"Of GOD and Men" - A.W. Tozer

(I just started this so this is not yet a review.)
I love Tozer. If you want someone very deep but very readable, he's the man. This time around he hit me just in the half page forward:
"As a confirmed believer in the Man Christ Jesus as Redeemer and Lord, my thoughts naturally arrange themselves around Christ, His teachings, His claims and His church."
How's that for a challenge?

twins quote of the day

"Twins reliever Joe Nathan celebrated the birth of his second child Wednesday night while monitoring the game against the Baltimore Orioles…While he was at his wife Lisa's side at the hospital, he said was willing to head to the Metrodome if his team needed him." - wcco news

(Opening Day: 32 days 20 min)

academy award for best picture

the cook and i were talking about trivia games and he said that they're too hard, because they throw in questions like 'what movie won the oscar for best picture in 1942?'

"hm...1942? well, 'casablanca' was 1943. um...'rebecca' was 1940. let's see...i'm thinking it's 'mrs. miniver.' but that might've been 1944. i'm not quite sure. that was either 1942 or 1944. let me think. 1942 would be a war movie. i want to say 'mrs. miniver.' it was either that or 'going my way' with bing crosby. i really think it was 'mrs. miniver.'"

"why would you know that? how old are you? you shouldn't know that. i can't remember anything before jimmy carter. why would you know something from the 1940s? that's not normal! you've got issues."

"no, i've got interests. aren't you interested in anything? do you know any sports facts?"

"well, i know that the colts won the superbowl last year and the giants won this year."

"do you know who the mvps were?"

"no."

"the mannings. my mind remembers trivia."

"but you really shouldn't know movies from the 40s."

"but i do. 1942. i'm just not positive...yeah, it was 'mrs. miniver.' it has to be."

(awhile later our assistant administrator looked it up just to be sure. it was 'mrs. miniver.' and 'going my way' was 1944. i'm good.)

mixed messages

the cook today told me that i'm chronically depressed. he said that while many people don't like their jobs, i walk around moping all day and get exasperated extremely easily (though he didn't say exasperated - i think that's too big of a word for him. he probably said i'm crabby all the time). he advised me to just accept the fact that i'm stuck there. he says once i do i'll be much happier.
shortly thereafter, one of the nursing assistants stopped me and told me that i'm a very good waitress. 'i can tell you really like your job. you like the people and are so good with them. you like it here.'
i went back into the kitchen and told the cook that i deserve the oscar for best actress.

oh!

and i think he saw me last night. granted he would have no idea who i am, but i think he saw me. he looks around during commercial breaks and it looks like he's taking everything in, and i think that included me this time.
people were cheering, cuz that's what people do and it's all fine and good. behind me and to the left, however, there was a girl (i didn't turn around, but i'm pretty sure only 13 year olds do this) literally screaming, all high-pitched-like. every time she did, i covered my left ear. (my ear seriously still hurts today.) anyway, the last time she did this, mark looked up in our direction (seemingly at me) and smiled a laughing type smile, and nodded his head. i think he was feeling my pain.

timberwolves game last night

much better.

we won 111-100, and while they sat my boy out yet again, at least he was well dressed! his sisters must have had a chat with him. black suit with a light blue (tucked in) shirt and no tie. of that i can approve. :)

twins quote of the day

"Boof Bonser may have lost 25 pounds, but he's not done yet...

""He looks like a new guy," Redmond said. "That's exciting - that he set his mind to something and accomplished it. He could have sat around drinking beer and eating chicken wings all winter, but he showed a lot of dedication."" - Phil Miller, Pioneer Press

(First Spring Training Game: 19 hr 39 min)

twins quote of the day

"Hello. My name is Justin. I'm the American League MVP. I like hockey and sandwiches and hitting home runs." - bat-girl.com

(First Spring Training Game: 1 day 23 hr 57 min)

The Oscars - other thoughts

5. Tilda Swinton - I don't think I even have to mention that she was worst dressed. In fact those words don't even seem to do it justice. Who just wears a garbage bag to the Oscars, with horridly awful red hair, and virtually no make-up? (Though in all fairness, Daniel Day-Lewis' wife was awful, too.)
6. Marion Cotillard had scales.
7. I can't think of a best dressed. I do know that the messy pony-tails were horrid, and Katherine Heigl won best hair.
8. There was a lot of red. While it's nice to have color, a variety of colors would've been nice. Amy Adams, while I didn't like the dress, did well with her green.
9. George Clooney - all I'll say is *sigh*.
10. Javier Bardem looked good.
11. Where were the Smiths?
12. Not a single American won in the acting categories. What's with that?
13. Diablo Cody looked like Jane (as in Tarzan and Jane). My mother pointed out, though, that it fits her style, so I guess she could've done worse (like a garbage bag).
14. Perhaps Helen Mirren was best dressed. She is a classy lady, knows her age, and her red was the prettiest.
15. I think that's all for now.

The Oscars - first thoughts

1. Nothing too spectacular, which was a bummer, but at least it wasn't boring like last year.
2. While I still don't know if he's the best host, Jon Stewart is my favorite Hollywood Jew (I'm surprised it took him as long as it did to mention something Jewish in his monologue).
3. I really liked that he let whatever the best song girl's name is come back on stage to enjoy her moment.
4. "Normally when you see a white woman or a black man [as president], an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty." :D

Movie Review: "The Prestige"

I wanted to see this movie when it first came out, because, duh, Christian Bale. (Hugh Jackman is a happy thought, too.) It also looked like it could be a good movie (it's about competing magicians in the early 20th century). But seeing as I had no one to see it with, I had to wait for it to come out on dvd. And seeing as I'm too cheap to rent new releases, and they kept not sending us a 'rent one get one free' coupon, I still hadn't gotten around to seeing it. But then this week, oh happy day, they had a 5 for $25 sale on used dvds. :) So, since it cost one more dollar to own it than it would to rent it, I went ahead and bought it (along with 'HP & the OOTP', 'Hairspray', 'License to Wed', and 'The Break-Up').

But anyway...on to the review.

It's really good. It's a different type of movie (it's listed under 'suspense,' which I suppose would be right), but I liked that. At a few points it may have felt a little slow as they're trying to outdo one another, but then you get to the end and it all wraps up and you forget that it ever seemed slow, and you want to see it again to see what you missed the first time around.

The acting was good - my only complaint was Scarlett Johansson. I didn't feel like she fit her role. But other than that I was impressed. One of the things I thought of afterwards was that none of the actors were speaking with their own accents (except possibly for the woman who played Christian Bale's wife - I haven't seen her in anything else, so I don't know how she speaks normally). At one point, though, Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in 'LOTR') says the word 'pocket' and I couldn't help but hear 'pocketses.' But that was me, not him. :)

I watched it again two nights after I watched it. (I wanted to watch it the next night, but I didn't have time.) I highly recommend it. And again, if you don't like suspense or magicians, who cares. If nothing else it has Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. ;)

loudness

sheldon (who has terrible hearing) hollering at his wife viola: 'why do some people have to talk so loud?'
viola: 'because some people are deaf'
sheldon: 'what?'

a thought about the book of esther

i've always wanted to know more about vashti

why i like birthdays

greetings from sven and chick magnet :) (and almost the bfg, but it turned out he was just sending a mass email asking for addresses)

twins quote of the day

""Your first objective is to get to the big leagues, and your next objective is to establish yourself. It's not something that really crosses your mind, to be that opening day [starting pitcher], but if the opportunity presents itself I'm definitely going to be ready for it," [Scott] Baker said." - AP Canada

(First Spring Training Game: 4 days 18 hr 10 min)

twins quote of the day - another haiku

Christian cute nice guy
Dimples and southern accent
All a girl could want

- Melilot

(First Spring Training Game: 6 days 14 hr 5 min)

something exciting needs to happen at work sometime. i'm so bored there. i told karol to dance on the table for me, but she said no. i suggested starting a fire so woo-woo firemen could come, but that was vetoed. and then i kind of ran out of ideas.

if you like vocab...

go to http://www.freerice.com. good vocab feeds starving people. :)

twins quote of the day

Hidden clause in Joe Mauer's contract:

2) Every Jimmy John’s sandwich shop in the Twin Cities metro area is required to create a new sandwich called “The Joe,” and that sandwich will be whatever Mauer happens to order that day.

(First Spring Training Game: 7 days 19 hr 58 min)

more from "The Sacred Pipe"

"The sweat lodge is made from twelve or sixteen young willows, and these, too, have a lesson to teach us, for in the fall their leaves die and return to the earth, but in the spring they come to life again. So, too, men die but live again in the real world of Wakan-Tanka, where there is nothing but the spirits of all things; and this true life we may know here on earth if we purify our bodies and minds, thus coming closer to Wakan-Tanka, who is all-purity."

twins quote of the day

"He’s pretty intense. When things are going poorly, Gardenhire becomes very intense and gets ejected frequently arguing close plays. However, when the team is playing well, he tries to stay out of the way of his players and gets ejected for “silly things” like arguing the stupidity of issuing a warning to both teams when one team has yet to receive a chance [to] retaliate for a hit batter. I think he gets himself ejected in those occasions just to remind the players that he is still paying attention."

- Will


(First Spring Training Game: 8 days 16 hr 36 min)

note in the kitchen

"please do not send bananas for verna. she throws them at staff."

dwts

one of the new contestants on dancing with the stars is marlee matlin. i look forward to seeing this. she's deaf.

i like it when boys roll up their sleeves ;)

from "The Sacred Pipe," by Joseph Epes Brown

"...with the Sioux...the 'power' (really the sacredness) of a being or a thing is in proportion to its nearness to its prototype; or better, it is in proportion to the ability of the object or act to reflect most directly the principle or principles which are in Wakan-Tanka, the Great Spirit, who is One."

twins quote of the day

"[Kevin] Slowey scored a 1420 on the SAT college entrance exam…"You throw a word out there, and he's going to come back with something that's going to make even more sense than the question you asked," said Stan Cliburn, Slowey's manager…"
- Star Tribune


(First Spring Training Game: 9 days 19 hr 8 min)

to cheer me up

good stuff of the day

i was brave enough to go out to eat w/o plaid.
pitchers and catchers have now reported.
i discovered that a girl i grew up with, zaire, and her husband and baby go to this church, too. :)
i wore my cute shoes.
i returned the sweater i've been needing to return.

complaints of the day

i'm tired of being tired (it's my weekend off, for heaven's sake - i should not be so tired!).
i don't like the Bible study we're doing.
i don't like going out to eat on sundays, but feel like i have to in order to get to know people.
i'm bloomin' tired! and i don't like that that makes me crabby.

twins quote of the day

Pitchers and catchers have now reported!

"Spring Training can now be declared officially under way. " - article on the Twins website

(First Spring Training Game: 10 days 17 hr 57 min)

'never never never'

forever ago the dumb show 'clash of the choirs' was on. for the most part, it was very unimpressive. however, this performance stood out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a1zs4PPk5kg&feature=related

and oh yeah

(Pitchers & Catchers Report: 1 day 13 hr 26 min)

twins quote of the day

from the nick punto fan club's q&a:

Question 11: Did you ever own a pair of parachute pants?
"Mc Hammer Pants? OF COURSE!"

Book Review: Mel Ott: The Little Giant of Baseball

One guess why I chose to read this biography. :) I had actually never heard of the guy until I saw him on a stamp last year, and I got so excited cuz he has my name! (almost) So I looked him up in the library catalog and decided to save reading this bio til I was going through baseball withdrawl. And so I read it now.

It was a quick read, and it was nice because I felt like I was learning a lot. The author usually referred to him as Ott, but a couple times when he referred to him as Mel, I thought, 'hey that's me!' So that was fun. (I also go excited every time I recognized a name or place.) Mel Ott played for the New York Giants from 1925-1947, and managed the team from 1942-1948. He was a nice guy, and actually the phrase 'nice guys finish last' originated from a statement another team's manager said about Ott and his team when they were last in the division in 1946. He hit 511 homeruns, was #1 in the league in RBIs in 1934, led the league in runs in 1938 & 1942...and I could keep going with the stats.

That was the problem with this book. Basically the author, Fred Stein, just put stats into sentence form. And they weren't just Ott's stats. He would go off on the team's stats, players on the team's stats, players not on the team's stats, and so on. At the end of each chapter there was usually a 3 sentence paragraph on Ott's personal life, but that was it.

I am glad I read it, though. If you read the same things all the time, you'll never learn anything new. So I now feel more well-rounded. Besides, the guy's name was Mel Ott. How cool is that?

to kimberly

1. sorry i forgot to wish you a happy birthday!
Happy Birthday, Kimmie!
2. thank you for putting up with so much drama from me in sweden!
3. i love you!

a non-sports thought

sorry - i got carried away with the sports thing there. but here's a thought i had the other day:

in the song 'this is your life' (i think that's the name of it), by switchfoot, it says, 'this is your life - are you who you wanna be?' it doesn't say 'are you what you want to be?' it says 'who.' am i what i want to be? no. but the bigger question is am i who i want to be.

twins quote of the day

"do not throw anything or anybody onto the field" - bob casey

(Pitchers & Catchers Report: 2 days 17 hr 46 min)

turkey in the straw

my father and i went to the timberwolves game last night. it was not pretty. and i'm not talking about the fact that we lost by 27 points. and i'm not talking about the fact that mark didn't play (except that kind of i am). i'm talking about the fact that mark looked like a ragamuffin. where were his mother and sisters when he needed them?
it started out well enough. a light brown sports coat with faded blue jeans. but. his light blue button-down was not tucked in, even though the jacket was buttoned with one button. so anytime he stood up and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets, his shirttails stuck out looking all ragamuffiny. tsk-tsk.

dolores' pasttime

dolores told me on monday that she plays baseball on an all-girls team. the boys sometimes come along. they're the cheerleaders.

yesterday i asked her what position she plays. 'i don't know!' she laughed.

'are you the pitcher?' i asked.

'sometimes. when they need me.'

'when's your next game?'

'today.'

'can i come?'

'sure.'

'what time is it?'

'right after lunch.'

'oh. i might be doing dishes then.'

'well, you better do the dishes. then you can come.'

edie jumped in. 'that sounds like fun.'

'do you want to come?' i asked.

'that'd be swell!' edie answered happily.

we had a good time. :)

babysitting

i really shouldn't ever agree to do it. i don't like kids, so i spend the whole week ahead of time dreading it. it's just dumb.

one of the other worst things about cold weather

people starting conversations with "cold enough for ya?"

one of the worst things about cold weather

my hands are in shreds. they're bleeding all over the place, cracked open in the other places, and itchy and sting-y overall. owie.

twins quote of the day

Sweet swing of success for ex-Great Bridge star - hamptonroads.com, 2006

"In 2003, injuries and a demotion left Cuddyer with a lot of time to kill at Class AAA Rochester. "I spent about 45 minutes a day doing a magic show for the front office there," Cuddyer said.
He'll study a magician like David Blaine and try to learn new tricks. "If I have a new one in the works, I'll spend a couple of hours a day on it," he said.
That's how young, single ballplayers spend their time on the road? "Umm - well, that's what I love to do," Cuddyer said."

(Pitchers & Catchers Report: 5 days 11 hr 11 min )

twins quote of the day

(this takes longer than i thought - thanks, busy (if i have a seizure tomorrow cuz i'm so tired, the fault will once again be yours :P ))

Article from the Twins website about the truck moving things to Florida for Spring Training:
"The team's training staff of Rick McWane and Dave Pruemer also packed up medical supplies as well as an additional exercise bike and treadmill to use over the course of the six weeks.
And then there are the items on the truck that many people wouldn't picture like the strollers and bicycles. More than 30 sets of golf clubs were also loaded onto the truck Friday. But perhaps the most common recreational item sent down was a tad more unexpected ... bowling balls?
It's become a weekly tradition for many of the Twins coaches and players to hit the bowling lanes down in Fort Myers. So the guys have now seen their share of bowling balls added to the mix.
"The bowling balls definitely seem to be a popular item," McCormick said."

(Pitchers & Catchers Report: 6 days 12 hr 27 min)

Baseball Chapel's back! :)

Feb. 6th says:
"...I have to remember that God has put [me] in this situation for a reason, and that reason is to bring more people to His Kingdom. So, instead of slacking off during the season, I need to do the opposite. I need to continue to grow in my faith. I need to read more, pray more, journal more. And I need to prepare and protect my heart so that when I am tempted to go against what is right, I will not give in. When I am tempted to get anxious about [my] future, I will remember that God has great plans for [me]."
"Prayer: God, as this new season approaches, help me to prepare my heart so that I will never stray from your path of righteousness."

twins quote of the day - a haiku

Sideshow Pat. Kneesocks!!

He befuddles batters good.
Has a rad blog too!
-Krissy

(Pitchers & Catchers Report: 7 days 13 hr 26 min)

my boyfriend at the home

cornelius now eats upstairs so i hardly see him. (this just started yesterday. i was in a state all day.) it makes me very sad. karol said she's going to miss seeing his smile (best ever), and i told her she's going to miss seeing my smile, because he won't be there to make me smile, too.

after lunch today, i went upstairs to wash tables, and he was still sitting there. so i told him i miss him and then asked him how his sandwich was (he likes sandwiches, so he often gets those instead of the main meal). he said he didn't eat it because they took it away. so i asked him if he got to eat his peaches, and he said no. i then asked him if he wanted to try the roast pork tomorrow instead of a sandwich. he said, 'no, i better not.' so i told him i'd send him a sandwich, and that we would just have to train those aides in on how he likes things. he just kept shaking his head. i finished washing the tables, and as i left i said, 'see you tomorrow, cornelius!' to which he replied, 'you probably won't.' :((

"Is there anything better than to be longing for something when you know it is within reach?" - Greta Garbo
That's what CS Lewis called 'joy.' Just a thought.

i was thinking arby's

i've been craving a regular roast beef for a few days. so last night i went to arby's to get one. they didn't have any. there was a 20 minute wait. so i didn't get my arby's. :(

oh! i forgot i told busy that i'd have a twins quote of the day (but make that every day that i'm on here)

article headline on the website:

"Morneau climbs to No. 1 in fantasy for Twins"

as of the moment i'm typing this:
Pitchers & Catchers Report: 8 days 18 hr 4 min 23 sec
i can almost say that baseball is coming soon!

we have a woo-woo team

too bad it doesn't show them more ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1-WE7b1O3s&NR=1

and congratulations to me!

the woman told me i could bring my babies along with me. apparently my baby girl (who's just over a year now), has a baby brother!

on campaigning

The other day a woman came to my door with a flier in-hand. I immediately thought, 'I'm so sick of the election, leave me alone!' But I answered the door anyway. And she was very polite. 'I'm from the neighborhood, and I just wanted to tell you that the primaries are on Tuesday,' and then proceeded to tell me the time, place, and how to go about voting. She was not remotely pushy, nor did she question me on who I'm planning on voting for. At the very end she handed me the flier and said, 'And while you're doing this, we'd just like to ask you to consider voting for Barack Obama.' And that was it. So polite, not at all annoying, not pushy. When she left I looked at the flier because I was so impressed with her. Now why don't more candidates realize that that's the way to go? That's how you're going to get people's attention.

on elections (well, they didn't use it in that context, but i am)

"The GOD who displayed HIS glory in the great awakenings of the past is no less able to turn the heart of a nation today than HE was 100 years ago." - from "Seeking Him," by Nancy Leigh DeMoss & Tim Grissom

LORD, YOUR will be done

the sad news of yesterday

i did not get the job as the twins receptionist :(

maggie's joke

he said:
she thought:
can you believe it?

and these ads were cute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pvBvcuSV0w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWXHjyYcjiw

I may have found a name to rival Diablo

Plaxico

My favorite Superbowl ad this year

I actually watched the Superbowl. No game playing, some chatting, but for the most part, I watched it (so I was a watcher of the 2nd most watched event in tv history). It was boring until the last quarter, but the people I was with were way into it, so that made it more fun. As did the fact that the Giants won (I was rooting for Eli).
Anyway, the whole point of watching the Superbowl is the ads. There weren't that many good ones this year, and they used alot of commercials that were a few months old, but there were a few that were worth seeing. My favorite? The Sobe Lizards dancing 'Thriller'. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksowpCTfEgs

Perhaps why girls like to be sad

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater." - "FOTR"

sdbgf asked me once why girls like to be sad. i didn't really have an answer for that one.

Here's another beautifully sad one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTvswF0nZmA&NR=1

Why Christians should get along

"Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him." - "FOTR"

my sad story of the day

"The Baseball Chapel Website is down indefinitly for annual maintenance. The website will be put back up once maintenance is complete. Thanks!"

now what do i do?! :((

Beverage Review: Lipton Herbal Mango Tea

I like tea. But sometimes I want it at night, when I know I shouldn't have caffeine. So I decided to try some caffeine-free tea. All I can say is 'eew.' Not only is it an overwhelmingly fake mango taste, it also feels funky in your mouth and leaves a horrible aftertaste. I had ice cream afterward to cover it up (and to have ice cream), but there's still an aftertaste. So my recommendation is: skip it.