blech
stuck on the couch with my leg elevated, I have non-painful oedema with no preceeding traumatic event -- knee felt a little funny on Tuesday but did not hurt so I did my workout (including lots of deadlifts and lunges), then the swelling appeared and has just gotten worse and spread my whole leg even though I was able to keept it mostly elevated at work.  No doctor until tomorrow.  Thank goodness it still doesn't hurt, but annoying.  I stopped consulting doctor google after the resulting phrases included congestive heart failure and kidney disease.  Kate and Ella are being awesome and I am doing my best not to apologise every three minutes.

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Sense and Sensibility e-patterns
Just wanted to put in a plug for the new e-patterns at http://www.sensibility.com/pattern/main/?page_id=50 I *love* her dresses (check out the show and tell pages!) and already own the regency gown and edwardian apron. I think the e-patterns would be a great way to store patterns for those with limited space.

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not that anyone will, but...
don't forget to vote today!!!!!!!

Current Mood: relieved it's almost over

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Truth and Politics
(my apologies to my non-American friends)

I am not one for saying "tell everyone you know!" but in this election season I have had serious reservations about the media coverage, the ads the candidates are running and by the rumors people have been telling me about various candidates which are blatantly false (*not* from any one particular person, from lots of people). I believe that no candidate is perfect, however we must make our voting decisions based on truth, not facts which are so “spun” as to be essentially untrue or scandal-mongering.

To that end I am asking you to please forward these website addresses to everyone that you feel might benefit from them... or know someone who may benefit from them... or whoever.

http://www.factcheck.org/
http://snopes.com/
http://straightdope.com/

You might think Palin banned books from the Wasilla library, or you might think that Obama was sworn into office on a copy of the Quran, or neither. But please, please check out these websites. All are non-partisan. Factcheck.org is particularly good for an analysis of the truth of campaign ads and speeches, while Snopes.com debunks many e-mail forwards and the Straight Dope kicks things in occasionally.

It is *so* important to democracy that we have accurate information. Please help me to disseminate these tools for getting it.

Current Mood: passionate

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Christ is Risen!

Current Mood: worshipful

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testing

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Happy Easter!
Christ is risen!

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Avoidance techniques
Well, I'm supposed to be working on my "Doing Theology" assignment (“Discuss what might Christians mean when they say “God is Revealed”? in 1000 words), but I am taking a quick break from reading articles to let my thoughts settle a bit.

The fiction book I am currently reading is "I Wish I Had a Red Dress" by one of my favourite authors, Pearl Cleage. One of the things I really like about her writing is her concept of a "free woman" -- which, simplified, is a woman who does what she knows is right without being afraid to do so. In this book she includes a list entitled "10 Things Every Free Woman Should Know."

1) How to grow food and flowers
2) How to prepare food nutritiously
3) Self-Defense
4) Basic first aid/sex education/mid-wifery
5) Child care (prenatal/early childhood development)
6) Basic literacy/basic math/basic computer skills
7) Defensive drivng/map reading/basic auto and home repairs
8) Household budget/money management
9) Spiritual practice
10) Physical fitness/health/hygiene

I think that's a pretty good summary of the basic (if somewhat daunting) skills that people should strive to master. I certainly don't know all of them but I'm working on it.

And now I'm going to go work on my essay. For those who are interested I'm arguing that natural revelation is not incompatible with Luther's theology of the cross because God has chosen to definitively reveal Himself in Jesus Christ, so when relationships/actions are Christ-like, we help to reveal God. All packed into 1,000 words. Thank goodness the footnotes don't count.

Current Mood: busy

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Happy birthday!
To my goosefrugal (the 27th) and to the lovely anirt (the 26th)

May both of you have a lovely day.

Current Mood: happy

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You scored as Herald Model. Your model of the church is Herald. The organization of the church is much less important than the urgency of announcing the Good News of salvation to all the world. The Holy Spirit moves the individual to belief in Jesus Christ and to do the will of the Father by sharing this message with others. As with other models, the narrowness of this model could be supplemented by drawing on other models. </td> Herald Model 89% Servant Model 83% Mystical Communion Model 78% Sacrament model 78% Institutional Model 6% What is your model of the church? [Dulles] created with QuizFarm.com

I'm glad I'm almost equal with the "servant" model -- though I admit that some of the questions seem like trick questions if you aren't familiar with church jargon and theological catch-phrases

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Applicable on so many levels
"You must form your own fashions in such a way which demonstrates that you flout the standards from knowledge, not ignorance." "A College of Magics" by Caroline Stevermer

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More thoughts on Snape and HBP
I'm just basically repeating what I wrote about at XPFC... Apologies for the cross-post.

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Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Kate and I both read HP:HBP tonight and felt it was quite good. We were discussing it and she had an insight about something.

( Minor Spoilers Ahoy!Collapse )

It's 1:30 am, I hope this makes sense.

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How Cool is this!?
Librarians Without Borders

I am such a librarian wannabe :0)

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Update
I am swamped with mid-term school stuff. I live in NZ, so our semester will end in July or thereabouts. I owe a ton of stuff/replies to a ton of people (including you jamesofengland - I haven't forgotten!) but in the meantime I've picked up another shift at work and have many assignments and tests coming up over the next two weeks. Anything that deserves more than a one sentence reply will have to wait.

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Calling all MPM fans
http://www.mpmbooks.com/poll.htm

Be sure to vote for Vicky Bliss your favourite character!

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Freaky scary
http://tinyurl.com/6bqyj

"In the conference's opening ceremony, the Dominionists recite an oath they dream of hearing in every classroom: "I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands. One Savior, crucified, risen and coming again, with life and liberty for all who believe.""


I am truly, truly disturbed by this article.

Current Mood: anxious

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Nicked from... everyone!
1. What does your LJ nickname mean? "Bluestocking" in French. Love to learn.


2. Elaborate on your icon photo? Made for me by Hanna! It's an inversion of the Elizabeth Peter's quote "If there is anything worse than being a tall girl, it is being a tall smart girl." I hated being a tall, smart *girl.* I love being a tall, smart woman.

3. Did you lie about your age anywhere on the net?
Nope

4. How many LJ friends do you have?
dunno

5. What is your current status?
Married for almost a quarter of a year! And student.

6. What are you wearing right now?
Red shirt, black slacks, doc martens, wedding/engagement rings, silver cross.

7. What is life to you?
Fun, absurd, joyful, sad and lovely.

8. What is love to you?
God and other people.

9. What kind of people do you hate most?
Kind of people? People who don't bother to think because they're lazy.

10. What type of people do you like most?
Kind, funny, and self-aware.

11. What makes you happy?
Kate, chicken curry, and learning

12. Are you musically-inclined?
Nope.

13. What would you do if you woke up one morning and found out that the person you love most didn't exist, or was killed?
Lie there and wait to die.

14. If you could go back in time and change ONE thing, what would you do?
I wouldn't change anything that happened to me because I like who I am right now. I would change the many ways I caused pain to other people.

15. If you MUST be an animal for ONE day, what will you be?
A labrador living in my mum's house. I want to know what she thinks about.

16. Ever had a near death experience?
Not since I was about four.

17. Name ONE obvious personality quality you have.
I have no idea. Fat?

18. What's the name of the song that's stuck in your head right now?
Some sporty mix from "Bend it Like Beckham."

19. Are you happy today?
Yep.

20. Who will cut and paste this next?
I think all of my friends have already done this...

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Books
I need to seriously start working on my database of boks I own/want to own/have read/want to read, etc. In the meantime I'll start with listing some of the books I've read over the past few days -- doing this from memory, so some authors may be weird.

1) "The Lost Continent" by Bill Bryson (re-read)
2) "Aza's Story" by Sue McCauley
3) "Saving Francesca" (re-read)
4) "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyzyn (re-read)
5) "Chinese Cinderella"

I'll check my library lists when I get home.

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Quick away message...
Kate and I are going to visit her parents for eight days, where we will do crafts, clean out fish ponds, and watch the entire Blackadder series on DVD. Yay! And, Eeeks! I now leave you with this thought:

"Baldrick, who gave you permission to turn into an alsatian????"

Current Mood: busy

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