8.31.2005

i feel crabby. hrrmph. i think it's funny when girls get mad because their crabbiness is blamed on pms. most of the time, i wish i could blame my crabbiness and being a jerk-ness on pms. but mostly, its not. i'm not pms-ing, i'm just a jerk.
i want some ice cream. or diet coke.

what lovely surprises yesterday
a surprise visit
a surprise phone call
a surprise class
a surprise dinner
i love surprises

8.30.2005

some brilliant thoughts from some little men:
"The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let

Them near your television set–
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all the shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink–
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK–HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!
'We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY...USED...TO...READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic takes
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy–Winkle and–
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How The Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole–
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks–
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.
And once they start–oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hears. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.


i've been quite satisfied to not have a television or computer to distract me these last few days. i much more enjoy my time with people i love than with a machine. and soon I will get back to my reading as well, and hopefully not just the school type.

8.25.2005

so many thoughts, joys, and frustrations from the last week.
on saturday, a realization that i have no self-control or discipline and a conviction to learn them from Him.
on monday, a tiny girl waiting at the bus stop, soaring with her arms out, running around in circles in the middle of the road, squealing out of excitement for her first day of school.
yesterday morning, an amazing red sunrise over the lake, a day of beautiful rain and storms, and that evening a peach sunset over the water.

i already have senioritis and i haven't begun classes. why don't i want to be here?

8.15.2005

as i drove back home from tennessee last monday, thinking back on memories made during my time there, i realized that the fun times and experiences i had this summer are not what made me love nolensville. it wasn't the atmosphere or the place or the things we did that i fell in love with... it was the people. although i was glad i took so many pictures and made so many journal entries, i realized pictures and memories on paper are not enough, what i will miss is who they are... i'll miss seeing the way they smile and the way they walk, hearing the way they talk and laugh and sing, i miss their feigned strength, their loudness, quietness, boldness, shyness. i miss their humanness, and i miss getting to be around them on a day to day basis. i miss seeing God working in each of them, glimpses of joy in their reactions and words. it was an amazing blessing to be able to infiltrate their lives, to watch them interact and grow and love one another, if only for a few months. and i am so thankful.
as i close my post, "ain't no holla back girl" plays on the radio. i find this both funny and ironic.
i love you, nolensville. i won't forget you.