I love my late night network-knock-off-channel tv. I mean what more could you really need? I have everything from According to Jim, Two and Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, Scrubs, Frasier, Seinfeld, Sex and the City, and trashy entertainment shows. Awesome. I just laughed uncontrollably hard at According to Jim.
I also love the commercials...I'm watching an ad for Chia Cat Grass. Hilarious. Which brings me to my next thought...I'm thinking about starting a family...by getting a cat. Yes, I did have one, Koji, but he is now my parents. So I'm thinking about making the step again...big decisions :)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
I'm reading this great book (at least thus far), "Confessions of an Amateur Believer" by Patty Kirk. I came across this section that I'm in awe of how well/accurately it describes belief and not believing in God...here it is...(it's just been talking about how she, like many others, believed in God so easily as a child)...
"God's invisible presence is unmistakable-it must be-in the bleakest of settings, if our senses are motivated, as the senses of children are, by dependence and need.
Unbelief comes later. Beset by troubles, or else blinded to our fundamental need and dependence by ease and by our increasing ability to take care of ourselves, some of us lose sight of God. Or we forget to look for him. As we do when a loved one dies, we eventually become accustomed to days and nights without the one we loved and gradually forget the contours of a face we once knew with our eyes closed. Soon, mourning itself is a distant memory, replaced by the more urgent activities of daily life. As time passes, we struggle to remember the person at all and carry with us only a vague sense of loss.
That is unbelief, I think. The nagging absence of a remembered face. Sometimes a certain smell or touch or sound we associate with the one we have lost reminds us. Sometimes, in the night we dream the person live and real again. But, our practical selves wake us up and convince us of what seems, in loss, to be the only reality: we are alone. Unbelief, in my experience, is much less a conscious rejection of God (not to say it can't be) than a sense of abandonment and loss. A sense of our own aloneness. And the certainty that no effort on our part can restore to us the one we loved."
I enjoy that explanation because I think we often see not believing in God to only come when we open our lips and say we don't believe. However, in reality, what it is much more common, especially in America, is a scenario such as this in which the presence of God is shoved to the back burner, then off the burner, then forgotten as we become more independent with age. I think she hit it right on when she said the more we were able to do things on our own and the less we needed God (or so we thought), the more God is shoved to the side. I think this is why we often see faith appear stronger in those who have very little, then in the rich. You're less likely to think you need Him when have money.
Alright, it's time to get to work. Happy ponderings!
"God's invisible presence is unmistakable-it must be-in the bleakest of settings, if our senses are motivated, as the senses of children are, by dependence and need.
Unbelief comes later. Beset by troubles, or else blinded to our fundamental need and dependence by ease and by our increasing ability to take care of ourselves, some of us lose sight of God. Or we forget to look for him. As we do when a loved one dies, we eventually become accustomed to days and nights without the one we loved and gradually forget the contours of a face we once knew with our eyes closed. Soon, mourning itself is a distant memory, replaced by the more urgent activities of daily life. As time passes, we struggle to remember the person at all and carry with us only a vague sense of loss.
That is unbelief, I think. The nagging absence of a remembered face. Sometimes a certain smell or touch or sound we associate with the one we have lost reminds us. Sometimes, in the night we dream the person live and real again. But, our practical selves wake us up and convince us of what seems, in loss, to be the only reality: we are alone. Unbelief, in my experience, is much less a conscious rejection of God (not to say it can't be) than a sense of abandonment and loss. A sense of our own aloneness. And the certainty that no effort on our part can restore to us the one we loved."
I enjoy that explanation because I think we often see not believing in God to only come when we open our lips and say we don't believe. However, in reality, what it is much more common, especially in America, is a scenario such as this in which the presence of God is shoved to the back burner, then off the burner, then forgotten as we become more independent with age. I think she hit it right on when she said the more we were able to do things on our own and the less we needed God (or so we thought), the more God is shoved to the side. I think this is why we often see faith appear stronger in those who have very little, then in the rich. You're less likely to think you need Him when have money.
Alright, it's time to get to work. Happy ponderings!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Cheap Living...
Here's are some of the cheap things I take advantage of to make my life a little bit more awesome for not much money...
TV
I have a great set of "bunny ears" (and I also live close to a lot of the stations), however let's be honest unless it's prime time, there's not a lot of good shows on. So my solution - I hook a S Video cable from my computer to my tv, along with a simple maybe $5 or $10, "Y Audio Cable".
<----"Y Audio Cable"
This audio cable plugs into the headphone jack and then to your tv...easy as pie.
So why do this? As most of us know, almost every network - including cable stations- show full length episodes online. So I bring up the website, hit full screen icon, then hit the presentation button on my computer and like something only God created...the tv show appears in all it's glory on my tv. If your tv does not have a S Video input or your computer does not have an S Video output you'll need to take a few extra steps (I did), but they're simple, don't be discouraged...go to radio pick there brains and tell them you want to do it for cheap even if it means a few more steps. They're smart.
My favorite websites for finding tv shows and movies outside of the network sites...hulu.com and http://video.tvguide.com/.
The library (in kansas city at least) has free checkout for all tv shows and they have a TON of shows on DVD (i.e. Friends, Alias, The Office).
READING
-The library...I know crazy concept.
-Also, I pick up all the free magazines I can get my hands on. Some of the best in KC are Urban Times (monthly), The Pitch (weekly), and Ink (weekly). You can find most of these on street corners in the downtown and westport area.
-Magazine subscriptions are also a great idea...figure out what your favorite magazines are and most likely getting a subscription is WAY cheaper then buying them at the grocery store. A handy trick with getting the best price...look for the little cards in the magazines - those seem to have better deals then looking online.
-Also, the library is great for magazines as well...I like to go to the Plaza library get a magazine sit by the huge windows that look out over the plaza...AWESOME.
-A really simple idea...swap magazines with friends. We stock pile our old magazines as if we're going to reference them again later, but do we ever?? I only have one friend that does, and she's a designer...so for normal human beings...we should give our old magazines to friends.
-When I want to buy current magazines I go to Half Price Books, they sell used magazines for either half of the cover price or $1 if there is no cover price. I very very frequently find current magazines...people who get subscriptions as we know get them the month/week before they hit the news stand, once they're done reading they bring them in...and are there in time for the month or week they're scheduled to hit the stands. The one in westport has a HUGE selection.
OTHER
I play board games...love it. A couple options I've taken for acquiring board games, graciously take the ones off my parents hands they don't want any more, garage sales, and shop sales. Also, borrow friends games...sharing is a good thing. I like to play at my apartment or coffee shops. On that note, I order tea when I go to shops for a cheap drink or buy a really cheap thing of food like the dollar bagel at one of the shops I go to.
I like to go to parks, play catch, walk around the plaza, hangout at Barnes and Noble, shop at thrift stores, shop on craigslist.com...the list goes on.
As I remember all the other little things I do, I'll try to remember to put them on here to share!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The dark hole
If I would dump my purse on the floor right now here's what you would find:
(not the ball of yarn, just the "wove")
(got the Stride for free but don't actually like)
(I accidently bought Mint Mojito gum thinking it was spearimint) 
The first...
So this is my first post of my new journal (for some reason I don't like the word blog...so I call this a journal). Last one I had chronicled my years during college and then first years in the real world. I put all my posts in a book and shut down the site. Now it's time to start new. Start fresh.
I will make one note...I'm writing this journal for me and my friends, not for the rest of the world. And thus you ask, why did you put it on the open internet for all to see instead of on facebook or on one of those super protected sites? Because there is still something freeing and wonderful about putting my thoughts out in the true open. And I can make it so much prettier :) So if you stumble upon this, or don't know me very well, take what I post on here with a grain of salt.
For your humor for today...
A real comment I made to myself while driving to Target this evening..."...don't buy (another) light saber until have someone else to play swords with." I think it was much funnier in my head. Especially since it was a needed conversation as I had just been looking through/playing with some of my toys in my toy draw. I love living alone.
I will make one note...I'm writing this journal for me and my friends, not for the rest of the world. And thus you ask, why did you put it on the open internet for all to see instead of on facebook or on one of those super protected sites? Because there is still something freeing and wonderful about putting my thoughts out in the true open. And I can make it so much prettier :) So if you stumble upon this, or don't know me very well, take what I post on here with a grain of salt.
For your humor for today...
A real comment I made to myself while driving to Target this evening..."...don't buy (another) light saber until have someone else to play swords with." I think it was much funnier in my head. Especially since it was a needed conversation as I had just been looking through/playing with some of my toys in my toy draw. I love living alone.
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