Horror film, or horrible film?

I caught a guy shoplifting dvds at our store today and this one was in his booty:



I think I did him a favor - this one looks like a waste of 2 hours, especially with Brad Pitt's painful acting skills.

Do you like what I've done with the place?

No, I haven't redecorated. This is what happens when you buy assembly required furniture, disassemble it, drive it across the country and reassemble it in your new apartment. Said furniture will decide to collapse causing quite a raucous at 3am when you are peacefully sleeping.

This was the first moment when I felt even remotely afraid since moving here to Austin. I sat up in a panic thinking someone was breaking into my apartment, and had to nudge Chloe to wake up and go investigate. Good thing she isn't called to be a watch dog, given her pitiful efforts last night. Miraculously nothing was damaged (big relief since my bike is parked in front of it) and I think I can even salvage half of the shelving unit.

The funniest part of this situation is that this mess will likely remain this way for a least a few days if not weeks until this semester is over. Tonight a friend told me about women who, following trauma in their lives, get some weird motivation to move all of the furniture around in their house. She and I agreed this is bizarre behavior, since I am usually paralyzed after trauma. Not that this semester is traumatic or anything...

I got a new attitude

I have finally begun to see the beauty of Hebrew, thanks to a conversation I had with a customer at work this evening. She was an older woman, probably retired and she came through my line asking me if I speak Spanish. I told her I do just a little bit and she then asked me if she could practice her newest phrase with me. Apparently her next door neighbor has been teaching her one useful phrase a week which she then puts into practice throughout her routine, and of course she wanted to use it on the cashier at the drugstore.

Here's the kicker: she doesn't need to learn Spanish, she wants to. Her reasoning is that she just moved to Austin last year and this is the first time she lives in a city with so many Spanish speaking residents. She said it feels strange to not be able to communicate with such a large percentage of her town and so she wants to learn Spanish. I was in awe of her and told her I too wished to learn Spanish but because I'm learning Hebrew I don't have the room in my brain right now. We then talked about my class and why I'm taking it. I told her it was required for my degree. She said that sounded too "glass half empty" and suggested that I look at it as a gift. How many people in this world get to learn the language that the Old Testament was written in? Not too many, especially now that there is translation software to do it for you.

When I got home tonight and began to study the 27 words that will be on our quiz tomorrow morning, it was as though I saw the language with new eyes. What was once scribbles on the page and then became a hassle and annoyance has now become a beautiful gift. I have no doubt that I'll continue to stumble my way through this class, messing up the translation quizzes every Friday. But from here on out I'm going to be grateful for this opportunity.

Liberation Theology

This semester we’re learning about Liberation Theology and I think I’ve found my niche in the theology world. While my peers become giddy over the mention of Calvin or Barth or Wesley, I react with indifference. Sure, I recognize their contributions which are astounding, but they don’t send my heart into palpitations. Not like liberation theology. This field looks at theology from the viewpoint of the marginalized and oppressed whether that be due to race or gender or sexual orientation or class. This approach takes a look at what Jesus and the Bible have to say about those on the fringes of society - dare I say that it is all about concern for social justice? Take that Glenn Beck. Liberation theologians are not concerned about who Jesus was 2000 years ago walking around and ministering. Instead they are concerned about the immanent Jesus in our midst today. My favorite quote from our reading this week (Carter Heyward’s entry in the Handbook of U.S. Theologies of Liberation):

Liberation theologians do not care much if at all, about images of Jesus Christ sitting in heaven at the right hand of the Father. What matters much more is that Jesus Christ is a baby girl hooked on crack and that she is also the power to transform structures of urban poverty and despair. The Jesus Christ of liberation theology does not occupy a throne. He is a political prisoner, and he is also the struggle for liberation from political repression.

That gives me goosebumps.

81 degrees, mostly sunny with a chance of kites overhead

Mary Ann, Brittany and I headed down to the park for the Austin Kite Festival.




We met a creeper who brought his bird along. Of course pictures had to be taken to document the encounter.

72 degrees and nothing but blue skies

Today in Austin was so incredibly beautiful, it seems unfair that it hogs all the great weather while the rest of the world suffers. Kristi and I ventured to the dog park on Town Lake...




Macy and Chloe found a buddy.






This dude was taking a bunch of pictures and Chloe was trying desperately hard to be photographed.

Who knew there were that many flavors of Pringles?

I have a post I want to write, but no time/energy right now thanks to Hebrew. Here is a teaser for what is to come...

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