Thursday, April 28, 2011

If you try anything, if you try to lose weight, or to improve yourself, or to love, or to make the world a better place, you have already achieved something wonderful, before you even begin. Forget failure. If things don't work out the way you want, hold your head up high and be proud. And try again. And again. And again!

The Long Bag We Drag Behind Us

What's in your bag and should it be there?

The Long Bad We Drag Behind Us
By Robert Bly

Let’s talk about the personal shadow first. When we were one or two years old we had what we might visualize as a 360-degree personality. Energy radiated out from all parts of our body and all parts of our psyche. A child running is a living globe of energy. We had a ball of energy, all right; but one day we noticed that our parents didn’t like certain parts of that ball. They said things like: “Can’t you be still?” Or “It isn’t nice to try and kill your brother.” Behind us we have an invisible bag, and the part of us our parents don’t like, we, to keep our parents’ love, put in the bag. By the time we go to school our bag is quite large.

Then our teachers have their say: “Good children don’t get angry over such little things.” So we take our anger and put it in the bag. By the time my brother and I were twelve in Madison, Minnesota we were known as “the nice Bly boys.” Our bags were already a mile long. Then we do a lot of bag-stuffing in high school. This time it’s no longer the evil grownups that pressure us, but people our own age. So the student’s paranoia about grownups can be misplaced. I lied all through high school automatically to try to be more like the basketball players. Any part of myself that was a little slow went into the bag.

My sons are going through the process now; I watched my daughters, who were older, experience it. I noticed with dismay how much they put into the bag, but there was nothing their mother or I could do about it. Often my daughters seemed to make their decision on the issue of fashion and collective ideas of beauty, and they suffered as much damage from other girls as they did from men.
So I maintain that out of a round globe of energy the twenty-year-old ends up with a slice.

We’ll imagine a man who has a thin slice left-the rest is in the bag-and we’ll imagine that he meets a woman; let’s say they are both twenty-four. She has a thin, elegant slice left. They join each other in a ceremony, and this union of two slices is called marriage. Even together the two do not make up one person! Marriage when the bag is large entails loneliness during the honeymoon for that very reason. Of course we all lie about it. “How is your honeymoon?” “Wonderful, how’s yours?”

Different cultures fill the bag with different contents. In Christian culture sexuality usually goes into the bag. With it goes much spontaneity. Marie Louise von Franz warns us, on the other hand, not to sentimentalize primitive cultures by assuming that they have no bag at all. She says in effect that they have a different but sometimes even larger bag. They may put individuality into the bag, or inventiveness. What anthropologists know as “participation mystique,” or “a mysterious communal mind,” sounds lovely, but it can mean that tribal members all know exactly the same thing and no one knows anything else. It’s possible that bags for all human beings are about the same size.

We spend our life until we’re twenty deciding what parts of ourselves to put into the bag, and we spend the rest of our lives trying to get them out again.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Today's Correspondence

From today's SM correspondence:

On Princess Di and Mother Theresa:
"I suppose. But I am still pissed on Mother Theresa's behalf.  Message to world: help others for your entire life and give your life to The Lord (even though you don't feel His presence) --> no acknowledgement.  On the other hand, dress pretty, give some of your time to charity, get caught doing something shady with a hotel mogul ---> insane amounts of coverage.  Enough already!  I'm pretty sure even Jesus is pissed about this insane lack of fairness in media coverage. 

I did stay up all night to watch JPII's funeral.  Man that guy was awesome. AND Polish.  He rose above all Polish jokes and showed the Catholic heathens who is boss - the Poles!

On the ridiculosity that is the royal wedding:
I admit that it does give the masses something to distract themselves with. And I have heard ridiculous undertones of "a prince turning a normal girl into a princess."  Great, just what we need.  As if we don't have enough girls running around thinking they are going to be/are princesses.  Then they are all disappointed because they are forced with the current production-possibility frontier curve of current day men in which we must choose between toolness and pussiness. Fabulous.  Just great UK.  Disney is probably paying them.

True.  Harry is much hotter. He also possesses my signature attraction of red-hair. I'd do Harry. I'd wear costumes if he wanted. Sign me up!!!!  William - balding and already looks 35.  Kate. Eh, she's no beauty, but she's not fugly."

Monday, April 25, 2011

Conan arrives on a bike to take me away!

Don't wait for Prince Charming, because he's too lazy to leave his castle.  Wait for your Knight in Shining Armor who will fight for you.
"Love is not an affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far it can be obtained."

-- C.S. Lewis

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Golden Egg Tournament





 My grandmother's teeth

My family is unique. I fit right in...and that says a lot.

Today was the Golden Egg Tournament, held every Easter. My family meets to play mini-golf. I was the Biggest Loser with a score of 70. I would like to qualify that pathetic score with the fact that I rode my bike 80 miles yesterday and 55 miles this morning. My body could not perform another physical feat if I really wanted to. I am pleased that I gave Aunt Jewbutt the honor of best improved and her first year not being the Biggest Loser!
My team - no idea why my body is contorted

The Biggest Loser

The Winner (for the second time...I smell a cheater!).  A new tradition was added this year and the winner of The Golden Egg Tournament must wear his (or her) crown to all family functions.  Kenny is getting married this year.....hahahaha...


To some this may just be a silly tradition in my crazy family. But when we all gather together for events like this I am reminded of how blessed I am to have a family that is loving (although we don't always express it in the most loving ways) and will be there for one another no matter what. We are all different in our own ways, but we have lots of fun together and make each other laugh. On days like today, I am proud to be a Nelson. And even though my grandmother is rolling over in her grave as her teeth appeared in the form of an Easter basket andmy grandfather is laughing along with us; I know that they can be proud of fostering a loving family.

I am truly blessed to be a Nelson.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Friday

As we meditate on the Passion of Our Lord this Good Friday, we are struck by the incredible suffering Jesus humbly and obediently endured for our sake. After surviving hours of cruelty and torture, Christ hung in agony for three hours upon the cross. Nailed as He was, Jesus endured unspeakable pain each time He lifted His body up to speak. Yet He persevered until the end, teaching and reaching out with love.
Let us reflect upon the words spoken in today’s Gospel according to St. John:

“Woman, behold, your son…Behold, your mother.”
In perhaps one of the most moving displays of love, Jesus continues to think of others even as He is jeered by the crowd as he is slowly dying on the cross. Jesus looks out for the needs of His mother, making sure she is cared for after His death, and Our Lord looks out for our needs as well. Jesus makes His mother Our Blessed Mother, too. At that moment, we truly became her children and like any tender mother, Mary wants what is best for us. She knows what’s best is to tirelessly lead her children to her Son. If we accept her as our mother, Our Lady will do just that. She is our quickest path to Jesus! According to Saint Louis Marie de Montfort in his Total Consecration : “To go to Jesus, we must go to Mary; she is our Mediatrix of Intercession. To go to God the Father, we must go to Jesus; for he is our Mediator of Redemption.” (T.D. #86)

“I thirst.”
It can be assumed Jesus was parched from the hours of mistreatment. “Thirst is one of the great agonies of crucifixion,” writes Fr. Christopher Rengers, OFM Cap., in The Seven Last Words of Christ. (TAN Books and Publishers, 2002) “It was caused by the loss of blood, by fever and by general exhaustion. Thirst accompanies any long, drawn-out pain. It can become worse than the original pain that causes it.”
Yet Jesus thirsts for much more than water. St. Augustine says these words showed not only the Savior’s desire for drink, but even more a desire that his enemies might believe in Him and be saved. (The Seven Last Words, p. 50) As suggested by Fr. Rengers, each of us will have many opportunities to help save souls for Christ.

“If we really love Christ,” writes Fr. Rengers, “we will want the things that He wants. With our whole soul, we will seek to help in whatever way we can so that souls may be saved.” We can do this by our simple witness to faith, by showing the love of Christ to others in our words and actions. We do this quietly and without fanfare as we go about our everyday lives. Let us ponder the ways Our Lord might be calling us to witness and to help quench His undying thirst for souls.

“It is finished.”
As Jesus gave up His Spirit, He finished the mission given to Him by the Father. But for us, the mission is just beginning. It is up to us to ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern God’s will for us, and to do it.
“Each day we ought to pray with Christ,” continues Fr. Rengers. “‘Not my will, but thine be done.’ (Lk 22:42). We must be convinced that we are here to do God’s Will, to accomplish some special job. Our job may be easy or hard, but whatever it is, God will see us through.” (p. 71)
At the end of each day, and at the end of our earthly life, let us be able to look back on a job well done. As Fr. Rengers concludes, “Like Christ on the Cross we will be able to say: ‘It is consummated. I have done the work You gave me to do.’”

Diane Freeby, SMC ’88

Duh


Red heads can succeed at anything....except enduring pain.  This would confirm my theory that a quarterback can be good only if he is also cute (negated by Big Ben and others....)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Welcome to the NEW LAUP!

This post should be read while listening to ET by Katy Perry.  You can imagine me singing and appropriately biting my bottom lip as all officially white people should.  I am obsessed with that song.



I have been at my job now for six months.  Slowly, my "true" personality is starting to emerge.  I used to be the quiet data monkey in the corner.  Now I'm the CRAZY lady in that they keep locked up in the corner.


Our boss wasn't coming in until 1pm today....so things were a little unruly in our office.

These kinds of things happen often - people taking pictures of themselves in outfits that are deemed cute! 

I suggested that we have a dance party/contest and I could be the judge.  But I wasn't allowed to take photos of this event.


 One of our coworkers is leaving to go to First 5 LA.  We had her going away lunch yesterday and we were all signing a card for her today. I decided that each of us should pick a dog from the card that represented us.

The scrappy one is me, the "Adios" one is Jeanette.  Our boss chose the mutt (?).

But these were contestants, as well...

 Finally the boss arrived and we had to do some "work."  But that couldn't really commence until we had scavenged chocolate from various members of the office:

Indeed, unlike men, chocolate will NEVER let you down. Especially chocolate with caramel!  

True dat!  Word to your motha!


 I sit in a corner, by myself.  This was done randomly, as we were assigned numbers in our old office and then they were assigned in linear order to offices when we moved.  Now that all the dust has settled, and I often venture to "visit" (read bother and annoy and mock) others, people have started to come visit me.  They are horrified by the status of my desk.

Here is a typical day on my desk:
Highlights:  Notre Dame license plate, Nalgene bottle, lotion, Mac Book (because work won't put Stata on my computer and I refuse to use the inferior SPSS).  Please note that I try to keep my papers organized.  SOMEONE comes in the night and messes up my desk!

See! I work!  Open binders...email open, phone off hook, empty Diet Coke bottle, my favorite PINK calculator. The post-it note on the corner of my computer screen says:
1.  Be Loving
2.  Be Faithful
3.  Be Patient

On the other side there is a note that says:  "Nothing is hard, you just don't wanna do it. --Gramps"

My inspiration to keep working!  Hooray! 
1. A picture of my last class
2. A note from one of my favorite students (although at the time I almost killed her!) telling me I am her favorite teacher, all on the background of an interlocking ND (they knew me well!).
3. Picture of my cousins in Las Vegas
4. Sun Bowl photo
5.  Quote: "People see God everday; they just don't recognize Him."
(from The Observer, back in the day)
6.  Random other inspirational quotes

And of course:  hair mousse, my LAUP coffee cup that I never use, the scarecrow from the Halloween cake pops (that I made in October, haven't taken the scarecrow home yet), Pink unicorn/horse from a Happy Meal.

And so there it is...slowly I will revolutionize the culture of LAUP.  There hasn't been any banging on windows....yet.....

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

When God Closes a Door, He Opens a Window

I hate this saying.  I also hate when people say, "Everything happens for a reason."

While reading "The Social Animal," David Brooks mentions research that people from the US and also more educated are more likely to believe to control their own destiny and life. He has a metaphor about clocks and clouds (from Jonah Lehrer, author of "How We Decide").

"Clocks are neat, orderly systems that can be defined and evaluate using reductive methodologies.  You can take apart a clock, measure the pieces, and see how they fit together. Clouds are irregular, dynamic, and idiosyncratic.  It's hard to study a cloud because they change from second to second.  They can best be described through narrative, not numbers.

I don't want to believe this is right,  but Richard Nesbitt said that "What nature hath joined together, multiple regression cannot put asunder."

He also notes that one of "the great temptations of socety is that it tries to pretend that every phenomenon is a clock which can be evaluated using mechanical tools and regular techniques.

I've been watching Friday Night Lights lately. In one episode Smash loses his scholarship to TMU....

Mom:  Listen I know Whitmore isn't what you dream of.  But honey, when a door closes, God opens a window. He ain't never fumbled the ball, he always gets the touchdown.  That's God's plan."

And that's the key to remember, as much as we want to believe we can study and know and take apart the world, predict the future....in the end God has plans for us and he doesn't ever fumble. Things that seem like the end if the world now are God's way of closing down something that isn't right and opening us up to "better" opportunities.

Although I chose to close a door recently, God has already opened so many more opportunities to fill the void that I felt.

The Interactive Proust Questionnaire

I took the Proust Quiz today (while I should have been working). Take it here:

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/proust-questionnaire

1.  What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A nap on a Sunday afternoon with the windows open and an ocean breeze coming through.  Someone I love lying next to me.

2. What is your greatest fear?
Needles

3.  Which historical figure do you identify with?
I don't know

4.  Which living person do you admire most?
Father Hesburgh

5.  What is the trait you deplore most in yourself?
My ego-centricism

6.  What is the trait you deplore most in others?
Selfishness

7. What is your greatest extravagance?
My iPad

8.  On what occasion do you lie?
When I feel threatened

9.  What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My calves/legs

10.  When and where were you happiest?
Summer in Austin, TX circa 2004

11.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My antisocialness

12.  If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
That we would all be able to see that everyone is trying their hardest given the circumstances in which we live

13.  What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Making it through two rounds of graduate school without debt

14.  If you died and came back as a person or thing, what would it be?
One of my aunt's dogs

15.  What is your most treasured possession?
My childhood bear, Beary

16.  What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Feeling abandoned, by God or humanity

17.  Who are your heroes in real life?
Mother Theresa, Father Hesburgh, my grandfather, my mom and dad, anyone with strength and courage to see what lies ahead and makes decisions that will make them happy, people who give of themselves for the benefit of others

18.  What is it that you most dislike?
Pain in my heart

19. How would you like to die?
In my sleep

20. What is your motto?
Just keep swimming....

Based upon my answers, the quiz tells me I am most like:

Nora Ephron 98.33%
and
Hugh Hefner 76.64%
The same Everlasting Father
Who cares for you today
Will take care of you
Tomorrow and everyday

Either He will 
Shield you from suffering
-or-
He will give you unfailing strength to bear it

Be at peace then
And
Put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Gratitude

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in yourself.

Today I am grateful for:

* being happy despite the world swirling around me
* my friends who surround me with care in many forms: texts, emails, sarcastic gchat banter, their love and their inside information. Thank you
* my family and the fact that I am blessed with such cool aunts and uncles and cousins; and especially my parents who are always there for me no matter what
* Mr. Grumpypants and his new found love of swimming/wading in the bathtub
* my job
* the experiences that my position in the world has afforded me, especially being able to travel
* Modern medicine
* my foot fan
* that I can enjoy living by myself but be surrounded with people when I choose
* my brain
* Stata and when it shows me green code and numbers that sync, instead of red code and error messages
* chocolate pudding, Cadbury eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, my Mom's lasagna and ice cream
* Trader Joe's
* my bike

Happy Birthday to the BEST Dad Ever!

Poor guy - had no idea what he was getting himself into.  He should have jumped ship while he could.


Notre Dame vs UCLA 2009

My dad is the unsung hero of our family.  He is often lost in the chaos of living with three women.  But you can always count on him.  He will drive to west LA to help me get a new battery in my car at 5pm (a special kind of love since he had to take the 405) when I'm stuck in a parking lot. He can fix anything.  And I mean anything.  He has been known to drive me around in the middle of the night after surgery, with my cast hanging out of the car window because the only way my foot will stop hurting is through the vibrations of the car and the cool rush of air.  In fact, he is often the only person who can calm my crazy foot pain.  He always rubs my feet and after surgery he rubs my toes to distract my brain from the pain that isn't really pain.  We share a love of ice cream and he will never say no to a quick trip to Dairy Queen, Thrify or McDonalds. 

We won't mention the facts that he wears sandals with socks, back in the day a pocket protector, has an infinite supply of nerdy Ride for Kids tshirts and he's been know to sneak snacks (most likely jelly beans) while were are in pre-op and I haven't eaten in 24 hours! My dad is a class-A nerd. I'm still not really sure what his job is, even though I've asked.
My dad stands for respect and patience and love in my life.  I hope that there will be a day that I can be with someone that is half the man that my dad is for me.  I love you, Dad!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Submitted Without Comment

I sent the following email....please alert the nerd holding tank, one has escaped!

So I know you are going to be all zen and ish after your cultural fling with your foreign movies.  But I am here to tell you that ALL IS NOT RIGHT WITH THE WORLD!!!!!!

I want to read The Great Gatsby so that I can keep it's literary form perfected in my head before Hollywood massacres it.  Even though Leonardo DiCaprio and Toby McGuire are in it, I sense a debacle of epic proportions.  

But the real rage is that I CAN'T FIND MY COPY!   Who is the heartless person who has it?  I know not!!!!!

And now for your comedic portion of the night....I got lost going to Literati Cafe this afternoon.  Yes, I have lived on the Westside for almost three years.  Why are Santa Monica Blvd. and Wilshire so hard to keep straight!?!?!?!

Happy Holy Week!!!!! Wait....does that start tomorrow or Monday?  Man, I just lost $500 in the next Vespers round of Catholic Jeopardy!!!!!
--L