CRAM it up

Been CRAMming for the last week and a half. It's a summer honors program for high school juniors and seniors. My job consists of hanging out at the front desk waiting for the students to get out of class so that we can play. I also drive 12 passenger vans and talk on a walkie-talkie.

The first week of classes went relatively smoothly. Then the weekend came. It saw some major hiccups resulting in a couple of late nights, running around, and rather intense conversations. Needed conversations.

My time here is about half over and everyday makes me realize that we're all broken people. These students have a heck of a lot more going on than what is apparent after an initial small group meeting. Just like I have a heck of a lot more going on than is first apparent. The walk towards reconciliation (between God and one another) is slow, difficult and easy to avoid. But hopefully the idea of Christian community is communicated to the students. The idea that we all mess up, we all fall short of any sort of perfection, yet God has given us each other to restore ourselves to Himself and to the group. It's a beautiful experience.

Picture Update

I finished college.






I'm looking for a job.








I'm preparing for a 3 week PA job back at Taylor.







I'm working on one last summer class.





I'm trying to start [real] life sanely.

Check

What I Take Away

My roommate Ben shared a blog on my GoogleReader that had a quote by Tony Campolo.
“I have three things I’d like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give a shit. What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.” -Tony Campolo
The quote really jived with my love of feeling morally superior to other Christians who "just don't care," it appealed to my appreciation of snappy quotes that speak so much in just a few sentences, and it was so, so cool because it used a cuss word. I immediately thought to post it here but, in a moment of rare wisdom, checked my reasons for posting it and refrained. But the thoughts the quote brought up stuck with me for the last few days and today, while sitting in chapel, our Indian speaker urged us to go out into the world to share the name of Jesus. My initial response was along the lines of, "well, everyone is called to their specific ministry, maybe a few will go to India, not me." But, along with the message of the quote here, I think my whole perspective on life is scewed.
I may not have been offended by the cussing in Tony's quote (cussing isn't really a thing I get hung up on) but it was the part that stuck out to me on my first read through the quote - not that 30,000 children will die. Likewise, after hearing a chapel message informing me of India's miniscule Christian population and social woes, my first thought was that someone else will get to it - and not that these facts are directly related to me. So I guess my one "take-away" thought for this blog is that I think in a very human fashion. But I want to think and act as Jesus does. That requires time. That requires God's softening of my heart.

My [Acting] Career

I'm in a movie...













... I play a clown

I can totally post blogs via my phone!

words

wordle.net has informed me of what words I use in my blog. I haven't figured out how to take out specific words yet (i.e. I don't actually type the word "Labels," that's more of a blogspot word).

Nondescript Pretty People (Spring Break)

Spring Break 2009 (the last spring break of importance, as far as I'm concerned):
The 2nd East Seniors
Atlanta (good friends (thanks for the good times), grad school visits, "job searching", sight seeing)
New Orleans (Bourbon street, Motel 6)
Cruise (sun, ocean, Cozumel, Isla Pasion by Twister, Fun!)
The first round of pictures

Each night on the cruise, we put on our collared shirts and went to dinner in the Celebration Dining area to be so elegantly served by George from Zambia. Next to our table was a table for two, at which two fine looking ladies* sat with their tanned bodies, little black dresses, and manicured faces/hair/hands/etc. But what was interesting about them was that I couldn't really make out any distinguishing factors between them; or any other pretty people for that matter.

And it is here that we began discussing that Pretty People are about as indistinguishable as people of another ethnicity with which one is not very well acquainted. You know what I'm talking about. It's why 80% of you could not tell the difference between a Chinese and Japanese person and why every African American person I meet looks like Will Smith, Usher, or Denzel and why when visiting an African American church in Detroit, I was compared to "that guy from 'That 70's Show.'" A sign of our ignorance, but that's another blog.

Bringing back the Pretty People from our cruise, they shared the same characteristics as every other pretty person I know. They both had brown hair with well blended highlights. They both wore similar black dresses at least two nights in a row. They both had tanned skin with zero imperfections. Both used plenty of make-up but not in anyway to distinguish themselves from one another. Once again, I'm going to cite ignorance as a cause of my inability to distinguish between the two. My simple request for all you good looking people out there, show some sort of individuality and I'll try looking for your unique characteristics.


*Their generic good looking-ness reminded me of these ladies:

Recent Petty Annoyances

• The word, "Snarky," generally because it's used by hipsters critiquing other hipsters of being overly sarcastic and critical when they themselves are overly sarcastic and critical.
• That fold hoodies get when you sit down.
• Girls who walk really slow and block paths. (Both have to be performed to irritate me.)
  
• Professors going past X:50, not because the material is important, but rather because they like to think that their material is important.
• Puking.
  

10 Years Late

Holy crap.