Mostly Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

So, yesterday I had to take a geography quiz on the the biblical land of Israel. First, yes, I'm taking a geography quiz in my Ph.D. program, which is probably a whole different blog post. Yet, more importantly, the key to my geographical acumen came in the form of a song:



For those of you who have better things to do than know anything about the geography of ancient Israel, the 12 sons of Jacob/Israel are also regions in the land. It's my new company: Pneumonic Devices on Broadway! "Singing your way to straight A's!" Such hits will include:
Calvinist Theology - "Total Depravity" (to the tune of "Defying Gravity")
Anatomy - "All the Features of the Brain" (to the tune of "If I Only Had a Brain")
International Relations - "How Do You Solve the Strife in North Korea?" (to the tune of "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?")
Geometry - "Diameter Times Pi" (to the tune of "Corner of the Sky," beginning: "Every shape has its reasons/every shape has its why...)

Okay, I've overindulged in that last part. Moving on!

Now, to regress, I know that Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is not a good musical, but here are some things you should know about it:
1. This was the first musical I ever saw live, which was mind-blowing. It will always hold a special place in my heart (the nostalgia chamber of my heart), even while I can admit that it has some truly awful parts ("One More Angel in Heaven" perhaps the best example of what not to do in a broadway musical).
2. That video is amazing.
3. Elsa (Wallgren) Johnson was in the children's choir with Donnie Osmond in the Chicago shows back in the day. My memory may need correcting, but I believe Donnie actually put his hand on her head. Also, Elsa and I were on the same dish crew in Ecuador and would often scrape and clean dishes to this while accidentally bleaching our clothes and trying not to gag.
4. My sister and brother choreographed a dance to one of the songs, and now I can't remember which one. I think it was "Go, Go, Go Joseph," but whatever one it was, I wish we had taped it and could put it up on YouTube. It was/would be priceless.

I'm currently sitting in the beautiful Boston College theology library, so I should get to work. I'm also checking out another apartment today. Say a prayer! Later.

Steel Magnolias, Debates, and Apartments

Do you ever drink orange juice and pretend you're a hypoglycemic Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias? No? Oh...me neither....just checking. Speaking of Steel Magnolias, did I ever tell you of the time I was alone in a hotel room during the Midwest Annual Meeting in Omaha and called my mom to find out we were both watching Steel Magnolias on cable? It was then I knew I was going places. Although that scene in the cemetery with Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Sally Fields, Olympia Dukakis, and Daryl Hannah is pretty amazing.



Have you ever had an ad for dating services show up on the side of your facebook page and realized that it's been a picture of the same woman for years? That happened to me today. Now, is that a stock picture or has that woman been single this whole time? Just asking the tough questions that no one has the courage to ask.

If I have to see another Scott Brown or Elizabeth Warren commercial, I'm going to claw my eyeballs out. There has to be some level of overexposure where commercials begin to hurt your chances because people are just sick of hearing your voice/seeing your face. However, I am excited for the presidential debates, maybe too excited. I think my lack of a social life is making other things in my life - like politics, novel reading, etc - take on added importance or excitement. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I'm going to stick with it for now.

Seriously, if anyone knows people looking for a responsible tenant in Boston, let me know. Craigslist is like a dementor sucking all the happiness from my life. Is there something wrong with what I'm sending people? Here's my description of myself:

Hello! My name is Dave Bjorlin, and I moved to Boston a few weeks ago to start a Ph.D. program at B.U. in liturgical studies/theology. I am 28 years-old and have been living in Chicago for the last four years where I attended seminary and worked part time as a church musician/liturgist. I am easy-going, and enjoy music (play piano and saxophone and love folk music), sports (football, tennis, jogging), and reading (as I should, since that's what I'll be doing the next few years!). 

I sound normal, don't I?

Well, off to read about the liturgical history of Psalm 130 or the Messiah in Jewish thought. Haven't decided yet. Later.

Simon and Garfunkel...Mostly

September, we hardly knew thee. Well, the leaves are beginning to change here in the Boston area. You know you live in New England when the weatherman/woman ends his/her segment with a map of "Current Fall Foliage," showing where the changing leaves are "peaking."

On a related note, there has to be a better name than "leaf peeping," for traveling to these spots to see the changing leaves.

I need to get another thing off my chest: Fun's "Some Nights" is a total rip off of "Cecilia." I mean, it's a great and catchy song, but the chord structure and "Woo-oo-oh" part, totally Cecilia. Not that I'm complaining.

Speaking of Simon and Garfunkel, can we all agree that Art Garfunkel is one of the luckiest men alive? Talk about hitching your wagon to the right horse. How did that conversation go? "Hey, Paul, how about you write all the songs, sing the melody, and play guitar, and I'll sing high ethereal harmonies and take half of the credit?"

What's that? Oh, you're asking what my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs are? Here they are:

5. Cecilia - If you don't turn this up and clap along when it comes on the radio, you're probably a cyborg.



Also, did you know that St. Cecilia is the saint of songwriting? You can interpret the whole song as Simon praying for the creative muse to return.

4. Red Rubber Ball - So, Simon actually wrote this for the band, The Cyrkle (who I believe was christened by John Lennon), but here are Simon and Garfunkel doing it later. For some reason, I just love this song.



3. Song for the Asking - simply beautiful. This may be my favorite song under two minutes. It's one of those you always have to listen to (at least) twice.



1. (tie) America  - I love this song. It's melancholy, humorous, and beautiful. Here's the two of them doing it at Central Park.



My love for the song was only heightened by this iconic scene from Almost Famous:



This scene combines three wonderful things: Zooey Deschanel, Francis McDormand, and that shot of the boy flipping through those records.

1. (tie) Only Living Boy in New York - Again, heart-breakingly beautiful. Apparently Simon wrote this when Garfunkel was down in Mexico filming Catch-22 as the duo was slowly disintegrating. "Tom" was the pseudonym for Garfunkel when they first started playing together as the band "Tom & Jerry."



This song also has a personal history with me. When I was in Ecuador my first year of college, I didn't have a fan for the first half of the year (no room in my luggage). If you know me, you know what a disaster this would have been/was/is. To make up for the loss of white noise, I decided to fall asleep listening to music (which also led to the development of painful scabs on my ears...gross). My two go-to CDs were Simon and Garfunkel and Wings' Greatest Hits albums. The last two songs on the Simon and Garfunkel CD were "Only Living Boy in New York" and "My Little Town." If I got to these two songs, it meant I did not fall asleep within the hour of songs. So for years after whenever I heard these songs, it gave me that restless, melancholy feeling of not being able to fall asleep. Yet, it slowly morphed into a kind of nostalgia for Ecuador/Quito, The Andes, and the simpler times of those first few years in college when the next few years of your life are pretty much planned but the future is still so wide open with possibilities.  "My Little Town" still bums me out, probably because I haven't listened to it as much as "Only Living Boy in New York" since.

And this song is the soundtrack to another beautiful scene in the movie Garden State. It won't let me embed it, but you know the one..."screaming into the abyss"

Close runners-up: Kathy's Song, The Boxer, Old Friends. For a great Christmas song, check out Simon and Garfunkel's "Star Carol." And this doesn't even begin to touch my favorite Paul Simon songs: American Tune, Kodachrome (you know, the one that I used to think was, "Momma gonna take my coat and throw it away."), Mother and Child Reunion (inspired by the name of a chicken and egg dish at a restaurant Simon frequented), Love Me Like a Rock, etc. etc.

Man, this blog post took a different direction than I had expected. You're welcome.

This Massachusetts senate race is getting ugly. Also, I think one of every two commercials is approved by Scott Brown or Elizabeth Warren. It makes for some good TV viewing. The second debate is tonight, so hopefully they can keep it civil. Then, Wednesday we'll get to see Obama and Romney square off for the first time! Romney sure has some catching up to do. Let's see if he can offend the other 53% of Americans who apparently don't eat from the government trough. My guess, in the form of a chant: YES HE CAN! YES HE CAN! YES HE CAN!

Okay, time to go take a German quiz! Later.

Ideas for Ending the Referee Lockout, New Guitar, and So On

One great continuation between BU and North Park is Thursday is the last day of class. Thursday's (still) the new Friday! The long weekend is great, especially as someone who works in the church (thus, Sunday isn't always the day of rest one would hope for).

I have two ideas for ending the referee lockout:
1. First, collect all the money from fines garnered for the verbal and physical accosting (looking at you, Belicheck) of referees and use that money to pay the regular refs. One more week like last week, and I think we'll be well above the difference between what the refs want and what the NFL is willing to give.
2. Pass an offering plate. If you don't get enough, wait a quarter for the refs to blow another big call and pass it again!  Seriously, if you did that in Green Bay after Monday's game, you would probably be solvent for the next few years. Granted, you would probably have to ring out the beer-soaked bills.

All that said, the NFL is not hurting for money, so I think they just need to pay up and get over it. or suffer the wrath of fans/commentators/Scott Walker (looks who's supporting unions now!).

Thanks to Trinity, I now have a beautiful new guitar: the Seagull Maritime edition. It is solid wood, Canadian-made, and plays like a dream. I forgot what it's like to play a decent guitar with good strings. Here's a pic:

It doesn't matter what level of schooling you find yourself in, students will ask questions that have already been answered several times in class.

Things I am excited for:
-going to visit Andrew and Alicia Sturdy in Connecticut in a couple weeks.
-East Coast Ashram! It will be great to meet other East Coast pastors, and it will be my first time at Pilgrim Pines. People out here love Pilgrim Pines, so we'll see if it lives up to their boasting/my high expectations.

Well, I'm currently in the BC library (Boston College, by the way, is huge, beautiful, and seemingly loaded - as are the people that attend) and in need of a book. So, I will bid you all adieu. Later.

Liberal Intolerance, Vikings, and Weekend Update

One thing I'm learning at a more progressive school, people on the liberal end of the spectrum can be just as intolerant as those on the conservative end of the spectrum (I mean, I knew this; I'm just seeing more examples of it). We had to read something on the very conservative end of biblical interpretation, and a few people were losing their minds at the audacity of the professor (very liberal by the way) to assign something by a fundamentalist! I didn't know assigning a reading was akin to promoting the said belief. Maybe I'm too passive, but it doesn't rile me up to read someone much more liberal or conservative than me. I think some of the progressives are looking to be offended so they can revolt/community organize in the class and recapture the means of production from the bourgeoisie faculty back into the hands of the student proletariat.

Vikings: winning record and tied for first place. Skol! (I know we're only three games in, but don't rain on my parade). My favorite play yesterday was Kyle Rudolph's amazing catch:



In my opinion, the best part of it this one-handed grab is how he smacks the defender in the face right before the grab. And the Gophers are 4-0 (again, they've only played one real team, but that's more wins than all of last year!).. I'm assuming tomorrow the trumpets will sound and the Lord will descend, for the apocalypse is upon us. No rapture though because that's bad theology. (I have to throw that out there to allay my still-present childhood fears).

In other news, this past weekend I went to a vintage bazaar with the illustrious Andrew and Amy Daigle. What started as a cold day soon grew warm and beautiful. The bazaar itself was cool, maybe cooler if I was a 53 year-old woman into rosmaling or knitting, but it was still fascinating to see what people can make with some creativity and old junk. Then, we headed to Newburyport (which sounds like a made-up New England town whose name was formed by taking overused bits and pieces of other New England towns, but I'll let it slide) for drinks and dinner. It's always enjoyable being with those two.

You know how I find the motivation to blog? I put it on my new "Reminders" check list brought to you by Mountain Lion. It's my latest attempt at organization/a calendar, and so far it is working smashingly. Unfortunately, the list also has a dozen other things on it that should probably be given priority, but I just don't care.

If you haven't seen this website yet, you are missing out:

http://everydayimpastoring.tumblr.com/

I've been laughing out loud about some of them for weeks. These outbursts usually happen during the middle of the day, making me look like a crazy person.

Finally, I'm excited to get the new Mumford and Sons album tomorrow! One song that I'm really looking forward to owning:


I mean, it has Mumford and Sons, Jerry Douglas, and Paul Simon. What's not to like? Okay, I need to move down my checklist. Next up, reading about Psalms 1 and 2! Eat your hearts out, general public.

Writing Papers, Unions, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

That was a really ugly football game last night. The only thing Jay Cutler excelled at was chewing out his linemen and sulking on the sideline. He is a class act. But I've said it before and I'll say it again, Mike Tice should never rise above offensive line coach.

Sometimes writing a paper is like a dance. Each sentence seems to flow into the next, a rhythm develops, and soon you are lost in the music of it all. Sometimes writing a paper is like a street brawl. It gets ugly fast and you use whatever is at hand to bludgeon the opponent to death. And when the fight ends, you stand maniacally laughing over the lifeless carcass before you wonder what people will think when they see this cadaver/paper. This last paper I wrote was a street brawl. I might have lost a tooth on page 4.

One of the small things I miss about Chicago is that it was so solidly blue we never had to watch political ads. Here I'm watching a constant stream of attacks, feel-good stories, half-truths, and poorly-scripted conversations with "real people."

So, I am some issues with teacher's unions. I student taught/substitute taught with many bad teachers who had not changed their curriculum in 15-20 years (I did see Leningrad (you know, the city that changed its name back to St. Petersburg after the USSR fell in 1989) on a longitude and latitude test in 2006) and deserved to get fired but had tenure and protection from the teacher's union. That being said, I also understand that teachers in Chicago are underpaid, under-appreciated, and don't deserve to be evaluated based on standardized tests, which are horrible assessments that don't tell you much about how good a teacher is. Also, students in Chicago deserve better than 350 social workers who have a case load of around 1000 students. They deserve rooms that aren't 95 degrees and falling apart. And with the practices of big corporations lately, I no longer believe that companies/governments will make the right decision because it is right; they're too concerned with the bottom line. So, with all that said, one of my favorite folk songs:



Nothing is worse than a bad contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" It's embarrassing and uncomfortable for everyone. "The Pentagon's a big square, so that doesn't have a big hump." Say that one more time...the pentagon's a big square. That's like saying the octagon's a big triangle.

Okay, I'm going to practice my sermon. If you're in the greater Boston area this Sunday, come on over to Trinity Covenant Church in Lexington at 10:45! Later.

Thoughts on Boston and Bizarre Trip to Staples

Things I like about Boston so far:
1. Good seafood. I haven't enjoyed this as much as I will when I have some money to actually buy things, but just knowing it is there for the taking is nice. I still need to have my first lobster roll, but I have to admit being turned off by the copious amounts of mayo that seem to be a part of the deal.
2. 92.5 The River. I think this may be my favorite radio station ever. It seems to play a bit more obscure songs and a greater variety than XRT.
3. It is beautiful here. The trees, rolling hills, and town feel that even the suburbs have makes for a very idyllic setting.
4. The Bouris family. They have been so incredibly gracious in welcoming me into their home!

Things that humor me about Boston:
1. The accents. I know this is somewhat juvenile, but I do have to laugh (as you do in Northern MN or certain parts of Chicago) when you hear that thick accent complaining about this, that, or the other (usually the Red Sox/Patriots). Sometimes I think a thick regional accent is required for public workers, especially toll booth attendants.
2. The way people complain about the Red Sox. Listening to sports radio, you would think the Red Sox haven't won a World Series in 100 years or made the playoffs in the last 20. They're having one bad season and people completely flip out. They should spend some time in Minnesota were losing is a way of life. Then, any good season is that much better because we're so unused to the phenomenon of success.

Things I could live without:
1. The distance from Boston to Chicago and Minnesota.
2. apartment hunting/high rent. Is anyone looking to buy a kidney or other paired organ that I can live without? Call me.
3. traffic...obviously.
4. The Patriots. They are the Yankees of football who only care about the bottom line and winning. The way they operate and cut players is really corporate/gross.
5. No Chase banks. I don't love the idea of opening a Bank of America account.

I just got home from Staples where I had an interesting experience. I got the register and rung up, and my change came to 76 cents. She had run out of quarters and asked to get some from the manager, so I rummaged in my pocket and found a quarter saying, "Oh, I have a quarter," obviously thinking that she would take the quarter and give me 1.01 back in change. Nope. She thanks me, gives me 76 cents back in small change, and puts the single quarter in her till. Apparently this is my donation to Staples. This is weird on so many levels. First, why would I just give you a quarter? Second, do you think I'm dumb enough to think you just need one quarter to make change for the next however many customers you have? Third, shouldn't you reject customers' free money on the principle that you aren't a 501c3? And you really left me with no choice because am I really going to ask for the quarter back and try to explain all this? Man, that's 12 minutes of parking by the BU campus I just lost! Somehow, I'll soldier on.

Okay, I need to study some German. Later.