genius

the early bird gets screwed out of sleep

so mason is on a two-hour delay, a fact i discovered as i was passing fields-ertel road. i toyed with going home, but that seemed ridiculous, especially since by the time i got there, i'd have to turn around and come back. so here i am. i'll probably be diligent and get started on some grading. eventually. or maybe i'll get my room organized. bit chaotic at the moment, which would be ok if i didn't share a room.

it's ash wednesday (no, it has nothing to do with bruce campbell - though that would be funny) and thus begins the journey of lent. in addition to the giving up, i'm hoping to dig deeper into the scriptures - been finding myself skimming lately, usually through the daily office, but not taking time to really listen. i'm also going to be listening to hear God's direction concerning ordination. it's something i've put on the backburner and i'm hoping God will use this time to show me if it's something i should continue to pursue or if it's a part of my former life i need to let go. not sure where i stand at the moment - obviously it's still something important to me since i'm still concerned, but i don't know if that's a selfish, human concern or a God led one (not that they're mutually exclusive, of course). want to be clear in my own heart before i approach the vc leadership about it.

ok, time to be responsible. we'll see how long that lasts....
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Tunes: echobelly - great things

so much for sleeping in

silly me forgot to turn off my alarm, which went off at 5AM as usual. only this time there was a twist - somehow, it must have startled me enough that i pinched or pulled a nerve in my back. for the next two hours or so, i tossed and turned in incredible pain, unable to find any comfortable position. and trust me, i tried - both sides, on my front, on my back, head to the foot of my bed, lying diagonally, lying in my comfy chair, lying on the floor, hands above my head, pillows stacked high, no pillows, dangling over the edge of the bed. nothing worked. eventually the aspirin i popped must have helped enough because i fell back asleep on my back. when i woke up again, i was afraid to move lest the pain start again, but it seems to have gone away, whatever it was. i actually thought of calling friends and asking if they had any stronger pain killers, but it was 6:00AM and no one would have been up. glad it went away - i just hope it doesn't return.
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Tunes: the specials - enjoy yourself

shave and a haircut...

driving home from seeing music and lyrics tonight, gina pointed out a large hill of untouched snow and mentioned it looked like a perfect place for a snow angel. cursing under my breath, i pulled the car over, ran into the field, fell down and made my second snow angel of the weekend (the first was last night in my front lawn). it was like being triple dog dared. it was like i was roger rabbit and judge doom had started knocking. i just couldn't resist.

believe it or not, i actually liked music and lyrics. it was exactly like its subject matter - a pop song. nothing too deep, but then sometimes you're not looking for deep, you're just looking for something to make you feel good. and that it did. hugh grant was hilarious, drew barrymore played drew barrymore and the writing, while predictable plotwise, was witty enough that you didn't mind so much. a good and entertaining rom com.

no grading today - too busy. wasn't home long enough to actually get the last three papers done. trying to figure out how to grade the handful of pseudo-plagiarized papers - yes, they cut and paste, but they at least attempted to do proper citations. so i'll take points off, but not give them a zero. i'll leave that to their junior/senior teachers. nothing like passing the buck.

saw rhonda in the crucible. she did an excellent job. and the third act was quite powerful. but i felt it was mostly miscast. and i question some of the acting/directing choices made. and act iii was a bit dark. glad i was able to make it, though i ended up sitting on my own. should be used to that by now. such a powerful play, and frighteningly relevant even today.

bought some books yesterday - got my own copy of extremely loud and incredibly close. hope to reread it, this time marking passages. been a while since i've read a book that made me want to turn back to the first page and start reading again after i finished. also picked up buechner's speak what we feel not what we ought to say, his look at hopkins, twain, chesterton and shakespeare. then i went on half.com last night and bought another copy of life after God, one i can read over and over and not worry about ruining (my only other copy is signed). if this afternoon did anything, it inspired me to do some directing of my own. need to make this thing a reality.

time to get me some sleep. forgot to ask if there would be prayers tomorrow, so think i'll sleep until i wake up, finish my research papers and get started on the into the wild essays before i meet julie for lunch to talk about lent. wow, that's an awfully busy morning for a day off....
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Tunes: sonic youth - teenage riot