Ranting and rejoicing

OK, I'm going to save my entry every two seconds so I don't lose it this time.

We've had some odd rain here lately. It rained at 2:00 today while the sun was out. From under an overhang, I looked up at the sky and didn't really see any rain clouds. I'm sure there were some there. They must have been directly above.

Time to rant about a pet peeve. I realize this pet peeve is slightly hypocritical because it's a fault of mine, too. I'm tired of sarcasm. Before proceeding, I'd like to distinguish sarcasm from irony. Irony is very funny and usually harmless. It's merely pointing out some inconsistency in what you'd expect and what actually happens. It's a subtle form of humor. Sarcasm, on the other hand, says to me that the speaker is expressing bottled up anger and has a pessimistic view of the world. If you're annoyed about something, come right out and say it. Don't hide your thoughts behind words that communicate the opposite of what they really mean. I've noticed that pastors and seminarians have a lot of built-up aggression that comes out as sarcasm. I learned from my college Greek prof that the word sarcasm comes from the Greek root "sarx," meaning "body," because sarcasm is like taking a chunk out of someone's flesh. When used against someone, sarcasm is painful. I'm not venting because someone said something sarcastic against me recently. I'm just urging you to be conscious of using sarcasm because I'm tired of hearing it and it does more harm than good. Usually sarcasm can only be decoded by those familiar with the speaker, so it can be a way of excluding people, too. OK, thanks for reading the rant.

Other than the rain, the weather has been pleasant this week. On Wednesday, I took my camping chair and read outside at the park next to the sem. Here was my pattern: read a chapter, put the bookmark in the book, doze off for a second, read a little more, bookmark, snooze. At one point, I must have fallen asleep for 10 or 20 minutes. This lasted for close to three hours. I was so relaxed. It was like being in a trance. The Calvin and Hobbes picture expresses my thoughts about nice weather.

Thanks for reading.

18 days till Call Day.