THE CURATED MIND

I had mouth surgery last week, which involved stitches, gauze and a fairly sedentary week. I was fine until Friday when I started violently hemmoraging from the site of the graph. It happened 4 times in 3 days and I lost a lot of blood…the result was this awesome black eye and some new stitches.

On Friday I flew to Tampa and helped plan my mom’s surprise party for her 50th birthday. Eric also came and we presented mom and dad with cakes as they are both circa the summer of 58’.

Now I have a week to spend with mom and dad and Christina. Sterling is in South Africa until next Monday, so sadly I won’t be able to see him.

and James is leaving for Indiana on Friday for his grandmother’s funeral.

also, my friend Avni was published this week— check it out!

So, tonight James and I were at Barnes and Noble when I overheard ( I like to eavesdrop) a girl reading a list of some kind out of a book that (I swear) was describing my life. I was thinking “has she been stalking me and is now taunting me with her knowledge?” So, I kept pretending to read Cold Sassy Tree while trying to catch a glimpse of the book she was holding. Finally, after hearing a list that included thrift stores, organic food, making people feel guilty for not wanting to be outdoors, brunch, indie music, natural medicine, Arrested Development, sushi, children’s games as adults, coff

ee, gentrification, scarves, diversity, whole foods, awareness, and bicycles, I saw that (quite offensively) the book was called Stuff White People Like*, which is a book and a website that I have seen before but do not like. When the couple left the table, I picked up the book and continued to read the list feeling caught— the same deep sinking feeling I got in the 8th grade when one of my “friends” called me a poser**— the feeling that I had been called out for something that is completely true.

It is for that completely true, sinking feeling that I still do not really like this book or website… I like all of these things and, yes, that probably fits me into a category. But I feel stereotyped and belittled for liking these things, and I have always had a really hard time responding when people call me out for completely true statements. I am pretty sure I just said “nuh-uh, you’re the poser” to that so-called “friend” and spent years and years (present day included) harboring resentment towards him and towards the word poser in general. I think that may also be my approach with this book.

*I don’t know if I will be able to go, but in case you are curious the author will be in the area this week. WASHINGTON, DC - Wednesday, July 23, 7.00 PM Politics and Prose 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW (Map) Washington, DC 202.364.1919

** I was called a poser for my red, patent-leather Sketchers when everyone knew that it was the red, patent-leather Airwalks that were really cool.

James and I are still in a committed relationship. But we do have a new love in our lives—
Arrested Development!!!
I had heard that the show was great from friends back when it was still playing, but never actually watched it myself. So when I had time to kill in Ohio I started watching episodes on hulu and couldn’t stop watching it. If you haven’t seen it and want to add much joy to your lives, I highly reco

mmend that you get to it!
p.s. this is Tobias Funke, my favorite character on the show. I am now seriously trying to figure out how to fit Funke into the names of all my future children. :)

looking through our pictures, I began to notice a trend:

And these are only the ones of us together…

some highlights from my time in columbus: (in no particular order)
1. reading in the “oval” on campus

2. kayaking down a river in the pouring rain
3. utilizing the bike trail that runs along the olantangy and scioto rivers
4. trying many types of cuisines with my fellow

“seminarians”
(yes, you recognized it correctly, that is injera made from teff flour, and yes, I am holding it like a bib because it is that strong and wide, and yes, this is an Ethiopian restaurant)
5. reading Donne, Spenser, Milton, Calvin, Luther, Chaucer and Bunyan with others who are like-minded in their academic pursuits.
6. writing my paper—a reflection on The Babylonian Captivity of the Church
7. Interacting with Dr. John King and Dr. Jack Zevin in our seminar and in the other social times when

they really let us get to know them.

(yes, we are “salsa” dancing at “The Worst Bar in Columbus” and yes, that is its real name, and yes, he is wearing sandals)
8. getting fancy ice cream and Jeni’s and Denise’s
9. going to the fancy OSU gym!!!

10. staying in a dorm for the first time in my life

11. meeting wonderful teaching colleagues from all over the country and learning from them
12. reading books that I want to read (see summer reading list, so far…)
13. seeing my grandparents in Centerville on the 4th of July
14. being in the sun of the summer

(yes, this is a picture of my tan line, and yes, I did make the decision to take this picture and then post

it)
15. running around campus and Columbus — My summer goal is 5 miles, but this is my route from today that is 4.88 miles…I am thinking about making a new goal ;)
( I am registered for a 5K in Manassas in August, in case anyone wants to join me ???)
16. seeing the silver lining when leaving your husband for a month really is hard

german food with the g’rents

my grandpa

This is an incredibly convenient yet intensely disturbing novelty I found in Newport, Kentucky on the 4th of July. Oh, the amazing luxuries of being an American.
You should listen to this song while you look at this picture: http://www.joepugmusic.com/audio/JOE_PUG-Hymn_101mp3.mp3

This was the message across the top of the door in my classroom for the first two years of my teaching. I believed then, as I still do, that learning is only as effective as our interaction with it, as salient as our contribution to the idea. Now there is a book that I am hoping to read by the name of We Think by Charles Leadbeater that seems to discuss this idea as a cultural shift that has application beyond hobbies and gaming, but that will impact business and the way people put food on the table. I think this shift has been the trend in education for a while and is certainly evident in many other aspects of culture. Church structure, in specific, is an area that will surely (and already has) reflect the cultural changes this book seems to assert for business and thinking.
So, what do you think?

Another book I am hoping to read that is of a similar subject (and publication date ) is Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, which is by Clay Shirky published by Penguin Group on February 28, 2008. According to the ubiquitous Wikipedia, this non-fiction text “Evaluates the significant role being played by technological advances on the formation and experience of modern group dynamics, citing such examples as Wikipedia and MySpace to demonstrate the Internet’s power in bridging geographical and cultural gaps.”
I am going to add it to my summer reading list.