The plot thickens

I'm sure some of you enquiring minds have been anxiously waiting to hear what happened to that proto-sinkhole I mentioned a little while back. Within the last hour, no less than eleven large vehicles (city utility trucks, I think) have arrived on the street across from my office building. Additionally, they have blocked off the road in the impacted area. Yay for my tax dollars at work. However, there are still a few issues at hand. Such as,

1. Is it really such a good idea to roll multiple large vehicles directly over already softened ground?
2. How am I going to get my car out of the parking lot, since the entrance is within the roadblocked portion of road?
3. How much work do they hope to get finished before the remnant of Ivan comes blasting through on Thursday/Friday?

Stay tuned, true believers.

Updated: Just got an e-mail about the "Street clousure." The City plans to "clouse" the street for a week for emergency repairs. So, the question is, how long will it really take? And, how long would it have taken if they had come to fix it 4 weeks ago (when it was first reported)?

And there was much rejoicing!

Skimming over the latest Arch Music Group Newsletter with information about Ginny Owen's new tour with Randall Goodgame opening, I noticed this juicy tidbit:

"Goodgame is slated to launch his next independent project, War and Peace, releasing this Oct."

Yay! Finally! And I noticed there are two Georgia dates on the tour, though I don't think we'll be able to make either one. Still, the prospect of a new album by one of the best songwriters in the business (who just happens to be a friend and fellow BSC alumni) just made my day and I wanted to share my exuberance.

With all this great music coming out in the next few months...I may just need to start babysitting or something to get some extra cash.

And the laughter goes on...

So, last night I finally got a chance to read Right Behind. Wow.

Nathan Wilson's hilarious asides about the "laws" of writing bad Christian fiction almost had me in tears. If you ever want to appropriately mock evangelicalism, take a line from the upturned table series. It's gotten me thinking about much of the silliness that takes place in our churches and in the public sphere and how to best satirize it...

When Gaines was re-reading these last week, he mentioned the zaniness to some church friends and they borrowed this along with Supergeddon. They have yet to return the latter, so I have to wait a few days before I can read the sequel, but man, I know it'll be worth the suspense! It was a delightful break from reading educational theory textbooks and a marked contrast to the 18th century novels I'm immersed in for a seminar class.

Thank goodness for counterculturally subversive reading material!

Now, to take my heart medicine ...

28 - 24

Praxis II

So, for the past few weeks, I've been slowly losing sleep and geting stressed over taking two Praxis II Subject tests this morning-- English Language, Literature, and Composition: Content Knowledge and English Language, Literature, and Composition: Essays-- all in order to become a certified English teacher in Georgia.

Well, after all my nightmares and days of preparation and last minute cramming (which even though it shouldn't have helped, in fact, it did!), I didn't think the tests were that bad. I never want to take them again, though! As an added bonus, Holden Caufield popped up in a question on each test, which was quite timely considering I began re-reading Catcher in the Rye last week.

I'm so relieved it's over. And I had some great conversations with my MARTA-riding friend on the way back this afternoon. Now it's time to enjoy good company and good food while watching GT vs. Clemson. Yay! What a great Saturday today has been!

New look for the N.T. Wright Page.

(Note: Same great content.)

choices, choices

We received our latest reward certificate from our Amazon Visa yesterday, and now comes the agonizing task of redeeming it. Well, the actual act of redeeming it is pretty easy. The hard part is culling two very extensive wishlists down to 2 or 3 choices.

My WOTD for today was "bricolage," which may be a sign that I should get Leithart's Against Christianity. I haven't yet been able to locate either my Urim or Thummim to validate this, though. Allison seems to be leaning towards a Nancy Wilson book. Perhaps we should just see if Canon Press has a credit card reward program?

MARTA messages

Riding the train back from class this evening, I looked out the window and noticed two different vandals had shared their "barbaric yawps" on public property. They were humorous enough I thought I'd post them.

This cryptic scrawl was written in Sharpie on a billboard in one of the stations along my route:

Leviticus 11:7, 11:8
No poison pig (swine)!
Beware heart disease, liver disease,
cancer and STROKE!

I found this second message highly ironic.
It was written large spraypainted letters on the side of an apartment building's brick wall:

I LOVE ATL

Irony

Rolling into this weekend, we were concerned about the impact that Frances would have on Allison's parents, who live in Geneva, Alabama, just north of the Florida panhandle. Although not directly in the storm path, this area was a prime candidate for heavy rains and flooding. As Monday came, they were concerned about us, since the changing storm path promised to leave them wet but not flooded, whereas Georgia appeared to be in for some severe weather.

The rain started sometime in the wee hours of the morning and hasn't really stopped. The intensity has decreased temporarily, but the forecast shows heavier bands of storms moving through later today. As of 8 AM, some 250,000+ people in the metro Atlanta area are without power (including our neighborhood). Good times. But, despite the nasty weather and power outages, we are counting our blessings, having seen images of the carnage wrought by both Frances, and Charley before her.

On a positive note, we got to see Tech beat up on Samford on Saturday, and from some GREAT SEATS (thanks to some insider connections). The Jackets were looking good, but we really need to iron some stuff out before facing Clemson (pronounced "Climp-sun") this weekend.

Guilty pleasures

I probably shouldn't enjoy Engrish.com so much, but this list of rules is pretty dang funny.

Tim Gallant's thoughts on how to "Make the Most of Worship."

Many are simple and familiar, but well worth the reminder. And this is just the first installment!

Marva Dawn relates an anecdote about playing her recorder in a worship service. Afterwards, a parishioner approached and flatly confronted her:

"I didn't like that song."

"So," Dawn replied. "We weren't worshipping yooooouuuu."

Dawn's lecture "Worship, Money and War" is pretty insightful and challenging, weaving together commonalities in the worship wars, the Western quest for "security," and the ethical implications of the war in Iraq. I've enjoyed her books, so hearing her speak is a treat. Regent Radio is playing her lecture series "Cyberspace Stress, Sabbath and Serenity" this week, and I am looking forward to it. I hope to hear more convicting gems, such as

"How many of the worship problems in churches are because I don't love my neighbor enough to sing songs that I don't like for their benefit?"

Gather them two by two

Remember, that would-be sinkhole? Well, there has been pretty steady (and heavy, at times) rain falling all day. Water is now gushing up from a few access plates/manholes and the intersection is pretty well flooded. I may need a canoe to get to my car.

As it turns out, a guy in the office reported the pre-sinkhole to the city's "Pothole Posse" (yes, that's the real name) over 2 weeks ago. There was zero response. Now they have a great big problem on their hands.

It appears that a sinkhole is forming across the street from my office. And a water main may be busted, since there is a lot of water coming up from the street.

Curiously, one of the depressed (elevation-wise, not emotion-wise) areas is right where that dead pigeon was this morning. Coincidence?

On the way to the office this morning, I had to step around a deceased pigeon, sprawled across the sidewalk. Eww!!

While checking my e-mail first thing this morning, I absent-mindedly took a sip from my large mug (which I use for water). Unfortunately, it was only after drinking that I remembered that I hadn't refilled it this morning. Ugh!!

Let's hope the rest of the day is not as gross.

Making the Grade

"School days, school days, dear old golden rule days."

I've always thought that song was a bit weird-- when has the education of young minds (in the past century, at least) EVER been about "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" ? High school, in my experience, was always a one-upmanship of getting the best grades for yourself, achieving the highest awards, regardless of how many others you trample in your path to greatness. Parents pushing kids to study more, study harder-- or, on the opposite spectrum, kids who didn't care, doing as little as they can to get by, not caring whether that hinders or helps their fellow classmates.

The world of academia seems to be the same way. Cutthroat. Successful publications. Talks. Presentations. C.V.'s and all that jazz. Of course, with my introduction to graduate school over the summer and now in the fall, I think sometimes, students DO put others first in their studies-- bonding with fellow classmates seems to counteract the individualistic success-only trend.

Take for instance, my cohort of 27 students in the TEEMS program. We were yoked together over the summer under tremendous truckloads of reading material, projects, papers, deadlines, silly Powerpoint Presentations, and a tormentuous TA. Now, in our second semester and looking ahead to student teaching in October, we've become a fairly unified group -- we offer textbooks to each other at better-than-bookstore deals, take trains together, carpool, share study tips and study sessions, and provide for those missing from class before they even ask. Admittedly, we are looking out for our own grades and making sure we get our work done first, but it seems much more of a communal society than regular graduate programs where students are only concerned about impressing each other with their wealth of knowledge, writing the most intellectually surprising theses, or pandering to professors. I think this is because we all want to be teachers first, not academics. In our own way, we're preparing to respect our students by respecting each other, just as we prepare to teach students by giving mock lessons to each other in class.

Maybe my introspection comes from re-reading Robinson Crusoe for my 18th Century Fiction class. He does quite a bit of philosophizing in between journal entries and I'm afraid it's rubbing off on me.

Or, perhaps this bit of educational reminiscing comes from our professor's request that we bring a high school yearbook to class on Wednesday. That's a scary thought. I was a complete [pick a Screech-like adjective-- nerd, geek, dweeb, etc.] in high school. Do I really want that fact to be known through photographic evidence? I suppose it's all part of being in a community-- trusting each other with pieces of our past. And since we have quite a few older graduate students, I'm sure we'll get to see some interesting hairstyles, at least. That should prove amusing!

We saw an ad on TV for the upcoming release of The Passion of the Christ, and apparently, the DVD "can be yours forever." Which raises the important theological question:

Will DVD players in the new creation be that back compatible?

I need to find a new instrument

This is pretty crazy.

I do have a charango at home, but maybe it's time to find something more obscure to pave my way to virtuoso-dom.

Calvin, on the use of God's good gifts

Let this be our principle, that we err not in the use of the gifts of Providence when we refer them to the end for which their author made and destined them, since he created them for our good, and not for our destruction. No man will keep the true path better than he who shall have this end carefully in view. Now then, if we consider for what end he created food, we shall find that he consulted not only for our necessity, but also for our enjoyment and delight. Thus, in clothing, the end was, in addition to necessity, comeliness and honour; and in herbs, fruits, and trees, besides their various uses, gracefulness of appearance and sweetness of smell. Were it not so, the Prophet would not enumerate among the mercies of God “wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine,” (Ps. 104:15). The Scriptures would not everywhere mention, in commendation of his benignity, that he had given such things to men. The natural qualities of things themselves demonstrate to what end, and how far, they may be lawfully enjoyed. Has the Lord adorned flowers with all the beauty which spontaneously presents itself to the eye, and the sweet odour which delights the sense of smell, and shall it be unlawful for us to enjoy that beauty and this odour? What? Has he not so distinguished colours as to make some more agreeable than others? Has he not given qualities to gold and silver, ivory and marble, thereby rendering them precious above other metals or stones? In short, has he not given many things a value without having any necessary use?

(Institutes III.x.2)

The wheels on the train go round and round...

Trains have wheels, right?

Anyway, I rode MARTA for the first time today, the second day of my second semester back in school. You'd think after living in Atlanta for two years now that I would've had the opportunity ride public transportation before, but the closest I've gotten until today was picking someone up at the local station.

Though our church is downtown, it's easier to drive when Gaines has to bring his guitar and other stuff. Besides, there's no traffic on Sundays. Also, since Gaines works in downtown Atlanta now, this summer when I first started taking graduate classes at GSU, we just carpooled. It was nice, since his workplace wasn't far from campus.

This semester, though, all of my classes are in the evening-- since I'll start student teaching in October. It works out great for me, because a girl in my cohort lives nearby and we can ride the train together on Tuesday and Wednesdays. (It's nice to have someone to talk to on the ride down. Among other various and sundry topics, today we had a fun conversation about Baptists and legalism--she's Catholic and went to Mercer for undergrad.)

Anyway, on to MARTA. I think, in some cases, it IS "smarta." For one thing, it saves on parking, and it's also a lot faster during rush hour. Second, it's just as safe, or even moreso, especially since I'm not travelling alone. Third-- I was surprised at the relative cleanliness and ease of use. It wasn't hard to get around, signs were clearly marked, and it was much better kept than the underground in New York or even D.C. (I won't compare it to European Metros I've used, they're just so much older...) But perhaps this is due to the fact that no one uses it?

While waiting in line to get tokens yesterday, I asked another student why it doesn't go all over the city, like in other large urban areas I've been to. Thankfully, there are stations where we live, but for anyone on the west side of town up I-75-- zilch. He described the situation as an endless deteriorating cycle: Lack of funding. People complain that no one uses it, so funding goes down. Since funding goes down, less people use it. And more people complain... you get the idea.

I'll admit it wasn't crowded when I rode it today. I've also heard horror stories about the crazies on MARTA and the unexpected breakdowns. Thankfully, my ride was smooth and uneventful and panhandlers were avoided.

So, I just have to say I'm looking forward to my evenings on the train. I'm still driving down for my classes one day a week, though, just because my last class on Monday doesn't end until 9:45 and there's no way I'm riding MARTA by myself that late at night. Maybe next semester I can move up to MARTA full-time.

Thanks to Trevor for linking to this guy's blog. I kind of like this new-urbanism idea-- it's interesting to read a discussion about areas I've become so familiar with... It also has great pictures of Atlantic Station, which is being built practically in our church's backyard (West Merritts is located in Home Park, right near Georgia Tech). The influx of even more residents into Midtown should be an interesting opportunity for our little light-bearing congregation.