Thoughts From The Duck

Greetings Dear Reader! So, Baltimore has not been what I expected it to be (is it ever?).  What has surprised me is what I have learned through this whole experience. 1. I can actually cook, if it involves a crock pot.  I need to perfect chicken and dumplings (not Tara's recipe, even though THAT recipe is delicious).  This week, I've made chicken and dumplings, mac & cheese, and chili.   2. I really want to run a 5K.  As in really, really.  So, who's with me?  3. Jack misses dog parks.  There is one "legal" dog park in Baltimore County.  The "not legal" parks aren't fenced.  Blind Dog + No Fence = Bad Idea. 4. Postcard Day may in fact be the greatest day I've ever invented...and yes I have invented other days (cf. Kermie day).  5. I really am smart and talented and gifted.  I just may not believe that all the time.  6. FACT:  I have the greatest friends.  Period.  My friends may not be geog...

Yesterday, one of my heroes passed away. Mary Travers died at the age of 72, due to complications of chemotherapy when she had Leukemia. I grew up having the privilege of seeing Peter, Paul and Mary ever summer in concert at Wolf Trap, since I was 10 years old. The only summers we did not see them were summers they canceled, one summer I was at camp, and one summer my mom forgot to get tickets, and they were sold out by the time my mom tried to get them. This past summer, less than a month ago, I got to see Peter, Paul sans Mary. The concert was billed as “A Tribute to Mary Travers.” I was sitting in the second row. Peter and Paul waved and smiled at me. Both of them were crying through most of the concert, knowing that their friend was much sicker than they were letting on. Before the concert that night, there was the largest rainbow that I have ever seen. I kid you not, the rainbow went over the Filene center….The WHOLE thing. I still hold that the rainbow was Mary’s rainbow (and m...

Discussions of professionalism always happen when youth workers gather. It's an inevitability. As I was reading my blogs this morning, I came across a blog from Ian, a British youth minister. In a forum he was reading, someone posted the definition of profession. So good, I'm re-posting here. Looking at the 'roots' of such things ... from the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary, we find: Main Entry: pro·fes·sion Pronunciation: \prə-ˈfe-shən\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English professioun, from Anglo-French profession, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin profession-, professio, from Latin, public declaration, from profitēri Date: 13th century 1: the act of taking the vows of a religious community 2: an act of openly declaring or publicly claiming a belief, faith, or opinion : protestation 3: an avowed religious faith 4 a: a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation b: a principal calling, vocation, or employm...

For the second year in a row, I spent the day before the Oscars watching all five best picture nominees. Last year, I blogged about it, and I figured, I should blog about it again! Last year, the commonality between the five films was the fact that each movie didn't end in a perfect way. There was no real story book ending. This year, the commonality was much more concrete. All five were told in flashback form. I was surprised! I was expecting to have to think about the commonality. In the middle of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I realized that the prior 2 had used the same storytelling technique. Then, when Slumdog Millionaire started, I noticed the same thing. I expected Frost/Nixon to not use that technique...I was wrong. I was hoping/wishing for something more profound, but I really think that's it. Milk was the story of Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist, and first openly gay politician. The Reader was the story of a relationship, post WWII. (As a friend...

I did not set up this blog to rant about life. I set up this blog to blog about the things that I am passionate about. (Read my first post to see the short list .) What I am about to say is something that has been mounting for awhile. Please forgive me for ranting. I have been living in a state of transition since Summer of 2005. My life has been a series of temporary stops since the fateful day of 07/06/05. I had a job for a year, then I went to Minnesota for school, graduated in May and now I'm applying for just about anything that I think I can get. If I sat down and counted the number of interviews I have been on, I would cry. I was doing okay for a long time about my lack of job or my lack of permanence. However, the past two weeks, I haven't been doing so well with this. So, gentle reader, I have two requests. Thing #1. Join my cheerleading squad. Encourage me whenever possible. When I start to fall, when I start to get frustrated, remind me that there is possib...

Today is Blog Action Day . I wish I had known about it before I checked Mary Hess' blog this morning. I would have prepared more! The theme is poverty. I'm excited because most of the bloggers that I follow posted something regarding poverty, regardless of the subject of the blog. Most of you know my passion regarding social media. I love how social media connects us. I have friends on Facebook that live 2 miles away, and I have friends that are thousands of miles away. I also have the luxury of cracking open my laptop just about anywhere, and bam...I can chat/monitor/tweet/connect to social media. Also, I have been working with youth on the brink for 2 years, and I currently reside in North Minneapolis. Back in the 1990's Colin Powell and Bill Clinton (among others) coined the term digital divide. The term described the divide between the people who had access technology and those who didn't. This changed from computers in the schools to computers in the home....

I pondered for a long time what to call this post. I've been off the blogging radar since the beginning of May. I have gone through so much...yet at the same time, I haven't. I pondered many titles for this post, one of which was "Clinging to Hope," which I then decided was a rejected campaign slogan of Obama. I'm in a GIANT holding pattern....I'm waiting to take off at the Atlanta Airport, and there's fog....OR...I'm in a giant hallway with a million doors and as I start to walk through an open door, the door slams in my face...OR... I have lots of time to ponder metaphors to explain life right now...All of them have some form of truth to them. There are days when the frustration of where I am in life is oppressive, like yesterday and today. Then the Holy Spirit starts to work in ways that I will never completely understand. People just show up. These are people who love me unconditionally and let's be honest, I don't deser...

The internet is back! Let the rejoicing begin! And my feet hurt. That is all.

So, I am without internet again! I had all these plans for blogging! They are now thwarted! I will be posting my summer reading list very soon...once I finish the list...

A recent Dairy Queen commercial disturbs me at many levels. Thoughts?

Click to Play This is the second draft of my video for class

So, after class, we sat around and talked about various shows that are coming through the Twin Cities. Wicked is coming this next season. There are two shows that have brought me to tears through the tv, Lion King (the Broadway musical) and Wicked. Here are videos from Wicked. The first video is Defying Gravity, which still brings me to tears.

On Sunday night, I had a convergence of three HUGE interests of mine: Broadway, Pop Phenomenon, and Theology. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar. I love that show. I saw it 15ish years ago, with Ted Neeley as Jesus. Ted Neeley plays Jesus in the 1973 film. This tour is being referred to as the "Ted Neeley Farewell Tour." When I saw him in high school , he sounded tired. Last night, he sounded AMAZING. Corey Glover played Judas. Corey Glover was the lead singer of Living Colour. He was amazing as well. Such a good show. I got so much more out of the show now than I did 15 years ago. For starters, I now have 6 years of formal theological education under my belt. I'm also older (and hopefully) wiser. I saw the show with my friend Erica. She had never seen the show before. She talked with her mother before coming and picking me up. Her mother was asking about controversy surrounding the show, specifically the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. When I saw ...

I have been fascinated with the story of Randy Pausch . He's a college professor at Carnegie Mellon University who is dying of pancreatic cancer. His last lecture (which can be watched here ) has become famous, being featured on Oprah and the Today show. His lecture is about saying good bye when you know it's going to happen. His lecture has become a best selling book as well. Jeffery Zaslow is the co-author of the book. He has an interesting op-ed article about co-writing the book. The article can be found here . In the words of Christina Yang from Grey's Anatomy, there is a club of people who lost their parents. My father died when I was 5. It was a month before Kindergarden. It was quite sudden. His story seems like a good way of saying goodbye, along with preserving memories for his young children. I wish I had something like this from my dad.

Grace has been a theme of this week. Grace has been a very visible thing. Grace has come in tangible things! Grace came in my mailbox multiple times! This morning I turned on my TV to watch the Today Show. Neil Diamond was the concert of the morning. He began with "America," in honor of Matt Lauer's "Where in the World?" series. Then he sang a new song. I was shocked (in a good way) with what I heard. The album drops on Tuesday, and when it's released on iTunes, I will be buying this song. What caught me was the second stanza. (love in the midst of chaos, calm in heat of war) The video is available on Amazon, but it's a bad recording. Here are the lyrics. Pretty amazing grace is what You showed me pretty amazing grace is who You are I was an empty vessel You filled me up inside and with amazing grace restored my pride Pretty amazing grace is how You saved me and with amazing grace reclaimed my heart love in the midst of chaos calm in t...

There is absolutely no question that I don't want to graduate. I'm ready to have a break. I will truly miss the community that is here. Today was free Ben and Jerry's Day. After a flurry of phone calls, a friend and I were ready to go. I did a quick run through the dorm to see if anyone else wanted to go. I found one more and brought him along. Once we got to Ben and Jerry's, we realized that the line was FOUR hours long. So, instead, we went and ate dinner a block away. We laughed, we talked about brokenness in the world, and prayer. It was a moment of "Mutual care and consolation." It was a moment where we could pause, have a moment of fun, bear one another's burdens and joys, and eat. Once out in the "real world," things like this won't happen as much. I will miss these impromptu moments of adventure for free Ben and Jerry's. So, after returning to Luther, I came inside with the impromptu friend. He later told people that I ...

I've been following the blogs of two conferences this weekend. One is the Web 2.0 conference being held in San Francisco. The other one is not receiving as much press, ROFLCon . Here's the description of ROFLCon in their own words: Mix up a bunch of super famous internet memes, some brainy academics, a big audience, dump them in Cambridge, MA and you've got ROFLCon. What has been receiving press has been the internet celebrities, like the Bert is Evil guy (it disturbs me because of my extreme love of all things Muppet), Jibjab , and the xkcd guy. Had I known about this conference, I would have gone to it. If they do another one, I am so there. Regardless, one of the posts that has intrigued me greatly was from Wired News. Read the article here . (I'll try to find the full lecture.) She called for a revolution. She called for new media to not be sexist, racist and something to be proud of. The church is in a great position to respond to the revolution in so many wa...

So, today is Earth Day! I've said this before, I'm working on small changes toward wasting less. My two big changes for 2008 has been not using disposable grocery bags and coffee cups. I try to remember to have tote bags and mugs in my car at all times. There are the times when I don't remember to have mugs in my car or I'm at the mall, I do get a disposable cup. I also use the sleeves. I found this knitting pattern online. I can throw it in my bag, and use it when I need it. Amy is making one for me. I'm excited! Coffee cup cozy Thanks to the Knittingbug for the pattern. Just out of curiosity, are there little things that you do to be less wasteful?

I find myself in need of caffeine. A lot. Surprisingly, some blogs I read have made mention of caffeine. For anyone in need of caffeine resources, here you go. The Caffeine Database Better ways to use caffeine Yep, this is where I am now. I don't want to think about how much caffeine is in my system. It's been awhile since I've worked full time in a congregation. This time of year is where I remember self-care. How do we work in congregations and take care of ourselves? I usually swing toward too much self care or no self care. I've never found that balance. How or what are your ideas for self care? What do you do for self care?

So as much as I am looking forward to graduation, I am not looking forward to graduation. There are so many unknowns right now, and well, after graduation, the number of said unknowns will increase exponentially. Some days I'm fine and some days I'm a mess. However, there are many things I'm looking forward to, like being able to do things I want to do. I have a huge list of books I want to read. I love crafty things, especially beading. I haven't been able to bead in a really long time. Right before I came out here I began to learn how to throw pots. I'm not very good, but it was fun and I miss it. Don't even get me started on photography (again, I'm not very good, but it was fun). However, I have been introduced to something receiving more press as of late. What is this you may ask? Plastic bag recycling. Apparently, you can use plastic bags as yarn and crotchet things with it, or you can make "fabric" by fusing 6 bags together with an iron...