Jairus' Daughter

Like a Rock

I am typing this entry with my nose, as my arms have been rendered temporarily useless and are now hanging limply at my sides.  I went rockclimbing today.  It was unimaginably fun, but seeing as it was my first time ever, I wasn't exactly in good rockclimbing shape.  Today's exhilaration is tomorrow's agony.  Perhaps that will be enough motivation for me to go back on a regular basis and get good at it.  I would love to be able to do pull-ups with my fingertips.

Things are looking up.

I have had a sequence of exceptionally good days so far this week.  Yesterday, I greeted the dawn with a shaken fist, in a general funk at the prospect of having to go to school that day.  As I shifted my car into gear to exit the driveway, I remembered I had a voicemail on my cell.  I figured I better check it, just in case I needed to bring something or whatnot.  Lo and behold, my class was cancelled!  On the only day of the week when I have just the one class, it was cancelled.  Hallelujah and pass the biscuits!  As it was my dad's day off, too, we had a celebratory father-daughter lunch (which was a real boon since we rarely get to spend time together just the two of us).  I spent the rest of the day cleaning and reorganizing my room, and in the same manner, my life, until at last I felt completely uncluttered and prepared to face the week ahead.  I even got to bed early.

Which was a good thing because I forgot to set my alarm.  Nevertheless, I woke up on my own not 15 minutes after it would have gone off.  I got myself ready and even managed to leave the house early, allowing me to arrive at my class BEFORE IT STARTED for the first time ALL SEMESTER.  Today was the day that the ODU Film Festival was screening Whale Rider, the showing wedged squarely in the middle of my 2.5 hour layover between classes, and in the same building as my class following it.  I decided to skip the meeting of our professional organization, and the free lunch that went with it, in favor of cultural enrichment.  I made it over there in time to get one of the last seats, even though I had doubts as to my ability to find the room.  The film was fantastic, and so worth missing lunch.  Afterwards, I plopped down in one of the comfy chairs in the lobby to wait out the last 30 minutes or so before my class would start.  Lining the hallway were tables of Pizza Hut pizza and a sign that said, "Pizza for Lecture Only."  I watched as the unobservant among us walked up and asked, "Is that for anybody?" only to be turned away disappointed.  After I had been there about 5 minutes, my good buddy Stacey showed up early for class, so I didn't have to wait alone.  And not long after that, the pizza nazis were closing up shop and offered the leftover pizza to anyone who wanted it.  I got my free lunch after all.  :)

A Way with Words

I received an update letter from my missionary friends who work with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  The letter included this quote from a recipient of a newly translated New Testament in his native language:

"When we read the English Bible, it's like trying to eat the husk of a coconut," stated the Solomon Islands Christian.  "But you [the translator] have husked and opened the coconut.  Now we can eat the actual meat."

Your wish is my command.

For all interested parties:

Here is a visual display of the chromatic symbiosis between good (orange) and evil (peach) currently existing on my walls.

It's difficult to achieve a true representation of the different shades with my camera, but you get the idea.

Addendum

Yep, definitely peach*.  This will necessitate another trip to the paint store.  Thank goodness the sale lasts till the end of the week.

*When you get it on your skin and it can pass for foundation, that's a pretty clear indicator.

Home Improvements

Thanks to spring break, I currently have a good-sized block of time during which I am not obligated to anyone or anything.  The perfect opportunity to paint my room.  I am painting it orange, although as of now, it looks suspiciously like peach.  I'll keep you posted.

In other news, we are selling the pool.  It proved too much for us, so we are trying to unload it on the first respondent with a crowbar and a flatbed.  Upon removing the cover, which had been in place since September, my father was greeted by a rather unfortunate addition:  a dead cat.  At some point, the cat had gotten in there under the tarp and had drowned.  There's no telling how long it had been there.  I took the incident as yet another indication that my family is not qualified to own a swimming pool.

Identity Theft

Today in the mail, I received a REMINDER OF UNPAID PARKING TICKET.  Only I never received the first ticket, and after reading the notice, I realized why.  The ticket was issued in Arlington, where I used to live, two weeks ago, when I couldn't have been there.  The make of the car is listed as Mazda; I drive a VW.  The license plate isn't my license plate... but it used to be.  QUIKAG.  So some Mazda driver has swiped Quicksilver, and is racking up parking tickets on my old handle, eh?  This calls for drastic action!  The record must be set straight, and the evildoers brought to justice!  This is a job for MCHILL!

Self-proclaimed Spawn of Satan

You scare me.  And you do it on purpose.  You stick in a hook and gouge out everything sacred to me, then crap on it just to see what I'll do.  You think there is no consequence, no authority, no limit apart from yourself.  I thought at first it was an act, the guise of an insecure, frightened weakling.  But if it was pretense, there is now no verity left.  I pity you.  Your illusion of autonomy will be ultimately short-lived.

They're real friendly-like.

So after multiple requests, I finally broke down and joined Friendster.  I found I have a personal network (people who are connected to me by 3 degrees or less) of over 34,000 people, I'd say probably 80% of whom are gay men.  That should shake up some stereotypes.

This is what you get at 1:26 in the morning.

This is probably the weirdest picture of me ever.  In case you can't tell, I am holding a palm tree.

The Legend of Dr. A.

I suppose I should have titled this entry the Mystery of Dr. A., since I have yet to uncover the story behind her unusual appearance.  Dr. A. is one of my professors, her specialty child language, and she is severely disfigured on one side of her face and scalp.  My first class with her I didn't hear a word of the lecture, being instead completely preoccupied with her abnormality and what could have caused it.  How long had she been that way?  I kept hoping she would say something about it and quell my raging curiosity, but alas.

Since that time, I have made it my quest to find out what happened to Dr. A.  I thought surely the returning students would know something.  Nada.  No one seems to know anything.  I didn't come upon my first clue until a full semester later.  Dr. A. told an anecdote in another class and my friend happened to be there to hear it:

When she was eight years old, Dr. A. went to visit the eye doctor.  After checking her over, a nurse or someone asked if she had been having any problems with her vision on the left side.  She responded, "Well, seeing as it's my glass eye..."