Sunday, June 08, 2003

David runs contests occasionally. I believe his last one had something to do with Ayn Rand, who I’ve never read and don’t intend to read. (Don’t bother trying to convince me to read her, I’ve been told many times I would like her stuff.)

Tonight he started one here that I managed to win.

Very cool. I’m a mug collector and this will be a nice addition. Thanks, David!

LW and KR were raving about this hilarious movie they had watched. They said it reminded them of Tommy Boy, but this was about chicks doing stupid things. So LW loaned me her copy of the DVD last week. I just got around to watching The Sweetest Thing last night.

Man, I hate to break the bad news to them that I thought that movie was CRAP. I was offended at three specific scenes that I can think of. I laughed at one scene only. It almost turned it off about 30 minutes in (at the point of the first offensive scene), but I stuck with it to the end.

Please do not waste your rental dollars on that one. Oy-vey. I give it no stars.

This afternoon I watched Sweet Home Alabama, which was very cute. I really like Reese Witherspoon. I give it 2-1/2 stars out of 5. 

Our youth pastor is in seminary classes and met an associate pastor of another local church that he invited to speak this morning for the dedication service we had for our graduates (both high school and college). Our youth guy didn’t know much about him, but he liked what he had shared in class and what they had discussed with each other.

So in preparation for this morning, the guy sent our youth guy a bio-resume so we’d know who was coming to speak. Turns out he’s a retired Navy Captain who flew F-14s, went to Top Gun school, instructed at Top Gun, and was in the section of the Pentagon that was hit on 9/11/01 (He was on the 5th floor of the D-ring - the plane went in between the 1st and 2nd floors through the E, D, and C-rings). So we got a little more than our youth guy had initially bargained for. He was great.

He had a lot to share about how God had spared him on that day when a passenger plane plowed into the Pentagon. About heroes in his office that saved others. About the challenge his teenage son made that night when he got home after telling another teenager that her Daddy wouldn’t be coming home.

“God spared you, what are you planning to do with the life He’s given you?” (Or words to that effect.)

And so he challenged us with that question. So many times God has spared our lives, what are we going to do with that life? What am I doing with that life? It’s a good question that I need to ask myself sometimes. It’s a good reminder that my life is not my own. I am God’s child. I gave Him my life years ago. But am I living for Him? Fully devoted without reservation? Today I have to say, “Not as I should be.”

So thanks, Lord, for the reminder. Thank You for the many miracles You’ve performed on my behalf, most of which I’m completely unaware, to spare my life on this earth because You have a plan for me. Thanks that You want to use me. Please help me to know Your will so that I can bring glory to You.

Saturday, June 07, 2003

LT Smash has a request in the form of haiku:

Will someone please tell
All of the people back home
No more baby wipes?

I haven’t done much today. I’ve pretty much lazed around, watching TV and reading. I finished a book I had started the other day that wasn’t on my reading list here.

I did go to Wal-Mart, but late in the afternoon. My lesson from that adventure (that I won’t bore you with, but I hate people who hog the aisle with their kids and their cart) is that if I want to get the good pantry items, I need to go early in the day. The shelves had been well picked over.

This is the first time today that I’ve gotten near the computer.

No Triple Crown this year.

It was a sloppy (in terms of the rain and mud) race. The mud wasn’t really mud - it’s too wet for that.

It’s a shame. It would have been fun to see the celebration for Funny Cide if he had managed to pull it off.

LATER: Pat Day is being interviewed and he’s filthy! But my question is this...why on earth does a jockey need the Breathe Right^TM nose strip?

Friday, June 06, 2003

The Marshal left hours ago.

I ate two pieces of leftover cake. *burp*

I’m going out of my mind with boredom.

I think there are 5 people still in the office. It’s 5:00pm, I’m heading out.

I have to decide whether or not to go home before music practice at church tonight. It’ll all depend on the drive.

There will be no more blogging on this Friday. I will talk to you all tomorrow. Be safe!

I can’t get my page to open for me again. I had it a couple hours ago and now it won’t open. So maddening.

I can see your comments, but I can’t respond.

And I can’t get to my blogroll to visit you because I can’t remember all of hte links.

Today of all days…

The topic this week is LOVE. I don’t have that much experience, but here are my brief answers.

1. How many times have you truly been in love?  Truly? I think once. I think I thought I was in love two other times. At least the potential for true love was there, but it was never cultivated.

2. What was/is so great about the person you love(d) the most?  I’m not in love currently. However, the one I did love was kind, considerate, and generous. And by generous I’m not talking about money or gifts, but with himself to me.

3. What qualities should a significant other have?  There should be a common belief system between a couple. Respect. Kindness. Strength. And he must be hot.

4. Have you ever broken someone’s heart?  I’m not sure. A guy I dated in college dropped out after I broke up with him. But he was married a year later, so I don’t think he was that devastated.

5. If there was one thing you could teach people about love, what would it be?  That love is the greatest gift and should be freely given without thought or restraint.

It is unbelievably boring today.

The fact that it’s amazingly beautiful outside isn’t helping matters.

And it’s only 1:15pm. *sigh*

Sorry, I figured out the font issue. It was in a category label. It should be fixed now.

I can’t get my page to open because Imood is having problems. Dang it.

There is no one here today. LW called to say she’ll be at home with her sick son (sure, and it has nothing to do with how sunny it is and that’s it’s a Friday). My boss is in Norfolk. The Asset Forfeiture folks have been at a conference all week. And I have no idea where the warrants supervisor is. So I’m all alone in the front half of the office.

It’s going to be a long, lonely day. *sigh*

It’s a beautiful day and I’m happy it’s Friday. Although they’re calling for more rain tomorrow, so that sucks. I’m stuck inside with no windows on the sunny day and have the rainy day free. Figures.

I have no big plans for the weekend. I have worship band practice tonight, as usual. Tomorrow I plan to hit the Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff. I may try to rent a carpet cleaner to do my semi-annual cleaning of key areas in my apartment where my pet has done what pets do.

I’m sure there will be some blogwork. I’d like to get my about page moved over here. And there are a couple features in pMachine that I’d like to figure out and get working. I’m missing my smilies in my comments and want to figure out how to get them back too.

My dad is home this weekend, so I don’t know if I’ll be hanging out with my parents at all tomorrow.

Sunday is pretty standard - church in the morning with small group in the evening. I’m hoping I’ll actually have my whole small group this time. We’re really behind on our study, although we have the summer to get it done since we sort of have the summer off.

That’s all very exciting, huh?

Thursday, June 05, 2003

I love dialects. I think it comes from moving around so much as a kid - you learn the little differences in language with each new place. Even within the US, it’s like there are several little foreign languages to be learned - cool words and phrases, how to pronounce town names, how certain letters and words sound, new words (can anyone tell me what a frappe is?), etc.

I realized while I was in Georgia that as soothing as the southern accent is, I don’t love it like I used to. There was a lady from the Brooklyn USMS office who had the thickest New Yawk accent and I wanted to hear her talk all day long. And there was another from Maine that I enjoyed listening to as well. After spending almost six years in New England recently, I realized that I was completely in love with those accents - as harsh as they are. There’s something about them - I think it’s that I wasn’t able to pick it up (because there are about 7-8 dialects within New England and they’re all jumbled up in the area that I lived in because of transplants).

So I was surfing and discovered Wicked Good Guide to Boston English at Boston Online. Now this is wicked good stuff.

See also Vocab a-e, vocab f-p, vocab q-z, place names, and pronounciation.