Oscar Fever? At Least It's not Beiber Fever...

When I was a little kid (and by "little", I mean like 5 years ago), I used to think the Oscars were one of the most important nights of the week. I also thought that any celebrity who won an Oscar or was even nominated for one was the most incredible thing since sliced bread. I pretty much assumed that celebrities got that way by jumping straight into their pants with both feet, rather than one at a time, like the rest of us lowly mortals.

But then I saw tonight's Oscars. And I was reminded that all things change. Not all celebrities are as cool as sliced bread (yeah, I'm lookin' at you James Franco). And that while I love movies, I would (generally) still prefer to watch something that was filmed in the 90's. ("Wayne's World" anyone?!)

It was a nice try, 83rd Annual Academy Awards. But either let us have Hugh Jackman/Billy Crystal back or stop kidding yourselves.

At least Beiber didn't win an award.... =)

Talk Thursday // President Sarah, Year 2035

In the year 2035, somehow the American people elected a crazy gal named Sarah Lewis (if she's married, she kept her last name). It was a huge upset for the electoral process (even though there are flying cars, they still can't get ballots right in Florida), but the nation has rallied behind the new legislatures put forward by President Sarah. Enjoy a taste of what 2035 looks like:

1. All Venetian blinds have been discarded for the "naked window" look and Venetian blinds have been syphoned off for use in glue making factories (we're still not sure about the effectiveness of this process).

2. When there is a sunny day in the Puget Sound area, the 'meds & feds' take the afternoon off; everyone else has the morning off.

3. Higher education costs for middle-low class demographics are 70% paid for by millionaires who can easily foot that bill.

4. Credit cards are not sent willy-nilly to people under 40, unless they have a specific need or can demonstrate effective and positive money-managing skills.

5. For every $10 donated to an animal shelter/animal rights group, $6 of that goes to human trafficking or clean water organizations in under-developed countries.

6. Movie tickets cost $4.50 and movie theatre food is no longer highway robbery. But all you can get is popcorn and JuJuBees.

7. The Seahawks are now "America's Football Team" and most people have already forgotten about the Cowboys and the Pats. And the Steelers franchise was disbanded President Sarah's first day in office.

8. Waiting at the DMV is no longer necessary for car registration; this can now happen at your local 7-11.

9. Divorces are allowed only after a 18-month waiting period in which counseling is required and state-funded.

10. Only one commercial is allowed to be played per 20 minute increment of television.

Exceptions to this rule are the hamster/Kia commercials. Because those are hilarious.

11. For churches to keep their tax-exempt status, they have to share their resources with other churches in their denomination within a 50-mile radius.

12. You cannot change lanes in the middle of an intersection. Or on a bridge. Or in the middle of a hallway. (This last one isn't for cars; it's for people. Cause that's just annoying.)

13. Sex Ed classes are reserved for children 11+. If a child needs a sex ed class earlier for some reason, this must be a group class with parents, child & teacher.

14. A prerequisite for graduation for high school seniors is watching "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

15. Females who dress like they cannot afford an entire outfit will be given a new wardrobe care of First Baptist Podunk Town, USA.

*******

This is what I envision would happen if I were ever President of these-here United States.

If you were elected President, what new laws would you enforce? What would your lobby-hobby horses be? =)

This idea was done in part thanks to tylertarver.com. And also because we haven't Talk Thursday-ed in a while. (Yes, that's now a verb.) =)

Random Conversations in Random Places

It's time again for another rousing story of "Interesting Conversations Sarah Finds Herself In When She's In Random Places", which is what I assume everyone waits for in their days. =)

A couple years ago, I shared about the Starbucks conversation; on Saturday there was another blog-worthy with a man who tried to scare me out of doing international missions (ask for that one later).

However, today's conversation didn't occur in Starbucks...no, no...it was at the chiropractor's office.

There are several reasons why I love going to the chiropractor. Getting my back fixed is one; moments like this afternoon is one as well.

Starting with the Seahawks and their stylish and practical gear, the conversation quickly turned to what I did this weekend. Well, considering that homework encompasses my life, I mentioned to my doctor that I wrote a biblical theology paper. I'm assuming he thought this was cool/interesting because for the next 10 + minutes we discussed (meaning he talked, I listened in fascination) "theoretical theological quantum physics", the Matrix and the Bible.

Now, I've never seen the Matrix ("Firefly" & Orson Scott Card tap my nerdery in sci-fi stuff), but I've read the Bible. And I've never before considered them as having anything to do with the other. Until now.

Thus, I give you the short-short version of the "theoretical theological quantum physics" as per my chiropractor:

Ok, so, in the "Matrix" people are really just warm bodies in vats run by machines (I keep saying this is going to happen!). Neo, our protagonist friend, is the sum of all the anomalies in the machinery universe. He has "free will" and can see outside of the created world that the machines have created for humanity. He is told that he is the 6th version of the anomaly so that the machines can keep "upgrading." So Neo 7.0 is just the one that we, the audience, are introduced to, but he is not the only, nor will he be the last.

At this point, I couldn't really see where this was going to tie in with the Bible, but this is what my doctor then said (Sarah's paraphrase): "It's like Genesis/Revelation - God says that in the end, He will create a new heaven & a new earth. How many times has He or will He do that? It doesn't matter for Him to tell us; what matters is His love and grace for us now. But it's an interesting theory."

And for the last 6 hours, I have been turning this over in my head. I have since come up with 3 thoughts (yes, only three):

1. It's really moot for God to tell us if we're the 2nd or 6th or 12th version of heaven & earth. And we're never going to know that this side of heaven. What does matter is that God loves us and has asked us to demonstrate this love to the rest of the world. I've been so annoyed in one of my classes this semester - Christian Theology 2 - because we go round and round and round about whether or not someone can lose their salvation and if all are elect or if there is an "elect" and if babies go to heaven when they die. Yes, those are important things to talk about and consider and hammer out biblically. But at the end of the day, the biggest thing that matters, no matter what side of an argument you land on, is the fact that God loves us and wants us to love Him and others in return. It's irrelevant for Him to give us all the details about His character, His plan for the universe, history, future, etc because the biggest thing to know and acknowledge is His love.

2. That guy is smart. And I'm a little jealous.

3. My life is hilarious. I get to have the greatest conversations in the most random places and carry them around with me forever. So many reasons to keep going back to the chiropractor. =)

This concludes Sarah's random conversation of the day with her doctor. However, I am curious: have ya'll had an awesomely random conversations lately? And what do you think of the "theoretical theological quantum physics" theory?