There are those who call me "the Bandit"
So, it being a solid two weeks(ish) since the last posting, I'll try to get things going again here. I have, after Turkey Day, just returned to classes and Greek midterm part dieux. I like to pump myself up for exams with the Ben Folds song "I'm gonna rock this bitch" (assuming I can use that word here, following Chelsey's lead on 'Warmed-over Soapboxes'), but it is not always with actual confidence that I tell myself that. Sigur Ros gets me pumped for exams, too, but I don't know how to sing along to them yet. Now, some would say that learning dead languages is not the most practical undertaking, and at best you end up with some esoteric knowledge that you really shouldn't make a big deal about knowing, lest you be "one of those" people. You know who I mean. That said, I think Greek is really fun. I am surprised to say it is my favorite class. I am planning to take our buddy Philpott's favorite next fall, and will take Hebrew at some point, too. Not quite sure for what purpose I am putting myself through all this, but it feels important now as I am doing it.I had the fam come out for Thanksgiving (first time in four years I've spent the holiday with them) and everyone made the trip down from New York, where we were staying, to see my rockin' Jersey abode. BTW, anyone nearby is more than welcome anytime. You can see all there is to see in Princeton in a couple hours. Princeton Seminary remains a fun place to be. Having gone as an undergrad to a non-drinkin' closet-fundamentalist Christian college that didn't allow dancing , and certainly not parties (not that any of you would know anything about that), being here is a bit like having the fun undergrad experience I missed out on. Not that I didn't have fun at Biola, but it is nice to be treated like an adult and take advantage by acting a bit of an adolescent. I do quite a lot of studying, too, although as I said before it's not nearly as hard as Oxford. Today I played croquet on the quad (British friend killed everyone), last week built a snowman using imported snow, went to a fun Seminary dance-party, rocked some foosball, and had a DIY brew-and-view of the Bob Dylan PBS special that I just got on DVD. I am currently growing the beard out again in observance of a long-standing PTS tradition, the upcoming "Burt Reynolds Day," for which participating men grow out their beards until the appointed day, then shave off everything but the infamous upper-lip facial hair. The really hardcore guys keep the 'stache for a few days, although one of my friends already went the entire month of October trying to bring back the look sported in the Beastie Boys "Sabotage" video. Ladies have, in the past, celebrated Lonnie Turner Day in conjunction with this holiday. I'll be sure to send some pictures, although you've all seen the full beard action (I guess some have seen only that). It is growing in much more quickly this time around, so five years makes a difference. This does not bode well for the future growth of body hair in less desirable locations (no ear hair yet!) I can't wait to be fifty, that will be awesome.
Well, I have fulfilled my random babbling quotient for the time being. Hope to hear more from you all.
posted by Zack @ 11/29/2005 01:25:00 AM
5 Comments:
Zack - to hear you talk about Biola as a non-drinkin' closet-fundamentalist college . . . it warms my heart.
To ME that's a ringing endorsement. I don't have any problem with liberal politics (in the classic or modern sense), but I like my Christianity straight-up.
I'm happy you're having a chance to let loose a little (as if world traveling wouldn't be ENOUGH of a loosening experience for anyone).
Five years ago, this would be the point where Brackett would have come out with some anti-Catholic comments or something . . . ahhhh, those were the days.
okay, Chelsey, actually you used a different, more colorful word, so I figured the one I used would be okay. By the way, in Greek that's "kuon" (with an omega). Not in the NT, but Homer uses it.
Ryan -- not that there's anything wrong with that. Other than the closet part... Oh, and Christianity straight-up, or neat, that's pretty funny. Unless one has a problem ("fun Bobby"), alcohol is definately not necessary to have a good time, and you are (no sarcasm) living proof of this. It does, however, make certain activities easier and more fun (for white males, dancing), or at least less painful (for non-white males, watching white males shake their arses). Since I parted Nicole's company, I needed some new folks with whom to engage in the social cutting loose, and seminary has stepped up admirably.
Good also that you are careful to distinguish between the classical and modern senses of liberal, and presumably acknowlege that you, Dubya, and the rest are pretty much Classical Liberals with a few minor differences. Ask Anna Maria what people in Latin America call the free-market economic system.
I recently took a 'what's your theological worldview?' quiz online, and was surprised to discover that I am a Roman Catholic. Brackett certainly would have had something (unintentionally) amusing to say. I wonder what the man would say now. I haven't heard from him in a while, so I am curious what his current (a?)theological worldview might be.
That quiz you took--I hope to God it wasn't this one!
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/test/register.php
No, it was the test at http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870
I also took the 'which theologian are you?' quiz at
http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=44116
and found that I am most like Jurgen Moltmann and Anselm (finished in a tie).
I did check out the quiz you mentioned, however, but I distrust any site that requires me to provide my e-mail address before participating. Also, I was a bit distrustful of the description 'attend solid Bible-teaching church' being the only alternative offered to 'do not attend church' on the preliminary survey. I quite like teaching from the Bible, but the language had broader implications...
As for my follicular growth, it is progressing admirably, and I must say it doesn't look half bad. A female friend told me yesterday that the beard look is, for certain unnamed non-specific men, 'sexy'. Hopefully that was a compliment, not a 'you're no Brett Favre'. The 'sexy' beard might just reappear after the stache, and this time I have the tools to keep the beard properly trimmed. In pictures from Oxford and I look like a lumberjack. In fact, took some good pictures in that persona before shaving upon my return to the States after Oxford. I think Laura may have received some of those.
Whew!
Yes, that quiz I cited is a spectacular joke. I took it and came out as a "socialist worldview thinker"--a hairsbreadth away from a full-fledged Marxist! Too funny. But at least I now know that I'm a "bad Christian." ;)
Here's the background: http://badchristian.com/index.php/
2004/08/18/how_to_tell_if_you_re_
a_bad_christian
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