April is coming to a close, and it is getting colder in the city!
Things are pretty complacent around here, everyone’s finishing up some final papers, getting ready for finals week, solidifying summer plans etc. It seems as though there is no reason to look forward to the summer this year, so I have not been acknowledging the fact that I must move away in about two weeks. This semester in Philadelphia has been wonderful, and leaving just as the trees begin to bloom while days grow longer is quite a tease.
May I stay?

(This entry is SO LIVEJOURNAL2006)

So everyone’s talking about the polygamists.
CNN.com has a nice critique of women’s fashion in this myseterious realm.

Regarding the hair- Celebrity stylist and salon owner Ted Gibson thinks it gives off a “homely” impression.
“It says ‘I don’t really care very much. I really don’t have time to worry about the way that I look, because I have 20 children,”‘ Gibson said. “‘He’s going from wife to wife to wife, so why should I look any better than the other ones?”‘ http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/22/polygamy.fashion.ap/index.html”

Today I skipped my history lecture to volunteer with Devin and Amanda at Circle Thrift, run by Circle of Hope church in South Philadelphia.
We walked down the steps, and was met by a nice lady named Rachel. We told her we wanted to volunteer for a bit. It caught her plesantly off guard, and she kindly put us to work. Amanda organized the jewlery case, while Devin and I sorted and tagged clothing donations. As we chatted with Rachel, it was revealed (somewhat unsurprisingly) that she was a Messiah alum. On top of that… she’s an MCPC alum! Ta da! This having been discovered opened a very comfortable and enjoyable dialogue about life in Philly during and after MCPC.
During our 2 hours of volunteering, a very interesting and generous man made three trips down with goods to donate. First, he dropped off a few videocassettes, most of them still in the plastic wrapping. Then, he came down with what looked to be his drycleaning. Actually, it was. Two vibrant shirts (one of silk!) that he had so kindly gotten professionally cleaned before donating. A stark contrast to some of the old undershirts with yellow armpits we had been sorting through at the moment. His last bag of tricks was a bit more unconventional. After taking out a pair of shoes and a furniture slipcover, he began pulling statuettes of rabbits out of his bag.
Ceramic, wooden, colorful, kitchy, tacky rabbits.
Amanda asked if he had a rabbit collection- he said yes.
Devin asked if he was downsizing his collection- he said yes.
I didn’t do much more than coo after each one was revealed, expressing my delight and surprise.
Rachel told us we are the kind of people who would do well working at a thrift store because there are very interesting people who appear on a very consistant basis.
I will be skipping class again on Thursday to volunteer. Devin and Amanda are coming too.

www.circlethrift.com

When I saw signs for the Spring Fling at Temple, I assumed it alluded to the event of the same name that takes place at Messiah every year.
I was wrong.
Spring Fling was held yesterday afternoon, giving every fraternaty, sorority and campus organization the opportunity to host a table on the streets of campus. I didn’t realize why no one was in class that day, until I left and saw what was happening.
It felt like an episode of MTV’s Spring Break, without the beach (there definately were swimsuits walking around.) It was a nice time to note overheard conversations, however inappropriate to pen in this blog. (think alcohol and promiscuity)
A real college experience ; )

Out of frustration from tonight’s debate in Philadelphia, I removed myself from the glare of the television to reflect on what happened last Sunday.
It was the Compassion Forum, held at our school. The two people who happened to be debating this evening also happened to be the subjects of the forum. I also happened to get a golden ticket, allowing me to attend.
As a student at Messiah College, I had a great sense of pride seeing the candidates on campus, and felt as though the faith leaders brought fair and important questions to the forum.
This is a pretty interesting re-cap from Christianity Today:

http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only/116-12.0.html

For a full transcript of the event, go here:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/13/se.01.html

Now, let’s discuss what happened before I walked through the airport, I mean security checkpoint to enter the balcony of Brubaker Auditorium.

Some friends and I entered campus from the front entrance, greeted by DividedWeFail.org representatives, and Pro-Life people. (The kind who hold giant posters of dead fetuses, twice as tall as the 2 year old child walking around in front of it.) Once we got past them, I separated myself from my cell phone, and got in line. Soon, a cheer erupted from the students waiting in the “hope for a ticket” line. Was Willy Wonka here to shake hands with us in the cloudy dusk drizzle? No, it was only Kim Phipps as she hurried by with a kind wave. She had to get to her front row seat! (love her.)

All in all, it was truly a strange experience seeing CNN’s “election bus” outside. It was the first time I have ever been to any kind of political event, and I suppose I can say that it is not something I fell in love with.