The face is back

To sum up: I don't see why everyone complains about Socialized Medicine.

Last month my face stopped working. I was surprisingly calm about this but I figured freaking out in a van full of 10 other people wasn't the best idea ( Though perhaps I didn't consider the sympathy factor). It was an odd experience and it definitely freaked people out over the week.  Thankfully when we arrived I was able to arrange a trip to the A&E nearby in Coleraine with John, a classmate who grew up there and knew his way around.  Short version of the story is I went in, I told them my medicinal allergies, I told them my medical background, I told the nurse the issue, I waited 10 mins then told the doctor the issue, I walked out twenty minutes later with steroids, antibiotics, cream to keep the eye moist, an eye patch, and an understanding of what was happening to my face (Bell's Palsy due to an inflamed nerve ending) and a realization of what it could actually entail while I healed.  And no money paid.

After that experience and creeping people out for the next month while following the treatment plan, the face is now back. I can whistle, I can smile, I can wink, I can play an instrument.  It's all back and I'm glad.

Corymeela Pictures

This is my camera's sad attempt of a panoramic shot

Clouds over the Irish Sea

Rocky Cliffs

Wandering out on rock jetties 

This windmill powers the facility

This is the story telling group. LtR Hannah Sarah Les and Me in my full Bell's Palsy glory

Clear day over the Irish Sea

The whole crew

Wilhelm and Alistair the leaders of the week

The inimitable Lindsey trying to be terribly sneaky and ring the village bell

Sending shivers

Today's post comes after reading this blog.

Y'know how when you smack your funny bone it tingles....a lot?  I've heard about people having similar reactions in social situations and I thought I'd share mine.

For me its girls who read, and more than just that, they are informed.  I love listening to girls describe to me the plot and characters of books they are reading.  

I love being able to have educated, intelligent conversations about current topics. Its also a good laugh when having a discussion/debate and stopping and asking if they read such and such source and getting a laugh from that.

Daily Dose of Truth: Be Still My Soul

Daily Dose of Truth: Be Still My Soul: 1. Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;

- Relax! God will help you.

With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.

- Be patient and trust in His help. We each have our own "cross" to bear, our own challenges and trials to face, but Heavenly Father will help us overcome our grief and pain. Our trials are tests meant to strengthen us.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

- Again, Heavenly Father will provide a way to overcome your trials. Put your trust in Him. Lay your burdens out and He will shoulder the weight for you. If you rely on Him, you will soon see the order brought into your life through Him.

In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.

- No matter what happens, rely on your Savior. Be faithful and endure to the end.

Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

- Know your God. Learn of Him. Love Him. He is your Father and your friend. He will lead you to eternal life and happiness if you follow, obey, and endure.


2. Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.

- Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He guided those in Biblical times, and He will guide us today. He is our lighthouse. We can trust in Him to guide us to safety.

Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;

- Be faithful and immovable. Don't worry about what others think and don't let hardships cause doubt.

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

- Heavenly Father will reveal the truth of all things to us in due time. We must be patient. We cannot figure everything out in this life. A lot has to be left up to faith.

Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

- Just as our Savior calmed the stormy seas, He can calm the troubles in our life if we turn to Him.


3. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

- We must be prepared for when we will return to the Lord's presence. By being obedient and enduring through our trials we can be prepared to face our Father no matter when that hour shall come. And if we are steadfast in this life, we will be filled with joy at that moment.

Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

- The sorrows of this life will be behind us, and we shall be reunited with our brothers and sisters. What a wonderful time that will be!


This interpretation given by Danica Pearce.  Follow the link at the top to her blog.

Random Pics from the city

 They actually still use card catalogues out here. I was amazed when I went into the LInen Hall library and saw them.  Granted they deal with local geneology rather than the books there. I was still amazed to see one in use.  I had thought they'd been retired and sold to private owners who stored things like sewing thread and severed digits in it.

 This was a visitor on my kitchen window.

 Lula with the Hula
The Thing with the Ring
Thanksgiving Square Woman
It has way too many names

 So this is a random statue of sorts made of porcelain tiles with various local themes on them.

Supposedly it is good luck to kiss the thing

Local Occupiers

More of the Occupiers (there weren't terribly many)

About Crows and other Things

Today was stake conference and in yet another setting in the LDS church I heard the following John Ciardi Poem.

ABOUT CROWS

by John Ciardi

The old crow is getting slow;

the young crow is not.

Of what the young crow does not know,

the old crow knows a lot.

At knowing things, the old crow is still

the young crow’s master.

What does the old crow not know?

How to go faster.

The young crow flies above, below, and rings

around the slow old crow.

What does the fast young crow not know?

WHERE TO GO.

I was thinking that I'm going to be this old crow much longer than I was a young crow.  Now that I have a direction, at least through the end of my masters program, I need to make sure i'm using all my ability to get there.  Sometimes I can be distracted by things from facebook to hanging out to the possibility of getting a computer capable of playing games.  That's not to say distractions aren't always good, but one needs to surround themselves with the good kind of distractions such as indexing or playing music or wholesome fun of any sort. But that's off topic. 

Yogi Berra was said to have once said you can't go where you aren't going.  One thing i learned quickly after my mission was to talk to those old crows to get an idea as where to head for my college education since that would affect much of the rest of my life. I'm grateful for an handful of professors and others who guided me and were able to change my sense of success in life away from money and worldly things. 

I help run a drop-in for 11-14 year olds at a community center in East Belfast and at first I took my role as mostly just a facilitator, open the building set up the entertainment and food and let the kids go at it while supervising and making sure all was safe.  That view changed a bit after an incident last week and I came to the point where I realized that I need to form strong relationships with these kids.  As a responsible adult (horrid Idea I know) I can offer these kids views which will help them as they approach life.  I had a couple conversations which the kids involved in the incident and even though they were still a bit passionate and ticked about the issue we were able to come to an understanding where they could see the fallacy of their previous thinking and were able to step up on the building block provided them.

I shudder to think of myself as an old crow, but to these younguns being in my mid 20s makes me old.  I need to take advantage of this opportunity to share and teach but also to remember they have things they can teach also.

Identity

Here I sit trying to write a paper on the fluid identity of the Hutus and Tutsis distracted by my blog.  Usually my blog is one of those things I just go to to dump my recent thoughts on my readers (and also it helps put some form to them for myself).  While writing this paper my mind has been drawn to two events over the past week which in a way helped me a bit with my identity, or at least my direction.  I found myself when I was in High School thinking that identity was something that you based on whatever labels you stuck to yourself, whether those labels be from politics, religion, skin color, language, interests, hobbies, career, etc. I would watch political debates and anybody who changed their opinions based on new information would be called a flip-flopper.  It was as if once you made up your mind no more thought could be given to the idea, the decision had been made and you were stuck with it.  Thankfully now I understand the importance of being able to shift your position and even your identity based on greater experience and knowledge.

Instrument Humor

So I thought I would put some amusing images up which I have encountered recently. And also some classic music jokes.
What's the difference between a trampoline and a violin?  You take off your shoes to jump on a trampoline.
Why are orchestra intermissions limited to twenty minutes?  So you don't have to retrain the drummers
How many sopranos does it take to change a light bulb?  One, she holds up the bulb and the world revolves around her
How do you get a guitar player to play softer?  Give her sheet music
A conductor and violinist are standing in the middle of the road, which do you run over first?  The conductor, business before pleasure.
How do you get two flutes to play in unison?  Shoot one
Whats the difference between lawnmowers and saxophones?  Lawnmowers sound better in small ensembles.
the comic above btw is from tonedeafcomics.com

Me and Gaston

How I'm just as good or better than Gaston
1. Turning off intelligent women
2. Thick Headed
3. Hairy
4. Thinking I'm thinking
5. Coming up with zany plots
6. Quickly ascertaining the character of others
7. Going for the open and obvious shot
8. Seeing things through to the end

How Gaston is better at than me
1. Muscles
2. Guns
3. Interior decoration with animals
4. Sidekick and minions
5. Easily bowling over floozy girls
6. Eating Eggs
7. Cleft Chin
8. Spitting

Hrmm Why aren't I a Disney Villain

The Social Gospel

“Obama is not a brown-skinned anti-war socialist who gives away free health care. You’re thinking of Jesus,” jokes the popular comedian John Fugelsang. While offered as a comedic reflection the reality of the jest is no laughing matter, at least not in American politics these days and certainly not in the pews of American Christian churches.

Battle lines have been drawn between Progressive Christians and those of the more conservative Religious Right and the raging battle is to be found on the field of American politics. While this is not a new battleground for Christians it is at least one of the most contentious fights of the 21st century.

At stake is not only political ambition, with elections looming, but perhaps more importantly for people of the Christian faith, the understanding of what it means to be an American and a Christian in light of the Social Gospel.

The Social Gospel was an intellectual movement out of the early 1900’s within primarily the Protestant Christian church. It attempted to address community needs and social problems from a Christian sense of compassion, outreach, and civil contribution as much as it sought to define Christian ethics and responsibilities in terms of community activism launched from within the church. The movement has seen a resurgence in the last ten years.

In the debate on health care reform and various other social programs presented by the Obama administration, battle lines have been drawn and the call to arms sounded. In the cross hairs, to borrow a popular phrase, is the basic understanding of what it means to be a Christian and an American and to love your neighbor as yourself, caring for the poor, the oppressed, and those who are sick, indeed the “least of these.”

Br'er Abbot

31 ¶When the ^aSon of man shall come in his ^bglory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

 32 And before him shall be gathered all ^anations: and he shall^bseparate them one from another, as a ^cshepherd divideth his^dsheep from the goats:

 33 And he shall set the sheep on his ^aright hand, but the goats on the left.

 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his ^aright hand, Come, ye ^bblessed of my Father, ^cinherit the ^dkingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

 35 For I was an ^ahungred, and ye ^bgave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a ^cstranger, and ye took me in:

 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye ^avisited me: I was in ^bprison, and ye came unto me.

 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave theedrink?

 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

 39 Or when saw we thee ^asick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have ^adone it unto one of the ^bleast of these my ^cbrethren, ye have done it unto me.

 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the ^aleft hand, ^bDepartfrom me, ye ^ccursed, into everlasting ^dfire, ^eprepared for the devil and his angels:

 42 For I was an ^ahungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the ^aleast of these, ye did itnot to me.

 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.