Reading the Worst the Bible Has to Offer

Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives by Phyllis Trible


My rating: 4 of 5 stars




While Trible's literary/rhetorical criticism asks a lot of an ancient, multi-sourced text, the endeavor is still humbling in scope and purpose. Published over 25 years ago now, Texts of Terror is still a shining example of feminist Biblical criticism, as well a work of deep faith, hope and compassion. Trible takes four of the most disturbing Biblical examples of sexual violence against women and exegetes them with a Christological lens. Buried under the violence, subjugation and silencing, Trible unearths the following women:

Hagar: Egyptian Slave Woman
She was wounded for our transgressions; she was bruised for our iniquities
Genesis 16;1-16; 21:9-21

Tamar: Princess of Judah
A woman of sorrows and acquainted with grief
2 Samuel 13:1-22

An Unnamed Woman: Concubine from Bethlehem
Her body was broken and given to many
Judges 19:1-30

The Daughter of Jephthah: Virgin in Gilead
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken her?
Judges 11:29-40

By reading these texts closely and attending to the subject/object of grammar and the often chiasmic nature of the syntax, Trible finds the people and poetry under the stories, and through them, a glimpse of redemption for these texts of terror as they reveal the brokenness of human violence paired with solidarity in Christ's suffering and sacrifice.

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No, We Do Not Make Mojitos...

...but we do come up with clever cocktail tie-ins for every production.

Here's the batch from the last two shows at Intiman. The next show, which opens in two weeks, is gonna have cucumber martinis! My idea! (followed by collaboration on the recipe of course)

The Clown Car
Patrón Silver tequila
Rose’s Lime Juice
Splash of Sweet & Sour
Shaken and served up with a lime
(it's kind of a Tequila Gimlet)

The Chippermunkie
Maker’s Mark bourbon
Disaronno amaretto
Dash of bitters
Shaken and served on the rocks
Top with club soda
Garnish with lemon wedge and cherry

The Green-Eyed Monster
Bacardi white rum
Midori melon liquor
Pineapple juice
Shaken and served on the rocks
Garnish with a cherry

The Strawberry Handkerchief
Smirnoff Strawberry Twist vodka
Crème de Cacao
Dash of Campari
Cream
Shaken and served up
Garnish with a white chocolate truffle

This last drink was a victory.
(Side note- I came up with the name for this one before we had a recipe) We've been trying to get rid of Campari for two seasons- it tastes like a combo of grapefruit peel and gasoline- but one bartender had an ingenious thought: Campari is bitter- so is coffee- what do we put in coffee? Cream- why not try Campari and cream?
It was magical. We were already serving the Strawberry Handkerchief with the vodka, liqueur and cream- but when we added Campari, it made the drink not only more subtle and herbal tasting, but it turned the drink pink! Ideal for something named after strawberries.

Feel free to try these at home. The Chippermunkie is quite nice.

Why Publish When You Can Just Twitter?

What's all that tweeting you hear? Oh, just the sounds of my fifteen minutes of fame getting used up. I'm not complaining. The following is proof that Twitter truly is the most powerful benevolent de-centralized (human-made) force in the universe.
It goes like this...

In August, Ian and I start working on a paper about Joss Whedon's series Firefly, to submit to the Whedon panel at the Southwest/Texas American & Popular Culture Association's Annual Conference. Then we write it. Then we go to the conference. We have a great time, we email the paper to a couple people we meet there. We talk about editing it so we can submit it for publication somewhere like the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. But the re-formatting alone would take major thought, and Kj's still only halfway through a crazy spring term. So we hold onto the paper with an ellipses as to what to do with it next.But in July (last Monday to be exact), we re-deliver our paper presentation along with a film screening at MHGS. Josué suggests we include a write up about the event for the new Experience MHGS website. He goes ahead and makes a paper link in case someone wants to read it. I think, "That's awfully nice, but who that's investigating MHGS is gonna read a 35 page paper about fundamentalism and a cancelled TV show?"

But I go ahead and tweet the link to the EMHGS site.
Then this happens. My initial tweet is way down there on the bottom, then next thing you know, It's on Whedonesque, the ultimate Whedonverse hub for both fandom and academia. So within a few hours, it went from living in my docs file to being accessible to every hardcore Whedon fan on the planet. By the time I got out of bed, it already had a comment stream 30 posts long.

So no more wondering who our audience is for this thing. It's out there. They're reading it, and they're already debating everything from the specifics of taking holy orders, to mind-reading to biblical innerancy, (not to mention finding all our typos).

Oh mighty Twitter. Thanks for getting us out there. You put a skip in my step all day. Tweet tweet tweet.

Significant Moments

Last Week was full of them.

Thursday was my last official night to be with Zera, the church community I've interned with for the past year.

This was also the first time I hosted dinner instead of just reaping the benefits of these amazing people who are also incredible cooks. I will miss seeing them every week, but hopefully, I will not be dissapearing entirely.


Freya was baptized this Sunday. (That's right, baptized not dedicated. We went whole hog. It was awesome). And before the service that night, I ended up having one-on-one Abby time. She needed to buy makeup for her dance recital in a few weeks, so that felt like a perfect Auntie Kj & Abby outing.

Before that, I took Abby for her first Happy Meal. Not that I in any way want to Abby to like McDonalds, but I have deep nostalgic feelings of going to McDonalds in downtown Minneapolis with Grandma Hazelton when I was Abby's age. There's something about the smell of a McDonalds cheeseburger on a Saturday morning, like makes me feel like anything is possible. Fortunatley, Abby did not love the cheeseburger but loved the playground instead. We were there for over an hour.


Freya's baptsim was was fun, meaningful, loud, playful, chaotic (with kids everywhere) and memorable. Matt and Rebecca managed to pack house-left with tons of friends. I was blessed to be joined by three of my important women. I was so thankful that I could be there and stand as sponsor for Freya, and also to have been asked to lead prayer during part of the service.



It's been such a full week emotionally, relationally, spiritually, and this isn't even all of it. But these are the things I have pictures for. Needless to say, my heart's been on overload.

It was good to be with all of you. Much Love and Gratitude,
Kj

Best Email Ever.

"Can I order some frisbees and send them to your house?

This would be ideal for three reasons.

First, my apartment is weird sometimes with packages, and I don't wanna have to drive down to SoTo or Auburn to get them.

Second, I might not be living here by the time the free shipping gets them here.

Finally, you would get to see my face as I open my precious box of frisbees.

This is why I think you should let me mail my package of frisbees to your house.

Also, if you answered yes to the above, could I put your name on the mailing address? This would be ideal for three reasons.

First, your housemates would not be confused and send back the package when they see a name on it that they do not recognize as one of their fellow housemates

Also, the mail company might have a list of names at that address that do not have my name on it, so they would not even attempt to deliver it.

And finally, you could have the greater feeling of being a part of the process that gets me shiny new frisbees that make my soul fly.

This is why I think you should let me put your name on the mailing address for my frisbees.

Also, if you answered yes to the above, what is your address?"


---I consented. How could I not?

And They Spelled My Name Right Too!

Okay, this post is going to be grossly self-aggrandizing (but isn't that what blogs are anyway?), but you see, I was bored and so I plugged my name into Amazon.com's book search and tada! found myself in two published books. Yes- me, actually me. This cracks me up! Admittedly, I knew about one of them and own a copy of it, but the other was quite a surprise.
















While these books are basically just lists of programs, it's still fun to find oneself in print unexpectedly. Now if only I could find myself at the Kennedy Center Honors...unexpectedly. My aspirations are humble.

OCD and the Tourism it Brings: A Twilight Experience

(Fan friends- you might want to stop reading at this point)

Okay- this blog post probably needs a lot of background. In fact, I have so much to say on this topic, that I'm overwhelmed at trying to write any of it. Hence, some helpful video clips.

What you need to know:

A) There is a book series referred to as The Twilight Saga, about a girl who gets involved with vampires (The Cullens)

B) Despite worldwide acknowledgment of its horrible wriitng, repressed eroticism and problematic (violent, oppresive) gender roles, these books and the film Twilight are hugely popular.

C) The first book takes place in the small town of Forks, WA

D) The author had never been to Forks when writing the book and the movie was not filmed in Forks

E) Forks is now a tourist extravenganza, equipped with tours, motel packages and Twilight-themed menu items at most eating establishments in town.

F) There is an entire store devoted to Twilight paraphanlia on the main street.

G) Lucy and I decided to go into this store while we were staying in Forks last weekend.

Okay people. If I could, I'd write a dissertation on the experince, but instead, here's some video (SORRY I HELD MY PHONE SIDEWAYS. JUST TURN YOUR HEAD AND REALLY CRANK UP THE VOLUME TOO-AGAIN, SORRY)

The Escape: Lucy and I fianlly leave the store. Note Lucy's facial expression as she comes into view. Also note how she runs out of the store to her car. And my sentence gets cut off...

"the real world's out here and the...fake one's in there..." Not that I'm challenging fantasy as a legitimate expression of truth- but come on people, this stuff is unbeleivable.

The Evidence: This video does some merchandise documenting. It's pretty blurry, but it's worth it for the bumper sticker. If you can't read the first word, it says "Edward"- he's the main character- a superhero vampire who has some self-control issues.


That's a start for now. There's a lot more where this came from.

My First TwitPic

Food Movies: Theology and Psychology

To my delight, I was again asked movie advice by a professor who's working on co-teaching a class with a psychology professor on some aspect of food and theology. The email said "if you think of some good movie titles that would work around that topic, could you send them my way? I already thought of Babette’s Feast, and there is the one about the two brothers with an unsuccessful restaurant (title?)."

Here's the list I responded with. I'm hungry just thinking about these.

"The two brothers film is "Big Night" very excellent!

There's a Japanese film called "Eat Drink Man Woman" which was also remade in the US as "Tortilla Soup." Both have food as the backdrop for family stories about people living into fullness and desire instead of deprivation ie: learning to grieve as well as to celebrate. very lovely films.

"Like Water for Chocolate" is a magical realist story about revolutions and family dynamics- mostly food is the metaphor and medium for personal liberation within unfair constraint. it's a sexy movie- many people love the book and the film. it's in Spanish.

There's a documentary i've not yet seen called "How to Cook Your Life" about chef Edward Espe Brown, a Buddhist chef in San Francisco. might be some valuable stuff in there- just came out in 2007.

Some people like "Waitress" as a food movie, but I think you and I both had mixed reactions on that one.

"Chocolat" is about chocolate, but has been used in a lot of contexts about community, worship, etc. There's a lot of Lenten guides about it actually.

"Mostly Martha" is a German film that was recently remade as "No Reservations" with Catherine Zeta Jones. I saw the remake not the original- the original might be worth investigating. in this case, it's the chef who needs to learn about living life- her sister dies and she's left caring for her niece- which of course exposes the walls she's built up around herself. the US one was "okay" but the original might be excellent.

That's what comes to my mind moviewise. On a side note, my housemates and I have become ADDICTED to Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, which we watch on BBC America. Famous Chef Ramsey goes into American restaurants that are about to collapse financially or otherwise, and he discerns whether its relational issues, financial mismanagement, plain old bad cooking or lack of understanding their context (are they one of 40 italian restaurants on the block...)

This show is astounding- the human dynamics are terrifying and hilarious to watch, and have often brought us to tears as well. i've thought of mentioning the show to our psychology faculty as an outstanding resource for profiles of various personality disorders, family systems playing out, and with Chef Ramsey as an astute and unflinching counselor. He nails narcissists to the wall and builds up those who have been trod upon. And you learn a lot about what makes restaurants a place of life vs a place of death. a lot of these are available on DVD or free on the internet.

There's my 12 cents. what an exciting class to be working towards!!!
thanks as always for letting me access my internal narrative database"

SWTX PCA/ACA Panels

Here are the panels I attended Wed-Sat. Each panel had 2-5 paper presentations. You just role out of bed, take the elevator downstairs and go from panel to panel, and if you're lucky, grab a free soda between 12:30 and 2. Good lord it was amazing.

Sci Fi/Fantasy:
Heroism and Villainy in the Whedonverse

Children’s/Young Adult Literature & Culture:
Across the Harry Potter Universe

Literature:
Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series

Sci Fi/Fantasy:
“Feel Good Imperialism:” Gender, Race & Colonialism in Star Trek

Experimental Writing and Aesthetics:
Extratextual: The Alchemy of Interdisciplinary Writings

***Sci Fi/Fantasy: Philosophy and Religion in the Whedonverse*** Us!

Religion:
Crossing Boundaries: Film, TV, Literature

Classical Representation in Popular Culture:
Greek and Roman History On Screen

Religion:
Labeling the Other

Sci Fi/Fantasy:
Metaphorical Mythology in the Whedonverse

Film Adaptation:
A Novelist’s Perspective on Literature-to-Film Adaptations

Technical Communication:
Twittering and Gaming: Building Communities

Authors, Journal Editors and Special Contributors Panel

Sci Fi/Fantasy: Double Feature:
Once More With Feeling and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog

Shakespeare on Film and Television:
King Lear and The Tempest

Myth and Fairy Tale:
Film Studies

Film & History:
Violence and Genre Cinema

To Do List

(in no particular order)

1) Blog about the transcendent experience of watching the Oscars

2) Buy jeans, slacks, non-sweater tops, cute shoes, trouser socks, plastic slim-line accordion file and Moleskin journal CHECK!

3) Pack the above items into my bright orange luggage backpack thing

4) Transfer Ian's and my paper from GoogleDocs to Word, and add footnotes

5) Print out a bunch of copies of said paper

6) Spend all day and night tomorrow at Ian's finalizing our presentation

7) Get on a plane to Albuquerque

8) Hang out at the Hyatt regency all weekend for the American/Popular Culture Association's 2009 Conference!

9) Present our 10,000 word paper on "Firefly", fundamentalism and loss of self. Whoopee!

10) Knit

Live Music Matters...

I know that live music matters. The audeince/performer relationship creates something entirely unique and visceral, which cannot be captured in recordings. And yet going to concerts has never been a part of my life. I've some theories:

1) For all the movies and theatre my parents took us to as early as age three, concerts never made it on the roster. There's a basic lack of enculturation there.




2) Most of the music I listen to is by dead people or groups that disbanded thirty years ago. So, in fact, one of the few concerts I've seen in the past five years was The Tudor Choir performing 16th choral music...


3) In non-professional settings, the agony of watching insecure/bad musicians is too much for me. I feel such a responsibility to pay attention and make them feel they're doing well, that I'm too stressed out to enjoy the good people once they get onstage.


But when our new roommate moved in last month, having just returned from living in Ireland off and on the past few years, and told us that an Irish singer she LOVED would be playing The Triple Door the day after Valentines, I took the plunge. I'm glad I did.

A) Everyone and their mother is always going to The Triple Door to see someone or other, so I figured it must be a pretty decent venue. I was not prepared for it be an "experience." The atmosphere is somewhere between 1920's music club and a private concert hall. The walls glow with gilded framing and the stage cyc is covered in starlight. It's gorgeous.

B) Lisa Hannigan has phenomenal stage presence. She rocks to and fro, gesturing like a Balinese shadow puppet, but somehow doesn't look wierd. While vocally, she's a bit more Meow-Lar** than I prefer, the band's musicality, lyrics and all around performance were stellar- as in pertaining stars and galaxies.

C) The thing I forget about live music is that you get to hear things the performers would never put on an album. In this case, my ticket price alone was worth their encore cover of Iron & Wine's "Free Until They Cut Me Down." It started basically like Sam Beam's version, with breathy whispers and muted harmonies. Then suddenly, on the second and third instrumental breaks, the stage, which for the whole night had remained in the realm of dulcet, dangling doo-wahs, erupted like a fire-breathing Rock Dragon. Seriously, something dark and adrenalized flared up in the musicians, and the entire room was changed. It was freaking ridiculously awesome.

A good reminder of why live music matters.

**For more on the Lar-Lars, Burr-Burrs, Meow-Lars and Bur-Lars, see me in person**

The "Arcade Philosopher Scarf" For...

Name: Scott Small

Location: Seattle

Occupation: Graduate Student

Place I Think of as Home: Anywhere here in the Emerald City.

The Worst Movie I've Ever Seen is: The Fighting Temptations. I try to be gracious about films I don't like, only this one failed on every level, but without the usual bad movie charm.

When I Think Of Beauty, I Think of: The way the smell of baking cookies reminds me that I'm home and that I'm loved. The feeling I get when the lights go down at a movie theater. The way my friend Rob speaks of his daughters. A well told story. The belly laughter that can only happen when we know we belong. The crack of a bat when the ball hits that perfect spot. Good drinks and long conversations... I could go on like this for a really long time.

If I Had to Choose Between Theology and Baseball, I'd: Probably just explode.

Were it Not For My Wife, I'd Know Nothing About: The reality that cooking is like art, and baking is like science.

Please Don't Ever Ask Me to: Sing a solo in public.

I'd Love a Chance to: Write for a living.

Something I'd Like to Say: I'd like to say I know what my talents are and where I am headed. I'd like to say that, but I can't yet.

Kj and I: Are probably seen by some to be overly passionate about mundane things. What they don't realize is that we just so happen to be exactly as passionate as one should be.

Making the Scarf: When I submitted a "Kj will make a scarf for you" option to our school's annual art auction, I was a little nervous that I'd be interpreting a scarf for someone I'd never met. How stoked was I then, when I heard that I was gonna get to scarf the awesome and increasingly impressive Scott Small! Last year I took a selected readings course on theology and emerging network theories in science and evolution, and after the second week, I remember walking out and saying to someone, "Um, so is Scott Small a super genius?" They assented.

Ever since, I've enjoyed every conversation I've had with him- I always feel smarter afterwards, as well as in a better mood than before. Which is the only reason I can come up with to explain why when I heard I'd be making a scarf for Scott that I immediately had the name "Arcade Philospher" come into to my mind. Not that I've ever seen Scott play Asteroids, Pac Man, or Halo for that matter, but there's something about Scott that makes me picture him holding a soft drink and slice of pizza at the edge of a pinball machine while discussing ecclesiology and fractals. Thus, his scarf was inspired by the colors of Atari, mixed with "deeper" colors as well. I tried twice to punch it with a bright yellow or lime green, like a digital laser gun, but in the end, it wanted to stay cool and dark. (I didn't know it would match so well with an Obama T-Shirt!)

And as you can see from the above interview, Scott has a point of view that both inspires, enlightens and welcomes you as you listen. I can't wait to go to his first book signing.

The Sofia Coppola Time of Year

As February draws near, I hear the siren song of Sofia Coppola's three film meditations on being young, lonely and female. I recently found some alternative poster art for Lost in Translation- I like how each is a different interpretation of the story- and how very Sofia some of them are.













































































"Everyone Wants To Be Found"

New Friends

Christmas Gifted to me

DVD friends





Book Friends











Music Friends