/karen/

Life after job

Tuesday, 01 April, 2003

Even on holidays life is busy. On Saturday Ben and I borrowed Irwan's car and drove up to Koorong to return the rest of the books from the Commencement Camp bookstall and pick up the $15 paperback ESV's that Koorong had ordered for us a month ago (so if you're wondering why the West Ryde branch have none, it's because we've got them). We decided to have yum cha for late lunch and then went to visit some friends. Greater Union were having a deal for subscribers to their electronic newsletters whereby we could get two tickets to see Chicago for only $8 each. The last time I went to the cinemas to see a movie was for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on Boxing Day. We bought tickets for the 6:30 session and then sat in Miranda Fair's food court, brainstorming ideas of how to run a course on writing for TEAM (Training in Evangelism And Ministry). TEAM is run by ECU and is comprised of several training groups to teach Christians how to do things like share the gospel, follow up new Christians, lead Bible Studies and give children's talks. We brainstormed for an hour before going in to see Chicago. Predictably, Ben hated it and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the singing (Catherine Zeta-Jones was better than I thought she'd be), the dancing, the glitz and the glamour. The storyline, however, is quite outlandish and the film seems to imply that you could, so to speak, “get away with murder”. I couldn't understand why it won Best Picture this year at the Oscars; compared to Moulin Rouge, it wasn't anything special. We drove back to Wollongong (and it was raining AGAIN; it rains every time we drive back to Wollongong from the Shire) and returned Irwan's car. Irwan and Andrew invited us to stay and watch Kung Pow with their friends. I found it incredibly stupid; Ben laughed himself silly. Which says something about our respective taste in movies. On Sunday morning we had a Bible Study leaders' meeting at church. It was really good to find out how all the different grounds were going and what we could pray for each other. I think our Bible Study group is radically different to everyone else's as we have a lot of overseas students and a range of people at different stages of Christian growth. We are going to try to do social things with one of the other Thursday night Bible Study groups so that the Aussies can get to know the internationals and vice versa. Shaun spent a bit of time during that meeting talking about evangelism and why or why not evangelism should be a key focus in our Bible Study groups. It was a very interesting discussion. Ben and I are not sure what to do about it in our group given the current mix of people. Our friend Matthew came over for lunch and I made the mistake of serving him food with stuff in it he doesn't like. I think I'm going to have to start making notes and, perhaps, keep a file on all my friends because I keep getting all their likes and dislikes mixed up and it's a complete disaster every time they come over for meals. He didn't mind too much and it was good to catch up with him. In the afternoon we had Sunday school and I did the mission spot on Ethiopia. It was hard to get the kids to listen. Some of the leaders said that they were more hyperactive than normal because of daylight saving but I didn't notice the difference. The K-2's are doing Genesis and the 3-5's are doing Acts. I'm not sure how much the K-2's took in about Abraham but hopefully they had fun. Straight after Sunday school I had band practice (my first ever at St. Michael's!) It was probably the fastest band practice I've ever been to (30 min). I helped lead singing during the service along with two others. Richard preached on 1 Peter 4:12-19 and what it means to suffer as a Christian. After church we had supper and then After Supper Supper which was at Trevor's place. On Monday Ben was running around like a headless chicken, being very stressed. He hadn't prepared Bible Study yet and it was on at 12:30. I went with him to Uni and sat in the chaplaincy writing for Issue 07 while he and Miriam prepared. I went with them to Arts/Creative Arts Bible Study where we studied Leviticus 1. Then I walked back to the chaplaincy where I spent the rest of the afternoon writing. I also managed to sell three paperback ESV's during that time. At 4:30 everyone had Bible Study leaders' training and I sat in on the session. Andrew talked about doing walk-up evangelism and how to introduce the topic in Bible Study groups. Afterwards we had TEAM and I sat in on Richard's group which was about writing children's talks. I was able to ask all my questions about how to teach children the Bible and what do you do when you disagree with the source material you've been given. He said that it was best to go with what the passage says instead of what the resource material says. Upon hearing that, I felt much better about leading Sunday school, which I'll be doing for the first time next Sunday (*gulp!*). Must get back to writing ...
/Karen/ had a thought at 3:26 PM | Comments (0)
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Current:

seen: Moon 15/10/2009

read: The Incredibles 11/10/2009

seen: She's the Man 05/10/2009

read: I Kill Giants (Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Niimura) 04/10/2009

read: Astro City The Dark Ages Book 1: Brothers and Other Strangers (Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross) 04/10/2009

seen: Children of Men 02/10/2009

seen: Metric (The Metro) 30/09/2009

seen: 500 Days of Summer 25/09/2009

seen: The September Issue 18/09/2009

seen: Gilmore Girls: Season 1 17/09/2009

read: Flight (Volume 1) (edited by Kazu Kibuishi) 16/09/2009

seen: Ponyo 11/09/2009

read: Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert) 05/09/2009

heard: Aimee Mann (Enmore Theatre) 04/09/2009

heard: Ben Folds Solo (Opera House) 31/08/2009

read: Phonogram: Rue Britannia (Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie) 26/08/2009

seen: Northanger Abbey 20/08/2009

read: The Princess Diaries (Meg Cabot) 18/08/2009

seen: The Phantom of the Opera 17/08/2009

seen: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 10/08/2009

seen: District 9 10/08/2009

read: Shortcomings (Adrian Tomine) 02/08/2009

read: AIR Volume 1: Letters from Lost Countries (Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker) 28/07/2009

seen: Persepolis 25/07/2009

seen: Ghost Town 25/07/2009

heard: Gutter Twins (Seymour Centre) 23/07/2009

seen: Coco Avant Chanel 20/07/2009

seen: Gutenberg! The Musical (Seymour Centre) 16/07/2009

seen: So You Think You Can Dance? Australia Live Tour (Sydney Entertainment Centre) 11/07/2009

seen: Every Little Step 07/07/2009

seen: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen 03/07/2009

seen: Synecdoche, New York 30/06/2009

seen: Charlie's Angels 27/06/2009

seen: Penelope 26/06/2009

seen: Coraline 10/06/2009

seen: The Sky Crawlers 08/06/2009

seen: The Bourne Ultimatum 07/06/2009

seen: The Bourne Supremacy 07/06/2009

seen: The Bourne Identity 06/06/2009

seen: Stick it 05/06/2009

Comment:

Kathleen said in Beilharzen:

Congratulations again smile

Elsie said in Beilharzen:

Don’t laminate your ultrasound picture smile That is my advice.

Diane Lovell said in Beilharzen:

Congratulations! This is so fantastic! smile

Little said in Beilharzen:

Thanks so much for sharing all of this… people swap engagement stories but rarely pregnancy stories! And it’s kind of similar don’t you think, all this excitement leading up to a big day!

So happy for you guys! Actually never been more excited for anyone except my sister! I think it’s because I think that you will both be amazing parents and love the idea that someone could grow up in your family.

Looking forward to many more posts on the topic. smile

Jan said in Beilharzen:

Lovely news, Karen.

/Karen/ said in Beilharzen:

Thanks everyone! I will be sure to ask for help when I need it!

sammi said in Beilharzen:

Great pic!! Peanut is cute! :D
Praying for you all!
xx

Sarah said in Beilharzen:

:D
I had a similar sort of morning sickness.. except I threw up! I’m suitably impressed that you coped OS.. that must have been tough.
It sounds like you’re doing marvelously otherwise!
Book recommendation on something a bit less technical and a bit more human: ‘Birth’ http://www.birthnet.com.au/

Bec said in Beilharzen:

Praise be to God indeed!  Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

Ben A said in Beilharzen:

Congratulations, Beilharzen! Welcome to the slightly-bewildering world of pregnancy (and birth...and children...). God has blessed you greatly with this new life. We’ll be praying for Peanut’s growth and development, and for you guys as you prepare.

I’m sure you’re surrounded by baby veterans, but always happy to help with books/advice/recommendations/listening.

B&L;

Fi said in Oblique:

Excellent job Karen! You SHOULD be pleased with yourself!

Have you discovered http://www.ravelry.com ? It is an excellent site with thousands of free patterns in its database, lots of support, tips, forums etc and of course - friends like me? Look me up when you get there - fionag77

PS Are you just wearing a bulky dress or are you sporting a bump under that dress?

sammi said in Oblique:

oooh.... It’s done and it looks great on you! xxx

Bec said in Oblique:

Well done on all that hard work!  It looks great and will be very snuggly come winter!

/Karen/ said in Fashioning (part 2):

Thanks for letting me know, Timo!

Timo Rissanen said in Fashioning (part 2):

Hi there,
Thanks for pointing out the shortcoming on our website. I’ll pass it on to my colleagues and hopefully it will be rectified soon.

The documentary at Fashioning Now was by Holly Kaye-Smith; I’d be more than happy to put you in touch with her if you’d like.

Again, thanks for the comment, much appreciate it!

Kind regards,
Timo Rissanen

/Karen/ said in Fashioning (part 1):

Thanks Mark! Much appreciated!

Mark Crean said in Fashioning (part 1):

Rich survey, Karen. Particularly I was struck by the notion of Jesus being clothed with our sins. I heard recently somebody suggest the crown of thorns was a kings crown but it was made of the symbol of the curse in the Garden - thorns. I would like to read your thoughts about Joseph’s coat of many colours.
Looking forward to the next installment. Regards,Mark

Kathleen said in Yvonne (Part 3):

It is lovely - and looks great on you.

You’ve made me want to read it - though I may need an interpreter at times!

Kathleen said in Bag learner (reprise):

Well done with the sewing!
I think it looks good - very relaxed and spring-y.

/Karen/ said in Creative endeavour:

Hey Sandra! Thanks for the tip! I read it yesterday, but I struggled a bit because Lewis doesn’t start from the Bible. I wasn’t convinced by his argument. What did you think?

Interesting post Karen - Thanks smile
I like the ending too! :D
xxx

Fantastic post, Karen. Just great. Thanks!

Thanks Bec! Eternal life just keeps getting better and better ...

I do like the way you ended this post - excellent thought.

Personally I don’t feel that way. Maybe that’s something you should blog about?

Wow. Lots of things to pick up on there. It’s been interesting to see the changes to your blog these last 6-12 months: Twitter is certainly more immediate, but are there (gasp) downsides to having its constant buzz in the ear?

Is our (already fractured) ability to concentrate on a single relationship at a time further jeapordised by the regular buzz of tweetdeck (and worse yet, by the imagined sense of loss that goes with being off the grid)?

Or am I just projecting my own fears?

sandra j said in Creative endeavour:

Hi Karen!
If you’re still thinking about this… I just read CS Lewis’s essay “Learning in War-time” which exactly addresses this issue (ie. how can we justify cultural & aesthetic pursuits when people are going to hell around us?).  Have you read it?  i’d be interested to hear what you think..
(i have it in his little volume “Transposition and other Addresses”, but it’s easily findable online)

Sarah said in Creative endeavour:

I’m doing my own series on the trials and tribulations of writing on my own blog here http://sedshed.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Head%20to%20Hand
It’s coming along slowly smile

Coincidentily, I stumbled upon the above Phonogram vs. the Fans cover when digging around for ID concepts for Salt. A disturbingly brilliant image.

Thanks Karen. At the very least, this post gives some context to your myriad of phonogram tweets. At best, it has reinvigorated my stagnated appreciation of comics.

Seriously, though 4,549 words. Is that the best you can do? I say, longer!

Hey @RodeoClown! Yes, I neglected to mention Gillen writes about gaming. Guan said once he had the ideal job: writing, comics and games.

As far as I know, McKelvie doesn’t trace photos; he just draws (so talented ...)

You should give Phonogram a try. Be warned, though: series 1 is a little different to series 2—still clever but there are some things that are a bit strange in it if you’re not used to the fantastic.

RodeoClown said in Phonogram: A fangirl's tribute:

Whoops, I stuffed up that link, sorry.
It was to Rock Paper Shotgun where he writes (he also has a standalone blog as well.

RodeoClown said in Phonogram: A fangirl's tribute:

I didn’t know Gillen wrote comics until I saw the last phongram reference you made on here. It’s odd as I only knew of him as a videogame jounalist (which he is also really good at).

I read the sample issue of phonogram they have up at the Image comics (I think) site.

It looked pretty interesting - I like the subtlety involved in telling the story - the references aren’t all forciby thrust into your brain by the writer.

Do you know if the art is done by tracing photos or just dtawn?

I certainly don’t understand enough about pop music to really get that comic series, but I’m glad you’ve shared how you came to appreciate comics.

I’d say go and make some short comics. Seems like it will make the longer stuff easier to put together.

You’re right. I don’t really understand. But I do so love reading your writing. It’s like you’re speaking inside my head and excitedly telling me something.

/Karen/ said in Creative endeavour:

Thanks Sarah! Feel free to share your own thoughts on the subject.

Sarah said in Creative endeavour:

I’m a Christian, I’m a writer (well, I’m working on my first novel which is nearing completion) and I felt your post so PERFECTLY captured the dilemmas I’ve been thinking about.

yvonne said in Yvonne (Part 3):

KAREN!!!! it looks so amazing!!! i cant believe how beautiful it is. Everyone at work is just amazed at how talented you are. I’ll get in contact with you soon xx

JC said in Yvonne (Part 2):

I love it, Karen. You must teach me how to do this.

Blinks:

Guy Gavriel Kay's official website.

ESV in MP3 form: complete BIble is USD 30.00.

The hazards of noise for children because their ears are more sensitive.

Digital billboards: distracting for drivers or will the regulations keep them from becoming hazards? Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages?

By William Poundstone. Sounds like an interesting book.

The future of shopping with mobile phones. Aggressive merchandising. Privacy issues.

Study finds that there's no benefit to banning food and fluids during labour.

Scheduling recess before lunch in American schools has unexpected benefits: less food wasted, more healthy food consumed, better attention being paid in the classroom.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and childbirth. People don't tend to think PTSD happens with childbirth, but it's logical given that the root of it is fear.

Via Joyce. Somewhere really nice to eat?

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