Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Miraculous Fall Break, Williams Sisters, and Crystal Pepsi


While I could spend the entirety of this post on the debacle that is the government shutdown and the absolutely ludicrous position of the Republican leadership in keeping us in an absolutely unnecessary predicament, I feel like I've done enough of that on Facebook recently, so off to more pleasant things:

So, one more day of class and then by a miraculous confluence of events, I'm off until next Wednesday evening! So, Monday is Columbus Day, which means my class at BC is cancelled. And at BU they have a thing called BU Monday, which basically means whatever classes you have on Monday get moved to another day (in this case, Tuesday) because they were worried that too many holidays fell on Monday and the Monday classes were getting the short shrift. Because I don't have any classes at BU on Monday, I'm scoring an extra day off! Then, my Wednesday morning class in cancelled because my professor is out of town. It's pretty amazing. Also, on Friday I'm leaving for Pilgrim Pines to help lead worship at a men's retreat (in which, amazingly, a woman is the main speaker!). Can you think of any more beautiful place to be during a New England fall than on a lake in rural New Hampshire?



I mean, that's New Hampshire. I have no idea if it's near Swanzey. Since I'm not that observant, fall is also the time I remember that trees exist because they change their color and stand out a little more. It's really beautiful.

So, the dream I had yesterday was too good not to share. I found myself in a class that was on a bus, kind of like Sankofa (for those of you who have gone on that trip) where one of us was at the front of the bus speaking to the rest of the group. Apparently, the assignment was basically a persuasive speech in which we had to convince the audience of whatever we wanted to. So, somehow I forgot about the assignment (you know, which is my biggest fear just before death), and I had to make something up really quickly. So, being the good liturgical studies student, I was going to persuade people that using a prayer book for personal devotion is a good thing. So, as I got up and began, someone called out from the back, "You did this last time!" Horrified and remembering that they were indeed right (you know, as you "remember" in a dream), I asked them to give me one minute to come up with something else. I walked into a secluded part of the bus (again, it was a weird dream bus with different parts), and I looked out on the audience and saw Amy and Jenny Williams (Carlson/Mecher - but I identified them both as Williams, maybe the dream was from some time just after college). So, quickly I decided to give a speech on why people should be friends with Amy and Jenny. Unfortunately, my alarm went off right as I was preparing, but here's some of the reasons I was preparing to talk about:

1. They are loyal. Once you're their friend, you're their friend (unless you do something crazy). Then, they'll be with you through thick and thin.
2. They will eat junk food and watch TV with you and not be judgmental about it. If you float the idea of a Taco Bell run, they'll be on board 9 times out of 10.
3. They both have pretty great taste in music and will listen to the Beatles with you.
4. They're very funny and will laugh hard at your jokes, making you feel like a comedian.
5. You don't have to guess whether they're happy or angry or sad; they'll let you know.

Anyway, I would post a picture of the three of us, but the last time I did they both hated the picture I posted for various reasons, so...

Something interesting I'm learning in my Pentecostalism class: the early Pentecostals were pacifists. Thinking of some 4th of July/Memorial Day services at my church growing up, that seems almost unimaginable!

I know I posted this on Facebook, but I am extremely excited that Gary Ross, the director of Hunger Games, is moving on to a two-part adaptation of East of Eden. Plus, he's keeping his partnership with Jennifer Lawrence going as she will portray the evil Cathy Trask, who abandons her children, runs a crazy whorehouse, and says such delightful things as, "I could make them do whatever I wanted...when I was half-grown I made a man kill himself." It will be interesting to see Lawrence play the ultimate antagonist after a few great protagonist roles.

Does anyone actually buy and drink Diet Pepsi? I had to suffer through one the other day at a coke-free restaurant and all I could think of was new slogans for Diet Pepsi. "Diet Pepsi: No One's First Choice"; or "Diet Pepsi: Sorry, We Don't Serve Coke Products," or "Diet Pepsi: It Could Be Worse; It Could Be Crystal Pepsi or Urine." Speaking of which, when I googled Crystal Pepsi, I found that you can buy one empty can of it on eBay for $15. That seems about right.


Well, I'm going to go and eat dinner and watch an episode of X-Files. Love to you and yours.