Perspective

Eternity is a really, really, really long time, Noel.

I think we'll be able to squeeze everything in.

Relax.

Peace and blue jeans -
The Universe

So, I'm in the process of making decisions, about future. And I get this email. Which is funny.
Last night I got a text from one of my students. It was Jeremiah 29:11. She added me to her Bible Verse text list Sunday night. And so far each verse has been wonderful. Last night's, perfectly timed. It's amazing how I've known that verse for so long, yet forget it every time I feel like my life is in transition.

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
-Jeremiah 29:11 (the message)

It's such a great verse. So, here's to figuring stuff out. Making things black and white. LIVING, and not letting school, or lack of money, or even fake depression stop me from moving forward and living. I've got several really important people that I just want to do life with. Wherever that is.

Abba, I'm down. Let's go.

ow-esome

So, my bff and I are sitting in her living room trying to figure out the whole Verizon Fios thingy. I'm flipping through the guide and find a movie called WarGames from 1983. The info sounds a bit like Ender's Game (a book we both like). So, out of curiosity we decide to watch it.

AMAZING!

1. Matthew Broderick is super dreamy in this movie.
2. The technology stuff is insane.
3. It's fricking Russia vs. America... and it predicts that nobody will win in Iraq.
Pop-culture predictability much?
4. There's a FREAKING pterodactyl that flies around in the movie.

Unfortunately, as with all good movies the first go-round, someone in Hollywood thinks it's a brilliant idea to make a sequel. At least it's straight to DVD, so maybe no one will notice. Except teeny-bopper girls who think the boy is cute... whatever.

The original is good. You should check it out. I so prefer the shaggy haired Matthew Broderick.

i luff quotes

Be not too hasty to trust or admire the teachers of morality; they
discourse like angels but they live like men.
-Samuel Johnson, lexicographer
(1709-1784)

no man is an island

I eat in random cafes a lot, alone.
Today I walked into Panera and saw with a random glance around the room I saw at least three laptops out. Their owners connected by a small white cord and earbud headphones. I was planning on looking exactly that way after ordering some delectable yummies. I had this random urge to sit down with one guy at a booth. He's still plugging away at some random assignment. I feel like being alone together, working, plugged into our own little worlds, maybe there'd be some connection.

I picked a seat by myself. Missed opportunities. When did we get to the point that talking to a stranger in a public place is considered strange? I mean, we're all kind of going along, maybe enjoying the quiet of being alone, or secretly wishing for some companionship, and a furtive glance across the room at someone you speculate could be a kindred spirit is all you get.

Here I am, sitting, pretending to be a pirate with my friend Ryan (via iChat), being serenaded by Hanson, dreading the mountain of work I have to get done for the end of the semester, and just thinking.

What would happen to me if I just ran away to Mexico or Canada or something?

to keep in mind

In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of
the speaker. -Plutarch, biographer and philosopher (circa 46-120)

munching

We should try to be the parents of our future rather than the offspring of our past. -Miguel de Unamuno, writer and philosopher (1864-1936)

I don't get many emails. Probably because I don't send many out as a form of communication. Nevertheless, there are two that I can always count on: an email from my friend and yours Anu Garg, Word A Day Guru. And then a tiny note from the Universe, no big deal.

Yes, I realize that my email staples are mass emails. I'm totally ok with that fact. I'm becoming more and more socially inept in my age... hah.

Anyway, this morning's note from the Universe (which at times are rather New Age-y, but a fun read nonetheless) I think is encouraging me to like a boy. But you can say a lot of things over IM that you may not really mean.

Anyway, I'm sharing my note from the Universe with you today. Happy reading:

Noel, do you ever wonder whether you're on the right path?

Do you sometimes feel vulnerable in new relationships?

Does certainty elude you when big decisions loom?

Have you ever gotten nervous at the mere thought of speaking to an audience?

Outstanding, Noel! Fantastic! Because so have all the other legends who came before you.

The Universe

p.s.

Humility shows respect, Noel. Respect shows love. And love can only exist when there's a vision for prosperity, a belief in your own worthiness, and a sense that all is exactly as it should be. Cool, huh? Bring on the "butterflies."

specifically:procrastination

different post

I like making out.

I'm a girl. Not a slut. I haven't ever slept with anyone.

But making out is fun.

It seems weird that guys would think less of me for that. Or be intimidated.

At the same time, I like talking.
One without the other gets very stale.
I should stop thinking about boys.

quote farm

Nothing is more humbling than to look with a strong magnifying glass at an
insect so tiny that the naked eye sees only the barest speck and to
discover that nevertheless it is sculpted and articulated and striped with
the same care and imagination as a zebra. Apparently it does not occur to
nature whether or not a creature is within our range of vision, and the
suspicion arises that even the zebra was not designed for our benefit.

-Rudolf Arnheim, psychologist and author (1904-2007)

“I hate to meet a man whom I have met ten years ago and find that he is at precisely the same point, neither moderated nor quickened nor experienced but simply stiffened.”

-Oswald Chambers, pastor, theologian

“While studying our bibles, we all dressed alike, drank beer, smoked cigars, and threw in a few cuss words to be cool. We thought we were so hip and original.”

-Larry Osborne, visionary, pastor

emergent church

Just got finished listening to a lecture by Mark Driscoll about the Emergent Church.

Now I know why Rob Bell has been seemingly shunned. I'm going to have to check into some more of this stuff. But I am concerned with where some of these "evangelical" leaders are going.

Learned some new words:
Panantheism, not to be confused with Pantheism
Espitology, Mystology, and other stuff like that.

Words brilliant men use to start conversations.

So, here's a question: are conversations about God's Word a bad thing? Conversations about how we apply God's Word to our lives, what ancient text means to us today with countless translations and transliterations? Does our understanding evolve? Is it okay to say that we as a collective are more enlightened today than were the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Hebrews of the New Testament? Or is that dangerous ground?

And as far as looking at Scripture through the eyes of Rabbinical teaching. I don't see a danger in that. But only really, if the Rabbis have accepted Jesus as Messiah. Otherwise, the teachings of Rabbis that were Jesus' contemporaries just offer and interesting religious commentary on the times. Their truth does not transcend what Jesus was doing. But their model of discussion and challenging is something to look at.

I'm not sure. I can see from the one side how Mark Driscoll's comments about Rob Bell's first book make sense. Being able to say any sensational thing and draw a crowd is not a good thing in the Christian collective. But was RB really saying those statements for that purpose? Or to challenge people to think about the theology they adhere to?

So many modern Christians don't know the difference between theology and church doctrine. Why there are different denominations and what the difference between antiquated words like Calvinism and Armenianism mean. Sin is not a readily understandable word by the world's standards, but neither is love, hate, God, or any number of words that we've lost with our increasing illiteracy and the dumbing down of the collective.

Higher test statistics favored over core content understanding is leading to this decay of knowledge and wisdom. It's no longer sought out, so people are like lemmings. That's why one can say anything and draw a crowd.

We're living in 2008 A.D. (or C.E), yet nothing is really any different than that time Paul preached on Mars Hill.

movie list

list of movies i want to see:
The Nines
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Aviva My Love

movie you should see:
Leatherheads

End of story

Awesome Revolution

So, I've decided I'm tired of being a size 10 and I'm working to regain my size 4 of previous years.
There are several wedding thing-a-ma-bob events that I have to go to in the summer, plus I'll be running around little kids all summer, and currently none of my shorts fit. And I came up with a plan for it.

Drink the min water amount
Swim at least two miles a week
-that's 20 laps a day, 4 days a week
-cut my time in half by May
-swimming on weekdays, weekend swimming doesn't count
No fast food buying/buying any food out
one coke a day minimum
ice cream cut WAY back

and as a random side note, i still think that the scene where they drop the flyers in the stairwell in 10 things i hate about you, is one of the coolest scenes ever.

There's other stuff that I don't remember, but I'll add it when I do.

poetry

The great thing about poetry is that you can make up your own spelling. If a word doesn't fit you can spell it however you want.
Rob Bell

I think Rob Bell is falling out of grace with the conservative church. And I'm wondering what particularly set him off. And why suddenly everyone's stoked about Francis Chan.

Why do we make celebrities in the Christian subculture? I'm annoyed by this. But I'm apathetic, so I probably won't do anything.

Salami

words, WORD, AWADies

The other day I went to the library and checked out:

Tim O'Brien's July, July

Anu Grang's Another Word A Day

Fletch Lives

and

Coldplay's A Cold Rush of Blood to the Head

I've really enjoyed all of them so far. I'm still reading through AWAD. And for awhile I've been thinking about words. Always, actually, but recently phrases in particular.

Do you ever get a phrase caught in your head and come up with an entire scene in a story around that one phrase?

I had this one the other week that popped into my head: "Intellectuals of a certain persuasion"

I picture a pub or coffee shop and several men in tweed jackets with pipes. Juxtaposed against several scene kids of our generation holding lattes and peering at each other from behind their black rimmed plastic glasses. 

Then there's one of my favorite phrases ever: The Divine Expression 

That phrase just makes me feel tingly. It expresses something I wish I could express better. Biblical commentators use it when they talk about the first 18 verses of the book of John. It's all about the Divine Expression, yo.

There are several little phrases that make me excited...

infinite, passion, lovely

and so many more words. they just totally get me. 

what are yours?

the pay off

After months of waiting today I am going to bring home one of these:


isn't it funny that the word "excited" is the past tense, but we use it to describe the present?
bye