What I did this weekend, documented chronologically:
- read Harry Potter
- played mini golf and chilled at Ruby Tuesday
- read Harry Potter
- went to Folklife Festival
- read Harry Potter
- went to church
- read Harry Potter
- went to see Nickel Creek @ the Kennedy Center, got back really late
- dreamt about reading Harry Potter
After perusing a number of other people's blogs this week, I have come to the conclusion that I hate the Friday Five. It just doesn't agree with me. If I don't have any ideas for an entry, I just won't write one, thank you. Please don't make me answer dull, trite questions. Please.
"There’s an emptiness inside her/And she’d do anything to fill it in" - Dave Matthews Band
There is a theological concept that every person is created with an internal, spiritual vacuum, a void, which nothing can fill completely or satisfactorily except God. This vacuum creates a hunger in the person's life; it is a hunger to know his or her Creator, but the true nature of this need is often obscured by the lies of the world. In our deceived state we look to anything and everything but God to satisfy the longing. It is so rooted in the core of our being that is manifests itself not only spiritually, but physically and psychologically. People gorge themselves on food, sex, mood-altering agents, even their jobs, in increasing measure because the hunger doesn't seem to go away.
I've heard it said that the concept of a God-shaped void is not biblical. I disagree. I believe Jesus speaks to it directly in John 6: "Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him'" (v. 53-56). The disciples called this a hard teaching, and many fell away because they did not understand it. Jesus was not advocating cannibalism here. It's as if He were saying, "I know you're hungry. The reason I came into the world is to satisfy that hunger. Stop looking to the things of the world to fill you up; fill yourself with me and your longing will be enduringly satisfied."
As is typical of any generation, God is usually the last Person people look to in order to have their needs met. That's because when you find something, you generally stop looking.
"The only thing I need is a void that You can fill." - Caedmon's Call
"'DRINK ME'... 'EAT ME'" - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
You're not as unique as you think you are--think you are.
My friends and I decided to have a girls' night on Friday, and go to dinner and a movie (along the lines of a chick-flick). We emailed everybody and who should show up to dinner but Jennifer, Jennifer, Meredith, Meredith, Melissa, and Melissa.
The movie was ok. It was a good thing we didn't bring any guys along, because I don't think they would have forgiven us. We saw Alex & Emma. Not the best effort from Rob Reiner, sad to say. But it had its moments. Watching my friend Meredith laugh at the funny parts, though, was funnier than the movie itself. :)
Finding (someone to keep your obnoxious children who are too young to sit through a full-length picture even if it is animated while you watch a movie about a fish named after Captain) Nemo
That's what it should be called. I am continually amazed at the collective lack of sense in a movie theater filled with children who can't handle the movie and parents who don't seem to notice. Dude, Finding Nemo has some scary parts. Those children are probably going to have nightmares about sharks and other fish with teeth, and will end up seeing a therapist as an adult because they have an irrational fear of aquariums and don't know why.
Anyway, it's a really cute movie, and we figured it was guy-safe, so we brought them along on Saturday. Yes, with all the beautiful weather and fun things to do in DC, I spent the bulk of my weekend in a dark room.
[Girlish squeals of excitement...]
We thought you'd like to know that we shipped your items today, and that this completes your order.
The following items were included in this shipment:
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Qty Item Price Shipped Subtotal
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1 Harry Potter and the Order of $--.-- 1 $--.--
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Item Subtotal: $--.--
Shipping & Handling: $-.--
Total: $--.--
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Thanks for shopping at Amazon.com, and we hope to see you again soon.
I now know what the EPC light on my dashboard means. It means, get comfortable because you're not going anywhere. My best guess is that it actually stands for Electronic Power Control, and just to make sure you actually take this warning seriously, the gearshift locks and won't let you out of Park. Time to call the professionals.
"Dad, can you come pick me up? There's something wrong with my car."
Ok, now it's time to call the professionals. We get on the phone with VW Roadside Assistance and they let us in on the handy dandy trick to override gearlock: the automotive equivalent of turn around three times, touch your nose, and bark like a dog. After about 29 tries, we finally get the sequence right and the car lets us shift into Drive. (Keep in mind that this whole time, I was parked on an incline, so with each failed attempt, the car locks in Neutral and rolls backwards 3 feet.) Afraid of having to shift gears again, we drive it all the way to the VW place, park it in front, and leave it for them to deal with, like birdpoop on a windshield. And they did. After I had only been at work for an hour this morning, I get the call saying the problem is fixed and my car is now back to its normal lovable self. Not bad, guys.
...
As luck would have it--as I'm driving my car home from the service station, a rock flies up and cracks my windshield.
I recently returned from a week-long road trip with my parents to Alabama. I'm sure you can imagine how thrilled I was to embark on this journey. Fortunately, it wasn't that bad. Ready? Here goes:
Day 1
We depart around 8pm for Chesapeake, VA, where my parents have made an appointment to be shown a house at 8am the next day. This is a 200 mile detour en route to our intended destination. It seems that the Senior Olympics convene in Chesapeake during this time. This makes it rather difficult to find travel accomodations. Lucky us, we get the VERY LAST motel room in the entire township and surrounding area. And now we know why it was still vacant. Let's just say that my mom wouldn't take off her shoes the whole time, and kept muttering something about us all getting crabs.
Day 2
We depart the heinous motel room to go check out the house. The house belongs to a friend of a friend and hasn't gone on the market yet at this point. My parents had seen pictures of it, but decided they didn't want it because it has a pool. Don't ask me what's wrong with my parents. However, after not finding anything else to buy or rent or occupy at the navy's expense, the house with the pool was starting to look pretty good. My parents put a contract on it as soon as they see it, and now I have a place to live in the fall. Everybody's happy. We make it all the way to Augusta, GA.
Day 3
At 6:45am, at my mother's behest, my dad calls the father of the bride to find out what time the rehearsal is that day. My dad reassuringly tells him, "We're leaving now." He neglects to tell him we're leaving from Augusta, GA. The bride's family spends the entire day in angst thinking we just left from Virginia. How fun. At the rehearsal, we meet the groom's family, who have the collective social skills of a hat rack. We enjoy most excellent BBQ.
Day 4
Day of Wedding No. 1. Dress that I ordered special to match the bride's color scheme does not fit. Forgot tuning key for the harp. Panic ensues. We rush to the mall and the hardware store. Panic subsides temporarily. At the church, I find out that my quick-fix substitute for a tuning key does not work. This is bad news considering that the harp at this point sounds like an, albeit angelic, flock of geese. Hick relatives to the rescue! The groom's brother-in-law has the necessary tool in his car. Now all that remains is for me to actually get through the songs without mishap. Yeah, right. I butcher the grandparents/parents' processional. It's so painful. And just when you want to crawl under a pew and hide in embarrassment, you have to go to the reception. I attempt to blend into the upholstery.
Day 5
Day of Wedding No. 2. With the stress of the previous day forgotten, we head up the road an hour to my father's hometown. There we meet my uncle and drive to my aunt's new house. My dad performs the wedding on their back porch and we have a big picnic. I get to see my cousins in various stages of starting their own families: my eldest cousin is married with a daughter, my next cousin has a daughter but is not married, and my next cousin is engaged with no children. And then there is Meredith, who is moving back in with her parents.
Day 6
We visit my great-aunt and -uncle in the morning. We marvel over their restored WWII radio and hear stories about the Depression. Actually pretty cool. My dad pores over family tree paraphernalia with my great-aunt; my great-uncle succumbs to the urge the rest of us are fighting and promptly falls asleep. We meet my aunts and uncles again for lunch and later catch up with some other friends of the family (read: friends of the parents) in the area. We resume our quest to patronize every Cracker Barrel on the lower east coast. We stop someplace in Georgia.
Day 7
We have nothing to do today besides go home. Books on CD from Cracker Barrel keep our stir-crazy selves effectively sedated. After having amassed an impressive collection of splattered bugs on the windshield, we finally make it back to DC. Next time I'm flying.