Nostalgia

I’m feeling a little nostalgic, The Readership. We used to hang out–kinda, in a virtual, internety but free-exchange-of-ideas kind of way. I don’t blog very often anywhere anymore, and I have realized that in the process of not, I have in large part lost touch with a lot of the people I was hoping to engage with at the Pilgrimage. We used to talk about stuff over here.

A friend of mine who started blogging around the time I first did says that the Blogosphere has changed and there isn’t as much community here anymore. Is that true, or did we both just lose momentum in it? If I started blogging here more regularly again, would you come back? Could we talk?

And/or, if I posted the same posts at the Pilgrimage that I post in private groups for the Pilgrimage, would you read them and engage them?

Everybody, Everybody!

Since no one talks to me at the Pilgrimage landing page, and this post in particular needs some input, here you go, The Readership. I love you!

The Pilgrimage

(I’m pretty sure someone else came up with this song–as an actual song–first, but Homestar Runner is the one who introduced it to me, so he’s getting the credit.)

The third best compliment I’ve ever received (after the time my Satanist clergy friend from the Living History Museum referred to me, non-hostilely, as “Jesus-Jenn”–and then gave me a Psalms calendar and a hand-made wrought iron fireplace trivet for Christmas, and the time one of my African American friends and I were hanging out and she was really into the story she was telling me and almost used a sort of vernacular that only African Americans are entitled to use with other African Americans, paused, laughed, and said, “Oh! I forgot you weren’t black!”) was a bit more recently, from a childhood friend/acquaintance of mine who has been spiritual-directing and coaching for much longer than I. One time she responded to…

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Of Shoes and Ships . . .

I was looking for something else at That’s a Jenn Story Facebook page, but stumbled (heh) across this and cracked myself up, so here. Join me in my afternoon chuckle.

That's a Jenn Story

Wordy Wednesday – Words

The other day, my Paul said, as if he was saying nothing out of the ordinary, that he really likes the Shoe Boat. This made me very happy because I coined this designation, and also because I like the Shoe Boat–it’s cute. But to explain what a Shoe Boat is, I have to tell you about Shoe Cars.

Shoe Cars are cars that look like shoes to me. Cars that I consider Shoe Cars include Mini Coopers:

Something about these make me think of retro bowling shoes.

Anything?

How ’bout now?

Little, and stripey and . . .

Yes? No?

Okay, how about Smart Cars and baby shoes?

Totally an all-star shoe car . . .

Just make ’em into roller skates . . .

I guess Shoe Cars are generally small, but not all small cars are Shoe Cars (for example VW Bugs and Toyota Corollas)–and maybe certain…

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Rev Your N-Jenns

You guys. I’ve been wanting to entitle a blogpost that since about 2009. This blog didn’t even exist yet.

That was when I had this idea that I might someday be ordained as a minister of the gospel (when the title “Reverend” is conveyed), but maybe I wasn’t thinking about it particularly seriously–or concretely at least. Nevertheless, I was fully invested in the pun. (If you’re new here, my screen name everywhere has long been Jennwith2ns. “N-Jenns.” No, it’s not a stretch.)

Then I stopped thinking that that would happen, but that was okay, because instead I was becoming a chaplain and a spiritual director. It was kind of sad to give up the pun, but I had resigned myself to it.

Then suddenly, in January, I became the pastor of a small church. I’m still those other things. But guess what? On Sunday, God willing and congregational vote going well, I will be “solemnly and publicly set apart and ordained to the work of the gospel ministry” in my brand new (really old) church. Suddenly this role is way more real than I ever imagined, and I love it and respect it and am grateful for and honored by the call and the responsibility.

And also really really happy that I can finally use the pun.

All Choked Up

You know how sometimes you read a book and it’s so well-written, or the characters are so wonderful, or the story is so moving, you get “something in your eye” or have a little trouble swallowing or something?

Is it too far beyond tacky to tell you that I get that way when I read Favored One (which I’m doing one last time before finalizing the file for publication)? It probably is, huh…?

I couldn’t tell you for which reason. But I’m not lying, and you know I don’t just talk about stuff I write or do like this. I’m pretty sure it’s actually a good book!

Soon you’ll be able to get your own copy and see for yourself.

Starting from the Back

Who knew that even publishing for oneself could be such a drawn out process? Probably good that the book release party for Favored One is in September and not any earlier, but we have a cover! And this is the back of it.

What the Readers Thought

 

The Distinguished Professor of New Testament who gushed so unabashedly on Facebook over Trees in the Pavement in 2008, has written a review of my forthcoming book, Favored One, which you will find, when you buy it and open it up, inside the front cover. There are some other reviews in there which you might also find interesting.

I will share those here one day, but today, here’s what other people said about Trees, which is still available, by the way:

“Probably the best compliment I can give is that I forgot I was reading something written by a friend and was just reading it for the sheer pleasure of it. 🙂—BH

I loved this book. I read it in 2 days. I knew you wrote it. Didn’t matter. It was great—Debbie Amaral

Now, my religious views are my business and we are all entitled to our own beliefs; so I decided that I would only review Trees in the Pavement if the novel’s focus was neither overtly “preachy”, nor so couched in religious dogma that it would be inaccessible to a wide audience. What I found was an insightful book . . . In fact, I think it should be on a general curriculum reading list for Secondary schools, so that they can discuss these very important topics.—Dina Ross