Michelle actually didn’t tag me, but I thought it was such a fun glimpse into other’s lives, I stole this meme anyways.  Only rule: be honest, don’t primp and tidy anything before you take the pictures, or bad bloggers karma will follow you forever.  Note: click on thumbnails for larger pics.

1. The fridge: Important things to note are the four different kinds of cheese (we did have five, but just finished off the colby), including two blocks of cheddar, one to eat and one to replace the other one when we run out.

2. My closet: and yes, those are roller skates.  I acquired them at Goodwill and haven’t had the chance to fix them up and wear them, but if I ever need them, there they’ll be.

3. My kitchen sink: I did dishes last night, but had too many cups to fit in the dish drain.  So I stacked them up, and will get around to washing them…eventually.

4. The toilet: how exciting.

5. My favorite shoes: had these for years, most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned.  They’re falling apart now, which makes me sad.

6. My favorite room: bedroom, depicted with new pretty bedspread (on an unmade bed…shame on me) and one of two beautiful charcoal sketches I have by Aldo Luongo.

7. My favorite spot: it’s a tie between my papazan and my piano.

8. My laundry: two baskets of dirty, one of clean I never put in the drawers after folding.  And I definitely need to do laundry.

9. Next room that needs to be cleaned: our table collects papers and miscellanies, as it’s the only desk-ish area either of us have to work.  It’s not a “room”, and doesn’t take long to clean, but it’s probably the most in need of it at this moment.

10. My dream vacation: this is a hard one.  I’m not completely sure if it’s my “dream” or not, but I’d love to go to Central/South America, such as Guatemala (pictures courtesy of dawilson and barnabywasson, under Creative Commons license)

So, there you have it, a quick tour of my life.  And now I get to tag people…hmm.  Stef, Wyman, Carrie, Jordan.  And Diana, you can do this if you want, but we kinda live together, so it’s not mandatory.

Today’s thought, inspired by my daily walk to and from work and the individuals I pass along the way:

I’m astonished at the clothing that some (many, most?) teenage girls are wearing - or rather, the clothing they’re not wearing.  My swimsuit is less revealing than some of the outfits they wear in public, their little clingy cloth shorts and sheer tank tops missing an inch of fabric on both ends.  Even as a female, I’m uncomfortable looking at them, and I have no idea how men manage eye contact.

It’s saddening that they feel that dressing and acting like underdressed oversexed adults is not only acceptable, but necessary to be attractive, popular, even just to exist in the world they live in.  And sadder yet, my generation has played a large part in this disaster.  We’ve declared ourselves grown-up, independent, self-determining adults with no responsibility to anyone.  We wear and say and do what we want because that’s our right we somehow think we’ve earned.  And we never realize the admiring eyes that see everything and want to be just like us.  They’ve learned not only to play our games, but to beat us at them.  And they’re only children.

And now, for your Monday viewing pleasure, I present the finest in entertainment, brought to you by some of your favorite Faculty and Staff.  Looks like this was filmed in 2002, but haven’t been able to get the back story on it.  Any oldtimers want to help shed light on how something this wonderful came into existence?

It’s been three years today since Richard and Charlene Hicks, better known to me simply as Uncle Rich and Aunt Char, went home.  Though not related to our family by blood, they were as dearly loved as any “real” relative could have been.

In 1994, Rich and Char moved to Guyana, where they served for 11 years translating the New Testament into the language of the Wapishana people (numbering over 10,000 today).  On March 30, 2005, they were found brutally murdered at their home in Lethem, Guyana, only a few years before they would have seen the completed New Testament in the hands of the Wapishana people.  Wycliffe Bible Translators continues work on this project today.

Excerpts from a newspaper in Guyana:

At the San Jose ranch, they searched and found the woman’s body in bushes in the kitchen garden. Sources said the key to the vehicle the couple owned was found not too far from her body and it appeared that she tried in vain to flee her attackers who caught and severely beat hear with a heavy piece of wood. Police searched around for her husband but did not find him. But as day broke, they found his charred remains in the rubble of the house, the sources said. Lethem residents, baffled at the motive for the killing, said they were not known to have anything of much value in the humble house they had on the ranch spread and paid for goods and supplies by cheque.  

Uncle Rich and Aunt Char, those who’ve come behind you find you faithful indeed. You are missed.

We could all learn a bit about love from this story from NPR this morning about Julio Diaz, robbed at knifepoint by a teen.  Excerpt:

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm….If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.” 

Reminds me of something else I read somewhere:

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:27-31) 

Tonight is a full lunar eclipse. During such an event, the moon does not turn black, as one might think. To quote NASA, “the Moon’s disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray.” The partial eclipse begins at 8:43 pm EST tonight, with the full eclipse taking place from 10:01 - 10:51 pm EST.

On a second topic: Tonight the United States hopes to shoot down a rogue satellite over the Pacific Ocean. If weather permits, the missile launch will take place somewhere around 10:30 pm EST. Once hit, the satellite will break up into many small pieces which will then burn up in the atmosphere.

On a third topic: One day, according to Revelation 6, the following events will take place. “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”

I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I’m not an End-Times junkie. I have no particular opinion and absolutely nothing to prove. I try to avoid the realm of speculation on matters bigger than I. However, on the off chance the weather is good, and on the off chance that a satellite breaking into chunks and burning up in the sky is a modern-day equivalent of the stars falling to earth, and on the off chance the launch actually takes place during the window of the total eclipse…

We may have a blood-red moon tonight as the stars fall to the earth. No theories on the earthquake. I’ll leave that to my loyal readers.

And regardless of what comes to pass today, tomorrow, or any time during our lifetime, I still don’t mind these little tangible reminders that make the final words of Revelation ring so true:

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Props to the spectacularly wonderful Justin Ladd for his first Super Bowl commercial. As Peracchio reports:

Justin Ladd was in a Superbowl commercial. Well, his voice was. Apparently, Justin sounds a lot like Justin Timberlake and he just happened to be at work while JT was doing ADR for his big Pepsi commercial. The producers hated the way JT screamed, so they opted for Justin to do all voice work for the times when JT had to scream and react to hitting things.