hermionesviolin: (full of grace)
On Friday I had an hour and a half lunch with Laura Ruth at HBS.

She said she thinks I'm a mystic.
She said she thinks I think I'm too cerebral [to be a mystic], but she's seen me going where the Spirit beckons.  (She cited my going to so many different churches as one example of this -- see also, below, my figuring out what I want and making so I can get it.)
She also thinks I'm good at shifting quickly and easily between multiple levels of reality (e.g., the Divine within ourselves, in relationship with other people, existing within our culture) and she thinks that's an indicator of a deep spirituality.

She said I'm good at knowing what I want and asking for it directly -- which she is so appreciative of.
She said when she first knew me, I was like screaming what I wanted, and I've become more attentive to the people around me and how they're affected by the context we're in -- without letting go of what's important to me -- and so I've become kinder to myself and to others.

She said she's seen me being present with people -- which is the essence of pastoral care.  (I think pastoral care requires a breadth and depth of other skills as well, but the idea that that is the essence of pastoral care makes sense.)
She said she thinks I think I'm not capable of doing that on a consistent basis (I told her yes, the "on a consistent basis" is a if not the core of it -- that yes I often do what can reasonably be called pastoral care, but I am choosing to do it with people I have a pre-existing relationship with; I don't want to be handed an entire congregation).

[Edit: She also said, "I don't give a sh*t if you go into ordained ministry or not" -- which I mostly knew, but which I still appreciated hearing explicitly articulated.  And later in conversation she asked how long I was planning to stay at HBS, and I gave my usual answer, and she restated it as staying here "until the next thing," which I liked.]

She said something like, "I can say more, but that's what I needed to tell you, so that I can leave you."

I got choked up -- because yeah, that is part of what we were doing with that lunch, wrapping things up so that we can part ways in a few weeks.

(Later, she asked what was going to happen after she left, and I said, "We'll all be very sad and we'll all continue doing the work of the church," and we talked about Rest and Bread some -- apparently Keith's planning to invite clergy, seminary students, etc. to give the Reflections a lot of the times; which is fine by me -- and at one point she said, "Oh, and another thing: you're dependable.  You don't have to be [meaning: you would still be a good and valuable person even if you weren't], but I so appreciate that you are.")

Later, I was thinking about knowing what I want and asking for it -- I think I have frequently made bad choices because I want what's easy and present and available (which is also sometimes tied up with low self-esteem stuff or whatever about what I think I'm likely to be able to ever get) ... but there's also an element of it helping me to figure out what I want, because I find myself dissatisfied with the easy/present/available and yeah sometimes it's a lesson I have to learn over and over again, but yeah, I am definitely committed to figuring out what I want (and navigating that want/need balance, see also want-self vs. should-self) and then finding ways to ask for it so I can have it.

I was also thinking about being present with people -- enabling them to be their authentic selves, including helping them grow.

She wanted to see the HBS chapel, so we did.  There were people standing outside, and she asked them if prayers were done.  (It was about 1:45pm.)  I had no idea that people actually used the HBS chapel for regular worship space.  But there were people cleaning up when we got into the chapel, so apparently they do.

Before you get to the official chapel space, when you just walk in, you're in this like greenhouse thing.  After we walked in, she just stopped.  She was so taken with the beauty and just everything.

Particularly in the chapel but also walking on campus, I was repeatedly struck that she is so much more attentive than I am.  Which I think is part of what makes a good pastor.

***

From my facebook newsfeed after I went to bed Sunday night (last night):
Tiffany Steinwert  › Laura Ruth Jarrett: Blessings on your new ministry!
LR gave her (final?) candidating sermon at Hope Central yesterday, and their website now says:
Rev. Laura Ruth Jarrett called as pastor
Hope Central Church is delighted to announce that it has called Rev. Laura Ruth Jarrett to become its next pastor. Pending final negotiations, Rev. Laura Ruth will begin her ministry on June 1. Find out about her in a letter from our Search Committee and this brochure about the candidate.
Edit: And an email to the listserv tonight:
[FirstChurch Mailing List] they voted yes!

Dear Beloved,

Yesterday morning, I preached a candidating sermon for Hope Central Church in Jamaica Plain. Just after the service, the congregation voted to call me as their settled pastor.

I'll begin my work there on June 1, 2010.

I'm so glad I get to be with you three more weeks. Our last Sunday together will be May 9, 2010.

I wish you peace tonight!

Love,
Laura Ruth
hermionesviolin: Boston skyline at sunset with the word "Boston" at the top (Boston)
Yeah, I have literally not had the energy to keep up with basic updating stuff (I've been keeping a running draft, but as you'll see, even that was incomplete). I am update-dumping before I leave for a long weekend in Maine.

***

gym: July 20-24 )

***

[MFA] Saturday, July 25

I went to the MFA with WalthamWoman, who wanted to see as much as possible in the time we had before closing, so that was interesting. I think we "saw" like 80% of the museum in under 2 hours. Good thing I've been there a ton and never feel invested in seeing anything particular when I'm with friends.

The Contemporary Outlook: Seeing Songs was all up (it was only partially installed last time I went through), though unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations.

I want to look at a lot more of the Asian art next time I'm there.

I really enjoyed A New and Native Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene

***

gym: July 27-29 )

***

gym: Aug. 4-7 )

***

[giving blood] Thursday, Aug. 6

I was hesitant about going to SCBC agan, despite the serious convenience factor, given how inefficient it was last time.

This time: I had a 5:30 appointment and got there at like 5:24. I was handed a #29 and had barely sat down before I got taken over to get my iron checked etc. She asked if I had read the material, and I said yes ('cause I have given blood umpteen times this year and read all the material every time and it never changes, at least not in any ways relevant to me).

(BP 98/60, pulse 64, oral temp 98.4, Hb: 12.8)

In the past I have actually hit their maximum mark of how long you can be blood-drained before they make you stop because of clotting concerns, but this time I was done in like 7 minutes. I was like, "We're done? Really?" The woman said everyone that day had been really quick.
It was like 6:00. I then dutifully sat for 10 minutes, ate two packets of cookies (one pack of Oreos and one of oatmeal raisin) and drank a bottle of water and then left.

***

gym: Aug. 10-14 )

***

Tues. Aug. 11

I had dinner at Andala with OtherElizabeth. We ate outside because blessedly it was nice enough out to be able to do that. (By the time we parted ways, it was actually cool enough out that I would have wanted a sweater were I to remain not moving.)

I got the Avocado Press Sandwich, because I could. It came with a little like potato salad on the side, which was a nice bonus, except that there was something in the seasoning or something that I didn't like -- even though in theory I should have liked it since it was basically cold potato chunks with some oil. (I also got a banana smoothie, I think.)

***

gym: Aug. 17-21 )

***

Tues. Aug. 18

Cailin invited me to go out for dinner with her and Katie 'cause it was her last night in Boston or something. I assumed she would wanna do Restaurant Week, but she said actually she'd been planning on Legal. I said I wasn't very excited about Legal 'cause there's almost nothing I can eat. She said she was sorry but she really wanted to get seafood. I said that was fine.

She said she'd be fine getting salads at Cheesecake, but I said Legal was fine.
On our way to Legal (we were driving to the one in Kendall), she mentioned that we could go to Bertucci's. I strongly supported this.
I got the Spaghetti Primavera, which had lots of vegetables. I wilingly ate asparagus with no problem -- go me (asparagus always strikes me as the kind of thing I don't particularly like).

At one point Cailin asked if we thought there was pressure (at HBS, for faculty) to get married, saying yeah academia's a little different than other places but there's probably still "pressure to conform to social norms, as Elizabeth would say." Apparently I am still really obviously a Smith College grad? :)

After we got out at Davis, Katie said: "I'm going to take the bike path. Shorter and cooler. Don't die. Call me if you're going to die." (Because she has a vehicle, so she could come and rescue me.)

***

Fri. Aug. 21

I had dinner at Taepei Tokyo in Davis Square. I don't know if it's the same franchise as the one in Northampton. I ate at the one in Northampton once, but I wasn't feeling well then, so I have no real verdict on it (and we were going to a Dar Williams concert at the Iron Horse afterward, so I couldn't really get my meal wrapped up to go), and I'd never been to the one in Davis Square though it opened a while ago.
I got hot and sour soup, which I'd never had before, and yeah, not really my thing.
I got a peanut avocado sushi roll, which was tasty.
We got vegetable tempura for starters -- which lighter than I'd expected (which was good).

***

gym: Aug. 24-27 )

***

Mon. Aug. 24

I had dinner at The Elephant Walk in Cambridge.
I got the vegetarian spring rolls for starters, which were okay.
I got the Tofu Amrita as an entree, and the tofu was fine, but I didn't eat much else, in part because of anxious stomach.

***

Thurs. Aug. 27

Make-Your-Own-Sundae in the Dean's House Garden.

I got vanilla ice cream and loaded up as many toppings as possible -- crushed Oreos (sans filling), M&M's, chocolate sauce, sliced strawberries, cherries. Yeah, when the faculty I came over with were getting seconds I was about halfway through my bowl.

A couple of our Unit's RA's came over at one point and we chatted and then headed back. I feel sort of bad that I only socialized with people I see all the time, but I'd been out for about 45 minutes and wasn't really feeling like seeking out more socialization. So it goes.
hermionesviolin: (all the beauty just keeps shaking me)
Laura and I grabbed a late lunch, and it was actually nice out (mid-70s, apparently, and didn't feel humid) so I got a book and ate outside.

When I got back to the office, a bottle of red wine was being opened (a Mettler 2004 Petite Sirah).  For Prof.D's birthday, it turned out.  I had three servings (for values of "serving" that equal maybe two mouthfuls).

In other news:

Scott K. stopped by late this morning, in between Math Camp stuff.  On Friday he had said he would stop by on Monday or Tuesday, and lo he kept his word :)

At Harvard T after work, I stopped and chatted with Antonio (spray paint artist) for the first time since, I dunno, spring?

I stopped at Shaw's and picked up some groceries (by which I mostly mean cereal).

Walking up Elm Street, I saw a woman in running clothes with a dog on a leash.  She asked me if I had a cell phone; she had found the dog just wandering.  (Heh.)  As I started to explain who I was to the guy on the other end of the phone, a woman showed up and took back the dog (Kayla).

I stopped at the library on my way home, shortly before closing.  Ordering ~2000 pages of ILL books seemed like a good idea ... when I hadn't actually looked at the page numbers on all those anthologies, yeah.  I'm excited to read them in my nonexistent free time though.

* Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism (published in 2002)
* Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith and Sexuality
* Go the Way Your Blood Beats: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Fiction by African-American Writers
* Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora

... And I am going to bed soon.  We have the windows open again tonight, but I didn't have anything for dinner besides yogurt and fruit. 

Weather.com predicted high/low temps for the next two days:
Wed: 89F / 62F
Thurs: 74F / 57F


Edit: Oh, and I forgot to mention this email which went out to all Staff and Faculty from the Dean:
Please join me in the Dean's House Garden this Thursday, 27 August 2009, 1-2:30 p.m. for make-your-own-sundaes, beautiful weather (really – I'm guaranteeing it), and an opportunity to catch up and relax with your colleagues before we're fully immersed in the new academic year. It's a small way of saying thank you for your many contributions to the School.
hermionesviolin: (self)
HBS did layoffs today (as did the rest of the University, I believe).  I gripe that we are nearly unfireable and the incentives system is poor and I gripe about particular people I work with, but actually looking at someone having gotten laid off... it's a human being vulnerable and in pain.  (Yes, I was actually surprised that I had this reaction -- I have a self-identity as a misanthrope in certain contexts, what can I say?)

Edit: I hadn't found any official press release on the HBS webpage, but it occurred to me later to check the HBSNews Twitter. Huh. /edit

***

I am unimpressed by my World Religions class (the prof just doesn't quite do it for me) and think I will just listen to the lectures during work from now on, reserving Tuesday and Thursday evenings for things I will get more out of.

At one point during our phonecall tonight, L. was like, "Oh, there was a religion-related class this fall that I was supposed to tell you about but now I can't remember what it was."  She mentioned "Dreams and The Dreaming" but couldn't remember if that was the class she had been thinking of.  Poking around the website some, I'm actually tempted by "Race in the Americas" (thanks, RaceFail).

***

joy sadhana )

Thank you!

Nov. 7th, 2008 10:34 am
hermionesviolin: Boston skyline at sunset with the word "Boston" at the top (Boston)
Dear Colleagues:

As we begin to anticipate plans for the holiday season, I am pleased to let you know that Friday, January 2, 2009 will be a paid day off for staff. While most offices will be closed, certain people will need to work on January 2 to provide for the University's operational and security needs. Those whose service is required will be notified, as is practice, by their local management. Other arrangements will be made to provide time off or appropriate compensation for these staff members.

On behalf of the entire Harvard community, I thank all of you for your contributions to the University.

Sincerely,
Drew Faust
hermionesviolin: an image of Alyson Hannigan (who plays Willow Rosenberg) with animated text "you think you know / what you are / what's to come / you haven't even / BEGUN" (Default)
I bumped into one of the profs I used to work for on my way in this morning.  He said, "The gym might not be open today."  I was like, "If that's true, I could have slept in an extra hour.  Grr!"  But it was indeed open.  Woot!

gym )

I bumped into Kate (one of the new RAs -- not to be confused with Katie) on my way to Spangler.  She commented on the lanterns and I was like, "What?" and then I looked around.  Way to decorate, HBS.  They look nice -- all seasonal and everything; pumpkin and squash and stuff at the base of these nice curved lantern holders, with thick white candles in them.  I hope they stick around.  (When I left work at the end of the day today, they looked to be already taking down the big tent -- since the Centennial weekend extravaganza was over.)

***

Econ class tonight we had a quiz.  Everyone was sitting (or standing) out in the hallway before class.  I felt like I was back in college.

I'm an auditor, so I sat in the back of the room and blew threw about half of Ahead of the Curve.

Then we watched a one hour video -- Surviving the Bottom Line (Chapter 1: "Running With the Bulls").  Read more... )
hermionesviolin: (hipster me)
gym: Thurs/Fri )

***

Friday

SquawkBox )

+

A GMA anchor said Warren Buffet has surpassed Bill Gates as the richest man in the world. First time in 15 years Gates hasn't been at the top. She cracked, "I guess it's a good thing someone's been making money this past month."

+

I've watched Pink's new single "So What" [lyrics, video] on VH1 a couple times and am not really a fan. I do really like Matt Nathanson's "Come On Get Higher" [lyrics, video] and Gavin Rosdale's "Love Remains the Same" [lyrics, video]

+

Speaking of tv, MaryAlice said the HBS turkey was on WBZ last night. Katie told me some about the segment later, and we agreed that it was pretty lame. Excerpt

***

via undeny: Jayne Hoodie ("A man walks down the street in this, people know he's not afraid of anything")

***

I don't actually know what kind of cake we ordered for Greg's party 'cause Ben took care of everything, but it was YUM. Looking at the menu [PDF], I'm thinking the Chocolate Symphony? -- "Three tiers of Valrhona chocolate mousse (bittersweet, milk, and white) with chocolate cake"

We also had the two bottles of wine that Peter had given Greg over years past and which Greg had been saving for a special occasion. He poured us all a little bit of this Wisconsin Cranberry Wine (he'd even chilled both bottles in his mini-fridge that morning), and then while I was talking to Sara and Nithya, whatever was left of that as well as most of the second bottle got drunk. Various people had elsewheres to be, so when I turned around 25 minutes after the "party" had started, the hall was almost empty.

***

Meme I've seen around: When you see this, post in your own journal with your favorite quote from The Princess Bride. Preferably not "As you wish" or the Inigo Montoya speech.

Possibly my favorite line is, "Is this a kissing book?" but the one I've been thinking about recently is:

That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you." And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.
hermionesviolin: Boston skyline at sunset with the word "Boston" at the top (Boston)
gym )

[livejournal.com profile] sexonastick, I saw a bit about Abby Wambach on ESPN's Sports Center this morning and thought of you.

CNN's This American Morning had Larry Elder (conservative) and Mike Papantonio (liberal) talking about Obama and McCain, and Elder talked about how Obama is a media darling, and Papantonio said that Obama has charisma, and I facepalmed.  I mean, do you remember wooden Al Gore in 2000?  I don't think you want to say that whoever has the best cult of personality should get to be Leader of the Free World.  He also said that McCain is just repeating the same Bush stuff that people tired of and that the media want someone with new ideas, but while he kept repeating that he also kept repeating the charisma thing.
      Elder also gave some stat about Obama getting 114 minutes of media coverage (in a given week maybe?) and McCain getting less than half of that and I thought, "But if it's all about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright furor, for example, does Obama really gain from that coverage?  I'm not sure that the Hollywood 'any publicity is good publicity' applies here."
    I was also really thrown when after like two minutes of this heated argument, Kiran was like, "Well it was great to have you with us."

***

MaryAlice had lunch in the Square today and when she came back she was all red and sweaty.  She said walking to the Square today was a bad idea.  I said that was, unfortunately, my afternoon plan (Prof.D. wanted a bunch of articles by Monday, and I couldn't find full text of some of them online).  She said to walk SLOWLY, that she knows I'm young and fit, but the air was like breathing through a sponge.  Now, we know that hot&humid makes me just wither, but while I was always pleased to enter the air-conditioning I was really fine.

    I went to Gutman, Widener (Pusey 3! -- also, sidebar, I saw E.Sherlock working there), and Countway (hi, mom -- and the M2 terminates at Sami's!).
    Countway has copiers with scanning capability so, like with our copiers, you can have your photocopies sent to your email address as a multipage PDF attachment (for free! win).  I chatted with the circ guy, who might well be gay (hi, he had two small hoop earrings in his left ear), and who is doing the Simmons library science program (he has "mixed feelings" about it and commented that it's hard to make the adjustment that this is not an academic program but a professional one).  Apparently academic libraries don't want you to reshelve books not just because most people are incompetent but also for tracking purposes, which I hadn't thought of but which makes sense when so much of your collection is noncirculating.
    On the way back I hopped off at Putnam 'cause it's where Nicole lives, so I figured it would be more efficient to just cut over to JFK from there rather than doubling back.  Except I took Putnam rather than Mt. Auburn.  After a few blocks I knew I must have done something wrong, but I wasn't gonna turn onto some street I didn't know, and I figured eventually I'd hit something I recognized.  Well, I hit Western, and I knew I didn't wanna deal with that, so I just turned around (I'd only been walking ~5min) 'cause I was not gonna just keep walking to Central (I recognize the jazz silhouettes on the white house from when MaryAlice drove me to and from Carberry's, so I knew I was headed to Central even before I saw the sign for Western).  I underestimated how far one has to walk on Mt. Auburn from Nicole's place to get to JFK, so possibly I wouldn't have saved myself any time anyway, but hey, getting a better sense of where things are in relation to each other . . . plus bonus scenic walk.
    Once I crossed the bridge, it was quite breezy and almost pleasant.

Oh, and speaking of navigating the environs of Harvard . . . within the past week or so, HBS put a campus map (complete with You Are Here) at the rotary at the parking lot finally.  Bravo.

I got back to the office at like ten past five (having left at like 2pm) and stayed for about twenty minutes, wrapping some stuff up but mostly just puttering and enjoying the AC before venturing out again.

I wanted a fruit smoothie and was trying to think of where I could get one.  I've been getting one of the $3.05 ones from Spangler like every other day recently, but summer hours they're closed at 4pm.  I haven't seen the fruit smoothie vendors in ages, and I only saw the spray paint guy like once this spring -- what up?  I remembered that Boloco has fruit smoothies (though I've only gotten their Nutella one).  Though once I was there in the AC I ended up getting a peanut butter based one ("Jimmy Carter," huh?).  I was hungry, so I also ordered a "Summer" burrito, which I ended up only eating half of.  There were onions, which I was not warned about, but I think the cilantro or something also made it too flavorful for me.  And as a sidenote I was underwhelmed by the rice.
    I also used a futuristic ATM (no envelope necessary for deposits) next door.

When I helped with the promotional mailing for the "Secret Knowledge of Water" [hey look, it does have a webpage of its own . . . way to fail at linking that from the gallery webpage] opening, Katherine had, um, strongly suggested that I attend -- I think she was worried no one would show up (and Karl curated it).  It was from 6-8 and I got there around 6:45.  There were plenty of people there, and I thought, "On a night like this, I'm not sure more warm bodies is really something you want," but I used the restroom, checked out the exhibit, and hung out 'cause there was food and drink.  Katherine was putting food on a table and I came up behind her and put my plastic cup full of ice water against the back of her neck.  She may have shrieked like a little girl.  I was like, "Hi O:-) "
    Later she was talking to a woman who was talking about a workshop she'd been in all week about interpretive Torah telling and I perked up.  She turned out to be one of the artists, but she had done one of the pieces I actually liked.  (I didn't actively dislike much if any of the artwork, but a lot of it I just wasn't impressed by, but I quite liked her piece in and of itself.)  I was pleased to hear it was part of a series about the Exodus story.
      The artist (Jane) asked if I was a member of this church, and I said that I was here because I went to this church but I'm actually affiliated with four churches and a member of none.  Liz facetiously said, "But we're you're favorite, right?" and I said, "No you're not."  I worried that it came out sounding harsher than I intended, but she totally loved it.  She felt bad that "I've known you for how long?" and she didn't know this about me (that I'm affiliated with a whole bunch of churches).  She was fascinated by this and asked if I had always been interested in faith.  I said not really, that my church growing up was nondenominational and had a pastor whose sermons put me to sleep so I rarely actually went to service, helping take care of the little kids instead, and my first year of college I didn't go to church but my sophomore year I felt like I should and I just picked a convenient one that said "Open and Affirming" on its front sign.  I talked about how words like "book" will totally win me and so I went to a book study that church was doing jointly with a church around the corner and I sometimes went to services at the college chapel when they sounded interesting and my senior year I attended RCFOS because I no longer had a conflicting commitment.  I've never actually told the story of the development of my churchgoing -- usually I just talk about church shopping when I moved to Somerville -- so I felt like I was discovering the story as I told it; I've gotten so used to being All Church All The Time, it feels so "me," that I forget that it's a really recent development.  She summed it up saying I'm very "curious," which makes sense to me.

There was an audio-visual program at 8pm in the sanctuary, also connected with the gallery opening, which I sat in on a few minutes of, but I wasn't blown away by it and was tired so I headed out around 8:15.

I walked by a house just two down from mine, and a couple was out front watering their garden, and I stopped to tell them that their garden looked lovely.  We got talking and the guy asked me where I lived and I told him (explaining that I was moving in just a couple weeks) and he asked how long I'd lived here and somewhat sheepishly I said two years.
    I'm so bad at being neighborly.  My DAD knew our neighbors, in both houses we lived in.  And my dad is probably the least socially-oriented person I have ever met.  Though I suppose having kids helps.
      Anyway, their names are Al and Deb, and they barbecue (she grills veggies, too -- I chose not to mention what a picky eater I am) and we were all sorry that we were only meeting just now but I will definitely be leaving my contact info and look forward to getting together after I move if not before.
    Edit: I forgot to mention that they've lived here about 12 years and the woman, who grew up Presbyterian, has been meaning to go to CHPC either for church or to check out the gallery like since she moved here. The guy grew up Catholic and said he had gone to a Presbyterian service with her once and loved the open table etc. stuff -- said when he was Catholic he was like, "Did I do confession last night? Did I eat within the last three hours?" I said a friend of mine had an interest in Orthodoxy and I came to appreciate the idea behind that -- that Communion is a special way that we connect with God and wanting to honor that, but that it's so easy for the intentionality (okay, I didn't actually use that word) to get lost and for it to become this thoughtless rulebound thing. /edit

I got home about 8:40.

***

I finished my reread of The Egypt Game and it held up really well.  Though I am very wary about The Gypsy Game.
    The Egypt Game: hardly even spoilers, but why not )

P.S. From [livejournal.com profile] phineasjones: coconut milk ice cream!  Doesn't that sound so deliciously decadent?  Plus, it has no dairy or soy.

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hermionesviolin: an image of Alyson Hannigan (who plays Willow Rosenberg) with animated text "you think you know / what you are / what's to come / you haven't even / BEGUN" (Default)
Elizabeth (the delinquent, ecumenical)

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