pong, race in Free Cell, watch movies, study together, and watch sports, among many other things.  I miss all of our time together, and I’m quite, QUITE excited to be back at school.  <3

Hey!

Catch my latest post at UC-SA for some religious meditations and a cute story from work!  I've been working on a more serious post for this blog, but alas, I am all too readily distracted.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something else interesting to post.

Cheers!

My internship

Hey y'all (yes, my politically correct geek overcame the grammar geek, which means I now use y'all with startling frequency):

If you're interested in learning more about my summer job/internship/, check out the webpage of my employer, Urban Connections:

http://www.urbanconnection-sa.org/

Basically, UC works with the families of Lincoln Heights Courts, a low-income housing project and helps them construct better lives.  My job involves the kids of the Courts, and I gotta tell you, I love them.  I help run summer camp, teach kids how to stand in straight lines, make frequent bathroom trips with kids, and spend way too much time in time-out with unruly children.  But it's great and I love it.

And, if you want to learn more about my coworkers and some of the staff at UC, check out the blog below!

http://urbanconnectionsa.blogspot.com/

Cheers!

In loving memory

Last week, we heard the devastating news that my beautiful, brave cousin, Anna Lee Basso, lost her battle with Ewing's Sarcoma cancer last Tuesday afternoon at the tender age of 18 years.  She entered Christ's eternal arms peacefully and while surrounded by loving family.  She fought her battle nobly, with enduring strength and admirable faith.  She touched over 1 million people in her eighteen years, and her memory will 'float on'.

Tonight was her prayer service and visitation, and the funeral mass begins tomorrow at eleven.  Please continue to pray.

With love through Christ,

Laura

Some thoughts

3) (All 9 seasons of Seinfeld) Last year, I became obsessed with Seinfeld.  Jerry’s whiny voices has not yet started grating on my nerves.  I love to hate George, while still maintaining a glimmer of love somewhere inside me.  Kramer is . . . Kramer.  As for Elaine, at some times she’s a role model for me, at other times I have no choice but to shake my head.  Thanks to my grandparents, I was able to purchase not one, not two, but ALL NINE SEASONS of Seinfeld in one glorious box set. 

I started Season One (NOT that entertaining) before school, but then I watched the remaining eight seasons at school.  Looking back, I have no idea when I did this or how I found the time or why I thought it was a good idea, but now I can relate moments back to Seinfeld on a nauseatingly frequent basis.

I think #4 and my love of arts and crafts warrants their own post, so that will follow shortly, but I do want to start filling you in on my summer job.

I feel blessed and lucky to have this job – I applied not late, or later, but really late, and it turns out someone had pulled out at the last minute and that the non-profit, Urban Connections – San Antonio wanted to offer me that position.  I accepted the offer last Monday, and now, 1.5 weeks later, I’m going through official AmeriCorps training in Dallas.  “AmeriCorps training” is code for corny-yet-still-strangely-effective team building games and listening to people talk.

I also learned much more about AmeriCorps (not challenging since my previous knowledge was nil), and I realized how exciting it is to be part of something big, to feel like am important member of an even more important organization doing good throughout the country.  It made me really excited about non-profits and working with others to benefit a community.  I’ve now met all my team-members, and I’m sure issues will surface throughout the year, but we know we can always return to the basic fact: we’re here because we care and want to make a difference.  That’s the bottom line, and it’s so different from my past.

I’m very goal-oriented, and once I set that goal, I will do everything within my power, and then some, to reach that goal.  We definitely have a goal here, but not only is it broad, but it’s community-based, teamwork-centered, and not self-centered.  I’m excited to dedicate a summer to something other than tennis, piano, or school.  I’ll be exhausted and sun burned (unintentionally!) and frustrated at times, but it won’t be about me.  It will be about approximately 75 kids from a low-income housing development and making their summers memorable.  And I can’t wait to start.  

A semester in (humorous) review

I think it’s time to post a little reflection on my first semester at Grinnell.  The semester flew by incredibly quickly, and as I spent hours packing up my dorm room, I felt like it was far too soon to move out.  I was only just settling in to my crazy routine, joining all the groups I was interested in, getting to know almost the entire campus, and becoming almost capable of keeping track of weekend events without undue help. 

Some surprising but real accomplishments:

     1)   Two all-nighters . . . in one week.

     2)   Under 24 hours in California

     3)   Watch all 9 seasons of Seinfeld

     4)   Renew my crocheting and knitting habits

     5)   Sleep literally all day

     6)   Make pancakes at 2:00 in the morning . . . twice

     7)   Eat more jelly beans than I ever imagined possible

     8)   Get drenched to the skin

Now, these warrant some explanation:

1) The first all-nighter was necessary.  See, earlier that week the tennis team was told we were California bound on Wednesday night, and Tuesday night rolled around and I needed to finish a presentation for Thursday (group presentation – had to help my peeps out).  So, I loaded up on caffeine (it was gross) and I successfully pulled the all-nighter AND accomplished everything.  Then, that Thursday we took a red-eye back from Cali (see below), and, while I slept some, it still counts as an all-nighter.

2) In the fall (aka Grinnell-pre-Laura), our tennis team qualified for nationals.  The first part of nationals is regionals, and for some reason our regional match took us . . . all the way to California!!?!?!  Stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.  This was during Hell Week, too, so we were all swamped with work and feeling very stressed out, so throwing in a crazy trip to California wasn’t exactly what we wanted.  We left Grinnell at 2:30 on Wednesday, arrived in California at 2 a.m. (thanks to SNOW in Denver).  Then we got our butts kicked Thursday afternoon and were back at the airport by 7 p.m.  We made it back to Grinnell around 12.  Really, a special, special trip.  I bonded with my teammates over food, complaints, homework, and crazy pictures, but in the end, it just wasn’t worth it. 

That’s all for now, folks.  Descriptions to follow in the next few days, as well as . . . information about my summer internship!!  Yes, I begin my first real job tomorrow when I go to Dallas for training.  J

WHY!?

Why is it that the moment you’re actually swamped with work that you find it incredibly difficult to focus on said work?  My response to being in full-panic/stress mode is to think of many other, obviously more important things to do.  For instance:

1.        Discuss summer plans with Mom.  And this makes sense why?

2.       Start packing. 

3.       Check Facebook at least once every ten minutes.  At least.  Also, decided it’s definitely time to compile my favorite quotes and put them on FB.

4.       Convince Dad to show my grandparents how to Skype, and then Skype with me.  I literally have no time to Skype, but this is what my mind tells me I should be doing.

5.       Clean.  (Although this could actually be useful, as it could lead to be happily finding papers I need to study for my finals).

6.       Blog.  Granted, I enjoy blogging, but apparently now is the best time, when I had considerably more “free” time about three weeks ago.

7.       Eat.  A lot.  Especially jelly beans and Smarties.

8.       I suddenly feel compelled to take long, warm showers.

9.       Nap.  Every day.  At least once.  (Although this is primarily due to my complete conversion into a night person)

10.   Fly to California for a day.  Yes, it’s true.  We’re flying out Wednesday, playing a match Thursday, and depending on the outcome, we’ll either stay for Friday or take a redeye back Thursday.  Yippee.

Oh, Saturday night :)

Some things I learned last night:

1.        It takes approximately four views of a YouTube video and six tries before two people can successfully tie a tie (I succeeded!)

2.       It is more than slightly painful to walk from North Campus to South Campus . . . in heels

3.       When faced with not one, but TWO chocolate fountains, my lactose intolerance becomes much less of a problem.

4.       I am entirely incapable of slow dancing/waltzing

5.       With enough patience, you can finally get a good picture with your boyfriend.  J

A True Grinnell Experience

The other day, something very exciting and very Grinnellian happened to me.  I was stuck behind the train.

My fellow Grinnellians know exactly what I'm talking about, but for those of you who don't, there's a train . . . that goes through campus.  Literally.  It divides the campus in two, and if you're not careful, you could be on one side of the tracks when you want to be on the other.  And this very thing finally happened to me.

Usually the trains go by late at night (think midnight) and in the morning, but sometimes the unfortunate student faces a ten-minute long, slow moving delay before class.

Thankfully I live on the right side of the train tracks.  :D

Procrastination the Second

Most people will try to tell you hell week is next week.  Not so for me - mine was last week, and now I'm once again having fun in the happy land of procrastination.  Granted, next week isn't all fun and games (think ridiculous English paper, daily readings, and making an extraordinary effort to stay awake in bio class . . . oh and a tennis match sometime that week), but it's a lot better than the two novels, three papers, and excessive amounts of daily reading of the last two weeks.

But really I want to write about a sign on the Noyce (science building, where I do practically all my homework) door.  It says "No skateboarding or rollerblading in academic buildings."  Seriously, it does.  And naturally, the moment I saw it, I felt this indescribable urge to skateboard through the building, which I would actually consider if a) I had a skateboard and b) I were capable of staying on said skateboard and c) I weren't terrified of skateboarding.  Signs like that crack me up.  I wasn't even considering the idea until the sign so kindly suggested it to me.  

It also makes me wonder what on Earth happened to warrant that sign.

P.S.  Why can't I write paragraphs for my soc paper this easily?  Why!? WHY?!?!? WHY!!!!?!?!??!

Psst. KatieWoods.

NO SEAS UNA STALKER!!!!!!

<3 <3 <3

Procrastination the First :)

I am not feeling particularly inspired to finish this discussion paper for sociology, so as I’ve been actively pressured by THREE of my followers, I figured I should blog.  I am alive (I know you were worried), only slightly sleep-deprived (a novel for week for English?  No wonder I switched to soc . . . ), addicted to jelly beans (again!), not really a vegan anymore (hallelujah!!!), generally quite happy (although that might change if the snow everyone’s talking about really arrives this weekend . . . ), listening to White n Nerdy (don’t judge), and currently on caffeine (which explains the nature of this blog).

For those of you who didn’t know my spring break plans, I will summarize like this:

Week One: Tennis.  Too much sun.  Fun with the team.

Week Two: Sleep.  Consider doing homework.  Do a little homework

Week One at school: Wonder why I didn’t do more homework

But really, I wanted to write about laundry.  Because laundry at Grinnell is a very frustrating thing.  I felt like such a guy earlier this week (and by saying that I perpetuate gender stereotype – oops), because I needed four mostly full washers in order to wash everything simultaneously.  I was told my room didn’t smell THAT bad . . . which is a very telling statement.  My apologies, new roommate.  Anyway, after the washers successfully washed my clothes (they usually work), I needed two dryers.  Only one was available, so I gingerly removed clothes from another dryer, and I was happy to note that they were fully dry (again, my apologies, random person whose clothes I had to touch).  Feeling optimistic, I loaded both dryers with my clothes and returned an hour later expecting dried clothes.

Left: Theoretically my bed is under there . . . somewhere . . . the point is I'm drying my clothes on my bed frame.

One load was dry.  The one NOT in the dryer that dried the previous user’s clothes.  I’m pretty sure the Dibble dryers have minds of their own and are pure evil.  It’s fifty-fifty your clothes will actually be dry, so occasionally I’ve had to drape an entire load of laundry in creative ways in my room . . . (see picture, provided solely for its artistic merits and not for your entertainment).

Right: Ad then I draped clothes on my dresser . . . 

The jumbled mess of thoughts inside my mind

I just noticed a significant typo from my last post: by ‘tonight’ I meant tomorrow.  My only excuse is that last night I was studying for my English midsem, trying not to panic about its vagueness, and rapidly completing my NCAA bracket (Ohio State championship run?  I think yes).

This week was midsem week.  Last week wasn’t too hot either – two papers and a test last week, and then three happy, subjective, essay-based exams this week.  If there’s anything you’ve been dying to know about Cicero, basic sociology terms, or Puritans, you’re too late – I already flushed that information.  ;)

And now it’s rant time.  See, my English professor told us what we needed to know for the midsem today, so I dutifully learned it. Then I showed up to class.  The section about term identification?  Replaced with a section comparing modern pieces we read to Puritan lit.  It wasn’t quite what I had studied for, but I was too busy frantically writing to worry about it at the time.  Which brings me to my next point – our class is an hour and twenty minutes long.  We had six one-paragraph long responses to write, three three-paragraph comparative essays, and another essay which was to be as long as possible.  This is not feasible in an hour and twenty minutes.  My professor is absolutely brilliant, but clearly the concept of time is lost on him.

Midsems week was interesting.  It was significantly more intense than anything I’d experienced at Denison – I would go so far as to say midsems here is comparable to DU’s finals week, but as always, it depends on the individual and the course load.  I happened to have four tests and two papers, all within two weeks, but apparently this is the anomaly.  That being said, it’s not entirely fair to compare institutions – having now attended two colleges, I do know that there are differences, but college is so much an individual experience that I can’t say what’s better or worse, but only what’s better for me.  And despite the last two weeks of near-hell, I can still confidently say Grinnell is better for me.  I love it here.  The weather is finally nice, campus is beautiful, the people are amazing, academics are phenomenal, and opportunities are endless.

Also, the food.  For the longest time, the vegan section was great.  The food was edible and normal-colored, for one, and it didn’t generally involve large quantities of tofu.  Now, it’s strange, too-spicy, and often inedible.  However, despite this sad occurrence in the dining hall, there is a positive: my lactose intolerance seems to be lessening.  As a good friend can attest, I had a slice of pizza (GLORIOUS), cheddar-cornbread (with butter – butter has never tasted better), and weird chip/bread things with cheese.  I didn’t feel great at first, but I think that was mostly placebo effect.  If I could eat cheese . . . suddenly the dining hall would be exciting again.  :) 

To my loyal followers . . .

. . . I apologize for my silence.  I am still alive, but I've been dealing with three midsems (one of which starts in thirty-five minutes), doing laundry (it was desperate), and declaring my major (hint: IT'S NOT ENGLISH).

I will write more tonight.  Promise.  A reflection of midsems week, including perhaps brief commentaries on the differences from Denison and the recent drop in food quality at the D-hall.

OMG A PICTURE

My mom has inspired me, but don't expect this to last.  :)

I covered my OWN PAPER in ink.  I must be crazy.  On the other hand, I tend to do well on papers, so maybe there is some reason to this madness.

Also, shout-out to my grandparents who will be visiting shortly!!!!!!!  Can't wait to show them around Grinnell - I think the tour of the campus will take longer than the tour of town.  :D

Warning! Nerd alert!

It is with great joy that I announce my English professor will let us write about “a topic of our choosing” for our first substantial paper.  And why, you may ask, does the prospect of writing a six-page paper excite me?  Well, I might answer, it’s because once again I will be writing an English paper that will slowly but surely turn into a theological paper, thus making my dorky self quite happy.

We’ve been talking about Puritans and their religious views, which really is not good for Christianity as a whole, because the Puritans tend to be very confused, to ignore Biblical texts, and to make me angry.  Thus, in my paper I will be arguing just that, that the Puritanical beliefs do not have their basis in Scripture. 

Also, as you may have deduced from my writing style, I am once again alone in the German Seminar Room and am trying to psych myself up for some more late night reading.  J

Ramblings from the German Seminar Room

Last week was crazy.  I had a sociology research paper to tackle, which was an adventure in and of itself (I barely know how to write if I’m not analyzing metaphors or arguing for Biblical themes in books), way too many books of the Aeneid to read, and two chapters of bio.  However, I came out alive and unscathed, and I’m pleasantly surprised by the apparent calmness of this week.  Of course, I worry I’m forgetting something (like that bio presentation due next Monday or Wednesday . . . hmmm), but it certainly appears that the workflow will ebb and flow.

I believe it’s time for an update on my classes.  First of all, we’re entering the fifth week of classes.  Where did time go?  I feel as if I’ve been here forever, but not in a bad way.  Here are three reasons why time going by quickly is a good thing:

     1)   The weekends arrive that much sooner.

     2)   It means you’re really busy (which I am. Yay!)

     3)   By the time you process that you haven’t seen your family in two months, you’re back home for spring break.

But I digress.  Back to classes, in order of least favorite to most favorite.

4.  Biotechnology and social impact (Code for insanely annoying technical terms and liberal-leaning opinions):

Technically it’s my ‘easiest’ class, because the homework is minimal, but it is also science and therefore rather foreign to me, considering my last science class was chemistry on-line approximately three years ago.  Everything makes perfect sense in class with Prof. Robertson, an adorable little-old-lady with an awesome collection of stylish boots, but then I leave and am overwhelmed by nightmares of transcription, translation, reproduction, hybridization, and all the other processes that occur on the microscopic level.  So far it’s been a lecture class which, while straightforward, means it’s not always particularly interesting.

3.  English American Lit (currently known as “Apparently Puritans are the only Americans worth reading”):

I will give the Puritans credit – they wrote a lot about God, which was good.  My favorite kind of English paper involves bringing religion into novels in slightly tenuous ways, but the Puritans do that for me.  Sadly, they seem to miss the main point of Jesus most of the time, which means I often find myself, while studying alone, yelling at Puritans for misrepresenting Christianity to all the atheists in my class (of which there are many).  Instead of answering the professor’s prompt (oops), I happily argued that the Puritans were picking their favorite parts of both the Old and New Testaments and ignoring the rest.

Anyway, the class is pretty good.  The professor is passionate without being crazy (it’s a nice change), but man, does he go in-depth over the most ridiculous little things.  I think the constant over-analysis of EVERYTHING is what has finally disillusioned me as to the English major.  Eventually you have to ask yourself . . . “perhaps Mary Rowlandson didn’t MEAN anything with the change of pronouns.  Perhaps she just couldn’t WRITE properly.”  But no, we analyze everything, and this class more so than others.  It’s a bit excessive, even for me.

2. Humanities 102: Intro to GreekImeanRoman World

Speaking of crazy, Professor Mease.  Wow.  We’re in the Humanities class pertaining to the Roman world, yet she’s disappointed when we can’t answer her questions on the Greeks, and every other tangent involves Greeks I’ve never heard of and who I hope won’t make a surprise appearance on the midterm.

I complain about her teaching methods (a lot), and sometimes I wonder if I’m learning anything, but when I’m reading so much awesome, classic literature, I feel that it’s worth all the suffering.  I’m nearly done with “The Aeneid,” an epic poem I always meant to tackle, and I enjoy it quite a bit.  Even if she doesn’t teach me much, I’ll have significantly broadened my horizons. 

Also, the Romans should pick one name for their characters and stick with that.  Please.

1.  Intro to Sociology (aka “Dad is always right”)

I. LOVE. SOCIOLOGY. 

It’s the reading I start with every night.  ----  I actually love participating in class.  --- Our world is not at all what I thought it was. --- I can analyze everyone even more!  --- the readings address all my questions about humanity (minus the religious element) --- the novels I’ve already written deal with the stuff I’m now officially learning --- I can’t wait for linguistics

English

"And then Aaron and the magicians had a, a . . . a magic-off."

- Professor Andrews explaining the Biblical story where Aaron challenges the Egyptian magicians to turn their staffs into snakes.  :)

Writing (or is it editing?) 101

      I just finished the rough draft of a sociology paper, and I can tell you right now, I’m sure it’s crap.  I have zero confidence in what I wrote, yet I also know I HAD to get these ideas, however undeveloped and off-point they might be, onto paper.  I needed to immerse myself in the style of a “sociological report” which involves writing in first person (something I avoid at all costs when writing academic papers) and drawing conclusions from data I collected first hand (wait, this is suddenly sounding very scientific . . . ).  Basically, I had to give this paper a whirl.   

      And then I realized something.  I write by editing.  For creative works, I’m all about writing – getting those ideas out on paper and then letting them sit there for a healthy amount of time before attacking them with a red pen.  Not so with essays. 

      I’ve known this for awhile, that I need to edit to refine my writing, but it wasn’t until now that I realized how much I rely on editing to complete my writing.  Sometimes I’ll print out a paper, cover it in red ink, and then wonder why I wrote the draft in the first place if I decided to completely change it.  But if I’d never written the bad stuff, I couldn’t have uncovered the good. 

     

      I know this may not make sense to all of you, and trust me, I envy you students who can write a pretty spectacular paper on the first try.  Sometimes this happens to me, and then I panic that I’ve lost my editing skills when I’m not making enough changes.  At the same time I envy you, however, I do want to say that I adore editing, perhaps even more than I love writing.  Honestly, it’s not always the paper itself I look forward to; it’s those feelings of power, improvement, and excitement that rush through me when I pick up that wonderful red pen and attack my own work.

      Sorry, I let my nerdiness come out there.  :P  But still . . . it’s exciting to think I can take a paper I don’t like, written in a style I’ve never used before, about a research assignment that doesn’t thrill me, and turn it into something worth handing to my professor.  It’s a different approach, a different skill.

    

      So while you’re pulling an all-nighter writing that brilliant paper, I’ll be sleeping . . . and waking up a little earlier than usual so I can look over that paper one last time.