Soap!

I was looking for an image to use for my "Wednesdays are for Opinions" graphic and found this:

Ummm...wow.

It's soap in the shape of hands.

Am I the only one who would be more than a little weirded out if I used the bathroom at a friend's house and this was the hand soap (no pun intended) beside the sink?



...I think I just saw one of them move...

A Few Links to Good Stories

My office mate was reading part of this story to me this morning: Iraq Banned from Beijing Olympics. They had only seven athletes participating in the first place. The IOC explains their decision by saying they were already on an interim ban because after the Iraqi government replaced the country's Olympic committee with its own appointees.

This whole Olympic year has been very perplexing to me. Why, oh why did they even let China host the Olympics? It's okay to hold the games in a country that is notorious for mistreating its own citizens and bullying anyone else they can, but we can't allow seven innocent athletes participate? Why are those athletes being punished because their government (if you can call what Iraq has a government in a country that is falling apart in a region of the world that is falling apart) made a mistake?
________

Somebody should give this judge an award and then ask him to make the same ruling for some celebrities. He made a nine-year-old girl (who was part of a custody battle) a ward of the state so they would have the authority to change her name. What was so bad about her name, you ask? Well, her cruel parents named her none other than: Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. Alrighty then.
________

Watching the Couples Go By: This is the sweetest article ever written by an economist and one of the sweetest articles period. It's just a simple look at why people get married and how two ordinary people work well together. Good stuff.

Five Fabulous Things

I almost missed my first Positive Post Tuesday! And since it's late and I need to do stuff before going to bed, I'm going to cheat and write a list of things that have made me positive and optimistic about life:

1. Roommates who come home after being away for five-ish days: I seriously have the best roommate ever. She's hilarious and puts up with my obsessive compulsive need to clean things. I'm pretty sure that if I woke up at 3 a.m. and needed a Diet Dr. Pepper or I'd die, she would find a 24-hour store and buy me 76 bottles of that sweet, sweet nectar of the heavens. And then she'd hook up an IV straight into my mouth for fast relief. She also likes dogs as much as I do and frequently quotes Madea.

2. Friends who come back from vacation: I understand that people need to go on vacation, but it's especially sweet when they come home so they can continue sending me facebook messages about life and love and Dave Ramsey. I have the greatest friends in the world and if I wrote a full entry about the friend in question, you would all send me emails, trying to find out who she is so you could steal her and make her your best friend. Well too bad, Internet stalkers. She's mine and she's fabulous.

3. Earth friendly dishwasher detergent: I feel less guilty about never washing dishes by hand because they now offer earth-friendly cleaners. See? My laziness and hatred of dishwashing hands is saving the environment.

4. New offices: We just moved offices at work and the arrangement of the new office makes it possible for me to see who comes in and out of our office. I can also see everyone who walks by the office. So not only will this be great for distractions, but now people won't be able to ignore me when they come in to talk to my office mate. More chances to use my dry wit and gift of sarcasm? Check.

5. Finally finishing a project that was started months ago, but should have take a month to do: We've been working on designing and coding an e-blast for one of the ministries at work. Let's just say our schedule and the web designer's schedule (who is an outside designer) did not mesh well. But I received the correct coding and design yesterday. And I'm not lying when I say that I thought about going out for a margarita and using my own salty tears of joy as the garnish (is margarita salt a garnish?).

Welcome to Positive Post Tuesday, where I will be optimistic and say nice things. It will be like the feng shui of my blog and help balance out my rants and raves. Fun for you!

Christianity Lite

I think scientists must be wasting their time trying to develop needless things, when they should really be working on a way to replace all the sugar and fat with perfectly safe substitutes. This way, I can eat whatever I want, without having to worry about things like "obesity" or "heart problems" or "sedentary living." I mean, really, what are these people doing with their time besides using multi-syllabic words and looking at stuff in microscopes?

If these scientists really wanted to do me a favor, they'd team up with theologians and pastors and develop a pill I could take that would endow me with all the biblical and theological knowledge I'd ever need. Then I would know everything about the Bible (contents, history, etc.) without having to worry about things like "reading my Bible" or "studying" or "making an effort." I mean, really, who wants to do that?

I finished reading The Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne last week. It's been a long time since a book has given me so many things to think about. Near the beginning of chapter eight he tells about a member of a youth group he used to lead who was caught with acid at school only a few weeks after "giving his life to Christ." When Claiborne asked him why he did it, the young man said it was because he was bored. Claiborne goes on to write "I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and materialism, of violence and war, it's because we don't dare them, not beacuse we don't entertain them. It's because we make the gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult. Kids want to do something heroic with their lives, which is why they play video games and join the army. But what are they to do with a church that teaches them to tiptoe through life so they can arrive safely at death?"

I'm convicted every time I compare the knowledge I have of my own faith and the knowledge that followers of prominent religions are expected to have. Or when I read something by Christopher Hitchens or another well-known atheist and they cite the fact that most of the Christians they talk to know less about their religion than they (the atheist) knows. I've heard pastors explain how young Jews would memorize the first five books of the Bible and if they were deemed worthy, they'd go on to memorize their entire Bible to become a rabbi.

Christians have gotten caught in this web where they believe they must make their faith easy in order for others to want it. We have to make being a Christian hip or trendy or simple in order for people to "try it." We don't want them to know how easy it is to be discouraged when we feel like God is far away. We don't want them to know that the Bible is hard to understand most of the time and there are parts we'll never understand. We give them the soft, cotton candy version of Christianity to get them started and once they've accepted Christ, we peace out and wish them the best. Another name in the Book of Life and another notch on our belt.

This is not to say we should paint a horrible picture of our faith and scare them away. Goodness, no. Because even at our worst times, Christianity is better than any alternative. Even when we feel alone, we aren't. We have the author and perfector of life with us at all times. But it's not easy and He never said it would be. But it's good--oh is it good.

I guess all of this is to say that I need to get over my complacency and laziness. I wasn't lying when I wrote that I wish I could take a pill and know everything about the Bible and Christianity. But even though it's a long and complicated book, nothing but good comes from reading God's Word. And to borrow a cliche, nothing worth having is ever easy.

I Like Plans and Organization

I've enjoyed writing this blog because it's nice to have a place to express my thoughts and opinions and tell the occasional story. The problem, though, is that I often run out of ideas of what to write. So I've decided to come up with a plan. Each day, Monday through Friday, I'll have a theme for what I'm writing about. And the best blogs have an overall purpose or focus, rather than just random ramblings. So hopefully this will give Breakfast at Tiffany's more focus.

Spiritual Monday:
There's no better way to start the week than with a "spiritual" post. Mondays will be when I write about what God has been teaching me or a particular theological subject I've been thinking about.

Positive Post Tuesday:
I got the idea for this from this guy. His posts are about specific people and are used to encourage and lift up that person. My post will just be positive in general. It might be about someone or something or a glowing review of a good movie I just watched.

Opinions are for Wednesdays:
I have a lot of opinions and sometimes I like to share these with the Internet. To spare those who don't enjoy the rantings of an over-opinionated twenty-something, I'll try to reserve my opinions for Wednesdays.

Newsreel Thursday:
I also like to read the news. This has become less of a habit because the news is getting increasingly depressing. But I still read it a fair amount, so Thursdays will be when I talk about what's in the news and perhaps what I think of it all. This might also be where I share with you news of the weird or just plain interesting.

Things I Love Friday:
I really like links (except the kind that pop up one of those annoying screens when you pass over it to give you a preview of what the link goes to). Since it's the end of the work week and I like making lists, I'll use Fridays to show you the things I've seen or done or read or thought about or listened to that make me smile.

Now, I won't stick to this religiously if I have a great story to tell or a thought to ponder and I can't wait for the appropriate day. Or if the post doesn't fit in one of the categories. Heck, maybe I'll even post two things in one day--I know, I'm a wild and crazy gal. But from now on, whenever I'm thinking "Gee, it's been a while since I've posted. Whatever will I post?" I'll know that I have a schedule. So come on back for more later and we'll see how this works out.