2 Things on My Female Brain

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First, this unrelenting heat!!

Secondly, it's premier week for several of my favorite TV shows. I guess this is one of my annual fall rituals (though I don't tape the show if I'm not at home....I'm not that addicted!). I can remember, though, as a child getting excited about the premier of new shows: cartoons on Saturday morning, sit-coms at night. Remember, we only had 3 channels and maybe a UHF and/or PBS one. Now the premiers are staggered throughout the year, but I'm still a major network person (a holdover from modernity). Last night was "CSI: Miami" which is not my favorite. My assessment of the series: more detective, less science; too many goofy, dramatic one-liners by David Caruso as he is exiting a crime scene. Last night was no exception to the rule. Still, I usually watch it. But if I have an 8:00 the next morning, I probably won't stay up for it. Tonight is "Law and Order: SVU", a favorite, but I'm afraid they "jumped the shark" last year with the near-romance of Elliot and Olivia. One of the reasons I have loved "Law and Order" through the years is that it has not focused on personal lives of the detectives or lawyers as much. Oh well. What we all really look forward to is the CSI premier on Thursday night, though we may be getting too involved in the personal lives of Grissom and Sarah. By the way, she is my least favorite character on the show.

Female-Brained

Your Brain is 67% Female, 33% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

On Racisim, Naivete and School Boards

At a high school assembly on Aug. 30, 2006, a black freshman asked the assistant principal whether African-Americans could sit under a tree that had traditionally been used only by whites.

The school official replied, "You can sit anywhere you want."

The next morning, students arrived at classes to find the nooses -- two black, one gold, the official school colours. After learning three white students were responsible, Scott Windham, the principal, recommended they be expelled for the year.

A school board committee ruled the incident was a prank without racial overtones and reduced the punishment to an in-school suspension. (National Post)

God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board. (Mark Twain)

Wonderful Week-end, Wonderful Family

I am blessed to be the Matriarch (that makes me sound sound really old!) of a wonderful, loving and fun family with a great sense of humor (yes the family has a sense of humor!). We enjoy similar jokes and stories so it's a collective sense of humor.

On Friday, Leslie's birthday, we had a family dinner at home with cheese and chocolate fondue and salad. Lots of fun! Afterward, we watched "The Empire Strikes Back" because Leslie has not been exposed to the Star Wars trilogy before last week-end when we watched "Star Wars".

Saturday was spent in Harriman at an National Barrel Horshe Association show. The weather was wonderful, cooler and breezy. I actually had to wear a denim jacket! Leslie and Sweetie did great. Their times were better than ever!

Sunday was church day, of course. Corky and I taught on the Reformation which seemed well-received by the class. Pastor Travis preached a great and prophetic sermon. Dinner was a fundraising dinner provided by the Student Ministries. Corky and I took Lex for a nap at his home afterward then returned to church for choir practice and the evening service. After church we ate leftover fundraiser food at Hope and Josh's and the final installment "Return of the Jedi". I must admit I fell asleep, not from boredom but from exhaustion. Lex enjoyed playing in the floor with all his new birthday toys.

I don't use the term wonderful loosely. I am filled with wonder that I've been so blessed!

Dame Anita Roddick: 1942-2007

NY Times Obituary for Anita Roddick, Body Shop founder.
Early this morning, while driving to the Seminary, I heard the news of Roddick's death.
I first read of Roddick while studying in England and was impressed with her approach to doing business. The Body Shop was one of my favorite diversions while in England; there seem to be Body Shops on every high street (just as there are Starbuck's shops now).

Here's to one woman who fought for what she believed in and made women all over the world aware.

Lex is One!

A Tribute to Laborers

PSALM OF THOSE WHO GO FORTH BEFORE DAYLIGHT

The policeman buys shoes slow and careful; the teamster buys gloves slow and careful; they take care of their feet and hands; they live on their feet and hands.

The milkman never argues; he works alone and no one speaks to him; the city is asleep when he is on the job; he puts a bottle on six hundred porches and calls it a day's work; he climbs two hundred wooden stairways; two horses are company for him; he never argues.

The rolling-mill men and the sheet-steel men are brothers of cinders; they empty cinders out of their shoes after the day's work; they ask their wives to fix burnt holes in the knees of their trousers; their necks and ears are covered with a smut; they scour their necks and ears; they are brothers of cinders.
(Carl Sandburg)

My mother's father was employed by TVA in the construction of the Fontana Dam. I only knew him years later, as my Papaw Newton, a Church of God pastor in North Carolina. But the work ethic which made him a great minister was partially developed in those days as a welder for TVA.

"The workers put in seven-day weeks. They labored around the clock to get the job done, three shifts a day. Those on the night shift worked under floodlights. Even if they had time off, there wasn’t much to do with it. Gas rationing meant that most workers stayed on the site for months on end, although few had cars anyway. Fontana was so remote that commuting was impossible."

I am blessed to be paid to do what I am gifted to do: research, writing and teaching; but I recognize that I would not be where I am without the men and women who labor for long hours, doing physically challenging work. On Labor Day, I am reminded to pay homage to them.

Life in Tennessee

As indicated earlier, my school year has begun. This week was exhausting; the first week always is: early classes (Wed. and Thurs. 8:00's), long evenings preparing, meeting and greeting students in addition to all regular duties.

The week-end has been complicated (and enhanced) with two All-American projects: 1) the family embarked on a DIY project and 2) Corky and I began teaching a new Sunday School class at Lovell Heights. We have entered into both projects with some trepidation.

First, the DIY project. We are re-doing the basement floor. Friday we pulled up the old carpet and Saturday began a chemical process of dissolving the remaining coating of yellow, jute-impressed, carpet glue. This removal project is continuing even as I write. Next, the floor will be given an epoxy-coating. Of course, it is more involved than first imagined. And, most of you know this about us, we are not DIY-ers. Thanks to Hope, Josh and Justin for volunteering their services to help the residents of 154 Holt Drive in Loudon.

Then, there's the new SS class. Lovell Heights is doing a kind of 3-month electives cycle of SS offerings. This is the second quarter. Corky and I are teaching a class called "Great Awakenings", a survey of revival movements. We have great hopes and ideals. Somewhere in the early part of my introduction this morning, I realized I am teaching the Sanctuary Class, an institution. Enough said.