What I've Been Reading on Spring Break

(Note: I tried to post this last night, but the internet connection freaked out on me, and since it was late I just went to bed instead. So classes have resumed, but I still wanted to put this up.)

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Without the kick-in-the-pants/fingernails-on-chalkboard incentive of classes, I do actually enjoy reading, both for pure pleasure and for my own edification. This week I've run the gamut of cotton candy to - well, if not steamed spinach (reportedly good for you but utterly uncomestible), at least a good granola. Here they are, for your own reading pleasure (or not), in the order in which I picked them up:

The Princess Bride (30th Anniversary Edition), William Goldman (fiction)
Nutritional value: Hot fudge sundae. It could be more sinfully delicious, but not a whole lot. And yet, there's some, uh, protein and calcium in there... somewhere...
Why: Recommended by an online friend as "better than the movie." If I had read the book first, I'm sure I would agree. But it's hard to top years of Cary Elwes and Robin Wright in your head. Still, the book does provide a lot more mind-teasing humor than the film. Intentionally short on closure and clarity, which drives me up the wall a little. As I'm sure it's meant to.
Grade: A/A-

Can You Keep a Secret?, Sophie Kinsella (fiction)
Nutritional value: Cotton candy. I can read about one book every three months that's this fluffy and sugary and still enjoy it.
Why: Long layover in the Pittsburgh airport, and I deserved it after the emotional stress of family stuff earlier in the week. Pretty funny, good sense of voice, but no real attempt at depth of any kind. I've read better in the same "chick-lit" genre.
Grade: C

The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations, Dan Kimball
Nutritional value: Granola. Crunchy, pretty thought-provoking (especially if you haven't already read half a dozen other books on related topics...), but very accessibly written.
Why: Okay, I have an academic and professional motivation for picking this up (independent study and work in young adult ministry), and my reasoning for trying to get through part of it during break is primarily to cut down on my workload during my final quarter in seminary. This does seem to be the most relevant book out there from an evangelical perspective trying to address current trends in reaching unchurched young people, but I'm having a hard time sticking with it long enough during break to actually make progress.
Grade: B+

The Dirty Girls Social Club, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (fiction)
Nutritional value: I really wanted to come up with something clever and culturally relevant here, like nachos or quesadilla con pollo or platanos fritos or something, but I'm pretty sure all of my reference points would be offensive to Latino/a people. Let's see... how about batido de mango, a mango smoothie? One of my favorite (daytime) drinks when I lived in Venezuela - sweet and rich and fruity so it has to be a little good for you, right?
Why: I was looking for something light but still interesting at the local branch of the public library. The Boston setting, girlfriend-group approach (alternating first person perspectives from each of the six main characters), and Latina culture caught and held my attention. As a white girl with only a bunch of northern European ancestors on both sides, I can't say for sure how "authentic" it is, but it seems to ring true (to me, at least) in the diversity of experiences, voices, and perspectives it contains. Honest and lively and a little heartbreaking at times. And I stayed up late the night before classes started to finish it.
Grade: A

And now, onward to spring quarter and my last 10 weeks of forced reading for at least a few years, I hope.

Sweet Release

We interrupt this program to bring you breaking (well, sort of) news:

I have finished my finals! (Yay! Hurrah! Praise Jesus!)

May there be much rejoicing throughout the land. Kerryland, that is.

Now if I can just stay conscious long enough to pack for a trip back east, I can sleep several hours tomorrow on the plane.

Here's hoping the snow in Boston will let up by early afternoon so my flight can land.

We now return to regularly scheduled programming, already in progress.

Confession

Apropos of nothing, I would like to say how relieved I am that Lorelai and Luke are back together on Gilmore Girls. There's enough heartache in my own life - I can't have my TV friends and heroes falling apart too.

Yes, I am a 26-year-old grad student who watches the WB. During finals.

In my defense, I dare you to find a funnier show about strong, smart women.

(Never mind that I also watch Everwood... hey, it's set in Colorado, I'm in Colorado... uh... yeah.)

While I'm on a TV rant, what fool decided to move Alias to Wednesday nights opposite West Wing? How am I supposed to get my smart-liberal-politics fix and my strong-woman-kicking-ass fix when I also have to lead choir rehearsal and can't tape both?!

A Poem I Didn't Write

Worst thing about a school year based on quarters: It's March, and I'm in the midst of finals.

Compounding that misery, it's been in the 50s and 60s consistently the last couple weeks, and as a former New Englander I feel like I ought to be out making the most of it (especially since most of my spring break will be spent back in the 35-degree snowiness of yore).

So to aid in my procrastination (hey, I'm more than halfway through the 48 pages I will have turned in by Friday), I present you with a poem that I did not write, but which I love. (Please don't tell Mr. Larkin, as I don't have permission, but it's too great not to share.)

"Water"

If I were called in
To construct a religion
I should make use of water.

Going to church
Would entail a fording
To dry, different clothes;

My litany would employ
Images of sousing,
A furious devout drench,

And I should raise in the east
A glass of water
Where any-angled light
Would congregate endlessly.

-- Philip Larkin

Greetings & salutations!

Welcome to my brand-new blog!

Not sure yet what I'll focus on here, but I welcome your comments. Just please try not to prove to me that it's impossible to be liberal and a Christian. We do exist, and there are more of us than you might think! (Genuine questions about what that means are welcome.)

Beyond that, I find real value in established religion, in my case the United Methodist Church, as uncool as that is these days. Spirituality is an important part of religion, but when it's set loose as its own esoteric option, it tends to lose the support and accountability that communities can provide.

Granted, the church has its own issues, and plenty of them, which is part of why I identify with liberal/progressive movements (theologically and politically). Renewal, adaptation, and ongoing reinterpretation of the tradition are crucial to the continuing vitality of institutionalized religion - at the same time that the stories, songs, symbols, rituals, and events of the tradition through history provide an important counterbalance to society's emphasis on the new and the now.

Well, that's my starting-point. Who knows where the journey will take us!