Alright, now the funny and kind of disturbing story from yesterday. I was headed to BART. As I approached the station I could also see a couple approaching, a man helping a woman who clearly had a mobility issue. So I passed them, go through the turnstile, and then head down the escalator. So I'm standing on the platform and I look up and see the couple that I had passed. The woman was falling down and the man was trying to get her up but was not having any success and they were getting closer to the bottom. I run over and help the woman up but by that time the man is falling, I'm struggling to keep from falling down myself. I get her off the escalator and the man gets up. The man says thank you. Then the train comes and as we are standing waiting for the doors of the train to open the man hits the woman on the top of the head. He hit her on the top of the head! Now I thought it was a playful kind of hit on the head. But then as we were riding the train I could hear him yelling at her in what was some obvious slavic language, possibly Russian. (I don't know I don't really speak Russian or some other slavic language.) If this had been a "ripped from the headlines" episode of Law and Order I would have thought they were members of the Russian mafia.
So I felt like I did a good deed. Particularly after the incident a few weeks ago when I told the story about woman falling down the escalator and feeling good about the person helping her up. But then it was just weird when he started yelling at her.
Which brings to the most important part of this post: For God's sakes when you ride an escalator be very careful!
Peace out!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
#@!%$ Cancer!!!! Part II
My brother got a pet scan result showing that the tumors that had been stable have begun to spread again. His doctor suggested that he call in hospice but also had one more option which my brother has opted for. He will receive a treatment every three weeks for the next nine weeks. At that point they will reassess and if it the tumors are shrinking they will continue the treatment. If it is not then they will stop treatment--essentially this is his last option.
At this point I'm just feeling like this is really inconvenient. I was beginning to feel like my sabbatical plans were getting sorted out and then this big, big unknown. Now here is the thing I know that death is just inconvenient. It just is. And it just will be. I also realize that I can't just cancel all my plans because he could live a day or a year. No one knows. It is just really hard to be in such limbo.
I don't really know what I'm thinking. I feel like I've been preparing myself for this but at the same time I'm not at all prepared to deal with this. And I know that I just will not know what to do because I've never been through this before. So my hope is to just try and feel it and trust that I'll know what to do when I need to act. THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow I'm going to write about an escalator experience--but today is not the day.
At this point I'm just feeling like this is really inconvenient. I was beginning to feel like my sabbatical plans were getting sorted out and then this big, big unknown. Now here is the thing I know that death is just inconvenient. It just is. And it just will be. I also realize that I can't just cancel all my plans because he could live a day or a year. No one knows. It is just really hard to be in such limbo.
I don't really know what I'm thinking. I feel like I've been preparing myself for this but at the same time I'm not at all prepared to deal with this. And I know that I just will not know what to do because I've never been through this before. So my hope is to just try and feel it and trust that I'll know what to do when I need to act. THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow I'm going to write about an escalator experience--but today is not the day.
Monday, January 28, 2008
My new straight boyfriend.
Okay I have a lot to share in today's blog. First I have a new straight boyfriend. Although, I really don't want to give up my other straight boyfriend, my best friend Mark. So I think I'll have to work out some polygamous straight boyfriend arrangement. Anyway, my new straight boyfriend is my friend Hans, my friend Amy's husband who spent the night here Saturday night on his way to Sacramento for a conference. Now before you or Amy gets worried he is not my boyfriend in the conventional sense of the word or the "sleep over" sense of the word. He slept on the sofa. He is my new straight boyfriend for two very big reasons
(1) He is an excellent folder--not folder as in holder of papers but instead folder in the sense of folder of linens. I didn't have to refold my linens that he used before I put them back up in the closet Not the sheet linens they were washed after he slept on them. Lest any you want to come and visit and are afraid you would have to sleep on used sheets. But I mean the quilts and blankets. Normally I would have refolded them, not necessarily because they were folded too poorly, but instead because I'm anal retentive and need things done a certain way. But I didn't have to do that. They were beautiful. I just put them right up in the closet. and the (2) reason is: He squeeged my shower doors after he showered. I don't even squeegee the shower doors. I have a squeegee in there because I once recognized the need to do that after every shower but only did it once. But I got in the shower this morning and the doors were sparkling. And I could tell that the squeegee had been used because it was slightly askew of where it normally stays. Seriously, I mean what more could I ask for. Well alright there are few other things I could ask for, but not in a straight boyfriend. I also would like to now place an order for Hans but in gay.
Speaking of Hans, he and I ate at a French bistro just down the street from the house. The food was delicious, but the service kind of sucked. They did take my number and say we'll call you when we have a table which was nice since we didn't have a reservation and they could have just said you'll have to wait. But the problem arose when after about 15 minutes we still hadn't had our order taken. Which it was a busy restaurant so I would not have minded had our waitress not walked past our table and took the order of the people who sat down a good 5 minutes after us. So I politely touched our waitress on the shoulder, an action that she ignored until she was good and ready to then approach our table. And after that it was all over, plus we didn't order in French. Now here is the thing if we were in French and I didn't attempt to speak French in a restaurant I would expect rude service. But we were not. We were in San Francisco where as far as I know the official language is still English. So I'll probably go back because the food was really good, but I'm hoping for a different waitress the next time.
Just a few more quick things: Yesterday when I went into church someone's intermittent windshield wipers were on even though the car was turned off and no one was in it. When I came out of the church at 12:30, 4 hours later, the windshield wipers were still going. That is some tough battery.
I have a decaying rodent in my bedroom wall. Yuck! And you just have to let it run its course. Fortunately I've been cooking all day so it has masked the odor, but it will be back.
Finally, yesterday during our concerns and celebrations time in worship one of my members who comes to church every week stoned shared about trying to raise birds (He comments on the birds every week during concerns and celebrations.) but this week he added that his birds were cannabalistic. What?!? I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
Alright, the gays will be here soon for dinner.
Peace out!
(1) He is an excellent folder--not folder as in holder of papers but instead folder in the sense of folder of linens. I didn't have to refold my linens that he used before I put them back up in the closet Not the sheet linens they were washed after he slept on them. Lest any you want to come and visit and are afraid you would have to sleep on used sheets. But I mean the quilts and blankets. Normally I would have refolded them, not necessarily because they were folded too poorly, but instead because I'm anal retentive and need things done a certain way. But I didn't have to do that. They were beautiful. I just put them right up in the closet. and the (2) reason is: He squeeged my shower doors after he showered. I don't even squeegee the shower doors. I have a squeegee in there because I once recognized the need to do that after every shower but only did it once. But I got in the shower this morning and the doors were sparkling. And I could tell that the squeegee had been used because it was slightly askew of where it normally stays. Seriously, I mean what more could I ask for. Well alright there are few other things I could ask for, but not in a straight boyfriend. I also would like to now place an order for Hans but in gay.
Speaking of Hans, he and I ate at a French bistro just down the street from the house. The food was delicious, but the service kind of sucked. They did take my number and say we'll call you when we have a table which was nice since we didn't have a reservation and they could have just said you'll have to wait. But the problem arose when after about 15 minutes we still hadn't had our order taken. Which it was a busy restaurant so I would not have minded had our waitress not walked past our table and took the order of the people who sat down a good 5 minutes after us. So I politely touched our waitress on the shoulder, an action that she ignored until she was good and ready to then approach our table. And after that it was all over, plus we didn't order in French. Now here is the thing if we were in French and I didn't attempt to speak French in a restaurant I would expect rude service. But we were not. We were in San Francisco where as far as I know the official language is still English. So I'll probably go back because the food was really good, but I'm hoping for a different waitress the next time.
Just a few more quick things: Yesterday when I went into church someone's intermittent windshield wipers were on even though the car was turned off and no one was in it. When I came out of the church at 12:30, 4 hours later, the windshield wipers were still going. That is some tough battery.
I have a decaying rodent in my bedroom wall. Yuck! And you just have to let it run its course. Fortunately I've been cooking all day so it has masked the odor, but it will be back.
Finally, yesterday during our concerns and celebrations time in worship one of my members who comes to church every week stoned shared about trying to raise birds (He comments on the birds every week during concerns and celebrations.) but this week he added that his birds were cannabalistic. What?!? I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
Alright, the gays will be here soon for dinner.
Peace out!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
My sermon for tomorrow
Okay, as requested I'm posting my sermon for tomorrow. Now let me remind you that this is the draft I'll finish up tomorrow morning. So there are bound to be misspellings and also I'll add to and take away I'm sure somethings. But this is what I've got.
My Dad likes to tell this story. I was probably 8 or 9 years old and he took me and I’m assuming my brother out fishing on the boat. My father has always been a fisher and as far back as I can remember we always has a fishing boat, distinguished in my mind form a ski boat which was always the kind of boat I really wanted. So anyway he took us out fishing and after a while I reeled in a big fish—I’m guessing 5 or 6 pounds which was pretty big for the lake fish that we were fishing for. After that one fish I was ready to go in. I was finished. I really didn’t like fishing and honestly still don’t like fishing. One of the reasons was that we weren’t allowed to talk because it would scare the fish away. Now I don’t really know if that is true or just my Dad’s way of keeping a precocious 8 year old quiet. Either way you can imagine this not going over well with me. The other part though that I dislike when it comes to fishing is baiting a hook and then having to get that fish off the hook when it is finally reeled in. I find it pretty disgusting to have to dig into a worm or a minnow or shrimp—although, oddly enough I have no problem with slicing into a plump juicy cooked shrimp. But when it is alive I have a bit of an issue. And then getting that slimy fish in the boat and reaching into its mouth to dig out a hook. Oh no! I don’t want anything to do with that. But my Dad loves to tell the story of when I caught the biggest fish and then wanted to come in. My brother has always been the one to fish with my dad.
In turn I was never really able to connect with my Dad like my brother has. And my Dad didn’t really understand the kid who was into piano and acting. When I was in college I started watching college basketball and football and professional baseball. I know this was largely because that would give me something to talk to my Dad about. And it has worked for the most part. I can almost always get him to at least talk for a little while about sports. Now sometimes I have to fake my knowledge but I know that this is one way that I can connect with him. I can meet him where he is in hopes that he might try to connect with mine.
And I think that is what Jesus was doing in today’s gospel reading. Because I don’t think he was saying that they were going to be literally fishers of people. As I said up above fishing can be a pretty gruesome approach. And it often involves tricking a fish to bite onto the hook. Or in the case of the nets it plucks fish up out of the water who weren’t really looking to be plucked up. Because as much as my Dad loves fishing I’ve never met a fish that loved being caught. It is rare that a fish just jumps into the boat and lays waiting to be filleted and served up for someone’s dinner. And it is far too easy to take the metaphor too far and many of our Christian brothers and sisters have taken the metaphor too far. Looking for the just the right bait to lure someone into Christian. The right net that will keep people from breaking out. Or those that would force people into the boat through a state sanctioned religion. Those who want the fish to submit dead or alive. No I can’t imagine Jesus meant that Simon and Andrew would use the same techniques for discipleship that they had been using to catch fish.
Instead Jesus was talking their language, he was coming to them first. He was finding a way to connect. A way to engage in their lives so that they might engage in his. He was doing what many of the political candidates tried to do in Iowa and New Hampshire. Not now, not when they are trying to campaign in 26 states at a time, but when they had time to focus their efforts on one state with a small number of residents. They were able to really get out and meet and interact with people. And often what they tried to do was to talk their language. They went to supermarkets and gas stations, restaurants and gyms, churches and synagogues—all the places that people gathered. And they also often engaged in tasks that the people they were meeting were engaged in. They did just about everything from bagging groceries to helping at a hospital. My friend Nancy who lives in New Hampshire was going to try and get Mike Huckabee to shovel her sidewalk. I don’t think she was successful but these are the things that they did to connect with people. Now for many of the politicians I think these were just photo opportunities rather than a genuine desire to connect and now it is all about the crowds coming to them. They are hoping that people will come to them so that they don’t have to go to them. But not Jesus he was going out in a genuine desire to connect with these fishermen. Because while most of us have no delusion that one of the people running for president are really like us, these fishermen believe that Jesus really was one of them. He made the connection, a connection so great that they left their nets behind and followed him. I know this had to be so, because I’m not dropping what I’m doing to follow Hillary Clinton or Rudy Guillani around the country or I guess in Rudy’s case around Florida. But these boat workers did. They left family and friends and all they had to follow this person who was like them and promised that they would become fisher of people. And what they say when they followed this stranger become friend was teaching and healing, proclamation of the good news.
Last week I talked about a book I had read called Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg. I want to say a little bit more because I think it aids our discussion today. Borg says that there are three driving stories in the Bible that encapsulate Old Testament theology and influenced the people of the New Testament, stories that were the only stories that Jesus would have known. And are the stories that have largely shaped the church’s understanding of who Jesus is. The first is the story of the Exodus. The story of Moses leading the Isrealites out of the slavery of Egypt. A story that talks of God’s deliverance of the people from bondage. This is a story that is told over and over. And it is easy for us to see how that has been reflected in an understanding to Jesus has the one to lead us out of bondage, out of slavery. We no longer have to live under the rule of Pharoah. We know that our allegiance lies somewhere else. I also get how important this image of Jesus is. For many of us have been slave to something, alcohol, drugs, sex, our families, the closet. Yes many of us need Jesus to be a new Moses offering to lead us out of bondage.
The second story is the priestly story. The story that I alluded to last week. The priestly story is probably the most popular, and by that the one that has been most passed down in our liturgy and in popular theology. The idea that there was a priestly line that would offer sacrifice for the impure people so that they could be reconciled with God. They would make the sacrifice for all the people. This is a prominent image of Jesus. Jesus took on the sins of the world so that we could be reconciled with the Creator. The idea that there is nothing we can do that can separate us from the love of God. Because no matter what we have done we are forgiven because Christ has taken on our sins. This is such an important image for those of us who feel so unworthy, so unlovable because of what we are or what we have done. This image of Christ says you are lovable, you are worthy. And you can leave behind all that self hatred and live a new life, a new way.
The third story that we have talked a little bit about in the last 3 or 4 months is the story of the Exile, not the Exodus but the Exile. The Exile was the Babylonian take over of Isreal and the exile and dispersion of its people. For the Isrealites the necessity was to know that God was with them in exile as God was when they were in Isreal. They needed to notice and have God revealed to them. This image of Jesus reveals to the people many things: Jesus revealed what God was like, Jesus revealed God’s presence with us humans, that God was not an impersonal God but one who understood the struggles of humanity. Also Jesus revealed a light, a light pointing us home out of the darkness that we are living in. Jesus reveals a way to God, path that leads us into a deeper spiritual walk with the Divine. One can see how this image is for the person who has discovered the forgiveness that God offers and yet seeks something deeper than a constant forgiveness of sins.
All of these images are needed because we are all in different places. We need Jesus to meet us where we are. And there are bound to be even more. Because we aren’t all fishers. We aren’t all in the same need for healing the Jesus offered these early disciples. But the good news is that Jesus meets us where we are, he casts a net that is broad and open. One that is inviting and seeks to form real connections. And then sends us out to offer the same invitation to the rest of the world, to people whoever they are wherever they are. If Jesus were meeting you today what he might say to call you out of your boat: Follow me you bankers and I’ll make you bank human life! Follow me you carpernters and contractors and I’ll make you builders of God’s realm. Follow me you librarians and I’ll make you collectors of God’s people. “Follow me, you friends, you parents, you children, you siblings, you neighbors, you strangers, you hosts and guests, and I will make you all these things—to every other human being!” (Anna Carter Florence, Preaching Matthew from www.goodpreacher.com.) Amen.
My Dad likes to tell this story. I was probably 8 or 9 years old and he took me and I’m assuming my brother out fishing on the boat. My father has always been a fisher and as far back as I can remember we always has a fishing boat, distinguished in my mind form a ski boat which was always the kind of boat I really wanted. So anyway he took us out fishing and after a while I reeled in a big fish—I’m guessing 5 or 6 pounds which was pretty big for the lake fish that we were fishing for. After that one fish I was ready to go in. I was finished. I really didn’t like fishing and honestly still don’t like fishing. One of the reasons was that we weren’t allowed to talk because it would scare the fish away. Now I don’t really know if that is true or just my Dad’s way of keeping a precocious 8 year old quiet. Either way you can imagine this not going over well with me. The other part though that I dislike when it comes to fishing is baiting a hook and then having to get that fish off the hook when it is finally reeled in. I find it pretty disgusting to have to dig into a worm or a minnow or shrimp—although, oddly enough I have no problem with slicing into a plump juicy cooked shrimp. But when it is alive I have a bit of an issue. And then getting that slimy fish in the boat and reaching into its mouth to dig out a hook. Oh no! I don’t want anything to do with that. But my Dad loves to tell the story of when I caught the biggest fish and then wanted to come in. My brother has always been the one to fish with my dad.
In turn I was never really able to connect with my Dad like my brother has. And my Dad didn’t really understand the kid who was into piano and acting. When I was in college I started watching college basketball and football and professional baseball. I know this was largely because that would give me something to talk to my Dad about. And it has worked for the most part. I can almost always get him to at least talk for a little while about sports. Now sometimes I have to fake my knowledge but I know that this is one way that I can connect with him. I can meet him where he is in hopes that he might try to connect with mine.
And I think that is what Jesus was doing in today’s gospel reading. Because I don’t think he was saying that they were going to be literally fishers of people. As I said up above fishing can be a pretty gruesome approach. And it often involves tricking a fish to bite onto the hook. Or in the case of the nets it plucks fish up out of the water who weren’t really looking to be plucked up. Because as much as my Dad loves fishing I’ve never met a fish that loved being caught. It is rare that a fish just jumps into the boat and lays waiting to be filleted and served up for someone’s dinner. And it is far too easy to take the metaphor too far and many of our Christian brothers and sisters have taken the metaphor too far. Looking for the just the right bait to lure someone into Christian. The right net that will keep people from breaking out. Or those that would force people into the boat through a state sanctioned religion. Those who want the fish to submit dead or alive. No I can’t imagine Jesus meant that Simon and Andrew would use the same techniques for discipleship that they had been using to catch fish.
Instead Jesus was talking their language, he was coming to them first. He was finding a way to connect. A way to engage in their lives so that they might engage in his. He was doing what many of the political candidates tried to do in Iowa and New Hampshire. Not now, not when they are trying to campaign in 26 states at a time, but when they had time to focus their efforts on one state with a small number of residents. They were able to really get out and meet and interact with people. And often what they tried to do was to talk their language. They went to supermarkets and gas stations, restaurants and gyms, churches and synagogues—all the places that people gathered. And they also often engaged in tasks that the people they were meeting were engaged in. They did just about everything from bagging groceries to helping at a hospital. My friend Nancy who lives in New Hampshire was going to try and get Mike Huckabee to shovel her sidewalk. I don’t think she was successful but these are the things that they did to connect with people. Now for many of the politicians I think these were just photo opportunities rather than a genuine desire to connect and now it is all about the crowds coming to them. They are hoping that people will come to them so that they don’t have to go to them. But not Jesus he was going out in a genuine desire to connect with these fishermen. Because while most of us have no delusion that one of the people running for president are really like us, these fishermen believe that Jesus really was one of them. He made the connection, a connection so great that they left their nets behind and followed him. I know this had to be so, because I’m not dropping what I’m doing to follow Hillary Clinton or Rudy Guillani around the country or I guess in Rudy’s case around Florida. But these boat workers did. They left family and friends and all they had to follow this person who was like them and promised that they would become fisher of people. And what they say when they followed this stranger become friend was teaching and healing, proclamation of the good news.
Last week I talked about a book I had read called Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg. I want to say a little bit more because I think it aids our discussion today. Borg says that there are three driving stories in the Bible that encapsulate Old Testament theology and influenced the people of the New Testament, stories that were the only stories that Jesus would have known. And are the stories that have largely shaped the church’s understanding of who Jesus is. The first is the story of the Exodus. The story of Moses leading the Isrealites out of the slavery of Egypt. A story that talks of God’s deliverance of the people from bondage. This is a story that is told over and over. And it is easy for us to see how that has been reflected in an understanding to Jesus has the one to lead us out of bondage, out of slavery. We no longer have to live under the rule of Pharoah. We know that our allegiance lies somewhere else. I also get how important this image of Jesus is. For many of us have been slave to something, alcohol, drugs, sex, our families, the closet. Yes many of us need Jesus to be a new Moses offering to lead us out of bondage.
The second story is the priestly story. The story that I alluded to last week. The priestly story is probably the most popular, and by that the one that has been most passed down in our liturgy and in popular theology. The idea that there was a priestly line that would offer sacrifice for the impure people so that they could be reconciled with God. They would make the sacrifice for all the people. This is a prominent image of Jesus. Jesus took on the sins of the world so that we could be reconciled with the Creator. The idea that there is nothing we can do that can separate us from the love of God. Because no matter what we have done we are forgiven because Christ has taken on our sins. This is such an important image for those of us who feel so unworthy, so unlovable because of what we are or what we have done. This image of Christ says you are lovable, you are worthy. And you can leave behind all that self hatred and live a new life, a new way.
The third story that we have talked a little bit about in the last 3 or 4 months is the story of the Exile, not the Exodus but the Exile. The Exile was the Babylonian take over of Isreal and the exile and dispersion of its people. For the Isrealites the necessity was to know that God was with them in exile as God was when they were in Isreal. They needed to notice and have God revealed to them. This image of Jesus reveals to the people many things: Jesus revealed what God was like, Jesus revealed God’s presence with us humans, that God was not an impersonal God but one who understood the struggles of humanity. Also Jesus revealed a light, a light pointing us home out of the darkness that we are living in. Jesus reveals a way to God, path that leads us into a deeper spiritual walk with the Divine. One can see how this image is for the person who has discovered the forgiveness that God offers and yet seeks something deeper than a constant forgiveness of sins.
All of these images are needed because we are all in different places. We need Jesus to meet us where we are. And there are bound to be even more. Because we aren’t all fishers. We aren’t all in the same need for healing the Jesus offered these early disciples. But the good news is that Jesus meets us where we are, he casts a net that is broad and open. One that is inviting and seeks to form real connections. And then sends us out to offer the same invitation to the rest of the world, to people whoever they are wherever they are. If Jesus were meeting you today what he might say to call you out of your boat: Follow me you bankers and I’ll make you bank human life! Follow me you carpernters and contractors and I’ll make you builders of God’s realm. Follow me you librarians and I’ll make you collectors of God’s people. “Follow me, you friends, you parents, you children, you siblings, you neighbors, you strangers, you hosts and guests, and I will make you all these things—to every other human being!” (Anna Carter Florence, Preaching Matthew from www.goodpreacher.com.) Amen.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Friday Five
Okay, I have big news. Big!!! It is Friday afternoon and I have written my sermon for Sunday. Can you believe it? I can't. Now you might be asking what got into Dixie that he finished his sermon so soon. Well my friend Amy's (and regular blog reader) husband is spending the night here tomorrow night and it planning to arrive sometime in the afternoon so I really wouldn't have that much time tomorrow to work on it. Although, I'm sure Hans would give me all the time I need I wanted to spend time with him being a good host and getting to know him. This will be the first time I meet Hans and I'm excited because I love his wife so I'm bound to love the person she loves. So anyway I wrote my sermon today. Now here is the thing--this tells me that all that stuff about not being ready to write my sermon until Saturday is just bologna. We'll see if this carries on into next week. I think what needs to happen is I need a house guest every Saturday night. I'll set up a calendar and all of you can sign up for dates.
Now on to other things. As you can see to the left there is a blog link to RevGalPals. This is a blog for women clergy and the people who support women clergy. (If you are a clergy person you should read this blog regularly. There is normally some good stuff and good conversation.) But on Friday's they do what they call Friday Five which consists of five questions to answer. So I'm going to do that today here at YoucancallmeDixie. Here it goes:
(1) What is the thermometer reading at your house this morning? Well since it is now the afternoon so I can't answer that question. But currently in San Francisco it is 50 and the low today was 47.
(2) Snow--love it or hate it? Well I think it is beautiful. I've enjoyed the times I've been someplace where it snowed. However, i think I would hate living in it. Just the thought of having to shovel to get out of the house in the morning is not appealing at all.
(3) What is winter like where you are? Well today is a pretty good example of winter in San Francisco. It is moderately cold but raining like crazy. In the summer we get cold weather but in the winter it is normally pretty rainy. Today it is raining freakin cats and dogs. And it is supposed to rain for the next two weeks. It is normally about this time of year when I go to my office expecting a certain amount of flooding from the large "skylight" in the roof. (Skylight because it is really just a big hole.)
(4) Do you like winter sports? Any good stories? Alright, I have to say I don't particularly enjoy participating in any sport, winter or summer. I enjoy running but don't really see that as a sport. All that being said I am a winter olympics junky. The first year I remember really getting into the winter olympics was when there was a Men's figure skating match-up of Canadian Brian Orser versus American Brian Boitano--for obvious reasons the battle of the Brian's had great appeal. I also decided a few years ago that my friend Mark and I are going to try out for the USA men's curling team. I'm am pretty good with a broom and basically it is just shuffleboard on ice, so how hard can that be. Plus they have snack breaks.
(5) What is your favorite season and why? I would have to say that is Spring. I love the flowers and the beautiful crisp weather. it is not normally too cold or too hot. In San Francisco it is particularly beautiful and warm, not as warm as the early fall but warm none the less. (And by warm I mean sometimes over 70 heading towards 80. We only have about a 30 degree temperature change throughout the year, from 50 to 80.)
So there you have it my Friday Five. Hope you enjoyed. I'm going to make a pot of soup.
Peace out!
Now on to other things. As you can see to the left there is a blog link to RevGalPals. This is a blog for women clergy and the people who support women clergy. (If you are a clergy person you should read this blog regularly. There is normally some good stuff and good conversation.) But on Friday's they do what they call Friday Five which consists of five questions to answer. So I'm going to do that today here at YoucancallmeDixie. Here it goes:
(1) What is the thermometer reading at your house this morning? Well since it is now the afternoon so I can't answer that question. But currently in San Francisco it is 50 and the low today was 47.
(2) Snow--love it or hate it? Well I think it is beautiful. I've enjoyed the times I've been someplace where it snowed. However, i think I would hate living in it. Just the thought of having to shovel to get out of the house in the morning is not appealing at all.
(3) What is winter like where you are? Well today is a pretty good example of winter in San Francisco. It is moderately cold but raining like crazy. In the summer we get cold weather but in the winter it is normally pretty rainy. Today it is raining freakin cats and dogs. And it is supposed to rain for the next two weeks. It is normally about this time of year when I go to my office expecting a certain amount of flooding from the large "skylight" in the roof. (Skylight because it is really just a big hole.)
(4) Do you like winter sports? Any good stories? Alright, I have to say I don't particularly enjoy participating in any sport, winter or summer. I enjoy running but don't really see that as a sport. All that being said I am a winter olympics junky. The first year I remember really getting into the winter olympics was when there was a Men's figure skating match-up of Canadian Brian Orser versus American Brian Boitano--for obvious reasons the battle of the Brian's had great appeal. I also decided a few years ago that my friend Mark and I are going to try out for the USA men's curling team. I'm am pretty good with a broom and basically it is just shuffleboard on ice, so how hard can that be. Plus they have snack breaks.
(5) What is your favorite season and why? I would have to say that is Spring. I love the flowers and the beautiful crisp weather. it is not normally too cold or too hot. In San Francisco it is particularly beautiful and warm, not as warm as the early fall but warm none the less. (And by warm I mean sometimes over 70 heading towards 80. We only have about a 30 degree temperature change throughout the year, from 50 to 80.)
So there you have it my Friday Five. Hope you enjoyed. I'm going to make a pot of soup.
Peace out!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
This post brought to you by the letter M
Alright, I have to actually make a decision now. I have been and am a big Dennis Kucinich fan. I had decided I didn't have to decide between Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or John Edwards because I was supporting Dennis Kucinich. Even though I knew that a hobbit would never be elected president I was going to vote for the person I most agreed with. So Dennis was my man. Well now that is all over. I just read the he plans to withdraw from the race tomorrow. So now I have to actually make a decision. And I'm fairly certain I know what I'll decide. But I really didn't want to have to make a decision. I was just going to support whoever the Democratic nominee was in the end. And believe me when I tell you, I don't need any more help in making a decision. But I just hate it, I was hoping that he could just hold on until February 5. Why oh why couldn't I live in New Hampshire? (Well alright I know I might hate the cold more than having to make a presidential decision but I'm not sure.)
The other thing I want to comment on is my name. I really like my name, but recently I've been wishing part of my name started with the letter M. Why M you ask? Well that is a good question. I'm sure there is something beneath it but the surface reason is that I write a really pretty M. I've been writing it on the shower door for the past several weeks. And it is really beautiful. I don't know why I started writing the letter M on the shower door. It is probably partially due to the fact that people in my life whose name do begin with M are weighing heavy on my mind these days. But as I said I also think I just write a really pretty M. If I were famous I would change my name to an M name just because my autograph would be spectacular.
Okay that is enough for today.
Peace out!
The other thing I want to comment on is my name. I really like my name, but recently I've been wishing part of my name started with the letter M. Why M you ask? Well that is a good question. I'm sure there is something beneath it but the surface reason is that I write a really pretty M. I've been writing it on the shower door for the past several weeks. And it is really beautiful. I don't know why I started writing the letter M on the shower door. It is probably partially due to the fact that people in my life whose name do begin with M are weighing heavy on my mind these days. But as I said I also think I just write a really pretty M. If I were famous I would change my name to an M name just because my autograph would be spectacular.
Okay that is enough for today.
Peace out!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Escalator Mayhem
Okay so today I saw humanity at its best. Today as I was getting off BART to go see a movie. (I saw No Country for Old Men which ironically is about humanity at its worst. Ooh, talk about tragic. And bloody, good Lord!) So anyway--up a ways was a woman who was tumbling down the escalator. She had apparently gotten onto the escalator with a suitcase and then lost her balance or something and was now tumbling over and over down the lower portion of the escalator. Meanwhile her suitcase was slowly ascending. And two women came to her aid and helped her up. I think the fact that she was struggling so hard to stand up was the very thing that kept her tumbling. Had she just sort of collapsed into it she would have eventually stabilized and would then have been able to stand up. But I thought it was great that two women helped her get up. Doesn't it say something about my view of people that I don't think anyone would help a woman who was tumbling down an escalator?
Now I was relaying this story to my friend Mary Sue tonight and she told me this story. A woman was at a big Target in San Diego. If you all don't have big Targets where you live I'm sorry but the ones that are really big and by really big I mean two story Targets have escalators. They don't just have an escalator for people but they also have an escalator for your shopping cart. So anyway this woman was riding the down elevator, minding her own business, when she hears a commotion. Someone had pushed their cart down the human escalator. So a quick thinking employee said turn to the side and brace yourself. Now two things: first, this employee acted so quickly that it was clear this has happened before. The other thing was the woman who pushed the cart down the human escalator was very apologetic and said that she just got confused. Got confused? How does one get that confused. There are big signs that say human elevator/no carts and cart elevator/no people. And the escalators look very different. I mean I have been confused before and have done things without thinking--but I think i would realize I was about to push a cart down an escalator. I was hoping this woman was really old, but apparently she was just a middle aged woman who wasn't paying attention. Can't you just imagine this woman also being the one walking down the runway of life with her skirt tucked in the back of her pantyhose?
Alright, until next time, for God's sake pay attention.
Peace out!
Now I was relaying this story to my friend Mary Sue tonight and she told me this story. A woman was at a big Target in San Diego. If you all don't have big Targets where you live I'm sorry but the ones that are really big and by really big I mean two story Targets have escalators. They don't just have an escalator for people but they also have an escalator for your shopping cart. So anyway this woman was riding the down elevator, minding her own business, when she hears a commotion. Someone had pushed their cart down the human escalator. So a quick thinking employee said turn to the side and brace yourself. Now two things: first, this employee acted so quickly that it was clear this has happened before. The other thing was the woman who pushed the cart down the human escalator was very apologetic and said that she just got confused. Got confused? How does one get that confused. There are big signs that say human elevator/no carts and cart elevator/no people. And the escalators look very different. I mean I have been confused before and have done things without thinking--but I think i would realize I was about to push a cart down an escalator. I was hoping this woman was really old, but apparently she was just a middle aged woman who wasn't paying attention. Can't you just imagine this woman also being the one walking down the runway of life with her skirt tucked in the back of her pantyhose?
Alright, until next time, for God's sake pay attention.
Peace out!
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