I was on the bus today on the way to class from work, and when I got on I immediately noticed a middle-aged man with a gray beard and a cell phone, speaking loudly and deliberately to someone on the other line. Based on the way the conversation was going, I can only assume that it was an adolescent daughter, because she apparently started crying about not being able to use her cell phone because she performed poorly in a class. I guess she thought that Dad would show a little more sympathy than Mom, but despite their being divorced he made it prefectly clear to this girl that he was not going to allow her to yo-yo between the two of them. I was impressed with his tough love, and it made me look forward to the day when I got to do the same to my kids. I liked this guy!

Well, before he got off at his stop, a few more riders entered and he began speaking with some of them. He mostly spoke to the girl sitting across from him, talking about the Little Caeser's pizza kits she was carrying.

"Oh those are pizza kits!" he said, "I guess those are still fun." (He had told his daughter that there was pizza on the bus now and that things were about to get way more fun).

"haha...Yeah they're a lot of fun," she laughed nervously.

"So is that like a co-ed activity," he asked. I'm still somewhat perplexed about this question. I mean, what did the guy mean by that? Was he saying that making pizzas is something you do with someone you love? Like a date activity? Or was he insinuating something entirely more unwholesome than just that? I think the girl was just as confused as I was cause she responded with another nervous giggle.

When the guy got off at the next stop, I watched him as he struggle to put on a backpack that had straps far too tight for his slightly overweight body. As he walked towards the front of the bus, I saw that this tiny pack managed to hike up his jacket, exposing a hairy back and a little bit of a crack. I looked around and saw a few people stiffling laughter and hiding smiles with their hands. As soon as the doors closed I heard:

"That guy was weird!" This from the guy perched next to Pizza Kit Girl.

The young man who had been sitting next to my favorite Tough Love Dad said, "Yeah man, I tried not to look at him. He smelled like cigarettes or something."

"Did you see his crack hanging out as he got off?"

"No! Are you for real?"

"Yeah, it was hanging out."

I felt bad for Tough Love Dad! He seemed like he knew how to handle his kid, but maybe he did have a hard time handling himself.

* * * * *

When I was turning on Kenowa to go home some woman in the next lane cut me off. I'm not one prone to road rage, so I just let it go. But when I saw what her license plate said something in me snapped and I was almost immediately filled with rage. "MMMBOP"

benjiru (4:53:03 PM): There was this one time when I was on a journey through the artic tundra when I came upon a purple bear. He had spots on his feet and stripes on his tail and looked at me with an inquisitive gaze. The he told me that it was time for me to go home, and I believed him, so I journied miles upon miles upon miles to go back home. When I finally reached my abode, the bear was there, with his family and friends. We shared coffe, tea, and party hats, and caught up with each other, discussing the good old days, and when Jefferson was president, and what we were doing during the Napoleonic wars. Those were good times.

I totally just had a headbanging/jumping party in my room...by myself! I heart Thrice!

I need some D.O. for my B.O.

Today has thus far been a relaxing, resting, and productive one.

I set my alarm for 5:30, woke up at 3:37 and went back to sleep. I actually didn't wake up again until the alarm went off, but was pretty awake when I got up. I jumped onto my computer and immediately dove into working on my midterm, only to discover that it was going to take me a lot longer than I had anticipated. I really need to work out this procrastination in my life. I like working under pressure, but usually it means I have to sacrifice completing some other task in order to complete the most important one on time. Today, the sacrifice was work. I was supposed to be in at 8:00 and at 6:22 I called in and told them I couldn't come. Homework is too important! haha! Wow. If that were true I'd have worked on it on Saturday instead! Oh well. Now's not the time to dwell on past mistakes...it's time to look towards the future! The fact is that I can say I completed my laundry, got my midterm done, cleaned my room, and started in on my mini-research project for my internship! So, despite the minor setback, today has thus far been a success.

I started reading a new book today. It's called "Conspiracy of Kindness" by Steve Sjogren and thus far it is quite applicable to my life. The book's main focus is servant evangelism, the idea of doing acts of kindness as a demonstration of God's love and the Gospel. It's the whole, "preach the gospel, use words when necessary" concept. I gotta say, I love the concept of describing kindness as a "conspiracy." It makes me feel like my ambassadorship in Christ is totally kick butt and secret agent like!

Reminds me a lot of my experience in Italy. Not to say that feeding old people and giving 264 lbs handicapped men showers was secret-agentesque, but words were definitely a limited possibility in those situations (speaking different languages with people who don't really know what they're saying is especially hard) and tangible acts of kindness were the only ways I could reach people with the love of Christ.

Still, it'd be cool if I really was a secret agent for Christ. I would return to Italy, get a decked out apartment in Rome, buy a motorcycle, and ride around the city in a black skirt and blazer combo with heels and the most kick-butt helmet you have ever seen. On really crazy secret-agent days I wouldn't even wear a helmet, and resort to some sort of slick sunglasses that hid my true identity! I'd carry a pocket Bible in an inside pocket of my jacket and I'd go to strategic locations in the city where hundreds of people from all over the world would be, like the Collesium, the Forum, and the Spanish Steps. I'd pass out water with a slick, knowing smile and give people a card translated in like 30 different languages that said, "This water was given to you to show you that God loves you." I'd probably need to find a male counterpart of some sorts to come with me on all of these righteous adventures...Italian men think some pretty dirty things about American women. Pietro tried to make out with me all the time when I was being an agent of kindness. But I bet the church would assign some people to do this top secret work with me. Oh yeah, I'd be a part of the conspiracy! I don't know how dressing the part of a secret agent or driving around on a fast motorcycle would really make me more effective at servant evangelism, but it's an image that's been in my head since Friday.

I wonder if canned soup ever really goes bad? I had some clam chowder today and the first bowl was delectable. The second, however, had some sort of rotten potato in it and my stomach still feels kind of gross from the retch I experienced when spitting it back into the bowl. Needless to say, the contents of that second bowl now rest safely in our garbage can.

I was reading Hebrews 13 this morning and it is just chock full of practical bits of truth that I've lost sight of. The biggest one, probably has to be "Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Wow. That's powerful. I was right on top of that at the beginning of the semester, making it a point to just listen to new people when they talked to me or to go out of my way and help someone around campus who looked lost. That kind of love could have made that guy's semester. And it was just coming from me like second nature at that point. It was awesome! I think a huge part of that was just the fact that I was allowing Christ to increase in my life and I was making sure that I decreased at the same time. I've lost sight of that, but today's the perfect day to start it up again! More good times in the Word today will have to happen.

Sometimes I wonder why I hold on to so many useless things. I have all of these cards from people that I never ever read and that are just a complete waste of space in my apartment. I need to do some serious cleaning today.

On Saturday I ate a bowl of cereal, a nutrigrain bar, and two s'mores. Today, I ate a muffin, half a green pepper, some soup, and I'm actually drinking water. I think I've realized that I need to start changing my diet around a bit more. I'm quitting caffeine cold turkey and working on my sugar intake. I think I'm going to have a lot more energy over the next few days.

Spring Break is coming and I am doing absolutely nothing. Not even working. I can't wait.

Third Eye Blind, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Thrice are all right in a row in my iTunes. That rocks my face off. Motorcycle Drive By...Last Words...The Artist in the Ambulance. Doesn't get much better than that.