justice, charity

so, immigration.  it’s been a big issue for me this year, as you can imagine.  I apparently learned quite a lot in that immigration class I took in college about the mechanics of the thing, which has actually come in handy this year.  though it’s too bad that not much has really changed in the past five years.  not surprisingly, I come at the issue from a Catholic viewpoint, and I find there’s plenty going on.  I’ve really appreciated Justice for Immigrants, the website for the catholic campaign for immigration reform.  I’d recommend it if you ever find yourself at a loss to explain how come immigration isn’t actually a drain on society (though I did learn that in my econ classes in college), or if you want to know exactly what the Church’s stance is on the whole thing.  it’s a big deal.  and apparently, one of those things I think everybody should know.

arrrreglate

as you know, I’ve been practicing my spanish.  unfortunately my pronunciation still leaves much to be desired.  I’ve discovered that as I am unable to roll my rs properly, I end up pronouncing the Spanish rr much the same as I pronounce the Welsh ll.  it involves blowing air around the tongue as it’s pressed against the roof of my mouth, the variation lies in that in Welsh, it’s more of a t sound and in Spanish I use more of an r sound.  it’s pretty much totally wrong.  it’s like my brain thinks “hmm this is a totally weird letter, what other totally weird letters do we know?  maybe it’s like that!”  but it’s really not.

oklahoma joes wins again

my coworker/friend Marilyn’s been having a rough time lately, plus she’s a cool lady who likes spicy food.  and I happened to have an extra bottle of oklahoma joes night of the living bbq sauce, a family favorite.  so this evening, I brought the bottle of sauce for Marilyn, cause I thought she’d like it.  I got to work right as she was taking her dinner break, which was good timing as she was able to pop open the bottle of sauce and eat it with her popeyes.

it, of course, was a big hit.  she shared a small portion with one of our computer students (who I think has a bit of a crush on her) cause he’s the one who picked up the chicken for her on his way in, I guess.  he’s going to KC on business in a couple of weeks and wanted to know where he could pick up a case, and Marilyn said it was way better than Montgomery Inn (the Cincinnati BBQ place, and she’s right, Montgomery Inn is all sweet with only one sauce option) and that it was almost too good to share.  then she hid it in her desk so no one would steal it before she could take it home.  they had both heard that KC BBQ was good but had never had any real spicy BBQ sauce.  I think they’re converts.  me, I’m just glad Marilyn’s eating her normal amount again!  maybe the super tasty BBQ sauce helped.

input needed

so my dad brought it up, but I’d been thinking about it myself for a bit without success so I thought I’d take opinions.

getting a new digital camera before I go abroad. really the only reason why I’d get a new one is so I could take good quality video with actual sound. my current camera is 2.5 years old, as I bought it right before I went to study abroad, so I’m sure you can get a better camera for cheaper now, but it still works just fine, as far as I can tell. video quality, even without sound, is rather poor. part of me is thinking “go ahead, do it! you were playing with that new little canon in the apple store the other day and it was good times! you can video yourself and involve people in your life!” but part of me is thinking “what do you need that for? you have one that works fine, except for the whole no video thing. you’re going to work with poor people! what do you need video for?”

can I justify buying a new camera? am I worried too much about living simply (isn’t life without mp3s going to be difficult enough)? would people be interested in watching unedited videos of me in ecuador? would I even be able to upload them in an internet cafe? what kind of camera should I think about buying? what does one look for in a camera nowadays?

easier than a dress

so, I bought a new pair of shoes for going abroad.

I’ve been thinking about it awhile now.  my hiking boots are large, heavy, and goretex-lined.  I think they might weigh down my luggage a lot and then be too hot for south america.  plus, I didn’t have a good pair of everyday shoes, as all my tennis shoes are at least a year and a half old, except for the black chucks, but chucks don’t have the best support and sometimes I need to switch shoes.  so I decided I needed an everyday shoe I could go hiking in that would be lightweight, cool, and go with all my clothes.

I looked around on the internet, and bought these.  I think they’ll last a year, they look good on my feet.  I’m satisfied.  but I think I might still pack my chucks (it’s still a tossup.  living simply…having chucks…living simply…having chucks…I mean, what am I going to wear at orientation? they pack well!).