welcome to the end of the working week

Party tonight! After a week of non-stop working (that, somehow, still won't result in a fat paycheck) and running around I am in desperate need of some mindless fun. Last night, as we were driving to her boyfriend's apartment (after our dvd of choice--Rules of Attraction--decided to stop working), H. informed me that A.'s going to have a party at his house tonight. Other good things: I got paid yesterday (while it's not as much as I'd like, it's still better than nothing), my ugly sunburn has finally stopped stinging, the weather's supposed to be gorgeous this weekend (which means that some r&r at the beach is in order), I'm going to pick up seven extra hours at work next week subbing for people, I finally burned a bunch of cds I've been wanting, my sister will be here in less than two weeks (!), I'm going camping next month, and I got some awesome books from the library the other day. (One of the books I checked out from the library is on the Great Barrier Reef, nonfiction. I brought it to work and this retard I work with said: what's that? Me: a book on the Great Barrier Reef. Retard: Is it fiction, like, you know, a novel? Me: Nope. Retard: Oh. Why are you bothering to read it then? Sometimes I don't believe these people are real.) Oh, another good thing: I finally rented Step Into Liquid. I watched it the other night and was blown away. It is a beautiful movie featuring gorgeous sun-drenched cinematogrophy containing every shade of blue. Breathtaking. I think I need to own it, so that I can use it as a pick-me-up whenever I feel down. Peace.

$

I'm tired of worrying incessantly about my low-paying summer job, college tuition, and debt. So, as of last night, I have taken up filling out bunches of scholarship applications. (Fastweb is my friend.) I wish I didn't worry so much, but I'm positively compulsive about it. I need to find things other than money-and-how-to-make-it to think about. Happy things--so thoughts of guys(ahem, or my lack thereof) are, unfortunately, right out.. *sigh* I think I'll just call it a night, so I can quit whining while I'm ahead. Now I'm going to crawl under the covers, put on a cd, and go to sleep.

diamonds are forever

Thought only recently to have given up cannibalism? Don't come between these men and their ice. I read this story and thought: no, it's not a small world, after all. Recommendation: (on topic) this is an awesome, sometimes surreal, book about one man's journey through the Amazon. Chock-full of wonders that will disentangle you from the monotony of your daily life.

the tree, the fish, the dog, the cat, etc.

Seriously, I love going to yoga. I get so relaxed that it doesn't even bother me when the instructor says ridiculous things like: "your creativity is in your hips". Really? Snerk.

the bad apple

A canon lawyer has filed a suit to excommunicate presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry. Heretic, anyone?

the land of the free and the home of the brave

Happy Independence Day! I got a lump in my throat singing the Star-Spangled Banner in church this morning (it was the recessional song, as it usually is on national holidays) and I feel like a small child again as I eagerly anticipate seeing tonight's fireworks show with my family. God bless America.

and now, for something completely different...

Time for the self-indulgent bit. Yesterday was fantastic. Perfect (in a very understated way), even. I made two batches of blueberry jam (with my mother) in the morning and found out that boiling blueberries and sugar smell delicious. They made the whole first floor of the house smell like blueberry pie. The jam looks terrific in the little quilted glass jam jars--we'll find out later if it tastes as good as it looks. It was very sunny, hot and humid today so I was pumped to go work at camp at 12 pm. (My new reversible bathing suit also provided some motivation.) We did LBDs (lost bather drills) first thing, so I was able to get in the water and cool down. (LBDs are hellish in that water. It's so mucky that you can't see a thing and you're totally turned off by the idea of doing sweeps. Which is what's called for when you can't see anything.) Then I sat on the dock and guarded for about an hour--got some tanning done right before a thunderstorm rolled in (the clouds were all lavender and grey) and we had to clear the water. The thunderstorm, while getting me out of work early, also screwed up my plans to go to the ocean with H. for the remainder of the afternoon. We decided to make the best of the situation, though, and had a lot of fun anyway. Did a little shopping (huge sales for the Fourth of July at that materialistic mecca also known as the mall) and headed home about an hour an a half later, wilting from hunger, to finish prepping dinner. (Dinner was swordfish marinated in white wine, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, mint, kosher salt, cracked pepper and olive oil, grilled red peppers and vidalia onions, white rice and corn on the cob.) We were so hungry by the time we got home that we just had to have a snack while we cooked, so we totally pigged out on french bread, brie cheese, nectarines and Mudslides. It was awesome. Not to mention the feast of a dinner. There is nothing quite as good as eating good food with good company; in this case my family and H. Plus, even though it rained while we were cooking, it cleared up and the sun came back out in full force in time for us to eat dinner outside with the air smelling deliciously of rain. Then H. and I, spur of the moment, decided to stop at the lake for a quick swim before she had to go home. We were the only ones there. We swam around for a little and the water was cool and as clear as glass. The sunlight was the color of honey and there was that heady lakewater smell: clean and earthy, water, plants and wet sand. Then we grabbed our towels and drove, barefoot and sandy, to her house as the sun went down.

this modern life

(I wanted to post some really self-indulgent journal-type stuff, but decided instead to post and pass on some words of wisdom. Because this excerpt says all the things I want to say, but don't know how. It articulates those vague feelings of unease I have about people who have no respect for anything sacred, who blithely ignore the fact that man cannot live by bread alone.)

The increasing religious indifference leads to the loss of the sense of God and of His holiness, which, in turn, is translated into a loss of a sense of the sacred, of mystery and of the capacity for wonder. These are human dispositions which predispose a person to dialogue and to an encounter with God. Such indifference almost inevitably leads to a false moral autonomy and a secularistic lifestyle which excludes God. The loss of the sense of God is followed by a loss of the sense of sin, which has its roots in the moral conscience of the individual. This is a great obstacle to conversion. -- Pope John Paul II Lineamenta for the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for America, Semptember 18, 1996