Review

What have I been doing with myself in April?
1) Watching all my crocuses and daffodils come up and bloom!
2) Protecting my poor rose bush against black spot and aphids (darn all this rain!)
3) Wishing that spring was, on average, 75 rather than 65 degrees.
4) co-hosting a 12 hour prayer vigil at my church that was really awesome! I love when we have equal numbers of men and women attending. I love that with only 5 lamps we had awesome mood lighting to replace the fluorescent lighting. I love that people experienced God.
5) Completed a ridiculous number of school projects.
6) Began fertilizing and pruning my plants.
7) Helped plant a community vegetable garden, yum!
8) Bought & planted my own basil plant.
9) Asked for a quote to get the cedar siding repaired and re-stained, so we will no longer have a burnt orange house.
10) Discovered that when you use cash, you really do spend less money, even without changing any habits.
11) Upgraded the RAM in my computer (thanks dad!)
12) Wrote, worked out, cleaned
13) Hosted guests from DC and helped them apartment shop (one is moving here next month)
14) Began coordinating events for my GRADUATION weekend!
15) Had 4 doctor's visits (but I'm getting healthier)
16) relaxed, really relaxed, for the first time in a LONG time.

Free!

I finished all my Spring term assignments and now I'm totally free until May 4th! The joys of freedom!

Writing

I did not write today. I am finishing projects this week and just didn't have time. However, by Thursday of this week I will be done with all my Spring classes, and so I pledge that starting Friday, I will write every day until graduation! You all have permission to ask me if I'm doing this. :)

Fringe and Idol

On Tuesday night, those tuning into American Idol saw an odd face in the crowd. To those of us who watch Fringe, he was a familiar face - the Observer. His presence foretells fearful events, events which relate to "the Pattern."
Now you might suspect that his presence at American Idol was simply a publicity stunt - a quick nod to Fringe fans who have sat through a very long hiatus while American Idol soaked up TV time on Tuesday nights. But those of us in the know, know better. And we were right.
While not a terrorist act fitting into the Pattern, or even a fearful event that caused death and despair, the Observer's presence was justified by events on Idol. They went over. Fearfully over. Just over 5 minutes over! Which means anyone who recorded Idol missed out on Adam Lambert's performance. Some Fox affiliates didn't even show the last 5 minutes of Idol, they just went ahead to Fringe. (Some would say that missing Lambert's performance was a good thing, but of course, Lambert didn't do his usual screeching act, instead performing a restrained and heartfelt song).

G vs. G2

First, I'd like to point out that when I watch TV, I mute the commercials. So I have to figure out the message of the commercial without benefit of sound. So when Gatorade rebranded themselves as G recently, it took me a while to figure it out. After all, the first commercial didn't have a single jug of liquid anywhere in it, just a bunch of athletes and a big letter G. The athletes included both men and women, which is cool.
Recently Gatorade has started advertising another product, G2. I could tell from the muted commercial that G2 was a low-calorie product. How could I tell? Because, all the people in the ad were women. Yes, apparently only women athletes need to worry about their weight while they replenish their electrolytes. Men can be fat.
I'm not going to foam at the mouth - why waste perfectly good rage on a mundane example of society's far-reaching sexism?

fiction

I'm currently reading a collection of short stories, labeled America's Best Short Stories. And so far, some of them are good, but others are just depressing. I don't like how much current fiction is hopeless, affirming the ultimate chaos of life. I want my writing to be about hope, resurrection - the ultimate reality of synchronicity rather than chaos. As I see it, the key to this is to write stories which are not Pollyanna foolishness. Stories which deal with the brutality and ugliness of life but also find the meaning and beauty within.

beautiful day

Today was just gorgeous! No rain (after over a week of it), and over 70 degrees! It makes me so sad to think that in 2 short days it will be 30 degrees colder and start raining again. :(
Today was one of those days when I miss DC. When I lived there, on a beautiful day I could always go downtown and sit in the nation's park, surrounded by inspiring words in inspiring monuments. In Raleigh, we have parks, but they are oriented towards activities, not sitting still and soaking up sun. Dale and I talked about it and went to a coffee shop, where for the small price of 2 drinks, we were able to sit in the sun, talk, and read books. It was a good replacement.
I still think about making pilgrimages to DC. Our pastor wants all of us in leadership to have at least 1 day a month where we sit silently with God. I could easily drive to DC on a Friday, stay with a friend, spend Saturday on the National Mall, and then drive home. Dale and I could do it together, and then spend the day separately listening to God. It's a thought. Right now I don't feel like I need to make a special effort to have time alone with God: a large part of my day is spent doing just that. But once I'm working and meeting with people, I'll need to set aside time for that.

7 quick takes

1. Dale and I went for a bike ride last night to enjoy the lovely weather.
2. While we were riding, we saw a possum, rabbit, and an ice cream truck.
3. The weather is really nice, but I think it's still a bit early for an ice cream truck.
4. We had to get off the road when a fire truck blazed down our street.
5. I was very worried about the truck and insisted we go home to make sure our house wasn't on fire!
6. It was a relief to see our house wasn't on fire!
7. Still, I may not ride out again in the future...