7 days

A week from this moment, I'll be going through security in O'Hare's international terminal. At 6:10 p.m. (weather and flight crew willing), my plane will begin its taxi down the runway en route to Dublin. I will, of course, be flying my boyfriend's favorite airline, Aer Lingus (note: excessive sarcasm), but instead of connecting to London and Helsinki, my classmates and I will meet the Harbins and head for Greystones, Ireland in County Wicklow, my home for 14 weeks. Let's hope my bags decide to join me.

New links

I added two links to the sidebar. On Lighthouse Teams, you'll find updates from all of Taylor's JTerm mission trips (especially Paraguay with the lovely Jenny Kappel). I also added Katie Hesse's blog b/c she's adorable.

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!"