Gore Vidal, defines a memoir as "how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked." As Wikipedia goes on to state, "It is more about what can be gleaned from a section of one's life than about the outcome of the life as a whole."
About a year ago, the online "storytelling community" called Smith magazine, challenged their readers to write their life story in only six words. After receiving more than 15,000 entries, they put 832 into a new book called "Not Quite What I Was Planning. " After reading many of the entries, you just can't help trying to come up with your own. I came up with a few:
"Fully loved, able to love unconditionally."
"Country girl embraced city, then lake."
"Drama Queen meets Prince of Peace."
"True love found early lasts long."
My husband could borrow one from the book: "Would settle for a bad hair day."
I don't think anyone's life can really be summed up in six words, but like a snapshot, a six word memoir captures a part of your life, that though not fleshed out, can be revealing.
I also had a lot of fun writing six words for Biblical figures:
Paul: "I have fought the good fight."
Moses: "Knew the Lord face to face."
Solomon: "Gift of wisdom brought no peace."
Saul: "Impressive young man without equal, rejected."
Jezebel: "Killed the prophets, devoured by dogs."
Peter: "If all fall away, I won't."
Jacob: "Wrestled God and birthed a nation."
This was a good exercise and could even be a good tool for remembering biblical characters. So, admit it...you're doing one in your head as you read this, aren't you? Share yours!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Free Rice
"They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away." Psalm 107:5
"According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children." FreeRice.com wants to change that and improve our language skills at the same time.According to the site, FreeRice has two goals:
#1: Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
#2: Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.
How does this generate money? Through corporate sponsors, who advertise on the site.
How do you get involved? Go to the site and play the interactive vocabulary game. There is a word given, followed by 4 other words. Click on the answer that best defines the word given. If you get it right, you get a harder one. If you get it wrong, you get an easier one. For each word you get right, FreeRice will donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. There is a cool graphic of rice filling up a bowl as you answer correctly, and if you answer enough of them correctly you start to get, or rather, give, little piles of rice! Myanmar, Nepal, and Cambodia are in the top 10 recepient countries that receive donations. The rice is also purchased from "developing countries, keeping the cost of reaching the hungry to a minimum and boosting farmers’ efforts to grow their own food." (quote from www.wfp.com)
How does this generate money? Through corporate sponsors, who advertise on the site.
How do you get involved? Go to the site and play the interactive vocabulary game. There is a word given, followed by 4 other words. Click on the answer that best defines the word given. If you get it right, you get a harder one. If you get it wrong, you get an easier one. For each word you get right, FreeRice will donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. There is a cool graphic of rice filling up a bowl as you answer correctly, and if you answer enough of them correctly you start to get, or rather, give, little piles of rice! Myanmar, Nepal, and Cambodia are in the top 10 recepient countries that receive donations. The rice is also purchased from "developing countries, keeping the cost of reaching the hungry to a minimum and boosting farmers’ efforts to grow their own food." (quote from www.wfp.com)
How big an issue is world hunger? For those of us who might have guessed that world hunger is declining, consider the following sobering statistic from the site:
"Since the second half of the 1990s, the number of chronically hungry in developing countries has been increasing at a rate of almost four million per year.Today, one in nearly seven people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life, making hunger and malnutrition the number one risk to health worldwide -- greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined."
Is is effective? Consider that according to Wikipedia, “One month after the inception of the viral marketing program, users had earned enough points for one billion grains of rice. The United Nation's World Food Programme stated that this amount could feed 50,000 people for one day. Thus, approximately 20,000 grains of rice provide enough caloric intake to sustain an adult for one day. Using this calculation, enough rice is donated to feed 7,019.15 people daily per the totals for December 28, 2007.
Is it addictive? I'm just getting started, but a fun interactive game that improves your vocabulary and helps feed the hungry? Sounds better than doing one more "Can you name this Disney villan?" quiz on Facebook. Challenge yourself to spend a few minutes a day making a difference.
"...and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. (Isaiah 58:10 NIV)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
You Might Be A Redneck If....
Overheard at my hair salon:Guy: "I had a weird dream last night."
Girl: "Really?"
Guy: "I dreamed Robert Plant died, and Jeff Foxworthy replaced him as the lead singer in Led Zepplin."
Girl: "Was he any good?"
Guy: "Actually, he could hit the high notes better than Plant!"
I swear I'm not making it up.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
I Swear to Tell the Truth
This entry was written by a guest blogger, my husband, Dale. He served in the Air Force in 1983 going through Officer Training in San Antonio, Texas, and Flight Training in Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, TX before leaving shortly before we were married. While I've heard these stories many times (as he begins to tell one of them, I will often tease him by saying something like "story #47), he has written a few of them down with some great application at the end. Be sure to give the man some feedback!
"The US military is still one of our most conservative institutions. You see very little tolerance for personal expression when it comes to appearance while in uniform. During my time in the USAF, I did encounter one occasion though, where exercise of personal expression, and an improbable truth collided. Our morning briefing included a discussion about taking pride in personal appearance, shoe shine, hair cuts, facial hair and all those things that could diminish what the military uniform and the person wearing it represented. A few men pushed that fashion envelope at the time and entered the military with pierced ears. The message was short and simple. Ear rings, for men, while in uniform, were not appropriate. Period. Additionally, if your ears were not already pierced, now was not the time to exercise that option. While this was not presented as an order, we all had a common understanding on this issue.
As one of 2 guys in a 2 bedroom apartment the math worked out fine, but one day a friend approached us with his own housing dilemma. No local apartment openings, he didn’t want to live on base, and no room at the inn with other friends. Seeing this as a financial opportunity the two became three with the understanding that as the last guy in, he would essentially spend an entire year sleeping on a couch. A couple weeks later, in a move which now seems to reflect questionable judgment, we added two ferrets to the already cramped family.
The two little rats were friendly enough and quickly adapted to their new freedom as we frequently gave them extended time outside the cage, to roam the apartment. One day our sleeping and unsuspecting couch dweller surprised the others with a sharp yelp and a few, as Mr. Spock would say, colorful metaphors. Seems one of the ferrets climbed up on the sofa and bit him, on (drum roll please) the ear lobe. Needless to say, two of the three of us found this pretty funny. We were also quick to point out that this was clearly a flagrant violation of the no new ear piercing rule, and that at the next morning briefing, we felt compelled to share this with the other pilots on the flight line. “If you guys do that, I’ll just tell’em the truth” Chuck insisted. Met with a snickering reply of “Let us know how that works out”. The next day played out perfectly, as we quietly shared our roommate's indiscretion with the other pilots. It was fun to watch a grown man trying to explain away a freshly punctured earlobe with the line. “No really, I swear, a ferret bit me.”
I guess one of the things I took away from that day is that sometimes the truth can seem improbable but still be truth; you just have to tell it anyway. With God all things are possible and sometimes even hysterical."
"The US military is still one of our most conservative institutions. You see very little tolerance for personal expression when it comes to appearance while in uniform. During my time in the USAF, I did encounter one occasion though, where exercise of personal expression, and an improbable truth collided. Our morning briefing included a discussion about taking pride in personal appearance, shoe shine, hair cuts, facial hair and all those things that could diminish what the military uniform and the person wearing it represented. A few men pushed that fashion envelope at the time and entered the military with pierced ears. The message was short and simple. Ear rings, for men, while in uniform, were not appropriate. Period. Additionally, if your ears were not already pierced, now was not the time to exercise that option. While this was not presented as an order, we all had a common understanding on this issue.
As one of 2 guys in a 2 bedroom apartment the math worked out fine, but one day a friend approached us with his own housing dilemma. No local apartment openings, he didn’t want to live on base, and no room at the inn with other friends. Seeing this as a financial opportunity the two became three with the understanding that as the last guy in, he would essentially spend an entire year sleeping on a couch. A couple weeks later, in a move which now seems to reflect questionable judgment, we added two ferrets to the already cramped family.
The two little rats were friendly enough and quickly adapted to their new freedom as we frequently gave them extended time outside the cage, to roam the apartment. One day our sleeping and unsuspecting couch dweller surprised the others with a sharp yelp and a few, as Mr. Spock would say, colorful metaphors. Seems one of the ferrets climbed up on the sofa and bit him, on (drum roll please) the ear lobe. Needless to say, two of the three of us found this pretty funny. We were also quick to point out that this was clearly a flagrant violation of the no new ear piercing rule, and that at the next morning briefing, we felt compelled to share this with the other pilots on the flight line. “If you guys do that, I’ll just tell’em the truth” Chuck insisted. Met with a snickering reply of “Let us know how that works out”. The next day played out perfectly, as we quietly shared our roommate's indiscretion with the other pilots. It was fun to watch a grown man trying to explain away a freshly punctured earlobe with the line. “No really, I swear, a ferret bit me.”
I guess one of the things I took away from that day is that sometimes the truth can seem improbable but still be truth; you just have to tell it anyway. With God all things are possible and sometimes even hysterical."
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The "After Bucket List"
This morning I was thinking about the movie “The Bucket List”. I didn’t see the movie, but I know from the previews that a bucket list is a record of all the things you want to be sure to do before you kick the bucket. This is a cool idea, and I want to start working on mine, right after I finish reading “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”. I should probably hold off on “1,000 Ways to Decorate with Fabric” and first get a copy of “100 Ways to Motivate Yourself”. But I digress. What I was thinking about the bucket list concept is that we as Christians sometimes have an “After Bucket List". We make a list, in our heads anyway, of all the things we want to do when we get to heaven. Now, I get that our questions and desires will be surpassed by everything that we will experience with/in/through God that we can’t even begin to imagine. Even so, I don’t think God would have given us some of the biblical descriptions of heaven He does if He didn’t want us to longingly use our imagination.
Some things on my list:
- Fly
- Go to other places in the universe
- See my grandparents, relatives, and friends who have already died
- Talk to biblical saints. High on the list:
Deborah, Priscilla, Mary, Sarah, David, Daniel, Paul, Luke, John, Peter and the angels—Michael and Gabriel(note: I love the idea that I could talk to all of the above in perfect conversation for as long as we want…because the ‘not enough time’ factor just won’t be…a factor!) - Check out the "living creatures" (not trying to be sacrilegious here-I mean, come on, all those eyes?)
- Ask the triune God- “Why”:
The big stuff: flood, circumcision, covenant, temple
The hard stuff: fully man/fully God, sacrifice, resurrection, suffering, pain…what were you doing during ________ in my life?
Do any of these sound like something you’ve said in your head? I bet you have an “After Bucket” list too. Please share!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Another Day, Another Pie
As I was driving home from work on Friday, I heard an slightly annoying TV/radio personality saying something to the effect: "In honor of the leap day, more people should take advantage of February 29, as it provides an extra 24 hours in the calendar to catch up on miscellaneous errands." An extra 24 hours! Having been sick with a stomach bug for about 36 hours during the week (thus the lack of blog entries!), the thought struck me as a good one.
Except...the day had already passed. I had hurried off to work, completed my regular end of the week tasks, had several nice exchanges with visitors to the office (Friday seems to be 'drop by and say hello day' at our church), and then left a little early to make it to a physical therapy appointment for my current malady--tennis elbow (another reason for the lack of recent entries). It didn't feel "extra". It didn't feel special. As a matter of fact, due to a lingering "punky" feeling physically, and feeling emotionally let down by a couple of people, it felt pretty lousy. Even the good things seemed to backfire. Physical therapy felt great, but seemed to trigger every sore nerve in my arm making sleep nearly impossible. So as a far as "Leap day" goes, I am in agreement with my hubby who says "why don't they add the day to June?"
Now fortunately, there were bright spots to the evening. My hubby, sensing my mood (maybe it was the long litany of complaints on the phone?) brought me flowers. And a pie! Ok, the pie was more for him, but since I have a sweet tooth I inherited from my grandfather, it didn't hurt. We went out to a nice dinner at Pizza Coco. We also watched our DVR'ed episode of Lost, where I actually caught a reference by the character "C. (Charlotte) S. Lewis" that time moves slower on the island than in the real world--a blatant reference to Narnia, I think (for way deeper connections check here).
Yet despite the nice evening, as I weigh my feelings about the whole day, if given the choice I'd probably be willing to give the day back. In reality, it was an extra day. It was really added to the calendar and consisted of an extra 24 hours. But I had treated it like any other day. I didn't see it as a gift. I didn't even use the time to"catch up on miscellaneous errands" as pitifully insignificant as that would have been.
At around 1 am, the start of a new day technically, I tried to chase sleep by catching up on the daily scripture readings from last week's sermon. They included this verse:
"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. " (Eph. 5:15-17)
The Message puts the first part of verse 17, "Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly."
Except...the day had already passed. I had hurried off to work, completed my regular end of the week tasks, had several nice exchanges with visitors to the office (Friday seems to be 'drop by and say hello day' at our church), and then left a little early to make it to a physical therapy appointment for my current malady--tennis elbow (another reason for the lack of recent entries). It didn't feel "extra". It didn't feel special. As a matter of fact, due to a lingering "punky" feeling physically, and feeling emotionally let down by a couple of people, it felt pretty lousy. Even the good things seemed to backfire. Physical therapy felt great, but seemed to trigger every sore nerve in my arm making sleep nearly impossible. So as a far as "Leap day" goes, I am in agreement with my hubby who says "why don't they add the day to June?"
Now fortunately, there were bright spots to the evening. My hubby, sensing my mood (maybe it was the long litany of complaints on the phone?) brought me flowers. And a pie! Ok, the pie was more for him, but since I have a sweet tooth I inherited from my grandfather, it didn't hurt. We went out to a nice dinner at Pizza Coco. We also watched our DVR'ed episode of Lost, where I actually caught a reference by the character "C. (Charlotte) S. Lewis" that time moves slower on the island than in the real world--a blatant reference to Narnia, I think (for way deeper connections check here).
Yet despite the nice evening, as I weigh my feelings about the whole day, if given the choice I'd probably be willing to give the day back. In reality, it was an extra day. It was really added to the calendar and consisted of an extra 24 hours. But I had treated it like any other day. I didn't see it as a gift. I didn't even use the time to"catch up on miscellaneous errands" as pitifully insignificant as that would have been.
At around 1 am, the start of a new day technically, I tried to chase sleep by catching up on the daily scripture readings from last week's sermon. They included this verse:
"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. " (Eph. 5:15-17)
The Message puts the first part of verse 17, "Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly."
What if I had remembered that morning that it was an "extra" day? If I had treated it not like a "Hallmark holiday", but like a special day that really mattered? Shouldn't I live every day that way? Each 24 hours here on earth may only be a moment in eternity, but it's up to me "make the most of every opportunity" .... to show love, to give encouragement, and to give thanks for each day. I don't need to wait another 4 years to start doing that.
Quote of the weekend
"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." ~Henry Ford
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