May 4, 2008
Well. It’s Sunday now and my paper is due tomorrow and I’m thinking I’m going to start writing just as soon as I post this. So much for my grand plan to write it before the weekend. But after that sad afternoon of not knowing what to do with myself, probably just as well; I mean, what would I have done with a whole weekend and no school work?? I can’t even imagine.
Anyway, since I am once again procrastinating a paper, I have, of course, been reading the New York Times online instead. And, I came across this op-ed piece from 1996 that was run as an op-classic this morning. Adam and I have lots of conversations about whether or not we will “need” a second car when we move to California; and, if we do, might we let him buy a vespa instead. All of these are purely hypothetical lines of thought since we have no idea where we’ll be living or how far we’ll need to be commuting. But, this piece captures some of my feelings on the subject, albeit with some added anger.
I don’t have so much anger about having to use a car as resignation and small flames of hope that one day it will no longer be needed. Admittedly, we could use the car a lot less than we do, we tend to use it more as a means of convenience than out of necessity, but it’s so ingrained that it’s hard to get over the small inconveniences of having to walk, bike, or wait on public transportation.
All this to say that my hope is we’ll find an apartment near the subway line so we can use more public transportation and less car, but who knows … idealism rarely trumps practicality in my world.
Posted in life by Sarah 
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April 29, 2008
When classes ended last Friday I had two papers to write. One was a 12-15 page paper and one was a 4-5 page paper. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the longer one was due today at noon, giving me only three and a half days to research and write the paper. The shorter paper is not due until Monday. My initial thought was to do the first one, take an afternoon off and then begin the second one tomorrow and hopefully finish by Thursday, so as to be done a whole four days early. But, I turned in my first paper this morning and I have to tell you I feel a bit at loose ends. I’m not entirely sure what to do with myself.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are LOTS of things to be done. We are moving in a month after all; and all of these things sounded very appealing yesterday when I had to write my paper (I mean, who wouldn’t rather run errands, buy rubbermaid storage containers, or clean out their clothes when the alternative is struggling through a paper?). But this afternoon, with a free and clear evening in front of me, none of those things sound the least bit appealing. They all take quite a bit of effort when you really think about it.
Yet, neither do I want to watch TV, which is a very bizarre anomaly that has been worrying about my health and sanity. I watched the episode of House from last night and we finished The Fugitive over lunch and nothing else on the TiVo really grabs my attention. Whereas yesterday, yesterday it all sounded so delightful. This sounds rather whiny, but to be honest, I’m not really complaining, I’m just wondering about this annoying phenomenon. It’s not entirely like the grass is greener on the other side (I definitely do not wish I was still writing a long, boring paper), but it’s kind of close. Maybe the things I can’t have just are so much more appealing for being unattainable …
Anyway, back to my couch sitting.
Posted in random thoughts by Sarah 2 Comments »
April 27, 2008
Apparently beginning to blog again provides procrastination not only to me (and readers), but also to Adam, who spent last night and this morning fixing things for me and finally doing the ‘muses’ page, which he has been promising to do f o r e v e r. I’m guess he might say it’s not procrastination because he really would be writing those papers if not for my interrupting him and making him fix my blog. But, let’s be honest. At the moment he is trying to make a TiVo widget work on his computer and while that is very handy - does it really need to be done now? No. But. I do think between the two of us we could/should win some kind of procrastination award because we are amazing at it.
Anyway, you can see the changes to the blog here, where my favorite books are now pictured and there are links to websites I enjoy, including a link to books I want to read but don’t own, in case you want to buy me a present for helping you procrastinate. And you can search on the sidebar now. And the archives structure has changed. And soon there will be tags and categories you can click on to link you to similar posts of interest. Good deal huh?
Okay, back to work now …
Posted in blog, books by Sarah 7 Comments »
April 26, 2008
I am trying to write my second-to-last “final” paper this weekend, but am finding myself both bored by it and completely apathetic about the whole school situation, which is perhaps a bad sign for the next few years of even more schooling. Yet, I am forcing myself to go to the library and at least sit in front of my computer and books with the hope that staring at it for long enough will either inspire me to write or convince me that if I would just finish I could leave. The downfall of this plan is the internet, which is good for study breaks, but bad for study apathy. All of this to say I was reading the news online this morning, while trying to avoid my paper, and came across this article in the New York Times about the persecution of atheists in the army and the culture of evangelical Christianity that is so prevalent in the armed forces. On the one hand, this didn’t particularly surprise me - I read it and found it to fit my stereotypes of both the army and evangelical Christians as a little bit crazy/absurd (you pick the word); so, if both are a little nuts, from my way of thinking, why wouldn’t they be conjoined?
And then I thought about it some more and I thought, wait a minute, does this mean that evangelical Christians are in the army because of their faith? Are they connected? Is this another manifestation of Manifest Destiny? Is there a prevalent belief among those serving that God is leading them into battle or calling them to protect our fair land with arms? And if so, is this so very different from those in Islam who are fighting for that very reason but are called terrorists?
I will admit to being a little brain-dead from staring at my computer and books for so long, and I am quite hungry at the moment, which has always been known to impair my judgment, so perhaps I am missing something obvious, in which case you can feel free to go ahead and point it out in the comments. Or perhaps you were already aware of this in which case you can shame me for not keeping up with the news (normally I procrastinate with TV, hence this library sit-in). Either way - there you have it.
Posted in news, religion by Sarah 7 Comments »
October 25, 2007
I know I haven’t blogged much and for those of you who have missed it, I apologize. And, I don’t have any intention of blogging at the moment. I just want to put something in the public domain so it is on the record.
Date: October 25, 2007
Time: 10:19pm
Fact: My husband, Adam Walker Cleaveland, in listing off the litany of chores he no longer wanted to perform mentioned taking care of the dog; after which he said (and I quote), “I’ll clean up her messes inside, I don’t mind, I just don’t want to take care of her anymore.”
Leaving aside his loss of love for the dog, for which you may feel free to berate him, there is a cheerful atmosphere in the house tonight as I relish all the future dog pee in the house I will no longer have to clean up.
Should he go back on his word, which he is desperately trying to do at this very moment, we shall all know the date and time of this proclamation and hold him to it. Life just got a little bit better.
Posted in Dog, life, marriage by Sarah 7 Comments »
October 2, 2007
There are books that are amazing to listen to on CD and books that are better read. Saving the World by Julia Alvarez is the latter. We listened to this book on our way out to Idaho in August and while I enjoyed the story, I had to agree with Adam that it was quite slow and I probably could have stopped halfway through without losing any sleep over the ending.
The book tells the story of Alma, an author trying fairly unsuccessfully to write a new novel, and her husband, Richard who is away on a business trip trying to save the world. Intertwined with Alma’s chronicle is the story she is writing of an historical attempt to save the world from smallpox. The two stories wrap around one another in mutually enlightening ways, but the story as a whole drags, seems a bit unrealistic, and fails to make its point in an impressive way.
All in all, I have to say it is probably a book you could live without reading. But, since the rest of Alvarez’s books are quite good, perhaps it would be worth a read with the actual book where you could read a bit faster than listening to someone read it for you.
Posted in books, reviews by Sarah No Comments »
September 26, 2007
Update: Well, I had my third appointment with the optometrist at Sears and am back to glasses for a few weeks as they order a different brand and strength of contact for me. I’ll let you know how it works out …
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When I was younger, I thought glasses and braces were the coolest things ever. Or, if not the coolest things ever, pretty darn close. I don’t think I actually knew what either of them were for, but they definitely meant you were old or smart or both and I wanted both.
Oh the age of innocence, it is so short.
I got braces when I started high school and got them off the day before senior pictures. Four years had irrevocably cured me of my delusions of orthodontics, though not without significant growing pains.
I finally got my second wish, glasses, after my first summer in seminary (I choose to blame all the little funny marks in Greek that make you squint so frequently). And, like braces, I quickly realized glasses are not all they’re cracked up to be. While admittedly slightly more stylish than braces, I continually forgot them when I needed them, put them down without remembering where and hated having to crane my neck all the way up or down simply to read something through the lenses.
So, since it’s been three years since my first eye exam, I decided that perhaps it was time for a check-up (that and the frequent headaches and not being able to read street signs until I had passed them). That was a week and $150 ago (for the eye exam and trial pair). Let me tell you about how much I dislike contacts. It continually feels like something is in my eye, which is annoying all the time, it often blurs and itches causing me to rub it causing it to blur more causing me to rub it again and you can see the cycle developing. It’s a pain in the butt to put in and take out (though I can do it much faster now than a week ago). And my vision is still often blurry, I still have headaches (even more now) and my reading is not that much better.
I much preferred the days before painful and expensive things were done to my face.
Posted in health, life by Sarah 5 Comments »
September 23, 2007
Classes started this past Wednesday, which means, among other things, that my to-do list has morphed - rather than containing all the shows on our TiVo I haven’t gotten around to yet, it now is a page full of readings and administrative details. All of the sudden Calvin is more important than House and I have to admit I’m a little saddened by the change. But, I knew it was coming, so now there is only the matter of getting it done.
On tap are the whole of the Institutes by Calvin, a philosophy class on theology (what makes a theology good, etc), Practicing the Presence of God (and learning about the history of spirituality), and a thesis on something to do with theology of the Spirit and spirituality (right now I’m reading Spirituality and History by Philip Sheldrake).
Meanwhile I’m still working at the seminary doing filing and other such exciting things, and teaching Adult Sunday School at a local church, which seems like a good way to stay a little grounded.
So, there you have it. The first half week is done only 11 and a half weeks to go before the next semester starts …
Posted in books, life, school, spirituality, theology by Sarah No Comments »
September 19, 2007
If you win, feel free to share your gift certificate with me … Patagonia is a very “green-friendly” company AND has very enviable clothing.
The National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs is sponsoring a photo contest—On God’s Wild Land. Share with us a photo and your experiences working on, volunteering, or enjoying public lands and God’s creation. We will select a winner to receive a gift certificate from Patagonia. Contest Deadline: Friday, October 31, 2007. Please visit http://www.nccecojustice.org/godswildland.html for details. To learn more about wilderness issues and the value to our Christian faith, download our education resource Out of the Wilderness: Building Christian Faith and Keeping God’s Creation. (www.nccecojustice.org/wildbounce.html )
Posted in eco-green, faith by Sarah No Comments »
September 14, 2007
Remember the days back when you got out of school for Rosh Hashanah? I loved that - getting off for religious holidays I didn’t celebrate. All my friends had to go to synagogue and I got to stay home. Oh back when … I suppose it’s hard to complain about not having off when classes haven’t even started yet. Speaking of which, any time now - everyone else has been in school forever, give me some freaking classes so I can complain about them later.
In the meantime, in case you need a study or work break and you’re waiting on someone to make their move in Scrabulous (the most fabulous new facebook game that lets you play scrabble with your friends online and makes having facebook TOTALLY worth it now), you can watch these videos in honor of Rosh Hashanah, which has effectively passed by now (if my Jewish cultural heritage memory serves me correctly). [Do you sometimes wonder if I could possibly squeeze more words into a sentence just to make them a teeny tiny bit longer than the monstrosities that they already are?]
This is the Rosh Hashanah video, but before you watch it, you should watch this video because it is the inspiration and this video which is an interview with the actress in that video, AND THEN the Rosh Hashanah video will be really funny since it is a response.
Posted in funny, movies, politics, religion, school by Sarah 5 Comments »
