Cookie Marathon

Grandma scooping out chocolate chip goodness.

Mark giving a holiday salute

David stealing Christmas music from the internet

Dad all hopped up on sugar

The Christmas tree, in all it's splendor

Live from the Couch, on Christmas Eve.

It's a holly jolly Christmas

Live from the couch

We're watching the Bears game (Go Chicago). We're eating oranges and a Swedish cheese called Bundst. We're talking about the 60's revolution and America's impetus to change. We have gifts left to buy and wrap. We're trying to stay hungry in anticipation of Jack Stack's tonight. We have cookies to bake, and my Aunt Marge's Sour Cream Cake left to make.

onething is just around the river bend. This of course means that I'm trying not to think about it, but find myself unable to escape. Two days of set-up (26th and 27th) followed up by four days of healthy work. By far the 26th and the 27th is the most work, once we have hit the afternoon on the 28th it's all pretty easy.

I, in the same spirit of Mr. Bohlender, will be blogging live from all things Christmas and all things onething.

get on your gel in-soles kids, we're approaching the gauntlet.

Two hours...

There are only about two hours till I say good-bye to pre-onething life, and say hello to my Christmas life/impending onething life.

If you'd like to volunteer at the onething, this is me recruiting you. Just do it!!

Lurker

I'm a lurker. I lurk.

Some of you are saying, "ummm no, you're not." But I am, my friends I am, in a very specific context. I lurk on debate forums, both the onething forums and a few other theology forums. I never post anything I just "lurk". I actually find this to be an incredible way to study. I did a whole thing on Zechariah this way a while back. Super compelling.

At any rate in my lurking I found this today and am literally blown away. David Sliker has always been one of my favorite people, but even more so after reading this debate thread. He is clear and kind and has an above par understanding of the scripture (this is me being modest for his sake).

This particular thread is in relation to the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit. It makes for a very fun read. It's not a long thread, but it is worth reading in it's entirety.

I encourage you all: become a lurker.

Rose Among Thorns

It's Friday.

I limped into my office today, grumpy and feeling poorly. I've already taken 9 Advil today and it's not 10AM yet.

As I opened my office door, there was a big vase full of roses. There is only one other person with a key to my office so I knew immediately who it was... dearest Alicia, one of my best friends and great assistant/buyer.

There was also a beautiful Christmas card which was more like a letter. It made me cry. It's hard to describe how it feels when someone really sees you, doesn't just compliment you or pat you on the back but really sees you and what your worth. I find myself surround by friends who really see me these days, and that's such a big blessing.

PS - she said that I was one who would remain till the very end (biggest compliment ever)

11 and 2 people, 11 and 2

Sean says I rock.

The Bears posts are only one reason for said rockage.

Today in the BlogRoll

I read a really great post today from a really great friend.

Jesus, today I ask that you would cause hearts to turn around. Let there be a great awakening in the friends that we hold dear. I pray that they would desire something greater then what they know, that their hearts would be filled with great mystery. Draw them to yourself. Awaken their hearts to their great need, to their great emptiness. Jesus, meet them there at the cross.

onething clothing sweatshop

That's right... it's that time of year.

Sorting

Counting

Labeling
Boxing

We do get bathroom breaks, but I haven't decided if we'll eat or not.

I hear someone yelling "mush, mush." I must go.

NewsFlash

Lindsay Lohan hasn't had a drink in a week. Someone give her a medal.

I'm just wondering how this ended up on the CNN headlines today. Couldn't we just have used yesterdays headline about how Clooney doesn't actually think he's the sexiest man alive. Hello: way more interesting.

In other news: Angelina doesn't plan on marrying Brad. Their relationship used to have such a Beaver Cleaver feel about it, what a plot twist.

This is Kristen, with your Entertainment News Update.

Life of the Highly Stressed

I become compulsive when stressed, let me say obsessive compulsive. For many of you that know me you know why December is highly stressful (aside from the typical stresses of December: gift buying, baking/cooking, crazy family members everywhere).

For those of you who may not understand, it all revolves around this one post-Christmas event, which is like my regular job but on steroids (the ones the Russians use to win the Olympics). See pictures below.

At any rate there are a few ways to deal with this level of stress. Lately I've been going to the gym, maybe not obsessively but as a historical avid non-believer of gyms, I've been going quite a bit. "Does that help?" you ask. The quick answers is "no". I hear it supposed to relieve stress, and it has but only because I'm too tired and sore to think about anything else.

I've been going to the 6AM prayer meetings. And that has been really good. Really helps me balance my day out, but also contributes to the tired glazed-over look I have in my eyes.

I eat, a lot. Enough said, thankfully the work outs make this doable.

I shop, side benefit to this is my Christmas shopping is essentially done.

I drive around aimlessly.

There are about a dozen more things that help, but quite frankly I'm too tired to write them out.
I'll update you as we cruise through December.

This morning's email

Kristen (after describing scary online store problem to British Hamster Overlord) : "It's enough to make a girl say 'the redcoats are coming'."

British Hamster Overlord (after explaining the problem): "Don’t worry about the redcoats – they’re more scared of you than you are of them."

I think history proved that.

dangers of modern appliances

one of the funniest posts I've ever seen... I hope this goes on youtube and implodes, no really I laughed out loud, and I never do that.

Early Morning Ponderings

Early in the morning everything is a little foggy. Sometimes as I am getting ready, I find myself talking to my cats in my head and surprised when they don't respond.

At anyrate in this fog this morning I realized that Ed Hackett slightly resembles Tommy Hilfiger. Again, just imagine him in a fog...

Still Reading Dubay

From Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer:

Needless to say, but I shall say it. Love in a priestly community and that of a consecrated life is best proved not by endless meetings or in talking decade after decade about community. It is proved by giving a daily example of unselfish living, deep contemplative prayer, observing what one has vowed without corrosive and divisive theological and liturgical disobediences or dissent which splits communities and repel healthy young persons from joining them.

I want to live unselfishly today (I also hope to not fall into liturgical disobediences).

10-2 people, 10-2

Live from the couch

just got out of the hot tub, all wrinkly, this is the life...

I'm having troubles with my first...

Second life is, I guess, something that's been around for a while, but I'm just hearing about it. Mostly because it's just starting to hit the CNN headlines, my main source for all things "news". For all of you who don't know what I'm talking about check out this article in wikipedia.

Second Life (SL) is a privately owned, partly subscription-based 3-D virtual world, made publicly available in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Lab, and founded by former RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale. The Second Life "world" resides in a large array of servers that are owned and maintained by Linden Lab, known collectively as "the grid". The Second Life client program provides its users (referred to as Residents) with tools to view and modify the SL world and participate in its virtual economy, which concurrently has begun to operate as a "real" market. At precisely 8:05:45 AM PDT, October 18, 2006, the population of Second Life hit 1 million Residents


Upon first hearing about it, I wasn't too surprised and I kind of thought the idea was cool. Like a Myspace in three-dimension. But then I was reading about it and saw the insane amount of people who had subscribed I thought, there must be some sort of draw, why would grown adults be doing this? True to this theory there are some really immoral things that occur in this "second life". No real shock there, and it looks to be myspace(cubed) in terms of portal of darkness stuff.

So yesterday I was reading an article in CNN/Fortune and they were talking about adults who are making thousands and yes even millions of dollars in these fantasy worlds. Not monopoly money folks, real hard cash. They mostly develop "special" weapons or they develop land in these "worlds" and resell it to other people in these worlds for the currency of that world (second life has Linden Dollars; L$243/USD). As I'm typing this, I keep thinking this is so ridiculous. At any rate the Linden Lab (creators of Second Life) have a currency exchange so you can turn in your Linden bucks for real money.

At any rate, I'm reading this article about people making ridiculous sums of money off of fantasy creations; land/goods that don't really exist (except for in this fantasy world) and I am stunned that people would buy this stuff and stunned that people can make a living like this; but then I think, really, I am doing the same thing. Look at this quote from the article:

Though we readily accept the puzzling valuations that our society attaches to real-world things like diamonds, Louis Vuitton bags, pet rocks, or bottled water, many can't get their minds around the notion of paying for flickering shadows that can never be extracted from the planar surface of an LCD monitor. Yet so much of our economy revolves around buying prestige, status, and fun--rather than food, shelter, and clothing--that there is scant basis for wonder. This weird new commerce reflects simply the growing importance that virtual worlds are playing in the lives of our children, our colleagues, and--like it or not--ourselves. The more time we spend as avatars in synthetic worlds, the more money we will have to shell out keeping up with the Joneses' avatars.

I'm going to take this one step further, most the cash I am dropping might as well be spent on a fantasy life, it's not real. The things I purchase are all going to be burned up one day, they have no real eternal value. I cannot take them with me. I'm really just developing a "fantasy lifestyle" or a second life. I, too, am buying into a fantasy, granted I do have real living expenses, I'm not all referring to those things, I'm just thinking of the frivolous things, the things the don't have near the value I place on them.

I guess I'm going to be rethinking those Gucci sunglasses I found on eBay.

I am not my own

I’m tired of people telling me that my body is my own, that whatever I chose to do with it is my right. I’m tired of people talking about my rights, telling me what my rights are. How about this? I reserve the right, to know my rights, and deny any rights I don’t feel are my own.

I stated earlier this week, that I am a pro-life liberal. I am also a historical feminist; the Susan B Anthony type, the pro-life type. I believe in equal pay for equal work. I want to be judged by my character not my skirt length. I believe any type of violence against women should not be tolerated.

All that being said, modern feminism, that confuses the good of equal rights with the right to kill children, just infuriates me. This type of feminism does this under the guise of the right to choose what I want to do with my body. I read a poem from this view point in a teacher’s resource catalog. It was on a poster to be put in a classroom. I'm tempted to post a picture, but it's so appaling I just can't. This poem told me that “priests and legislators do not hold shares in my womb or my mind.” It told me that my body was my own. It went on to inform me that my life was a “non-negotiable demand.” How foolish.

I am not my own, my body is not my own, anything that will ever live in it or be born out of it will not be my own. I am not confused, I am not addled. I am not brainwashed by religious forces in my life. I am not controlled by shame or guilt. There is something bigger then me. There is someone who supersedes my rights, my life. I am not my own. I do not demand my own life. Who am I to demand such things? Who am I to declare my own rights? I am not my own.

Put that on a poster.

Meet Tommy

Live from the living room couch...

I hate raw poultry, I'm so disgusted I can barely keep my eyes open.

Bleh!!!

Sweet Tomato

Today, in a prep run for Thanksgiving, me and some friends (Amanda, Dale, Hartke, and Matthias) went to the coolest buffet in town. Salad, soup, bread, pizza, and a frozen yogurt bar!!

We needed to start the stomach/intestinal stretches for the big day. Yum. Did I say that there will be a hot tub at my Thanksgiving feast? My life rocks!! More, live from the couch, tomorrow.