the green fields beyond

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Location: Charles City, Virginia, United States

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Accomplishments large and small

Some quick, unrelated updates:

My beautiful genius of a wife now has her Master's degree! Huzzah! Let me take a minute to say how proud I am of this woman. In six years, she finished Westminster's rigorous and course-heavy Master of Divinity (Counseling) degree program (which includes a strong dose of two ancient languages as well as a constellation of other subjects), and the whole time she was also working 35 to 45 hours a week at a demanding job, staying actively involved in her church, writing wicked haiku, and (in the last few years) meeting and enchanting and building a marriage with a high-maintenance guy from down South. Feel free to be jealous of this lucky guy :)
The WTS graduation ceremony was beautiful and bittersweet (lots of friends graduating, but tears for a student recently dead and for a beloved professor fighting terminal cancer). Both my parents and Mel's came to town for the weekend, our Philadelphia pastors were both present, and Peter, our pastor from Virginia, was able to come up as well. We got some nice snapshots, and i hope to post them in the next few days.

The Jeopardy! thing: the audition was a ton of fun, with me and a few other twentysomethings joined by lots of teachers and librarians (and at least one defense attorney, who claimed that he would use any game-show winnings for debauchery and vice. Hmmm). The folks from the show knew that we were all a bunch of geeks, and they jumped right into the geekiness with us--whipping us into a frenzy like a bunch of gladiators about to enter the Colosseum, etc. We took a 50-question written test, which i think i did really well on; then we played a brief practice game (maybe 5 minutes for each set of three people). It really is a lot harder when you're standing in front of an audience than it is when you're just yelling out the answers at the TV screen. Also the buzzer strategy is key. But i did pretty well; i correctly answered a question about Virginia Woolf, one about U2, and a couple others. Then we had to tell a little something about ourselves, and MAN! there were some good stories. One lady had recently donated a kidney to save her husband's life, another said she would give all her winnings to help refugees...and there was the usual assortment of weird talents.
Anyway, they won't tell us how we did. We just have to wait for a phone call that says, "We're taping your episode in L.A. in 3 weeks. Get out here." That call could come tomorrow, or at any time up to one year from the date we auditioned. So i've decided to put it out of my mind and not pin any hopes on it. If they call, they call.
Oh, and i got a cool "Jeopardy!" pen.
And no, Alex Trebeck was not there.


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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Art's confession

Ancient language scholar, fitness instructor, and new urban missionary...my friend Art has a lot on his plate. But he's got his priorities straight. Take two minutes to read why he cries in church every week.
(and i'm going to embarrass him by saying right here that he's single, ladies...)

Exam update: 4 down, 1 to go (on Friday morning). I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.


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Friday, May 05, 2006

...if it ain't got that swing

I'm back after a short pause. Mel and I have just turned in our last papers of the school year (for Mel, the last one of her whole Master's degree---Hurrah!). Copies available upon request, for those of you who are interested in our humble opinions on Joshua 6 or the Song of Songs.
in the meantime, here's a fun event for anyone who's in the area (and as my wife points out, it's a great free date, hint hint):

On the Off Beat:Jazz and the Gospel

An evening of performance and commentary
on the music and origins of Jazz
with Bill Edgar (Professor at Westminster Seminary, and accomplished jazz pianist)

Thursday May 11, 7:30pm
Trinity OP Church, 151 W. County Line Road, Hatboro

The music and culture of Jazz derive from the life of African Americans whose historical context was both immensely difficult and, at the same time, spiritually powerful. On May 11th all are invited to learn and to enjoy a medley of lecture and performance that will take you into the spiritual power of this amazing music and the history that lies behind it.

All welcome; light refreshments provided; discussion to follow; nursery available for young children.
For more info, visit www.trinityopchurch.org


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