With that in mind, I submit some not-guilty pleasures, in no particular order…
It’s been a while since I update here, and I promise to fill you in on my adventures, from going to a Bible conference, to wanting to throw up on top of Stone Mountain, to a little rescue mission involving some Alabama state troopers and a 9mm pistol wreaking some damage on one of our cars. Yeah. It’s been an adventure off-line.
So when I saw my friend Ariadna do a simple, but thought-provoking post about her favorite books, I thought…hey, I can do that. In fact, I’ve done it before, but I don’t feel like looking for the list. This one is shorter, anyway.
Here we go, my faves today:
1. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry — Such a beautiful little book about friendship and other deep things. Is there anything more wonderful than the unconditional love of a true friend? I’m blessed to have that.
2. Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel (actually, the whole Earth’s Children series) — These books captured my imagination. When I was a kid I was fascinated by ancient history. I couldn’t get enough of history and anthropology books, and then I just kind of stopped. I discovered this series when I first moved to Germany and John would be sent into the field for weeks at a time. Books kept me company, and Ayla’s adventures became my own.
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (again, the whole series) — Do I really have to explain myself here? No. I don’t think so 🙂
4. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh — I was Harriet. I even carried around a composition notebook with all my observations. I managed not to let it fall into enemy hands. Eventually, I became editor of the yearbook in 8th grade, and later, I wrote for an underground magazine in high school.
5. The Holy Bible — This is a little out of my league at the moment, but I’ve just embarked on a little exercise to push me a little harder in this area, so, yeah, I’m gonna be doing a little bit of studying in the next months.
I began my day by scribbling this in my journal:
The secret of success is constancy of purpose.
~Benjamin Disraeli
It was an effort to motivate me to fly through my to-do list, and it worked. Too much, really. I hit this really weird zone and just zipped through task after task, clearing the way to a big project that needs some serious attention and finally got it.
I’m not gonna lie, it scared me a little. I haven’t written with such a singular purpose in a long time and it was heady.
Her name is Gloria. The woman from Taco Bell that I wrote about here.
My right ear swole up like Hitch.
I went through iTunes and got rid of annoying music. Now I have room for not-annoying music. In fact, I have plenty of room for some really good music.
I should do the same with my pictures. Here’s my favorite picture from the Eucharistic Congress last Saturday.
Oh my goodness! I totally forgot. It’s still Friday, right? Yeah.
Check out the collection of other 7 Quick Takes Friday posts, hosted at Jennifer Fulwiler’s blog, Conversion Diary. She had a beautiful baby girl earlier this week, so visit with her friend Hallie Lord at another fantastic blog, Betty Beguiles.
I am on my last bottle of Gewurztraminer because my dad doesn’t just buy one or two bottles of anything. Generally, that’s a good thing for me. Thanks, Pop!
There was demolition this week. I still don’t have a bedroom. The office I can live without — the bedroom needs to be finished. This. Weekend.
Windows were replaced in the kitchen.
This led to having to paint the trim. Which made the other trim look bad so the painting continued. Which made the walls look grungy. So they were painted. Which made the ceiling look gross. Which got a makeover. And now, the absence of crown molding is spectacularly affecting by ability to be pleased with anything. More wine, please.
My husband has difficulty with anything on the walls that has a food name. He is not pleased with the Pineapple Upside Down Cake that is now on the walls in the kitchen.
I picked Hamilton Green for our bedroom. I haven’t shared it with him yet. I’m afraid he’s going to make some crack about not sharing a room with anyone named Hamilton. And so it goes.
Did I say I’m on my last bottle of wine?
I’ll be doing some hit and run posts this week, but mostly, maybe just some videos or pictures. Check back another time and I might surprise you. My break might be fodder for some good posts later 🙂
Thanks for reading! Y’all come back now, y’hear?
It’s one of those unfortunate by-products of loving my job.
Let me explain: I work with people.
Some people I see on a regular basis. We share a workspace, a mission, perhaps a love of literature and the need to pay the mortgage. Other people I see only once. They kind of just swoop in for a moment, get what they need, and move on.
But the most important people that I see hang around for a few months. If I try real hard I learn their names. I see them twice a week for a couple of hours, and in that time I have to be many things. Too often, all at once. You’d think that being a teacher would top the list, but most days I’m busy just treading water.
It makes me crazy.
Sometimes it makes me angry.
Most of the time it makes me happy. I like people. Ha. When I don’t dislike them. That’s the problem. You see, I’m human. A bit snarky. Impatient when I’m not being patient. And unequivocally a sinner. I forget that when I am in the midst of my own self-righteous meltdowns.
I tend to feel hopeless in a mission that I sometimes resent, and often second guess my effectiveness and ability to promote positive change. Lucky for me I have family and friends with the uncanny ability to talk me off the ledge, challenge me, and make me think.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through whom we have gained access (by faith) to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance,and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope,and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5
I am reminded of the reasons why I continue to get up and go to work in a profession that is so often maligned. Endurance. Persistence. Hope. That’s the crux of it. When everything is stripped away, the politics, the bureaucracy, the endless grading, what’s left is the backbone of what I do everyday: inspire hope.
On rare occasions I am the one inspired and it makes all the difference.
Today I had a student come to see me because she didn’t understand an assignment. It’s Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise.”
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
There’s more, but you get the idea. It spoke to me, but more importantly, it spoke to my student. She couldn’t figure out what the poem was about. I suspect she just didn’t read it carefully, so I told her to get up and close the door to my office and perform the poem for me. She looked at me like I was nuts, and well, I am, so what else is new?
She started off a little weak, a little shy, but I joined her and helped a little. Before long we were slinging attitude and raising our voices in a joyful triumph. It turned my attitude around and gave me a much-needed lift, like the speaker in the poem.
In spite of the random challenges of my job, “like air, I’ll rise.”
Listen to life, and you will hear the voice of life crying, Be!
Don’t worry, I wasn’t eating take-out for breakfast.
I wonder what I’m going to “be” today. I think I’ll go for Xena, Warrior Princess, but in a suit.
We’re proud of Soldier Sally! Go Vic! We love you lots and lots!
You know that sit-com cliché where the main character goes to the dentist because a filling is picking up a radio signal? Yeah. That’s not me. But I do have a lot of noise in my head and I wish it was as easy as replacing a filling to fix it. In fact, I’d succumb to a root canal to get rid of some of the static.
Before you think my mental health is in peril – let me just say that it’s not. Or at least, not too much, anyway. I heard somewhere that if you think you’re going crazy then you probably aren’t. I hold onto that comforting thought. It’s … comforting.
Because you know, there’s a lot of noise clamoring for attention in my head. On a good day I’ve got Leonard Bernstein conducting a delightfully disciplined orchestra with lots of soothing strings and soulful woodwinds. It has to be Bernstein for his theatrics – is there such a thing as a head-banging orchestra? Because on a bad day I have Sid Vicious and the Sex Pistols. That’s not even music … just noise. It makes me want to run away.
I find peace in a rather odd place. When Sid bumps Lenny out of the spotlight, I generally head for Taco Bell where I grab a burrito or a couple of tacos and eat my lunch across from the back view of Stone Mountain. Don’t read anything into that view, although in retrospect it’s probably nice to just see the mountain and not the sculpture – let’s call it a little more natural (and a little less political).
It’s not a particularly splendid place, this parking lot with a view, but it’s quiet and away from the hustle and bustle of my busy day. I enjoy my faux-Mexican meal in peace — after all, it is peace that I am seeking.
I’ve been doing this for exactly five years.
Let me just say that I am absolutely blown away by that realization. A lot of things have happened in five years. Holy cow! A lot of things have happened in five years. I’d say the majority has been good, and some bad, but I’m thankful for it all. The thing is this, I’ve been so focused on getting away from the noise, which by the way is made by people, that I totally ignore people in my escape.
That was part of my realization today. I’ve been working at the same place for five years, and getting lunch from the same place for five years. From the same person. For five years.
I was going to get depressed that I was in the very same position I accepted years ago when I realized that the woman who always takes my order has worked at a drive-thru window for at least five years, if not more, and I’m going to say, it made me a little sad. I suppose she trumps me in the lack of upward mobility department.
I’ve seen this woman at least 200 times and I don’t know her name. She’s friendly and courteous, and I am polite to her and always say please and thank you, but I’ve never really seen her. I just go through the motions on my way to what I think is going to give me some peace in the middle of the week.
Not today. For some reason, today I decided to be present in that exchange. It went the same way the last 200 or so transactions have gone. I asked for a #3 with Baja Blast and she asked me if I wanted mild or hot sauce.
And then I paid attention to something she has said to me every time she hands the bag of food to me: Enjoy your meal and God bless you.
This woman whose name I do not know, whose smile I return absentmindedly, has given me this blessing every week since I started eating there.
I always find some peace in my busy schedule when I have lunch at what I’ve nicknamed the Rock. I’ve always thought it was because I managed to escape the throng of humanity making its insistent demands upon me.
It turns out that perhaps the peace I received came from the very segment of humanity I was running from. How’s that for a moment of truth?
another cup of coffee 