Abbreviated Hodgepodge of Two Weeks

Life has been a litle busy and a little crazy, thus my non-posting. Consolidated post of details, here we go!

-The Holiday and Hot Fuzz were both much better movies than I thought they would be. I watched the Holiday for the first time months ago but was delighted to find it on demand from my cable service for free yesterday. Also watched Up Close and Personal. Hot Fuzz came later with Beth and Mike -- was everything I hoped it would be and more.
-I am on call this weekend and have been editing away this morning. Was delighted to discover that The West Wing comes on Bravo even on Sunday mornings.
-Many close friends of mine are getting married within the next 6 weeks -- this is pretty exciting guys. Glad I bought the digital rebel instead of a regular point and shoot (which I have too, but you know, you can never have too many cameras)
-I am moving to Chicago in like a month -- Roger expressed his opinion of this well "That is both awesome and terrible at the same time." Later, his comment included something about sh*tballs but I'm going with the original quote. Nope, I didn't see the move coming but, you know, I like keeping my job, so....
-The Wandering Sons/Meiko concert is May 5th in Atlanta if anyone else wants to come. You know you want to....
-All of the clocks in my apt were not changed to reflect daylight savings time until Roger came over for dinner the other night.


That is all.

I'm Not One of Those Religious People

I'm not one of those religious people who judges and condemns others for nearly or identical missteps. I am not one of those people who constantly proselytizes and thinks that all of the other people not with me are going to hell. I'm not one of those people who thinks I've figured out religion and that I know better. I am not someone whose life is dictated by religious dogma or scripture. I do not try to interpret the Bible to defend bigotry or intolerance.

Religion is personal.

But I am a religious person -- I am a Christian Scientist. Each week, I study a pre-prepared Bible lesson published by the Mother Church in Boston. Each Sunday, the same lesson, readings of the Bible and Science and Health with Key the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, is read by two readers. This is my lesson and sermon to study and grow from. My copy of the lesson is currently sticking out of my purse in plain view. that it is a religious and Bible-related pamphlet is unmistakable -- the cross and crown and the giant "BIBLE LESSON" text at the top in all capitalized letters. Just now I had an urge to hide it less someone see and think I left it there in view on purpose or that they think I am one of those people I mentioned above.

It's unfortunate, really, that I expect that response from people. Revulsion to religion. Revulsion to what they conceive of as judgment, bigotry, self-righteousness, bothersome proselytizing, hypocrisy, ignorance, believing only what I have been taught, insanity, naivety, and so on. With the Christian Right and popular religion, these are what I see. Christianity concerned with being anything but Christian. The teachings of Christ left by the wayside while still invoking his name in support of war, tyranny, mob mentality, and persecution. This is the stereotype I see and want to get as far away from as I possibly can.

It's pretty ironic, really. Here I am pretty religious and steadfast in what I believe but I don't really want people to know because I expect them to see all these negative misconceptions instead of who I am or what I believe. I don't want them to see me as the same Christian as others. And it's unfair, really, that I stereotype all of Christians into the same group when I know so many who aren't any of these negative things. They are so loving and accepting and intelligent and able to distinguish between what they believe and the rest of the way the world is -- that we do not live in a Christian country in the sense that you do not have to be a Christian to live here. You do not have to agree with any particular sect of Christianity or Christianity in general to live and move and have your being. As Americans, we disagree in terms of what man is and where he comes from and where is going and everything in between -- how we live our lives and why. That by congress making no law restricting the free exercise of religion, it includes the freedom to disagree. To me, it includes the freedom to not exercise any religion at all. To This could be one of the one of the highest first amendment representations and genius, really, when you think of the verbiage used to construct the statement. Isn't not having one expressing religion? Isn't forcing religion on someone making it no longer free?

Personally and from a CS perspective, I don't believe in hell. I don't fear for anyone's immortal soul. And surely those who fear for mine and others, if we haven't participated in the particular rituals and steps that supposedly save man, can respect that fact that it is my immortal soul and assuming there is a God, that it is between Him and me. And while I appreciate other people who may try to convince me otherwise in order to save my soul, it is really diametrically opposed to any kind of loving sense of the Divine that I could imagine (I would have said "divine" but that would have been using the word one too many times for that sentence). And should the Infinite Life be different than I imagine, surely I get credit for rational thought and loving my fellow man.

I'm rambling again but the point is I shouldn't be afraid of letting people know I'm religious. And in counterpoint, I don't think religion should be mandatory in this country. I think that is ultimately what some people want out -- and that terrifies me. Because what I think of religion and what they think of religion are two very different things.

Elizabeth Gilbert: National Cathedral Lecture

It's important not to take authors too seriously.

a few weeks ago, Lyndsey and I went to hear Elizabeth Gilbert speak at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. For those of you who have been looking quizzedly at me and asking me why I was traveling DC, this was why -- this lecture. We had seats in one of the side niches, perfect and only perhaps 8 rows back from the "pulpit." It was an added bonus listening to such an arresting personality with the backdrop of such beauty and grace as that glorious cathedral.

I don't mean to criticize the woman who introduced her and (I apologize for not remembering her name) but as she spoke about Ms. Gilbert, she spoke with a reverence that made me a little uncomfortable. Yes, I love this woman's writing. Yes, I think she has done and accomplished some very wonderful things and has gained and shared wonderful insights as result. But I do not in any way worship her or believe she has the answers to my life. The speaker spoke of her the same way you would speak about political activists and spiritual leaders and righters of wrong in the world. Not that I don't think Ms. Gilbert has helped people; it's just that there is a line where you put too much on one person, perhaps giving her more credit or responsibility than they should have.

What was funny about that evening was Ms. Gilbert spoke to that sense of uncomfortableness. She began with lecture with a story -- she was sitting at the gate at an airport hours early for a flight but was so zoned out in her own thoughts that she actually missed the flight. And she said that people seem to think that because she was meditating every day and doing all these things on her trip that she wrote in Eat, Pray, Love, that she had somehow gotten her life together.

She spoke honestly and humbly, self-deprecating without actually putting herself down. That yes, she did these things and she wrote about them and it helped people but that there is no moment when you figure out life and then it's all easy from then on out.

She spoke about her next book and what how her life had changed since Eat, Pray, Love was published. It was one of the shortest hours of my life while she talked. When she was finished, a Q&A session began. It too passed by all too quickly. So simple and lovely complex at the same time.

If you live in a city where she will be talking, please go. You'll find it charming and funny with a subtle taste of inspiration and wisdom. Perhaps her greatest wisdom lies in her honesty and willingness to share things bluntly.

I never got to meet or hear Madeleine L'engle speak; this was a little retribution to me.

I need to watch out for what other authors I love are speaking somewhere: Paulo Coelho, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Emily Griffin, Judy Blume, Jennifer Weiner, Stephanie Meyer, Nicholas Sparks, Greg Mortenson, Cecelia Ahern, Ann Brashares, Sue Kidd, Tim Farrington, Lauren Weisberger, Nick Hornby, Alice Sebold, Tim O'Brien, Philip Pullman, and many others that I cannot think of at the moment.

If you know of any good books or authors you think I may be missing out on, please let me know.

Nurturing Creativity

Elizabeth Gilbert on Nurturing Creativity

I was running around aimlessly on the Internet looking for music ideas from people whose music taste I love, new books to read, new blogs to read, new things to buy, new ideas to consider -- and I found this video of Elizabeth Gilbert. There is currently no video link on the National Cathedral website of her lecture that I heard a few weeks ago but this video would give you a good sense of what it was like, particularly given that it was given only a month before the DC lecture.

I'm also learning to love www.ted.com and all the fabulous videos and ideas and wonderfulness. Did you hear about the guy regrowing rain forest in Indonesia?

When I hear that there is someone regrowing rain forest and doing it in such a hopeful, positive, smart, community-building, and sustainable way, it makes me think all the other problems in the world aren't so unsolvable. There is a giant garbage patch of plastic floating around in the Pacific Ocean that is estimated to be twice the size of Texas -- scientists say that we may never be able to get the plastic out. Plastic bottles float in by the coast and instead of biodegrading, they "photograde" by becoming brittle by the sun's UV rays and then splintering into small pieces and even, regrettably, becoming as fine as dust. Scientists have been saying for a few years now that we may never be able to get this plastic out of the ocean, it's just too small and it's too remote from land to make the process doable. But when I hear about rain forest being regrown and Elizabeth Gilbert saving creative people from themselves and their daemons, I start to think that maybe we just haven't come up with the right way yet. But we should....

There is, after all, that mysterious source of goodness and ideas that everyone can link into. Ideas are unlimited. They give us hope.

This American Life -- Chicago Radio

This American Life

Kudos to my friend Joel to recommending a particular podcast from This American Life, which has led to my love of this Chicago radio affiliate and its podcasts. Turns out, it was a radio show on Chicago Public Radio for years and transitioned into a television show on Showtime (gah, if only I had that channel!). The idea is stories -- they tell people's stories and snapshots of people's lives.

From the website:

The radio and TV shows follow the same format. There's a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It's mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always. There's lots more to the show, but, like we said, it's sort of hard to describe.

I am in awe of something so simple that seemed to be missing from my life. With all of the mediums out there for entertainment and news, I miss the simple things that I never really had. Apart from the children's public television shows, I've never really watched or listened to public radio or television. Only recently have I ever listened to NPR. But I find that while I'm copyediting at work each day that I need sound. I need music or a television show to listen to or standup comedy on my ipod or a podcast or...something. The silence kills me. While I have fairly extensive music collection, I can really only listen to it so many times over and over again, nevermind the fact that my iPod is currently out of commission due to the fact that I have misplaced the Ethernet chord that charges it as well as connects it to my iTunes library to allow for the changing of playlists. The other problem is that I the same, though excellent, 2 gigs of songs have been housed there for perhaps a month.

Thanks to my disorganization and slight absentmindedness, I am turning to alternative sources for sound. NPR and Chicago public radio may not be very out there in terms of unknown or crazy choices, but they're fairly radical for me.

I realize that without this chain of events, I may have never found them. I wish someone had thrown them in my face or that I had seen an advertisement for them somewhere, on a bus or on TV or in a magazine or something. I think there's a sentiment that everyone knows that these things are out there and are wonderful but in the face of all the other options, they sort of fade away. Listening to them was never a learned habit, as my parents didn't listen to them.

So, listen away. Check them out. Listen to the amazing stories.

Falling Behind

I've been falling behind as of late in everything it seems but not excepting my blogging. Life has been happening despite the updates so look forward to too many posts about my trip to DC to visit Lyndsey and thoughts on life in general and various other topics. Since I have abstained from writing as of late expect too much writing in pursuit of balance. It is, after all, time to make up for lost time.

Cleanliness has fallen by the wayside. By virtue of being in a city where I hiked miles each day, I kept up with exercising. I even woke up early this morning to work out but when I got to the gym someone was on my beloved elliptical machine. With a heavy heart, I took a walk around my apartment complex instead, knowing it wasn't really enough. Perhaps I'll try again tonight. Time to climb back on the horse for the millionth time. At least I've done it enough times to know that not trying is ultimately unsatisfying.

I gained more than a little insight while on my trip. The entire thing was brought to life by Lyndsey's realization that Elizabeth Gilbert was speaking at the National Cathedral at the end of March (author of Eat, Pray, Love, among other novels). Our many conversations on the book and the topics covered and our love of the author meant only one thing: we must go. And go we did!

So much more to write on the experience, but one thing that hit home for me was during the Q&A after her talk. The audience was handed out index cards with the programs and encouraged to write questions down during the talk to be answered later. One question about writing and organization prompted an answer by Ms. Gilbert that you have to choose one person and write for them. You can't write to please everybody. So, if you're writing to your sister or husband or Aristotle or whoever, write to them as our audience. Then, when you are stuck or floundering or trying to decide between two ideas, ask yourself what that person would do or want or think was appropriate -- and there is your answer. Always go back to that one person.

I was much better at this on livejournal. I approached writing like I was writing for myself instead of writing for anyone else. I need to pick an audience for my blog or at least a specific person for each entry. Then if someone else wouldn't understand or wouldn't like it, who cares? It was never intended to be the thing for them....