Done

Being done feels like ...



Or maybe ...



Then there's...



Ahhhhh. Time for bed. Sorry for my absence. My body, having permission to completely relax, is a stranger to me. My head is cloudy, my back is achy, I am sleepier than ever, and sudden movements are disturbing to behold and impossible to execute. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel less like a zombie encased in jell-o, and more like a functioning participant in the world around me.

A girl can dream! And I think I will. Good night!

EDITED TO ADD
As of now, I have posted more this month than I did in all of 2006.

What was up with me in 2006?

*cue scary theme music*

I am awake.
And preparing to leave.
To go get some breakfast that will make me smarter.
Exam is at 9.
See you at 12 (or soon thereafter).

Serenity

With my Hebrew exam approaching in T-minus 16 hours and 39 minutes, I need some. Not to mention an iPod full of tunes to psych me up. Like "Holding Out for a Hero" by Frou Frou ~ the hero being, this time, my own superspeedy translational powers!
I know you are in there somewhere!

Time for a deep breath and one last dive into the Exam Preparation Pool, Olympic-sized, with all sorts of iced lattes and assorted grammars and lexicons floating about. See you when I emerge!

Flikr Magic!

I took this photo of my friend Katrina when we traveled to Poland together 2 years ago. I was diggin' the reflection. So the other day on my flikr site, I did some photo editing to play up that aspect of the photo. First, a simple crop:



Nice. How about even closer? With a bit of color saturation action?



Ooooo! Interesting!



Here's the other eye. (See my arm there?)

Which photo is your favorite? Au natural, cropped or one of the funky shots?

P.S. I'd like to give a shout-out to this blog posting. Go PeaceBang!

Wordle 3

This is the most beautiful word cloud I have ever seen. For obvious reasons, it did not originate with me!

Wordle 2

Inspired by Frank's comment on the previous Wordle, I present: the book of Genesis (as translated by the Jewish Publication Society).

Weekly Wordle

Apparently there is no end in sight to the things I've got a hankering to wordle.

Ta-daaaaa! Presenting my class notes from a lecture on fasting in the Hebrew Bible.

Procrastination Revelation

While not studying last night, I re-discovered how much I like Rubens.

If...

If I ever decide to spend $219.34 on a soup pot, I will buy this one.

Pleased and Dazed

I am pleased (or, as the kids say, totally geeked out) by the new little doohickey in my sidebar (scroll down a bit), called a flagcounter, which records the number of visitors to this site per country. The numbers are discrete: the counter only records each reader one time, unless that person happens to check this blog from several different computers, in which case it will log one visit per computer. I like that: a realistic representation of actual readership. And, as I have had issues in the past with blogging regularly, I'm finding this flagcounter to be oddly motivating. There are people out there who actually read what I write! Or at least they have read it once! Well, probably some of the them clicked on the site by accident. But still! One of them lives in Israel! And another in Italy! And then there are the people I actually know, the Americans, the Canadians and the Dutch! I cannot let them down!

Oh, if you click on the widget, you can get your own for free.

Props to Erin, where I saw it first.

I am dazed because one week from today I have to take the departmental biblical Hebrew exam here at Emory, and my eyes and brain and heart and (as the ancient Hebrews would add) liver and kidneys are a bit overwhelmed with the preparation I've done until now, and the seven full days yet to come.

Jackie logs off blogger, turns to her Hebrew Bible, and commences with the nail-biting.

EDITED TO ADD
I also spruced up my sidebar a bit, removing a few old lists and paring down some of the current ones. Still too much? Feedback welcome!

To Suffer Damage

"When the Japanese mend broken objects they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold, because they believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful."

~ Barbara Bloom

Latest LOL

"If life gives you lemons, save the receipts."

~ Stephen Colbert

Won't you mooch with me?

Gotta love it. I joined yesterday and already have swapped two books. It's a marvelous recycling program for booklovers who can bear to part with some of their tomes; the only cost of membership is that of postage! Anyone want to join me in the bookmoochiverse?

It is not a bookswapping site per se; you do not have to give and take on a 1-to-1 ratio, though you are encouraged/required (?) to give away at least 1 book for every 2 you mooch. There's this nifty little point system that protects from overmooching, too. To wit: Every time you give a book away, you get one point; in turn, books "cost" one point each. Additionally, every time you post a new book to your inventory of giveaways, and every time you leave feedback for a book received, fractions of points are added to your account, and they add up fairly quickly. International mooches require more points, but those doing the shipping are rewarded with extra points too.

Tammy, I am gonna call you out on this! I think this website is perfect for you, for the following reasons:

1. You prefer to purchase used books.
2. You never keep books after you read them.
3. You are always interested in obtaining new and interesting books to read.

So whaddaya say? Won't you mooch with me?

Lydia, what about you? Frank? Alison? MarsGirl? Donnamo? Bueller? Anyone?

Caroline Herring

I love her music, especially tracks 4 and 11 on this CD. These tunes have gotten me through many a long day of translating and late night of paper writing. Highly, highly recommended! Bonus: she lives just around the corner, so I get all kinds of chances to hear her live.

Weekly Worldle

Presenting the itinerary for an Emory-sponsored educational tour of Turkey for which I am signed up!

EDITED TO ADD: I can't tell you how excited I am that I figured out how to link to the Wordle in a more aesthetically pleasing manner. Compared to this slim post, isn't my previous worldle-posting an eyesore?!

I am Bohemian Rhapsody

Which apparently means I go for bright, eclectic, and a tad bit luxurious. Goodwill meets the finer things, I guess!

What's your design DNA?

Props to How About Orange.

Happy Birthday ...

...to my dad!

This photo was taken two years ago, when my aunt, cousin and I surprised my dad in the middle of the night to eat cake. I had just gotten home from ... Kansas? I think it was Kansas, where I was visiting a couple of churches to speak about my time in the Netherlands. I arrived back in Ohio as my dad's birthday commenced around midnight. So together with my aunt and cousin (who had picked me up at the airport), I stood outside my parents' bedroom door and started singing! They both arose, ever the good sports, and we enjoyed some cake together.

Dad looks pretty awake for a wee-hours-in-the morning photo, doesn't he?

Today my dad turns 74. Happy Birthday Dad!

EDITED TO ADD: Need I point out that today is 08/08/08? I love that type of thing. It's almost as cool as my Grandpa Stuckey's birthdate on 09/10/11.

Latest LOL

"Take everything I say with a grain of salt, because my new sponsor ... is salt."

~ Stephen Colbert

Advice, Unsolicited

So here I am, at my favorite diner, having placed my order for the scrumptious Silver Dollar Breakfast (two buttermilk silver dollar cakes, two sweet potato silver dollar cakes, two eggs, roasted turkey breast, grilled potatoes and an orange slice), and trying to get online. The diner's free connection is on the fritz, so I'm borrowing an AT&T connection from Starbucks next door. This is the same connection I use whenever I hang at Starbucks, since, as a registered Starbucks card holder (sounds like more of an honor than it is, believe me), I get 2 complimentary hours of internet every time I darken the door. Not to mention free refills on regular or iced coffee.

Anyway, the guy next to me, who is closing down his computer, notices that I am using AT&T. The following conversation ensues:

"You can use the Rise & Dine connection for free, you know."

"I know, but it's not working for me.

"I was just on it and it was fine."

"OK, maybe I'll try again. But this AT&T connection is free for me too, since I have a Starbucks card."

"But you realize it's only free for like an hour after you make a purchase."

"Actually, I've been able to use it for several hours at a time."

"But you go in and you buy the card along with your coffee, right? And then it's only good for an hour."

"No, if you have a registered Starbucks card, the AT&T connection is complimentary. You just have to register your card online and use it once a month."

"Oh."

"It's a new thing."

"I always use TMobile. Their connection is so much better. AT&T's phone service may be better, but TMobile's data service is phenomenal. They have this blah blah blah and then there's this blah blah blah. And Verizon blah blah blahdiblah blah. You know Verizon uses the CDA system while the others use the TDA system blah blah blah some more blah blah. Oh and did I mention that the connection here is free?"

Oh dear reader. Why oh why does a complete stranger feel the need to intervene in my wireless habits? And why oh why does he assume that I am completely clueless, incapable of making a choice unless he enlightens me as to the intricacies of wireless providers? I mean, his initial impulse to make sure I knew that the diner's connection was free was a nice gesture. But am I not correct in thinking that the above conversation could have been ... well, shorter?

"Live and let live" is apparently a lesson lost on this guy.

Thanks for letting me vent. I feel better.

What's your favorite ABBA song?

This is mine.

In seminary, when we talked about interviewing for jobs with churches, I thought this would be the perfect interview song for new pastors fresh out of school with zero experience.

Honey, I'm still free.
Take a chance on me.

Take a chance, take a chance, take a take a chance chance.

Calling All Fans ....

... of The Office.

Dan Schreiber just published a compelling piece on the most embarrassing boss ever.

Seminar Paper Wordle

Here's a Wordle of a seminar paper I wrote last year:
title="Wordle: Seminar Paper"> src="http://wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/104916/Seminar_Paper"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"
>

http://wordle.net/

Special Delivery

It was waiting for me at my apartment door.



Oh, the tantalizing first glimpse of fabulous orangeness!



Orange!



Whoah.



See the tiny little "beans" inside?



It's big, alright.



Big and comfy.



Not to mention cozy for reading.



What can I say ... I think I'm in love!

In the Midst of Studying Hebrew ....

... I've been able to fit in some fun.

Today, I baked 5 dozen cookies and an apple pie. First apple pie of my life! I used my Grandma Stuckey's recipe.

Before baking ....



And after...



Most of the cookies and the whole pie will be sold at the bake / yard sale my church is having tomorrow.

Usually, me baking = havoc wreaked on the kitchen.



There you have it. Havoc. Here's a close-up.



So much fun!
Earlier in the week, I had another kind of fun:



Though it was less fun when the Braves lost 3-12. But nonetheless, my companions Katie, Ingrid, Jamie and I kept things hopping with our operatic singing and discolike moves in the stands. It was Katie's birthday! She is in the foreground, below.



Oh,and I do believe I had promised you some more Ohio pics:



There was farming. I mostly observed.



There was a birthday dinner. Mmmmmmm. My mom's mashed potatoes with hamburger gravy. Plus homemade applesauce. Corn, frozen from last year's garden, and kohlrabi fresh from this year's.

Then there were the cakes. Can you read the message hidden in the candles?



It was good eats.



My great-nephew Aiden especially liked knawing on the kohlrabi.



Ah, evening drives along straight-as-a-ruler Ohio country roads!

I also enjoyed a great 24 hours in the fun city Columbus with my good friend Frank. We ate Turkish food, we ate Polish food, we ate Western European food, we ate the best ice cream in Columbus. (Their signature flavor "salty caramel" is to die for!) We bought used books. We chatted far into the night. Who could ask for anything more? Well, I guess you could ask for a picture, but I forgot to take one.

I do have a picture from the family get-together at the historic Wyse homestead: my dad with three of his siblings, on the farm where they grew up.