That's not even a state!

I took the State Quiz and this is what I got...

You're the Panama Canal!

While others are content to work long and hard hours, you're all about
taking the shortcut. While this has benefited you for the most part, it has required
starting several conflicts so that you could get your way. Your old profession doesn't
seem terribly lofty to anyone, and sometimes you've even needed to dig ditches to get by,
but you figure the results are worth it. Now, most of the time you're just
cruising.


Take the State Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Blogging and mental health

On Saturday, the Evansville Courier & Press ran a religion column by Scripps-Howard's David Yount on its all-inclusive "Faith" section. I don't usually get into the Courier, but this column caught my eye.

Yount cites studies that found positive correlation between diary writing and psychological disorder. The more people record their secret thoughts for their own eyes only, the more likely they are to be mentally unstable. I found this tidbit interesting as I've always believed journaling to be therapeutic.

Yount goes on to discuss the Christian fad of journal keeping. He says if we follow the models of Jesus and Paul, we won't keep our thoughts to ourselves but will share the joy we've found in Christ with the world. What a concept!

So I started thinking... what does this mean for blogging? Blogs can be a type of journal, but since they're public, they can be a means by which we can glorify God by sharing ideas, thoughts and feelings.

I also felt challenged because I do keep a private journal, but I'm beginning to wonder why. If I don't want others to read my words, why record them? Instead of turning deeper into myself in the privacy and solitude of my journal, I'm going to hone my letter-writing skills and reach out in conversation. Human beings are made for relationships. It's one way we mirror the image of God.

An ellipsis

I'm back in Evansville again after taking my boyfriend to the Indy airport. He's now en route to Dublin from which he'll catch a flight to London and eventually Helsinki. I miss him so much already. It's going to be a long four months.

Friday Night Lights

Evansville theaters have allegedly raised their ticket prices to $8. Fascists. So instead of getting ripped off watching a movie we weren't really interested in, Cliff and I went to the cheap theater to watch Friday Night Lights.

Now, when I saw the trailer for this movie a few months ago before Collateral, I'd rolled my eyes commented, "Not another football movie." I don't really understand football (even after a year on O-Line for intramural flag) and never got into the high school hype. Friday Night Lights, however, left me pleasantly surprised.

I enjoyed the movie because it refused to glorify football. All but one player's college/professional football dreams dissipated in the arid Texas heat. It turned out that football wasn't all they had in life, and by the end of the movie they'd moved on.

I also liked that the ending wasn't cliche, but I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen the film.

While I enjoyed the movie, it did have flaws. I got lost several times when the players mumbled stuff on the field. I figured I wouldn't understand it anyway, so I wasn't too upset. A few scenes at the beginning (party scenes) were difficult to watch. Fortunately, the activities in these scenes were not glorified either. And, of course, the ending finger-kiss scene between Billy-Bob and his movie wife was sufficiently cheesy. Those three seconds could have been used better elsewhere.

As a whole, I liked Friday Night Lights. If you have an extra $2.50 and a spare 2 hours, check it out. You probably won't regret it.

Happy New Year!!!

2005 is already off to an amazing start. I can't stop smiling... and you can bet it's Cliff's fault. ;)

"It's gonna be a happy new year!"

Bah Humbug

After last night's freak snow storm piled Evansville high with white, I'm starting to reconsider my holiday plans.

Of course, Christmas has been a sore spot for me since middle school. The limbo between family members that hate each other makes for a nauseating couple of days. Since my last paternal connection to the Evansville area disappeared last May, my brother and I were bound for Illinois to spend tomorrow and Christmas Eve morning with my dad and stepmom. Now with traffic conditions as they are, I'm not sure I'm willing to risk the trek that incapacitated my intrepid Ford Taurus last Thanksgiving (that bridge over the Wabash is killer).

Even if I did make it safely to Mt. Vernon, there's a chance we could get snowed in over there and I'd miss Christmas with the people who (let's be honest) are more important to me (especially a certain Helsinki-bound friend:) ). The more I think about it, the more I just want to call the whole Illinois trip off. This could be the best Christmas ever. Why should my family be able to turn it into a nightmare?

The final countdown

In the middle of procrastinating while I should be studying finals, I did some basic math. Now, it's been a while since I've taken a math course, but according to my calculations...

In 2 days, I'll be in Evansville.
In 38 days, I'll be in Dublin.
In 133 days, I'll be in Helsinki.

But, really, who's counting?