Never mind jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college 1. Ancient Technologies 2. Visual Culture on the Skids 3. The Anthropology of HIV 4. Astrophysics for Science Majors 5. Romantic Literature

New from my Liturgical Theology professor.

Adventures in seminary - checking the syllabi and somehow I'm already behind even though classes haven't started yet. Every semester, lol. Snow days are for reading and coffee.

They shot Renee Good in the face. They kidnapped Liam Ramos. They just executed a man on the street. Unmask them. Prosecute them. No more secret police.

live your life such that millions of people don’t drop everything they’re doing to collectively hope that It Happened at the slimmest of signs

Roger Waters Rush Ministry Tears for Fears Crash Worship

Generally, living a block from the UT Austin campus is pleasant enough. On UT v A&M game night, it is not so okay. So. Much. Noise.

A crucial part of staying home on Halloween to write a paper about the Pelagian Controversy is dancing around in sock feet to Dead Can Dance.

Some evenings, I just need to make a grilled cheese and curl up in a blanket.

Joy is being asked to assist with a research project that is *precisely* at the intersection of two of my favorite interests to explore. Happy nerding awaits! not so #tinyjoys

In the year of our Lord 2025, the traditional military plane flyover before a UT Austin home game does not resonate as anything celebratory.

I'm trying to find time for my weekly therapy appointment in my fall schedule, but between classes, field ed hours, and work-study obligations there are scant few hours to use. I suspect that the bags under my eyes are going to be EPIC after the second year of seminary is done with me.

This morning I used beans from a sample bag from Onyx Coffee that I somehow lost the label to. I can tell that the beans are Nordic roasted, and that brewed in a moka pot and made into an oat milk latte, they are delicious. Thank you, mystery beans. #TinyJoys

"i asked chatgpt" yeah well i went to the doctor, i went to the mountains, i looked to the children, i drank from the fountains there's more than one answer to these questions pointing me in a crooked line and the less I seek my source for some definitive closer I am to fine

From today’s protest in Houston - IYKYK:

Today was one of those days where I wanted to do my little cardio so the brain would cough up the happy chemicals, but the brain didn't wanna. I slogged through the workout, and now I'm just sweaty and crabby. /whine

ATX peeps - there's a class coming up from Austin Street Medics about how to respond to chemicals used on protestors (or anyone else).

This is delightful. I admire people with this kind of patience.

With mixed feelings, I report that Episcopal seminary and middle age are having their effects: there is a pair of cardinals on my patio, and I am sipping my coffee and staring, entranced. The birdwatching obsession is coming.

You're not my real mom.

I’m seeing posts that Walter Brueggemann died this morning. Does anyone have a news citation? I see an X post and a Bluesky post said to be by his biographer, but I don’t want to share the news based on those.

Opposing the violent dehumanization of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing genocide is a moral imperative. Opposing the rising antisemitic violence against Jewish Americans is a moral imperative. All human lives have value and should be treated as sacred. Dehumanization harms all of us.

Texas is not skimping on the thunderstorms tonight in Austin - that lightning bolt was close enough to hear it sizzle. Yes, I have my patio doors open; thunderstorms are sacred thin places.

I've finished my first year of seminary! Two years of this magnificent rollercoaster to go. Actually, grades posted Friday, but I've pretty much been asleep since then. I was a completely crispy critter by the end of finals. Speaking of, it's time for another nap.

I split my own lip open while trying to free my feet from the tyranny of covers in the middle of the night. I have also strained my neck while asleep. Resting is dangerous.

Why is the airport cell phone lot such a good place to get writing done? How long before security starts to get squirrely? I'm not up to no good, officer, truly. I'm just a world-class procrastinator.

"It will only take me an hour or two to pull this powerpoint together," I say, knowing full well I am going to fall down an Unsplash photo rabbit hole and lose four hours before I even record the voiceover.

It went well! The cassock alb and I fought, but that’s just the way of the world. One milestone down. Thanks for the prayers, y’all! ⚓️

I’m preaching in the seminary chapel for the first time today, and my nerves are running amok. Prayers that I can speak words and not faint welcome. ⚓️

Tums have become my favorite snack.

Surprise little flowers in the bunch of bok choy that will be my dinner later. #TinyJoys

My hair smells like the chapel incense, and I love it so much.

While I think it would be *hilarious* to leave the typo "our education, both academically and poastorally" in this fundraising letter to a major donor, I am not. My willpower knows no bounds.

Good morning. I mean, technically, Doomed Morning Under A Sky Of Roiling Blood, but look it's a rhetorical thing.

*sniff* It’s so beautiful.

If my communication experiences this week are any indication, I do believe Mercury has entered batsh!t.

"So far as we approve of monarchy... in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other." --Thomas Paine

My insurance through the church has pushed me to switch to a mail-order pharmacy. My doctor submitted the order today. Wish me luck, the stories I have heard are not great. Thankfully my doctor is awesome and made sure I have a month’s worth of meds to give me some cushion.

I ask my arthritic knee why it waits until I am trying to sleep to hurt so bleeping much. It only curses me in reply. I’m so grateful for rescue tramadol - which my phone changed to tamales, and that’s also true.

Without going all Martin Niemöller here, I do think that it's bad not to speak up for immigrants, transgender Americans, civil servants, women, Ukraine, and everyone else the MAGA bullies are going after. We're beyond picking and choosing whom to defend. It's time to stand up and speak out.

Buying shoes is not a sustainable coping mechanism. Buying shoes is not a sustainable coping mechanism. Those boots were on deep sale, though.

One thing that I'm increasingly coming to believe is that stories are going to be central to what comes next. Stories of the harm done. Stories of the great things achieved by government in the past. Stories of valor kindness and quotidian simple resistance.

I'm filling out my field ed questionnaire, and suddenly I have no skills, no relevant experience, and am basically a worm.

Every once in a while I remember that, as an adult, I can make nachos whenever I want, and I can also put as many pickled jalapeños on them as I want.

Join me in the chance to express your *opinions* about AI in the church, especially for pastoral uses and the environmental impact of LLMs.

We only know this man is in Gitmo because Noem tweeted a propaganda photo that included him and his sister saw it. He has no criminal record. He entered the US in January and immediately made an appointment with CBP to claim asylum. They sent him to a concentration camp bc of his basketball tattoo.

Online clothing stores, we need to talk about something. Jumpsuits are not dresses, and they should not appear on the dresses tab. I repeat - jumpsuits are NOT dresses (no, not even that palazzo style one). Thank you for your prompt attention to this ridiculous matter.

It's cedar season in Austin, and I'm going to New Testament class with some suspicious looking red eyes.

This cultural self-analysis paper is going to be the end of my already news-worn sanity. I usually do not mix wine and schoolwork, but tonight I may make an exception. #SeminaryLife