Bios of my buds

Forthcoming over the next few days & weeks will be biographies of my friends.  I often ask interviewees what their friends would say about them, and I wonder how on the mark they are.  So, in an effort to allow my friends to give truthful answers and not have to assume how I think and feel about them there will be biographies.  As a disclaimer, I hate thinking of my friends as buddies.  My thesis chair in graduate school called my pal once.  It made me squirm.  I couldn't think of a b-word for friends that was appropriate.  I did think of an inappropriate b-word, but Bios of my B-yotches might be crossing the line.  The bios come in no particular order of how I feel about my friends, so don't read into it people.  Below is the first.



Renae

First of all, she hates having her picture taken.

Brief History: I've know Renae for 10 years now.  We figured that out last week.  We had a moment.  We lived together for 3 years while we both attended grad school at UNL.  Then I went to Zambia, but she came and visited me for 3 weeks!  After moving back to Lincoln in 2003 we lived together for another 2 years.  I moved down the street and then a bit further down the street.  Now I'm living with her and her husband for the remaining few weeks/months of my time in Lincoln.  You know you have a good friend if they'll stick by you for 10 years and let you move in when you parent's won't (just kidding about the parent thing, but I really can't move back home).

What I like about YOU!

Renae is an idealist and a dreamer.  Very opposite of me.  But, I admire her for it.  As a realist I feel restricted by reality, so I hesitate to freely dream.  

Renae is one of the wisest people I know.  I think it's a gift, really.  She has an uncanny ability to listen and really hear what you tell her, and she speaks some incredible insight into your life.  I credit Renae with being one of the primary influences on my understanding who I am and liking that person.

Renae is an amazing hostess.  She goes big on parties.  She is also artistically creative and will try her hand at most crafts, art projects, quilts.  I love that she quilts.

Renae has a crazy memory.  She can always give very vivid specific examples of when something happened and how it went down.  She can find a paragraph or sentence in a book she read months or years ago in seconds, though there's no need because she just quoted it word for word

Renae is gracious, she is kind, she loves people well.  She speaks what is in her heart, so you don't have to wonder if she likes you.

There are many more things that I love about Renae, but I'm only sharing a snippit to keep the mystery of Renae alive, leave you wanting more.

Angry with myself

I learned something about myself this weekend as a pulled an open trailer full of my well-stewarded belongings to my parents' house for storage.  About 25 miles outside of Norfolk I was bombarded and pummeled with rain.  I had to pull over twice.  It only lasted 10 minutes, 10 minutes that felt like 20 as I berated myself for not putting a tarp over my stuff, defending my decision with past negative experiences with tarps.  The bottom line is that I made a decision that I thought was the best decision given the information I had.  I usually make good decisions.  I hate being wrong!  My wisdom was faulty!  Arrrg!  I stayed mad at myself all the way into Norfolk and for a good hour after I arrived.  I'm never one to hold a grudge or to stay angry, but I guess it's all different when I'm the one at fault with myself.  Perhaps I need to have lower expectations for myself.

Satisfying Evening

Last night after packing up stuff to move to Norfolk, I traversed back to my old neighborhood and hung out with the Zach's, who have been my favorite neighbors.  Paul started a fire and we sat on the deck, drinking a bottle of wine that we confiscated from our friend Lou's wedding.  Bianca was there.  We talked about doing this very thing, and I so wanted it to really happen.  I will definitely miss the community of my neighborhood when I move to St. Louis.  Here's to the Zach's!

I will be staying in their home in the coming weeks.  We may have to recreate the evening.

I saw Sex and the City the movie and I loved it!

I realize that there is a lot of to do among Christian circles regarding the latest HBO film, Sex and the City.  I am a huge fan of the TBS broadcast of the original HBO series, because of it's handy editing, removing what could be construed at soft porn.  I was drawn to the premise of this show and this movie because I believe that the relationships between the 4 main characters are ones I'd like to emulate.  They are very real, very vulnerable, very challenging, very present.  I want to surround myself with friends like Samantha, Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda.  Furthermore, I want to be a friend like any of these 4 women.  They are strong, but not afraid to show emotion.  They are free to have differing opinions.  They are willing to enter into the crap and shame of their friends' hearts, unwaveringly.  They know when to push and when back off, and when to push again.  They let each other make bad choices, and then they don't judge them when they fall on their face.  They get mad when they're mad, they're not passive-aggressive conflict avoiders.  They fight and they forgive.  Once they reconcile, it's over, that's it.  They show up when one needs the other, even if it means great sacrifice.  Simply, they love each other really, really well.

The movie, sure there's sex in it, graphic sex.  I expected there to be.  It's called Sex and the City.  I'm a Christian, I paid money to see it, and I'd like to see it again.  It's a film of love, friendship, honesty, forgiveness, healing, and hope.  Sounds a little Christian to me.