spooky

He's baaAack . . .

My ex-boyfriend has recently decided to pick up communication again. The passive-aggressive kind of course, but a form regardless. It's funny in a sad sort of way. He even thought he could lie again. Silly boy. The "female CIA" has many members and the best agents know to watch each other's backs. Try as he might, he was not successful in retrieving my number.

Is it coincidence that one of my best friends looks like Jennifer Garner? hmmmm . . . ;)

small acts of kindness

Sometimes it's the little things that make a difference. Here is a way that we can help victims of rape. Another way to do what we can.

I really meant to write sooner . . . I did.

I really hate to say this, but Kyan (and whoever said it first) was right . . . a bedroom that’s a disaster is an indication that life is a disaster. Now, being an art student tends to mean that one’s living quarters will be in a state of grand chaos from time to time. Fine. But I can’t take this for extended periods of time anymore. It’s just eerie how much more smoothly things seem to go when my laundry is clean and the floor is vacuumed. It’s not that I was a slob, there was just always a lot of clutter. Just don’t look at the studio. ; )

Elizabethtown is clever, and wonderful in a not over the top sort of way. We laughed through the movie, and it wasn’t because it was crude, crass, moronic, or ridiculous. You know those moments that we’ve all had versions of at some point? The ones that you look back and laugh at? It’s full of those.

I’m still not budging on the dating issue. Life is flexible, but I need to see these commitments through as much for myself as for those people who will one day be a part of my future.

quick note

all is well (enough), lots of new stuff (so stay tuned, so to speak), Elizabethtown is awesome, gay men keep asking me out (yeah, it's odd/funny?) . . . oh, and it's homecoming this weekend.

I'll explain everything later . . .

top five

Here's being honest: I'm a little spent (see entry below) and looking for ways to keep myself occupied other than TV, kleenex, or junk food. So here are some top 5 lists (if you're that bored or curious).

favorite movies that I've watched so many times I've lost track on the count:
1. High Fidelity (ha! irony, no?)
2. Under the Tuscan Sun
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
4. Serendipity
5. Hackers

cities I've been to:
1. Amsterdam
2. Washington, D.C.
3. Haarlem
4. Nashville
5. Iron Town (ok, it was a village, but being in the mountains of Jamaica was just cool)

things I value in my friends:
1. character
2. kindness
3. loyalty
4. sense of humor
5. honesty

things I find attractive in a guy (what I tend to notice physically):
1. eyes (they say alot)
2. smile
3. hair
4. hygene (I'm NOT kidding)
5. height

things that don't bother me in a guy:
1. body type (unless he's over-muscled - that's just gross)
2. hair style (as of recently that even includes dreads, oddly enough)
3. skin color
4. tatoos
5. facial hair

foods:
1. pizza (it gets its own)
2. Japanese
3. Italian
4. Mexican
5. Southern Soul

things that scare me really REALLY bad:
1. the wedding prep scenes from My Big Fat Greek Wedding (and my family isn't Greek or mostly women)
2. escalators (the ones at Hartsfield and Phillips Arena. Ruth can tell you all about it.)
3. snakes
4. heights
5. tests

Kaylee died this afternoon. I'm having a hard time talking about it right now, but I know that some of you would want to know. We're not sure how she got so sick so quickly, but she was a wonderful pet. It's hard right now.

-Meredith

public service note

Due to the volume of e-mails that my little brother and his friends are sending about (and to me apparently) I'm posting this link.

http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

If it seems too good to be true . . . that's right, it probably IS. I've been sending this particular link to all the e-mails on the forwards, but posting here couldn't hurt.

AOL & Microsoft are not going to send you a check, ok? :)

it didn't rain, but we flooded

Sometime around 4:30 this morning my cat woke me up wanting who knows what. That's not unusual for her. However, in my semi-concious state I noticed that my door was closed, but the lights were on out in the hall. Slightly unusual at that hour, but whatever. Then more lights came on. Next thing I know, mother is telling me that the basement is flooded because the new water heater that was installed yesterday was defective. So we spent the next few hours downstairs moving stuff and using the shop vacs to suck water out of the basement and carpeting in the den. We got most of it up, and there's a shiny new de-humidifier sitting downstairs helping us out.

That was the monday morning adventure this week.

It seems like I'm crying all the time now. For a while nothing made me cry, and it almost scared me. I'd want to, but it was like I was so numb that I couldn't. I had been pushing away everything that was hurting me for so long that I just couldn't express anything anymore. It was awful, and also happened to be around a couple of the most difficult, painful years I've known thus far. Anyone who met me in the year after I move back got to know me during the worst couple of years or so of my life. Only they probably didn't know that because there were things that I just couldn't talk about. The fact that some of the friends are still around says alot about who they are.

So now, I'm a basket case when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition comes on, when the girls get together like we used to, or when I admit that I'm just a little bit overwhelmed.

On the other hand, emotional releases tend to mean that I'm much more relaxed and happy the majority of the time. Which I have been. I just still have alot going on right now, and alot of things to take care of.

(quote)

"This life is not about what one can do to make his or her bank account larger, or even beating yourself over the head for having a privileged life. It is, however, about making a difference in the lives of those who do not have hope. I have been blessed with a life of abundance, and it is now my job to go out and share that abundance with those who do not have it." -Bethany Ruth Brown

So you're where you are for a reason. You shouldn't fight it, but be thankful for it, and watchful of how it can benefit others as well.

Just a thought.

live & learn

I did it. Well, almost.

As of tomorrow (or the following day) I will have read all of the currently published Harry Potter novels. Yes, all of them. Some of my friends reading this might be ready to start lecturing about all sorts of dangers. However, having READ the books . . . the Left Behind series is more dangerous. Seriously. Sorry, hate to break it to you, but it's true. Harry has some decent morals, aside from some typical adolescent issues. But honestly, I remember youth group, and we weren't much better. Remember the giant frog and the pastor's toilet? (well, ok . . . IN) We even had the fireworks! Patrick should remember this, I think he actually did it. I distinctly remember chasing the frog around the grounds with half the team.

The whole uproar in the Christian community a while back over these books seems to be a pattern of late. Everyone gets all freaked out over a STUPID argument, gets all distracted, and goes on a witch hunt. (yes that was intentional) The point is, Tolkien and Lewis had people running around doing "magic" in their stories and no one seems to have a problem with it.

I got caught up in the whole thing as well a few years back. But then again, I was also caught up in a certain organization that was a LITTLE over the top about some things. The books are not for everyone, but they're not a threat.

Now, go be nice to your neighbor . . . NOW. :)

reading

I'm finishing up a couple of books, including one that I started to read six(?) years ago. Wow, it has been that long. oops! This one book is titled The Power of Femininity by Michelle McKinney Hammond. Some of what she's got to say is really good, some a little "?" and so forth. It goes into warnings about how women has the capacity to influence men into things that turn out really REALLY badly. She's not one of the modern feminists (i.e. all men are scum and must be crushed), but more along the lines of yes, women and men are very different, but the bot sexes have alot to bring to the table because of this. That's some of what I remember from the last time I read any of it.

Also up is Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship by Colin Duriez and The Small Rain by Madeleine L'Engle. The novel By L'Engle is the first of two books. I didn't realize this until well into the second one.

I finished Walk On: The spiritual Journey of U2 by Steve Stockman recently, and it's a great read if you're a fan.

(venting)

I just stumbled across something . . . and it really makes me want to tell the jerk off. Why did I ever let him kiss me EVER? The guy is stating to all the world that there was never even anything going on.

But I saw Serenity tonight, and it was great. Well worth the wait. Borrow or rent the series (Firefly) and go see the movie. Trust me, it's well worth it, especially if you enjoy anything remotely sci-fi. Or just fiction for that matter.

journal

I don't know what to call this one, but it's going to come out like a journal entry I suppose.

Let's start with the past week. Intense would be an appropriate descriptive. But then again, I'm sitting here typing this fighting off another migraine, so it could also be a theme. Second one in a week. The spiritual tides have become increasingly noticeable lately, which confirmed my suspicions as to why my body craved certain foods (proteins mostly) over the last week. When you go into warfare mode, it happens. It's amazing what we can go through without actually realizing what's happening. I heard this one pastor say over and over that he was one of those who believed that there wasn't one, but a thousand demons behind every bush. Well, if that's true, then
there are at least twice as many angels around. I think we're covered. Not that we should be foolish, but the outcome has already been settled. Just think of the interim as a series of tasks to be completed.

And then there's school. It's great, but more of a challenge now in different ways. As much as self-expression is harped on, one of my professors basically told me mine was wrong. "Your work is a little quiet, I want to see it louder." What? That's the point of this period in my work. The contemplative aspect, the attention to relational aspects, and how I'm interpreting them. I'm going to paraphrase another professor in "shocking is overdone." What if we're so shocked that we've forgotten how to feel? So exposed that nothing affects us anymore? If I could, I'd spend time every evening sitting on the beach with nothing but waves and wind. For now the woods are my ocean.

This weekend was wonderful, from seeing friends friday night, sleeping in saturday morning, and so much fun with more friends last night (although I may have overdone some of it). The Bearfoot Hooker shows are just so much fun. There was dancing upstairs and down. Now, it was a bit of fight to get to church this morning (headache and all), but well worth that.