07.20.01 >2024 I seem to have picked up a habit of watching a movie several times (approx. 5 - 10 times per movie) before suddenly getting sick of it and moving on to another film. Right now I'm stuck on The Prince of Egypt ; before this, it was Mulan ; before that it was Phantom Menace (do check out the Snapshots - very koo-el!). And yes, I've got practically all the songs memorized - watch out, kiddies, you might be getting some competition from little ole me. Hee. And, oh yeah - you would've thought that Hotep and Huy would've been smart enough to move out of the way after getting splashed the first time. But noooooooo . . . >1302 Last night was bad. Why do some folks' bad moods last for three or so days? Why is a bad mood so (unfortunately) contagious? Argh . . . 07.19.01 >1849 If you're under a lot of stress from work, do me a BIG favor : get a "scream" closet. What is a scream closet, you ask? It's a little hole of a room where you can go in whenever you suddenly start feeling a lot of pressure, and you let go of all that pressure by screaming all of it out. What a concept! That way, you'll spare a lot of folks (i.e. your kids, your spouse - if you have one, that is - your friends, hint hint) the agony of having to suffer a bad mood passed along by YOU. Okay?? *ahem* Sorry - had to get that off my chest . . . 07.18.01 >1848 quote of the week : "hate never dies of natural causes, other than extinction." - L.A.T. blog of the week : fickle.org >1252 A quick salute to Katharine Graham of the Washington Post. She will be missed greatly. 07.17.01 >2247 I've got an entire story (that'll probly dissipate into the oblivion of gray brain matter if I don't write it all down pretty soon), some God thoughts and a few other miscellaneous things cluttering up my mind right now. As if you really wanted to know that! Methinks I'm going to have to come up with some interesting things to keep me awake at work. And no, I was not kidding in my previous post - I guess my brain thought, "Oh, well, she doesn't really need me to file this stuff! I mean, that's what she's got motor skills for. I'll be on standby, okay?" and then took a nap on me. Tedium, tedium - 'tis a wretched thing, I tell you! And I seriously thought I'd be able to keep myself occupied for eight+ hours while my body did some crazy aerobics all over the office . . . NOT! Tonight was great, though - you see, every Tuesday evening they now have meetings for the college folks at our church. So I went and had a little fun. And for some reason, everyone kept laughing because the youth pastor addressed us like the mature young adults we're supposed to be when it comes to that touchy subject : sex. And a couple of these folks were already parents! So why did some of them keep gasping whenever he alluded to that "dirty word"? Um, DUH - because nobody likes talking about this openly, maybe? Get real, you prudes! Hmmmmm . . . every 'graph in this entry ends with an exclamation mark. That's, er, unusual, to say the least. Right?! (Heehee.) I must be tired. Yeah, that's it . . . >1356 Shoot - I think half of my brain shut down while I was filing stuff this morning. Ain't a great feeling . . . >0733 verse of the week : "the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." psalm 19 : 1 07.16.01 >1842 It's amazing to me how some believers can be so hateful towards a group of people just because what they do is called a sin in the Bible. The particular group I happen to be talking about are homosexuals. Why do some Christians act so un-Christ-like towards these folks? That's stupid - and wrong. >0721 A sprig of lavender Tucked between the pages Marks the blank book As the poet's A little leftover treat from the wedding last weekend. These flowers smell wonderful! 07.15.01 >1554 Addendum to the last post from Friday : a shortened and tweaked version of a tale written by - well, somebody. Think fifth or sixth century A.D. (and for you politically correct folks, B.C.E.) Mediterranean sailing. A ship's crew was resting at a port after a long, tiring voyage and met a beautiful young woman who requested passage to a remote island, where a famous sorcerer supposedly lived. The ship's handsome captain agreed to take her there free of charge, but during the ensuing voyage, all sorts of mischief began to take place, and suspicion was immediately cast on their passenger. Though she claimed innocence, and though the crew wanted to throw her overboard, the captain became convinced that it was not actually the woman who was pulling the pranks. Now the captain was not a religious man, but he did believe in the supernatural. He confronted the woman and asked her if she knew why the mischief was happening aboard his ship, and she told him that she knew the cause behind it. Apparently, after being cursed by a witch seeking revenge on her family for something the woman's father had done, this woman's shadow had been released from following her about, as shadows are relegated to do when the sun is up. The shadow had come alive, and shadows, in this time and place, were believed to be the darker side of a person; the longer the shadow remained separated from its owner, the stronger, the more solid, and more evil it became. And so it was with the woman's shadow, which is why she was trying to find this particular sorcerer so the curse could be reversed before the shadow caused more damage. The captain believed her story, and despite the grumblings from his crew, they went ashore to help her find this sorcerer. The sorcerer, it turned out, did not exist. The only way the woman would be able to "tame" her shadow would be by winning in combat. If the shadow won, it could kill its owner and take over her identity - and that would mean trouble for everybody, wouldn't it? If the woman won, the shadow would have no choice but to return to its original place. The shadow, however, knew everything the woman did. So how could it be defeated? The captain decided to set a trap. The combat began, and soon it seemed the woman was no match for her darker alter-ego - until the captain sprang forward and threw a large black bag over the shadow's head. You see, the shadow had one weakness; though it could grow stronger and more independent from its owner if it remained separate from her for a long period of time, it could only do so where light existed. Shadows could not survive in the dark unless they killed their owners. The shadow was too surprised to do anything, and the captain quickly tied it up and tossed it in the much darker underbelly of his ship. The next morning, the woman's shadow had returned to its rightful place. The woman could not express her gratitude enough to the captain for his help. He refused to accept any reward offers; the only thing he would accept was her "yes" to his marriage proposal. They, of course, lived happily ever after. Storytelling is, um, a side job. 07.13.01 >1337 Impressions from Heaven : There are no shadows. I think that's a rather strange concept, of not seeing a shadow following you about. I mean, where do shadows come from, anyway? How would you not be able to see your shadow? >0935 I've got The Prince of Egypt playing in the background. I love this movie, even if parts of it are inaccurate - but hey, that's Hollywood for ya. My favorite song is "There Can Be Miracles," especially when the child begins singing in Hebrew. This morning I was rewinding that part a few times just to get all the words written down : ashira l'adonai ki ga-oh ga-ah ashira l'adonai ki ga-oh ga-ah mi-cha mo-cha ba-elim adonai mi-ka mo-cha ne-dar ba-ko-desh na-chi-tah v'chas-d'cha am zu ga-alta na-chi-tah v'chas-d'cha am zu ga-alta ashira, ashira, ashira . . . Ashira means "I will sing" in Hebrew. Dang it - now I wish I had the soundtrack. 07.12.01 >1238 Rainer Maria Rilke totally rocks. Here's one of his poems - it's kind of an echo of Jeremiah 20 : 9. Extinguish my eyes, I'll go on seeing you. Seal my ears, I'll go on hearing you. And without feet I can make my way to you, without a mouth I can swear your name. Break off my arms, I'll take hold of you with my heart as with a hand. Stop my heart, and my brain will start to beat. And if you consume my brain with fire, I'll feel you burn in every drop of my blood. From Rilke's Book of Hours. Check out his "Love Poems to God." Sweet . . . 07.11.01 >1721 Dad : Anyone call today? Me : Not really. Just some guy from MCI. Dad : Oh. Trying to solicit some business, eh? Me : Yup. Dad (jokingly) : Did you tell him he'd called the wrong phone number? Me : Yup. I told him he'd reached the FBI. >1608 verse of the week : "let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." galatians 6 : 9 blog of the week : foolishness.net quote of the week : "There are in every generation those who shrink from the ultimate sacrifice, but there are in every generation those who make it with joy and laughter and these are the salt of the generations." - Patrick Henry Pearse >1208 Feeling much better today. Better than I have been for a long time, actually. Two words for ya : joy unspeakable. Joy restored, period!

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