It's Friday, and the RevGalsBlogPals have a travel Friday Five:
1) What was the mode of transit for your last trip? Airplane to go to Texas for Christmas
2) Have you ever traveled by train? Does Commuter Rail count? If so, then yes!
3) Do you live in a place with public transit, and if so, do you use it? YES! I love the T.
4) What's the most unusual vehicle in which you've ever traveled? A dune buggy, when I was about 12, with a boy who I was madly in love with, but he was 18 or 19, and I'm quite sure no one had any clue I was Sooo In Love with him. We weren't even on sand dunes, it was a street legal buggy, and he gave me a ride home from my dad's shop (worked for my dad).
5) What's the next trip you're planning to take? Back to Texas, in another plane. And after that, maybe a train to NYC.
I'm taking a journey back through all my old notebooks this week. (like that travel segue? lol) It seems that I haven't been as organized as I thought. Five semesters times four classes each...that's a lot of unorganized paperwork. The good thing about sorting back through binders and looking at all the course notes and readings is that it is refreshing my memory of all the work I've done thus far. This term I'm working on my comprehensive exam bibliographies. I'll take three exams next fall, and each one will have a bibliography of about 25-30 books, most of which I've already read in my coursework (or read at least part of a book). So this notebooks exercise is helping me to think about which books I will want to talk about with my advisors in putting together those bibliographies.
Can you tell I'm an optimist? Always looking for that silver lining! :-)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
busy days
It's been a busy couple of days, but I knew I had to get back in here and finish cleaning up. The windows need doing! :-) and the author needs to figure out why adding links isn't working in our little bloggy.
Now I have to clean up something else - I have to get off my mind how I'm feeling about the special senate election here in Massachusetts. It stinks. Period. It was just another round of expensive TV ads, all of them nasty and negative. It bothers me that politicians are so willing to rip each other to pieces to win. Politics is all about power. There is no public service in politics. Neither side (not even the independent parties) is willing to put the needs of the people above their own self interests. The so-called "health care reform" that Congress is working on now is not really reform. At its best, it might be expanded coverage. There won't be any reform of health care costs, there won't be any insurance reform. Those are what matters, but they aren't part of the discussion in Washington. I've come down hard on scripture - put not your trust in mortals or princes (Psalm 146:3).
Health care is in my view, a moral imperative. True reform and care for those who cannot care for themselves will only come when people of faith take seriously God's call to care for the orphan and the widow - code words for those who cannot provide for themselves. My family is blessed enough to have insurance and good doctors - but it hasn't always been so, and I'm grateful for good health and good doctors. I never want others to have to live with the fear of not knowing how you'll pay for what you need if you or your children get sick or hurt.
There. I'm done with that now.
It's been a busy week. I left my ID at the security checkpoint in Houston before flying back to Boston. That's a paperwork nightmare to navigate! But I should have it back soon, thanks to the TSA people. My Uncle David died on Wednesday, which is a little sad for my mom. He's not been well, and he's lived a long, happy life. I'm truly grateful to all the people who've worked for his group home over the years. I'll always remember his smile. Uncle David had a sweet, ready smile - especially when the Twins or Vikings were winning!
I'm back in classes, which means I'm riding the T again. I have to say, I LOVE riding the T. I think it's because it makes getting around so stress free. I like driving (how many times have I driven back and forth across Texas?) but driving in Boston is not easy. On top of that, there's precious little parking and it's (as they say up here) wicked expensive. :-)
When I lived north of the city, I'd take the Commuter Rail train and transfer to the subway, which stops right at the university. Now I'm in a western suburb, and I take a bus to a subway stop. Once I'm on the subway train, I study a little or look to see what others are reading. And thus, "Seen Being Read on the T" was born...
Tuesday's Seen Being Read on the T:
Jodie Picoult - Picture Perfect
Boston Globe
Metro (free daily paper)
Sarah Vowell - The Wordy Shipmates
Securities License Exam Study Guide
JM Cotzee - Summertime
Constitutional Law
Barbara Hamilton - The Ninth Daughter
Wednesday's Seen Being Read on the T:
Business Week
New York Times
Metro
Boston Globe
Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion
William Bramley - The Gods of Eden
Rhonda Byrne - The Secret
Thursday's Seen Being Read on the T:
Arthur C. Clarke - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Raising Arizona (screenplay?)
Paul Hattaway - The Heavenly Man
That last book was mine. I had my eyes on my own book, rather than sneaking a peek at other rider's titles. Amazon has been helpful when all I've seen was an author's name or partial title, and some cover art.
Now I have to clean up something else - I have to get off my mind how I'm feeling about the special senate election here in Massachusetts. It stinks. Period. It was just another round of expensive TV ads, all of them nasty and negative. It bothers me that politicians are so willing to rip each other to pieces to win. Politics is all about power. There is no public service in politics. Neither side (not even the independent parties) is willing to put the needs of the people above their own self interests. The so-called "health care reform" that Congress is working on now is not really reform. At its best, it might be expanded coverage. There won't be any reform of health care costs, there won't be any insurance reform. Those are what matters, but they aren't part of the discussion in Washington. I've come down hard on scripture - put not your trust in mortals or princes (Psalm 146:3).
Health care is in my view, a moral imperative. True reform and care for those who cannot care for themselves will only come when people of faith take seriously God's call to care for the orphan and the widow - code words for those who cannot provide for themselves. My family is blessed enough to have insurance and good doctors - but it hasn't always been so, and I'm grateful for good health and good doctors. I never want others to have to live with the fear of not knowing how you'll pay for what you need if you or your children get sick or hurt.
There. I'm done with that now.
It's been a busy week. I left my ID at the security checkpoint in Houston before flying back to Boston. That's a paperwork nightmare to navigate! But I should have it back soon, thanks to the TSA people. My Uncle David died on Wednesday, which is a little sad for my mom. He's not been well, and he's lived a long, happy life. I'm truly grateful to all the people who've worked for his group home over the years. I'll always remember his smile. Uncle David had a sweet, ready smile - especially when the Twins or Vikings were winning!
I'm back in classes, which means I'm riding the T again. I have to say, I LOVE riding the T. I think it's because it makes getting around so stress free. I like driving (how many times have I driven back and forth across Texas?) but driving in Boston is not easy. On top of that, there's precious little parking and it's (as they say up here) wicked expensive. :-)
When I lived north of the city, I'd take the Commuter Rail train and transfer to the subway, which stops right at the university. Now I'm in a western suburb, and I take a bus to a subway stop. Once I'm on the subway train, I study a little or look to see what others are reading. And thus, "Seen Being Read on the T" was born...
Tuesday's Seen Being Read on the T:
Jodie Picoult - Picture Perfect
Boston Globe
Metro (free daily paper)
Sarah Vowell - The Wordy Shipmates
Securities License Exam Study Guide
JM Cotzee - Summertime
Constitutional Law
Barbara Hamilton - The Ninth Daughter
Wednesday's Seen Being Read on the T:
Business Week
New York Times
Metro
Boston Globe
Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion
William Bramley - The Gods of Eden
Rhonda Byrne - The Secret
Thursday's Seen Being Read on the T:
Arthur C. Clarke - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Raising Arizona (screenplay?)
Paul Hattaway - The Heavenly Man
That last book was mine. I had my eyes on my own book, rather than sneaking a peek at other rider's titles. Amazon has been helpful when all I've seen was an author's name or partial title, and some cover art.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
sheesh it's dusty in here
My poor neglected blog. You're all dusty and pitiful. Like no one's been here in months!
~dusting, vacuuming, general tidying up~
There. Better? I'll be back soon with more regular blogging. It was a New Year's resolution. :-)
Reading material on the T this morning:
Metro
Wall Street Journal
Sports Illustrated
Michener's Mexico
two Kindles
I like observing what people read on their commute. Lots of papers and magazines today, not so many novels.
Thoughts about the earthquake in Haiti are over on Facebook. It's so overwhelming, and I'm doing some heavy thinking about short term missionaries (who are now trying to leave rather than stay and help).
~dusting, vacuuming, general tidying up~
There. Better? I'll be back soon with more regular blogging. It was a New Year's resolution. :-)
Reading material on the T this morning:
Metro
Wall Street Journal
Sports Illustrated
Michener's Mexico
two Kindles
I like observing what people read on their commute. Lots of papers and magazines today, not so many novels.
Thoughts about the earthquake in Haiti are over on Facebook. It's so overwhelming, and I'm doing some heavy thinking about short term missionaries (who are now trying to leave rather than stay and help).
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