the comps are coming...

Today I was on campus for a last Q&A's session before my comprehensive exams (for all who have asked: the written part is Thursday&Friday, my oral exam will be Wednesday). There was a crew of about 30 new grad students were there for their orientation, too.
Hard to believe that it really has been a year since I moved to Long Island to start my PhD! Time flies! Currently, time isn't going quite fast enough - I can't wait for my exams to be OVER.
My room is study zone central, it looks like a tornado struck, there are papers everywhere, stacks of books and binders, shoes, clothes...
Though I would like to mention that I do not have piles of dirty clothes all over the floor. When I have clothes on the floor, it's because while I still have it together enough to do my laundry, I don't get around to folding them... I'll bring them into my room, leave them on my bed to fold later, then later comes and goes and turns into bedtime, so I move all the clothes next to the bed, in order to fold them the next morning. And about a week later... well, I'm sure you get the picture.
So yes, all I have to do is survive til Tuesday next week (here's to hoping my allergies will die down!) and I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

When two people meet ...

I recently discovered that modern technology has altered the mechanics of meeting people.
For example when you are trying to meet up with siomebody cell phones seem to have eliminated the need for precise times and places. You no longer say: I will meet you at 2:30 in front of the blue building next to the black door with the white stripes. You say (or more likely text) “2:30ish, near the blue building. Give me a call when you get there”. The first person to get there text the other: “I’m here now, give me a call when you get here”. And inevitably meeting and greeting goes something like this – one person calls the other, both are on the phone saying stuff like – uh, I’m right next to the greenish door – oh, I just parked I should be walking towards you – there’s a red motorcycle parked to my left – and finally one person says “oh, I see you – turn around” and the greeting style is one hand on the phone one had in the air waving.
Then there’s randomly meeting somebody on the street and saying hi. You catch their eye, nod both walk towards each other and reach with one hand to pull out one of their earbuds and you say: Hey how’s it going? Exchange one or two sentences of small talk, pop the ear bud back in and continue walking down the street.

here's a good one

This Sunday the pastor was preaching on the "ought". As in what our lives "ought" to be, how God has so much more in store for us than we "ever asked or imagined". And how it is our job as well to make the most of opportunities we have now to be prepared for later.
He described it as think of two women chatting. One says: "I really need to start going to the gym. I met this really cute guy at the water cooler today". And the pastor said, this is why you need to focus on the ought and work on it now. It's too late - she's already met the guy.
Yes. He said it during the Sunday morning service.
Suddenly, I no longer feel bad about some of the jokes I've cracked during a service or analogies I've come up with... like the infamous rugby-sermon.
Though I still maintain, that had Paul known about rugby he would have definitely used it instead of "the body"...

But that's another story.