It oooonly takes a spaaarrrk to get a fire going...

To anyone who went to Bible Camp or VBS, that was your earworm for the day. :-)

My articulate cyber-friend Shalom has bestowed a kindness on me, and it's now my pleasure to pass it on (as in the song). Here are the rules:

List 7 things that you love and then pass the award on to 7 people...tagging them and letting them know they won! You can copy the picture of the award and put it on your sidebar letting the whole wide world know you are KReATIV!

Seven Things I Love

1. the sound the pups make when they wake up in the morning, and the way they're excited about nearly everything

2. really well-crafted lyrics

3. friendships measured in decades

4. the moment when I say a perfectly abstract thing to one of my choirs and it makes enough sense to them that they SING the essence of the thing I was trying to say

5. unexpected kindnesses, of which I have received a bunch lately

6. getting to preach (which is fun on several levels), or getting to hear a really good sermon

7. the hearts of those who suffer when justice is absent...especially when the offense isn't against them personally


Now, to share--some old friends, some new!

1. MomPriest at Seeking Authentic Voice--it's an oasis: calm, thoughtful, deeply kind.

2. Diane at Coexist--lots of original poetry and meditative thought. Got a Minnesotan's love for this one, personally.

3. Christine at Abbey of the Arts--gorgeous, all around. Photography, poetry, and I particularly loved the wisdom in this post.

4. Catrina at The Mad Preacher Liberation Front--insightful, articulate, and sometimes hilariously titled posts (i.e. The Audacity of Nope).

5. Rachel at The Sweet Bi and Bi--visually restful, astutely observed, well connected with resources, sweet and funny. Try this post for a new take on diversity in the church.

6. Mary at Tensegrities--she's interested in lots of things that appeal to a quirky church geek like me, and she writes well and links to fascinating stuff.

7. I've recognized Ruth of Ruth's Visions and Revisions before--still think she's wonderful, but today's shout-out goes to her co-blogger, Smokey. His Dog Parables (right sidebar, scroll down) are really something special!

Navelgazing extravaganza II: the wordle as I see it

Just made a Wordle. It's a visual aggregate of all the words in my blog...and an interesting way to see if my writing actually matches up with my thinking. Other than a mild sense of alarm that "get" is bigger than "God," I'm reasonably happy with it. :-)

BTW--click on it; you'll be redirected to wordle.net's gallery, and a larger version!

Friday five: my old kit bag

OK, so it's Monday. We just got back from the cabin, and this Friday Five was too appropriate NOT to play! Singing Owl writes:

We will be at a chaplain's convention when you all are answering the Friday Five Questions. I'll look forward to reading your answers next week when I get home. At the moment we are trying to get the car loaded so we can hit the road, so this will be a simple F.F. This running around madly in order to leave has me wondering: what are the five things you simply must have when you are away from home? And why? Any history or goofy things, or stories?

1. If I don't have an extra-large, fountain diet Coke with ice within 2 miles of leaving my driveway, I get very Veruca Salt about it ("Daddy, I want an oompa loompa, and I want one NOW!!!"). Don't test me on this. In most other ways, I'm a reasonable traveling companion--I think. :-)
   
2. Copies of Beloved's and my medical power-of-attorney. 'Cause we're married, but we're not married. And if anything terrible happened, I'm thinking her family would be fighting me about any decisions I tried to make on her behalf. So we've got the paperwork, and it comes along wherever we go, in case my least rational fear is not groundless (click here and scroll down to #89, just under the penguins). Looking forward to not having to worry about this someday.
3. Books. Must have books. Beats the DTs.
   
4. Traveling music for the car's CD player, please...either some playlists we've made from iTunes (in which Beloved and I will enthusiastically sing several different voice parts, to the annoyance of the pups) or an audiobook with a well-told story; the Harry Potters are excellent for long trips!
5. Comfy jeans, t-shirts, my oldest Birkenstocks and my favorite hat. I'm on vacation. Mmmmmmmmmm...
   

Thanks, Owl! Great idea!

100th post: "100 things" navelgazing extravaganza

I'm a lap or two behind my friend Ruth on that Great Blogospheric Cinder Track, and so I'm going to swipe her fun idea for my 100th post!

1. I'm half Norwegian and half Swedish. I like the sweaters and I make great lefse, but will not eat lutefisk (best description I ever heard was "warm anchovy jello"). Eccchhhh.
2. I'm an associative learner; I make sense of the world through comparison and relationships and always tilt toward synthesis.
3. In case you haven't guessed from the names of my puppies, I'm a Peanuts fan of the first rank.
4. I have an extra kidney. Apparently, it's not that uncommon, but most people don't have occasion to know it.
5. I love cobalt blue and fire-engine red.
6. I think chocolate is sufficient evidence that "God loves us and wants us to be happy" (to rip off Ben Franklin's comment about beer).
7. Not wanting to upset the venerable Mr. Franklin, I also enjoy a good microbrew. :-) My friend P convinced me to try beer and M&Ms together. It's gooooood.
   
8. I read The Cat in the Hat to my kindergarten class when I was five.
   
9. I'm trying to like being a bicyclist (have a very nice blue bike, but don't like to be bent over for so long).
10. I have murderer's thumbs.
11. All my shoes are Birkenstocks. (Gimme a break...I AM a lesbian!)
12. In that same vein, if I had another life to live, I'd be Emily Saliers.
13. And I had a terrible crush on my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Hager.
14. I've read The Stand (Stephen King) eleven times.
15. I'm not a great cook. I am an appreciative eater.
16. I wrote and bound a book of 40-or-so limericks in fifth grade for a class project.
17. Millipedes creep me out. No spring in their step; it's more like they're oozing along. Eeeeyew.
18. A child of the '70s, I used to crack up my mother with my Jimmy Carter impersonation. How was I to know he'd become a statesman and a peacemaker?
19. I made friends with L in high school through an epistolary relationship my freshman year. I was in the third-period Concert Orchestra and she was in the fourth-period Symphony Orchestra, and we shared a cello. We'd leave each other notes tucked between the strings. In later years, we'd serve two terms as co-presidents of the Symphony. We were Ubergeeks.
20. I used to be a corporate trainer for a financial services company. Zzzzzzzzzzzz...
21. I first saw The Sound of Music in utero at the Coronado Theater in Rockford, IL. Every year afterward, my family would watch it together when it came on TV. It was the first VHS movie I bought, and then the first DVD. I've never seen the stage version. Since I can remember, I've always wanted to solve a problem like Maria...well, Julie Andrews, anyway. :-)
22. I had sinus surgery ten years ago and was awake for it. I remember the sound of the bones being broken in my head...and how much I just did not care, thanks to the rather impressive drugs they gave me.
23. I have a book with me almost everywhere I go. I'll read a couple of pages in any spare 30 seconds that present themselves to me. I'm usually reading 4-5 at a time, and STILL, the stack of "to reads" would probably reach the ceiling. But I love it.
    
24. I'm wildly self-conscious about dancing. Apparently, I possess several left feet, even weirder than Eugene Levy in Best in Show.
25. Which leads me to mention that I have a head for trivia, dialogue, lyrics, etc. My mother says she used to push me in her supermarket shopping cart when I was little and I'd sing the commercial jingles from the products we passed. Hmmm...maybe a tad too much TV.
    
26. I have NO head for "I have a meeting at _______ with ________ to discuss ________." Fortunately for me, I have two coping strategies: an organized wife and a day planner, which I use religiously.
27. I am happiest in bluejeans and a t-shirt.
28. I have a sister who is 3 years younger than I am.
29. The only non-U.S. place I've been is Canada.
30. My veins are full of diet Coke.
31. Beloved and I had been together for 9 years and 10 months when we married last October. The experience was amazing and stuffed with love.
    
32. When I was in middle school, I was quite sure I would grow up to sing backup for the Captain and Tennille. Still have a semi-sheepish affection for their music (but she's got PIPES if you hear her singing blues stuff!).
33. I have a child's love for chocolate chip cookie dough. This horrifies Beloved, who would prefer that I didn't contract salmonella. And she's pretty sure I'm going to, if I keep eating raw dough.
34. I'm an ENFP on the Myers-Briggs scale.
35. When I was in grad school, I started (never finished) a cantata based on Madeleine L'Engle's poetry...the stuff in which she speaks in the voices of various Biblical characters. I cried when she died last year; her writing has had a profound effect on me.
    
36. I've had my guitar since I was ten years old. His name is Marty.
37. I like the smells of baking bread, rain in the forest, vanilla candles and sleepy puppies.
38. The first boy I ever kissed is gay, too. Wow, did THAT not go well. :-)
39. Warm sesame semolina bread with real butter. Mmmm. Give me a piece of that and I'll do whatever you say. (Hey, we all have a price, right? Ha ha ha.)
40. I first met Beloved at a choir audition. She was the best voice in the room.
41. I drive a white Saturn named Hildegard. I got her in grad school, when I was doing a semester-long project on Hildegard of Bingen. Love them both.
42. I have five lovely godchildren: Celia, Colleen, Kytessa, Mirabeau and Corbett.
43. Like Truvy in Steel Magnolias, "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion."
    
44. I admire Bill Moyers for his intelligence, eloquence, curiosity and moral courage.
45. My first job was at the McDonald's next to my high school. I loved it. I was Queen of the Breakfast Grill. I'd wanted to work there since I was little and Grandma took me there every week to share a Filet-O-Fish and fries.
46. I like and support Barack, but am a little sad it isn't Hillary.
47. I was twelve years old, the summer that Grease came out in theaters. I saw it nine times. Summer movie, had me a blast...
48. I don't like crowds; I get sort of claustrophobic. So I'm not a huge fan of the MN State Fair (though it's a good one); there, I can be claustrophobic in August humidity. What an opportunity!
    
49. I refuse to eat anything whose label informs me that it's food (cheez food, etc.). If I can't identify it as food without the label, maybe should leave it alone.
50. When I was in sixth grade, I was completely taken in by two fads in my class: playing jacks (I was good, but not one of the greats) and signing the covers of each other's spiral notebooks.
51. I love to cuddle quietly on the couch with Beloved and the pups at the end of the day.
52. I wonder if I'll be a pastor someday.
    
53. Many of my best memories of childhood took place at Bebak's Forest Lodge in Winter, WI. My dad's side of the family started going there in the 1930s, and we continued 'til I was out of high school.
    
54. I was a brownie and a girl scout--third generation, on my mom's side!
55. I wish I could play the piano better, but mostly because it would be useful; not a real longing.
56. When I was in fourth grade, I made a really cool red/orange/yellow piece of spin art at the school Fun Fair. My string art and macrame (also attempted that year) didn't come out as well.
57. I never, EVER want to skydive or bungee jump. My maternal grandfather was a ski jumper, and had all five of his grandchildren up on skis in the back yard as soon as we could stand up. The back yard was about perfect for my level of adventurousness and physical courage. All things considered, I should really be able to ski now. Nope.
58. I think I'm a Buddhist/Universalist in Lutheran clothing (vestments?).
    
59. I'm fascinated by the beautiful food on Top Chef. I'm tickled that Stephanie won!
    
60. I was a good ice skater when I was a kid. Janet Lynn (Olympic bronze medalist in the '72 Sapporo games) was from my hometown, and I thought she was pretty cool.
61. My favorite sounds are water hitting the shore, a well-tuned chord (especially a choral one) and the voices of my loved ones, in all their glorious individuality.
62. I love my iPod, and have a barely-held-in-check lust for an iPhone.
63. I'm frightfully competitive at board games and cards.
64. Well-planned, innovative worship in a singing congregation is, to me, a Foretaste of the Feast To Come.
65. I miss thirtysomething, Six Feet Under and The West Wing.
66. I had a pair of boat shoes in college that I wore to tatters. Sockless, of course.
67. When I was on high school orchestra tour in Chicago (paid for by selling SO MANY CANDY BARS), I was in the front row to see Shelley Winters star in The Gingerbread Lady at the Music Box Theater. She was magnificent.
68. Wonderful Colleague makes opportunities for me to preach, every once in awhile. I love it.
69. I'd like to learn more about wines and cheeses. (Praise cheeses!)
70. I'm a punster (not a Jedi), like my father before me. I'm always apologizing for it.
71. I was ninth in my high school graduating class of 325.
72. I get very crabby when it's humid. If hell is tailored for each person, my version would be thus: it's a humid day, I have an itchy rash, and I'm trapped on the "It's a Small World" ride at Disney World, in a car with Rush Limbaugh. Ooooo...the horror...
73. If I were an animal, I'd be a beagle; they're cuddly, they're social, and they sing!
74. The greatest influences on my professional sensibilities (other than my own teachers and colleagues) are Alice Parker, Walter Brueggemann, Rene Clausen, Madeleine L'Engle, Krista Tippett, J.S. Bach, Benjamin Britten and Martin Luther.
75. I love candles. Our house is overflowing with them, my favorites of which are Danish iron.
76. I'm an absolute sucker for a well-executed boo-boo lip, a surprise act of kindness, beautifully-crafted language, a kiss on the back of the neck, the sound of kids singing, moral courage, and small, furry cuteness in all its forms.
77. I swear a lot in the car. I'm working on it. Also, my car is usually full of junk. Sheet music, books, water bottles, food wrappers...yech.
78. I don't drink coffee. This bothers my family of Scandinavian Lutherans MUCH more than my sexual orientation. ;-)
79. Before I die, I'd like to meander through Europe for a year or so, learn Greek and Hebrew, and have more regular "discretionary" time built into my schedule.
80. I'm freakishly good on the nose flute.
81. I secretly love all those lists that appear in magazines and on TV during the second half of December every year--the Ten Best __________ of 200_ (as you may have guessed by this exercise). There's sort of a "taking stock" aspect of it that I enjoy.
82. I'm thinking that my next car might be a Smart Car, but I hope Hildegard still has some healthy years left first.
83. I think that Eddie Izzard might be the funniest person on the planet. See this post to find out what I mean.
84. My cousin Steve is deaf. I asked him when we were teens if he'd teach me to sign, but all he'd teach me was how to swear.
    
85. I have a scar on my thumb that I got when I was five, peeling carrots. The others (on my elbow, brow, knee and hip) came from bike accidents (see point #8).
    
86. I hate elliptical machines with a fiery passion. I want more freedom of movement than they allow.
87. When I was a kid, my mother woke up one morning with a spider sitting in the hand she'd tucked under her pillow. After that, I wouldn't put a hand under my pillow until I went away to college.
88. Our Christmas trees are always Fraser firs, with white lights, red wooden beads and ornaments that are mostly red and blonde wood...with the exception of Beloved's penguins (I get her a new one every year) and my Snoopys.
89. I have an irrational fear of driving behind trucks with ladders on them. Pretty sure I'll be decapitated in a car accident. Oy.
90. When I was tiny, I liked to play with all my grandma's Tupperware and empty margarine tubs on the floor of her kitchen, with breaks for a drink of orange juice & 7-up mixed together.
91. I would still play with Legos, if I had them...and the time. :-)
92. I have sworn off nylons for life.
93. I can't go on any kind of vacation without a book of crosswords. Curse you, Will Shortz!
94. I saw The Exorcist when I was in middle school and going through a horror phase (appropriately timed, it seems...). It scared me so badly, I threw up. I also read The Amityville Horror (against the advice of my English teacher), and that was good for a couple of years' worth of nightmares. SO much scarier than the (dumb) movie.
95. I have treasures from each of my grandparents: my maternal grandmother's engagement photo (signed to my grandfather) and her lefse recipe; my maternal grandfather's Norwegian Bible (with a bonus: stuck in the pages, I found a newspaper clipping about my parents' wedding); my paternal grandfather's green stepladder (he was King of the House Project; Beloved uses it now); my paternal grandmother's set of Corelle mixing bowls, and her recipe for un-freaking-believable sugar cookies (which, somehow, aren't as good when I make them).
96. 
97. I'm teaching myself to play the trombone.
98. My first car was a silver 1979 Fiat Strada, bought from an amazed friend who referred to it as her "lawn ornament." Dad got it going and kept it going for 3 years.
99. While I was in seminary, in order to make money, I directed two church choirs, baked bagels for Bruegger's, was a nanny for two sets of sibs and served as a grad assistant to Paul "Pops" Westermeyer.
100. My lucky number is nine.
     
101. I'm happy with and grateful for my life.
     

Now, friends, it'd be fun if this became a meme! I loved reading Ruth's, and it was fun to write my own. (Hmmm...weird, these were numbered instead of bulleted in "edit" mode...)

Tag. You're It!

Pupdate

Well.

It's been quite a week: I was in a 3-day class about navigating the U's new financial system (it's my job to process contracts for our writers, designers, proofers, etc., and to handle all of my office's purchasing); my choir had a summer gig; the choral line I'm editing for the local Lutheran publishing house has reached the proofing phase, which always creates a flurry of e-mails and some packages to mail out; I had a church meeting on Tuesday; I'm preaching tomorrow, and then my parents are coming for lunch; finally, we have friends coming for dinner.

And the pups are sick. Hookworms. Eeeeeyew.

Linus seems pretty OK, with the meds they're on; Lucy has had a tough few days. I'll leave it mostly to your imagination, but she got dehydrated enough that the vet gave her subcutaneous fluids on Thursday. She's on a special diet for a few days in addition to the meds, and the vet hasn't ruled out parvo as the cause. We've been in "watch her closely" mode since Thursday, and I'm starting to be less worried today; but for being a tiny bit subdued, she seems almost back to normal. Whew.

Because parvo would suck.

They were good little campers last week! Better than Beloved and I were, I suspect; we were too exhausted. But M and B are patient sorts, and they (along with one of the women in the next campsite over, who seems to be some kind of "dog whisperer") helped to make it work. Thanks be to them. :-) They took pictures of the pups in the lake for the first time (wearing expressions that said "I'm wet. WTF?") and provided "auntie" laps for campfire enjoyment, among many kindnesses.

***Breaking news*** The pups are galloping through the house in tandem, both having grabbed an end of their latest loofa toy. They look like a yoke of tiny oxen. This is Outer Limits Cute.

So. Very little time to blog or to read others' blogs this week, and I've missed it--and have missed my bloggy friends! The pups and Beloved and I are finding our rhythm together, though. As long as I get the sermon written today, and Lucy's OK, all will be well.

So I'm gonna go do that. :-) Peace, friends!

Personal pentahedrons

As seen at Rev. Dr. Mom's place...

What were you doing five years ago?

1. selling Birkenstocks by day in a local Birkie boutique
   
2. living in a third-floor walkup with Beloved
3. walking around our trendy-if-you're-middle-aged St. Paul neighborhood, probably heading for the Grand Old Creamery
4. suffering at my church job
5. singing in a different choir, but with some of the same people I sing with now
   

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

1. buy some annuals for the yard and window boxes
2. check in at L.A. Weight Loss (glad we moved away from the Creamery!)
   
3. call Sister of My Heart's youngest child, who graduated from high school yesterday
4. flesh out the summer music schedule for church
   
5. eat every meal on the deck, in the sunshine, with Beloved
   

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. chocolate
2. tangy apples with peanut butter (who am I kidding--almost anything with peanut butter!)
3. a slice of sesame semolina bread with real butter
   
4. Cheez-its (if the PMS is particularly powerful, that is...)
5. did I say chocolate?
   

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. fix public education, with special attention to the arts
2. buy Beloved her very own Home Depot, a long trip around the world and a Honda CRV
   
3. pay off our debt (and that of our loved ones) and invest a big chunk wisely in socially-responsible companies
4. offer Kiva microloans to as many people as I could
5. take the time to figure out the next phase of my vocational life, perhaps going to seminary, perhaps writing, perhaps buying myself a bookstore and not caring if it operates at a loss (because I'd want to offer a sliding scale for people who love books but can't really afford them), perhaps buying a lakeside cabin up north and just sitting in it for a year-long sabbatical (though I'd have the $$ to hire a chopper to get me back to town to direct my choirs)
   

What are five of your bad habits?

1. over-committing myself; I'm interested in lots of things, lots of people, and have a long attention span!
2. biting my nails (see #1)
3. eating on the run, often in the car (see #1)
4. losing papers (bills, planning notes, etc.)
5. forgetting the church newspaper deadline (can't really explain it; it's the same time every month!)
   

What are five places where you have lived?

1. Minneapolis, MN (in our first house!)
   
2. St. Paul, MN (in a dorm room and a third-floor walkup)
   
3. Bloomington, MN (in three different apartments)
4. Winona, MN (in two dorms, a house and an apartment)
5. Rockford, IL (where I was born and grew up)
   

What are five jobs you've had?

1. baker of bagels (I had to start at 5 a.m.--yeesh. Though my time of day is NOT the dark time, unlike Sky Masterson, I made beautiful bagels)
   
2. nanny (to a pair of twin toddlers and to two older kids)
   
3. corporate trainer (in the fascinating world of group insurance)
   
4. nearly lifelong church musician (surprise, surprise)
   
5. I killed at McDonald's breakfast grill! (seriously--I could have won contests)
   

If you can read this, you are officially tagged. Blog it, e-mail it, write it in comments for this post, but come out and PLAY! Especially Peg, Cecilia, Catherine+, Jan and Closeted Lesbian, but ALL of you. Let's get to it, people! :-)

Put down WHAT duckie?

OK, I'll admit it. I'm tired. I'm having trouble distinguishing between the duckies and the saxophones. What should I put down at any given moment, and what should I play?

Don't get me wrong here--I'm happy and grateful to have so many choices and interests. However, the following versions of me are in competition with one another, at present, instead of cooperation:

• Physical Me--still in weight-loss mode; have become better at eating and sleeping, but still working on finding time to exercise regularly
  
• Spiritual Me--Child of God, in communion with my Creator/Redeemer/Sanctifier, not quite managing to find enough quiet time for that communion
  
• Married Me--loving (and blessed) partner of Beloved, and member of both our larger families
  
• Ministry Me (oh, beHAVE)--expresses my deeply-held value as Child of God doing my bit for tikkun olam (repairing the world) and trying to hold open the windows for the Holy Spirit
  
• Friend Me--also about living out relationships as Child of God and member of the Human Family, and besides, it's warm and wonderful and satisfying
  
• Musical Me--expresses my gifts, teaches me and mostly feeds my soul
  
• Literary Me--expresses my gifts, teaches me and feeds my soul
  
• Student Me--always wants to know more, to keep growing
  

That's my little flock of selves, all real, all of value, and so none of those duckies will gather dust on a shelf over the long term ('cause it'd make me quack up--snicker).

Really need to work on proportion, tough. Have been working much harder at self-care, and it's helping, but not the full answer. Maybe should try for a retreat of some kind...hmmm. But that's not going to happen until mid-May at least.

Meanwhile, Gentle Reader, any interesting resources on centering prayer and/or Sabbath keeping would be gratefully received.

Shalom.