Well, right now I'm sitting at my laptop in an office at L'Abri. For my work period today, I'm starting work on designing a book cover for this guy that lives down the road from L'Abri. He's an American who moved here about five years ago I think, and he's sort of involved with L'Abri. I think all he really does is write books. I don't know that much about him. But word got to him that I was a Media Arts major and he asked if I would try to design some book covers for him. So I'm about to start that.
But right now my computer is updating itself and that takes awhile. So, I went to YouTube and I found the most amazing video that any of you has ever seen. This video is a testament to the education system in South Carolina. I am almost speechless at how ridiculous this video is. For some background info, this is the Miss South Carolina contestant at the Miss Teen USA competition.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Jigga What?
***The title of this post has nothing whatsoever to do with the content. I just couldn't think of a better title***
Hey guys and gals. Thanks for coming back to read my blog even though I'm updating it sporadically at best. I should decide on a day that I'll definitely update it every week. Let's see . . . how about Sunday. I'll do my best to update this blog for sure every Sunday. I'll probably update it on other days as well. But now you know that if you can only check back once a week, there'll be an update for you on Sundays.
Things at L'Abri are going swimmingly. I've had my first meeting of the term with Greg Laughery, my tutor. We picked up pretty easily where we left off. We're talking about a bunch of different things, but I'll try to outline here two of the main things that I'll be studying and thinking about and talking about with Greg this term:
1. What's the point of Christianity? By this I mean . . . well, I mean what's the point. Is it all about getting to heaven? Is the most important thing about Christianity believing the right thing or is it doing the right thing? Are they equally important? It's a hard question because the answer obviously isn't just one thing, but that's the way that it's presented in most churches and books. Take the Four Spiritual Laws, for instance. Seeing that tract makes it pretty clear that Campus Crusade for Christ believes that if you know only one thing about Christianity, it should be how to get to heaven. If the most important thing about Christianity is how to get to heaven and the only way to get to heaven is to believe the right thing, then it is pretty important to make sure you believe the right things. Throw into the mix the idea that if you do believe the right things then you'll want to act a certain way--even have certain emotional responses to things like sin and worship and God, himself--and it becomes very easy--at least for me--to worry constantly about whether or not you get it. So, I'm trying to figure out what the point is. Should I be so worried about what I believe and feel about God or is that just one point? Is it more objective than subjective? I've been reading a book by an Anglican bishop named N.T. Wright called "Simply Christian" to help me think about that some. I highly recommend this book because of it's casual style and original thought. It's been really helpful to me as I've read it some last term and come back to it this term. Of course, I've been reading the Bible as well.
2. Well, I guess this sort of runs in with the other point. I'll also be studying doubt and faith. I think I may have written about this a little bit the other day. I'm reading a book by Os Guinness called "God in the Dark" that outlines seven different types of doubt. It's been a really interesting book so far as well, simply because it's easy to apply to your own life. Reading each chapter takes you into a slightly different form of doubt stemming from different issues. I'm studying this to supplement the first topic and give me a way to interpret some of the doubts that I've been having about the reality of Christianity.
So there you have it. If you've got any questions or comments about any of that or you just want to hear how the studies are going, feel free to shoot me an email.
In other news, I went for an awesome hike this past Thursday. We started at L'Abri and hiked to a mountain peak called Roc D'Orsay. It was about a four hour hike up, and when I say "up," I mean straight up. There were a couple of fields along the way that gave our legs a break, but for the most part, it was just straight up incline the whole way. Below I've put some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.
Also, I've been asked by a local expatriate in town to design some book covers for him. He does this self-publishing thing and writes a bunch of pulp fiction books. He's loosely affiliated with L'Abri because he's arranged to have one or two of Greg Laughery's books published and we were introduced at chapel last Sunday. The books aren't very good and he's not paying me to do it, but they've worked it into my work schedule so I'm not having to take any of my spare time to work on it. Plus, I've never done a book cover before so it'll be a challenge. If I think what I make is good at all I'll post one of the covers on here for you guys to see.
Anything else? I don't think so.
Here we are hiking hardcore style. If you're wondering who those people are, here's the list, starting from behind me: Rhett from Alabama, Jon from New Hampshire, Molly from Connecticut, and Renea from Texas.
That's the mountain peak we were about to hike up. The last bit, going up to the very top, almost killed me.
I didn't really take many pictures at the top because it's just the same thing all over this country. Mountain, valley, mountain, valley, vineyard, mountain. The picture up at the top of the post is at the top of Roc D'Orsay, but you can't really see that much except me. I figured I'd put that one up there so you'd have a visual of me on mountain saying all of this to you. Anyway, here's a pic of our gondola ride down. We decided that it was worth it to grab a ride down. Also, they weren't checking tickets so we just kind of snuck on one.
Hey guys and gals. Thanks for coming back to read my blog even though I'm updating it sporadically at best. I should decide on a day that I'll definitely update it every week. Let's see . . . how about Sunday. I'll do my best to update this blog for sure every Sunday. I'll probably update it on other days as well. But now you know that if you can only check back once a week, there'll be an update for you on Sundays.Things at L'Abri are going swimmingly. I've had my first meeting of the term with Greg Laughery, my tutor. We picked up pretty easily where we left off. We're talking about a bunch of different things, but I'll try to outline here two of the main things that I'll be studying and thinking about and talking about with Greg this term:
1. What's the point of Christianity? By this I mean . . . well, I mean what's the point. Is it all about getting to heaven? Is the most important thing about Christianity believing the right thing or is it doing the right thing? Are they equally important? It's a hard question because the answer obviously isn't just one thing, but that's the way that it's presented in most churches and books. Take the Four Spiritual Laws, for instance. Seeing that tract makes it pretty clear that Campus Crusade for Christ believes that if you know only one thing about Christianity, it should be how to get to heaven. If the most important thing about Christianity is how to get to heaven and the only way to get to heaven is to believe the right thing, then it is pretty important to make sure you believe the right things. Throw into the mix the idea that if you do believe the right things then you'll want to act a certain way--even have certain emotional responses to things like sin and worship and God, himself--and it becomes very easy--at least for me--to worry constantly about whether or not you get it. So, I'm trying to figure out what the point is. Should I be so worried about what I believe and feel about God or is that just one point? Is it more objective than subjective? I've been reading a book by an Anglican bishop named N.T. Wright called "Simply Christian" to help me think about that some. I highly recommend this book because of it's casual style and original thought. It's been really helpful to me as I've read it some last term and come back to it this term. Of course, I've been reading the Bible as well.
2. Well, I guess this sort of runs in with the other point. I'll also be studying doubt and faith. I think I may have written about this a little bit the other day. I'm reading a book by Os Guinness called "God in the Dark" that outlines seven different types of doubt. It's been a really interesting book so far as well, simply because it's easy to apply to your own life. Reading each chapter takes you into a slightly different form of doubt stemming from different issues. I'm studying this to supplement the first topic and give me a way to interpret some of the doubts that I've been having about the reality of Christianity.
So there you have it. If you've got any questions or comments about any of that or you just want to hear how the studies are going, feel free to shoot me an email.
In other news, I went for an awesome hike this past Thursday. We started at L'Abri and hiked to a mountain peak called Roc D'Orsay. It was about a four hour hike up, and when I say "up," I mean straight up. There were a couple of fields along the way that gave our legs a break, but for the most part, it was just straight up incline the whole way. Below I've put some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.
Also, I've been asked by a local expatriate in town to design some book covers for him. He does this self-publishing thing and writes a bunch of pulp fiction books. He's loosely affiliated with L'Abri because he's arranged to have one or two of Greg Laughery's books published and we were introduced at chapel last Sunday. The books aren't very good and he's not paying me to do it, but they've worked it into my work schedule so I'm not having to take any of my spare time to work on it. Plus, I've never done a book cover before so it'll be a challenge. If I think what I make is good at all I'll post one of the covers on here for you guys to see.
Anything else? I don't think so.
Here we are hiking hardcore style. If you're wondering who those people are, here's the list, starting from behind me: Rhett from Alabama, Jon from New Hampshire, Molly from Connecticut, and Renea from Texas.
That's the mountain peak we were about to hike up. The last bit, going up to the very top, almost killed me.
I didn't really take many pictures at the top because it's just the same thing all over this country. Mountain, valley, mountain, valley, vineyard, mountain. The picture up at the top of the post is at the top of Roc D'Orsay, but you can't really see that much except me. I figured I'd put that one up there so you'd have a visual of me on mountain saying all of this to you. Anyway, here's a pic of our gondola ride down. We decided that it was worth it to grab a ride down. Also, they weren't checking tickets so we just kind of snuck on one.
Monday, August 20, 2007
I am victorious
Well, I'm not sick anymore. Yippee! I battled my bowels and I won. I am now in control of my body. It was a tough fight, but I am always and ever victorious!
There's not really too much to say since I was in bed from Thursday until today (Sunday). I read a lot. Well, I tried to read a lot. I fell asleep a lot because just climbing in and out of my top bunk felt like running a marathon so I was constantly exhausted. I actually thought I might have mono for a while, but I guess it was some other mystery disease that Mr. Pansy Bowels picked up.
Hmmmm . . . I can't think of much else to write. Maybe I'll just tell you what books I've been reading in bed. I've started reading 'Pilgrim at Tinker Creek' by Annie Dillard, and although it took me a chapter or two to get into her writing style, I've been enjoying it ever since. It's a very wordy and descriptive (but not fluffy) book describing the author's year-long stay by Tinker Creek in Virginia. It's one of my roommate Nate's favorite books.
I know that's not a very good description, but I don't really feel like writing much more about it.
I'm also reading a book called 'God in the Dark' by Os Guinness. It's a really well-written and interesting book discussing doubt in God. Guinness (awesome surname) was a worker at L'Abri in England for awhile and has written a ton of books. This one was recommended to me by a guy named Nico from Argentina in March, but I'm just now getting around to it. So far I'm only through the first two chapters. In those chapters he outlines the purpose of the book and defines 'doubt' as he will be using it. In the next seven chapters he's going to go through the seven main "families" of doubt. It should be good.
I'm not very good at doing book reviews.
I can't think of anything else to write. I'll post again later.
There's not really too much to say since I was in bed from Thursday until today (Sunday). I read a lot. Well, I tried to read a lot. I fell asleep a lot because just climbing in and out of my top bunk felt like running a marathon so I was constantly exhausted. I actually thought I might have mono for a while, but I guess it was some other mystery disease that Mr. Pansy Bowels picked up.
Hmmmm . . . I can't think of much else to write. Maybe I'll just tell you what books I've been reading in bed. I've started reading 'Pilgrim at Tinker Creek' by Annie Dillard, and although it took me a chapter or two to get into her writing style, I've been enjoying it ever since. It's a very wordy and descriptive (but not fluffy) book describing the author's year-long stay by Tinker Creek in Virginia. It's one of my roommate Nate's favorite books.
I know that's not a very good description, but I don't really feel like writing much more about it.
I'm also reading a book called 'God in the Dark' by Os Guinness. It's a really well-written and interesting book discussing doubt in God. Guinness (awesome surname) was a worker at L'Abri in England for awhile and has written a ton of books. This one was recommended to me by a guy named Nico from Argentina in March, but I'm just now getting around to it. So far I'm only through the first two chapters. In those chapters he outlines the purpose of the book and defines 'doubt' as he will be using it. In the next seven chapters he's going to go through the seven main "families" of doubt. It should be good.
I'm not very good at doing book reviews.
I can't think of anything else to write. I'll post again later.
Friday, August 17, 2007
My Mom was right
Yep, my Mom was right. I have a weak stomach/immune system. Just a few days before I left to come to Switzerland, my Mom made a joke about how I get sick everywhere I go (horrible bloody food poisoning in Beirut, horrible projectile vomiting food poisoning in Buenos Aires, etc). Of course, I told her that I had a superman stomach that was impervious to all but the most mishandled of foods, and I also reminded her that I didn't get sick once while I was at L'Abri over the summer.
Well, I was wrong. Something horrible exploded in my bowels yesterday (Thursday), and it has had me reeling for the past 36 hours. I woke up yesterday feeling kind of nauseous but I figured it was just from being worn out from travelling a quarter of the way around the world. By lunch I was feeling green. By dinner I was violently ejecting all liquids and solids from my system . . . from both ends. I was sitting on a toilet with a trash can in front of me for about an hour, praying to the gastrointestinal gods for mercy. Alas, they have not granted it.
Last night I slept about three hours because of this demon inside me. I think I had a pretty high fever, and I couldn't stop shivering and sweating profusely. I would go to sleep for an hour and then wake up dehydrated and urgently needing a toilet. Today has been similar though slightly better. I think the fever is almost gone, and I'm not puking anymore, but as far as my guts being back on track, I think I have a long way to go. I'm also a little bit achy in my muscles and bones which makes me worried that it could be the flu, but I'll hold out hope until tomorrow morning.
Another girl here is sick as well. The same symptoms as me and we both started puking within an hour of each other. My roommate says he's starting to feel a little sick as well. Let's just hope that I start to feel better by tomorrow morning because being confined to my room today made it the most boring day of my life.
In other news, I made it here safely and aside from the sickness things are going well so far. Since there's only one guy helper this term, they've put me in charge of two of the grounds crews each week. Because of my bacteria-laden bowels, I had to abdicate my position for the day. My roommate is Tim, the one guy helper, and he's pretty cool. He's from Denver (although he grew up in France because his parents are missionaries) and he was at L'Abri in the summer of '06. Pretty much all of the students here this term are here for the whole term which is nice because it'll give us a chance to get to know each other really well. Everyone seems really cool. The weather's great here: 65-75 and sunny. It's a nice break from the triple-digit temps we had back in South Carolina.
Anyway, I can't think of much else to write so I guess I'll conclude this post. Thanks for reading and shoot me an email sometime because I love to hear from you guys. I miss y'all.
Well, I was wrong. Something horrible exploded in my bowels yesterday (Thursday), and it has had me reeling for the past 36 hours. I woke up yesterday feeling kind of nauseous but I figured it was just from being worn out from travelling a quarter of the way around the world. By lunch I was feeling green. By dinner I was violently ejecting all liquids and solids from my system . . . from both ends. I was sitting on a toilet with a trash can in front of me for about an hour, praying to the gastrointestinal gods for mercy. Alas, they have not granted it.
Last night I slept about three hours because of this demon inside me. I think I had a pretty high fever, and I couldn't stop shivering and sweating profusely. I would go to sleep for an hour and then wake up dehydrated and urgently needing a toilet. Today has been similar though slightly better. I think the fever is almost gone, and I'm not puking anymore, but as far as my guts being back on track, I think I have a long way to go. I'm also a little bit achy in my muscles and bones which makes me worried that it could be the flu, but I'll hold out hope until tomorrow morning.
Another girl here is sick as well. The same symptoms as me and we both started puking within an hour of each other. My roommate says he's starting to feel a little sick as well. Let's just hope that I start to feel better by tomorrow morning because being confined to my room today made it the most boring day of my life.
In other news, I made it here safely and aside from the sickness things are going well so far. Since there's only one guy helper this term, they've put me in charge of two of the grounds crews each week. Because of my bacteria-laden bowels, I had to abdicate my position for the day. My roommate is Tim, the one guy helper, and he's pretty cool. He's from Denver (although he grew up in France because his parents are missionaries) and he was at L'Abri in the summer of '06. Pretty much all of the students here this term are here for the whole term which is nice because it'll give us a chance to get to know each other really well. Everyone seems really cool. The weather's great here: 65-75 and sunny. It's a nice break from the triple-digit temps we had back in South Carolina.
Anyway, I can't think of much else to write so I guess I'll conclude this post. Thanks for reading and shoot me an email sometime because I love to hear from you guys. I miss y'all.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Yo man let's get out of here.
Word to your mother.
Yep, I'm leaving tomorrow for Switzerland. My sister's driving me to Charlotte tomorrow morning and my flight leaves at 2:50 in the afternoon. I'll be in Geneva by 8 am Tuesday morning and to L'Abri by 11 that afternoon. Soooo...I'll see you guys in a few months. Three-and-a-half to be exact. I'll be back in the states on December 4th. I'll miss you guys.
As far as my blog goes, I'm going to try to update it at least once a week. Once I get over there, I'll probably decide on a day or two that I will definitely post. Another thing is that since I'll have my computer with me, I'll be able to write blog posts offline and then post them once or twice a week. So look forward to that. It's going to be awesome.
Bye guys.
Yep, I'm leaving tomorrow for Switzerland. My sister's driving me to Charlotte tomorrow morning and my flight leaves at 2:50 in the afternoon. I'll be in Geneva by 8 am Tuesday morning and to L'Abri by 11 that afternoon. Soooo...I'll see you guys in a few months. Three-and-a-half to be exact. I'll be back in the states on December 4th. I'll miss you guys.
As far as my blog goes, I'm going to try to update it at least once a week. Once I get over there, I'll probably decide on a day or two that I will definitely post. Another thing is that since I'll have my computer with me, I'll be able to write blog posts offline and then post them once or twice a week. So look forward to that. It's going to be awesome.
Bye guys.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
