So I’m trying to figure out how to put a PayPal donation button on my blog, so people who want to support me for YWAM can do it easily and securely. HOWEVER, I am retarded when it comes to HTML codes and whatnot, and now I feel like a monkey trying to open a coconut with a rubber chicken. And I want to throw my head back and wail in frustration like Snoopy. (Ahem…I’m actually really good at that…my crying Snoopy impression is one of my best party tricks).
Quotable Friday, Vo. 26 July 25, 2008
Anne Lamott on perfectionism:
“I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.”
Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
It’s embarrassing how much this quote describes me; how many times I’ve wobbled on each of those stepping stones, my arms flailing like a spastic flamingo, proud that I stepped squarely in the center, ashamed that it’s so damn hard for me while it looks so easy for everyone else (or at least, why I care so much when everyone else couldn’t care less). (more…)
Nerd Files, No. 3 July 22, 2008
More confessions of a 24 year old nerd:
…I’m the only person I know who actually checks magazines out at the library. (more…)
Quotable Friday, Vol. 25 July 18, 2008
“I am not the only person to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.”
Jhumpa Lahiri
“The Third and Final Continent”
I can’t say much to go along with this quote, except that I deeply identify with it. The “fortune” I have sought far from home does not align with the traditional connotation of the word; piles of cash or vaults full of gold or even stacks of accomplishments. But in my short few years of travel I have become rich with experiences, interactions, sensations, and insights that these foreign places have lavished on me. It is bewildering, at times, and even more so when I speculate about how my riches will multiply when I’ve been traveling for 6 years instead of 3, 20 instead of 6, 50 instead of 20.
Here I Go Again On My Own July 14, 2008
I’m off again! This time to Norway. Random, I know. I met an amazing couple (Andreas and Heather) while I was doing my YWAM DTS in Australia, and they invited me to be on staff for a DTS Andreas is leading in his homeland of Norway. You can read more about why I’m going on the page entitled “My Norway Letter.” (more…)
Facebook Status: Clever or Cry for Attention? July 10, 2008
I used to be the queen of the Facebook status, delighting in crafting witty little phrases to attach to “Joy Moyal is…” so that they piqued interest (and maybe triggered some harmless jealousy) in my “friends.” But suddenly I was struck by the inanity of it all. I know that last sentence sounded completely pompous, and maybe it is. But after reading this article, in which the author calls Facebook a “monument to mediocrity,” I felt prickly and ashamed. (more…)
Patriotism is Out July 7, 2008
At church last night, during the worship portion of the service, the congregation was led in singing “God Bless America” in honor of Independence Day last Friday. As the band played and the backup singers belted out the tune, I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t want to sing, and I wasn’t sure why. Maybe because I wasn’t in a baseball stadium or sitting on a picnic blanket at a fireworks show. (more…)
16…er, 24 Candles July 3, 2008
In Canada, they grease the nose of the birthday girl so she will be too slippery for bad luck to catch…
In Italy, Hungary, and Brazil they pull on her ears…
In Scotland the she gets a soft smack on the bottom…
In Los Angeles County, the birthday girl gets a long day at work, dinner with family, then good times and white wine in Pasadena at the Bodega wine bar.
It’s just as well…my skin is oily enough without the butter and I hate it when people touch my ears. Although, I might not mind a soft smack on the bottom.
P.S. Sorry I used the same picture as last year…but the movie did come out the same year I was born…and I love it SO much…and it’s my birthday so I get to do what I want, right?
Yo Yo Cruisa July 2, 2008
I come from a blended family. Mom and Jeff got married when I was twelve, and my teen years had their share of tense and chaotic moments as our families collided more than they blended. When I was fourteen, all 7 of us went on a cruise to the Bahamas and I remember getting in lots of fights and being generally miserable, which is what one does when one is fourteen and on vacation with one’s family. (more…)
