Still Here, Still Kicking

Life has been insane for the both of us.
We both have moments where we turn to the other and say "we should post this on the blog"
Sadly I do not recall any of those off the top of my head.

In other news it is October.
Weather is changing but still not all that cold.
The stray cat Greyhawk wants to be held on occasion.
The both of us are behind in various school projects and struggling.

What is the expression...life is what happens when you're busy?
We're living life for certain then.
Research.
Papers.
Cards.
Music.
Four failed laptops in two weeks (that's just me though).
Video games.
Burn Notice.
Classic Doctor Who.

Trying to reconcile thousands of year of religion, personal spirituality, scriptures, tradition and this Divine Madman know as Jesus who brought all of this into being by words.

I have papers piling up, hundreds of pages to read, a new novel to start next month and a Masters thesis to spin into existence sometime between now and May.

Veronica is trying to pull together her senior project/thesis/experiment, put together an adventure in France than spend a year there teaching.

We're both trying to figure out where we are on this tiny blue orb spinning in sync with an exploding nuclear star that is just a few paces away.

As always we need your prayers.
-Simon

"I've been in every black hole
At the altar of the dark star
My body's now a begging bowl
That's begging to get back
Begging to get back to my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my unconsciousness
To the rhythm that yearns
To be released from control

I was punching in the numbers 
At the ATM machine
I could see in the reflection 
A face staring back at me
At the moment of surrender
Of vision over visibility
I did not notice the passers-by
And they did not notice me

I was speeding on the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down 'til the pain will stop"
-U2, At the Moment of Surrender 

Divergence

Through my life, I have been known primarily for being quiet, innocent, stubborn, and intelligent. They're certainly all nice qualities to have in their own ways, but only being noticed when people cover my ears while they curse, when I get in someone else's way, or when I muscle through a subject with intellectual horsepower instead of proper understanding gets very, very old. Focusing my life on my intelligence makes things a whole lot easier, but it's also killed my work ethic, and it's far from fulfilling. I almost think I'd rather focus my life on beauty.

Not beauty in a worldly sense, ick, no. No orange skin, plastic surgery, or chandelier earrings for me. I want the beauty that is God. In my holistic Catholic worldview, God is the Absolute Good - there can be nothing better - and that Good encompasses Truth, Love, and Beauty. Beauty is the physical dimension of Truth and Love, and it runs deeper than the sexual appeal that passes for beauty at times - though properly ordered sexuality is a good, and is beautiful. Beauty in absolute terms means, to me, everything that reflects the Creator, and therefore it is everywhere.

The "problem" with such an aesthetic is that it cannot be truly appreciated at top speed. A sunset or a cathedral may be striking enough to force the necessary slowing down, but is a child? A stack of neatly folded towels? A piece of moss, such as the one I have been nursing on a twig for the last week? A dead man's life story? I want to believe that there is beauty in everything, but my cynical heart and my crazy life are not making it easy. The more I try to prioritize toward love and beauty, the more trouble I run into with people who think I'm prioritizing wrongly. That I need to get back to my schoolwork; that I can live later. If I don't learn how to live now, though, I don't know when I ever will.

Living up to my academic potential was supposed to be fulfilling for me, I suppose, or maybe it's just what was expected of me all these years. I have two extremely intelligent parents whose college GPAs were in the 3.9 range, and who always knew I was capable of doing the same. Mentally, yes, I'm capable of it. I'm also capable of cooking fabulously, taking good care of Simon when he's in too much pain to walk, and knitting ridiculously complicated lace - all of which I would much rather do than obsess over my schoolwork. (As evidenced by my writing this post instead of the final exam essay due in 6 hours.) If I applied myself only to school and to nothing else, I'd be valedictorian, but I'd go crazy in the process. So what if I "only" have a 3.74 average? I sure as anything don't care. I'm taking an academic direction where I'll be more appreciated for my ideas than for my grades anyway, and I have no problem producing ideas; I can be really dedicated when I want to. Maybe I really am undisciplined. Maybe it's just that famed stubbornness. Maybe I just have realized that while academics were what got my parents where they wanted to go, they're not necessarily going to do the same for me.

What am I going to do with myself, then? I don't know; I'm still figuring that out. I'm certainly not marrying into money or attempting to make the search for beauty into a career. I think my goal right now is just to live, and live happily. I've come at my life very fast, am graduating very young, and still carry myself as if I were much older...I just want to slow down for a while and remember the love of God.

Is that too much to ask?

--Veronica--

Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup

This may be slightly obvious, but I'm essentially using these posts as a way to remember recipes I threw together without writing much down at the time. Yay for taking advantage of the cloud in the cheapest way possible! :) Without further ado, here then is the chicken noodle soup that Simon and I both liked very much even though we both hate chicken noodle soup. I still don't know why I thought it was a good idea to try something we both hate, but it did make me feel a lot better about my cooking skills. Very (VERY) loosely based on this recipe here.

Miss Veronica's Totally-Awesome, One-Hour, Welcome-Home, Safe-For-Dental-Work, I-Just-Paid-The-Bills-So-Let's-See-What-We-Have-In-The-Cabinets Chicken Noodle Soup

Servings: 4-6
Cooking time: about an hour

Ingredients
3 frozen chicken breasts
1 can chicken broth
water
beef bouillon concentrate
dried parsley flakes
dried thyme
1 bay leaf
~2 cups dry rotini noodles
1 can sliced carrots
garlic salt
pepper

Instructions


Thaw out the chicken. If you got Simon or his roommate to stick it in the fridge this morning, great. If not, dump the frozen chicken breasts in a pot of water, turn the heat on about 3 or 4, and let that sit for 15 minutes or so until they thaw.

Pull out the pieces of chicken and cut them into smallish pieces. Dump out the water, scrub all the fat off the bottom of the pot, and put the pot back on the stove with the chicken and the broth. Add water to cover the chicken by an inch or so and put in about half a teaspoon of beef bouillon concentrate. Just make it smell good. Also put in parsley and thyme until it smells even better and drop in a bay leaf. Put all the spices away, scrub the cutting board with antibacterial dish soap, and turn up the heat until the broth boils. Skim off all the foam, turn it back down to a simmer, and sit back and study Systems Architecture for 15 or 20 minutes until the biggest piece of chicken is done all the way through.

Pull the chicken back out and stick it on a plate under a paper towel to cool down. Put noodles in the pot until it looks about right compared to the amount of chicken on the plate. Congratulate yourself on finding a use for that can of carrots Simon's mother gave you, drain it, and add the carrots along with more water and bouillon concentrate and some garlic salt. Simmer until the noodles are done, probably about another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, pull the cooled chicken pieces into shreds until they look like a size that would be good in soup. Put them back in when the noodles are cooked and leave the soup on the stove until it's all back to a comfortable temperature. Remove the bay leaf to avoid a repeat of the Thai chicken curry incident, add pepper to taste, and serve hot.

Re: "On the Difference Between Public and Private Christian Schools"

For the Record:
1.My spelling was so bad because of being tired/half asleep.
2.Veronica goes to a public university but went to a private secondary school, whereas I went to a private university and public secondary school.
3.I'm taller, ergo I win.
-Simon

"Painted in Twilight"

Dust in the fading light,
catching the eye
as  the wind catches,
cradles us
in a loving embrace.
-Simon

Veronica's Videos - Feeding the Positivity Monster

My negativity monster gets fed far too much as it is, so in the interests of helping my positive thoughts along, I'm making a post of things on Youtube that make me happy. (It got too long for a Facebook status.)

1) Trout Fishing in America - "The Window"

Trout Fishing in America's children's music is perfect for delightful absurdity. This song, "A Proper Cup of Coffee," "I Think I'll Need A Band-Aid"...they may ostensibly be kids' songs, but Keith and Ezra are funny enough that it doesn't matter.

2) Kristen Schaal - "Mel's Video Blog"

I'm watching the whole series of vlogs start to finish because it's just that hilarious to me. Simon finds the character of Mel from the Flight of the Conchords' TV series to be rather disturbing, but I love her...it probably has something to do with the number of  fangirls I know who act just like this, but who aren't considered creepy because the objects of their stalkerish affection are either fictional or dead.

3) The Magic School Bus - "Busasaurus"

Arnold is so awesome in this episode - it's super cute. :) The Magic School Bus books were one of those things that I ended up reading despite being a bit old for them when they were being published. (I was even past the Magic Tree House level, I think, though I happily read those too.) Now, I just really want to dress like Ms. Frizzle and see what my students say...love those Triceratops shoes. I'm such a nerd.

4) Les Miserables, French Concept Album - "Dites-Moi Ce Qui Se Passe"

Am I right in thinking that you don't have to speak French to get why this is funny, as long as you know the context? Here Javert is arresting poor Fantine for assaulting Bamatabois, and, gee, could the background music sound more peppy? Of course, if you do speak French, you get to imagine Javert and the chorus doing a little skippy dance as they call her a slut and say she ought to be thrown in prison so she can get back in her right mind. (The OFC lyrics are much...darker than the English.)

5) Babyschwimmen

This video perplexes me. It should be terrifying, given that my first submersion experience was rather traumatic and has kept me ever since in deadly fear of Not Being Able to Touch the Bottom of the Pool, but...it's just...beautiful. None of the babies look afraid at all. They've even got their eyes open in wonder and awe. I wish I could be so fearless.

6) FLUFFY KITTEN.

26 seconds of fluffy, short-legged cuteness. <3

And that's it because it's 2:30 and I'm tired. But, finally, not depressed.

--Veronica--

The Difference Between Public and Private Christian Schools

{Veronica helps out at her university's chili cook-off, gets bored, and decides to text Simon about her team's tent-mates. Edited because Simon can't spell when he's panicked.}

V: Yay for sharing a tent with the drunk frat kids!
V: From the other side of the tent: "Ok, I'm gonna go not sober up."
V: "I knew we should have started the whiskey earlier..."
V: ...they should not be allowed to play with propane tanks and lighters in their present condition! (No one was hurt, but there was a small fireball there...)
S: Oh god are you okay????
V: Yes!! Yes I'm fine! I was standing a few feet away and my shoe got pretty hot for a minute and the pop scared me, but nothing caught fire!
S: :((( god sorry sorry for not being there
V: Dear it's fine! They haven't messed with it since, i'm fine.
S: *hug*
V: *hug* Don't worry, darling. I'm fine. I'm being the booth decoration. :)
V: I'm more worried for them...the girl keeps almost falling into their chili pot.
S: No teachers are in charge??
V: No - we're adults...public school, remember?
S: Ohh...
V: Yes - no church-mandated chaperones. ;)
S: Oh, right.