PIF Writing Blues

Like many a seminarian
Whose views some say are contrarian
I've got to write myself in a box

The box's lines are well defined
though the question's been refined
to summarize the pastor's talks

Oh, I've got the PIF writing blues
Haven't you heard the news?
When you write a PIF on all the issues -
You're sure to get a call,
Just as long as you're Paul -
It's the PIF writing blues you can't refuse...

What's a PIF? you ask -
In short, it's a task
A resume and online-dating ad in one...

It's for churches and for pastors both -
To see what the other "hath quoth"
A service for Presbyterians

Chorus

With the multitude of churches
To find no smears or smirches
Is frankly, inconceivable

But remember, we're all people
And we fit beneath one steeple -
God connects the right and liberal!

Chorus


Oh, I've got the PIF writing blues
Haven't you heard the news?
Where you have to write on all the issues -
I may not be Saint Paul
But I hope to get a call -
It's the PIF writing blues I can't refuse

Interblogitude

If you haven't seen it already, I posted two weeks ago on the KNOM Volunteer Blog. On the weeks that I post on the other blog, this blog will, from now on, get an update link - Sorry, but I've only got so much time to work on these things!

http://www.knom.org/blog/wp/2012/09/14/south-seas-nome/

Thanks for being patient as I get my thoughts and job in order - who knew that it would be such a strange startup?

I tried to "phone it in"... but the phones weren't connected, and hadn't been since 1925...

Many people have been asking what I actually do at my job. Well, I host the morning show (from 6 - 10 AM AKDT) and produce inspirational/motivational "spots", or what would be ads on a commercial station. I don't always voice the spots - and in fact, it would be a bad thing were I to do so, because... it's not supposed to be the Lucus station, but rather the community's station - but when I write, voice, and produce a spot, I may just post it here. Like this one, for instance, which will be running from November 1 - 15: Things Worth Doing: Do It Yourself

We'll see if I can get permission to post morning show clips on the KNOM Morning Show blog - it's not up and running with the new show yet, so it may require some patience.

The KNOM Morning Show: with Lucus and Daynee. Words cannot describe how awesome we are.

Lastly, in this more functional-than-descriptive update, here's a picture of the KNOM volunteers - aka, my coworkers and roommates - in our newly-decorated [Whim]-Sy room (the Whim is silent):

The Sy-room. Right before a breakout "Kum-by-yah" session.

Traveling Mysteries

There's nothing that's so exciting and simultaneously demoralizing as sitting at the airport waiting for a plane. The anticipation of a long journey is palpable, but so is the exhaustion inherent in any traveling. Sometimes, when travelling alone, I like to look around me and imagine the stories of the people walking by, or sitting in the black pleather chairs. Some of them seem to be looking back at me, wondering what I'm thinking - and it's that moment of anti-solipsism before I duck my head in slight embarrassment that really helps connect me to others around me.

My flight yesterday took me to Nome, AK, by way of St. Louis, Seattle, and Anchorage. When checking in with the attendant, she asked what had happened "on the outbound leg" - confused, I said, "this IS the outbound leg" - and with a look of pity in her eyes, she said, "Oh... one way? To Nome?" as though there were no hope for my immortal soul in the frozen north. What is it about the cold that drives most people crazy, their eyes and nostrils flaring in tandem as though to suck one last breath and sight before the mere mention of cold weather can bring about its reality?

Being from Michigan, I am used to the cold. Well... perhaps, thrive on it is a better word-choice. While I was younger, I lived in Jakarta, Indonesia - a hot place, in the tropics, where it rarely got below 72 degrees. While that may be someone's idea of paradise, I missed the cold terribly. I missed snow, the way that the trees shed their leaves and iced over, even the crisp, cool air that hits the lungs like a cup of coffee hits the brain.

Now, though - I'm heading to a land that freezes over in September, where the very sea - that salty monster of old - freezes in defiant submission to the North Winds. That crisp, cool air that I love so much - will I still love it when it is around not just for my birth month, but for six months of the year?

These thoughts were running through my head in the airport before flying, and while I was snoozing in Anchorage. Imagine my surprise when, in the Anchorage airport, I was asked politely to move by some airport workers who were going to irradiate the area.

I had been sleeping on a bench, as it was three-AM locally, and my plane didn't leave until six. I'd heard the workers moving the benches around, but was trying to dismiss it and get back to sleep as best I could - bright lights and plane landings don't make for the best sleep environment. Apparently, there was a great need to x-ray the floor near where I was sleeping, and so I followed the suggestion that I leave the immediate vicinity, believing that an interrupted nap was worth not increasing my lifetime radiation exposure. I still don't know exactly what they were x-raying for - nor, even, if there were people on the floor below (though I doubt it) - but perhaps you'll have an idea, and share it in the comments? (In the modified words of Cookie Monster: "YOU HAVE COMMENT, SO SHARE IT, MAYBE?")

More updates, including pictures of Nome and thoughts on moving into a shared living space, coming up in the next few weeks!