7 Quick Takes: The books I'm reading

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I am in the middle of a shockingly large number of books right now, so I've decided to make them this week's 7QT. It will almost certainly be more interesting than another post about how I need to go grocery shopping (I do) and I'm tired and disorganized (I am).

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Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity" by Andrew Solomon. This book investigates what happens when parents have children that are very different from the children the parents expected. Usually, Solomon says, children get "vertical identities" from their parents--black parents have black children, etc. But when a child has a "horizontal identity" that he doesn't share with his parents, it can be hard for his parents to deal with that. Solomon talks about different kinds of horizontal identities, such as autism, deafness, criminality, and transgender issues. What to change? What to accept? I've only read the first chapter or so, but am intrigued.

~~ 3 ~~

The Theology of Food: Eating and the Eucharist by Angel Mendez-Montoya (sorry, I don't know how to make accents in this text editor). This one is for a class. The topic is interesting: What do we learn about the Eucharist when we explore it as a food? What does how and what we (as humans) eat reveal about the Eucharist? There are some interesting insights here, but they are frequently buried underneath popular platitudes (for instance, about accepting differences--not that this is bad, but cliches aren't interesting theology). I may have more positive things to say when I'm done; there is, for instance, a chapter about transubstantiation that I haven't gotten to yet.

~~ 4 ~~

The Anatomy of Anorexia by Steven Levenkrom. I bought this book for $1 at a bookstore because I had time to kill and it looked interesting. It is interesting. I don't know enough about it to know whether it is correct. He's talking a lot about societal and personal factors that lead to the development of anorexia, but so far he's said very little about what makes some girls actually succumb to this pressure while some are able to resist. Again, he may address this later.

~~ 5 ~~

Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri, translated by Robert and Jean Hollander. Another book for class. I tried to read the Divine Comedy in high school (different translation), but became one of those people Dante scholars complain about who gets bored halfway through Purgatorio. This time I intend to make it all the way through! If nothing else, the pressure to not fail will force me to. In all seriousness, though, I am enjoying this. I can't comment on the translation, but the notes are generally helpful in providing historical and biographical background. They are woefully inadequate when it comes to the theology, unfortunately; for instance, some very obvious Biblical references are missing. But it reads smoothly and is (according to people who read Italian) a very accurate translation. Plus it has the Italian on the facing page, so I can use my Latin to pretend that I read Italian.

~~ 6 ~~

The Jewish Study Bible. Is this cheating? Don't know, don't care. I am reading it, even if not all the way through. Maybe I should have called this "Exodus and Leviticus." We are focusing on the construction of the Tabernacle. Interesting and helpful notes. Fascinating to read a Bible whose notes refer nearly exclusively to Jewish thinkers.

~~ 7 ~~

The Brethren by John Grisham. Okay, this is definitely cheating. I read the first chapter so that I had a 7th book to include. I picked this up off one of the give-a-book-take-a-book shelves (to which I owe quite a few books by now...) because a friend of mine had mentioned he wanted to know what I thought of Grisham. So far I'm not impressed, but we'll see how it goes.

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Is it really Friday again already?

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In the last week, I've decided on and purchased all my Christmas presents except one. Yay for me! The other one is a joint present that I am still waiting for confirmation on before I buy it. (If you're reading this, and you know what I'm talking about, and you owe me an email, email me!)

~~ 2 ~~

A lot of my homework that I mentioned last week has turned out to not be necessary: I don't have to turn in the first draft of my thesis, and I don't have to do more lab work. Yay! Of course, the reduced stress has caused me to procrastinate. But my current project (a play about John Keats, Ralph Waldo Emerson, creative genius, inspiration, and bipolar disorder) has captured my interest. I hope to have that finished tonight and focus on my 20-page paper over the weekend.

~~ 3 ~~

I have been Facebook-less for about a week now. Do I miss it? Yes, and no. I find myself wanting my Facebook back when I am bored, procrastinating, or depressed. When I am happy or doing something worthwhile, I never even think about it. This just confirms my belief that Facebook isn't good for my soul, because I seem to use it as a sort of short-term narcotic. (I think of soma from Brave New World.)

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One exception: I also wish I could post to Facebook when I read an article that I want to share with the world. I was a page admin on What We're Reading, a page where we'd all post the cool articles we'd stumbled across. It was pretty cool. I just discovered when I went to look up the link that you can read this page without even having a Facebook account. So much for the little productivity I had left! But seriously, go check it out. We're all interested in different things so it's a fairly eclectic (that's the polite word for random, right?) bunch of stuff.

~~ 5 ~~

I need to go to the grocery store....I decided not to go yesterday so I could go to a Mass in a language I don't speak with liturgical dancers. But it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I guess it will be a bus grocery store trip! I would wait for better weather, but looking at the weather forecast, I think I'd run out of food and starve before the weather got better. Also if I don't go before Sunday the flyer will change over and I will have to make a new shopping list. I hate making grocery lists, so this is good motivation.

~~ 6 ~~

About that Mass, no, it's totally not my normal style. So why was I there? It was a Mass for Our Lady of Guadalupe. My friend invited me to go with him. He tells me that Hispanic culture has a tradition of dancing as worship. I take his word on this; I'm not Hispanic. So I wanted to see what it was like. While I see that the style could be a form of worship, I think it was badly integrated into this particular Mass; they just stuck some dancing before the presentation of the gifts. Since it didn't accompany any actual liturgical action, it really felt like a performance. Disappointing. The music was also disappointing; the balance between singing and accompaniment was off and the microphones were terribly distorting.

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On a side note, I totally get now why some people don't like Mass in Latin. I've never been in a Mass where I had so little orientation as to what was happening. On the other hand, if I had had the text and translation, as well as a crash course in how to pronounce Spanish, I think it would've been fine.

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I'm not dead; Seven Quick Takes to prove it

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Hi. Sorry for the radio silence. I am not dead. I am busy and distracted. I've been thinking for a while about how scattered and disorganized my mind has become. This has resulted in the scattering and disorganization of my life. I'm thinking of writing a post about this. Maybe next week's 7QT will be 7 small steps towards simplicity. For now I leave you with this: The Real Reason to Quit Facebook (and 10 What-Ifs).

~~ 2 ~~

I just noticed that my last 7QT post was all about how organized and responsible I'm going to be. Ha. Sometimes life doesn't work out the way you want it to. In my defense, I have a lot of papers to write: a draft of my thesis, which is supposed to be 50 pages long, and a 20 page paper, and a 10 (? I forget) page paper/play. And I have lab work, which isn't a paper but takes a lot of time.

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Have I talked about my thesis? I'm writing about autism and Thomas Aquinas, and the idea is that using Thomas Aquinas and his model of flourishing can help us choose treatment goals. It's interesting, but I'm basically at the point where I've thought enough that I have a good sense of what I want to say. So now I have no interest in actually writing the paper. I thought I liked writing, but usually I write and think simultaneously (which works much better than it sounds like it would). I guess I like thinking, not writing.

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Does anyone read this blog? Just leave me a comment and say hi. I feel like I'm talking to myself.

~~ 5 ~~

I totally failed at the buying-Christmas-presents before Advent goal. Here it is almost week 2 and I haven't even decided for everyone. Fail! On the plus side, I'm going to make a Jesse tree with my CCD class. So I must get some bonus points. It seems like a Jesse tree is the ultimate Overachieving Pinterest Mom symbol and I don't even have kids.

~~ 6 ~~

Kyle got a job in Chicago, so we'll be moving there when we graduate. All other details TBD, but we want to try to go to this church. Jealous? (If not, you probably have terrible liturgical taste. Just kidding. Except not really.)

~~ 7 ~~

Well that was a fairly unkind note to end this post on. But I can't think of anything better to say. I will try to post more in the future so people don't scold me for abandoning my blog (HI SOPHIE).

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Seven Quick Takes: Mostly Cooking and Cleaning

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I take back what I said about next semester being easy. I just put it all into an actual weekly calendar with colored in blocks (the only way schedules make sense to me) and there's a LOT of color and not very much white space. (Well, right now there's a lot of white space, but I know most of that is going to be colored in once I finish scheduling lab and work hours.) I guess I'll buy a crock pot and learn how to make crock pot meals that last for a week! Just kidding.

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Actually, speaking of cooking, I'm going to try going gluten free this summer and see what happens. My sister has just gone gluten free and it's made a big difference to her overall health. That kind of stuff tends to run in families, we are (suspected identical) twins, and I have a lot of the same symptoms. For the record, I hope the experiment totally fails because I LOVE NOODLES and I don't want to stop eating them.

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I'm also on the lookout for recipes that are easy to make ahead of time and then pack. I'm lactose intolerant, so combined with the gluten experiment, my old strategy of cheese sandwich is going to need to be rethought, as will my "noodles and cheese" strategy. Suggestions welcome. Easy and cheap suggestions very welcome.

~~ 4 ~~

I'm in the middle of tidying for move-out. For some reason that I don't quite get, our rooms are supposed to be ready for inspection (i.e., reasonably tidy and posters down) by Sunday night. Inspections are on Thursday. Are they just trying to make sure we get things done in time? I don't know. Whatever! Saves me some of the last minute rush to turn my disaster of a room into neatly stacked boxes. (Of course, I'll create a different last minute rush. That's just how I roll.)

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Speaking of mess, packing, and rushing, what's the best organization book you've ever read? I have trouble staying organized and I finally figured out one big reason why: I like to have things where I can see them. If I can't see something, I won't remember it. So things that I need to remember to use on a regular basis, such as medication and toothbrushes, need to be visible. Something can only stay hidden if I only need it when I know I need it (e.g., Tylenol, spoons). But if I just set things around on top of tables and shelves, I start putting everything I have on there until my horizontal surfaces are piles of mess. Is anyone else like this? What do you do about it?

~~ 6 ~~

Did you see that the Boy Scouts now allow gay boys to be scouts? They still require leaders to be heterosexual. I will write a more in-depth post about this later, but I think this was a wise move pastorally.

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Lastly, in orphan news (you thought I would have a SQT without orphans, didn't you? Ha, not likely): Recent negotiations with Russia have not yielded any results, and Russia will not reopen to American adoption in the foreseeable future. (Of course, with international adoption, the future is always uncertain.) Because of this, Reece's Rainbow decided to give the grants of waiting Russian children to children in other countries. Because she was my Christmas child, I got to decide which child would receive Aisha's grant. I was asked to give her grant to a child with DS who was in greater need, and I chose Mark in Latin America. He already had a significant grant, so his adoption is now nearly half paid for. He needs a family quickly--he is an older boy, and he has leukemia as well as Down syndrome. I have absolutely no idea what conditions are like in his country; I hope he is getting treatment for his cancer. But he still needs a family.

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Seven Quick Takes

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I am very sorry that I haven't posted recently. (Maybe I should make that the name of my blog. Somebody help me think of a catchy way to say "Sorry I haven't posted, but I am allergic to everything in the world and have a chronic sinus infection from it! Also I'm busy and lazy!")

~~ 2 ~~

Here's Kurt's family! Go check them out--they seem awesome to me. I am Facebook friends with his mother and he's going to have some adorable siblings. ETA Here's their blog! They need to raise about $20,000! Please consider helping them out.

~~ 3 ~~

Look at these adorable little girls: Nadia and Nancy. I love them! I'm going to help Kurt's family home and then probably start advocating more heavily for these two. FAS and siblings both scare a lot of people, so they'll need a lot of exposure to find a family.

~~ 4 ~~

Want more adorableness? Bert and Ernie. AWWW. Ernie looks like he could have been my fiance's brother. These two will also probably be on my list. Siblings and boys--another hard combination to overcome.

~~ 5 ~~

I realized that so far, everyone I've advocated or fundraised for has gotten a family except for Aisha. (Her country's new rules, which you may have read about in the news, make the chances of her ever finding a family much lower. But I'm still hoping she'll get adopted by a domestic family or a non-US family.) I would like to say that I'm a great advocate, but truthfully I think I just tend to pick adorable kids with mild needs.

~~ 6 ~~

I have figured out my schedule for next semester and it looks like I'll be taking 14 credits. This is unusual for me--a regular courseload is 15, and I have almost always had 16 or 17. I feel, however, that I have been spreading myself too thin, so I'm just going to take four courses plus my thesis and try to do a good job on less rather than a poor job on more. (Of course the danger is a poor job on less. Please pray that that doesn't happen.)

~~ 7 ~~

I'm sure you all (all two of you readers) are dying to know what my thesis topic is, now that I've mentioned I'm writing one. I haven't finalized yet, but the general topic is going to be autism from a Thomistic/Aristotelian perspective. How does autism limit or enhance flourishing? Can we talk about "autism" as a whole in this context or do we have to look at specific deficits and skills that come alongside autism? I'm hoping it will have broader applicability in the theology of disability field, but we'll see.

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Seven Quick Takes: My Random Sick Thoughts

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I am sick, and I do not respond well to decongestants. This morning, I've already caught myself mixing up who's and whose and thinking that $456 + $4 = $500. So be warned, and be charitable. :p

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If I were a better person, I would write a post about how my sickness is nothing compared to the suffering of waiting orphans, or the grief of families who have lost children, or something like that. But I'm me, so I'm just going to say boy, do I hate being sick.

~~ 3 ~~

Aisha made it over her $1000 goal! Thanks so much to everyone who contributed! If you still want to contribute, you can do so, or you can pick one of the many children who are still far away from their goal. Donations can be made here. (Speaking of which, there's currently a bump match--for every child that gets bumped over $500, one child will get bumped over $1000, up to a total of $3000 donated.)

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Still looking for Christmas presents? Look at Sevenly.org. They choose a different charity every week and sell clothing. $7 of every item sold goes to the chosen charity. This week's charity is Reece's Rainbow! The goal is to reach $25,000 raised by December 24th. The shirts are pretty cool-looking--I'd buy one if I weren't broke.

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I am home for Christmas, and it is good to be home. I have almost all my Christmas presents bought and wrapped.

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Speaking of presents, I stupidly left half the supplies I need to finish K's Christmas present in my dorm. Oh well. I will have at least a week to finish in between getting back to school and seeing him.

~~ 7 ~~

Please pray that Russia does not finalize the ban on international adoption that they are working on passing right now. This would be devastating to so many people, most of all the orphans.

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Seven Quick Takes: Angel Tree Edition

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Good morning and welcome! This week all my takes will be about the Angel Tree fundraiser, which has officially started! (Don't know what Angel Tree is? Find out here.) The page where you can see running totals is UP. You can see it here. It updates every 15 minutes. That's fine, I wasn't planning on getting any homework done for the next two months anyway.

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Please pray for success! I forget to say this sometimes, but it's actually the most important part of any fundraiser I do. Don't think that if you don't have money, you can't do anything. Praying helps more than donating money (although if you feel moved to do both, PLEASE FEEL FREE. Haha).

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Donations made through the Angel Tree link, Aisha's profile page, or either of the boxes on the right side of this blog are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. Isn't that awesome? If you donate $35 or more, you can choose to receive a Christmas tree ornament with Aisha's face on it. Totally going to do this when I get paid. If I had $7500, I would buy one for each child on the Angel Tree. *sigh* Maybe after I marry my software engineer!

~~ 4 ~~

Don't want an ornament? Go check out my fundraisers! Most of them still have no purchases and I don't know why. These would make great Christmas gifts. And everyone knows someone who drinks fair-trade coffee, right?

~~ 5 ~~

Another way to help without money: Share! Everybody's got at least one friend who has money and would be willing to put it to a good cause like this one, or else a friend who wants something I'm selling. So please spread the word!

~~ 6 ~~

Keep your eyes peeled for an auction featuring handknit stuff by me. (I have it on good authority that the bidding for my elephant is going to be intense.) There will also be baby booties! And uh, I haven't decided what else. Haha. Stay tuned.

~~ 7 ~~

I'm also working on getting enough stuff knit up to open a store in the Reece's Rainbow Christmas Craft Mall. A lot of crafters have collaborated to make buying homemade gifts that support orphans easy. Go check it out! (I don't know if you need a Facebook account to see it. If you want to purchase something but don't have a Facebook account, leave me a comment!)

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7 Quick Takes, The I Don't Want To Do My Homework Edition

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Yes, this is just procrastination. No judging please. It's better than Facebook because at least I'm creating output.

~~ 2 ~~

My current knitting project (an elephant which I am going to sell for Aisha) had stalled due to a lack of stuffing, but I went on an excursion with a friend to get some and I'm back in business. Body and two legs are stuffed and sewn. Pictures coming soon.

~~ 3 ~~

With respect to that craft store excursion, it is not a good idea to make a non-time-sensitive trip off campus after lunch on the day of a 3:30pm football game for one of the most famous teams in college football when they are undefeated. Traffic patterns get changed and cops try to convince you to park in a field and tell you that they don't know what to say about the fact that you have an on-campus parking sticker and it might take you twice as long to complete the last 1/2 mile as it did the rest of the drive. Just saying for your edification. I of course would never try anything that stupid.

~~ 4 ~~

Poor little Kurt still needs his family. Someone please go get him so I don't have to find a social worker who will approve a homestudy for a newly-married 22-year-old couple to adopt a seven-year-old. And yes, if the time comes and he is still waiting I will do that. Please don't make him wait that long.

~~ 5 ~~

Go check out my fundraisers! Most of them still have no purchases and I don't know why. These are all useful and would make great Christmas gifts. (I'm thinking of buying some pasta for my brothers, who like making pasta for breakfast...don't tell them!)

~~ 6 ~~

Wow, I got all the way to six before I ran out of stuff to say! This might be a record. Ummm...go give Gertie's family some money. They have $10 in their fund. Gertie had $215.86 in her grant, and Gianna had $100 in hers. That leaves about $29,675 still to raise. Even $5 will make a difference.

~~ 7 ~~

Shoot, this is the last take. I guess I should go do my homework now.

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Seven Quick Takes

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To follow up from week before last, the visit went great and I am happy about it. Missing K terribly now. I did not anticipate the distance being so tough. My last long distance relationship was nowhere near this hard. I take it this is a good sign?

~~ 2 ~~

My friend sent me a link to a secular website promoting the Creighton method of NFP over artificial contraception. I was pleased, but at the same time it makes me slightly sad. The voices that say, "Don't use contraception, avoid children this way instead!" are so much louder than the voices that say, "It's okay to have eight kids," even in religious circles. (I do know there are legitimate reasons to limit family size so please don't get insulted.)

~~ 3 ~~

My little sister's friend from a play she is in died on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning sometime. It was completely unexpected, and as I write this, I don't know what the cause of death was. Please pray for him and his family.

~~ 4 ~~

I started writing this post on Wednesday and never got around to finishing it until today. Sigh.

~~ 5 ~~

Check out this article: 10 Great Tips to Help You Pray, Not Just Say, the Rosary. Much of the advice is transferable to other prayers as well.

~~ 6 ~~

I have not been doing much knitting lately, and I miss it.

~~ 7 ~~

I've been watching the BBC Sherlock with my family. It's interesting and well-done. I recommend it. (Warning: It would be more accurate to say that it is inspired by Doyle's Sherlock Holmes storied than that it is an adaptation for film. If you can't get over that, don't see it.)

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7 Quick Takes

Never done this before, but I'm feeling random.

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K, B, R, G, and A are coming to visit for the 4th of July and following weekend. We have planned fun activities like fireworks, swimming, bonfires, and swing dancing. I think I might explode if time doesn't speed up a little!

~~ 2 ~~

I wish someone would adopt Kurt. His special need is so mild. And he's so cute. And I know so many people who want him but can't go get him for some reason. Like me, for instance. Sigh.

~~ 3 ~~

My friend just got a new cousin. I wish I had a baby. Biological clocks are frustrating when you aren't married and are in no condition to get married soon. (The problem with long-distance college relationships. Sigh.)

~~ 4 ~~

I went grocery shopping tonight with J. I haven't been grocery shopping in a while. They reorganized the whole store. All the aisles are in a different order. I was rather confused.

~~ 5 ~~

Am I doing this right? I feel like other people have more interesting randomness. Why did I start a blog? Oh yeah, self centeredness. Well, ok, specimen #45922: this post.

~~ 6 ~~

I'm so hopelessly confused by this SCOTUS ruling. Every time I turn around I hear something different. This was obviously planned from the start. The dissent was clearly written to be the majority and only flipped at the last minute. Conservatives should cry. Conservatives should rejoice. This is good. This is bad. This is neutral and we have to see what happens. And I'm just like....uh so did they make the Cliff's Notes yet?

~~ 7 ~~

I swear I'm not stupid, I just don't follow politics enough. Ignorant, uninformed, and irresponsible, sure. But not stupid.

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