which seems more appropriate to embroider onto a high school uniform?

1) the name of its mascot, or

2) the initials of the high school... "FU"?

what's with all the food entries lately?

had quizno's for lunch. as my friend so aptly pointed out, i was a "quizno's virgin." ah, but no more. and damn, it was GOOD. and totally healthy. [ranch dressing is totally healthy, right?]

and now i'm in the mood for guacamole [thanks, TB]. maybe if avocadoes aren't seventeen dollars each today i might try my hand at it [as i am also a "guacamole making virgin"].

mmmmm, foooood... now, what should i have for dinner tonight...?

...of the evening's digestables: a spoonful of mashed potatoes; two slices of avalanche pizza; four pieces of sushi; about a dozen cocktail shrimp.

addendum: three tomato slices as well.

...of blatant and hilarious political incorrectness: pork tornado, aka mental drippings.

"I decided I want my next car to be a flatbed dance club."

"Freedom, or necessity? Or do they differ at their maximum?"

- C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy 

i've been thinking a lot about freedom lately. in u.s. culture, "freedom" essentially means "the possibility that i can do anything i want." there are exceptions, of course -- yelling "fire!" in a crowded room, for one of many examples -- but most everything else is a free-for-all, a gray area of liberty. although sometimes things get fuzzy when worlds collide. you're free to smoke, but i'm free to enjoy a smokeless environment -- what then? suddenly neither of us is really "free," but instead, constrained by the other's right to freedom. and then sometimes, freedom seems to work in reverse. for instance, a fresh-faced twenty-one year old has recently been given the freedom to drink; the recovering alcoholic, on the other hand, has had to find the freedom from drink.

freedom gets weird sometimes.

and so it is in God's culture. "freedom" seems to have an entirely different ring. hedonism often looks less like freedom and more like oppression, and vice versa with obedience. the pursuit of pleasure can take a sharp, addictive turn from freedom to necessity; at that point, can such vices really be labeled as freedom anymore? on the other hand, following God's precepts can seem like a real chore; but at certain points the direction is appreciated, and obedience is perhaps even chosen with joy. obligation turns to freedom.

freedom to live. freedom from bondage. freedom in God.

freedom seems paradoxical sometimes. 

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

- Romans 6:18 [NIV]

on imitation crab meat chunks.

disgusting, or delicious? you make the call. 

all 3 of us. Dumb. mental note: a $.99 movie rental that comes with 3-D glasses is, not surprisingly, NOT a good idea.

paul and company owe me a good movie and two hours of my life! 

k: you have a... large phone.

g: actually, i'm just happy to see you. would you like to hold it?

k: it's very wide.

j: it's got girth!

k: okay. that's it. i'm done. i can't handle this!

g: yeah, i get that a lot. 

notables and quotables that have taken place since my last entry:

- birthday party, complete with a well-lit cake and a hearty round of taboo. favorite interaction: (team) "disk! floppy disk!" (cluegiver) "yes! but... the female version!" (team) silent confusion. [the answer was "diskette"].

- staying up until 3:30am with kt, waking five-and-a-half hours later for church. favorite quote: (katie, during service) "I'M IN THE MOOD!"

- lunch at dg's, cooking out on the grill. favorite quote: "i'm trying to think of a way to ask who wants to touch the meat without it sounding like... well, like that."

- jamming with katie, learning some new songs and teaching some others. favorite thing: harmonizing with another alto.

- laundry night with tiff, including much appreciated conversation and accountability. favorite thing: feeling deeply loved despite my numerous weaknesses.

- jamming with sarah, learning some new songs and teaching some others. favorite idea: dramatic spoken word songs for the chick band.

today was mostly spent making ridiculous amounts of financial statement copies and trying to keep the office atmosphere at least somewhere above despair. everyone seems grumpy. while normally i would roll with that and grumpify with the best of them, today i felt naturally compelled to lift the mood. odd. but good. so i kept joking around, and supplying varied music, and being generally goofy. i don't know if it worked, but i'm feeling all right. so it couldn't have been all bad.

if you know today's birthday girl *coughtiffcough* wish her good tidings today! if you don't know her, well, you SHOULD. she's pretty awesome.

happy birthday, friend.

so, every day on my drive to work, for the past couple of months, i pass a bright yellow dodge neon. [don't worry; no angry bmw stories]. every. single. day. sometimes just as i'm leaving town; sometimes as i'm much closer to work. it's intriguing to me for some reason. i usually think something along the lines of, "well, this seems silly. i live in this town and drive to another; she lives in that other town and drives to my own..." and... well, that's about it. i mean, what, really? i flag her down? say hi? nice to see you whiz by at fifty miles an hour EVERY DAY? hey, maybe she has a nice apartment. we could trade. you never know. but i do feel like i might actually get worried if i don't see Ol' Yellow some morning. "is she sick? in an accident? maybe she's on vacation."

clearly, i don't do a lot of deep thinking in the car before and after work.

in other car related news, i was driving down richland today. near bank one this road consists of two lanes, with one ambiguous turn lane in the center which fades into a left turn lane directly outside the bank. guy decides to pull left out of the gas station located just before the bank. using the turn lane as a freaking suicide lane. IT'S NOT EVEN BUSY, COME ON NOW, PEOPLE. so. i'm needing to turn left into the bank. moron is... needing to get into the left turn lane? needing to get into traffic? needing a driving lesson? if i speed up to get in front of him and turn left, i cut him off. so i slow down. he's oblivious. i wave him over. he does nothing. WHAT DO YOU NEED?? whatever, fine. i lurch forward, around him, turn into the bank, leaving him in the dust. or so i thought. i make our lockbox deposit, return to my car, start the engine. suddenly, a man appears at my window, eager to talk. in confusion, i roll down my window.

"hey, i didn't mean to cut you off or nothin'. i was just trying to get over... i'm real sorry 'bout that."

it turns out Mr. Suicide Lane pulled to the side of the road, jogged over to the bank, and found me. just to apologize. i tell him it's okay, i just didn't know what he was doing, and tell him thanks. i mean, in what universe do people hop out of their cars and sincerely apologize for their poor driving decisions?

my faith in humanity is restored ever so slightly.