That's what she said.

I’m at Barnes & Noble and just spotted a book by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal,...

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:00:32 -0500

I’m at Barnes & Noble and just spotted a book by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. What caught my eye about it was the tagline “with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver.” Camille is Barbara’s daughter. She graduated with me from Duke. And she gets to be a co-author on a New York Times bestseller because her mom is a rock star. Cool.

And I just browsed through a couple of my old papers from undergrad. I miss writing papers....

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:20:01 -0500

And I just browsed through a couple of my old papers from undergrad. I miss writing papers. I’m no good at exams.

My goal for next year: get exempted from CT 32 and get credit for my New Testament exegesis requirement from my undergrad Life & Letters of Paul class. We’ll see how that pans out. It’s not that I don’t want to learn theology or New Testament, it’s that I’m already tired of intro classes. Maybe I’m just a jerk.

I figured out why this week has been so stressful. I have 3 finals. It has been YEARS since...

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:13:06 -0500

I figured out why this week has been so stressful. I have 3 finals. It has been YEARS since I’ve had that many exams. I got used to writing final papers in undergrad. I went a whole semester once without taking a single quiz or test. Apparently I was wrong to think that’s how grad school was supposed to be. Stupid intro classes.

Hebrew final is in 4.5 hours. I haven’t looked at the material in a week and a half. Even the vocab I’ve been using for months has slipped, and there are several chapters where I don’t know any of the terms at all. This is going to be a fun morning.

On the bright side, by 4:30 today (and probably earlier) I’ll be done. I can pick up my CH13 final today, was supposed to have my pastoral context paper back yesterday (um?), and in theory all grades are due Monday. I felt really good about my Old Testament final yesterday, which was nice because I’ve been frustrated all week with not feeling prepared or confident, which I hate. So hopefully it doesn’t turn out to be too bad.

I’m ready for a break. Next week is going to be great. All I have to do is finish Christmas shopping, plan a Christmas party for youth group on the 20th, play guitar and percussion, and hang out with Gary. Word to the baller.

Ooh this Sunday I’m making my debut as an arranger—I put together a new version of “Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus” and we’re using it at Orange UMC this week, yay! I think it’s gonna be good, it was really cool for me to see Gary direct the band in putting it together. I’m learning. :)

OK, back to studying. This is gonna be bad. Good thing I’m going into this final with a really good average in the class…

erinmjustice: tvconnoisseur: shlin: icanread: (by...

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:14:50 -0500

erinmjustice:

tvconnoisseur:

shlin:

icanread:

(by stellarville)

What the fuck is this shit.

Seriously. You all know how tv-romance-heavy my blog posts are, but even I am disgusted to read that.

Epic fail.

*SIGH* So much wrong with this.

Moi. :)

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:49:43 -0500

Moi. :)

Leigh is gathering blankets and cold weather apparel for her church to use for homeless folks they...

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:07:37 -0500

Leigh is gathering blankets and cold weather apparel for her church to use for homeless folks they help out, and I realized I have a stack of 3 blankets in my closet that only get used occasionally, and never all at once. One was knitted for me by Jamie, so I’m definitely keeping that, but the other 2 are fleece Duke blankets. One’s pretty small, so I decided to donate the other one. It was a high school graduation gift from Craig and Abby, so I hesitated, but then I realized that they especially would be more than happy to see their present being used to help others. I like that I have friends like that, who I know wouldn’t be offended and might even be proud that a gift they meant for me went to a better cause.

I’m camped out in the dining room with my Old Testament notes spread across the table. I’m going through the handouts, adding my notes from class, going over terms and trying to figure out how best to prepare for the essays (since Chaps gave us a vague idea of the general topics we have to discuss but didn’t give any specifics). I also really need to study Hebrew at some point—I think my textbook is actually still in my car. Hm.

This week has been really stressful, but I’ve been grateful for Gary and for friends. I’ve done a lot of studying at Gary’s, which has resulted in me getting into Buffy the Vampire Slayer because he was watching it in the background and I took to joining him on study breaks. At home, Samuel and I have often studied in the same area, so showtunes and breaks for TV on Hulu have been a regular. Last night, I went to the Wesley House for part of their “Disney and Desserts” study break (we ate cupcakes and watched Aladdin). So even though it’s been hard, the people around me have helped make it bearable.

Finals week is somehow the best and worst time of year. I love not having to be anywhere, but I really don’t like being stressed out, and I’m very dissatisfied with how I felt coming out of the Church History final. I know I didn’t bomb it, but that sort of bare minimum sentiment is not acceptable considering how much I enjoy and know about the subject. But it’s over now, so I just have to press on and hope that OT and Hebrew don’t leave me feeling the same way. So far, I’m feeling pretty comfortable with the material from OT, and even though I know Hebrew vocab is going to kill me, I think it’ll be all right.

Now back to see if my internet is still being wonky—Scrubs has been buffering for like 10 minutes…

My coping mechanism for too much Church History.

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:22:13 -0500

My coping mechanism for too much Church History.

Heresy is fun

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:21:00 -0500

I’m looking over a heresy chart Leigh passed on from her CT32 midterm, and it’s pretty amusing. My favorite entry:

Heresy & Type: Gnosticism/Everything
Council: None and all at the same time. Thoroughly attacked!
Scripture: They wrote a lot of their own.

And so on and so forth. There is a LOT of information I REALLY need to know for tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, the tea I made is just making me sleepy. Back to it, then.

Wainwright Hints at New Systematics

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:17:28 -0500

depressio:

In a forthcoming journal article, Professor Geoffrey Wainwright is expected to lay the groundwork for a new systematic theology that takes its structure and approach from an unlikely source: the world of music. In an apparent response to Dr. J. Kameron Carter’s well-known contention that theology should be a disciplined, improvisational performance, like jazz, Wainwright maintains that the best metaphor for the theological task is Gregorian chant.

“Gregorian chant is a perfect theological paradigm,” Wainwright explained. “In jazz, there can be infinite variations on the same theme. Too many ways to express what is, fundamentally, only one melody. But in Gregorian chant, you hear something that someone sang a thousand years ago, and you repeat it exactly. That’s what I want my students to do.”

Wainwright, one of the past century’s leading ecumenical theologians, has always emphasized the Great Tradition that all Christians share. He believes the metaphor of Gregorian chant invites everyone to join in voicing their common doctrinal heritage. While some believe that this unity comes at the expense of minority voices who do not conform to the monolithic song, Wainwright disagrees: “Gregorian chant is very inclusive. It actually has a greater capacity than jazz to handle dissenting voices, because off-notes will be completely drowned out by the dominant monotone.” Wainwright added that, in his opinion, when it comes to theology-as-jazz, we should “pay attention not to the riffs it contains, but therifts it creates.” (Unfortunately, we could find no way to meet Wainwright’s request that this be printed “in a sparkling tone of wry British sarcasm.”)

Wainwright denies that this approach makes theology tired and boring. “Ah, I’ve never found that objection to be substantial. But to settle the case once and for all, I’ve convinced my favorite artist, Michael Buble (who’s no small fan of The Oxford History of Christian Worship, I might add) to produce a chant album, which will come out for Christmas. If that doesn’t make you sweat, you’re already dead, baby.”

When we asked Dr. Carter for a response, he got too excited to speak.

Well. I’ve been working on Church History on and off all day. I may not get any more done on...

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:58:55 -0500

Well. I’ve been working on Church History on and off all day. I may not get any more done on that tonight. Tomorrow I’m gonna go hard from whenever I wake up (er, I’m gonna set an alarm, not that I ever sleep late anymore) until 5 or 6. *cries*

Today I also started arranging “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” for us to (hopefully) play at Orange UMC. We needed an Advent hymn. Voila. I did use a modification of the chorus of “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” for the bridge, but oh well. :)

10 single-spaced pages is not OK. But I’m done. Time to reward myself by watching The Office,...

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:14:56 -0500

10 single-spaced pages is not OK. But I’m done. Time to reward myself by watching The Office, and then I get to shackle myself to Church History. :-/

I took my vitamins before I’d had enough to eat. :(

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:10:57 -0500

I took my vitamins before I’d had enough to eat. :(

One of 3 questions on this take-home final is finito. I wrote WAY too much (4 single-spaced pages,...

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:48:08 -0500

One of 3 questions on this take-home final is finito. I wrote WAY too much (4 single-spaced pages, all in an hour), so I’m gonna revisit my other 2 outlines to scale them back some.

I may not get much more done today, because Gary and I are going to see Phantom at DPAC at 2:00! Yayness. This is me trying to get Gary into musical theater—although, ironically, he’s seen Phantom live and I haven’t. Oh well, snazzy study break.

I’m thinking…depending on when I get home after practice and how I feel, I may try to knock out a second essay before I go to bed. At the latest, I’ll finish this stupid final early tomorrow morning and then move on to Church History. Baller.

Oh and plan youth group for Sunday. That too.

So this take-home final is one of these things where you can take your time studying and make a...

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:34:24 -0500

So this take-home final is one of these things where you can take your time studying and make a basic outline, but then there are 3 questions you have 3 hours to complete. I realized that if I can get focused, I could knock out the outlines tonight, so all I’d need would be a 3-hour block of time (or 3 1-hour blocks of time, more likely) to actually write the exam. That’s totally doable, and I feel a little better now about having time to study Church History, which is good because I don’t think I’ll be quite ready to meet my maker Monday morning.

I’ve hit a moment of paralysis regarding schoolwork. I just had one of those moments where it...

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:16:13 -0500

I’ve hit a moment of paralysis regarding schoolwork. I just had one of those moments where it hit me just how much work I have to do in the next week and a half. I may be able to get something done in the form of paging through Mere Christianity to study for my take-home final, but I’m going to lunch in half an hour anyway. Pooh on finals.

I’m watching Colbert, and this talk of an alien Jesus is nonsense. Everyone who’s read...

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:04:41 -0500

I’m watching Colbert, and this talk of an alien Jesus is nonsense. Everyone who’s read Perelandra knows that the aliens on Venus resisted temptation and avoided the Fall.

Finals

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:50:32 -0500

School stuff for reading week and finals week:

~~CH 13 Pastoral Context Paper (due 12/1)~~
C. S. Lewis Take-Home Final (due 12/4)
CH 13 Final (12/7)
OT 11 Final (12/10)
Hebrew Final (12/11)

Work-type stuff for reading week and finals week:

Meeting @ ATUMC (12/1)
Getting paid to help Jaylynn w/ computer stuff (12/1)
Youth group: Dating 101 (12/6)
Meeting @ AUMC about website (12/8)
Feed My Sheep food ministry w/ ATUMC youth (12/12)

Fun stuff for reading week and finals week:

~~Lunch with Meghan (12/1)~~
Lunch with Jay (12/2)
PathWays reunion—dinner @ Torero’s (12/2)
Phantom of the Opera @ DPAC (12/3)
Party @ Amy’s (12/4)
Wesley Christmas Party (12/5)
Jacob’s Ladder gig (12/5)
General ridiculousness during finals…

In the meantime, I’m helping Gary get his Christmas CD out, working on album art for my CD, thinking about youth group for the spring semester, and trying to catch up with a few more Dukies before break. Life is busy but good.

Give Love Away: Christmas Stories

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:52:00 -0500

Give Love Away: Christmas Stories:

Gary’s new Christmas CD is available online, yay! Featuring 5 Gary-fied holiday favorites and an all-new original song he and I co-wrote. :)

Me: It's spelled C-A-P-O.

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:23:07 -0500

Me: It's spelled C-A-P-O.
Gary: Well I spell it with a K.
Me: That's because you're racist.

Photo

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:33:37 -0500