Friday, August 08, 2008

08/08/08 Things on My Radar

I actually had a decent birthday evening last night. For the last several years I've felt obligated to have a "party" of some sort, and they've all been horrifically terrible. Socially awkward, under-attended affairs that I hated, because I hate parties in the first place. This year I had dinner at my parent's house (mom made a few foods that she knows I love), and then my roommate and I went to see the movie "Mamma Mia" which I absolutely loved, and she found quite ridiculous. Either way, we laughed hard, came home with ABBA songs stuck in our heads, and enjoyed the evening. It was a good way to spend my 25th birthday...

Anyway... here are some things that have been catching my attention today, and the last few days...

This blog post on forgiveness...

Apparently a group from the US known as Westboro Baptist Church is sending people across the border to protest a funeral being held in Winnipeg today. Who is the funeral for, you ask? A young man who was brutally stabbed to death and then decapitated on a greyhound bus a week or so ago. And why, you ask, are these lovely "Christians" protesting the funeral? Well, it would seem that the slaying of this young man is God's response to Canadian policies that enable abortion, homosexuality, and adultery. You can read a bit more about it here.

This article about a foiled jewel theft earlier this week made me laugh. How stupid can you get?

And you absolutely have to read "A Ragamuffin's Dream" by Claudia Mair Burney, posted on the sojourners blog this week in two parts. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here. I've loved every one of her books (especially Zora and Nicky, which I read twice in a week earlier this summer) and this short story is no exception. Challenging and beautiful.

Okay... think that's it for today...

Happy 8.8.8 day and Happy beginning of the olympics!