Honestly, I don't know why I decided to write this post. I know that, as a young woman, I should strive to embrace my femininity. But for some reason, I decided that I wanted to reflect on the ways that I can keep up with "the guys".
Things I have done that are manly:
- Changed oil in a lawn mover
- Ate a steak
- Mowed
- Watched football for five consecutive days during Thanksgiving break
- Opened a pickle jar for someone
- Push-started a truck
- Put a lamp together (I think I used the directions, though, so this probably doesn't count)
- Shot a [really cool] gun
- Tried the hottest barbecue sauce at Famous Dave's
- Ate a jalapeno
[And this just makes me laugh]
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Shea:1 - Neeson:0
When Liam Neeson decides to become a C.S. Lewis ‘scholar” and say, “Aslan symbolises a Christlike figure, but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries,” and Mark Shea responds with, “All Neeson really means is, ‘Fellow members of the Chattering Classes: I am one of you. Do not ostracize me for doing something popular with despised and unpopular Christians, whom all right-thinking people treat as social lepers. I will now say something blindly multicultural and indifferentist to establish my bona fides. Come, let us eat wine and cheese together and make things as they always were,’” I laugh.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Local Entertainment
One of my strategies for entertaining myself is to participate in the events found on local community calendars. Genius...I know. I thought I would share two of my relatively recent activities.
First of all, I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. I always enjoy looking at the produce and observing the people that pass through the area. One time I got a great deal on peppers and onions to use in this burrito salad. It was super yummy.
What is evident from the two events I have attended so far is that I equate "entertaining myself" with eating.
First of all, I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. I always enjoy looking at the produce and observing the people that pass through the area. One time I got a great deal on peppers and onions to use in this burrito salad. It was super yummy.
Secondly, I attended St. Thomas Orthodox Church's Syrian-Lebanese dinner. I even sacrificed some Sunday afternoon football to do so (I am committed to this stuff). Pictured below is some baklawa I purchased from the old women manning the bake-sale table. Don't worry, I shared.
What is evident from the two events I have attended so far is that I equate "entertaining myself" with eating.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Who is Jesus?
I was fortunate enough to hear Chris Stefanik speak at a youth event over the weekend. He is a well-known Catholic speaker who focuses on ministering to teenagers.
His second keynote address was about the mass. It was a great talk, but I definitely had a favorite part. He discussed how we have these false pictures of Jesus that tend to keep us at an arm's reach from him. (I loved his examples...mostly because they are the same examples I would have used in a presentation like this. It is always exciting to find out that someone does actually share your sense of humor and you are not completely psycho.)
For example (stealing from Mr. Stefanik), some of us tend to imagine "Hippie Jesus" who talks to animals and loves the earth:
Others picture "Happy Jesus" who is chill and okay with whatever we choose to do:
Finally, others think of Jesus as the guy who plays basketball with little kids but always wins because he is 33 and God.
It is definitely entertaining to put a face to these stereotypes we have of Jesus and, at the same time, it challenges us to move beyond them. Even more it made me think about the situation of modern man. Is it possible that our confusion about the human person is a reflection of our confusion regarding the face of Christ? Not simply in imagining a historically accurate version of Christ, but in understanding His life, His message, His death and His resurrection? If Christians truly believed that Jesus was more than a plastic figure on a cheap crucifix, wouldn't we be setting the world on fire with the message of His Truth?
....But coming back to the issue of Jesus playing sports with the children, I would have to echo the words of another writer who mentions the theological concerns with these figurines. Although I am not a fan of the beliefnet.com website she writes for, I think her considerations are quite thought-provoking. For example, "If you were playing a sport with Jesus, would you let Hm win? Should He let you win? When He's playing with them, whose side is He on? Where is first-century Palestine did He obtain ice hockey skates?"
Good questions, Laura.
Updated:
If you want a chuckle, check out this blog post
His second keynote address was about the mass. It was a great talk, but I definitely had a favorite part. He discussed how we have these false pictures of Jesus that tend to keep us at an arm's reach from him. (I loved his examples...mostly because they are the same examples I would have used in a presentation like this. It is always exciting to find out that someone does actually share your sense of humor and you are not completely psycho.)
For example (stealing from Mr. Stefanik), some of us tend to imagine "Hippie Jesus" who talks to animals and loves the earth:
Others picture "Happy Jesus" who is chill and okay with whatever we choose to do:
Finally, others think of Jesus as the guy who plays basketball with little kids but always wins because he is 33 and God.
It is definitely entertaining to put a face to these stereotypes we have of Jesus and, at the same time, it challenges us to move beyond them. Even more it made me think about the situation of modern man. Is it possible that our confusion about the human person is a reflection of our confusion regarding the face of Christ? Not simply in imagining a historically accurate version of Christ, but in understanding His life, His message, His death and His resurrection? If Christians truly believed that Jesus was more than a plastic figure on a cheap crucifix, wouldn't we be setting the world on fire with the message of His Truth?
....But coming back to the issue of Jesus playing sports with the children, I would have to echo the words of another writer who mentions the theological concerns with these figurines. Although I am not a fan of the beliefnet.com website she writes for, I think her considerations are quite thought-provoking. For example, "If you were playing a sport with Jesus, would you let Hm win? Should He let you win? When He's playing with them, whose side is He on? Where is first-century Palestine did He obtain ice hockey skates?"
Good questions, Laura.
Updated:
If you want a chuckle, check out this blog post
Friday, October 22, 2010
Words of the Saints
Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily (Francis de Sales)
Monday, October 18, 2010
My Dad-the Carpenter
My padre made me a dresser! It is so beautiful.
The best part is that whenever I walk into my room, I can smell my Dad's shop! That smell always brings me back home.
Monday, October 11, 2010
an analysis (un-nal-uh-sis)
Disclaimer: This is a kind reminder that the author of this post rarely enjoyed grammar classes and was quite proud of her ambitious attempt of the following analysis. AKA: She realizes that she made mistakes but could care less to be corrected.
Statement for analysis: “I am excited because I attended my first adult faith formation class at my parish.”
This statement has many important features. First of all, the subject of the sentence, referring to the author, is followed by the verb, “am”. This is clearly based on the assumption that the author is alive, which in and of itself, is a good thing.
Continuing on, the adjective “excited” is very, very significant. This is describing the “I” of the sentence who has not used this adjective to describe herself in a long time.
The subordinating conjunction, “because”, simply introduces the dependent clause. This means that the subject is excited as the result of something else.
The subject remains the same in this part and is followed by the action coming from the infinitive, “to attend”. According to the ever distinguished Dictionary.com, the word “attend” (uh-tend) means “to be present at” and originated between the years 1250-1300. At this point in the sentence, it may be implicitly understood that it is a possibility that the subject left her house or place of residence. Because the subject was described as “excited” it may also be suspected that she attended something not connected to her work.
The word “my” is an adjective, but not any ordinary adjective, it is a possessive adjective.
“First” describes the direct object, “adult faith formation class”. This is a heavy grouping of words.
• Adult: the subject is over the age of 18 and officially a grown-up; this is an adjective describing what kind of “class”
• Faith: it is apparent that the subject believes in God; this is also an adjective describing what kind of “class”
• Formation: a word containing “form” which is defined as “something that gives or determines shape” (note: The author first looked up “formation” but realized that the word “form” was in the definition, making the definition unhelpful in this particular circumstance. She decided to look up “form” for further clarification)
• Class: this noun refers to a place of instruction
The end of this sentence is a prepositional phrase “at my parish”. “At”, being the preposition, links this part of the sentence together. As always, this next possessive adjective, “my” cannot be ignored or overlooked. The subject, possessing a parish, must have hit a milestone in her life where she has joined a parish. The word “parish” is defined by the even more distinguished Catholic Encyclopedia as, “a portion of a diocese under the authority of a priest legitimately appointed to secure in virtue of his office for the faithful dwelling therein, the helps of religion. The faithful are called parishioners, the priest parochus, curate, parish priest, pastor.” This means that the subject is not alone. This also confirms that the author left her place of residence and went to a non-work related place.
I hope that this analysis assists others in understanding the significance of this event in the author’s life.
(PS-We are studying the Gospel of St. John =) )
Statement for analysis: “I am excited because I attended my first adult faith formation class at my parish.”
This statement has many important features. First of all, the subject of the sentence, referring to the author, is followed by the verb, “am”. This is clearly based on the assumption that the author is alive, which in and of itself, is a good thing.
Continuing on, the adjective “excited” is very, very significant. This is describing the “I” of the sentence who has not used this adjective to describe herself in a long time.
The subordinating conjunction, “because”, simply introduces the dependent clause. This means that the subject is excited as the result of something else.
The subject remains the same in this part and is followed by the action coming from the infinitive, “to attend”. According to the ever distinguished Dictionary.com, the word “attend” (uh-tend) means “to be present at” and originated between the years 1250-1300. At this point in the sentence, it may be implicitly understood that it is a possibility that the subject left her house or place of residence. Because the subject was described as “excited” it may also be suspected that she attended something not connected to her work.
The word “my” is an adjective, but not any ordinary adjective, it is a possessive adjective.
“First” describes the direct object, “adult faith formation class”. This is a heavy grouping of words.
• Adult: the subject is over the age of 18 and officially a grown-up; this is an adjective describing what kind of “class”
• Faith: it is apparent that the subject believes in God; this is also an adjective describing what kind of “class”
• Formation: a word containing “form” which is defined as “something that gives or determines shape” (note: The author first looked up “formation” but realized that the word “form” was in the definition, making the definition unhelpful in this particular circumstance. She decided to look up “form” for further clarification)
• Class: this noun refers to a place of instruction
The end of this sentence is a prepositional phrase “at my parish”. “At”, being the preposition, links this part of the sentence together. As always, this next possessive adjective, “my” cannot be ignored or overlooked. The subject, possessing a parish, must have hit a milestone in her life where she has joined a parish. The word “parish” is defined by the even more distinguished Catholic Encyclopedia as, “a portion of a diocese under the authority of a priest legitimately appointed to secure in virtue of his office for the faithful dwelling therein, the helps of religion. The faithful are called parishioners, the priest parochus, curate, parish priest, pastor.” This means that the subject is not alone. This also confirms that the author left her place of residence and went to a non-work related place.
I hope that this analysis assists others in understanding the significance of this event in the author’s life.
(PS-We are studying the Gospel of St. John =) )
Friday, October 1, 2010
Adventures in Sioux City
I had received a package from a company containing 40 Days for Life apparel. I realized that the items were unnecessary, so as soon as I received it in the mail I thought I would simply write “return to sender” and not have to pay shipping costs to send it back. It was shipped through UPS so I went to the UPS Store to discuss my decision.
I arrived at the store around 4:40 pm hoping to drop the package off and send it back on its way. Easy enough. I checked with the woman at the counter to make sure that I didn’t need to repackage anything since it had not opened. She said, with a cheerful voice, as she looked it over, “Nope, if you haven’t opened it you can go ahead and send it back without paying for it...”
“Great,” I thought.
She continued, ‘So all you need to do is go find a UPS man and you can hand it to him.”
If you could only see the confused look on my face and smirk on my lips as I looked to the other employee. In my mind, I was picturing myself driving around this town for forty minutes until I happened to pull up next to a brown UPS at a stop light. At that point, in my vision, I would have to roll down my window and convince the UPS man that the package was free of all drugs and weapons and that it would be great if he could do a girl a favor and take it back to Texas.
The other employee (interrupting my vision) confirmed that the simple solution to sending my package was to find a UPS driver. Considering I was in a UPS store, I also stared blankly at her.
“Of course,” she continued, “you can go to the terminal on the other side of town. All you have to do is drive down this road take a left, followed by a right, followed by another right, merge onto the highway, and it’ll be on your left.”
“Oh.” I said, “I am new to the area, so could you write that address down for me.” She grabbed a pen and wrote down the address handing it to me with a smile.
“And actually,” she said, “The UPS truck will be here in about 30 minutes if you just want to wait around for him.”
“No thanks, I think I’ll just go to the terminal.” I replied, “Have a good evening.” The terminal sounded more adventurous anyway. Several tv shows featuring secret agents tend to have fight scenes that occur in large warehouses on the edge of town. I thought that this opportunity would give me one more chance to meet Jack Bauer.
I got into my car and grabbed my dad’s GPS, thankful that I had “forgotten” to return it last time I was home, plugged in the address and, of course, had to call my mother and sister to tell them what was happening: Not only, could I not send something at a UPS Store, but also that I was expected to chase down a UPS truck and give it to the driver personally.
I got off the phone with my sister as I pulled into the terminal parking lot. It seemed suspiciously quiet, but that was probably due to my overactive imagination.
I walked in the door and waited a little while for someone to come and help me. I told them about my package and the woman gladly took it and sent it on its way. Before I left, I decided to ask her why I couldn’t leave it at the UPS Store. She told me that the UPS Store is owned by UPS, but is a franchise, and something and someone and…(I think I spaced out while she was describing it to me). She was very convincing, however, and very, very friendly so I thanked her for her information. She told me that she would rather see me at the terminal anyway, which of course, made me feel better about myself. We both laughed as I exited the building and walked to my car.
I arrived at the store around 4:40 pm hoping to drop the package off and send it back on its way. Easy enough. I checked with the woman at the counter to make sure that I didn’t need to repackage anything since it had not opened. She said, with a cheerful voice, as she looked it over, “Nope, if you haven’t opened it you can go ahead and send it back without paying for it...”
“Great,” I thought.
She continued, ‘So all you need to do is go find a UPS man and you can hand it to him.”
If you could only see the confused look on my face and smirk on my lips as I looked to the other employee. In my mind, I was picturing myself driving around this town for forty minutes until I happened to pull up next to a brown UPS at a stop light. At that point, in my vision, I would have to roll down my window and convince the UPS man that the package was free of all drugs and weapons and that it would be great if he could do a girl a favor and take it back to Texas.
The other employee (interrupting my vision) confirmed that the simple solution to sending my package was to find a UPS driver. Considering I was in a UPS store, I also stared blankly at her.
“Of course,” she continued, “you can go to the terminal on the other side of town. All you have to do is drive down this road take a left, followed by a right, followed by another right, merge onto the highway, and it’ll be on your left.”
“Oh.” I said, “I am new to the area, so could you write that address down for me.” She grabbed a pen and wrote down the address handing it to me with a smile.
“And actually,” she said, “The UPS truck will be here in about 30 minutes if you just want to wait around for him.”
“No thanks, I think I’ll just go to the terminal.” I replied, “Have a good evening.” The terminal sounded more adventurous anyway. Several tv shows featuring secret agents tend to have fight scenes that occur in large warehouses on the edge of town. I thought that this opportunity would give me one more chance to meet Jack Bauer.
I got into my car and grabbed my dad’s GPS, thankful that I had “forgotten” to return it last time I was home, plugged in the address and, of course, had to call my mother and sister to tell them what was happening: Not only, could I not send something at a UPS Store, but also that I was expected to chase down a UPS truck and give it to the driver personally.
I got off the phone with my sister as I pulled into the terminal parking lot. It seemed suspiciously quiet, but that was probably due to my overactive imagination.
I walked in the door and waited a little while for someone to come and help me. I told them about my package and the woman gladly took it and sent it on its way. Before I left, I decided to ask her why I couldn’t leave it at the UPS Store. She told me that the UPS Store is owned by UPS, but is a franchise, and something and someone and…(I think I spaced out while she was describing it to me). She was very convincing, however, and very, very friendly so I thanked her for her information. She told me that she would rather see me at the terminal anyway, which of course, made me feel better about myself. We both laughed as I exited the building and walked to my car.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Iowa is Becoming Ethical
"The service of humanity leads us to insist, in season and out of season, that those using the latest advances of science, especially in the field of biotechnology, must never disregard fundamental ethical requirements by invoking a questionable solidarity which eventually leads to discriminating between one life and another and ignoring the dignity which belongs to every human being." - Pope John Paul II
-----
I just found out about the John Paul II Stem Cell Research Institute in Iowa City, Iowa: http://www.jp2sri.org/
"The JP2SRI's mission focuses on developing therapies and diagnostic tools for treating diseases that may benefit from adult and umbilical cord-derived stem cells. The Institute mission is to educate other scientists and the next generation of scientists in pro-life bioethics."
"The Institute strictly focuses on adult and cord blood stem cell research and education. The Institute's goal is to focus on reducing the barriers of translate basic research into clinical research."
"The Institute represents an opportunity for pro-life individuals to support ethical-derived stem cell research consistent with pro-life values. JP2SRI DOES NOT conduct human embryonic stem cell research and does not perform therapeutic cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer"
------
It is both exciting, and encouraging, to see the continuous expansion of science taking ethics into consideration. It is especially neat to see this occuring in the midwest! It is great to look at this with regards to the Pope Paul VI Institute in Iowa's neighboring (yet less worthy...) state of Nebraska.
-----
I just found out about the John Paul II Stem Cell Research Institute in Iowa City, Iowa: http://www.jp2sri.org/
"The JP2SRI's mission focuses on developing therapies and diagnostic tools for treating diseases that may benefit from adult and umbilical cord-derived stem cells. The Institute mission is to educate other scientists and the next generation of scientists in pro-life bioethics."
"The Institute strictly focuses on adult and cord blood stem cell research and education. The Institute's goal is to focus on reducing the barriers of translate basic research into clinical research."
"The Institute represents an opportunity for pro-life individuals to support ethical-derived stem cell research consistent with pro-life values. JP2SRI DOES NOT conduct human embryonic stem cell research and does not perform therapeutic cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer"
------
It is both exciting, and encouraging, to see the continuous expansion of science taking ethics into consideration. It is especially neat to see this occuring in the midwest! It is great to look at this with regards to the Pope Paul VI Institute in Iowa's neighboring (yet less worthy...) state of Nebraska.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
