Category Archives: Media/TV

7 Quick Takes: Can Jen Avoid Discussing Politics??? Yes, She Can!

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

You mean you’re still posting baseball takes?!?!?!?!? Yep. I finally watched the coverage of the Giants’ Halloween victory parade this past Tuesday night. I’m also amused by the various bets placed on the World Series.

This will probably be my last baseball-related Quick Take until March unless the team doesn’t re-sign Pablo Sandoval.

— 2 —

For those expecting me to be a perfect pastor’s wife. One of Jon’s higher ups posted this on his Facebook and I find it to be pretty accurate. One of my pet peeves is when parishioners put me on a pedestal and expect me to be so much more spiritual/holy/whatever. It really doesn’t work that way. It also seriously shocks people when they find out that I’m a convert to Christianity. Apparently, I’m too well-read to be a convert?

— 3 —

Yet another link on how to keep kids in the faith. This one from HuffPo is interesting but the parents being committed to the faith only goes so far. You can usually control your kids when they’re living under your roof but your ability to micromanage their life and thoughts disappears when they leave home for college and/or adulthood. So how do you keep your kids in the faith? You encourage them to own their faith so that it isn’t just “the faith of [their] parents”. Nothing pisses me off more than teaching Confirmation to kids who are doing it because their parents have promised that they can stop attending church when they are confirmed. It’s a waste of my time and a waste of theirs. Another important way to keep them in the faith: give them an adult role (ushering, cantoring, lectoring, etc.) after Confirmation so that they’re integrated into the life of the church by the time they hit actual adulthood.

— 4 —

I am Father James Martin, S.J.’s Lutheran fan girl. Seriously, the guy makes me happy to be Christian when he writes stuff like this. His book on Jesus (from which most of this column is drawn) should be required reading and I don’t say this lightly. It’s on my list of books to give to new Christians in addition to Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Phillip Yancey.

— 5 —

Srsly?!?!?!?!? I’m getting carded left and right these days. In the last week alone, I’ve been carded while buying Robitussin to fight my mutant death cold and also while buying wine at Trader Joe’s. I can’t really blame them for carding me for the wine (I think the rule is that they have to card anyone who appears to be under 30) but being carded for the cough syrup was interesting because I’m almost twice as old as I’m required to be to buy it! It also has only been a little over six months since the LAST TIME I was carded while buying it.

— 6 —

So why no takes on politics? I’m avoiding politics in my Quick Takes today because if/when I weigh in on the election on Tuesday, I want it to be well-researched and well-worded — something I can’t do in one Quick Take as I don’t want to flippantly post random quotes from people who may share my opinion but make other people stabby. I have to deal with enough trolls as it is.

— 7 —

A question for you. How do you pray? Leave your answer in the comments.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Baseball, Witchcraft, and Why I Despair At the State of Our Media

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Rules for eating and such rendered in the style of the Old Testament. I first read this 10+ years ago and it still makes me almost die from laughing so hard. Anyone with small children will understand. My favorite line is, “Leave the cat alone. For what has the cat done that you should so afflict it with tape?”

— 2 —

So… I guess you heard that the Giants won the World Series? It was an amazing series and I’m thankful that I got to watch/listen to all or part of 6 of the 7 games. (I watched all of Games 1-3, saw a portion of Game 4 in addition to my mom checking the score on her smartphone during dinner on Saturday, listened to Game 5 on my long drive home on Sunday, and got to watch/listen to over half of Game 7 last night.) I’m impressed that Madison Bumgarner pitched in Game 1, Game 5, and then 5 innings of Game 7 last night. (So is Jason Motte, my favorite closer with the St. Louis Cardinals. Real classy, Jason. It’s why I follow you.)

To the Royals fans who read: you guys have a kick-@$$ team and you made my boys work for that World Series victory. I wouldn’t doubt that y’all give the MLB a run for their money next year because Game 7 could have gone either way. And seriously… your team had the Kansas City Symphony play the national anthem one night and had one of your opera stars sing it the next night — y’all are classy. 🙂

— 3 —

Yet another baseball Quick Take. One interesting trend this season has been “Hunter Pence signs”. It was a weird trolling thing started by some Mets fans this past summer and it went viral. At all of the away games, fans of the home team bring the signs. There s a Twitter collection of them here.

There’s even a rap video based on the signs:

— 4 —

One of the few times I miss having a TV and cable. I’m kind of bummed that I likely won’t be able to watch Election Night stuff from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Apparently, it’s going to be fun.

— 5 —

The difference between the media in the USA and the media in Canada. Can we just say that the Canadian media won on this one?

(And for all the people who are going to tell me that I hate my country and should move to Canada, we did try in 2009.)

— 6 —

This one goes out to all the moronic conspiracy theorists claiming that vaccines cause autism. Actually, there are more than 100 genes that contribute. That many genes are a bit much to be turned on by the body’s response to a vaccine.

And for the morons who are citing a bad reading of a Canadian study linking the MMR vaccine to febrile seizures, you might want to read the part of the study which mentions the seizures occur most often in kids who had been selectively vaccinated or on delayed schedules. There’s also the fact that some kids get these seizures around ages 2.5 to 4 years old and said seizure is the first sign that the kid has a fever. I should know… Daniel is/was one of them and we made 3 trips to the ER for them in the year after his third birthday. (One of those trips was actually the night before his third birthday.) It’s terrifying to watch your kid seize like that, but it sure beats watching your kids on a ventilator because your delusion and paranoia over pseudoscience landed them in the hospital with a completely preventable disease.

— 7 —

Wow… a somewhat balanced look at Common Core. I don’t love everything Simcha Fisher has to say but her piece on Common Core was very balanced. I hear a lot of complaining about the math portion, but the way they’re doing math actually makes a great deal of sense to me. There was a teacher who taught my elementary school class how to do mental math, how math works, and how numbers relate to each other. This means that I have a better than average grasp of the metric system and scientific notation, both of which make infinitely more sense than the English/imperial system used in the United States.

As for literature, Simcha mentioned that they tend to err on the side of non-fiction which is fine with me. I always read things that interested me and my parents didn’t have to introduce me to good literature because I generally found it on my own.

— Bonus —

Here’s something for Halloween. I found this piece on the history of witchcraft to be pretty interesting. (Then again, my college degree dealt with this sort of thing, especially in the history and anthropology classes I took.) She’s not endorsing the practice of Wicca or anything (and she mentions that Wicca is a 20th century invention) and she makes some interesting points about cultures in which witchcraft is still an excuse for stuff going wrong. It’s definitely worth a read.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Momcation Recap

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

You know you’re loved when you walk into church on Sunday and the acting music director hugs you and tells you that you should have shown up earlier so you could have sung with the choir. Before June, I hadn’t been back to the church for 11.5 years and in the two times I’ve been home since, I’ve gotten recruited for music the next Sunday. (I’m not THAT good — the music director has known me since high school and knows that I can sightread vocal music passably on my first try.) This Sunday, the anthem is “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” with organ and violin. I haven’t sung soprano in 16 years… but I’ll be trying to help the section on Sunday and practice went really well tonight. Thankfully, it’s a piece I know backwards and forwards.

— 2 —

Coffee dates. I got coffee with my friend Rebecca twice while I was home. It’s hard to do, given that I usually come up here with Daniel, so it was good to see her. She also came to church with me on Sunday which was lovely.

— 3 —

World Series. I’m kind of bummed that the Series is tied at 1 game apiece because I was hoping the Giants would sweep and I’d get to see all the games. (I don’t have access to TV in southern California and I’ll also be driving home during the game on Sunday.) Still, Game 1 was glorious and I’m glad that Blanco got a lead-off homer in Game 2.

— 4 —

I’m (almost) caught up on all the TV I usually watch. My parents have “On Demand” so I’ve been able to catch up with all the CBS stuff I usually watch but haven’t this fall because I don’t have much online time and that makes watching my shows online hard. I haven’t watched the new NCIS spin-off yet and I may not just because it’s another couple hours of stuff to watch.

— 5 —

I’ve gotten some fabulous walks in. I’ve taken some walks on the trail by Los Alamitos Creek and they’ve been really nice. It’s a good setting for getting in some prayer time because while there are people around, it’s also pretty quiet.

— 6 —

I’ve unfortunately had to watch political ads. “On Demand” usually protects me from them but I’ve had to put up with them if I’ve wanted to watch baseball. It’s kind of scary how normal people don’t actually look to see who has paid for the ads… because it is really quite telling. I also wish there was something that killed all the ads, mailings, etc. if you have already voted. (I’m a permanent absentee ballot voter so I voted about a week and a half ago.)

Thankfully, the only really contentious races this year for us in California are the House ones and some of the ballot measures. Neither of our Senators is up for re-election and our Democratic governor is about 20 percentage points ahead of the Republican challenger. (He’s so far ahead that I think the GOP in California has given up on the challenger because I haven’t seen *ANYTHING* about that particular race since the primaries in June.)

— 7 —

I’ve gotten to see rain for the first time in months. We got some rain on Monday. It was glorious.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Back in Northern California

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

THE GIANTS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!! That was an insane game tonight. I’m glad the Giants won but I am also glad that I got to watch it tonight and that St. Louis played pretty well. One of Jon’s higher ups used to live in Kansas City for a number of years and I’m hoping for a fun series for both our sakes.

— 2 —

NCIS binge. I’m taking care of my parents’ cats while they’re up with my grandmother and this means that I have access to TV. I only watched one episode of NCIS tonight but I’m planning a binge of it in the next week and a half. I’ve missed it and while I could theoretically watch on my computer, I don’t normally have a huge amount of computer time so watching it and my other shows isn’t happening right now… except being up here on my “Momcation”.

— 3 —

What is a “Momcation”? Essentially, I’m on vacation from being a mom for the next 10 days. It’s a long story as to why but I’m cat/house-sitting for my parents and Daniel remained down south with Jon and my in-laws. Don’t worry — my marriage isn’t in jeopardy. I’m doing my parents a favor and my in-laws and parents are happy that it’s giving me a break that I haven’t had in 5 1/2 years.

— 4 —

So what am I doing? I drove up yesterday and today, I did errands and went food shopping for myself. I’m planning to spend some time praying and journalling about how to move from the crossroads where I’m at in my life and I also have plans to have coffee with Rebecca. Oh yes… also catch up on all the TV I’ve missed, hence the NCIS binge.

— 5 —

Completely shocked. I weighed myself yesterday for the first time in months (the last time was at a doctor’s appointment) and I’m 3-5 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. I guess all the core work, the walking, and other changes I’ve made are helping? I’m wondering if I can’t increase that loss so that I’m down to my pre-Montana weight when I leave my parents’ house.

— 6 —

Just a thought. Is there any chance that a device could be created that stops all political ads on TV and in the mail once one has voted or submitted an absentee ballot? I voted this past week (permanent absentee ballot FTW!) and I really don’t need to hear about who wants my vote anymore.

— 7 —

Possible rain. Weather.Com claims we’re not going to have rain in the next 24 hours. My head disagrees! (I freaking love weather change migraines.)

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Some New and Some of Last Week’s Leftovers

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

How Contagious Is Ebola? It turns out, not very. Unlike measles or mumps, you have to seriously come into contact with bodily fluids containing the virus. Measles and mumps also have vaccines to prevent them, unlike Ebola and a few of the other diseases mentioned.

— 2 —

Giddy. My boys (the Giants) are in the playoffs after beating Pittsburgh! My other boys (the Cardinals) are playing Jon’s boys (the Dodgers) and of course, I’m rooting for the Cardinals in that one. Ah… I love October — I just wish I had a TV so I could watch all of this.

— 3 —

Girding up my loins. I thought this was an interesting show of what it actually meant to “gird up your loins” back in the day. It satisfies my “history geek” side.

— 4 —

The War on Rosh Hashanah. I’m very thankful that my friend Neil posted this on his Facebook. It should give me something to be self-righteously indignant about until after Thanksgiving when I can obsess about the War on Advent.

— 5 —

The Benefit of Family Dinner. A friend of my bloggy friend Calah wrote this and I absolutely love it. (It’s about how eating dinner as a family saved her.) Calah expounds on it and I can relate. It’s really hard to eat a family dinner because everyone here is on a different schedule with work, medication, and childcare. We do manage it on occasion and it’s something I’ll be making an effort to try when Jon gets into his next parish.

— 6 —

An interesting view on waiting until a later age to date. I love Michelle. I love her blog. I love her family and wish I could be adopted in because they are so insanely cool and they seem to have so much fun! The particular post I’m sharing is on why one should wait until age 16 to date. She’s Mormon so it is written from that perspective but I found a number of her arguments compelling.

— 7 —

Super Woman. On days I torture myself on my core ball, I usually go for a 1 mile loop around the neighborhood for the purposes of getting some cardio as well as getting in some prayer time. (I pray for people while I walk and usually I’m walking a 5K.) I run into a lot of the same people every morning and one of them is an older man walking a dog. He jokingly asked me which lap I was on and I told him that I was just doing my 1 mile loop because I was going to go do a bunch of core exercises.

His response: “You must be Super Woman!”

Dude, you totally made this fat girl’s day.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: Scottish Independence, Jen Being Peripatetic, and Fall Shows

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Scottish independence vote. For those who want to know the result of the Scottish independence vote and don’t want the commentary, here’s your answer. For everyone else, here is commentary and information.

— 2 —

An update on Courtney. I posted prayer requests related to Mary and Courtney ~3 weeks ago. Today, they made the decisions for what will be happening in the coming months. There are various ways you can help — the Amazon.Com wishlist and GoFundMe are just two of them. I can also tell you from experience: Mary writes the *BEST* thank-you notes.

— 3 —

Napa Valley will love this news… Apparently, there is a study that claims that drinking wine is better than going to the gym. I think my mommy blogger friends will agree to this one.

— 4 —

A sign that I’m getting back to “normal”. I don’t know if it’s serious cabin fever from the heat or the fact that my foot is probably sprained (foot injuries make me more peripatetic than usual — perhaps my body not wanting to be told what it cannot do) but I have been *DYING* to go for walks every morning. After not doing it for at least 4 years, I’m covering 2-3 miles without a problem… even in 93F heat! Thankfully, it was only 73F when I went out today. I’m happy that I have a doable course for the Run for the Little Flowers worked out.

— 5 —

Prerequisite baseball take. The Giants are still 2.5 games behind Jon’s boys. They could still take their division… provided Jon’s boys lose a few more. (Of course, I’m also living in Dodger country so my opinion is not popular.)

— 6 —

Two truths and a lie. While I was on my walk this morning, I had a random thought for a Quick Take: play the game “Two Truths and a Lie” which is one of those weird mixer games from college and youth group. The rules are pretty simple: make three statements about yourself and people have to guess which one is not true. Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll let people know which is which next week.

Here are my three:

1.) I’ve been thrown and passed around by the fish throwers at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

2.) I’ve kissed a banana slug.

3.) I’ve never voted Republican in a California election.

— 7 —

Oh. Em. Gee. My shows start again next week!!!!!! I am so incredibly excited because The Big Bang Theory, and the various NCIS incarnations start again on Monday. I don’t have access to a TV so I have a feeling that I’ll be doing a lot of watching while crocheting on the morning after each show comes out.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

7 Quick Takes: The Exhaustion Fairy Visits, Scrapbooking Mysteries, and Back to School Night

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Brett. The seriously good news: HIS FAMILY IS FULLY FUNDED AND CAN BUY THE PLANE TICKETS HOME! After two years of praying for him, this is amazing news. God willing, his adoptive family will send me updates on how he does.

— 2 —

Kindergarten. Daniel is in his second week of school and seems to like it. I’ve run into a couple of his aides while out and about and they are in love with him. His transportation is worked out as of last Friday and I think today was the first day he didn’t get on the bus in tears. (I figured there would be a week of adjustment that way.)

— 3 —

Back to School Night. Jon and I went on Wednesday and got almost individualized attention from Daniel’s teacher. Jon was able to network a bit and it was a reminder for me that my kid is not that weird. It was totally up Jon’s alley (he is a people person and a networker) and he actually had FUN at the impromptu PTA meeting afterwards while I curled up into Laura Childs’ New Orleans.

They were talking about Common Core and the implementation at the school. As one who has the possibility of moving between states or halves of states, I’m actually all for the standardization of curricula and we’re being given the chance to review any Common Core curricula that our kids will be using. I know a lot of my homeschooling friends are up in arms over this and that’s understandable; but I’m not finding any problems with any of the material that I’ve seen.

And seriously, our kids are not learning how to twerk in PE like some people have claimed.

— 4 —

Laura Childs. I’m almost completely through her scrapbooking mysteries and have requested her Cackleberry Club mysteries from the library. Yes, she is that good. Her author website is here.

— 5 —

Exhaustion fairy. I somehow missed a dose of medication on Wednesday and had a really bad time sleeping that night so I spent Thursday like a zombie. My mother-in-law took one look at me when she and Jon got home at 6 and ordered me to go to bed. I wrote a couple of these last night but fell asleep typing. I’m still tired this morning but functional thankfully.

— 6 —

Bill Gothard. I’m reading stories on the Recovering Grace website and it’s showing me how much of a bullet I dodged when I converted. I had pen pals who were part of ATI and while they thought I was strange, I’m seeing that they were part of a cult. *shivers*

— 7 —

Bill Cosby and Victoria Osteen. Is anybody besides me convinced that Joel Osteen and his wife are the Christian version of Oprah? (By the way, my church attendance is *TOTALLY* about God, not about making myself happy.)

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.