Category: LiveJournal

Things about Parables

The folks and I got back from Indianapolis yesterday afternoon. Leo was pleased to see me (and had been upset that I’d left – he left 3 statements for me to that effect – yuk!) We had a nice time meeting up with Ed Beutner and Bernard Brandon Scott and another of the Westar Scholars, Perry something or other. (I’m bad with names.) Very nice fellow, Perry. Ed spoke at his church’s Sunday School, so we went there and to the service afterwards. First time I’d been in a Methodist service since I was a kid and dad was a Methodist preacher. It was, um, formal. But the church was very friendly and is an open and affirming church. I love that in a church.

Anyhoo, during the Friday and Saturday workshops, I took notes. (On my PDA – heh heh – in between solitaire games. Hey, it keeps me awake and keeps me quiet.)

Found on a bumper sticker Brandon saw: “Due to budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off.”

Joke from Ed: “Did you hear the one about the dyslexic paranoid? He was always afraid he was following someone.”

Some thoughts on parables:

“We don’t learn about parables, we learn from them.” – Brandon (IIRC)

The questions you should ask about parables: “How does it sound? How does it feel? How does it fit?” – Ed

Don’t ask what a parable means – that’s a Hellenistic way of looking at an aural story telling technique.

Parables are not for children.

(And after he said that, Brandon added that he thought at church “we should entertain the children and educate the adults” but we seem to do the reverse.)

Some other thoughts:

“God is nowhere absent and everywhere hidden.” – Ed

“Constantine turned Christianity from a religion of what you do into a religion of what you believe.” – Brandon

There were a few more notes that I’d taken, but I think those above are the cream of the crop. I liked what the fellows had to say. And it’s neat hearing about parables from a strict scholar (Brandon) and from a poet who’s also a scholar (Ed). Brandon admitted that it’s hard for scholars to not look at a parable and try to figure out what it means. But for a poet like Ed, he sticks to how does it sound, how does it feel, and how does it fit.

When Cold Air & Warm Air Meet

The parental units and I are in Indianapolis right now, getting ready to attend another Jesus Seminar on the Road. We went to one back in November where I got to meet two of dad’s little Internet friends. Alas, Daryl Schmidt died March 23rd due to a very aggressive cancer. 🙁 Tonight I’ll get to see Bernard Brandon Scott again, but also get to finally meet Ed Beutner, one of dad’s “cronies.” I’ve heard quite a few stories about Ed, so I’m really looking forward to meeting him. Plus, the two of them will be talking about parables. And I like parables.

So, after dad and I returned from our monthly county tech meeting, mom drove us towards I70 to make our way to Indiana. We were driving down Hogpath Road and, according to mom’s car’s thermometer, it was 78°F. Suddenly, a storm came up on us and before the storm was over, the temperature had dropped down to 54°F! It was quite the frog strangler and there was hail larger than moth balls falling. It was rather impressive to watch. Mom got us through the bad weather and onto Indianapolis. And now we’re in a Baymont Inn that says it’s a La Quinta. Gee, I just love staying in hotels that change their identities on me! (Have I ever mentioned the time when I stayed in a Comfort Inn in London that became a home for refugees before I’d left it?)

The nice thing about this Baymont Inn is the free wireless Internet. Yay! I should be able to work some on my online class (which is over online classes) while we’re here.

The things you find…

So mom & dad have been doing a lot of rearranging around in their house. (The living room is now the dining room, so the parlor room is now the living room, etc.) During this process, they’re locating things that are mine & Amy’s that had been hiding in various crevasses in the house. Several of my boardgames & puzzles are now in my own house – yay! But perhaps the biggest surprise was my AT-AT! For those of you who aren’t Star Wars fans (and to think, I call you friends! Heh), an AT-AT is a big-ass vehicle used in The Empire Strikes Back. I was under the impression that I had sold my AT-AT to some of the neighborhood boys years ago. But now that I think about it, I think it was my Death Star that I sold them. (No loss – that wasn’t nearly as cool as an AT-AT.)

Leo didn’t know what to make of this plastic thing that was even bigger than him. I haven’t added batteries to it to see if the electronics still work. And if they do, Leo will be even more confused about it. Heh. Poor Kitty.

In other news, shortly before heading off to visit with judiang, elsaf, and hergrace, I had bid upon & won a 60GB iPod video. I was pleased that I’d found it for under $380 (the winning bid was $335). I have over 30GB of MP3s on my computer (most, but not all, of my CD collection. And I still have some albums that I want to convert to MP3). So a 30GB drive wasn’t going to work. The iPod arrived while I was in Chicago, but my parents are lovely people and they picked it up at the post office. I’ve already copied all of my songs onto it (and NOT by using iTunes – woot! MediaMonkey, I LOVE you!) I still have to create good playlists, but I’ll do it as I update my MP3s to have proper album art & information. Some playlists I’ll make in QCD, the others in MediaMonkey.

Oh, and in the Keeping Up with the Short’s, it turns out that a certain recent birthday girl just HAD to go off to her local Apple Store & get herself a 60GB iPod video. The rotter! 😉 Oh yeah, and she paid LESS. Bah! Ah well, all’s fair in love & commerce.

Friend Gushing

Well, after over 10 hours in a car today, I’m back home. elsaf and I left around 11:30am Chicago time and I stepped into my house just after 9:30pm Ohio time. It’s now past my bedtime, but I thought I’d post to say I’d made it OK. And to thank my wonderful friends. Thank you, Elsa, for being my road trip partner & for all the fabulous cooking. Thank you, hergrace for coming to our birthday celebration. Thank you, judiang for being such a gracious host despite recently having one of the shittiest weeks ever. You three are great friends to hang out with and it’ll be great when we can all get together again!

Excess! Er, Success!

Tonight’s fabulous five-course meal by elsaf was amazing! Well, we’ve only gotten 4 courses done and we’re taking a break before we have dessert. But it was very good food! Elsa is a marvel. judiang, hergrace and I are grateful to our culinary friend. And all four of us are stuffed to the gills. We’re sitting around Judi’s faux fireplace and listening to her ’60s directory of MP3s.

Alas, tomorrow morning, Elsa & I are driving back to Michigan and then I drive back to Ohio. But first, Steph has promised to make us buttermilk pancakes. Yay!

With the leftovers that are currently chilling in Judi’s fridge, I think she’ll be able to go a week without having to visit restaurants or (her nemesis) grocery stores.

ETA: changed “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch” to “Can’t Help Myself” on Judi’s recommendation in Music.

Day Before Judi’s B-Day!

Today was a nice leisure day for all of us. (Well, until Elsa cooked supper – then she worked her butt off). After faffing about in the morning (because the garage was off-limits from 8am til noon), we headed off to Jewell to buy all the ingredients that elsaf and I didn’t bring in the car. Of course, after all that food buying, we, um, went out to eat for lunch. Heh.

Elsa drove judiang and I to Chinatown for lunch. We ate at Penang (a Malaysian restaurant & sushi bar) and filled up on sushi. I ordered ebi sushi plus the Maki Combo plate. More sushi than I could eat, but there ya go. 🙂

Afterwards, we shopped in Chinatown. We picked up some key pastries from a bakery and then visited several shops that sold lots of tat. One of the first ones we visited had a Lucky Cat who waves. YAY! I have wanted one since I saw the one our local Japanese place has. It was only $9.99, so I had to get it.

I priced several Mah Jongg tile sets in several of the shops, but nobody had one cheap enough for my cheap self. So I’m still without my Mah Jongg tile set.

After shopping, we stopped once again at Jewell to pick up the things we’d forgotten to get. And even managed to forget one of those! Whoops!

We rested up from our shopping before Elsa began her tutorial on Lamb Curry. Judi and I watched while she cooked & explained stuff. She was almost as good as Justin Wilson! (Without the thick Louisiana accent, that is.)

During the 1 hour simmering time, we just listening to music, chatted, and geeked. Elsa’s just added the cream to the curry, so we’re just about ready for supper. Yay! Smells wonderful!

Bangers & Mash

elsaf and I left Detroit this morning at 8:41am and drove to Chi town. Like we’ve been doing, she drove the city bits (start & end of trip) and I drove the straight bit in the middle. A stop at Taco Hell for lunch and a couple of restroom breaks weren’t enough to slow us down too much. We wound up at judiang‘s ahead of schedule (arrived 1:15pm local time). Yay us! We didn’t take any wrong turns or missed turns – we rock!

After decompressing for a bit, we walked with Judi to Howie’s, a nearby coffee shop. She had lunch while Elsa & I had muffins (mmmm, chocolate & cheesecake muffin!) Back to the Grant Hotel (heh) where we played around a bit while Judi napped. (Poor dear – she actually worked today!)

When suppertime arrived, we headed off to the South Loop Local, aka Grace O’Malley’s. I bought drinks (amaretto sours for me & Judi, diet Coke for our designated walker, Elsa). We all had Guinness & Irish Cheddar soup for starters & then moved onto pub grub. Elsa had shepherd’s pie (peppered with actual shepherd on top). Judi and I had bangers & mash (mine without the sauteed ‘shrooms, thankyouverymuch). It was yummy!

Now we’re back at the ranch, Elsa watching tonight’s Smallville (taped on Judi’s DVR), me typing this, Judi doing – well, not sure. Anyhoo, it was a fun day and we’ve got a fun weekend planned. I love hanging out with my friends!