I’m binging – on books – its been a while since I had a break in school that allowed me to take the time necessary to read. And read. And read. Forget the brown paper bags, tied up with string – reading is one of my favorite things.

I didn’t really plan on binging, but the finishing of school, coupled with some external motivations (the revisiting of a prophetic word from Frankfurt, Rob Bell’s lecture & my desire to continue developing my reference base) led to a purchase of several books from the Bell recommended reading list – so far, I’ve gone through:

We’re sitting in the living room (or is the family room? How can you tell which is which?) watching the skies over our house filled time & time again with almost constant flashes of lightning. Thunder booms. It’s the first real thunderstorm that I can remember in a long, long time. It’s Moby & PJ’s first one – they’re… concerned. Me too, though I’m attempting to be strong for the Weez.

Got around to looking at the “Duffy cam” & the weather overview of our area looks so non-threatening. It belies the furor in the air.

I’m pondering the lyric to “How Great Thou Art” – because rolling thunder is pretty stinking scary to me. The other things the author mentions are kinda awe-inspiring, but the thunder drives me under the bed.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, the Stargate SG-1 & Stargate Atlantis season premiere’s are on tonight. Good times. Plus, for those of you (OPE?) that would like more information on the world of Stargate than you ever knew you needed, you can check out:

Intro to Stargate

You’ll thank me later.

I’m done. Reached

THE END

of my undergraduate career.

Next?

its 11:25 as I type this – no blog during school today, as I couldn’t bring myself to type anything whilst I was agonizing over the idea of Geologic Surface Structure. I’m studying for my final Final – the last test I’ll have to take before the University of Nevada says that I have successfully completed my course of study at their institution, resulting in a degree.

Someone asked me what happens or changes once I graduate. Good question – to me, its an accomplishment that I waited about 12 years for the opportunity to resume… I’m not going anywhere; no job change; not looking to continue higher ed at the U of N. Just… done.

I’m hoping for some good coffee tomorrow; not really looking past that, though I do know that I am down to my final 2 days of class, w/just 1 lab remaining… All fo this will be completed as of 10:10 a.m. on Thursday, 7/13.

Friday night, the Bean, me, & some buddies piled into the EX & drove to Sacramento for a lecture. You may be wondering why, after enduring dr. brimley’s endless summer days, I would intentionally subject myself to YET ANNUDAH lecture, its because it was to listen to one of the more engaging speakers I’ve encountered: Rob Bell, the teaching pastor of Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (I totally kiped this picture of him from the blog of someone else that attended.)

The two hour lecture began in the ancient, near-Eastern Hebrew poetry known as Genesis 1, navigated subatomic particles, a visit to Flatland, the significance of numbers to Hebrews, SpongeBob, the myth of “the secular” & how, inevitably, humans degenerate into weighing their ultimate worth by what they are able to produce (what they do…) Bottom line, we have been made in God’s image, & that means something – part of which isn’t discovered until we learn to Sabbath.

The phrase that keeps bouncing around my noggin is: “God didn’t make us as Human Do-ings, but as Human Beings. It’s only in obeying God’s instruction for rest, play, & re-creation that we truly can be the humans we’re created to be.”

Another one is: “to be human is to be spiritual; there is no separation between secular & spiritual – everything is spiritual. We’re created to do all we do, words & actions, to the glory & honor of Christ.

I’m betting that this lecture will be a) turned into a book; b) put out on DVD; c) both. The vast amount of material discussed bears several re-visitis. In the meantime, I’m stewing on the Do-ing vs. Being, especially because the next place we’re going at Hillside (September & October) is into exploring the Sabbath rest.

Today, I’ve learned that in an earthquake, a jar of peaches is not as good as a can of peaches. Why, you might ask? Because a jar of peaches is made of a container of glass, which is breakable. Cans are made of a metal alloy, (tin?) which is more resistant to breakage. Too true, too true.

3 more days. 2 more labs. 1 test. I’m not counting test day as a class day, as the test will take no more than 30 minutes, no double counting.

Having a holiday in the middle of the week is discombobulating – it messes with one to have a Saturday show up on Tuesday. No matter, I will press on, albeit with a feeling that somehow, someway, something is missing.

This morning, I went to rehab for the left shoulder. The joys of joint manipulation, range of motion, & capsule massage were discovered through fiery trials. The best part was the 10 minutes of ice-pak on the shoulder that finished off the session. The next best part was the exercise where I stood perpendicular to the wall (about 12″ away) & with the fingers of my left hand I walked the hand & arm up the wall until the pain became too much. Then I repeated it. Good times.

Now, I am back in my trusty Geology class, watch a cool video on Faults. And earthquakes. Done by the BBC, which means accents & funny pronunciations. (E.g. Puget Sound was called: Poo-joe Sound, like the Frah-nch car.)

I’m feeling a little giddy (overtired?), in that I have only 5 more classes after today, 4 if you don’t count test day, which, I’m told, I should not. 2 more labs.

And, the best news is, my rehab dates will interfere with my last two weeks of school, as I am at the mercy of the rehab office for scheduling when I come in.