in respone to Corrie's blog (which you can read by clicking on the link to the right) I have decided that a little more time needs to be spent on the controversial topic of Junior/Senior. More speicifcally, the topic of a guy and a girl going together even if they aren't romantically attached.
I don't know about you, but over my (highschool) years I definitely kept it to myself that I wanted specific guys to ask me to dances. And when I say guys, I mean that that number would fluxuate between 1 and 2. I would hope beyond hope that somehow this guy would get it inside of his head to ask me and, of course, we would have a great time together.
In my early years, I had no problem with asking guys. I was literally fearless. This eventually caught up to me, though, and the rejection that I felt let me know loud and clear that I wouldn't step out again in that area because it just wasn't worth it. Hence, I'm making my first trip to Wrigley field on the infamous April 14th occassion this year.
But let's forget about now.....I'm pretty sure that my hope endurance started in the eighth grade, because something that I actually hope for happened.
Picture this: student council dance, LMS Multi-Purpose Room, low lights, loud music, cheap cookies and generic soda. I liked this guy for 3 years-no kidding, 3 years! I don't know how I was still hopeful after that. I remember that it was the last dance of the year before we made the magical journey into highschool. I also remember that I was standing within my group of friends, drinking soda, and looking at this scrawny eighth grader that was standing in his group of friends twenty feet away, drinking soda, and looking at me.
This was the game we played in middle school-we could flirt with each other, but it didn't really mean anything because no one was old enough to do anything about it. I kept looking up and he was looking at me.
Then it happened.
The next time that I looked up, this kid was halfway across the floor, headed straight for me! I looked down again quickly and sipped my soda. Suddenly, I saw a pair of shoes standing right in front of me. I looked up.
"Emily, do you want to dance?"
Thus, even though my interest in the scrawny eighth grader (who eventually became a lanky high schooler) faded, my hope for guys acting exactly the way that I thought they would inside my head was fueled for the next three years at least. I acted out on this belief; I asked guys to dances only expecting them to say yes. After 3 rejections I was done. I decided that I would be fine with just going with my friends.
Somewhere within that time, I decided that I was okay on my own. It wasn't just all my doing; I found my niche in the area of leadership and found my confidence in an area that didn't hurt me when I asserted it.
During a discussion that was led with Dr. Hartley, we were asked the question: Do you feel bound by any stereotypes within our society? I immediately raised my hand and said that I felt bound by a stereotype in the Christian subculture: women being in leadership positions. This eventually led to the fact that guys tend not to ask out girls that are super confident. Also, the guys in the discussion elaborated on the fact that most guys think that quiet girls want to be pursued and that confident girls do not. To that I promptly replied, "Well, I sure hope that I can still be pursued!"
Dr. Hartley, in response, said: "My wife was a spiritual leader on campus. If someone would have said spiritual and Brian Hartley in the same sentence, they would have laughed. My wife helped me in so many areas. I think that the women who are confident and who are in leadership are some of the most attractive women on campus."
This is my beef with the whole dating situation in general.
But let's be honest-this is just Junior Senior!
Should guys have to know what is going on inside of Corrie's head? No.
Should they be afraid to ask her to go? No!
I really think that Corrie should go with a date. I also think that the first guy that asks her should not have been the only one that was thinking about asking her. Because let's be honest, out of all the guys that actually want to go to Junior Senior, they have to think about fun people to go with.
Corrie is one of the most fun people that I know.
Corrie-I'm glad that you're still holding out. We're in the same place, and you give me hope.
March 30, 2007
March 25, 2007
another interim existence
45 days of an interim existence part 2:
I would set up shop in a South American city and get involved in whatever local ministry was there: tutoring kids in English, bathing babies, playing with the orphans. I would get used to dust and being dirty (this may just be a stereotype, but I'm thinking that I would be in a poor area.) I would admire the adobe and bright colors. I would take pictures of all the dark haired children. I would wear long shorts and sandals....a lot.
My skin my get used to tanning after this alternate existence.
A blond haired, blue eyed, tan girl?
Maybe not.
Part 3:
I would travel to every Major Leage Baseball Stadium. My dad was actually planning on doing this with our family. It is the passion of my current room mate. In order for me to do it, I would need another fantasy magazine (Baseball Illustrated, of course) that would fund my excursion as I took pictures of the different parks and took in the ambience. I would write about the different stadiums and what it was like to experience them all at once, especially because people only attend one their entire life. Maybe my articles would appear journal style in fantasy Baseball Illustrated.
I would make it a point to talk to the people I sat next to. Maybe I would sit in the bleachers each game. Or maybe I would make it a point to sit at different vantage points at every stadium. I would notice things like the Flag Lady and the Sign Lady at Chase Field. I would buy a hot dog at every game. I would buy a piece of baseball paraphanelia specific to the home team at every game.
I'd truly be following all baseball players throughout their season. I would watch Sports Center every night because I would almost be a part of their world.
I would be living America's favorite past time.
Just some more thoughts on my interim existences.
They still all include people.
Next question: Can I find a job to support this lifestyle? : )
I would set up shop in a South American city and get involved in whatever local ministry was there: tutoring kids in English, bathing babies, playing with the orphans. I would get used to dust and being dirty (this may just be a stereotype, but I'm thinking that I would be in a poor area.) I would admire the adobe and bright colors. I would take pictures of all the dark haired children. I would wear long shorts and sandals....a lot.
My skin my get used to tanning after this alternate existence.
A blond haired, blue eyed, tan girl?
Maybe not.
Part 3:
I would travel to every Major Leage Baseball Stadium. My dad was actually planning on doing this with our family. It is the passion of my current room mate. In order for me to do it, I would need another fantasy magazine (Baseball Illustrated, of course) that would fund my excursion as I took pictures of the different parks and took in the ambience. I would write about the different stadiums and what it was like to experience them all at once, especially because people only attend one their entire life. Maybe my articles would appear journal style in fantasy Baseball Illustrated.
I would make it a point to talk to the people I sat next to. Maybe I would sit in the bleachers each game. Or maybe I would make it a point to sit at different vantage points at every stadium. I would notice things like the Flag Lady and the Sign Lady at Chase Field. I would buy a hot dog at every game. I would buy a piece of baseball paraphanelia specific to the home team at every game.
I'd truly be following all baseball players throughout their season. I would watch Sports Center every night because I would almost be a part of their world.
I would be living America's favorite past time.
Just some more thoughts on my interim existences.
They still all include people.
Next question: Can I find a job to support this lifestyle? : )
March 24, 2007
welcome to spring
Do you ever wish that you had an interim existence?
I'm reading this book right now called Whirligig. I'm pretty sure that I read it when I was in middle school, but basically it is about this 17 year old who has to go to the four corners of the US to build and set up whirligigs in memory of the teenager that he killed when he was driving drunk. The twist comes when readers find out that he was actually trying to kill himself when he was driving and the whirligig pennance act becomes life changing for him. The mother of the girl he killed bought him a 45 day bus pass to take him all across the country.
What would you do if you had a 45 day bus pass?
You would have an interim existence.
If I had an interim existence I would buy a hardback book with blank pages. Then I would go to the internet and print out as many pictures of bed and breakfasts that I could find from the Mississippi to the East. Then I would go. I would take pictures and write for magazines (Bed and Breakfast Weekly, most likely) and I would tour the places that I ended up. Not just any town can have a bed and breakfast. Bed and breakfast towns have kids that ride their bikes to the ice cream shop and people that walk their dogs after dinner because it's still warm outside. I'd do things like visit the local deli and rate the dill pickle that came with the roast beef sandwhich. I'd rate the softness of the pillow on my bed. And each room-oh, the description of each beautiful and unique room! Just to think of the sunshine that would bounce off of the walls topped with crowne molding.
This would go on for a month.
Then I would have to settle down.
You know, take a vacation from my vacation.
It takes a lot out of you-waking up to a relaxing morning, not doing anything until 3, strolling, putting on party dresses to attend the local hub-ub whatever.
But then, after all of that-living my interim existence, I would need to start phasing back into existence.
I would have to set up shop somewhere and invest.
So I'm thinking that I would spend my last 15 days on the East Coast: Bed and Breakfast on the Rocky Shore of some area where there wasn't a lot of people but a town up the road. Somewhere that was a little bit less beautiful then my stay at Prince Edward Island. I would make my room home for the next two weeks. I would walk down to the shore every night and write about what was going on with me. I would get to know the name of the baker in the bakery. I would play scrabble with the people in the living room of the house. I would go sailing with the cute man that (inevitably) lived two houses down the shore.
Even in my interim existence I would still need people. I would still need to be connected.
Sound good?
Maybe I'll do it someday.
The Bed and Breakfast Excursion.
I'm reading this book right now called Whirligig. I'm pretty sure that I read it when I was in middle school, but basically it is about this 17 year old who has to go to the four corners of the US to build and set up whirligigs in memory of the teenager that he killed when he was driving drunk. The twist comes when readers find out that he was actually trying to kill himself when he was driving and the whirligig pennance act becomes life changing for him. The mother of the girl he killed bought him a 45 day bus pass to take him all across the country.
What would you do if you had a 45 day bus pass?
You would have an interim existence.
If I had an interim existence I would buy a hardback book with blank pages. Then I would go to the internet and print out as many pictures of bed and breakfasts that I could find from the Mississippi to the East. Then I would go. I would take pictures and write for magazines (Bed and Breakfast Weekly, most likely) and I would tour the places that I ended up. Not just any town can have a bed and breakfast. Bed and breakfast towns have kids that ride their bikes to the ice cream shop and people that walk their dogs after dinner because it's still warm outside. I'd do things like visit the local deli and rate the dill pickle that came with the roast beef sandwhich. I'd rate the softness of the pillow on my bed. And each room-oh, the description of each beautiful and unique room! Just to think of the sunshine that would bounce off of the walls topped with crowne molding.
This would go on for a month.
Then I would have to settle down.
You know, take a vacation from my vacation.
It takes a lot out of you-waking up to a relaxing morning, not doing anything until 3, strolling, putting on party dresses to attend the local hub-ub whatever.
But then, after all of that-living my interim existence, I would need to start phasing back into existence.
I would have to set up shop somewhere and invest.
So I'm thinking that I would spend my last 15 days on the East Coast: Bed and Breakfast on the Rocky Shore of some area where there wasn't a lot of people but a town up the road. Somewhere that was a little bit less beautiful then my stay at Prince Edward Island. I would make my room home for the next two weeks. I would walk down to the shore every night and write about what was going on with me. I would get to know the name of the baker in the bakery. I would play scrabble with the people in the living room of the house. I would go sailing with the cute man that (inevitably) lived two houses down the shore.
Even in my interim existence I would still need people. I would still need to be connected.
Sound good?
Maybe I'll do it someday.
The Bed and Breakfast Excursion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
