Last Call

Monday, I start the spring semester, complete with teaching duties (Wednesday mornings are going to be a pain), but lacking in classes for me to take.  As such, a relatively low-productivity break comes to an end.  But, I did accomplish some things over the past five or six weeks.

• Spent Christmas (and completed the requisite shopping, etc.) with family, finding out some interesting facts in the process.
• Gave a sermon on some of the mistakes in traditional Christmas imagery (if you want an emailed copy, let me know).
• Read a paper my advisor wanted me to read over break.
• Finished half of the regular season academic tournament math questions.
• Proctored a qualifying exam, earning $60 for sitting on my rear end for four hours.
• Started using the online dating account.  Whether or not it shows any utility remains to be seen.
• Created a professional web page.  I just have to add the html files to the public folder on the department's network.
• Spent some time with friends.  Easily one of the more enjoyable parts of break.

So, break was more productive than I anticipated.  May the same be said for the spring semester.

Proverbs 11:29

Today, one of the more heinous crimes that can be committed against a democratic republic occurred in Arizona.  A crowd meeting with their congresswoman was gunned down outside a grocery store.  The congresswoman was shot in the head, but is expected to survive.  Six others, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, were not so lucky.  Almost immediately, the reader comments on CNN's website devolved into accusations of either the liberals or the conservatives being behind the attack.

As of the time of writing this post, the gunman's motives have not been made public.  But what does it say that people are willing to believe the opposite political side would be behind this attack?  It says that the level of political discourse in this country has hit rock bottom.  This is in no small part due to the rhetoric from the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, and others on the extreme right and left.  Using loaded terms such as "communist" and "fascist" only serve to dehumanize the other side.  Such a level of discourse does a great disservice to a republic committed to the civil debate of the issues.  Neither side is committed to the destruction of the country, as neither side has nothing to gain by it. 

Ultimately, it appears that the face of this tragedy will be the Arizona congresswoman, and to a lesser extent, the slain federal judge.  But maybe the face of this shooting should be the face of that nine-year-old girl.  A girl who was with her parents to do some shopping, or perhaps with her parents to see the democratic process in person as a lesson, but was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Now, it is a bit early to say if this shooting was politically motivated.  But from the reactions today, we all know it could very well be.  If it was not politically motivated, we should consider this a warning to tone down the rhetoric.  Take a few seconds and think of a couple of good things that the other political side has done for the country.  An adversarial system is okay, so long as it is not taken to extremes.  Otherwise, we may see more of these nine-year-old girls in similar situations. 

Abraham Lincoln once compared the United States to a house.  (That whole, "a house divided against itself cannot stand," thing.)  And this brings me to the title of this post.  These political pundits and "leaders" who demonize the opposite side at every turn should heed this verse from Proverbs: "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind."  And probably lead to the destruction of more innocent people.

In the Beginning (of 2011)

The new year is off to an interesting start, and all indications are that this trend will continue, at least for a while.  So, here is a forecast of sorts for me for 2011.

• Last night, I went to a trivia night at a bar in Baltimore with Oscar, Laura, and some of Oscar's friends from Baltimore.  I definitely see a good probability of me going the next couple of weeks.  I'll have to see when I teach to make a decision about the semester.
• I have officially advanced to candidacy.  With this comes a step increase (read: pay raise).  I also will no longer be taking classes, at least for a grade.  I may sit in on the occasional class but not worry about the assignments.  But 2011 will be the first year since 1990 I take no classes for a grade.
• I may have to get a passport this year.  My advisor mentioned the possibility of sending me to a conference in Italy for a week during the summer.  Hooray for my advisor's grants paying for it.
• If I don't make some progress on the dating front this year, I'm probably in big trouble. If I do make it to 2012 with the streak of no dates still intact, I will hereby give my friends the authority to act on my behalf with no veto from me.  (There, you have it in writing.)  Not that you guys can't try set-ups this year, but in 2011, I will still retain veto power.
• It looks like I may be off the hook for preaching the rest of the year.  The council president thinks the council has found an interim pastor.  There are still some details to work out, so this could be a false stand-down.  But in any case, the sermon seemed to go well.  I've had to email the written copy out to about half a dozen people.
• Here's hoping we don't see the snowfall this winter we saw last winter.
• I now have a couple of weeks of boredom ahead of me since I finished reading that paper yesterday.
• One set of math questions sent out, six more sets to go.

After finishing this, I realize that December will be fun when I revisit this list and look at its accuracy, or lack thereof.

May everyone have an enjoyable 2011.

As the Decade Ends

As 2010 draws to a close, I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  Sure, I had some good moments this year, but I also had some not-so-good moments.  There were also some things this year that I can't label as either good or bad.  So, without further ado, here is the year in review.

First, the good:

• I advanced to candidacy (okay, this isn't official until the first of the new year, but the work and paperwork was completed in 2010).
• The first wedding in my group of friends went off (congrats, Mairead and Alex).
• Reunion weekend in June was a good way to spend a summer (okay, late spring) weekend.  Among other things, I went sailing for the first time in my life (yes, I was a bad SMCM student).
• I have been much more social this year than in previous years.  Well, it seems so, anyway.
• I now get to write the ATT math questions for Frederick County.

Now, the low-lights of the year:

• I now have only one living grandparent.
• It has been over 3.5 years since my last date; over 4.5 years since I've had a girlfriend.  Granted, I sort of knew going in that 2010 was probably not going to be the year to break this streak.
• *Bleep* Snowmageddon.
• It took Pepco a week in July to restore power after a thunderstorm.  
• Frederick County put the patients in charge of the mental health facility known as the county government.

And the things I can't quite label:

• My church's preacher left.  Thus, I've had to serve and preacher a couple of weeks (and start off 2011 doing so, as well).  While I enjoy preaching every once in a while, I'm a little worried how long this may last.
• More seniority in the math department means more responsibilities (like helping with orientation and proctoring qualifying exams).

So, while my 2010 has been better than that of many others, I think I'm ready for 2011 (more on that in the next post).

Christmas=???

While Christmas was good (among other things, I did receive everything I asked for on my admittedly short list), there were definitely some, shall I say, interesting moments. 

1. The Lutheran pastor at Mount Tabor (of the other congregation at my church) jokingly referred to me as a colleague as the "UCC pastor" at Christmas Eve service.  I know I've preached twice since the UCC pastor left (okay, three times after next Sunday), but what?
2. Having two cats high on catnip in the room Christmas morning makes opening presents more difficult than it should be.
3. I got hints that it has crossed my parents' minds to consider a move to Utah.  Can you say, "out of the blue," boys and girls?  However, I don't know how serious the considerations are.
4. My sister admitted to an illegal, but not surprising, activity at Christmas dinner.  Hey, I tried playing Law and Order and advised her to keep quiet.  Unfortunately, two glasses of wine have significantly more influence than an older brother.  I also found out that my dad's drinking may have surpassed my drinking in quantity over the past few months.  (Granted, this doesn't mean much.)
5. The people who made the Bushisms desk calendars are back in business.  They owe John McCain a few bodily limbs for introducing the nation to Sarah Palin.
6. Wait, did the Redskins just beat the Jaguars?
7. Boxing Day "snowstorm" = dud in the DC area.  In the span of 24 hours, six to ten inches became one to two inches.  (Insert your own joke here.)  After last winter, I'm not complaining about this development.

Well, that's the Christmas recap.  Expect what have become the annual look-back and look-ahead posts in the next week.

It Is Over

The preliminary exam is complete.  As such, effective January 1, 2011, I officially will be a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland.  With this comes a small pay raise and the end of taking classes (for a grade, at least).  However, my advisor is giving me most of the semester break off (which has already started for me) save for reading a paper she is going to send to me at the end of next week.  As such, I get a break until then.

However, I have volunteered for more work in Frederick County.  This year, I am responsible for all of the math questions in the Frederick County Academic Tournament.  (I may attend one of the early weeks, if anyone is interested.)  Also, this morning I volunteered to preach my fifth sermon at my church on January 2, 2011.  Again, if anyone is interested in attending, let me know.  Be advised that I don't know what the sermon is going to be about yet.  Maybe I'll touch on the new baptismal agreement between the UCC and the Roman Catholic Church.

But for right now, I'm taking a break for a little while.  The semester is over.  And I'm going to enjoy that fact.

Rest for the Weary? Please?

I can feel myself beginning to panic.

The next two weeks will be interesting to say the least.  Here is the agenda in a nutshell.

1. November 29, 3:00 p.m.--RIT meeting.
2. December 1, 1:00 p.m.--Bible Study.
3. December 2, 12:30 p.m.--A one-problem, in-class final exam for my SDE class.  This should be the last written exam I take as a student, though.
4. December 4--Teaching preferences form is due.
5. December 6, 3:00 p.m.--RIT meeting.
6. December 8, 1:00 p.m.--Bible Study.
7. December 9, 12:30 p.m.--Preliminary exam.  
8. December 9, c. 2:00 p.m.--Pending successful completion of the preliminary exam, run around getting candidacy paperwork filled out and submitted.
9. December 9, 3:30 p.m.--Wavelet project and homework due.  The homework is finished; the project needs a few revisions.  This will probably be the last class I take for a grade.
10. December 9, c. 5:00 p.m.--Go out drinking with grad school friends.  I think this one is mandatory.
11. December 10, evening--Departmental holiday party.  More drinking is likely.

Note that this list does not include meetings with my advisor, which may occur close to daily up to the 9th, nor does it include regular class meetings left this semester.  Thus, if I don't respond to emails/instant messages/texts/calls/slaps over the head for the next couple of weeks, it's probably not anything you have done, but that I am working/stressing/some combination of the two.

Note also that the week after all of these activities involves at least one trip to Frederick County for new tires and an oil change for the car, a haircut, Christmas shopping, and the return of Tupperware to my parents.  I should also think about sending out Christmas cards in the near (i.e., December 10th) future.

But after all these things I can relax a little.  I do have the standard holiday functions with the family and church, possibly some math questions to write for the Frederick County Academic Tournament over break, and a qualifying exam to proctor on January 10, 2011, but otherwise, barring a sudden request from my church to have me preach again, I should be free until the new semester starts on January 24th.  So if anyone would want to do something on the fly during that time in the DC area, I'm just going to throw it out there that I'll be available.

Eleven days, eleven days, eleven days,...