Weird Bird in Love

A few days ago, I finished reading Chris Adrian’s long, strange book, The Children’s Hospital. The premise of the book is that there is another world-destroying flood, like the one in Genesis; this time, all that is preserved is one children’s hospital, with patients, staff, and whoever else happened to be visiting on the fateful night. An angel preserves the hospital and gives the staff everything they need, as they float along for an unknown time toward an unknown destiny. (more…)

Zag and I spent part of this evening watching most of a Nova episode about chimp and bonobo cognition – covering some new discoveries about great ape culture and cognitive abilities. It was really interesting – I’ve always loved learning about that kind of research – but one segment in particular just fascinates me. It’s about halfway through Chapter 5, if anyone wants to go watch it – and it’s in a part of the show where they’re pondering the differences between human and chimpanzee cognition, given that so many of our capacities and emotions are more alike than different. (more…)

Zag knows of Star Wars only very indirectly – from seeing toys and images, and hearing bits of the story by way of other young kids. He’s very interested, though, and convinced that Star Wars is actually Darth Vader’s name, though we have tried to explain that Star Wars is the name of the story, not a character. 

This morning, somehow, watching the garage door close set him reflecting on Star Wars’ background. As we walked to church together, he told me, “When Star Wars was a little boy, he did stupid things all the time. Like closing the garage door, and playing with his daddy’s tools, and driving the car. And what else would be stupid?” 

I said, “I don’t know…. What happened then, when he did those things?”

Zag said, “His mama and his daddy would say, ‘Stupid! Stupid!’” 

I said, “That’s not a very nice way for them to talk to their little boy.” 

Zag said, “I know, but they did it anyway, because he was such a stupid boy. And then he grew up and got a sword made out of light, and a scary Star Wars mask and a Star Wars helmet, and he walked around in the street attacking things.” 

It’s a whole new slant on Vader’s character…

I got my nose pierced – early in my grad school years – and I wear a discrete, tidy little silver stud. I like how it looks, and it seems to be low-key enough that people who don’t want to notice it, don’t have to. 

A couple of days ago, during our morning wake-up snuggle, Zag peered closely at my nose stud and asked, “Did you get that in a sewing accident?”

Zag investigating my birthday/ordination tulips, from friends E, N, and I. Beautiful! 

This morning at 6:40am, Zag woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and came and climbed in bed with us, allegedly for a snuggle. He wiggled down under the covers between us and promptly began singing, “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!” After he sang that line about twenty times, Tilt politely informed him that he felt that was about enough rum. Without missing a beat, Zag sang, “Yo ho ho and a bottle of butterflies!” (more…)

My son just told me, “I will have a new mama when you are dead. And she will wear red a lot. Red clothes, red skirt, red coat.” 

I asked if he wanted me to wear more red. He said no.

I’m not sure how to take this….

I spent part of Friday driving aimlessly around playing loud music to myself – mostly a subset of my Ordination Process playlist, with a few additions. Here are the ones that spoke to me the most. 

“Strangers in a Car,” Marc Cohn - There’s a stranger in a car/ Driving down your street/Acts like he knows who you are/ Slaps his hand on the empty seat and says/ ”Are you gonna get in/ Or are you gonna stay out?”/  Just a stranger in a car/ Might be the one they told you about.” (more…)

I’m tired of being broke. 

I spent my 20s and into my 30s as a graduate student, first pursuing my doctorate, then my M.Div. On my own, and then with Tilt, I had lots of practice living on very little money – thrift store furniture, basic groceries, meals out rare & economical. 

When I started this, my first Real Job, we briefly cherished the naive notion that it might be possible to live on one income. Tilt could stay home with Zag, I’d work, we’d scrape by. It only took a few months for it to become apparent that we simply can’t afford that. My church pays me fairly, but it’s just not enough to cover rent, groceries, student loan payments, and the other non-negotiables of month-to-month living. We’ve been paying the bills, but that pretty much empties the till. (more…)