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debo_anna
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Name: Deborah
State: Michigan
Birthday: 9/9/1986
Gender: Female
Interests: I like...
to be outside.
to talk with people.
to sing.
to ride horses.
to go camping.
to ride escalators.
to write.
to dream.
Expertise: I have unique talents in the field of injuring myself...examples include, intentionally sliding down the windshield of a car (should not be subsituted for water slide), slipping while getting out of bed, falling and passing out (embarressing), passing out while running and hitting a bucket (crazy)...
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
10/2/2005
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| Nathan pointed out to me that
my Xanga seems to have ceased to exist. I was pondering this
myself just the other day as I realized I'm not writing much these days
and this is a sad thought.
And thus I have been converted from Xanga to Blogspot...Join me there...
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| First, Mary is coming home in 17 days. That is awesome.
Secondly, I just watched "Stranger than Fiction" with Geurkie and I liked it a lot...check it out...
Thirdly, last night, I went on a Calvin walk with Stephanie and the snow and moon were beautiful and it was wonderful.
Fourthly (I'm not sure that fourthly is in fact the appropriate term
here or not, but it has been so used), all of my paperwork is in and
good to go to graduate this spring, completing with one more semester
in the fall. I'm feeling good about this situation...
Lastly, I'm going to bake cookies with Sarah tonight...
 | Currently Watching
Stranger Than Fiction
By Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson, William Dick (III), Guy Massey (III), Martha Espinoza, Christian Stolte, T.J. Jagodowski, Peter Grosz, Ricky Adams, Denise Hughes, Peggy Roeder, Tonray Ho, Tony Hale, Danny Rhodes, Helen Young, David Pompeii, Linara Washington
see related |
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| Today, I gave a
commemorative speech on Henri Nouwen. It was not my best effort,
which is unfortunate because he is in fact quite amazing, as well as
influential in my life. However, I spent most of last night doing
everything but preparing my speech: making a paper chain, talking on the phone, Facebooking, daydreaming, e-mailing,
Gmail chatting, cuddling with my roomie, reading Curious
George...and on and on. But thanks to only a few hours of sleep
and some early morning preparations, it was not a total disaster.
I am a bit sick of speeches. Good thing that I'm speaking in
chapel on Monday morning about my experience in Ghana...
And now, some thoughts from Henri himself...
"Yes, I know that...there is not yet peace everywhere, that all pain
has not yet been taken away, but still, I see people turning and
returning home; I hear voices that pray; I notice moments of
forgiveness, and I witness many signs of hope. I don't have to
wait until all is well, but I can celebrate every little hint of the
Kingdom that is at hand...There is so much rejection, pain, and
woundedness among us, but once you choose to claim the joy hidden in
the midst of all suffering, life becomes celebration. Joy never
denies the sadness, but transforms it to a fertile soil for more joy."
From The Return of the Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen.
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| I went
apartment hunting today. Not really hunting, actually. We
had an appointment to go to the apartment complex that Calvin just
bought off campus. They're nice. But not incredible.
We're going to keep looking. The idea of signing a lease is
daunting to me and I felt like a small child standing there feeling
like I should have questions to ask. But I didn't. I just
watched and took it all in. This left me with two trains of thought.
First, I seem to lack the immediate
curiosity/inquisitiveness that many people have. I've been
thinking about this during this round of speeches in my class.
When a speaker completed his/her persuasive speech, the floor was
opened for questions from the class. Some of the questions asked
were extremely thoughtful and articulate. I have a lot of respect
for people who as good questions. I wish that I was better at it
(perhaps it is somehow learned?). It's not as if my life is
lacking questions...rather, I have a lot of questions. But they
usually flit in and out of my head when I am alone, running,
journaling, sitting. Questions--they're good and asking
good questions is important.
The second train of thought I had from our apartment-looking
experience was the general consideration of what I'm going to be doing
next year. One year from this
moment, I will be graduated and will have been for about a month.
That is in fact quite crazy. I have two semesters remaining in my
college career and that is it. I've been looking at Craig's List
a lot in various cities around the country, hunting apartments and
jobs. Seattle, of course, would be my first choice. But
Portland also has a lot of non-profit opportunities, as do many of the
cities in Cali. Of course, maybe 2850 will somehow suck me in and
in Grand Rapids I will remain (translation: 2850=CRC
headquarters). But for now, I have a semester of Calvin-death
ahead of me (that I am somehow looking forward to in perhaps some
twisted way). And then an uncertain summer (home, hopefully and
work...work would be really good). And then one more Calvin
semester, during which I'll be living in a currently unknown location.
In other news, I spent some time this afternoon laying on my bed doing
nothing. It was the first time in all of interim that I just
stopped and sat still. And I liked it.
 | Currently Watching
The Prestige
By Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Samantha Mahurin, David Bowie, Andy Serkis, Daniel Davis, Jim Piddock, Christopher Neame (III), Mark Ryan, Roger Rees, Jamie Harris, Monty Stuart, Ron Perkins, Ricky Jay, J. Paul Moore, Anthony De Marco
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| This week:
I've discovered that baking is amazing and I love it. I love
starting with nothing and then actually doing something and having
something to show for it. It will continue to be a great stress
reliever, I believe. Tonight Sarah and Sarah and I made chocolate
chip banana bread. Earlier this week I made blueberry
muffins. Last week I made chocolate chip cookies. I am much
more successful with baking than with cooking...
I gave an informative speech about environmental racism. This
refers to the highest rates of contamination and pollution taking place
in communities where there is a higher-than-average number of
minorities (among other things). It was rewarding to be able to give a presentation
about something that I feel is really important and that actually
matters instead of just doing busywork or writing papers about things that
don't feel like they mean much...
Links:
Environmental Justice Resource Center
Article about the Holt family, in Dickson, Tenn. (the case study I used in my speech)
Some general information about environmental racism
I went to hear Sister Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking,
speak about capital punishment. I just looked around Calvin's
website to see if there was a recording/podcast posted and am
disappointed that it doesn't seem to be availabe. Many of her
words resonated
deeply with me. I left simultaneously encouraged and
frustrated...encouraged that there are people who care deeply about
bring justice and frustrated that there is so much that is wrong and I
feel
overwhelmed, particularly in trying to figure out how I'm supposed to
live my life. Calvin Theater Company is producing the play
version of Dead Man Walking at the beginning of February and I'm
looking forward to going...
I had some beautiful moments with friends and I'm really grateful for the amazing people in my life...
I went out for coffee with my supervisor/the youth director at Oakdale
and talked about my internship, her leadership style, my experiences in
the last eight months, down to the schedule and such. It was
really exciting because I was set at ease about some of the things I
was kind of daunted about. And I have a calendar/schedule now
that I think is going to be workable and handleable. It's going
to be a busy semester but I'm confident in being able to handle it...
And today, I did laundry. Every time I do laundry now, I'm
somewhat amazed. I think about how long it would have taken me to
wash all of these things by hand. And I think about how
"convenient" my life is here. And I shake my head and wonder what
it means...
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