Quick Update - General Synod

I'm spending this weekend in Grand Rapids, MI, where I am a delegate to the 27th General Synod of The United Church of Christ. We are doing a lot and having a lot of fun along the way!

Check out my semi-live blog of the events - Experience the Immersion

I'll try to post some of my more personal theologically related revelations here as the weekend continues.

Crisis of Faith

I'm having a crisis of faith. Not my faith in God or my theology, mind you. No, I'm speaking of my faith in human decency.

I'm sorry to say I am prone to this particular crisis - it's one of the reasons I choose not to watch the news or read the newspaper on a daily basis. There's always something horrible going on to inspire doubt in my fellow humans; a car bomb here, a kidnapping there, and just plain disregard for human life.

Admittedly, my current crisis stems from a more personal place. But then, I also believe that a crime against one is a crime against all...

Gay Marriage. It's been on my mind a lot because I am doing a group project for my English class on the topic. Out of 5 people, one of our group is opposed, and there doesn't seem to be any way to get through to her. We present on July 9th, so I'm trying to hold out hope. But then, it's not just her. We surveyed the class, and almost everyone else is opposed.

It makes me want to scream and cry. I simply don't understand how these kids can think they have the right to make these hate filled decisions for everyone else.

One part that's eating away at me right now because I feel so awful about thinking/feeling this way is that many of my classmates are immigrants. I am whole-heartedly in favor of immigration...except when those immigrants want to then impose on my civil liberties. This is America, and there are plenty of countries around the world that don't have equality as the backbone to their structure, but we do, so why do you live here? (and yes, I realize that this may be one of the few places they could live... but ... ? ... maybe one of the reasons they can live here is because we try to respect human life and uphold our constitution that states that all men are created equally and have the right to the pursuit of happiness, so shoudn't they in turn respect that?)

I also will never understand how people, often Christians, can think it's their job to 'save' others from sin. What do you care? Besides all the other blatent ways in which this goes against the teachings of Jesus - let he who is without sin cast the first stone and all that - seriously, what do you care if I go to hell if you don't think you will? You want some extra brownie points when you get to heaven?

Feed the poor.
Adopt an orphan.
Donate blood.
Give change to and smile at that homeless guy, regardless of what you think he's going to spend it on.
Pick up litter.

There are so many ways to love God by loving others without HATING anyone.

I was also extremely disturbed by a comment made by a woman in my class, with whom I'd had a conversation about church the class before - "I'm a DEVOUT Christian, so I just know it's wrong." It felt as though she were saying that I wasn't a real Christian and that I am somehow intellectually inferior because I don't "know" it's wrong. Sorry, I don't know it's wrong. I don't know it's right either. I don't know much in fact. I just try to live and love in a way that makes me feel less hopeless. For all I know, God's a giant chicken.

And on that note, something silly to try and cheer myself up.

Sex with Ducks from Erika Lindhome on Vimeo.

A Writing Exercise from Onkel Hankie Pants

In his recent blog post, Onkel Hankie Pants said:

"Anomalously, there was a lawnmower sandwiched between the Bibles. (Now, there’s a writing class exercise: Take that last sentence and create a reasonable context for it.)"

And I thought, Yes, that would be a good writing exercise. And seeing as how it's Memorial Day and I am at work with an empty stomach I'm trying to distract, I thought I'd give it a shot.

So, here you go!

All she could recall were books. When friends asked her about childhood pets or toys, she would reply with statements such as, “We had a big red dog” or “I had a velveteen rabbit I just adored.” She knew these to be true, though not quite accurate. Her friends, from slightly less literate families, never seemed to pick up on her little un-truths, as she liked to call them.

Every room had a bookcase, at least one. She often found it odd that the one room devoid of reading material was the bathroom – one of the few rooms where books could be found in playmates houses. Even the garage, rarely, if ever, used for storing cars, and even less often used for building and repairing, held volumes of friends. These garage rejects were often the result of duplication purchasing, something her mother was known to do at the local rummage sales. There were no less then three copies of Moby Dick, Oliver Twist and Goodnight Moon.

Most off putting to the friends that came to explore this strange library were the Bibles. They thought it most irreverent to store these holy books in such an unusual place. Unlike the novels and encyclopedias, the Bibles were all lined up together, neat and tidy. She had designed this space for the Bibles specifically, hunting throughout the piles of hard covers and paperbacks for the red or black bindings that spoke of faith. Anomalously, there was a lawnmower sandwiched between the Bibles. No one was ever sure why she had chosen the location surrounding the lawnmower for her shrine, but that was the way she liked it. The Bibles became her territory, as did the lawnmower, and thus began her love of reading, religion and landscaping.

A Busy Week

Well, I've been busy since getting back from Seattle. On Monday my flight landed at 3:30, but they didn't let us off the plane till 4. Then I had to rush home and drop off my luggage and then back on the bus to go to class! It was Acting for the Camera, and we shot a page long break-up scene. It was actually the funnest class we've had so far this semester, and I got to act as well as direct.

On Tuesday I had work and then class and then had to pick up equipment, transport it to my church and then get the hourcar back to it's parking garage all during a very rainy day! On Wednesday I went to work, had to stay late to wait for a delivery, which made me late to class, where I realized I had not finished my project that was due, so during the break I had to fix one thing and then burn it to DVD. But then I screened it and it was well received. After class I went to my church and along with the help of Comrade Landlord and a classmate, filmed an interview for the Stewardship Documentary I'm working on. That night I decided the film I had shown in class wasn't quite right, so I spent some time reworking it and figuring out how to post it to facebook (after writing this I'm going to put it up on my FilmAching blog).

On Thursday I borrowed my aunts car for the day and sent out the newsletter at work, picked up and returned the equipment and went to class. Then I picked up my aunt from work and went out and had some dessert while she had dinner.

Next I went home and watched the latest episode of my new favorite TV show, Kings. It's like a post-modern Shakespearean history. And I really mean POST-modern, because it takes place in a fictitious world, not unlike our own, but I think somewhat post-apocalyptic. Anyway, I love the drama, and the "fools" played by the two guards are very Gildenstern and Rosenkrantz-like.

Anyway, this morning we did a sound recording in my sound for image class, and now I am blogging. SO there! that's my week!

remember to check out my video! And I will post pictures from Seattle soon, I promise!

Quick One: Writing from Yesterday

Walking in Seattle today, I got the feeling that the entire city is under construction.  (It's not)  Part of this is, I'm sure, due to the shift of seasons - construction season has begun across the country.  But I knew that couldn't be all of it... and then I saw them, I mean, really saw them.

Wires.

Running above the streets, holding up traffic lights, random cables strung between lamp posts.

Living in the mid-west where our soil is soft and our landscape flat, the only time you see wires like this is when something's under construction.

The architecture had its affect on me as well.  It feels different then what I think of as Minneapolis architecture, with a much stronger asian influence - I don't know why I think that it has an asian influence, I just do - and the thing is that we have a lot of similar bulidings back home, built in the last 10 years or so.  But many of these buildings are condos, and because of the economy and what not, they stand half empty, the fussiness spaces devoid of anything other than concrete.  It's been like that for a few years now, so I guess when I see sleek looking asian influenced condo buildings, I think no one lives there.

But Seattle is still one of the most expensive places to live, even with the recession, and though I don't know much about economics, I I think I have a good grasp on the supply and demand theory - If people didn't demand the living spaces in Seattle, the supply would stay the same (or grow like in mpls) and prices would go down...

so, that's my first bit of "noticing" in Seattle, it appears to be under construction to me, but really it's not, I'm just not used to the landscape.

p.s. I got drenched yesterday in a 15 min downpour.  crazy! ... but kind of nice in it's own way.

The Life and Times...

Thought I should post a little, since I haven't done so for a while, but not sure hat to write about...hmmm...

Well, here's what's been going on: 

School: I'm taking four classes (one of which meets twice a week) and I really enjoy all of them, which is great. That's not to say that they all go well all the time - a crummy test score here, a poor filming job there - but I feel pretty stuffed with information at the end of the week.

Church:  I am now on three committees; CE, Stewardship, Centennial Planning.  I like being on committees and helping to plan events and what not, but it also means being required to go to church certain Sundays, which I find makes me want to go less.  I take that as proof that I should not be a minister.

Gym:  I got a membership to the YWCA in January and have been going pretty regularly.  But, I was having a hard time going everyday because i can talk my self out of things pretty easily.  So I made a Lenten Devotion out of it.  I decided that for Lent I am going to go to the Gym at least 5 days a week.  The first week didn't go so well.  I was super sick and since it was hard to breath out of my nose, I decided it better to use the time for sleep.  But this week I've been feeling quite a bit better, and I went Mon. through Thurs. and am going to go today, too!  On Tuesdays and Thrusdays I have a class called Chisel! (there's really an exclamation point) I like i a lot.  It's strength training with some cardio built in and it changes every time s I never get bored. Plus we listen to music that has a good beat to keep you going.  

I discovered that music is the most important part of my workout - surprise surprise.  I went a few weeks without an iPod, and I couldn't believe how hard it was to get going on the exercise bike, not to mention keep going!  Now I am figuring out which songs are the best to keep me motivated and moving fast.  I can't wait for my MNCare stuff to pull through so I can go to the doctor. I really want to know what the deal is with heart rate, cause I have to work really hard to get my heart rate up on the bike.  

Travel:  I decided I needed a vacation, and what with Spring Break coming up, I decided to do something fun, just for me!  So I booked a plane ticket and a hotel for Seattle!  

OK, I know a lot of people go to sunny beaches for S.B., but really, does that sound like something I want to do?  Instead, I'm going to a city  near the ocean, a walkable downtown and lots of fun cultural stuff.  So far my most exciting plan is to see Wings of Desire at the Seattle International Film Festival Cinema, and maybe a few other films as well.  (Don't worry, I'll blog all about that on FilmAching).  The hotel I'm staying at is awesome with a super hip-artsy feel to it.  I'm also going to email a couple people I know out there to try and get together, but really, this is more a trip about me exploring the city by myself, having a nice adventure! 

So, thats' a bit of what's going on with me. I may be a little absent again because I have a 6 page paper due Thursday and a new editing project to work on...not to mention a documentary I'm making for Stewardship...hmmm, I better get cracking...But I'll try to keep you "posted"!

yay pictures! boo FCP!

Well, good news and bad news.

The bad news is that Final Cut Pro (fcp, the editing software put out by apple) is claiming that my project files (created at school) are too new for my current version. Excuse me? the FCP software that came in the mail last week?! Not likely. Anyway, I have a request into the apple forums for some help, so we;ll see if any help comes from there. There do seem to be ome really knowledgable people on there, so I'm hopeful!The good news is that I figured out how to use the in computer camera! It's in an application called photobooth. Most of my confusion comes from not having the patience to read the manual and being unfamiliar with macs.

so, here are a couple pictures! (hint, if you want to see some other cute ones, go to winifred's blog!)