Update

Hey folks,

I know it's been a long time since I posted last. It's hard to see how I will be able to post regularly. I don't have much motivation to post right now, because I'm in regular contact with a few people from home, and have lots of friends here. I'm sure there are lots of people who read the blog and I don't really know about it (sort of like the blogs I read). But it doesn't provide any reinforcement. Also, I feel like most of the things I do on a daily basis are not really post-worthy (i.e. I went to class today), while the questions I wrestle with in a deeper sense also don't really lend themselves to blogging (i.e. What is the meaning of life?). Furthermore, I have a lot of other more immediate pressures or interests (e.g. homework, or the kitchen is a mess, or there is this amazing book I could be reading). I've given a lot of excuses, here's my last one: The type of writing I do doesn't tend to lend itself to the type of time slot that I would have free to write (i.e. I write long rambling narratives, but I have limited time (and attention span)for writing).

All that aside, I'm still here. I decided as I was walking home tonight, having forgone an a (potentially) amazing talk on human trafficking, because my advisor had brought dinner to share after our discussion group (and didn't anticipate that others would have to leave immediately after - we all thought we'd eat during). So some others left but I stayed (and I don't regret it). This illustrates a couple of things which I like about my situation: There are frequent presentations regarding social justice on a whole range of topics from a wide variety of speakers; I have a great discussion group and network of relationships within it, that capture my attention. So those are a couple of the highlights.

A couple of other things I'm looking forward too...

There is a leadership retreat with ASC (The seminary's version of student council) this upcoming weekend. I'm not a part of the council but the retreat is open and I'm really looking forward to it. It will be about 1.5 hours away, towards Santa Barbara, and if the list of things to bring is an indication, it will be somewhat wilderness-y. A couple of my really good friends are going, so that is cool, but I will also have a chance to meet some others.

The other thing is that I have a meeting tomorrow with a lady from Union Station Foundation, which is an organization in Pasadena that helps the homeless and low-income families. I'm going to volunteer some time to work with them, probably starting in March. The lady I'm meeting with tomorrow works with a program to give job skills and assist in job searches. So it should give me some interaction which I'm looking forward to.

Okay, so that's all I've got energy for right now. The Oilers lost and I'm kind of sad about that, but I'm not too broken up because I've had to distance myself emotionally, since they've been bad since about November. We'll see when I post again. If I shoot for shorter posts, maybe just addressing one theme, it will help. I'll keep it in mind. Peace upon you.