Micah Tillman

. . . was when my self-described “radical left-wing” grandfather said, with disgust, that he didn’t want to watch communists put on a show.
(We were making plans to watch the opening ceremonies of the olympics, you see.)
I wonder how he’ll feel about the DNC festivities later this month.
He wore an Obama pin every day we [...]

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I have now returned from a vacation I could neither afford to take nor to not take (and for different types of reasons).
It was one of those “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” situations, and the “go” won.
But now I’m back, and more whatever than ever. You may proceed to dance far into the [...]

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Try the following:
1. Say the following syllables as, one word, to someone else:
“paw eep”
(where “paw” rhymes with “law,” and “eep” with “keep”)
Then ask your interlocutor what word it sounded like you said.
2. Say the following syllables as, one word, to someone else:
“beh eeb”
(where “beh” would be how Obama says “be,” and “eeb” rhymes with, um, [...]

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Whenever I hear someone talk about the violence of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” I can’t help but think of France’s national anthem:
To arms, citizens! / Form your battalions / Let’s march, let’s march! / May a tainted blood / Soak our furrows!
To arms, citizens! / Let us form our battalions / Let us march, let us [...]

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One by one our fellow congregants called for the mic, took it, and stood to congratulate the team (after their presentation).
It was good for them (the Colombian congregation) to see our team refuse — and explain their refusal — to sing the US anthem, said one responder.
Why it was good — what it was the [...]

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What actually happened was that the Colombian congregation suggested the following:

They would sing their national anthem for the team from our church
And then our team would sing the US anthem for them

But after the Colombians sang, our team refused. Instead, they tried to sing “Joyful, Joyful” (but forgot the words part-way through).
____
One of the team [...]

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This story1 involves two groups:

A small team from our (progressive, pacifist Mennonite) church
The congregation of our Colombian (pentecostal) sister church (whose name means “sanctuary of peace“)

The former gave a presentation yesterday on their trip to visit the latter.
The former are:

“white” (or, rather, kind of pale-pinkish/tan-ish; maybe with a few freckles [if they're like me])
“affluent” (that’s [...]

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I just turned in the first “chapter” of my dissertation. All 75 (75!?!) pages worth.
It’s.
Been.
So.
Long.
I’ve already written Chapter 2’s first half (40 pages!?!), and it now awaits The Wife’s masterful copy-editing. Then it too shall be turned in.
I am 436 pages (or so) into the reading/note-taking stage of Chapter 2’s second half. Then comes the [...]

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more cat pictures
Reminds me of that great scene from Stranger Than Fiction, where Emma Thompson’s character is narrating as Will Ferrell is walking down the street:
Kay Eiffel:“Harold suddenly found himself, beleaguered and exasperated, outside the bakery.”
Harold Crick:“Shut up!”
Kay Eiffel:“Cursing the heavens in futility.”
Harold Crick:“No I’m not! I’m cursing you! You stupid voice! So shut up [...]

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Says Josh Miller.
Well, I did call him (Obama, not Mr. Miller) the messiah in today’s article.
You know how it is.
Fortunately, Mr. Miller and I agree on who the real Messiah is.
*grin*

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