Random Thoughts

Whenever I wash my hands in the bathroom at work, I wonder if it is better for the environment to have paper towels or hand dryers.  Paper towels generate trash, but hand dryers use electricity and I’m guessing that they use some kind of nonrenewable resource for power.  What do you think? 

Senator Phil Gramm stirred up some controversy recently.  I heard it briefly on the news yesterday, but I’m not sure I caught the whole gist of it or the context in which he was speaking.  Here is what Wikipedia captured:  In a July 9, 2008 interview explaining McCain's plans in reforming the U.S. economy, Gramm downplayed the idea that the nation was in a recession, stating, “You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,” and “We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline.”  And if I understand that correctly, I think I partly agree with his first statement.  For the past six months or so, all we’ve heard in the news with respect to the economy is that we’re headed for a recession.  So are we in an actual recession because the economists predicted it correctly and whatever causes recessions actually happened, or is it because all the talk put us in panic mode and has caused us to believe that we’re in a recession so that we act as if we are?  I don’t even know if that makes sense since I don’t have a clue about Economics, but I think the power of suggestion is pretty powerful and I think it’s played a part, maybe a tiny part but a part nonetheless, in how desperate we think the state of our nation is right now. 

I’ve been thinking recently about identity and how to accept yourself while still knowing the areas in which you want to change, and I think it comes down to giving grace to yourself.  What do you think?

I was at my coworker’s annual luau a couple months ago, and one girl was talking about how she wants to have kids in the near future, hopefully with someone she likes (i.e. her boyfriend), but if he’s not ready, then it sounded like she’d do it with anyone who was willing just so she can have kids.  I got kind of sad when I heard that.  It seems like more and more people nowadays are having babies just for themselves without thinking enough about what's best for the baby.  And then a couple weekends ago, I stayed with my friend Peylin in Austin and worked from her house on Monday.  Since she doesn’t have cable, there weren’t many quality shows on during the day so I ended up watching part of Maury Povich and several random soap operas, and a common theme across all the shows was determining which man fathered which child.  How sad, eh?

I don’t like it when people describe meat as being so tender that it “melts in your mouth”.  I know it’s a hyperbole, but I don’t like the imagery it invokes.  Meat, no matter how tender, should always have to be chewed.  Things like chocolate and ice cream melt in your mouth; meat should not.

28 and Feeling Great!

From the beginning, I knew that 2008 would have great potential, and it has not disappointed.  I’ve done a lot and learned a lot and so I’ve been pretty happy.  Here are my mid-year reflections.

This has been the year to figure out what will come next in terms of my career.  I still haven’t figured it out, but as a friend reminded me, it’s a process and the process is just as important as discovering the end goal, and I’ve taken the first few steps to begin the process.  I still question what my role is in this world with seemingly endless needs, but so far, I think my interest is in the area of educating the disadvantaged, though perhaps not directly teaching.  I used to think I’d become a teacher, but I’m not as convinced anymore when I think about how teachers need to be so high-energy and are surrounded by people constantly.  I prefer more administrative tasks and interacting with smaller groups of people at a time.  Anyway, the next step of my process is to find education-related places to start volunteering at (which I’m hoping will lead to a full career change), but I’ve been lazy and procrastinating on that, and now it’s summertime so there may be fewer opportunities.  I guess that will be my goal for the second half of this year.

Earlier this year, I felt like I needed to change the way I was reading the Bible on my own because I wasn’t learning much.  My church doesn’t have the resources right now to have Sunday School or a small group ministry so I joined Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), more for the Bible Study part than for the Fellowship part.  It’s been helpful in giving me more structure in my Bible-reading times and having other people to discuss with.  I think all the other ladies in my discussion group are 50+, but they’re really sweet.  At my church we also went through a 4-week series on reading the Bible, and that was really helpful, too.  Our pastor encouraged us to read the Bible in the context of the creation-fall-redemption-restoration storyline and in the context of our relationship with God rather than just using the Bible to meet our needs for comfort or guidance.  He also encouraged us to read a certain story in the Bible for a week and repeat it each week after that.  I only did it for two weeks, but I chose select passages from 1&2 Samuel on the life of David, and it was really good.  I had been thinking about David earlier in the year about what set him so far apart from other people in God’s eyes.  There are probably a lot of things, but one definitely was his passion.  And that makes me reflect on my life since I rarely feel or express passion for anything.  Perhaps it’s just not in my nature, but when it comes to important things like God and love in general, it is necessary to have passion and express your love outwardly.

Another thing I’ve seen this year is how important it is to live in community with people.  I started trying to do random, somewhat spontaneous, things with coworkers and friends who live near me.  It’s fun when it works out, but it tends to be hit-or-miss.  An example of a miss would be when I asked friends to throw a Frisbee with me so I could practice for a Frisbee Golf tournament, but no one could come so I ended up throwing a Frisbee in the park by myself to an electric pole.  It’s okay, though, because occasionally I’ll get a hit, like when my coworker friend came over to help me arrange flowers for a fundraising banquet.  Another aspect of living in community besides doing things with people is simply talking more.  I say “simply”, but it’s really not so simple for me.  As an introvert, I tend to think everything through in my head before I say anything, and most of the time, I end up not saying anything at all.  This really benefits no one.  I realized how frustrating it can be for other people when I went to the dentist a couple months ago.  I expected to get a normal cleaning without any issues, but the hygienist said I needed to get a minor procedure done before I could get the normal cleaning.  That was the first thing to annoy me, and the second was that the hygienist was one of those excessively talkative types.  She kept talking and talking and explaining the procedure to me and finally when I couldn’t take it anymore, I cut her off saying that I understood what she was saying.  And then she told me that she kept trying to explain the procedure to me because I wasn’t saying anything and she couldn’t read my mind.  As obvious as that is, it was a breakthrough moment for me.  I think I just need to hesitate less and start saying what I’m thinking more often, with tact and grace of course.  The final thought I have in relation to living in community and interacting with people is that it takes a lot of self-control and maturity when you’re with people who are annoying or different.  I still have a long way to go, but one small victory is that when I went back to the dentist for the minor procedure, I prayed about it and smiled and talked a little more and things were much better between the hygienist and me.

I helped out at an InterVarsity retreat earlier this year and in our track for graduating seniors, one of the things we talked about was how to be a witness in the workplace.  One of the other volunteers was sharing about some of his experiences and how showing the love of Christ is one of the most powerful ways to witness.  He was saying that when his coworkers egg him on about evolution or whatever, they expect him to argue back, but when he responds by saying something more gentle and gracious about God’s love, his coworkers are left speechless.  I don’t explain it as well as he did, and although I don’t get into those kinds of conversations with my coworkers, I’ve also seen how my coworkers’ demeanors change when I am more gentle and gracious to them.

I don’t think I’ve read any books so far this year because I’m constantly reading my TIME magazines since they come every two weeks.  I had a lull over Memorial Day weekend, though, so I finally started “The Brothers Karamazov”.  Other books on my list for this year are “Kite Runner” and “Blue Like Jazz”.  Any other suggestions?

And finally, a few signs of aging that I’ve noticed this year:  my first white hair, wrinkly eyelids, and having to pee more often.  :(

This was a really long update (word count:  1,193), but see?  It’s been a good year.  And sure, I’m inching ever closer to 30, but I wouldn’t trade it for a younger age.  Growth is good.  :)

Sandcastles in the Sand
(in Galveston, not the ones that Robin Sparkles sings about)

A Few Simple Ways to Start Going Green

Suggestions from TIME magazine:

1.  Eat less meat.  Since animals emit CO2, when you eat them, you’re also effectively emitting CO2.  Giving up meat for two days would reduce carbon emissions by 13.2 lbs.

2.  Shorten your showering time.  Shaving off two minutes each day for a month reduces CO2 emissions by 15.3 lbs.

3.  Drive slower.  Driving 55-60 mph at a steady pace is more fuel-efficient than driving >65 mph.

4.  Unplug your computer at night.  By doing so for one month, CO2 emissions would be reduced by 51 lbs.

A few things that I started doing (mostly inspired by my sister):

1.  Bring reusable cloth canvas bags to the grocery store to bag groceries instead of using the default disposable plastic bags.  HEB sells reusable canvas bags next to the checkout lines for $0.99 each.

2.  Buy a supply of reusable plates and cups to use at parties and potlucks instead of using disposable paper plates and cups each time.  I bought mine from Target.  They came in packs of 4 for $2.00.  And they’re pretty, too!

What do you do to help the environment?

Random Questions

How many of you still send checks via snail mail to pay your bills?  What’s the best alternative:  charging your bills to your credit card or doing a direct withdrawal from your bank account?

What vitamins do you take?

If you’re mingling with friends and get into a conversation with someone, how do you end the conversation gracefully when you run out of things to say and want to avoid the awkward-nodding-and-prolonged-eye-contact-with-nothing-to-say phase?

Is it worth buying Forever stamps?  I guess no one really knows because we don't know what the rate of inflation will be each year so it will probably all even out, right? 

What are you doing for your mom for Mother’s Day next week?

In reference to my last post about water bottles, I was going to buy a stainless steel cup to drink water out of every day, but then I got one for free because my department at work had a group Frisbee Golf event a couple weeks ago and my team won and this was our prize:

Haha, our prizes are always some sort of TI paraphernalia.

And yay for the weekend!  I left work early today because half of my coworkers went to play tennis this afternoon.  :)