[Thursday]

[hermionesviolin]

My Converse All-Stars (black with a pretty blue design on them) are srsly coming apart :(  I like being able to wear the same shoes at the gym and at the office, but I'm not about to buy another $50 pair of footwear (e.g., an all black pair of Converse) if they're just gonna fall apart in a few months like these.

This morning, Jess came by and asked if I needed help.  (She came by yesterday morning and I was running around doing a bunch of stuff -- mainly helping Sara -- and noted that I was busy and asked if I needed help, and I refrained from saying, "if you could unjam the color printer..." )  She said, "You can't shoulder it all," and my brain pre-emptively heard "shoulder to the wheel" and shuddered internally.

+

I was reading the noon daily office and I was really struck by this from the Canticle ("The Song of the Women" by T.S. Eliot)

Those who deny thee could not deny, if thou didst not exist;
and their denial is never complete, for if it were so, they would not exist.
They affirm thee in living; all things affirm thee in living

I can this not sitting well with nonbelievers, but as a Christian I really like the idea.

And I was really impressed by the Prayers:

For the hungry and the overfed
May we have enough.

For the mourners and the mockers
May we laugh together.

For the victims and the oppressors
May we share power wisely.

For the peacemakers and the warmongers
May clear truth and stern love lead us to harmony.

For the silenced and the propagandists
May we speak our own words in truth.

For the unemployed and the overworked
May our impress on the earth be kindly and creative.

For the troubled and the sleek
May we live together as wounded healers.

For the homeless and the cosseted
May our homes be simple, warm and welcoming.

For the vibrant and the dying
May we all die to live.

"Joy Sadhana is a daily practice in the observation of joy."
-mylittleredgirl [more info]

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Five good things about today:
1. My brother's gonna visit my mother's godfather (whom we met on family cross-country trip #1 back in 1997) this summer (said godfather recently got moved to a veteran's home).  Yeah, my folks raised good people.  (My brother's gonna be doing an internship in the vicinity, so it's not like he's just up and trekking halfway across the country for a visit, but still.)
2. Someone brought in Dunkin' Donuts donuts (and later, banana bread also appeared; and catering leftovers).  And I had lunch with Katie and MikeS (and Paul, and Laura).  [For those playing the home game, Sarah had to postpone to next week 'cause work stuff came up.]  And I got to walk to the T with Katie after work, too.
3. Bonus surprise Nancy!  I don't know why she had stopped by, but it was nice to see her.  At one point while we were talking about what I've been up to here, she said, "Don't get too good at things..." and I laughed.
Mom, you'll appreciate this -- we were talking about the busyness of the teaching season, and I mentioned how Sara was kinda stressed the other morning and I'd said, "Do you want a hug?" and she'd said, "That would be amazing" and Nancy's expression got all soft and she said, "Oh, that's so perceptive of you."
4. Oona also stopped by (I hadn't realized she was still working here -- possibly I am conflating her with Claire).
5. I took the T out to Arlington Street and last time I'd gone to Arlington Street Church I'd walked around for I dunno how long trying to find the correct street, so since this time I had like 40 minutes, I just started walking.  My first turn took me onto Newbury Street and hey there I was at the end of the street, where it hits the Public Garden, and the cross street is Arlington Street and hey look I recognize that construction: it's Arlington Street Church.  So I walked around the Swan Boat pond (which was nearly drained, but which had young ducks) for a while and then walked Comm. Ave. in the median -- and then turned around when I hit Dartmouth Street and successfully found my way back without incident.
    The ASC signage is weak, but I found where "Sacred Eros" was meeting.  The theme was Transformation, and at first we were all like, "Yeah..." but we got to talking about changing identities and identity labels and non-normative sexuality (e.g., kink) and various things, and it's a good mix of people, and early on I really liked this woman Roza, and afterward I said we should get metaphorical coffee and she said yeah and we exchanged info and Jonah said that he had actually been thinking that I would really like her.  I was thinking later about how Allie had commented that I have so many different circles of friends and I'd sort of shrugged and said that most of it's from all the hanging out in churches I do; and I was thinking tonight that this (church stuff) is what I do, and so yeah, I acquire people in those places, that's how people make friends.
    Jonah and I went to ABP for some food and then walked Comm. Ave. to Clarendon and then walked to Back Bay from there and stayed inside and kept chatting until the 10:40 Franklin train.  On the Orange Line home, I was engrossed in my book until I looked up at State Street -- oops.  On the Red Line, I looked up at Harvard and saw Josh (Tiffany's partner) sitting across from me, reading, and when we got to Davis he didn't move, so I said, "Hey Josh, isn't this your stop?" and he startled and got up and we chatted a bit on the walk home.

Three things I did well today:
1. I did my requisite morning routine and went to the [gym] <35min weight room (I was tired, so even though I scaled back some, there were also a lot of rest breaks) -- heh, I remember when I was only doing 15min in the weight room and was pushing myself to do 20min
2. I put together a spreadsheet I'd been putting off.
3. GoodReads is totally productive procrastination, right?  But I added lots of feminist sf (plus the syllabus+supplements of my UMass "Brave New Worlds" class -- which, wow, I barely even remember some of the books I know I read) thanks to this post on feminismfandom.  (Going through the archives of 50books_poc is a project I haven't yet tackled.)
4. I made this week's CWM deposit.

Two things I am looking forward to (doing [better]) tomorrow:
["anything that you're looking forward to, that means you're facing tomorrow with joy, not trepidation," as Ari says]
1. getting to see Laurel
2. emailing Roza about getting together sometime