Failure. And Pride and Prejudice

Today was mostly a failure as far as productivity was concerned.  I got myself in a funk over grades this morning (I've gotten in this A- slump that I can't seem to get out of), and it wasn't particularly conducive to paper-writing.  Nonetheless, I finished my Old Testament paper, and got a bit more work done on my internship paper, but not as much as I'd hoped, and I haven't touched my children's ministry presentation at all since last Thursday.  Not good.

I did go to the gym today, so that's a plus.

But all of this is depressing and boring, and so I'd rather talk about Pride and Prejudice, which I watched tonight and realized how many good lines there are in it.  Here's a list of my favorites.  Also, I realize none of this has to do with Halloween, but there wasn't anything Halloween-related about my day except that I watched The Lost Boys before Pride and Prejudice (all this while trying to keep working on my internship paper, by the way).

"Miserable he may be, but poor he most certainly is not."

"I give you leave to like him, you've liked many a stupider person."

"If Jane does die, it will be a comfort to know it was in pursuit of Mr. Bingley."

"Apparently Lady B--- is redecorating her ballroom in the French style.  A little unpatriotic, don't you think?"

"It's not a pleasure that she's ill...of course...it's a pleasure that she's here...being ill..."

"I never heard of a young lady but people say she is accomplished."

"I think a ball is a perfectly irrational way to make new acquaintance.  It would be better if conversation, instead of dancing, were the order of the day."

"Oh believe me, no one would suspect your manners to be rehearsed."

"After dinner I thought I might read to you all for an hour or two"

"Oh Mr. Wickham!  How perfect you are!"

"That 'gentleman' barely warrants the name."

"We are all fools in love."

"I can't help believing that at any point this evening someone is going to produce a piglet and bid us chase it."

"Almost as soon as I entered the house, I singled you out as the companion of my future life.  But before I am run away with my feelings, let me first state my reasons for marrying.  Firstly, that it is the duty of a clergyman to..."

"A girl likes to  be crossed in love every now and again.  It gives her something to think on...a sort of distinction among her companions."

"There are few people in England who have more true enjoyment of music than myself.  Or better natural taste.  If I had ever learned, I should have been a great proficient."

"What are men compared to rocks and mountains?"

"Take care my love.  That savors strongly of bitterness."

"These great men are never at home."

"You must all go to Brighton.  That is the place to get husbands."

"I think you are in great danger of making him as much in love with you as ever."

"First...I must...I must tell you I've been the most unmitigated and comprehensive ass."

"I knew she could not be so beautiful for nothing."

"Heaven and earth!  Are the shades of Pemberly to be thus polluted?"

"You have insulted me in every possible way and can now have nothing further to say."

"You have bewitched me body and soul, and I love...I love...I love you.  I never wish to be parted from you from this day forward."

Nothing to Say

I realize this has been happening more and more and more, but I honestly can't think of anything to write.  As we get closer to the end of the year, I'm starting to realize just how intense the idea of blogging every day really is.  Some days, there's just nothing to say, and lately I've been in a creativity slump on top of that.  But hey, you try writing over 300 blog posts in a row, and see how you like it.

I'm off to read a murder mystery, then it's up (fairly) early in the morning for a day of grocery shopping and looooong library hours.  Basically, it's a repeat of last Monday...so many assignments, so little time!

Picture Frame

I updated my digital picture frame today with pictures from my life in Dallas.  Until now, most of the pictures were from about 2 years ago, and I rarely turned on the frame.  But replacing them with more current pictures made me realize how truly thankful I am for my friends, both old and new, and for my family.  Dallas might drive me crazy sometimes, but overall I'm happy here.  It's funny how easily I forget that when I'm stuck in traffic or sitting in the library for hours on end.  And between last night's pumpkin party and tonight's Chinese buffet/Johnny English adventure with a friend, I've had a good dose of friendship and laughter this weekend, which is always good for the spirits.  Plus, I booked plane tickets home for the week after Christmas today, meaning I get to see my family at Thanksgiving AND Christmas!  And even if both of those visits last less than a week, they're more than I thought I'd be able to have.  And I like my job...I'm truly really blessed, and it's too bad how much I forget that.

Fall Festival!

A bunch of us got together tonight to have our own personal fall festival - pumpkin carving, fall desserts, chili, halloween movies, and (by necessity) the World Series.  The Cardinals won - yay!  My traffic woes are now vindicated.  But seriously, it was a really, really, really awesomely fun night.  A lot of laughter...in fact, "a lot" is probably an understatement.  It was truly one of the best times I've had this semester.  And the Cardinals winning the World series just put the icing on the cake!

The group getting our pumpkin carving on...throughout the night there were about ten people or so total, so a pretty good size group!

I bought a little pumpkin to carve this year, mostly because I didn't want to scoop out a whole big pumpkin and because the bigger pumpkins at the store were pretty picked over and sad-looking.  Only problem: when I carved out the top, I didn't take into account the size of my hand...I basically made myself a pumpkin-style raccoon trap (where you can get your hand in but you can't do much else.  After a difficult pumpkin-gutting process, I eventually had to recruit one of my smaller-handed friends to help scrape out the insides.  (This picture shows how small I made the hole:

What happens to the table when you have eight pumpkins being carved at once...

My finished pumpkin!  Because my pumpkin was so small, I couldn't fit any of the patterns on it...and since I've never been too good at freehand art, I decided to take pieces of patterns and put them together.  The result: Ichabod the Ghost and Thor the Magic Dragon.  They travel the Halloween universe upholding justice and fighting the good fight.  Ichabod is on the left, and Thor is on the right...he's magical because of the wizard hat.  

All of our finished pumpkins!!  From left to right: Dracula, a Winking Jack-O-Lantern, the Trinity (because we're in seminary, and it was bound to happen), a KU Jayhawk, Ichabod and Thor, and a Fleur-de-Lis.  Not too shabby :)

Like I said...it was a really, really, really awesome night.  What can I say?  I love my friends...and pumpkins :)

I Hereby Command You to Like This.

This band that I like a whole lot (the lead singer and the bearded guy with the drum are family friends), released this video today:

And since I can't think of anything creative, I hereby direct you to something creative.  I also direct you to like them, because I like them, and they were my commute staple CD for about a month (recently replaced by Tenth Avenue North).

Wednesday

This is how I feel when I drive around Dallas:



Not that that has too much to do with today...today had more to do with getting my independent study for the spring approved (meaning I can definitely graduate in May...woo!), hours of reading, eating pumpkin pie flavored frozen yogurt with a friend, becoming inspired to write a children's book and then laughing with friends while brainstorming for said book, continuing to appreciate the wonders of fish cooked in foil packets in the crock pot, and reading half of the children's ministry book I have to lead a class on next week (two thumbs up for me for picking the 90 page book!).  So yes, another day of productivity!

Schwew!

That's the sound most appropriate to my life right now.  "Schwew".  It's the sound of relief at finishing my systematic theology reading all in one night, approximately 15 hours ahead of when I usually finish the reading.  I still have a quick response sheet to write, but this puts me in REALLY good shape homework-wise, since it opens up the bulk of the day tomorrow to get Thursday's reading done (instead of doing the reading Thursday night), meaning I'll also be able to start working on next week's 3 major assignments tomorrow.  Hooray!

I also have a new writing project that I'm starting, which is exciting!  Pieces of it may float up here eventually, but probably not for awhile (see previous paragraph outlining present homework situation).

Overall, today was a pretty good day.  I got some really good feedback at work, made a tasty and minimal-effort dinner of orange-honey tilapia, almond rice pilaf, and fresh green beans, and obviously maintained the productivity streak of yesterday.  I find myself being reminded of that easily-forgotten truth that I'm happier when I don't procrastinate my work.

I also definitely spent half an hour watching a 1970s cartoon called The Funky Phantom on TV...it's about three teenagers who befriend a revolutionary war-era ghost and travel around in their dune buggy upholding justice and fighting discrimination.  Seriously.  I can't find a video that will let me embed, but I urge you to follow this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSL2ED-JrWE .  Also, Mom and Dad, this is why I sent you that text message.

A bientot!

Productivity ATTACK!

I decorated for fall.

I was a productivity machine today.  Grocery shopping, lunch with friends, writing an entire paper, and cooking an all-out barbecue sandwich dinner with baked beans and pasta salad.  I also acquired a pumpkin and two gourds at the store, and hung my masquerade mask from Friday's mystery dinner on my bathroom mirror, so I also decorated for Fall.  It was a good day.

Working in the library with my friend Rachel (the photographer) and her sock monkey)

  

Finishing the Doctrine of God paper was the real highlight of the day.  Besides the fact that I finished the paper two days before it's due, it was actually a big confidence boost to write.  I feel like so much of my time in seminary has caused me to sit around and feel like I don't have a clue what I believe that it was good to have an assignment designed for me to sit and WRITE what I believe about God (in part, anyway).  It also gave me hope for the infamous Credo assignment that this class is working toward at the end of next semester, which is essentially a massive paper where you write about what you believe about everything, and make sure it all goes together.  This paper is, in effect, the first chapter of the Credo, and much to my surprise I not only wrote it fairly easily, but wrote what I think is a solid paper, and I even ENJOYED writing it, once I got past the intimidation factor.  Go figure.

Hopefully I'll keep up this productivity streak, since I have two papers and a class workshop to plan by the end of next week, in addition to the usual pile of reading and weekly written work.  Happily, after November 3, I actually won't have another major assignment due until December 2.  So I'm holding out for that little reprieve...the life of a graduate student marches onward.  

Crash

After a night of little sleep, thanks to general sleeplessness and a massive thunderstorm around 2am.  Work was good, if a longer day than usual due to an unexpected meeting, and by the time I got back to my apartment around 3pm I completely crashed, and willingly allowed a "30 minute" nap to turn into a good, long, 2 hour affair.  When I finally got up around 5:30, I worked haphazardly on my paper and watched Sister Act 2 on TV (mostly the latter), and finally kickstarted into academic gear around 7pm, thanks to a phone call from a friend.  I got some progress made (small, but an important step), and then headed off for Bible Study, came back, watched the baseball game...and that was about it today.  Tomorrow will be quite a different affair...I'm planning to wake up fairly early (read: before 10am), go grocery shopping in the morning, and hit it hardcore on this paper.  Ideally, I want to get it completely finished tomorrow.  I'm going to try and get a very rough outline accomplished tonight.

Such is the life of a graduate student.  Study, study, study, plus procrastination, plus unexpectedly lengthy naps.

I'm going to be trying to make some more proactive lifestyle changes here in the near future, so stay tuned for that.  As for right now, I'm going to get back to work...

Proactive About the Future

Today consisted of 5 parts:

Part 1: IHop with a friend.

Part 2: Laundry.  So much laundry.

Part 3: Applying for post-graduation jobs.  More on this momentarily.

Part 4: Working haphazardly on my Doctrine of God paper, and frequently discovering that I'm a borderline heretic.

Part 5:  Watching the Cardinals KILL the Rangers 16-7 in Game 3 of the World Series, with three home runs by Albert Pujols (putting him on par with Babe Ruth).  That's some good vindication for a St. Louis girl who is constantly frustrated by Dallas traffic.

Now back to part three...even though I don't graduate for another 6 months, I went ahead and started the process of applying for jobs today.  Can't start too early, right?  Well, you probably can, but for motivational purposes I think it's a really good thing.  Generally, when I think about finding a job, it seems vague and intimidating, but after revamping my resume and writing up a good cover letter (both of which are obviously tweaked and edited for the job at hand), I'm actually feeling excited and positive about finding a job!  For one thing, I've discovered that while finding a job may be hard, applying for them is easy...it never hurts to send in an application, and now that I've got basic application documents at hand it's really easy to apply.  And even if it's only October, I figure it's never too early to get my name out there.  One of the churches already responded saying the position has been filled, and I haven't heard from the other one yet, but you miss 100% of the shots you never take, right?

Whodunit

Tonight I was witness to a murder.  Happily, it was not a real one.

Actually, tonight I went to a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre show with a couple of friends...and it was so fun!  I actually had a lot more fun than I expected to, given my general dislike of actors who interact with audience members.  The show was put on by The Murder Mystery Company, and, through the wonders of Groupon, cost just $20 for a three-course meal and interactive mystery (the regular cost is $60).  Even better, tonight's show somehow got upgraded from the usual venue to Eddie Deen's Ranch, a big Western-themed event venue that was a lot of fun.  The night had a masquerade theme, so we all donned our masks and headed off to solve a murder!

The meal was tasty - salad and AWESOME rolls for starters, then beef roast, mashed potatoes, and veggies, and a fudge/walnut pie to finish things out.  I kind of  got a kick out of the juxtaposition of the Western decor and menu with the otherwise "Billionaires Club Masquerade" theme of the event...but I guess that's Texas for you.  

The show went down in three acts, in between which we guests all milled about and talked to the "suspects," trying to figure out who killed the poor general by poisoned cigar.  There were probably about 15 suspects or so in total, and I really thought that any one of them could have done it.  Although, in the end, the killer was someone that our table didn't even suspect at all...but then again, as much as I love reading mystery novels as a long-time Agatha Christie fan (and Boxcar Children before that), I have NEVER been able to properly figure out the ending to a mystery (that I can recall), so I don't suppose I should have expected tonight to be any different.  It was a really fun night though, and a great way to start the weekend!

After the show, we wandered around the room and took a couple silly pictures with the decor, like this gem of the three of us thrown in jail...

That's probably how we'll all feel tomorrow when we're working on our Doctrine of God papers (due this Wednesday)...glad to have had a fun night tonight!

The Happy Prince

I had a horrible day (lots of little things adding up into one terrible day), and therefore do not feel like writing, and I am certainly not feeling capable of writing something good.  Here, then, is a short story by Oscar Wilde that I just read online, that I recommend to you instead.

"The Happy Prince"

High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt.


He was very much admired indeed. "He is as beautiful as a weathercock," remarked one of the Town Councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; "only not quite so useful," he added, fearing lest people should think him unpractical, which he really was not.


"Why can't you be like the Happy Prince?" asked a sensible mother of her little boy who was crying for the moon. "The Happy Prince never dreams of crying for anything."


"I am glad there is some one in the world who is quite happy," muttered a disappointed man as he gazed at the wonderful statue.


"He looks just like an angel," said the Charity Children as they came out of the cathedral in their bright scarlet cloaks and their clean white pinafores.


"How do you know?" said the Mathematical Master, "you have never seen one."


"Ah! but we have, in our dreams," answered the children; and the Mathematical Master frowned and looked very severe, for he did not approve of children dreaming.


One night there flew over the city a little Swallow. His friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before, but he had stayed behind, for he was in love with the most beautiful Reed. He had met her early in the spring as he was flying down the river after a big yellow moth, and had been so attracted by her slender waist that he had stopped to talk to her.


"Shall I love you?" said the Swallow, who liked to come to the point at once, and the Reed made him a low bow. So he flew round and round her, touching the water with his wings, and making silver ripples. This was his courtship, and it lasted all through the summer.


"It is a ridiculous attachment," twittered the other Swallows; "she has no money, and far too many relations"; and indeed the river was quite full of Reeds. Then, when the autumn came they all flew away.


After they had gone he felt lonely, and began to tire of his lady-love. "She has no conversation," he said, "and I am afraid that she is a coquette, for she is always flirting with the wind." And certainly, whenever the wind blew, the Reed made the most graceful curtseys. "I admit that she is domestic," he continued, "but I love travelling, and my wife, consequently, should love travelling also."


"Will you come away with me?" he said finally to her; but the Reed shook her head, she was so attached to her home.


"You have been trifling with me," he cried. "I am off to the Pyramids. Good-bye!" and he flew away.


All day long he flew, and at night-time he arrived at the city. "Where shall I put up?" he said; "I hope the town has made preparations."


Then he saw the statue on the tall column.


"I will put up there," he cried; "it is a fine position, with plenty of fresh air." So he alighted just between the feet of the Happy Prince.


"I have a golden bedroom," he said softly to himself as he looked round, and he prepared to go to sleep; but just as he was putting his head under his wing a large drop of water fell on him. "What a curious thing!" he cried; "there is not a single cloud in the sky, the stars are quite clear and bright, and yet it is raining. The climate in the north of Europe is really dreadful. The Reed used to like the rain, but that was merely her selfishness."


Then another drop fell.


"What is the use of a statue if it cannot keep the rain off?" he said; "I must look for a good chimney-pot," and he determined to fly away.


But before he had opened his wings, a third drop fell, and he looked up, and saw -Ah! what did he see?


The eyes of the Happy Prince were filled with tears, and tears were running down his golden cheeks. His face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little Swallow was filled with pity.


"Who are you?" he said.


"I am the Happy Prince."


"Why are you weeping then?" asked the Swallow; "you have quite drenched me."


"When I was alive and had a human heart," answered the statue, "I did not know what tears were, for I lived in the Palace of Sans-Souci, where sorrow is not allowed to enter. In the daytime I played with my companions in the garden, and in the evening I led the dance in the Great Hall. Round the garden ran a very lofty wall, but I never cared to ask what lay beyond it, everything about me was so beautiful. My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. So I lived, and so I died. And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot chose but weep."


"What! is he not solid gold?" said the Swallow to himself. He was too polite to make any personal remarks out loud.


"Far away," continued the statue in a low musical voice, "far away in a little street there is a poor house. One of the windows is open, and through it I can see a woman seated at a table. Her face is thin and worn, and she has coarse, red hands, all pricked by the needle, for she is a seamstress. She is embroidering passion- flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the Queen's maids-of-honour to wear at the next Court-ball. In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill. He has a fever, and is asking for oranges. His mother has nothing to give him but river water, so he is crying. Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow, will you not bring her the ruby out of my sword-hilt? My feet are fastened to this pedestal and I cannot move."


"I am waited for in Egypt," said the Swallow. "My friends are flying up and down the Nile, and talking to the large lotus-flowers. Soon they will go to sleep in the tomb of the great King. The King is there himself in his painted coffin. He is wrapped in yellow linen, and embalmed with spices. Round his neck is a chain of pale green jade, and his hands are like withered leaves."


"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince, "will you not stay with me for one night, and be my messenger? The boy is so thirsty, and the mother so sad."


"I don't think I like boys," answered the Swallow. "Last summer, when I was staying on the river, there were two rude boys, the miller's sons, who were always throwing stones at me. They never hit me, of course; we swallows fly far too well for that, and besides, I come of a family famous for its agility; but still, it was a mark of disrespect."


But the Happy Prince looked so sad that the little Swallow was sorry. "It is very cold here," he said; "but I will stay with you for one night, and be your messenger."


"Thank you, little Swallow," said the Prince.


So the Swallow picked out the great ruby from the Prince's sword, and flew away with it in his beak over the roofs of the town.


He passed by the cathedral tower, where the white marble angels were sculptured. 
He passed by the palace and heard the sound of dancing. A beautiful girl came out on the balcony with her lover. "How wonderful the stars are," he said to her, "and how wonderful is the power of love!"


"I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State-ball," she answered; "I have ordered passion-flowers to be embroidered on it; but the seamstresses are so lazy."


He passed over the river, and saw the lanterns hanging to the masts of the ships. He passed over the Ghetto, and saw the old Jews bargaining with each other, and weighing out money in copper scales. At last he came to the poor house and looked in. The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. In he hopped, and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman's thimble. Then he flew gently round the bed, fanning the boy's forehead with his wings. "How cool I feel," said the boy, "I must be getting better"; and he sank into a delicious slumber.


Then the Swallow flew back to the Happy Prince, and told him what he had done. 


"It is curious," he remarked, "but I feel quite warm now, although it is so cold."


"That is because you have done a good action," said the Prince. And the little Swallow began to think, and then he fell asleep. Thinking always made him sleepy.


When day broke he flew down to the river and had a bath. "What a remarkable phenomenon," said the Professor of Ornithology as he was passing over the bridge. 
"A swallow in winter!" And he wrote a long letter about it to the local newspaper. Every one quoted it, it was full of so many words that they could not understand.


"To-night I go to Egypt," said the Swallow, and he was in high spirits at the prospect. He visited all the public monuments, and sat a long time on top of the church steeple. Wherever he went the Sparrows chirruped, and said to each other, "What a distinguished stranger!" so he enjoyed himself very much.


When the moon rose he flew back to the Happy Prince. "Have you any commissions for Egypt?" he cried; "I am just starting."


"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince, "will you not stay with me one night longer?"


"I am waited for in Egypt," answered the Swallow. "To-morrow my friends will fly up to the Second Cataract. The river-horse couches there among the bulrushes, and on a great granite throne sits the God Memnon. All night long he watches the stars, and when the morning star shines he utters one cry of joy, and then he is silent. At noon the yellow lions come down to the water's edge to drink. They have eyes like green beryls, and their roar is louder than the roar of the cataract.
"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince, "far away across the city I see a young man in a garret. He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and in a tumbler by his side there is a bunch of withered violets. His hair is brown and crisp, and his lips are red as a pomegranate, and he has large and dreamy eyes. He is trying to finish a play for the Director of the Theatre, but he is too cold to write any more. There is no fire in the grate, and hunger has made him faint."


"I will wait with you one night longer," said the Swallow, who really had a good heart. "Shall I take him another ruby?"


"Alas! I have no ruby now," said the Prince; "my eyes are all that I have left. They are made of rare sapphires, which were brought out of India a thousand years ago. Pluck out one of them and take it to him. He will sell it to the jeweller, and buy food and firewood, and finish his play."


"Dear Prince," said the Swallow, "I cannot do that"; and he began to weep.


"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince, "do as I command you."


So the Swallow plucked out the Prince's eye, and flew away to the student's garret. It was easy enough to get in, as there was a hole in the roof. Through this he darted, and came into the room. The young man had his head buried in his hands, so he did not hear the flutter of the bird's wings, and when he looked up he found the beautiful sapphire lying on the withered violets.


"I am beginning to be appreciated," he cried; "this is from some great admirer. Now I can finish my play," and he looked quite happy.


The next day the Swallow flew down to the harbour. He sat on the mast of a large vessel and watched the sailors hauling big chests out of the hold with ropes. "Heave a-hoy!" they shouted as each chest came up. "I am going to Egypt"! cried the Swallow, but nobody minded, and when the moon rose he flew back to the Happy Prince.


"I am come to bid you good-bye," he cried.


"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince, "will you not stay with me one night longer?"


"It is winter," answered the Swallow, "and the chill snow will soon be here. In Egypt the sun is warm on the green palm-trees, and the crocodiles lie in the mud and look lazily about them. My companions are building a nest in the Temple of Baalbec, and the pink and white doves are watching them, and cooing to each other. Dear Prince, I must leave you, but I will never forget you, and next spring I will bring you back two beautiful jewels in place of those you have given away. The ruby shall be redder than a red rose, and the sapphire shall be as blue as the great sea."


"In the square below," said the Happy Prince, "there stands a little match-girl. She has let her matches fall in the gutter, and they are all spoiled. Her father will beat her if she does not bring home some money, and she is crying. She has no shoes or stockings, and her little head is bare. Pluck out my other eye, and give it to her, and her father will not beat her."


"I will stay with you one night longer," said the Swallow, "but I cannot pluck out your eye. You would be quite blind then."


"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince, "do as I command you."


So he plucked out the Prince's other eye, and darted down with it. He swooped past the match-girl, and slipped the jewel into the palm of her hand. "What a lovely bit of glass," cried the little girl; and she ran home, laughing.


Then the Swallow came back to the Prince. "You are blind now," he said, "so I will stay with you always."


"No, little Swallow," said the poor Prince, "you must go away to Egypt."


"I will stay with you always," said the Swallow, and he slept at the Prince's feet.


All the next day he sat on the Prince's shoulder, and told him stories of what he had seen in strange lands. He told him of the red ibises, who stand in long rows on the banks of the Nile, and catch gold-fish in their beaks; of the Sphinx, who is as old as the world itself, and lives in the desert, and knows everything; of the merchants, who walk slowly by the side of their camels, and carry amber beads in their hands; of the King of the Mountains of the Moon, who is as black as ebony, and worships a large crystal; of the great green snake that sleeps in a palm-tree, and has twenty priests to feed it with honey-cakes; and of the pygmies who sail over a big lake on large flat leaves, and are always at war with the butterflies.


"Dear little Swallow," said the Prince, "you tell me of marvellous things, but more marvellous than anything is the suffering of men and of women. There is no Mystery so great as Misery. Fly over my city, little Swallow, and tell me what you see there."


So the Swallow flew over the great city, and saw the rich making merry in their beautiful houses, while the beggars were sitting at the gates. He flew into dark lanes, and saw the white faces of starving children looking out listlessly at the black streets. Under the archway of a bridge two little boys were lying in one another's arms to try and keep themselves warm. "How hungry we are!" they said. "You must not lie here," shouted the Watchman, and they wandered out into the rain.
Then he flew back and told the Prince what he had seen.


"I am covered with fine gold," said the Prince, "you must take it off, leaf by leaf, and give it to my poor; the living always think that gold can make them happy."
Leaf after leaf of the fine gold the Swallow picked off, till the Happy Prince looked quite dull and grey. Leaf after leaf of the fine gold he brought to the poor, and the children's faces grew rosier, and they laughed and played games in the street. "We have bread now!" they cried.


Then the snow came, and after the snow came the frost. The streets looked as if they were made of silver, they were so bright and glistening; long icicles like crystal daggers hung down from the eaves of the houses, everybody went about in furs, and the little boys wore scarlet caps and skated on the ice.


The poor little Swallow grew colder and colder, but he would not leave the Prince, he loved him too well. He picked up crumbs outside the baker's door when the baker was not looking and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings.
But at last he knew that he was going to die. He had just strength to fly up to the Prince's shoulder once more. "Good-bye, dear Prince!" he murmured, "will you let me kiss your hand?"


"I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little Swallow," said the Prince, "you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you."


"It is not to Egypt that I am going," said the Swallow. "I am going to the House of Death. Death is the brother of Sleep, is he not?"


And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.


At that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. The fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two. It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost.


Early the next morning the Mayor was walking in the square below in company with the Town Councillors. As they passed the column he looked up at the statue: "Dear me! how shabby the Happy Prince looks!" he said.


"How shabby indeed!" cried the Town Councillors, who always agreed with the Mayor; and they went up to look at it.


"The ruby has fallen out of his sword, his eyes are gone, and he is golden no longer," said the Mayor in fact, "he is little better than a beggar!"


"Little better than a beggar," said the Town Councillors.


"And here is actually a dead bird at his feet!" continued the Mayor. "We must really issue a proclamation that birds are not to be allowed to die here." And the Town Clerk made a note of the suggestion.


So they pulled down the statue of the Happy Prince. "As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful," said the Art Professor at the University.


Then they melted the statue in a furnace, and the Mayor held a meeting of the Corporation to decide what was to be done with the metal. "We must have another statue, of course," he said, "and it shall be a statue of myself."


"Of myself," said each of the Town Councillors, and they quarrelled. When I last heard of them they were quarrelling still.


"What a strange thing!" said the overseer of the workmen at the foundry. "This broken lead heart will not melt in the furnace. We must throw it away." So they threw it on a dust-heap where the dead Swallow was also lying.


"Bring me the two most precious things in the city," said God to one of His Angels; and the Angel brought Him the leaden heart and the dead bird.


"You have rightly chosen," said God, "for in my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me."


-Oscar Wilde, 1888

Day

Wake Up Drive Cereal Lecture Registrar Library Walk Through Campus Drive Raising Canes With Friend Drive Library Drive Home Nap Wake Up Drive Hang Out With Classmates Class Discussion Drive Home TV BLT Homework Baseball Phone Call Cardinals Win Skype Chat Blog Post Shower Sleep.

Little Mortons

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of large student loan debt must be in want of a good budgeting plan.  I don't know if I'm necessarily an expert when it comes to saving money; my saving account contains a meager $250 despite the fact that I opened it over a year ago, and all of that is courtesy of Bank of America's "Keep the Change" program rather than diligent self-initiated saving.  What I do know, however, is that I'm reluctant to spend money on things I don't need.  Apartment rent?  Yes.  Utilities?  Yes.  Groceries?  Yes.  Meals out with friends?  Heck yes (that counts as food, and in the words of Rally's, "you've gotta eat.")  But material things, like clothes or books or DVDs and what have you?  Those are rare.

Which is why I want to introduce you to Morton:

Morton is an adorable little stuffed animal horse, with a head that is disproportionate to its body (hence my hand in the photo, keeping Morton from tipping over), and with eyes that are disproportionately large and a mane and tail that are disproportionately short.  In the world of stuffed animals, disproportion is all it takes for me to fall in love.  I found Morton in Wild Bill's Western Wear Store in the Dallas West End, when my friend Brandi visited last week, and seeing a price tag of $6, immediately knew that I had to own it.  And in case you're wondering, yes, I did personally name it Morton.

But let me tell you, and my friend Brandi can attest to this: I was ridiculously excited to own Morton.  Let's face it, more excited than any 23 year old woman needs to be over a stuffed toy.  But the happiness that Morton brought wasn't just in his inherent adorableness...it was in his complete and utter frivolity.

That's right.  Morton is just about the most frivolous purchase that I've made in a good, long time.  And even though I usually think of frivolous purchases as bad because of their apparent "pointlessness", Morton, in all his frivolity and adorableness, makes me smile every time I look at him.  And I think that's worth the six dollars. 

I'm not saying that money can buy happiness, but a good frivolous purchase here and there can certainly up the happiness quotient, especially when your money usually goes away into necessary, but invisible, purchases - like food that is gone as soon as you're finished eating it.  And since I hardly ever make such frivolous purchases, I really, really appreciate them when I do make them, and see them as something special.

I call these frivolous purchases "Little Mortons" - little purchases beyond the realm of necessity that add snippets of joy to my life.  The art of Little Mortons is keeping them cheap...because there's a big difference between Little Mortons and irresponsible and detrimental spending.  

Here are some of the Little Mortons that I've acquired recently:

A copy of Housekeeping in Old Virginia, a collaborative cookbook from 1879, courtesy of Half-Price Books: $5

A teal cardigan from Forever 21, that looks quite similar to this one (I couldn't find a picture of the actual one online, and mine is currently in the laundry).  $17.  And, even though clothes could be labelled necessary purchases, I buy new clothes so infrequently that they take on "Little Morton" status (after all, why buy clothes when you've got a closet full of clothes to wear?).

And, my most recent Little Morton (which for its price might actually be labeled a Medium-Sized Morton)...a pair of handmade Jane Austen-inspired earrings, with snapshots of text from Pride and Prejudice.  $30.25 (which, yes, is a lot for earrings, but 1) they're handmade, 2) they're shipping from England, 3) I'm a sucker for one-of-a-kind earrings, 4) they involve Pride and Prejudice, and 5) there was only one pair available online and I knew that I wanted them enough that I would be sad if someone bought them before I did.  Hello impulse Morton.)

But that Morton won't arrive in my mailbox for another month or so, since it's shipping across the Atlantic Ocean.  But you can bet that it'll brighten up my day when they do arrive!

All in all, I'm happy to have made the discovery of the significance of Little Mortons.  For the past five years my money mantra has been "spend as little as possible"...but I'm learning that it's okay to treat myself with things every now and again.  Even more importantly, I'm learning that, when done responsibly, treating myself isn't going to break the bank, and I don't need to feel guilty for buying things that have no "purpose" besides brightening up my life a little bit :)

Redundancy

My life has fallen back into that unremarkable pattern of laziness, procrastination, and bursts of productivity that are not conducive to writing inspiration.  I know I've said this MANY times this year, but let's face it, 365 days is a lot of blog posts, and even though we're not there yet, writer's block is probably inevitable at this point.

Speaking of which, can you believe that 2011 is almost over??  If nothing else, keeping this blog has shown me just how short a year really is!  I can't believe it's already halfway through October!  Even weirder, I can't believe that in under a month I'll be registering for classes FOR THE LAST TIME.  EVER.  That is, assuming I don't get the urge to get a doctorate 20 years down the road.  But I don't really see that happening...or at least, I don't want to think about it right now.

So that's all I've got for you!  Have a good day!

Things I Love Sunday

My friend Ashley frequently writes "TILT" blogs (aka, "Things I Love Thursday).  Today, I want to write a "Things I Love Sunday" post...which doesn't make for a good acronym, but lots of good little things happened today :)

*Cardinals vs Rangers in the World Series...what else could a St. Louis girl living in Dallas ask for?  Either way, my team is going to win!

*The 1879 Housekeeping in Old Virginia cookbook that I bought for $5 at Half-Price Books last week, and love browsing through!  It's a 1965 reprint, but I love reading all the old recipes!  I want to try some of them out!

*The Coconut Chicken Salad at Cafe Brazil...Delicious!!  Oh, and being at Cafe Brazil with friends :)

*Discovering that I do NOT need to take a January Term class to graduate in May, like I thought I did.  Yay for a real winter break!

*Awesome Bible study tonight!  It was both deep, insightful, and hilarious.

*Skyping with my parents to help sort through all sorts of obscure Christmas decorations and childhood paraphernalia

*My confirmation class kids were engaged with the lesson this morning (but then, it DID involve popping balloons...and that's about all you need if you're a 12-year-old boy)

*Making strong progress on designing my independent study for the spring

*Getting to sleep in tomorrow morning!  Yeah!!

And those are some things that I love :)  What do you love?

Lazy Movie Day

Today I watched TV and movies, and quite literally did absolutely nothing else.

Well that's not entirely true.  I also drove to Panda Express to get food to eat while Community on DVR.  And the last two movies of the day were watched with friends at my friend's Rachel's apartment (we had plans to go see Hanson in concert (mmbop!!!), but they got sick and cancelled the show...sad!!).  But really, in any case, all I did was lay around and watch TV.  Which I feel like is alright, because I needed a break.

Oh, I also took a nap.  And at the girls' night, we accidentally made butter.  (A group attempt to make homemade whipped cream went a step too far).

That was my day!  Here are some movies that made an appearance today...

Goodbye Friday

I made it through Friday, meaning I can take a (very slight) breather...lots of papers and other assignments coming up, but none for the immediately coming week at least.

And now, at long last, here are some pictures from Brandi's visit last weekend!

At the Fort Worth Water Gardens...

 Funky and Fabulous at the Stockyards...

Learning how to rope cattle!

"Yeehaw!!!!!!!"

Roped me a plastic sheep!

Bull-riding!!! (That thing rolled around all over the pen, REALLY fast!)

Brandi was unsure...

Walking around the West End :)

Can you answer these questions?

#1: Vanhoozer states,  “God’s revelatory words always accompany God’s redemptive deeds.” (in McDermott, 44). This seems similar to the claims made by Cone and González about how revelation and/or scripture is correctly interpreted. Is this assessment correct? What are Vanhoozer’s commitments when it comes to scripture and its authority? (e.g. How does he understand inerrancy and infallibility?) Compare Vanhoozer’s position with either Cone’s or González’s (within the scope of the assigned reading). Which do you think is more satisfactory and why?


#2: Ellen Charry attempts to define parameters as to what counts as Christian Theological Experience (CTE). She identifies parameters against which an experience can be tested to see if it can qualify as a source of knowledge of the God which Christians profess. Why does she undertake this project? What is she worried about with respect to experience? Does she clearly identify what the parameters are? If so, what are they? Does she ultimately succeed in offering a helpful and constructive proposal as to how we out to think about Christian theological experiences?


#3: “The God of Abraham and the God of the philosophers are alien, and great harm is done by any attempt to bring them together.” (Holmes, in Webster, 57).  “Any God whose existence can be proven is an idol.” (González, 90). What reasons do Holmes and González give for their distrust of the philosophical method of discerning the attributes of God? What does each think about the ability of language and reason (or natural theology) to “reach” or adequately describe God? Does Marshall’s method of using liturgical tradition to identify the God Christians worship provide a way of addressing Holmes and Gonzáles concerns?


#4: Drawing on the selections from Sanders and González, identify what is meant by the distinction between the economic Trinity and the immanent Trinity and why it became a dominant framework in 20th Century theology. Sanders references "Rahner's Axiom" which states that "the economic Trinity is the immanent Trinity and vice versa." According to Sanders (or other sources in our readings), why did Rahner insist on the identity between the two? Sanders claims that if Rahner's axiom is taken seriously, this would lead to a denial of the immanent Trinity apart from salvation history (in McDermott, 41). What is Sanders’ reasoning for making this assertion? Does Sanders’ claim, if correct, also lead to a denial of the immanent Trinity? Is Sanders saying Rahner’s position is really a form of modalism? How would Athanasius respond to this conversation?




If you can't answer these questions, then I don't have time to deal with you right now, because I have a midterm tomorrow and I have to be able to write a full-fledged essay on one of these topics in 11 hours.  Please check back later for your daily dose of wit and candor.

Eek!

That quintessential mid-October panic is ensuing.  Although this panic is familiar to every grad school student with whom I am familiar, it is nonetheless unbidden and unpleasant to deal with.

My particular panic is brought on by my Systematic Theology midterm on Friday (the most notoriously difficult class at Perkins, aside from the Christian Heritage class that covers 2,000 years of church history in one academic year).  Unfortunately, due to the (otherwise very fortunate) visit of one of my best friends to Dallas over the weekend, I didn't start studying until today.  I outlined 2 of the 5 possible essays in about 3 hours this morning.  Add in 7 hours of work at my job (including a 1.5 hour evaluation meeting) and 3 hours of reading/response questions for my children's ministry course (coming to me live at 9am tomorrow) and you basically have a rough outline of my day.  That leaves 11 hours of the day unaccounted for: 9 of those were sleeping (midnight to 8am and a nap from 11-12), plus half an hour for lunch and half an hour talking to my mom on the phone, and you'll reach 11:00pm, which is the time right now.

Needless to say, it's been a long day...and tomorrow's going to be just as long, if not longer.

The bright side of the day is that part one of my work evaluation went well.  Part two comes on Friday...as does the midterm.

Is it Saturday yet?

Alas.

Brandi has departed back to her homeland of Louisville.  This following a day of breakfast at Cafe Brazil, browsing Half Price Books, and "lunch" at Pokey O's (because really, is there any lunch better than an ice cream cookie sandwich?).  After I dropped her off at the airport, I basically spent the rest of the day laying on the couch watching television.  Seriously.

Tomorrow reality will hit again as I attempt to prep for Friday's intimidating midterm and enter into evaluation week at work (where people say how I'm doing).  I'm hoping the time pressure will help me succeed on the first, and expecting positive feedback from the second.  Still, it'll be an intense 3 days!!!  But in the end, it's only 3 days until I get another sigh of relief, so at least there's that.

I'll try and write a post-Brandi's-visit blog with photos and whatnot soon, but tonight I think I'm going to call it a night early.  I've decided (again) that I want to be one of those people who goes to bed early and gets up early...it seems like a more productive lifestyle than staying up late for the sake of having more "free time" and then hitting snooze for an hour and a half in the morning.  We'll see if I can make that work this week...I definitely have to shift into productivity mode in any case! 

Brandi's Visit, Day 3!

Today was another friend-tastic day...shopping at the fancy mall (we even went in the Oscar de la Renta boutique, after declaring openly to the saleswomen that we wouldn't be purchasing anything in there...the one price tag I saw was for a $2,190 dress), lunch at Panda Express, the West End, visiting the church where I work and SMU, and Tex-Mex dinner with a seminary friend.  Good day :)

But alas, Brandi shall leave tomorrow afternoon...and I shall return to the world of reality and homework.  All good things must come to an end....but we still have some fun plans in store!

Brandi's Visit, Day 2!

Brandi's still here.  Unfortunately I had to work most of the day, but in the evening we went to see "50/50" at the Inwood Theater, which is one of those old-fashioned movie theaters that have a big neon marquis and are full of character in general.  It was a really good movie (if vulgar at points)...it had a good balance of being really funny and really emotionally moving and heartfelt.  After the movie we grabbed frozen yogurt at I Heart Yogurt next door, then played Wii at the apartment (including some "Just Dance", in which we performed a dramatic Bollywood duet dance).  It was intense.

More to come tomorrow!

A Preview of What's to Come

As my friend Brandi is visiting, I will, as usual in times of guests, not be writing a real post.  I will, however, give you this photographic glimpse into our day...a sneak peek, if you will.

Brandi Arrives!!!

In approximately half an hour, I will be leaving to pick up my friend Brandi, one of my best friends from college, from the Dallas airport...and I'm SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!  This does, of course, mean that post writing will be limited...but knowing the nature of me and Brandi's friendship, it's likely that good stories will ensue.  Have a good weekend, everyone!

Having

The other day I saw a commercial.  It was either for a car or a phone, I really couldn't tell you which...I think it was a phone, but I can't be sure.

In any case, the script of the commercial went something like this:

"How do you send a text while keeping both hands on the wheel?


How do you find a five-star restaurant while driving?


How can you find the cheapest gas, right when you need it?"


I don't really remember the rest of the commercial, because by this point I was kind of appalled...because, according to this commercial and so many others like it, these are the things that really matter.  Having matters.  But not just having...having NOW.

Are these truly the needs of American society?  Have we become so spoiled that our "needs" are nothing more than wanting a way to use our phone while driving our car?  Is it so vital to our existence that we ensure that the restaurant we've chosen was rated with five stars instead of four?  And if we're eating at those five star restaurants and buying our phones to use in our cars, it's no wonder we're so concerned with finding the cheapest gas...how else are we going to afford the frivolous lifestyle that we somehow believe is not only necessary, but normal?

Last week I often found myself complaining about two different things, using these exact phrases: "I don't have anything to wear!", and "I have GOT to go to the store, I don't have anything to eat!"  I am here to tell you that these were both complete lies.  My closet and dresser are full of t-shirts and jeans and tops and dresses, and my pantry is full of all kinds of dry ingredient items that, while creating an odd sort of meal if juxtaposed on a single plate, would keep me well fed for quite some time.  I may say that I have nothing to wear, but I never have to walk around naked.  I may say that I have nothing to eat, but I never go hungry.

But notice the phrasing that I used in my complaints, because it's the phrasing that I think has become so ingrained in our American psyches that we don't even notice it's there anymore:

"I don't have anything to wear."  Not, "I don't have anything I CARE to wear."

"I don't have anything to eat."  Not, "I don't have anything I CARE to eat."

It's the latter statements that were really true for me last week...yet somehow the distinction has gotten clouded.  And I don't think it's just gotten clouded for me...I think it's gotten clouded for all of us.

"I just can't wait until I've stopped driving to send this text message."


"Hold on, my phone can find us a five-star restaurant for dinner."


"Gas is two cents cheaper three miles away, let's go fill up there instead."

What about the people of the world whose thoughts run differently?

"I have to drive into the next village to use the phone."


"I wonder if I'm going to have food for dinner tonight?"


"I wonder if my wages will last me through the week?"

These thoughts may have come to me more strongly during the commercial because my father is currently leading a mission trip in Ghana, where real, concrete, actual needs are being met in real, concrete, actual ways through the work of the team and those financially supporting their work.  But that doesn't mean that the need isn't great here in America as well - I help at a food pantry that packs weekly food boxes for families that contain less food than my pantry does when I "need" to go to the store.

On my way back from work, I pass two enormous billboards for the iPad 2 - those New York-style advertisements that drape the sides of skyscrapers.  To be honest, I like driving past these kinds of advertisements because, despite their blatant consumerism, they make me feel all young and hip and city-chic.  But, at the same time, I know that in the shadows of those billboards are countless homeless people and families living in poverty.  I work in a neighborhood where half of the residents have less than a high school education, maintain blue-collar jobs, and where 80% of the family households living in poverty contain children.  Those cosmopolitan iPad 2 billboards are less than 10 minutes away from this neighborhood.

So what are our needs?  Everyone has needs, to be sure...but how much of the things that we think we "need" are truly necessities in our lives?  And if we consider these things as necessities, are they necessities because we truly need them to survive, or because someone told us that they were a necessity?  Or, is it because we have convinced ourselves that our wants are truly needs?

My seminary does a project a couple times a year where students makes "Manna Bags" to keep in their cars and hand out to homeless people begging at intersections.  The bags have things like crackers, a water bottle, personal hygiene products, a list of shelters in the city...the basics.  To be honest, I have always found this activity to be outside my comfort zone, but recently I was sitting in the backseat of a friend's car when we encountered a homeless man begging.  As my friend opened the window and called out "Excuse me sir, would you like a bag?,"  I was touched by the man's response:  "Aww man, I need the socks real bad.  Thank you."  My friend asked him, "What's your name?"  "Steven."  "Have a good day, Steven."  And then we drove away.

"I need the socks real bad."


Real needs reveal our supposed "necessities" for what they really are: privileges.  Blessings that we have turned into "rights."

So maybe we don't need to concern ourselves with having the latest technological gadget.  Maybe we don't need to eat at fancy restaurants.  Maybe we shouldn't whine about gas prices so much when we can still afford to fill our tanks and our mouths without having to choose between the two.

Maybe instead of focusing on Having, we should focus on Giving.

Ahh!!!

Well, the panic has finally set in for my Old Testament midterm (about time, since it's happening tomorrow).  So once again I must leave you in the name of studying...

I wish it didn't have to be like this...but absence makes the heart grow fonder, no?  Remain faithful to me, O blog readers.

Drat.

Well I had something SUPER AWESOME to write about (still have it, as a matter of fact), but suddenly it's after midnight and I've got to get me to bed so that I can have the most productive day possible for tomorrow...I'm in the middle of an epic battle to make it through Thursday afternoon (really, I'm in the middle of an epic battle to make it through next Friday...actually, all of October.  Let's just take things one step at a time here). In any case, I can assure you that a good post will be coming in the near future...unfortunately, it's not tonight.

In other news, I'm starting a petition to send to God to request that an additional 6 hours be added to the day, with the important addenda that humans would require no more sleep (although this time could be used for napping) and that the length of the work/school day would remain the same.  If you'd like to sign this petition, you may do so in comments.

Just Dance, Yo!

You will perhaps recall a post from a few days ago when I mentioned that I bought my second Wii game (in 10 months...I'm a cheapskate).  That's right, I'm now the proud owner of Just Dance 2 for the Wii.  And tonight I gave it a go.

My reasons for buying this game were twofold: 1) My exercise regimen has dissolved into nothing more than doing "sit-ups" to get off the couch, and 2) I played this game at my friend Jessica's house over winter break last year and it's just absolutely hilarious.  It's particularly hilarious to play with friends, and one of the reasons I put off buying it was because I was worried it wouldn't be as enjoyable to play by myself.  But I was cracking myself up within the first three minutes.  As you might remember from my dance workout DVD escapades, dancing is not my forte...I like to think that's part of my charm.  It's part of my charm that doesn't get to go out in public very often, but it's definitely a part of my charm.

For the video-game-disinclined, this game is super easy to understand...as the name would imply, all you do is turn on the game and "just dance."  You pick a song, and then follow the motions of the virtual dancer on the screen...and that's really it.  But trust me, it's a ton of fun, and it's hilarious.

Here's a dance from the game that I did tonight...with a video of some random kid in the bottom right corner doing the dance in real life.  I looked just about as cool as him, never fear...even if I wasn't wearing a jaunty trucker hat.



This is one of the easier dances, there's multiple levels and music styles throughout the game, including duet dances to do with a friend (unfortunately I don't have a second Wii controller, but that doesn't stop me from forcing my friends to play along anyway.  In all seriousness (or as much seriousness as can be given concerning a game that makes me dance around embarrassingly), I'm hoping that this game will jumpstart the exercise regimen again.  That, and I'm forbidding myself from buying Nutella at the store anymore...which is a sad, but necessary measure.

So yay for dancing!!!  Should be a fun new exercise routine :)

(Extra)Ordinary.

Darn writer's block.

Today I went to work, watched Holes and Aladdin on TV, ate large amounts of cotton candy (thank you state fair), and decluttered the living room.  I also searched for books for my independent study next semester.

What a riveting life I do lead.

Since my life is lacking the extraordinary at the moment, here are some people doing more extraordinary things for you to appreciate and/or marvel at.

State Fair!

Today I experienced the legendary Texas State Fair (which is officially called "The State Fair of Texas", but I find that indirect adjectival construction to be superfluous).  I met up with my friends Rachel and Miranda at their house, and then we took the DART to the fair.

The Fair, being your typical state fair only somewhat larger (we are in Texas, after all), had lots of different attractions: livestock, food vendors, a Ferris wheel, rides too cheaply terrifying to ride, product samples, LOTS of people, boat rides, auto shows, cooking demonstrations, games...there was a lot to look at even if we didn't actually "do" everything.  However, we did engage in one absolute State Fair necessity...what I like to call "The Fried Food Adventure."

Like any state fair, the Texas State Fair attendees subsist primarily on fried food, particularly fried food that has no business being fried (including fried beer and fried butter, neither of which we sampled).  Here's what our fried food menu looked like...don't worry, we shared everything!

Fried Foods #1 and #2: Fried Smores (left) and Fried Pumpkin Pie (Right)

Fried Food #3: Tornado Taters

Fried Food #4: Fried Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Fried Food #5: Onion Blossom

So we definitely had our fill of fried foods...not that we even came close to sampling everything that the Fair had to offer.  To give you an idea, here's what your typical food vendor menu looked like:

As you can see, the bulk of the menu reads "Fried ____".  That's about standard.  Unfortunately, we didn't actually eat anything on a stick.

The fair also had lots of baby animals, like baby cows and baby chicks and baby goats and baby kittens and baby puppies and baby pigs...they were adorable, and I took several pictures of them, but let's face it, everyone's seen cute baby animals before.  What everyone has not seen...

BUTTER SCULPTURE.  Strike that...LIFE-SIZE BUTTER SCULPTURE.

It was crazy.  I suppose that butter is a particularly pliable material and thereby lends itself nicely to the sculptural trade.  Still, it's not something you see everyday.  It was in a giant refrigerator, for the logically-minded people who are curious about the art of butter sculpture.

Some more State Fair sights...

An ENORMOUS pig!

Giant license plate pinwheels!

This creepy portrait of 1980s Nicolas Cage, on a ride with no apparent connection to Nicolas Cage...

A lovely view of the Dallas skyline as seen from atop the Texas Star Ferris Wheel...

The Ferris Wheel itself...

A Man on a Stick...(this was SO weird, I couldn't figure out exactly how it was done...

And Big Tex, the symbol/mascot of the Texas State Fair.  Big Tex has been presiding over the Fair for over 50 years, and apparently he talks, although I never actually heard it...or if I did, I didn't realize it.

And so, after four and a half hours, and COMPLETELY exhausted, we caught the train back home.  Not that we went home empty handed of course...we had a couple Fair goodies to take with us.

Namely, beef-themed goodie bags (including recipe cards, steak seasoning, and barbecue sauce)...

And a giant bag of cotton candy...which we split, and of which my portion is still sitting festively on my kitchen counter.  So that was our day at the fair!  Hope you had fun living vicariously through us!