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Day’s Verse:

Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.

Ps. 62:8

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Thank God for designing bodies that recover quickly. Thirty-eight hours ago I was out for the count, but today me and my trusty roll of toilet-paper (in lieu of Kleenex) have survived one class and four hours of wakefulness with only a minimum of suffering.

In Analytic Reasoning today a group boringly presented Chapter 12 – the most remarkable thing about the whole presentation being that it covered important omitted details, and one of their group members was mysteriously absent. The irony of that situation – their omitting a group member while talking about omitted information – struck me more than anything else. However, as they finished ten minutes early, the professor took over and began a class discussion on cell phones. She first asked about who in the class owned an iPod (nobody) and moved on to a more universal topic when she found few respondents: “How many people have cell phones?” she asked; five or fewer hands remained down. To my shame, my honesty compelled me to raise mine, though I did just get it in August to communicate with my husband.

But… we began talking about the necessity of cell phones, and I was struck. Here our society existed for hundreds of years without telephones at all, and suddenly not only have we fully integrated telephones but nobody can get along without a phone on their person at all times. You cannot be cool without a cell phone, because cool people have lots of friends who need to reach them all the time via cell phones. You cannot go for a drive without them, although people did for decades, because even though you’re driving a vehicle that is probably more reliable than any car made 40 years ago, you might break down and need to call for help. Only negligent parents let their children out of the house without cell phones because who knows what might happen if, for one instant, the parent could not contact his/her child. Indeed, the most uncaring married persons don’t carry cell phones as well, because only they would remain uncontactable to their spouse for extended periods of time. Even I carry one, and use it as my only phone – and I loathe seeing other people on them. The rudeness of a phone going off in a movie theater, a library, or the Clark computer lab is bad enough, but having people answer their phones under those situations…!

Why do I carry a cell phone? Why do I feel “naked” without it? Why do I, according to highly reliable sources (Mom), expose my brain at close to potentially cell-phone-waves? Because, despite my efforts, I like the rest of our society (who can afford one) have bought into the idea that anybody must be able to contact me any time, day or night, whether I’m in class or in a bath. But the truth of the matter is, nobody calls my phone unless I call them first. The last few calls I’ve gotten were wrong numbers with confused-sounded Spanish-speakers on the other end. So maybe I’ll defenestrate it, chuck it under a car’s tire, or maybe just leave it plugged in, happily charging, for the rest of eternity.

Foods I Dream About:

Twice baked potatoes

Fresh, hot homemade rolls

Lemon merengue pie

Strawberry shortcake

French fries & ketchup

Chicken Caesar Salad Wrapps

Smoothies

Crepes with berries and yogurt inside

Raisin Nut Bran cereal

Homemade macaroni and cheese

Cinnabon cinnamon roles

Potato chips

Strawberries

Fresh-picked raspberries

Elephant ears/fried dough

Kidd Valley milkshakes

Bacon cheeseburgers

Ham & Cheese sandwiches like I had in grade school

Fresh whipped cream on berries

Brownies

Fresh snap-peas (or whatever they’re called)

Those powdered-sugar covered round Christmas cookies that you can eat in one bite and taste kind of almondy inside

Fresh French croissants Ian and I got in London tube stations for a 80 pence (we think)

Happy Birthday Jesus Cake

…I’m sure there are many more. What are some other foods worth dreaming about?

And, finally, an exceprt from a conversation Ian and I had while at Clark that may or may not mean anything aside from the fact that I was relegated, due to high populations of desperate PC-using students, to a Mac for the duration of my time-wasting:

Zyll13: that’s why many artists have that blank-eyed stare

Zyll13: it’s not all the pot they smoke, it’s because the sold their soul for a Mac

Powell0: ahh i see

Zyll13: don’t tell Colleen this, though

Zyll13: I don’t want to imagine her on pot, and CERTAINLY not on a Mac

Can you tell I’m feeling rather scatter-brained and in need of a nice lunch followed by a long nap? (At least I’ll get the long nap in Major British Writers coming right up here.)

– KF –