It hasn't yet registered, though I have.

I received in the mail last week my class schedule for my first semester of law school and it looks crazy! It includes six classes that represent fairly standard 1L fare: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Property, Torts, Legal Writing and Research, and Issues in Lawyering and Leadership. This adds up to 15 credit hours, quite a heavy load for graduate-level work! (Fifteen hours was my normal load in undergrad and most graduate students would tell you that 9 hours is normal and 12 hours is pushing it.) On the bright side, only four of my classes have final exams and they're spread out over a two-week period. The craziest thing about the schedule is how the classes are "arranged". Some meet on Tuesday and Thursday; one meets Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; one meets only on Monday; one meets on Wednesday and Friday; another meets at different times on Wednesday and Friday. This bit of paper will be well-worn by the time I get the hang of that schedule.

With my list of courses in hand, I went shopping for books today, comparing prices and trying to balance cost with the condition of used textbooks. I ended up buying from amazon.com and independent sellers on half.com and amazon.com and spent a total of $479, including shipping. I fell confident that I saved a bit over buying used texts from the campus shop and probably would've spent about $1,000 had I purchased all new texts.

Along with my class schedule came other information explaining that our first couple of days would be half-days filled with normal registration and orientation activities: ID cards, parking registration, gym passes, locker assignments, laptop computer wireless configuration, etc. Notably, I'll have to wear a suit on my first day for my a portrait that will appear in a jobs placement booklet. The following full days will include more orientation, a skills and personality assessment (DISC profile, Myers-Briggs inventory), a tour of the main campus, a reception a the University President's house, a service project, and three days of "boot camp" meant to "introduce students to the rigors of law school and the differences between legal education and undergraduate learning."

An interesting side-note to the above mention of personality assessments is that I took the Myers-Briggs inventory in undergrad and turned out as ENFP; when I took it a few years later, I turned out ISTJ. Upon reading the linked descriptions of these personality types, I see little relevant to my own personality in the ENFP type, but the ISTJ type reads like the report of a private investigator that has followed me for the past ten years!

Besides preparations for a new beginning in school, I'm also winding things down at work by finishing projects, documenting my procedures, answering colleagues' questions, and exchanging goodbyes with co-workers that I've know as long as 18 years! I've also had more than one party thrown in my honor, which featured amazing food (sushi, hummus, shrimp, scallops, smoked salmon, salsa, bean dip, brownies, cookies -- all of my favorites!), good drink (Yuengling), and brief speakers. My colleagues in ERIT chipped-in and gave me an iPod as a going-away gift, which was a wonderful surprise!

One of my colleagues asked me what I'd miss most about working in the Libraries and in ERIT. I glibly gave a few obvious answers: the free health insurance, the regular hours, seeing the same folks every day. Honestly, though, I don't know that I'm able to say what I'll miss. Having been where I am for so long and having work become such a part of me and me of it, I don't know that I can distinguish enough between the people, places, and activities of work and those of other parts of my life to think about missing them. It's as if someone were to ask you what you'd miss about breathing air or living with gravity. I'm going into something so different and exciting that I imagine that my new environment and experiences will handily fill many of the voids left behind my current routines. :J

What's in a name?

Even after a fun-filled Saturday evening, Chris and I managed get up and go to church this morning. The plan was to return to Congregational UCC, where Chris and I went two weeks ago. We had even arranged to meet my roommate and a friend there. As we walked from the parking lot and across the street to the church, Chris lamented our last visit when we heard a call to action against the genocide in Darfur from a guest speaker instead of a sermon from the regular pastor (more useful in searching for a church home). Chris joked that we'd go elsewhere if we found a guest speaker on the program again!

We entered and found Leslie and Larry waiting for us. We greeted them and sat down, whereupon Leslie pointed to the bulletin and said, "it looks like they're having a guest speaker today!" Chris and I each let out a little groan. I looked at my watch and wondered aloud whether we'd have time to go anywhere else, since it was five minutes before 11 o'clock, but after scarcely 30 seconds of discussion, the four of us were up and out of the pew and heading down the street.

We zipped down Aycock St and made it into College Park Baptist Church in the nick of time. I was glad that we made the switch, as I very much enjoyed the sermon by their pastor, Michael Usey. Based on an interesting translation (The Message) of Acts 10:34-43, the sermon focused on sharing our faith in a way to which other people can relate. College Park is a quite progressive church full of intelligent congregants who are sensitive to the pluralistic nature of our society and who respect and celebrate differences. (As was evidenced in the children's sermon, which stressed that God made all of us, that God made us different from one another, and that God loves us as we are.) Pastor Michael allowed that many in such an audience might be hesitant to speak openly about their faith because of the way in which evangelism and much talk of faith and religion in general has been co-opted, politicized, and radicalized by right-wing politico-evangelicals. "Amen!" and "That's right." came agreement and echoes of frustration from the congregation.

Progressive, open-minded, and tolerant people of faith shouldn't shy away from talking about their beliefs out of fear of being identified with the political religiosity of the radical right. Rather, they should speak all the more openly and share their perspectives to bring to an end the notion that religious matters are the intellectual property of the radical right. Let's show the masses in the middle and each other that religion and evangelism aren't the political construct that the radical right has made them out to be over the past thirty-odd years! Let's show that genuine Christianity is also tolerance, understanding, compassion, loving one's neighbor, and the pursuit of peace!

From what I know of most religions, they all have the promotion of peace and love at their hearts, though they might arrive at those ends by different means. I have long believed that whether one calls one's god Yahweh, Allah, Jesus, Buddha, or simply God, it's the same god. (That's where I got the title for this entry.) The point isn't so much that one worship in the manner prescribed by any particular sect, but that one be in touch with the higher power that runs the universe. For me, that's the benevolent, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God about which Jesus of Nazareth taught. This brings me back around to the main point of Pastor Michael's sermon and this blog entry -- that we are all children of God and that God loves all of us as we are, even when we fall short of the one in whose image we were each made -- God. :J

Hot Like Bea

A little levity amidst the summer torridness...

Go, go Golden Girls! :J

Renaissance Man

Though it came and went with little aplomb and no confetti, ticker-tape, or even a cake was involved, Monday, 2 July 2007 was one of the most significant days of my life. In about five minutes' time, I printed a letter that I'd previously composed, signed it, and handed it to my department manager. In this unceremonious way, I quit my job.

This is a big deal for anyone and I know of few people who would expect any sort of flourish of chads to accompany it (with the possible exception of Rip Taylor), but it was a huge deal for me. Where I currently work is the ONLY place that I have held a full-time job and I have been here full-time for fourteen years. In State Employee years, that's nearly half-way to retirement. Add to it the four years that I spent in this same building as a part-time student employee and the sum is half of my lifetime!

My colleague, Franklin, who is a year older than me, who began working full-time in the Library at the same age as I, and with whom I have worked in the same department for the past ten years, told me that it would feel strange for him to come to work without me there. I jokingly asked him what he'd do and suggested that he join me in my renaissance by going to medical school; he confessed that he had, indeed, briefly entertained such notions. (Maybe when everyone in his family who's currently in school finishes.)

Franklin might not know how he will feel to come to work and find my chair empty, but with what I look forward to, I imagine that it will feel wonderful! :J

A Sunday in Ordinary Time

I went to church today for the first time in several weeks, to Congregational UCC in Greensboro. Chris suggested visiting this church a couple of weeks ago and I've wanted to visit a UCC for quite a while, so we finally got our act together and went. The denomination's motto is "God is still speaking," with emphasis on the comma at the end of the phrase, ostensibly meaning that God's message is alive, dynamic, and relevant to our contemporary lives. UCC ran a series of television adverts a few years ago that stirred up a bit of controversy. One depicted various folks who didn't fit in (a punk-rocker youth, an African-American family, an immigrant man, a gay couple, a single mother, etc) being ejected from their seats in one church. Another portrayed bouncers denying entry to an exclusive night club to a similar crew of folks, while allowing in a stereotypical, white, affluent, family with opposite-gender parents. The climax of the commercials was the diverse bunch later being welcomed at a UCC.

I know several people that attend this church, as it's quite near my old neighborhood in Greensboro, but I didn't see many people that I knew well. I nevertheless felt very welcomed by the pastor's remarks and by the many friendly congregants that greeted me, though no one was pushy about getting me to wear a visitor's pin or to fill out a visitor's card. (I hate that.) Besides the friendliness of the congregation, two things stood out to me about this morning's service.

First, I noticed as we approached the church that a car was parked in the driveway just a few feet from the front door. There were hoses lying on the ground all around the car and people were buzzing about it like a pit crew. As we walked in the door, an usher handed us a bulletin and explained that this was their tire inflation clinic, one of their ministries as a "green" church.

The second thing that stood out was that, in the absence of the regular choir and music director, local celebrity musician Martha Bassett had come to do all of the music for the service. It turns out that Martha used to lead the children's choir at the church.

Not only was there a guest musician, but a guest speaker for the sermon, as well. Though the pastor, Reverend Julie Peeples was present, she yielded the pulpit to Tim Nonn, an activist and fellow minister who is on a 40-day train trip across the United States to raise awareness about the genocidal crisis in Darfur. The theme of his sermon was hope and how we could help to give some glimmer of hope to the many in Darfur that have been rendered hopeless.

Following church, Chris and I did a bit of shopping to further feather his new nest and had lunch at Wholly Guacamole. I returned home to tend to an auction that ended today and Chris came over for dinner later. Now, I'm off to bed and am looking forward to a new project and a short week at work! :J