Many months ago I posted a blog about Twitter and my feelings towards it. I still feel the same way, but now, I find myself in a predicament. My friends from church ALL have twitter and are in communication with each other quite often. I've resisted, I've held off, but I'm not sure how much longer I can resist. I don't really feel like I'm missing out, but they all tell me I am.
So, I thought I should write some pro's and con's, or better, maybe some rules of appropriate tweeting etiquette. I may offend you, you may have done these things in the past. I apologize, and we can talk about that another time.
My main reason I do not want twitter:
I think it is just plain rude to tweet, text, play a game, IM, surf the web, or look down at your phone for any extended period of time when interacting with a real live person, in person.
My twitter etiquette rules:
-An occasional tweet or text is permissible. However, if you are with someone you do not know well, you should not bring your phone out at all, unless absolutely necessary.Is Twitter ever absolutely necessary?(do not set it on the table, do not hide it in your lap, don't position it in your purse face up so you can see who's contacting you)
-If you are with friends or family and you need to contact someone, 2-3 texts or tweets over a few hours time is ok. I personally think it is less rude and more efficient, specifically if you are making plans or have actual important business to attend to, to excuse yourself, and make a quick phone call.
I fear that over time we might lose the art of conversation, becoming more and more socially awkward and unable to engage in casual conversation. Why? because of things like twitter.
But, I do understand it is not logical to think, my getting twitter, will cause others to have bad tweeting etiquette. I can chose to follow my own tweeting etiquette rules, in consideration of others, but my getting twitter will not improve or worsen their habits.
And I'm not sure I should stay away from twitter if it's something that is becoming more and more popular. However, I'm also not sure I should get twitter just because everyone else is doing it.
I think I'd like to go live in a hut with no cell phone reception, no home phone, and no Internet at home. Sure, I'd invite my friends and neighbors over for tea all the time, walk to the local Internet cafe quite often, check up on things, use their little phone booth to call internationally, but I would not feel the need to constantly check up on absolutely everything. :-) But until then, guess I'll just have to decide....to tweet or not to tweet.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
God's little birthday squirrel
My time in Fort Worth has had its ups and downs, sometimes I've thought, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be, and sometimes I've thought, I should've gone to Thailand, or anywhere else. Usually I think this on days, like today, when I'm sorting through piles and piles of background checks, reference checks, check requests....checks, copies, emails, checks....at least in Tanzania the electricity would go out, or we'd run out of paper or the Internet wouldn't work, but no such luck in fort worth, Texas.
Anyway, on Saturday evening I decided to go for a little run at TCU and I was met by a cute little squirrel next to my car, and it reminded me of my 23rd birthday. On my 23rd birthday I was at Baylor, my favorite place to be during the summer. And on that day I went to my favorite spot on campus, book and apple in hand, to camp out and read for a while.
I found my spot, on a concrete step, under a tree. I heard a little chattering, really almost a little bark. I looked over, and there he was, a little squirrel standing a few feet away from me, not a gross, sickly looking squirrel, a Baylor squirrel,a well groomed, well fed squirrel. I glanced over, smiled at the squirrel and kept reading. I bit into my apple, and saw the squirrel in the corner of my eye, waving his little paws in the air and chattering at me. I kind of wanted to give him a piece of my apple, but I kind of thought he might pounce. The little squirrel jumped up on the step next to me,so I tossed him a tiny little piece of my apple, he scurried over and nibbled away. I tossed another piece, he scurried closer, now he was inches away from my hand....you're probably thinking, squirrels have teeth, some have rabies, squirrels are not pets. But I broke off a piece of the apple and held it in my hand, and the little squirrel cautiously came over, and nibbled away at the apple in my hand. In that moment little squirrel and I became buddies, at least for about fifteen minutes, while I sat and fed him bits of apple.
This might sound silly, but growing up I usually had some kind of pet, and often it was some kind of pet I had caught in the backyard, like a frog or a caterpillar, or a chameleon, or a turtle. I love probably any kind of animal, although, I try not to force wildlife into captivity anymore.
But I think that on my 23rd birthday, God gave me that little squirrel as a reminder of Gods perfect and wonderfully made creatures, I'm not sure if God gives birthday presents, but if he does, I think he gave me that squirrel. A little joy on my birthday.
That's my story for today. Next time...look forward to, the dog show experience, dining TZed style in Fort Worth and maybe an update on the never ending school search, job search.
Tutaonana.-I'm also working on my Swahili these days. :-)
Anyway, on Saturday evening I decided to go for a little run at TCU and I was met by a cute little squirrel next to my car, and it reminded me of my 23rd birthday. On my 23rd birthday I was at Baylor, my favorite place to be during the summer. And on that day I went to my favorite spot on campus, book and apple in hand, to camp out and read for a while.
I found my spot, on a concrete step, under a tree. I heard a little chattering, really almost a little bark. I looked over, and there he was, a little squirrel standing a few feet away from me, not a gross, sickly looking squirrel, a Baylor squirrel,a well groomed, well fed squirrel. I glanced over, smiled at the squirrel and kept reading. I bit into my apple, and saw the squirrel in the corner of my eye, waving his little paws in the air and chattering at me. I kind of wanted to give him a piece of my apple, but I kind of thought he might pounce. The little squirrel jumped up on the step next to me,so I tossed him a tiny little piece of my apple, he scurried over and nibbled away. I tossed another piece, he scurried closer, now he was inches away from my hand....you're probably thinking, squirrels have teeth, some have rabies, squirrels are not pets. But I broke off a piece of the apple and held it in my hand, and the little squirrel cautiously came over, and nibbled away at the apple in my hand. In that moment little squirrel and I became buddies, at least for about fifteen minutes, while I sat and fed him bits of apple.
This might sound silly, but growing up I usually had some kind of pet, and often it was some kind of pet I had caught in the backyard, like a frog or a caterpillar, or a chameleon, or a turtle. I love probably any kind of animal, although, I try not to force wildlife into captivity anymore.
But I think that on my 23rd birthday, God gave me that little squirrel as a reminder of Gods perfect and wonderfully made creatures, I'm not sure if God gives birthday presents, but if he does, I think he gave me that squirrel. A little joy on my birthday.
That's my story for today. Next time...look forward to, the dog show experience, dining TZed style in Fort Worth and maybe an update on the never ending school search, job search.
Tutaonana.-I'm also working on my Swahili these days. :-)
Monday, May 31, 2010
Trust
There are a few wise men from the past hundred years I would liked to have met, three that come to mind right away, C.S. Lewis, Jim Elliot, and Oswald Chambers. Tonight, as I was getting ready to go to bed, I read June 1st from My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. Yesterday in Sunday school we talked about trusting and following God in the little and big things, one of the many verses we looked at was Proverbs 16:9
"A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps."
Here is one paragraph from June 1st:
"It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience."
hmm....so much in this little paragraph, what jumps out at me is "it is much easier to do something than to trust in God" and "The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me."
trusting and realizing/acknowledging what God does for us are not foreign ideas or hard concepts to grasp, but often not easy to put into practice. In a time when Iwant to know what the see the big picture, I want to see past the next little step God has for me, this is a good reminder, it is much better to live and serve, here and now, than to worry about things a year or two or ten from now. Well, unfortunately, that's all for now, maybe we'll revisit Oswald's June 1st in the near future.
"A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps."
Here is one paragraph from June 1st:
"It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience."
hmm....so much in this little paragraph, what jumps out at me is "it is much easier to do something than to trust in God" and "The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me."
trusting and realizing/acknowledging what God does for us are not foreign ideas or hard concepts to grasp, but often not easy to put into practice. In a time when Iwant to know what the see the big picture, I want to see past the next little step God has for me, this is a good reminder, it is much better to live and serve, here and now, than to worry about things a year or two or ten from now. Well, unfortunately, that's all for now, maybe we'll revisit Oswald's June 1st in the near future.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Who would've thought?
Right now I find myself thinking, who would've thought that I would be living in Fort Worth right now. Who would've thought I'd be here and not in Africa or some other country across the globe. But, I find myself here, I think, in the exact place God wants me to be, at least for right now.
The past few months were filled with possibilties of job opportunities, one that I really wanted and didn't get, one that I got and didn't really want, and the one that I ended up with: Catholic Charities in Fort Worth, working with refugee minors. After more than six months of moving and new jobs and new places and more moving etc...I feel like I am finally settling in, a feeling I never really had when I was in Dallas. Why? I don't really know, maybe because of the place I lived, or the job I had, or just because I really knew I wasn't going to be there very long.
I've been at Catholic Charities for two weeks now, so far, it's been going well. I pray my usual, "please let my boss look past my forgetfulness and clumsiness and see my dedication and good attitude."...kidding...kind of. I'm pretty sure I'm ADHD, so, I'll just say, sitting at a quiet cubicle for hours, being asked to remember lots of little tiny details may not be my forte, my solution, lots and lots of post it notes and an ocassional dab of whiteout. For my next job, I think I'd like to work outside....or just think, philosophize about life....preferably outside.
Lets see....news?? I bought a couch, I'm living in an apartment for the next year. I'm currently searching for a church. A group from First Baptist Kaufman is starting a church here in Fort Worth, I think I'm going to check that out! I've been to a couple other churches so far, one that I really liked, so we'll see what happens.
On a similar note....maybe slightly offensive note, I find people in Fort Worth to be more down to earth than people in Dallas, or maybe just the ones I've met. Maybe I'm just thinking this because of a book I recently read, "The Dallas Womens Guide to Gold Digging with Pride." Absolutely hilarious, the best $3 half price book purchase I've ever made.
well, it's my bedtime. Hopefully I'll write something more interesting soon. Some work anecdotes, new Fort Worth Adventures!
The past few months were filled with possibilties of job opportunities, one that I really wanted and didn't get, one that I got and didn't really want, and the one that I ended up with: Catholic Charities in Fort Worth, working with refugee minors. After more than six months of moving and new jobs and new places and more moving etc...I feel like I am finally settling in, a feeling I never really had when I was in Dallas. Why? I don't really know, maybe because of the place I lived, or the job I had, or just because I really knew I wasn't going to be there very long.
I've been at Catholic Charities for two weeks now, so far, it's been going well. I pray my usual, "please let my boss look past my forgetfulness and clumsiness and see my dedication and good attitude."...kidding...kind of. I'm pretty sure I'm ADHD, so, I'll just say, sitting at a quiet cubicle for hours, being asked to remember lots of little tiny details may not be my forte, my solution, lots and lots of post it notes and an ocassional dab of whiteout. For my next job, I think I'd like to work outside....or just think, philosophize about life....preferably outside.
Lets see....news?? I bought a couch, I'm living in an apartment for the next year. I'm currently searching for a church. A group from First Baptist Kaufman is starting a church here in Fort Worth, I think I'm going to check that out! I've been to a couple other churches so far, one that I really liked, so we'll see what happens.
On a similar note....maybe slightly offensive note, I find people in Fort Worth to be more down to earth than people in Dallas, or maybe just the ones I've met. Maybe I'm just thinking this because of a book I recently read, "The Dallas Womens Guide to Gold Digging with Pride." Absolutely hilarious, the best $3 half price book purchase I've ever made.
well, it's my bedtime. Hopefully I'll write something more interesting soon. Some work anecdotes, new Fort Worth Adventures!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
If i tweeted I would tweet this, but I don't, so I put it in a blog.
Facebook, IM, Blog, Skype, Text Message, Email, Cellphone. I see no need whatsoever for twitter. There are so many forms of communication, why do we need one more? But, sometimes I do find myself thinking, "if I had twitter, this is what I would tweet". Yesterday I found myself in this exact situation, sitting at Starbucks at a table by myself when all of a sudden I was thrown in to a situation that most definitely needed to be tweeted or shared with someone, anyone. So what did I do? I put it on facebook, and then later thought, wow, I sunk to THAT level, putting something not important whatsoever on facebook. 
So, here are some things that I would tweet if I had twitter, but I dont. And after you read them, I'm sure you'll be glad I don't have tweet.
Yesterdays "tweets"
Browsing books at Barnes and Noble on a weekday, meeting a friend for lunch, sitting in the park, perfection.
Sitting at Starbucks searching for apartments in Fort Worth. Anybody know of any good apartments in fort worth?
AHHH My boss just walked into starbucks and sat at my table, I did NOT go to work today. I am so unlucky!! (for any curious future employers, I did give notice I would not be at work, but still felt kind of like I got busted)
If I get pulled over for speeding can I ask to be put in jail for a few days to avoid lunch duty at work?
Who decides who gets to be on reality show? I think I could win the amazing race, who wants to be my partner?
Other states should be jealous of Texas during Spring time....and all other times as well.
Wants to read a good book, suggestions?
YAY!! microbiology test over! probably failed, but over! Unknown bacteria discovered, E.coli!
S-U-C-C-E-S-S Thats the way we spell success!!
There ya have it. a few random thoughts, and here, a pic I would have tweeted too. but this is totally worth it! A beautiful afternoon in Independence, TX.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunrise
This morning, as I was driving to work, I noticed something that I do not often notice, and really, do not often see....the sunrise. I only caught a glimpse of the sunrise, I was driving west, into Dallas and I saw it in my rear view mirror. It was a beautiful sunrise, and a lovely, necessary surprise early on a Tuesday morning.
There are not many sunrises I can think of in my life that I have thought, wow, that is a beautiful sunrise, I will remember this forever. There are various reasons for this. The sun rises in the morning, very early in the morning. There have not been very many times in my life, until the past couple months when I was awake, coherent, and looking at the sky when the sun was rising. Even during the past couple months, I am usually too distracted because I'm running late, or too annoyed at the fact that I have to wake up so early to notice the sun rising in my rear view mirror. The rear view mirror is small, and only catches the right part of the sky at certain moments during the drive when it is not being blocked by buildings or cars or trees.
Some nights during my life I have, like many others I'm sure, especially MK's, usually at some kind of conference, stayed up all night long with friends, in hopes of seeing the sunrise. I have never, in any of these situations actually seen a sunrise.
Something that I have seen many times and absolutely love seeing, no matter what....sunsets. I have never seen a bad sunset, I'm not sure that I've ever seen a sunset and thought, wow, I wish I were not awake right now, or missed the sunset because I was too busy. And my theory, one is able to see sunsets more clearly and more often than sunrises.
All of this talk of sunrises and sunsets to say, I was thinking, in my kind of cheesy mind, sunrises are like new experiences, new possibilities, awkward meet and greets, the first day of class, those moments when you don't know what the day has to bring. Sunsets are like closing ceremonies, finales, despedidas after years of friendship, the sense of accomplishment at the end of a productive, good day, or the sense of relief at the end of a not so good day.
Right now, I'm at about 5 o clock in the morning and the sunrise is coming. I'm not sure what the next few months have in store, and especially, what I will be doing in about 3 months. But for some reason, seeing that sunrise this morning, gave me a little bit of peace, a little bit of confidence, its OK if I'm not sure right now, and even though I'm extremely stressed out and exhausted most of the time, this is just the beginning. That might sound bad, but I don't mean, "this is just the beginning" in a bad way. I mean it in a good way, there are good things to come.
The day is young. Getting something started is always harder than keeping it going, or looking back at it after its done. Getting things going when you don't know what is really going on, or what you will be doing exactly is even more difficult, but as I have seen in the past, God works things out, and the day ends with a beautiful, relaxing sunset to celebrate, soak in, and reflect on.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
a new semester
It's been quite a while since my last update. I guess, kind of a lot has happened, but kind of not a whole lot at all. And this will be a quick little post because I need to keep studying for my nutrition test.
I think I'm just going to make a list :-) just because
1. I started taking my pre reqs for nursing school in January. I'm taking nutrition, developmental psychology and microbiology.....I am enjoying the classes and I'm learning a lot, but it's definitely different than the poli sci and philosophy classes I took at Baylor. Unfortunately you can't really argue your way through a microbiology test.
2. I'm still working at the Elementary school in Dallas and trying to figure out what I'll be doing next year. It is rarely boring and the kids are always up to something, or have something funny to say or ask. Today one of the forth grade girls quietly passed a piece of gum to me at the end of math class, trying to hide it from the substitute teacher. I just said thanks and took it, and then thought to myself, wait, kids can't have gum at school. and then thought, was my breath that bad that she had to risk getting in trouble to offer me a piece of gum? Oh, well I really had wanted a piece of gum all morning.
3. I've moved back in with my parents in Kaufman. I've been commuting to Dallas everyday. The drive is pretty far but at least I'm sleeping at night and not being woken up by transvestite neighbors tromping around in the middle of the night, or barking dogs early in the morning. I did have a little freak out moment when I went to church with my parents on Sunday and five people in a row exclaimed, you're back in Kaufman! Are you back for good? And I didn't know how to respond, yes...no....I feel like I should answer, "I work in Dallas, hang out in Dallas, have an apartment in Dallas, study in Dallas, occasionally in Terrell, I spend between 2-5 waking hours a day in Kaufman, I'm not sure where I live." I've spend my whole life not knowing where my "home" was, and now I cant even figure out were I live.
4. Lets see....exciting news....it snowed on Thursday! Proper snow!(as the Scots would say) We had about a foot of snow on the ground, I guess for people reading this, that isn't news, because apparently it snowed in every state except Hawaii, so what is that, snow in like 57 states? ;-)
I made a snowman with my mom and dad. I had never made a life size, proper snowman before. We used a carrot for his mouth and everything. My dad even got out the ruler and smoothed it all out and made sure it was smooth and round.
5. Other news.....Since my last post I've been pulled over once and had one little fender bender, which I still believe was not my fault. My poor car.
6. One thing that I always appreciate: bathroom stalls with places to hang or place your belongings, best combination ever: a restroom stall with a place to hang your purse and a ledge to place books or other belongings on.
7. Something that slightly bothers me: when you go to weather.com to the location search box it says, "Enter ZIP, city or place(e.g. Disney World)." Every time I see that I wonder, how many people actually need to know the weather at Disney world. It seems kind of like a mean little trick to me, why don't they just put (e.g. Fiji or St. Barts)?
8. I have done my procrastination for the evening, now it's back to studying. Oh, one more exciting piece of news, Molly is coming on Friday. I really only get to see her for a day, but I'm so excited! And I think we're going to have an adventure, I'm sure I'll blog about it!
I think I'm just going to make a list :-) just because
1. I started taking my pre reqs for nursing school in January. I'm taking nutrition, developmental psychology and microbiology.....I am enjoying the classes and I'm learning a lot, but it's definitely different than the poli sci and philosophy classes I took at Baylor. Unfortunately you can't really argue your way through a microbiology test.
2. I'm still working at the Elementary school in Dallas and trying to figure out what I'll be doing next year. It is rarely boring and the kids are always up to something, or have something funny to say or ask. Today one of the forth grade girls quietly passed a piece of gum to me at the end of math class, trying to hide it from the substitute teacher. I just said thanks and took it, and then thought to myself, wait, kids can't have gum at school. and then thought, was my breath that bad that she had to risk getting in trouble to offer me a piece of gum? Oh, well I really had wanted a piece of gum all morning.
3. I've moved back in with my parents in Kaufman. I've been commuting to Dallas everyday. The drive is pretty far but at least I'm sleeping at night and not being woken up by transvestite neighbors tromping around in the middle of the night, or barking dogs early in the morning. I did have a little freak out moment when I went to church with my parents on Sunday and five people in a row exclaimed, you're back in Kaufman! Are you back for good? And I didn't know how to respond, yes...no....I feel like I should answer, "I work in Dallas, hang out in Dallas, have an apartment in Dallas, study in Dallas, occasionally in Terrell, I spend between 2-5 waking hours a day in Kaufman, I'm not sure where I live." I've spend my whole life not knowing where my "home" was, and now I cant even figure out were I live.
4. Lets see....exciting news....it snowed on Thursday! Proper snow!(as the Scots would say) We had about a foot of snow on the ground, I guess for people reading this, that isn't news, because apparently it snowed in every state except Hawaii, so what is that, snow in like 57 states? ;-)
I made a snowman with my mom and dad. I had never made a life size, proper snowman before. We used a carrot for his mouth and everything. My dad even got out the ruler and smoothed it all out and made sure it was smooth and round.
5. Other news.....Since my last post I've been pulled over once and had one little fender bender, which I still believe was not my fault. My poor car.
6. One thing that I always appreciate: bathroom stalls with places to hang or place your belongings, best combination ever: a restroom stall with a place to hang your purse and a ledge to place books or other belongings on.
7. Something that slightly bothers me: when you go to weather.com to the location search box it says, "Enter ZIP, city or place(e.g. Disney World)." Every time I see that I wonder, how many people actually need to know the weather at Disney world. It seems kind of like a mean little trick to me, why don't they just put (e.g. Fiji or St. Barts)?
8. I have done my procrastination for the evening, now it's back to studying. Oh, one more exciting piece of news, Molly is coming on Friday. I really only get to see her for a day, but I'm so excited! And I think we're going to have an adventure, I'm sure I'll blog about it!
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