those who blog

Blogging is an art because you must blog like it's no big deal, but also with just the right amount of narcism:

"I just painted my coasters this putty color, and then I put the family crest on it. And then I pulled together this awesome outfit and adopted four children. All in a days work, of course. But naturally you want to see it."

I can't hate because I pretty much eat that stuff up. And then I try to manufacture my own polyblend of narcism, wit, and good grammar. Mostly it leaves me here: stuffbiblecollegestudentslike.wordpress.com

or it lands me here:

on a boat in california with a scarf wrapped around my head.

Billy Collins: A tribute to my parents on the eve of the eve of the eve of their 35th wedding anniversary.

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.


Billy Collins

shameless plug.

I should tell you that I have another blog.
I think I've mentioned it before, but I do have another blog and today someone read it all the way from KENYA.

I'm excited about that, merely because then I know that when it says (5 VIEWS TODAY) that only 4 of them could possibly be mine. I'm not in Kenya, last time I checked.

Wait a sec--

Nope, not in Kenya.

If you're reading this-- you, my blog friends, you might just click on this convenient link here:

stuffbiblecollegestudentslike.wordpress.com

and then read it. all of it.

Tell me what you think. Subscribe to it. Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell your frenemies. Tell your cat!

On second thought, leave your cat out of this.

Spring Fever! (is there such a thing?)

March 21st and I'm sweating in my room.
We don't usually make sweat-while-simply-existing status until June, at least!

What is this?

Global Warming? I kiss thee.
That horrific earthquake in Japan last February? Well that's possible. I've heard rumors of how the shock waves some how jilted the earth some degree... considering I only scored a 24 on the science portion of my ACT, I'll stop trying to explain it to you now.
God's good pleasure? Yes. Probably.

Can I tell you something? I wasn't even a tiny bit sad about not going some place tropical for spring break. Save for the pang of longing I had when I realized that four of my dearest friends were vacationing in Arizona for a week, I've been perfectly content about living in my skinny jeans and cardigans and cute ankle boot moccasins in dreary drizzly march in the suburbs.

But no.

It's been 85 degrees outside, and I've even laid out in my bathing suit in the backyard. Did it do anything? No, not yet. The ozone layer is too thick from the winter still (I made that up). But still- the simple fact that it was BEFORE the first official day of spring and I was standing in front of my mirror giving myself the pre-season bathing-suit pep talk---> 

"You can do it. I know you can!"

"No. I can't. Bad. Bad. Bad. Why did I keep those Valentine's Day cookies in my room?"

"Come on! Just put on that bathing suit!"

"They're gonna see me!"

"Who is going to see you? You're in your backyard!"

"Right. But my legs."

"Yes. You have those."

"But they're hairy."

I couldn't deny that. They were hairy. I buy razor cartridges that cost $17 a pop. I use them sparingly. But the sunshine proved too tempting, and so out I went in my pasty bloaty splendor and said to myself:

"Shaving is for the birds."

I no longer stand by the mantra since the weather has been consistently warm enough for me to wear shorts and skirts of the miniature variety, and I love people too much to show them legs which haven't seen the light of day or a razor in over a week.

TMI?

I'm tossing caution to the wind! It's spring baby!

Springtime

Spring Break.
It's actually 80 degrees today in Chicago.

Chicago is usually flighty in the spring. And fickle. One minute blizzarding, the next sending a soft breeze to ruffle your hair and tickle the back of your neck to remind you that something better is on its way.
But today, today Chicago is balmy. Hazy, even. And I like it.

Except I read something disturbing in the newspaper today. Several somethings disturbing in the newspaper, actually. But this one was a fashion consultant who was giving Chicagoans advice on how to dress when the weather was just completely unpredictable.

(You'd think that the sky was falling here. )

1. Don't wear bare all your leg yet. It's only March for goodness sake.
2. Don't wear sandals. It's only March for goodness sake.
3. Don't put the two together. Two wrongs don't make a right. It's only... ok, you get it.

It's interesting to me the way that this story actually made the cover of the newspaper, while an article I read on Obama's unwillingness to support Israel was neatly tucked away on page 16, in the bottom left (or right, I don't remember) corner.

It's like, our society wants to make you think that Fashion Threat Level is at Orange and that everything else is fine and chipper.

Well, I'm not going to just fall prey to this. I'm going to get to praying for our nation. And Israel.

And then I'm going to find a mini-skirt, sandals, and a tank top because it's 80 degrees today.
Stickin' it to the man.

oh yeah. read this:
stuffbiblecollegestudentslike.wordpress.com

no will to blog.

eh,
who are we kidding? it's not happening.

A tribute to 2012 courtesy of my iPhone.

It's happening! It's happening!

She's back in the blogging world everybody!

And the grand idea is to give you a year in review- all with pictures from my phone, some instagramed and others plain. Bo-ring.

Anywho.

Get Ready:

Ah, January. I am now the proud owner of an iphone and a large box of my very most favorite food in the world. Popcorn.

Sweet February. The month in which I turned 21 and my sister came for a visit. We celebrated by going to Cozy Noodle (must eat, if you're in Chicago). 

March was interesting. Two weeks on the road with the women's choir. Visited British Columbia, Seattle, Spokane. And this small town where they have a dandelion festival. 

April was a good month. I wore this dress twice-- in one weekend! Went to a school banquet and then to a wedding the day after. 

"Wow!" says you, "Rachel! What happened?" We were playing a game in which I fell from the shoulders of my friend who is six feet tall. Conveniently landed on my thumb. Happy April! When I called my mum to tell her she said, "I hope you're not in a cast for our trip to Florida..." 

I wasn't in a cast. I'm also not pictured in this picture since I had massive diarrhea for half of our family trip (TMI? Remember whose blog you're reading. They don't call me "Curry Pits" for nothing...)
 In May we took our first family vacation in 11 years!

Then off I went to North Carolina to work at the best place on earth. Camp Greystone.

Then July came and I had a weekend off so I went and snuggled with my gorgeous cousins (once removed?) They're the daughters of my cousin Eli and his wife Susy. I don't know what our relationship is technically. But they are delicious.

You've seen this picture. Family is reunited again in SoCal for the Wedding of our dear friends Sarah and Mark!

And by September, I live here. This is the view from my room.  I am a lucky duck.

Meanwhile, I nannied for the WORLDS CUTEST CHILDREN. Seriously. SERIOUSLY.

Oh, and lest we forget the grandest adventure of the year: A segway tour of Chicago.
As you can guess, I'm a natural on that thing.

Best part of the year? David put a ring on it! I should clarify: David, my brother, proposed to Alyssa (his girlfriend) and she said yes! Happy November!

And December. A really strange picture of me my dear friend Simone at Chicago's hidden gem: Taco Veloz! 

So, there we go blogging world!
Here's to 2012. I'm ready to come back now.

marcus johnson, you rule!

Nerd Alert:
I am thrilled for my classes this semester.

Here's why,
"Admittedly, it is difficult to schematize temporally the boundless riches of God's saving grace exercised from eternity passed to eternity future."

I mean, if that's not a hysterical statement I don't know what is.

Well, except for this:
when asked to share an interesting fact about oneself to large class of counseling and pastoral students, I shared:
"I wasn't potty trained until I was three and half."

professor of class called "Ministry to Women in Pain" replies: 

"Woah. Maybe you need some counseling. Sounds like you've got some things to work through..."

Welcome school year 2012. You win.

2012

Thinking, praying, pondering (procrastinating) how this blog will change with the new year- a happy new one to you, by the way.

It just seems useless to have an online journal where I'm trying to be funny and transparent, but not so funny as to be cruel. And then to be not too transparent so that you're not yanking at your proverbial tie thinking, "gosh, it suddenly got uncomfortably stuffy in here..."

So, since I'm not traveling (see June-August 2010) and I'm not going to try to emotionally blarther with a thin veil of humor (see all other posts) I need to do something else with the blog.

If I want all parts of me to count for eternity (a big concept, we can discuss that later if you want) then my blog should be a part of that too.

I'll keep you posted.