There is some tendency within many of us to put off things we know will be good for us. It's like the way, when I get the first stirrings of a headache I put off taking painkillers, knowing they would nip the problem in the bud, not because I actually believe the excuse I give about not wanting to become too dependent or resistant to them, but really because I simply hate swallowing pills. And perhaps, if I'm really being cynical, there is some part of us that wants to be able to sit around moaning to ourselves about our affliction with the blasted headache.
Well, for over a year now I have been having a steadily increasing "headache" with the church. This didn't really come as a big surprise; I haven't had a church I really felt at home at since Brentwood Presbyterian back in High School. But I had rather liked Sandyford when I went sporadically as an undergrad and so it has been painful to become steadily more disaffected, frustrated, and outright angry with the church as time goes by as a "regular" attender. And I've known, all along, that there were books out there that might shed some light on my predicament. And then I did some research and didn't find quite what I was looking for. Instead I came across Phillip Yancey an author I had first heard about way back at Brentwood Presbysterian where the minister, Charles Shields, had read out some passages now and again. At that point I had thought those snippets seemed quite good--enough so that I miraculously remembered the name--but I was a busy teen and largely happy with my faith and practically allergic to non-fiction reading that wasn't assigned homework or astrophysics-related, and so I let it go. The name came up again back in my first visit to Glasgow which had likewise been marked by a sustained crisis of faith...or rather a crisis of doctrine. But I was a again a busy student and I didn't pursue it. Now Yancey came up again, and I no longer had the convenient excuse of a busy schedule. Sure, I fill my days and even manage to feel downright frantic at times, but 90% of it can be juggled around to fit in something else if it matters enough. Well, I got down to looking some up, even ordered the books through the library's interlibrary loan system and borrowed another from the church bookshelf.
And so then I had a stack of four of five Phillip Yancey books sitting around the house. And then came the reluctance to swallow the pill. I mean, it's not like it's even guaranteed to work. They're just books, by some guy, and they're on church and faith and whatnot not on the theological, doctrinal issues I'd intended to research. I read a chapter from one, a chapter from another. But it was the skinniest one that my eye kept coming back to...I was a little afraid of what it might say...what challenge it might hold. Because if it held answers I could actually swallow, then, well, then I would have to actually do something.
Well, I've just read half of Church: Why Bother? in one sitting. It's definitely the best case for the Christian Church, the actually church, showing up on a Sunday, reasonably organized church as well as the amorphous community of believers "church" that I've encountered in a long long time. Certainly my current church has made the case for church in sermons with far far less impact on me. Now, the book does discuss finding the right kind of church...but I don't get off the hook that easy. Yes, now I might have to actually do something.
Monday 27 October 2008
I Voted!
Well, my first absentee ballot is off in the mail. I have to say that, price tag aside, I quite liked absentee voting. It took me two and a half hours...but I count that as a pro not a con. Usually, unorganized person that I am, I show up at the ballot box knowing how I'll vote on 2 or 3 things...and then I chew my lip as I stare at the list of two dozen things for me to vote on. And it's too late at that point to do any last minute research! Voting from the comfort of my living room meant that I could do at least some basic web hunting on different politicians, judges, and proposed amendments. I may not have been utterly and completely informed on every issue, but I was a lot more informed having managed to find pros and cons on the amendments, run downs on the politicians and judges (the judges thing was weird actually. Not one of the 7 candidates for Georgia's court of appeals has actually served as a judge before. A little scary in my opinion. But I managed to form a short list of those who seemed reasonable.)So then it was another 40 min and £5.40 for international post (the "probably 4-5 days" non-guaranteed but faster-than-normal and trackable rate. I couldn't really swing the £40 for guaranteed delivery!) to mail it off. Hopefully it will indeed get where it's going in time to count.
Saturday 25 October 2008
Winds Blow
Glagow
Well, winter has set in it seems, and a bit early too. Storms have been blowing off and on all week. I thought I would be blown off my feet on Thursday. And Tuesday was bitterly cold--with a sweat shirt and my winter coat over it I was still cold! And this is only October! Nevertheless I can't help but find the multicolored leaves and the sky streaked in different shades of gray anything but beautiful. Perhaps an ominous stark beauty at times, but beautiful nonetheless. Watching the storm go by on Thursday was particularly breathtaking, dark gray clouds streaked with the orangy-red of sunset flying past at a brisk pace. And then the clouds opened briefly, allowing a peak at the blue above fading towards twilight before the angry dark clouds closed in again.
International Travel Kitten
So I keep thinking that I'll have to ask for thermals for birthday/Christmas this year. And then I remember: by the time those come around I'll be about ready to head to California. Now if you didn't know about this ahead of time, don't get too excited. I've been hired, after a fashion, so I won't be free to jaunt all over the place visiting. But I'll be in the Bay Area so surely I can arrange a quick visit or two! Or better yet, you can visit me. I'm very exited to be going, but I'm going to miss Ron horribly...though I won't miss the Scottish weather!
The Mysteries of Blood Sugar
I have to say one thing for Scottish winter weather though--I think it may be inadvertently helping with my blood sugar issues. I noticed from the very first winter here that I fell prey to the tendency to pack on a bit extra weight as the cold season closed in and then lost it again when summer finally arrived. Well, it had occurred to me today that I'd only had one real "crash" in weeks...and when I thought about it, I realized that I'd started snacking and grazing more with the onset of cold weather...and thus had a far more steady supply of calories. Now if only I can learn to make a habit of the frequency of eating while keeping the healthfulness and quantities down to something that won't make me balloon out, I'll be all set.
Gaming
Well, I'm GMing (running a role playing game for the non-geeks in the audience) again for the first time since...well, ages. Undergrad...2003 maybe? Anyway, I've run 2 sessions now for my group of 6 players, and I think it's going well. I hadn't intended to have so many players. In fact I hadn't really intended to do this at all, though looking back I think I came prepared to be persuaded. At the start of the school year GUGS holds a couple weeks of "one-offs" for people to try out, and then there comes the day when all the long campaigns start. It wasn't like this in my day, but I think it's a good idea overall...except for the poor souls who can't come that day. Anyway, I made sure Ron and I got there good and early. Then we got word there weren't really enough GMs this year and would we please consider running games? I had brought the Serenity RPG rule book with me which I think shows how much I was secretly considering doing this anyway. So I signed up as a GM telling myself if I got few to no players I could still just cancel it and cheerfully play in another game. Well, I put down I wanted 4-6 players and not only did I have 6 sign up, but 3 more people, including other GMs, said they wished they could play in my game. Now, to be fair, I think this is as much about the system I picked as for me and my wonderful pitch. After all, Serenity and Firefly are awesome.
So yes, now I have an intrepid crew. And they're already in so much trouble. Oh, how easily they fell into my clutches. Muahaha! Plots aside, I am struck once again by the parallels between GMing and teaching, especially a discussion section. I am certainly a more confident GM than I was 6 years ago. And, more impressively, I've kept my energy up for the whole sessions both times, even though I showed up tired and kind of down the second time. I thought my energy would flag far more. I mean, 3+ hours of near-constant talking, and constant thinking and interaction for an introvert?! But so far so good.
High School Reunion
I thought when this day came it would make me feel old. But it doesn't. Maybe I'm numbed by the shock of three pairs of my friends all having babies at about the same time. Reunions just can't stand up to that. Yes, I got the email yesterday that it's time for my 10 year reunion. Unfortunately it's taking place two weeks after I head back to Scotland!! I really had intended to go. I've been looking forward to catching up with a few people in particular. Oh, I know, I know, they might not come either, but chances are at least one of them would!
Well, winter has set in it seems, and a bit early too. Storms have been blowing off and on all week. I thought I would be blown off my feet on Thursday. And Tuesday was bitterly cold--with a sweat shirt and my winter coat over it I was still cold! And this is only October! Nevertheless I can't help but find the multicolored leaves and the sky streaked in different shades of gray anything but beautiful. Perhaps an ominous stark beauty at times, but beautiful nonetheless. Watching the storm go by on Thursday was particularly breathtaking, dark gray clouds streaked with the orangy-red of sunset flying past at a brisk pace. And then the clouds opened briefly, allowing a peak at the blue above fading towards twilight before the angry dark clouds closed in again.
International Travel Kitten
So I keep thinking that I'll have to ask for thermals for birthday/Christmas this year. And then I remember: by the time those come around I'll be about ready to head to California. Now if you didn't know about this ahead of time, don't get too excited. I've been hired, after a fashion, so I won't be free to jaunt all over the place visiting. But I'll be in the Bay Area so surely I can arrange a quick visit or two! Or better yet, you can visit me. I'm very exited to be going, but I'm going to miss Ron horribly...though I won't miss the Scottish weather!
The Mysteries of Blood Sugar
I have to say one thing for Scottish winter weather though--I think it may be inadvertently helping with my blood sugar issues. I noticed from the very first winter here that I fell prey to the tendency to pack on a bit extra weight as the cold season closed in and then lost it again when summer finally arrived. Well, it had occurred to me today that I'd only had one real "crash" in weeks...and when I thought about it, I realized that I'd started snacking and grazing more with the onset of cold weather...and thus had a far more steady supply of calories. Now if only I can learn to make a habit of the frequency of eating while keeping the healthfulness and quantities down to something that won't make me balloon out, I'll be all set.
Gaming
Well, I'm GMing (running a role playing game for the non-geeks in the audience) again for the first time since...well, ages. Undergrad...2003 maybe? Anyway, I've run 2 sessions now for my group of 6 players, and I think it's going well. I hadn't intended to have so many players. In fact I hadn't really intended to do this at all, though looking back I think I came prepared to be persuaded. At the start of the school year GUGS holds a couple weeks of "one-offs" for people to try out, and then there comes the day when all the long campaigns start. It wasn't like this in my day, but I think it's a good idea overall...except for the poor souls who can't come that day. Anyway, I made sure Ron and I got there good and early. Then we got word there weren't really enough GMs this year and would we please consider running games? I had brought the Serenity RPG rule book with me which I think shows how much I was secretly considering doing this anyway. So I signed up as a GM telling myself if I got few to no players I could still just cancel it and cheerfully play in another game. Well, I put down I wanted 4-6 players and not only did I have 6 sign up, but 3 more people, including other GMs, said they wished they could play in my game. Now, to be fair, I think this is as much about the system I picked as for me and my wonderful pitch. After all, Serenity and Firefly are awesome.
So yes, now I have an intrepid crew. And they're already in so much trouble. Oh, how easily they fell into my clutches. Muahaha! Plots aside, I am struck once again by the parallels between GMing and teaching, especially a discussion section. I am certainly a more confident GM than I was 6 years ago. And, more impressively, I've kept my energy up for the whole sessions both times, even though I showed up tired and kind of down the second time. I thought my energy would flag far more. I mean, 3+ hours of near-constant talking, and constant thinking and interaction for an introvert?! But so far so good.
High School Reunion
I thought when this day came it would make me feel old. But it doesn't. Maybe I'm numbed by the shock of three pairs of my friends all having babies at about the same time. Reunions just can't stand up to that. Yes, I got the email yesterday that it's time for my 10 year reunion. Unfortunately it's taking place two weeks after I head back to Scotland!! I really had intended to go. I've been looking forward to catching up with a few people in particular. Oh, I know, I know, they might not come either, but chances are at least one of them would!
Thursday 2 October 2008
Edinburgh, the Regency, Steampunk and Immigration Update
Edinburgh
I went to see Stephanie in Edinburgh this last weekend which was lots of fun. It is funny how some people I knew for years and quite liked I have entirely fallen out of touch with. And so it is amazing how enduring a friendship I've had with someone I knew at first only for my extra half-year in Scotland after my official year abroad, and lived a city away from at that! We went to the SCA dance practice in Edinburgh and I realized I hadn't been to that house for seven years! (Before I even met Stephanie for that matter.) It was still filled with an amazing collection of medieval instruments, just as I remembered (it's funny how much I've thought about their amazing house and instrument collection over the years, having only seen it once, and now twice). Ron even got them to tune the hurdygurdy, one of his favorite instruments thanks to it's features in Madrigirls concerts. Speaking of which, one of them saw my madri-hoody and asked if I was actually in the Madrigirls and we got into a discussion of where all we'd performed and when we were performing next. We were thinking of going to the couple's medieval concert the next day, but we'd worn ourselves out sight-seeing by then so, unfortunately, we missed it.
They had an "Open Doors" day where lots of buildings that are usually closed or private or cost money to enter are open to the public for the day. We went to see Duddingston House, this old 18th century manor house on the far side of Arthur's seat from the main part of Edinburgh. It was very pretty. From the outside you'd expect someone old and stuffy in a smoking jacket to greet you at the door and ask you to please wipe your feet, but inside the foyer it is now decorated with modern pictures of naked women! It was startling and very funny. The furniture was all quite mod as well. But for once it rather worked. I mean I would rather have seen matching 19th century furniture, but they did quite a decent job with getting the 21st century decorating to compliment and blend well with the 19th century decorating. And it was nice to see that the spaces are still being used.
Then we went and saw a 12th century (well, parts of it) church and around the corner from that stopped for a drink in the Ram's Head, "the oldest pub in Scotland" and mused over how many oldest pubs in Scotland there must be. They did claim to have records of existing in 1370-something which is admittedly impressively old (if accurate) and had anecdotes about Mary Queen of Scots and James the IV/I stopping for drinks there on their ways between Edinburgh and the next palace over (Craigmillar Castle?).
Then we went to the Regency era bit, "New Town" Edinburgh and I got to see the Assembly Rooms and a couple Regency townhouses. Very fun. I wanted to go to the Georgian House which is actually all decorated up in proper style, but they still charged money so we skipped them. Still we saw in the next town house over which was very nice. Apparently some of the restoration work was a bit misguided, the ceilings overly ornately painted and that sort of thing. But we were told the doors and handles and such (which I loved) were quite accurate, and of course we got to see the layout of the house with recieving rooms below and bedrooms a floor up. Sadly the kitchen and servant areas below stairs and the highest floors were not open, but it still gave me a better feel for a smallish upperclass town house. These were certainly not of a size to be holding balls or even very large tea parties! But if dancing was what you wanted it was only a few streets over to the Assembly Rooms which also had a large performance room and some smaller side rooms and a decorated room with columns downstairs. There you could see distinctly the main parts of the building from the serving corridors and servant stairs. I still wonder how they managed to light those huge chandeliers so high up! And wouldn't you get wax dripped on your fine clothes below?
The next day we went to the Queen's Gallery and looked at Renaissance paintings and drawings. Very nifty. Stephanie and I were taking garb notes and Ron quite enjoyed it as well, though more from a "how did they achieve that trick of perspective" aspect than our "how did they make that neckline" perspective.
Role Playing
The Glasgow Uni gaming society is back in full swing. The first two Tuesdays they hold "one-off" games while people come and find us and try out this crazy role playing thing. This time I played a crazy game in Steampunk alternate Victorian England. I've never been in any role playing game with so much player vs player fighting! I was involved in very little of it...just one fight. Well two if you count the one were I was ready to step into a knife vs pistol fight if I'd been needed. *Rolls eyes.* It was very silly, but I enjoyed my character thoroughly even if I think he had more of a Regency feel to him than Victorian. Who can blame me after all that Regency-era sight seeing over the weekend. He was "an officer and a gentleman" if ever there was one. Hehehe. He was also one of the sanest people in the group. Rather than breaking and entering or accosting members of the constabulary, he achieved his aims by going to have a brandy at the gentleman's club and hob-nobbing with the right people. Next week full length campaigns start up and I hope I can find a good game.
Immigration Update
Also on Tuesday we received yet another request for more documentation. Fairly pointless documentation. I've already started gathering up what they need. This time they want me to entirely resubmit the last form with this supplemental stuff added in. Can't they add a few sheets of paper to an existing file? It truly is pointless too. I'm not claiming to be rich enough to qualify on my own, but they want additional proof of what meager funds I have to my name which they're just going to pronounce not enough and then go, "oh look, but she has a co-sponsor". If I was going to lie, surely I would have claimed to have plenty of money! But it's just another hoop to jump through. Bureaucrats! The emails we exchanged with them before the letter came about what the hold up was were opaque and downright misleading!
So, at this rate, although I know this will upset a number of you out there, I think it is increasingly unlikely that we will be back in the US for Christmas, let alone Thanksgiving. Believe me, while there are some bright sides to this, it is not what we wanted either. But every back and forth with the NVC takes about 2-3 months and it seems we'll have at least two more rounds to go (settling this revised form and documentation, and then the medical and visa interview).
I can hardly believe it's been about a year and half since we turned in the first forms, and well over two years since we married, and we're still stuck in limbo. Hey, write your senators and congressmen! Although I fear they have bigger fish to fry right now.
Politics
Those of you who know how phobic I am of paperwork and how I've been using up most of my tolerance for forms on immigration stuff should be impressed to hear that I've actually managed to register for an absentee ballot! A big thanks to the couple people who reminded me a couple weeks ago to look into that!
I went to see Stephanie in Edinburgh this last weekend which was lots of fun. It is funny how some people I knew for years and quite liked I have entirely fallen out of touch with. And so it is amazing how enduring a friendship I've had with someone I knew at first only for my extra half-year in Scotland after my official year abroad, and lived a city away from at that! We went to the SCA dance practice in Edinburgh and I realized I hadn't been to that house for seven years! (Before I even met Stephanie for that matter.) It was still filled with an amazing collection of medieval instruments, just as I remembered (it's funny how much I've thought about their amazing house and instrument collection over the years, having only seen it once, and now twice). Ron even got them to tune the hurdygurdy, one of his favorite instruments thanks to it's features in Madrigirls concerts. Speaking of which, one of them saw my madri-hoody and asked if I was actually in the Madrigirls and we got into a discussion of where all we'd performed and when we were performing next. We were thinking of going to the couple's medieval concert the next day, but we'd worn ourselves out sight-seeing by then so, unfortunately, we missed it.
They had an "Open Doors" day where lots of buildings that are usually closed or private or cost money to enter are open to the public for the day. We went to see Duddingston House, this old 18th century manor house on the far side of Arthur's seat from the main part of Edinburgh. It was very pretty. From the outside you'd expect someone old and stuffy in a smoking jacket to greet you at the door and ask you to please wipe your feet, but inside the foyer it is now decorated with modern pictures of naked women! It was startling and very funny. The furniture was all quite mod as well. But for once it rather worked. I mean I would rather have seen matching 19th century furniture, but they did quite a decent job with getting the 21st century decorating to compliment and blend well with the 19th century decorating. And it was nice to see that the spaces are still being used.
Then we went and saw a 12th century (well, parts of it) church and around the corner from that stopped for a drink in the Ram's Head, "the oldest pub in Scotland" and mused over how many oldest pubs in Scotland there must be. They did claim to have records of existing in 1370-something which is admittedly impressively old (if accurate) and had anecdotes about Mary Queen of Scots and James the IV/I stopping for drinks there on their ways between Edinburgh and the next palace over (Craigmillar Castle?).
Then we went to the Regency era bit, "New Town" Edinburgh and I got to see the Assembly Rooms and a couple Regency townhouses. Very fun. I wanted to go to the Georgian House which is actually all decorated up in proper style, but they still charged money so we skipped them. Still we saw in the next town house over which was very nice. Apparently some of the restoration work was a bit misguided, the ceilings overly ornately painted and that sort of thing. But we were told the doors and handles and such (which I loved) were quite accurate, and of course we got to see the layout of the house with recieving rooms below and bedrooms a floor up. Sadly the kitchen and servant areas below stairs and the highest floors were not open, but it still gave me a better feel for a smallish upperclass town house. These were certainly not of a size to be holding balls or even very large tea parties! But if dancing was what you wanted it was only a few streets over to the Assembly Rooms which also had a large performance room and some smaller side rooms and a decorated room with columns downstairs. There you could see distinctly the main parts of the building from the serving corridors and servant stairs. I still wonder how they managed to light those huge chandeliers so high up! And wouldn't you get wax dripped on your fine clothes below?
The next day we went to the Queen's Gallery and looked at Renaissance paintings and drawings. Very nifty. Stephanie and I were taking garb notes and Ron quite enjoyed it as well, though more from a "how did they achieve that trick of perspective" aspect than our "how did they make that neckline" perspective.
Role Playing
The Glasgow Uni gaming society is back in full swing. The first two Tuesdays they hold "one-off" games while people come and find us and try out this crazy role playing thing. This time I played a crazy game in Steampunk alternate Victorian England. I've never been in any role playing game with so much player vs player fighting! I was involved in very little of it...just one fight. Well two if you count the one were I was ready to step into a knife vs pistol fight if I'd been needed. *Rolls eyes.* It was very silly, but I enjoyed my character thoroughly even if I think he had more of a Regency feel to him than Victorian. Who can blame me after all that Regency-era sight seeing over the weekend. He was "an officer and a gentleman" if ever there was one. Hehehe. He was also one of the sanest people in the group. Rather than breaking and entering or accosting members of the constabulary, he achieved his aims by going to have a brandy at the gentleman's club and hob-nobbing with the right people. Next week full length campaigns start up and I hope I can find a good game.
Immigration Update
Also on Tuesday we received yet another request for more documentation. Fairly pointless documentation. I've already started gathering up what they need. This time they want me to entirely resubmit the last form with this supplemental stuff added in. Can't they add a few sheets of paper to an existing file? It truly is pointless too. I'm not claiming to be rich enough to qualify on my own, but they want additional proof of what meager funds I have to my name which they're just going to pronounce not enough and then go, "oh look, but she has a co-sponsor". If I was going to lie, surely I would have claimed to have plenty of money! But it's just another hoop to jump through. Bureaucrats! The emails we exchanged with them before the letter came about what the hold up was were opaque and downright misleading!
So, at this rate, although I know this will upset a number of you out there, I think it is increasingly unlikely that we will be back in the US for Christmas, let alone Thanksgiving. Believe me, while there are some bright sides to this, it is not what we wanted either. But every back and forth with the NVC takes about 2-3 months and it seems we'll have at least two more rounds to go (settling this revised form and documentation, and then the medical and visa interview).
I can hardly believe it's been about a year and half since we turned in the first forms, and well over two years since we married, and we're still stuck in limbo. Hey, write your senators and congressmen! Although I fear they have bigger fish to fry right now.
Politics
Those of you who know how phobic I am of paperwork and how I've been using up most of my tolerance for forms on immigration stuff should be impressed to hear that I've actually managed to register for an absentee ballot! A big thanks to the couple people who reminded me a couple weeks ago to look into that!
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