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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Laws of Attraction

I'm taking Sociology this semester.  I love to learn.  You all know this about me.

We shot off on a tangent today about feminism, how they think men suppress women, what guys and girls want in relationships.  A poll was taken in the fifties (before eHarmony) and the result was:

Guys:  attractive female

Girls:  successful male

Translation: 

Guys need to be physically attracted to her so he'll want to have a baby with her.

Girls want a guy to be financially sound so when she does have a baby, she knows she will be taken care of.


Men are taught to be ambitious and women are taught to value their beauty.  So, guys are pigs, and girls are gold diggers.  

And this is how we perpetuate the human race according to sociology, or so my odd little mind processed it.
Happy almost Valentine's Day!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

My First Favorite Book


"We don't need to have just one favorite. We keep adding favorites. Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them."
— Lloyd Alexander

So, I printed out some little labels with my name on them.  Nothing else, just my name.   I then proceeded to put these labels in my books.

Some of the books on my shelf I haven't touched in years, except maybe to move them around or something.  Putting a label in almost every book--because my name may have already been written in it for whatever reason.

Well, my name was already in it, but a flood of memories came back when I opened it:

The Tinker's Daughter by Wendy Lawton

 I read it before reading became a real hobby.  It's about John Bunyan's daughter, Mary.  She's blind, and despite all that is very independant.  You know, the sort of person that doesn't like to accept help.  Her father had been thrown into prison for unlicensed preaching and she walks everyday to the prison to give him food.  She learns that maybe accepting help from God may not be so bad.  My favorite characters were the gypsies, personally. 

I've been confined to glasses since second grade.  I don't know what it's like to be completely blind, but I know what it's like to not be able to see clearly.  It stinks.
And then there were some others that I'd read after I started reading as a hobby.  I could happily re-read some of the books I looked through today.  I got all warm and fuzzy just looking at them.

Reminds me why I kept some and decided to get rid of others.  :D

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Week 4 of the Ragamuffin Gospel

I missed Week 3 and I didn't want to post Week 2--not anything really to say.

Week 4-We were still on Chapter 3.  We talked about children and why we have to become like them to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  In this day and age, we tend to place childhood on a pedestal.

In Biblical times, when Jesus walked upon the earth, children weren't important.  But Jesus cradled each one and prayed over them.  Children don't inherit the Kingdom because they are innocent or goodliness.  They haven't done anything to merit eternal salvation.  If the gospel of grace is presented to them, they can only accept it as a gift.  They can't earn it or merit it.

This study is so exciting.  Nest week is Chapter 4:  Tilted Halos.  We got a little into it today so hopefully, we'll go into my favorite chapter, 5:  Cormorants and Kittiwakes.  My favorite author, Stephen R. Lawhead, specialized in Celtic myth.  Mr. Manning talks about the Celtic church.  It was actually something I knew a little about!

"My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it."
— Brennan Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Family's All You Got, Man!

Okay, it's been a while.  Bad Jadi!  Come on, after the whole dead cat fiasco, were you really holding your breath to hear from me again?

You were?  How delightful!

My great-grandmother died this past Tuesday.  She was blind.  I told a friend of mine that the first thing she saw clearly must've been Jesus.  How cool would that be?  She was about 87.  She had great-great-grandchildren.  She had church meeting in her home.

At the wake, there weren't that many sad-looking people.  Yeah, they were hurt, but there were so many people--and I mean a lot of people--that perhaps catching up put off the grief.

I have never hugged that many people where I didn't know who they were.  But they were family...somehow...

The funerals are a real cultural thing.  Half of the service was in French (I'm from South Louisiana, I only live in Mississippi), and at the wake they a song in English and in French.  The family's huge, but there was no fighting or no scenes.  Just a lot of people catching up.  It was great.

We always say we'll do a family reunion.  At the actual funeral, the topic came up where we were sitting.  I said we need to have one where we all have nametags, and maybe a family tree so we know how we're all related.

I hope we do get to have a family reunion.

Friday, January 14, 2011

The Incredible Like

Today's my philosophical day:

Like is so beautiful.  You either completely hate or completely love someone/thing.  But like is a fickle creature.  It doesn't always have to be there. 

Take family for instance.  There are days when you can't stand your mom and can't wait to move out.  Other days, she buys you something you've been wanting and suddenly she's awesome.

I live at my brother's beck and call.  I adore him, but that doesn't mean I always want to be around him.  There are days when I lock him out of my room.  There are other days when I'll YouTube a video for the two of us to watch.

Like is conditional.  It's a sometimes thing.  It's selfish, because like is about you.  It/that person did something for you.  It's convenient for you.  It soothes your ruffled feathers.

Love and hate, if they're true, are consistent.  Like is anything but.  It's human.  ;)

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Should I Be This Excited?

My classes start tomorrow.  All my books are packed, my binder is full of paper, I have notebooks, pencils.  The only thing left to pack is a book to read.  It stinks because I have no idea which book to bring.

Anyway...

This semester, I'm taking English Composition II, World Civilizations II, Intro to Sociology, and General Biology Lecture/Lab.  Like Algebra, I'm not so sure about Biology, but I'm still excited.  Plus, I won't be going to Biology tomorrow.  It's a Monday class and tomorrow's Friday.

I feel like such a dork.  Since when do I get excited about starting classes?

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

On A Roll

I got a shiny new idea, a new squishy.  I started on it two nights ago.  Last night, since I had plans to be on the road today, I finished the book I was reading before 10--horrors!  I wanted to be in bed at 11, but needed something to do till then.  I couldn't imagine going to bed that early.

I started working on the new story, and I kept putting off going to bed.

This went on until 2 this morning.  Finally, I said to myself, my alarm's going off at 7 or 7:30 (I don't remember) and I need to go to bed.  Big day tomorrow--or later, rather.

I like this part of the writing process.  I don't know this new character very well, but I like her so far.  I like the other characters in the story too.  Don't have a picked genre, don't know how I want it to end, but it was so nice to just do nothing other than write for a few hours.

I felt good about it and even had an enlightening dream to match.  ;)

Monday, January 3, 2011

Rational and Irrational Fears


Iatrophobia- Fear of going to the doctor or of doctors.
-The Phobia List
According to my brilliant, former Pscyhology teacher, a phobia is an irrational fear.  And the phobic person knows it's irrational.

My fear of going to the doctor is perfectly rational, unlike all my other fears.

See, my yard is full of holes.  I'm clumsy.  I step into a hole, I twist my ankle, I writhe in pain for several minutes, just waiting for the pain to subside.  Usually, it does.  But not always.  And it always seems to be my left ankle exploding in pain.  Today was one of those days where waiting for the pain to go away took too long.  I managed to hobble inside and crash-land on the couch.

After a few moments, I lay down in my own bed.  Didn't help.  Took some Aleve.  Well, the pain's bearable.  I put on some socks and high tops to keep my ankle straight.  We have an ankle brace around here somewhere, but I can't find it.

Since this happens often, I should probably get it checked out.  But also, because it happens so often, I'm afraid of what the doctor would tell me if I had it x-rayed or even examined.  Yup, I think I'd rather not know.

My fear is not irrational.  Is it?

Sunday, January 2, 2011

More Ragamuffin Madness!

Yup, the Ragamuffin study started today.  Last night, I just picked a few songs from my MP3 player for a soundtrack type thing.  Of course, it was mostly Rich Mullins and the Ragamuffin Band.  It also included "Your Grace is Enough" by Chris Tomlin, and "The Altar" by Ray Boltz.  It's not perfect, but it's good for now.

"Oh How He Loves Us" *shudder* would have been great, but I dislike *coughhatecough* that song, and I don't have it and don't want to get it.

"More" by Matthew West would've been good, also, "One That I Pursue," by Vicki Yohe.

I have to admit, I was worried about the group's reaction to the book.  The group is from a Methodist Church.  Mr. Manning is Catholic.  While he's not preaching Catholic faith, it's still...well...

Also, Mr. Manning quotes a lot of people.  I don't know if he does it more than he quotes Scripture, but again, I worried they would find a problem with it.

My worries were so unfounded!  They love it.  The talk today was great and, since it's so seldom--if ever--that I get to talk about a book I've read with other people.  This is an awesome book, and I love listening to--because it's hard to get a word in--the discussions.

Week 1 went well.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The First

Happy New Year, readers!

I stayed up to the 12:00 last night--or this morning, whatever.  I sent out all the text messages.

I decided to clean and rearrange my room today.  I do this every few weeks because I have a room full of books, knickknacks, treasures, and what-have-you and my room isn't the size of a real library.

I'm procrastinating about this cleaning thing.  I've gotten everything arranged how I want it, now to pick up everything else.  I would like to sleep in my bed tonight, but it's full of stuff.

Also, I'm trying to develop an acquired taste for Special K.  I got the chocolatey kind.  It's good, but 'chocolatey' and 'chocolate' may not be the same.  They don't even sound the same. 

Chocolate.

Chocolatey.

See?

Happy New Year again.