Blogathon 2005

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

So the Blogathon folks are offering awards to bloggers who participated in a few categories. Turns out my sister’s blog, Cootiehog, is a nominee for Most Enthusiastic. Only Blogathon participants are eligible to vote, unfortunately. But if you did the ‘thon, then head on over and read how to vote for Cootiehog!

Thursday, August 11, 2005

There are several questions asked by readers that I never got around to answering during the Blogathon. I thought I’d go ahead and do that now. These are the Reader’s Digest™ answers and I will not elaborate and the comments are open, but I will close them if debate gets unmanageable (this will make sense when you read #2).

1. I’ve noticed that many of your blogger friends are Christians and many of them enjoy reality TV.  I am curious about your take on how Christian views are portrayed in reality television, and then, do you think contemporary films, books and TV shows have a significant influence on the “marriage” of churches with worldly views?  If so, how can this be used to advantage rather than destruction of the godly church?

It comes down to that “aliens and strangers” thing about Christians in the world and how they are portrayed on reality TV shows. I think that too often genuine Christians are not portrayed accurately in fictional TV and that translates into how we’re portrayed in reality TV. Add that we’re sinful people who make mistakes to the notion that we’re supposed to be “perfect” and it’s hard for those who don’t share our faith to see us as we see each other or as we believe God sees us. Too often non-Christians think that by setting ourselves apart from the world means we set ourselves above the world. While that may be true for a small minority - it’s generally not true. We’re different, yes. Better? Not necessarily. Perfect? Definitely not.

I’m not sure what you mean by the “marriage” of the church with worldly views.

2. I would like to hear more about your gripes with Catholic theology.  [...]  I am curious if we share the same gripes or if there are new ones I should consider.

I can answer this one very simply - Sola Scriptura.

3. What is your favorite kitchen utensil?

The wooden spoon.

4. Do you have a recipe that you would love to make every day, it’s THAT good?!

Yes.

Oh, you want it? Actually, I have several tried and true recipes. However I have a signature dish that I make when I want to wow people. I will have to repost that when I can find it, because I know that I posted it a while ago.

5. If you were a reality TV show contestant, which show would you choose?

The Mole. Second choice is The Amazing Race. Believe it or not, I think The Mole was the better of the two shows - smarter.

6. When you are feeling low, what is the scripture you turn to most? What song/hymn do you sing?

I don’t go to a song/hymn when I’m low. There are two passages that encourage me: Hebrews 12:1-13 and Ephesians 3:14-21.

Good questions, ya’ll. Thanks!

Monday, August 08, 2005

This post is from Saturday, but I moved it up for anyone who missed seeing it then.

So Beau and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yesterday. I have one word to describe it - weird. And brilliant. And demented. And wonderful. I loved it, although I think that while Beau enjoyed it, his feelings on it are less enthusiastic.

Tim Burton is an oddball. But he has such creativity and it’s why his movies are mostly successful - especially his more whimsical movies like Edward Scissorhands and Big Fish.

Johnny Depp is a great actor. And I mean he is a great actor - he will go down as one of the most versatile actors of this generation. He is such a chameleon and I like him in everything I see. As Willy Wonka he is weird, charming, interesting, and heart-breaking.

The oompa-loompas - hilarious and the songs were fantastic.

Fun movie, probably not suitable for younger kids. I give this one 4 stars out of 5.

I think I’m just about recovered from the Blogathon. Thanks again to all who visited, commented, emailed, and sponsored. Sponsors - you will receive an email from the Blogathon folks soon to remind you to actually make your donation to IJM. Check the Doing Good section in the sidebar to see the link to IJM’s giving page - you can pay them online by credit card. Yes, I’m too lazy to link here. I will work on getting the tea out by the end of this week, btw.

As for the comments that came in and continue to come in on ‘thon posts - thanks for your thoughts. At this point, I doubt that I’ll be able to respond to all of the comments but I have seen them (they come to me via email). So don’t think that I’m not reading them, I am and I appreciate your input. Normally, I try to respond to all comments, but things have been a little hectic lately and I haven’t been as good about it. And there are 66 posts from the ‘thon (yes, I counted - I was curious), so it would take a bit of work (time) to trace back to the older posts.

Anyhoo…I’m tired, but pretty much back to normal.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

This will be my final post of the Blogathon. Whew.

Thanks again to all who helped me to get through the 24 hours, especially my fellow ‘thonners - Jaynee and Eric - they are both headed for their respective churches this morning to serve. Jaynee will be leading worship at her church. Eric will be manning the TV camera at his church. Please pray for a final burst of endurance for them both until they can get back home to sleep.

I am headed for bed myself, heathen that I am.

Good night!

I never heard him leave the house, but he apparently went to Panera’s to buy me a French Toast bagel and low-fat cream cheese. A lovely reward for the past 24 hours.

It’s tasty and just what I need before I hit the hay.

This post is recycled from earlier for anyone who missed the morning

overnight blogging.

So we’ve been blogging for charity in the past 23 or so hours - I and a few hundred of my blogger friends.

The charity I have chosen is International Justice Mission.

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery, and oppression.

IJM’s Four Fold Purpose:
  *  Victim Relief - Relieve the victim of the abuse currently being committed.

  * Perpetrator Accountability - Bring accountability and just consequences under the law to the specific perpetrator(s) of abuse.

  * Structural Prevention - Prevent the abuse from being committed against others who are also at risk by strengthening community factors that are likely to deter potential oppressors, reduce the vulnerability of at-risk populations and empower local authorities to stop such abuses.

  * Victim Aftercare - Provide access to services to help victims transition to their new lives and to encourage long-term success.

90 minutes and counting. Three posts and counting.

Thanks to my blog friends who IMed, emailed, commented, and generally did what they could to keep me engaged and awake. You are troopers and greatly appreciated.

Thanks also to my sponsors - don’t forget to choose your tea and email your address to me.

You can still make pledges…so if you feel inclined to help out ...

There were a few things I intended to do while blogathoning:

1. Color my hair - no chunks of time long enough to get that done. Maybe later, after a nice long nap.

2. Catch up on TAR3 - I started to turn on the first episode but it was when I was in a really tired time and I knew that there was no way I could watch it. That was when I put the Johnny Carson DVD in the player.

3. Watch all of the DVDs - I got two completed out of the four. Not bad.

4. Read Harry Potter - no reading at all. That would have finished me.

I basically sat in this chair all night, with occasional trips to the bathroom or kitchen to stretch the legs and take care of things.

What’s going to help me get through the last two hours? Fox & Friends. No, I’m not kidding.

So close. So close. So close…

I’m fading again, so the last 2.5 hours are going to be tough. And I don’t want to fully caffeinate at this point so that I will sleep when I am able.

Thought I’d move from coffee to tea. Brewing a cup of my mother’s House Blend. Yum!

5:30am is my normal wake up time. Annie is begging to be let out so she’s on schedule. I’m going to make her wait until 6am so that the house alarm chirp thingy won’t wake up Mom and Dad this early.

Four more hours. Woo!